Premier League 2021-2022

[Day2]

Could Dominic Calvert-Lewin make the move from Everton to replace Harry Kane at Spurs? I think DCL is an emerging, truly top talent.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin linked with Tottenham as possible Harry Kane replacement

Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin has become the latest name to be linked with a move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as speculation continues over the future of Harry Kane

www.football.london

The loss of Ancelotti as coach sets that program back a lot in terms of prestige. It's a shame because he was building quite a roster there and there remains a lot of talent on this team.

Roy Kent says piss off.

 

[creatorsgam]

Manchester United to pip City for the title. I’m sure there are more moves to be made by the big clubs and honestly I have no idea, except I think the top-4 will be tight.

Also do I finally crack and sign up for Peacock? They fixed their issue with Samsung so I’m not as opposed to it as I once was.

Edit: meant to ask… is this NBC’s last year with EPL rights?

 

[IthacaMatt]

Manchester United to pip City for the title. I’m sure there are more moves to be made by the big clubs and honestly I have no idea, except I think the top-4 will be tight.

Also do I finally crack and sign up for Peacock? They fixed their issue with Samsung so I’m not as opposed to it as I once was.

Edit: meant to ask… is this NBC’s last year with EPL rights?

yes. i hope they cam keep the rights. best team by far.

 

[creatorsgam]

yes. i hope they cam keep the rights. best team by far.

Was resistant to Peacock because I could only access in one room via Xbox Live, but now that I can download their app onto our Samsung televisions I can watch EPL in any room.

Touché, NBC. Touché.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Manchester United to pip City for the title. I’m sure there are more moves to be made by the big clubs and honestly I have no idea, except I think the top-4 will be tight.

Also do I finally crack and sign up for Peacock? They fixed their issue with Samsung so I’m not as opposed to it as I once was.

Edit: meant to ask… is this NBC’s last year with EPL rights?

Peacock is a must-have, in my opinion. They make sure that a few of the really exciting early season games are online only, to bump subscriptions. It's worth it.

I look at United and I see a team that flew under the radar a bit last year. I don't see a solid number 9. Martial might be sold, which would further weaken them in the attack. Rashford just had shoulder surgery and will probably be out at least until November. Fred and McTominay at your holding midfield is simply not championship quality.

I love Varane, and think he will be an excellent partner to The Fridge in the middle of your defense. I hope you hold on to Eric Bailly and give him a fair chance, because his athleticism is really top rate.

United has some terrific players in the lineup who have not been used that well to date, like Van de Beek, for example. If Ole can get rid of Pogba and find another good holding midfielder to break up McFred, I think they will be top 4. But without another signing up front, I don't think Sancho by himself out on the wing (or Jesse LIngaard, if he gets a legit chance) are going to make up the 20 goals you need from your striker position.

I think that Cavani is still your best guy up front, but he's what 35 years old now? And he's not a big battering ram like Zlatan. He relies on his quickness. His excellent reading of the game, and timing of his runs, makes him invaluable to you. But I don't know that he can be your main man.

 

[Alsacs]

Wow this Arsenal team is such a shell of their great teams.
Their ownership has let this team to get into the chitter.
Mid of the table team IMO. I know their captain is out with injury as well.

 

[Day2]

Wow this Arsenal team is such a shell of their great teams.
Their ownership has let this team to get into the chitter.
Mid of the table team IMO. I know their captain is out with injury as well.

Who owns them again?

 

[Orangezoo]

Wow this Arsenal team is such a shell of their great teams.
Their ownership has let this team to get into the chitter.
Mid of the table team IMO. I know their captain is out with injury as well.

Yeah it wouldn't make a difference. They may flirt with relegation this year the way things are going. Obviously I don't expect anything worse than 12/13 by season end.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Wow this Arsenal team is such a shell of their great teams.
Their ownership has let this team to get into the chitter.
Mid of the table team IMO. I know their captain is out with injury as well.

