The 2025-2026 Football Thread

[Bodhitree]

Part of the reason we’re in this predicament is that Arteta has coached the flair out of this team. He rarely improves attacking players.

It’s interesting that at the beginning of the season Arsenal seems to have plenty of attacking flair, and by the time Christmas comes around it seems to have been spent.

I think you’re at least partly right Arteta’s coaching methods don’t seem to improve attacking players, and the fact that some of those coming back from injury are coming back at a lower level.

Fabregas is intriguing as a coach because he had brilliant insight into the game as a player, and the ability to turn a game on its head if coming on as a substitute. It’s a good quality to have as a top level coach. The thing is if you wait to get him until he is fully developed he will end up going to Newcastle or Chelsea or another moneybags team.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Touché. And to be clear, my question was more of a devil’s advocate, merely to see others opinion.

Arteta has changed the fabric of Arsenal. There is just a final piece of the puzzle that is missing, trophies…

So my point was more that many teams (mine included!) swap managers because they think that their current manager can’t take them any further. Only to regret that when the new manager turns out to be a bad fit for the club.
Good managers get the best out of their team, manage the egos of the squad when they rotate them, can change up a formation when it’s not working or injuries dictate. They can identify the players that need to complement their current squad. All of that takes a lot of time to develop. The longer you stick with a manager the better they should become doing that with their team as they know them well.
Arteta has improved Arsenal. Has he brought many trophies? No. But is that because he isn’t capable or that there are just better teams out there?
Man City’s dominance doesn’t just come from having the most money (although that helps!). They have a manager who can do all of the above. Imagine they swapped their manager when they don’t win the title? They would look like Chelsea. A squad littered with talent, just not the talent chosen by their current manager. Left overs from the last 4-5 managers.

If I was an Arsenal fan I’d stick. But then I’d have stuck with Moyes and probably have been playing Europa league football rather than worrying about relegation.

 

[Alphazoid]

It’s interesting that at the beginning of the season Arsenal seems to have plenty of attacking flair, and by the time Christmas comes around it seems to have been spent.

I think you’re at least partly right Arteta’s coaching methods don’t seem to improve attacking players, and the fact that some of those coming back from injury are coming back at a lower level.

Fabregas is intriguing as a coach because he had brilliant insight into the game as a player, and the ability to turn a game on its head if coming on as a substitute. It’s a good quality to have as a top level coach. The thing is if you wait to get him until he is fully developed he will end up going to Newcastle or Chelsea or another moneybags team.

I think it was more we went 1-0 up to a set piece and that eased the pressure and forced teams out.

This team hasn’t been great at opening up teams from open play since 23/24

Interesting.

Alas, I do not agree with Kai and White being sold in the summer…

i just think he hasn’t been good since that one-off season. Granted he’s been injured. But missed a crucial chance in the carabao final. Missed key chances against Bournemouth too. And White is similar. Dropped levels from what we know of him.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Romero to miss the remainder of the season is another blow to Spurs.
When it’s going against you it really can start to stack up.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Could really have done with Man Utd showing up tonight!

 

[Silencio]

Absolutely horrendous half of football at Old Trafford. United should be down about 4 goals.

It says something awful about the depth of the squad when the whole team falls apart with Maguire and Mainoo out. It's also not a good sign for Carrick that he had all that downtime for rest and training and the team still came out so flat and disjointed.

Manuel Ugarte is not a PL-level player by any metric, and Leny Yoro's regression has been painful.

EDIT: and Licha gets a straight red for... absolutely nothing. The quality of refereeing, VAR, and PGMOL is a complete joke.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Man City are going to win a title by being merely mediocre, rather than bad, and not stepping on every rake in front of them…unlike the rest of the teams in the league.

 

[daneoni]

Officially a farmer's league if that happens.

And i don't think Arsenal will recover anytime soon if that happens. It'll be catastrophic for everyone associated with the club and likely overshadow all other talking points

Incl Spurs getting relegated. Probably.

 

[Bodhitree]

Spurs getting relegated would be a watershed moment… my stepfather was a big Spurs fan from the seventies onwards, he passed away in 2024 so it’s good he doesn’t see them in such dire straits.

