Premier League 2022-23 | Syracusefan.com

Premier League 2022-23

IthacaMatt

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I can't believe that we have a Premier League Fantasy thread but not one for the real games??

Come on, people! We can do better than this.

Midway point in the season (well, 14-15 games out of 38, what's that, 40%?), Arsenal top of the league. Playing great football. Lots of young talent, qualify possession, quality pressing forcing turnovers high up the pitch. Fluid attack in the Man City / Pep style on full display. Gabriel Jesus and Zinchenko bringing some of that championship experience to a young, well-recruited side. Arsenal's big improvements are having a better holding MF (Thomas Partey) so Granit Xhaka doesn't have to be such a foul machine on defense. Xhaka is connecting their play better. Saka and Jesus have gone a bit off the boil, though. I think the break came at a bad time for them, with Jesus getting hurt at the World Cup.

City are playing well. Haaland is going to set an all-time goal record this year, with probably 10 goals to spare. He has taken them to a whole new level. They should win Europe this year (finally!) if Haaland can continue anything close to his early season form. Missing the WC has probably given his body a rest.

Eddie Howe is doing a brilliant job at Newcastle. They have great fans. I remember the terrific Alan Pardew led team they had back in about 2012 with Demba Ba and Pappis Cisse in attack, Cheik Tiote in MF, finished around 5th or so. Terrific team to watch. Almiron won't keep scoring at this pace, but they will still bring in a couple players in January, including potentially Pulisic, who would be a tremendous spot for him, IMO. Alain St. Maximan has been hurt, too, and should be coming back to pick up Almiron when he eventually cools down. They will probably get a MF, Winger and CF in January, maybe even a FB or CB. They have a real shot at Champions League with some serious reinforcements, and the Saudi's have been relatively patient and modest in their investment up to now.

Spurs should be doing better. It seems like they are not adapting well to Conte's second season. Their offense has cooled, and Son and Kane are not having typical years. The recruiting has been workmanlike. I wonder if Chelsea could convince Daniel Levy to take Romelu Lukaku off his hands? I'm sure he and Conte would love to get back together. And Lukaku could give his "unfinished business in England" speech, like he did when he came back to Chelsea. I think that Spurs are about to take a fall. I think Conte's innovations in England (3 at the back w/ Chelsea led to a 13 game winning streak as they ran away with the League in 2017). But everybody plays 3 at the back now, and the advantages of overwhelming midfield, having width at the back, etc., has been kind of found out by other coaches. Conte needs a new trick, because gegen-pressing is the modern game, and he's a bit out of step. His methods would be great in international football, just like Van Gaal had a very good WC with a less-than-stellar Dutch squad by playing on the counter. Pochettino is kind of a similar coach.

I don't think Van Dyke has that aura anymore. I think he has become human, and that has hurt Liverpool's defense. Their midfield is still old, too, and needs rebuilding. I'll be surprised if Liverpool can manage Top 4 again this year.

Brighton's new coach is spurring them on, and they have continued to play well, thrashing Chelsea and embarrassing Mr. Potter, leading to Chelsea's recent slide. They have the players to be this year's Leicester (not Champions, but a quality side, like the recent ones under Rodgers). Speaking of Leicster, I can't believe players that good are playing so poorly.

I think United will be better with Ronaldo, whose career in the Big Time is now officially over. He might not even play in the WC semifinal for Portugal tomorrow. Can you imagine that? Certainly not how he expected his career to end. But we don't all get happy endings, do we? United still needs more in midfield and another couple defenders. I think they have good players in attack.

I think that there is great quality in midtable in teams like West Ham, Villa, Palace, Brentford, Leeds and Everton. The last two (Leeds and Everton) could use a couple/three new players in January to liven up their sides. But all of those team have a lot of talent. I think Fulham are playing over their heads a bit. It's hard to bring in a whole new team and expect there to be chemistry, but they are doing well.

With respect to relegation, I think that goal differential is the best indicator of who will wind up going down. By that measure, the battle will be among 4 teams for 3 spots - Nottingham Forest (sure to go down), Wolves (sure to go down; they just can't score goals), and then either Bournemouth or Southhampton. I'm thinking that Southampton's traditional expansive football is somehow going to get them enough goals to stay up, but the question is, if they play that way, can they keep enough out?

Biggest Transfer Rumors I'm hearing right now (mostly about Chelsea, of course ...), but for United, I hear they are getting close with Cody Gakpo, who has been very good for Holland. I heard that Frenkie De Jong might be leaving Barca for either Arsenal or United, to play for Ten Haag.