Arteta will be first to be fired. They have no identity. They certainly don't look at all like City. He might have learned the drills to do in practice from Pep, but he missed the part about how to make players better than they were before.

Pep is underrated in player development. He has done well at Man City (Jesus, Sane both came on like firecrackers - although both have fallen off - Phil Foden, DeBruyne became world class under Pep, and there have been more). I recall he broke in some young guys at Bayern, too.

Not too many kids could get into that lineup at Barca, though.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I would love to see Chelsea gets this guy as their backup striker to Lukaku. He's a 6-7 banger with skills from Austria. 30M to replace Tammy Abraham.

 

[Orangezoo]

Arteta will be first to be fired. They have no identity. They certainly don't look at all like City. He might have learned the drills to do in practice from Pep, but he missed the part about how to make players better than they were before.

Pep is underrated in player development. He has done well at Man City (Jesus, Sane both came on like firecrackers - although both have fallen off - Phil Foden, DeBruyne became world class under Pep, and there have been more). I recall he broke in some young guys at Bayern, too.

Not too many kids could get into that lineup at Barca, though.

It could happen quick too. Worst possible start they could have had.

 

[IthacaMatt]

It could happen quick too. Worst possible start they could have had.

On paper their team should be better. But they have no heart, and it's been that way for a long time. No toughness, no fight-back in them. They got soft under Wenger, and then it just seemed to become the culture. I imagine you heard the rumor that they are considering Wenger to come back. Wouldn't that be something?

 

[IthacaMatt]

It could happen quick too. Worst possible start they could have had.

They're going to have (at least) 3 losses in their first 4 games - Chelsea is next, then City shortly after. They are going to be around 15th after the first month of the season. That's going to hurt.

 

[Orangezoo]

On paper their team should be better. But they have no heart, and it's been that way for a long time. No toughness, no fight-back in them. They got soft under Wenger, and then it just seemed to become the culture. I imagine you heard the rumor that they are considering Wenger to come back. Wouldn't that be something?

I have and at this point that move would be the panic button but also wouldn't surprise me one bit.

 

[creatorsgam]

Manchester United with a proper thrashing of Leeds. Great way to start my morning.

Usually don’t love the 7:30 game but with a heat index into triple digits here today I can still get out there early enough to mow the lawn.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I'm very thrilled with Chelsea's thrashing of Palace this morning. Pulisic with a goal on the rebound. Marcos Alonso was solid and threatening, aside from that picture-perfect free kick for the opening goal.

Trevor Chalobah is another very good young center back. Man of the Match, really twice this week. Why are they looking to buy someone else for 60-80M? They already have what they need in their squad, between him, Rudiger, Christensen, Zouma, Azpi and Thiago Silva!

 

[creatorsgam]

I'm very thrilled with Chelsea's thrashing of Palace this morning. Pulisic with a goal on the rebound. Marcos Alonso was solid and threatening, aside from that picture-perfect free kick for the opening goal.

Trevor Chalobah is another very good young center back. Man of the Match, really twice this week. Why are they looking to buy someone else for 60-80M? They already have what they need in their squad, between him, Rudiger, Christensen, Zouma, Azpi and Thiago Silva!

Lukaku is going to fit in well with the current squad.

This season is going to be wild, and I’m here for it.

 

[Alsacs]

Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool all take care of business today.

 

[OrangeFoo]

I'm very thrilled with Chelsea's thrashing of Palace this morning. Pulisic with a goal on the rebound. Marcos Alonso was solid and threatening, aside from that picture-perfect free kick for the opening goal.

Trevor Chalobah is another very good young center back. Man of the Match, really twice this week. Why are they looking to buy someone else for 60-80M? They already have what they need in their squad, between him, Rudiger, Christensen, Zouma, Azpi and Thiago Silva!