 

[Silencio]

"Big" clubs like Newcastle and Villa have been relegated from the PL in recent memory. Spurs going down would be a shock, but not entirely unprecedented.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Officially a farmer's league if that happens.

Well, yes.

And i don't think Arsenal will recover anytime soon if that happens.

And - very unfortunately - they will only have themselves to blame, if that happens.

It'll be catastrophic for everyone associated with the club and likely overshadow all other talking points

Well, yes.

They have been very poor since Christmas, and cannot blame anybody else but their sorry selves for what is happening to them.

At some stage, they will have to take responsibility for their fate and their future, and show hunger, ability, ambition, aptitude.

If you are being paid some multiple of a hundred thousand pounds per week, and making a living as a professional footballer on such a salary, then, you need to be able to pass the ball, kick the ball, be confident on the ball,......and you need to be able to function fully as a team.

You also need to learn from. past mistakes.

Incl Spurs getting relegated. Probably.

Indeed.

 

[daneoni]

Iraola will leave Bournemouth at the end of the season.

 

[Apple fanboy]

For those saying what a shock it would be if Spurs were to go down, I thought a reminder from last season would be in order.

Nothing they did in the summer felt like an improvement.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

For those saying what a shock it would be if Spurs were to go down, I thought a reminder from last season would be in order.

View attachment 2622389
Nothing they did in the summer felt like an improvement.

Actually, I had completely forgotten about this; rather, I had entirely forgotten that flirting with relegation is not an entirely new look for Spurs.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

For those saying what a shock it would be if Spurs were to go down, I thought a reminder from last season would be in order.

I would say it's big news - but a shock? No, people should have seen this coming at least as a real possibility.

And anyway if they go down they'll come right back up again.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Actually, I had completely forgotten about this; rather, I had entirely forgotten that flirting with relegation is not an entirely new look for Spurs.

Tbh when you look at last years table it’s only Man Utd that have really pushed on from where they were.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I would say it's big news - but a shock? No, people should have seen this coming at least as a real possibility.

And anyway if they go down they'll come right back up again.

Probably. But there are no guarantees. Things will be tough for them in the lower league. Of course it could just as easily be us as well.

 

[Bodhitree]

For those saying what a shock it would be if Spurs were to go down, I thought a reminder from last season would be in order.

View attachment 2622389
Nothing they did in the summer felt like an improvement.

So how did they come to be playing in the UCL this year? It’s a mystery to me if they finished so low in the league…

Honestly I didn’t follow the 2024-25 season at all, especially towards the end, my father was in the hospital with a stroke for a number of weeks and eventually died from the complications, and my mother was not well either. It was a very stressful year, 2025.

 

[Apple fanboy]

So how did they come to be playing in the UCL this year? It’s a mystery to me if they finished so low in the league…

Honestly I didn’t follow the 2024-25 season at all, especially towards the end, my father was in the hospital with a stroke for a number of weeks and eventually died from the complications, and my mother was not well either. It was a very stressful year, 2025.

They won the Europa League. That gets you a Champions League place.

 

[Bodhitree]

They won the Europa League. That gets you a Champions League place.

Oh yes, I remember they played the final against Manchester United. Funny thing to go from playing in the Champions League to being relegated from the Premier League in one season.

 

[daneoni]

How Real Madrid is still in this tie is beyond me. And Neuer having a mare start.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

How Real Madrid is still in this tie is beyond me. And Neuer having a mare start.

They often look bad and still win. Bayern have let them back into it and Real suddenly have momentum.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

How Real Madrid is still in this tie is beyond me. And Neuer having a mare start.

They believe in themselves, a belief that often runs contrary to the evidence offered by their performances, a belief that borders on entitlement, at times.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Well, self-belief will only take you so far, especially when it is not matched by performance.

Bayern are through - deservedly - to the semi-final, having thoroughly defeated Madrid.

Elsewhere, Arsenal, as usual, were toothless in attack, but solid in defence, and therefore totter - with a one nil aggregate score - into the Champions League semi-final.

 

[daneoni]

Camavinga in back to back seasons gets a red and Bayern finish off the tie

Hence
PSG v Bay
Athletico v Arsenal

Although based on tonight's performance it seems Atletico will be quietly confident

PSG v Bay should be a cracker