I caught the first half of the Chelsea game this morning… they are a really good squad at the back but their midfield and strikers are somewhat underwhelming for a team with their aspirations. Chelsea have no one who can control the tempo of a game in the midfield… Jorginho is good at circulating the ball, Kovacic seems to be a destroyer and not much more, Mount is all action zero control. I think the better teams such as Liverpool, City and Man-ure will take advantage of Chelsea’s midfield. I love Pulisic, but he is being mis-used… he needs to get the ball in space so he can run at defenders, but today he spent more time as a nine than Werner did. Lukaku and Kante will be huge for the team as they cover up for some weaknesses.

Chelsea will finish top 4, but I think they lose to Liverpool in a few weeks.

 

[Day2]

We should all be pulling for Brentford.

 

[orangenauburn]

Top dogs looked pretty much head and shoulders above the rest

 

[IthacaMatt]

I caught the first half of the Chelsea game this morning… they are a really good squad at the back but their midfield and strikers are somewhat underwhelming for a team with their aspirations. Chelsea have no one who can control the tempo of a game in the midfield… Jorginho is good at circulating the ball, Kovacic seems to be a destroyer and not much more, Mount is all action zero control. I think the better teams such as Liverpool, City and Man-ure will take advantage of Chelsea’s midfield. I love Pulisic, but he is being mis-used… he needs to get the ball in space so he can run at defenders, but today he spent more time as a nine than Werner did. Lukaku and Kante will be huge for the team as they cover up for some weaknesses.

Chelsea will finish top 4, but I think they lose to Liverpool in a few weeks.

From my perspective, I think their midfield is really good. They swarmed on defense and recovered the ball within just a couple passes for nearly the entire game. Remember that they rested Kante, too.

 

[orangenauburn]

I can see Chelsea, City, and Liverpool all hit the 100 point mark this season

There is a large gap between them and the second tier United, Tottenham, Leister, Everton

 

[OrangeFoo]

From my perspective, I think their midfield is really good. They swarmed on defense and recovered the ball within just a couple passes for nearly the entire game. Remember that they rested Kante, too.

But swarming the ball is really all they do. Can they keep this up for an entire season? Klopp was the inventor of heavy metal football and even he realized early on that he would need to do more than press if his teams were going to challenge for the title. Liverpool started challenging when they were able to get Fabihno’s quality in the middle allowing Hendo to become more of a play maker and less of a destroyer.

Maybe Kante does that for Chelsea… but I don’t see a true six on the squad who can put their foot on the ball and control tempo. Maybe it won’t matter given the talent on the team.

 

[IthacaMatt]

But swarming the ball is really all they do. Can they keep this up for an entire season? Klopp was the inventor of heavy metal football and even he realized early on that he would need to do more than press if his teams were going to challenge for the title. Liverpool started challenging when they were able to get Fabihno’s quality in the middle allowing Hendo to become more of a play maker and less of a destroyer.

Maybe Kante does that for Chelsea… but I don’t see a true six on the squad who can put their foot on the ball and control tempo. Maybe it won’t matter given the talent on the team.

I agree that swarming the ball takes energy. That's why I think the high press is less sustainable, because there's even more running involved. But pressing in the middle of the field can be very effective, and is the key to their defensive efficiency since Tuchel took over. With rotation, I think it's sustainable, and Chelsea do have a deep squad, legitimately 2 deep at pretty much every position.

I think Jorginho is that metronome at the back. He doesn't quite seem to get his due in England because he can be pressed into errors and turnovers at times, and doesn't seem quite physical enough. But look at what he did for Italy in the Euro Championship. He was stellar.

You might argue that Chelsea lacks that guy who can pick a pass to unlock a defense, but to me that's Mason Mount's role. I would like to see them keep Chalobah and not loan him out, because his main position is that holding midfield role that they are looking longingly at Declan Rice (80M) for. Then there's another 80M that Sevilla want for Kounde, the young defender.

Keep Chalobah, use him in both roles, and save yourself 160M. No brainer.