Liverpool want Jude Bellingham really badly, but will have to wait for the summer. They've been after Martin Skriniar of Inter for quite some time, too. They might get Skriniar in January. They are also looking at Enzo Fernandez of Benfica.

Chelsea are going to be active in January. I could see maybe 3 new players, and couple possible sales. Todd Boehley, the owner of the Dogers and Chelsea, has been keen for swap deals, which are still relatively rare, although they can be used to help inflate the value of transfers for FFP purposes, like Barca did a couple years ago, swapping players at inflated values to create the appearance of more revenue. Anyway, the latest is Boehley wanting to swap Pulisic to Bayern to get Kingsley Coman, who used to be such a hot prospect, but who now sits on the bench behind Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane. That's an interesting one.

They are anxious to dump Hakim Ziyech and Romelu Lukaku, but teams in Italy only want them on loan, not permanent deals. Ugh.

Chelsea needs a MF to enable them to replace Jorginho and N'Golo (always injured) Kante, who was seeking a 4 year deal at age 31 from Chelea, after playing only about half of the last 3 years, and who will now be unavailable until at least February. He priced himself out of a deal. Jorginho really, really hopes to go to Barcelona, but they don't have budget to sign him unless he's free. Let him go. They have lots of young guys in MF, they have experience in Mateo Kovacic, who is looking great for Croatia, isn't he? And they can also get Adrian Rabiot, who has played so well for France, on a free transfer from PSG, where he is running out his own contract this spring.

Chelsea are pushing hard for Christopher Nkunku of Leipzig, who could be a tremendous attacker at the 9, and they also want Rafael Leao from Milan, who is having a very good WC. They want Denzel Dumphries to give cover at RB, where Reece James has been hurt, to Chelsea's detriment. They probably need more cover at LB for Chilwell, too, as Marc Cucarella has been having a terrible time defensively. I hear they are also after Josko Gvardial, a 20 year old central defender who has been great for Croatia. He's also at Leipzig, and Chelsea just hired one of their player personnel people.

That's a lot of spending, but they need a lot of work to compete at the top. Chelsea also rumored to look to sell both Edouard Mendy and Kepa Arrizabellaga this summer. They signed that up and coming kid from MLS, Gabriel Slonina, but he's too young to be more than a back-up right now. I love the way that goalkeeper for Croatia has been playing, Dominick Livakovic.

The guy has played for Dinamo Zagreb, a very respectable team who often make Champions League, for several years, and has been a regular with the Croatia national team since 2019. He's 27 years old, and has saved about 25% of the total penalties he's faced in his career. That's an outstanding number, in my book. He's played nearly 250 games for Dinamo Zagreb.

He may be experienced enough to be a first choice keeper in the Premier League. I read that United had already been scouting him, so they would appear to have the head start. But if Chelsea is dumping both their keepers this summer, this guy can calmly play with the ball at his feet. Even Brazil couldn't effectively press Croatia. Livakovic had a lot to do with that (as did young Gvardiol, the 20 year old central defender).

Getting both would reinvent Chelsea's defense, and they could maybe ask Thiago Silva if he'd be interested in coaching. That would leave them with the following central defenders - Wesley Fofana (21), Trevor Chalobah (23), Gvardiol (20), Koulibaly (31) and Azpilicueta (33). That's a terrific group, much more agile than they've been for a while in the back.
 
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Geez, another Chelsea let down. Draw against Forest, who are probably the worst team in the league.

Havertz - so little impact on the game, not enough running, not enough sticking a foot in and making something happen. Sell him to Bayern this summer. He's not man enough for the Premier League.

Aubamayang and Sterling, two guys who need to use their speed to run behind defenders, and neither are doing it. Neither are working very hard, either. Sit them both down. I've seen enough. Neither has scored in 4 months.

Pulisic and Ziyech (despite the limited time ...) were the best in attack. Mount works very hard, but he's lost his touch a bit, he's missing his best pass opportunities. He should be rested a bit.

I liked seeing 4 in the back instead of 3/5 against an opponent who doesn't score (only 12 goals all season). It showed some attacking intent. I thought that Zakaria, the big athletic midfielder deserves more game time. I thought Chukwemeka is another big athletic midfielder who deserves more opportunity.

Jorginho is a possession guy, but he doesn't create opportunities like Cesc Fabregas used to do in the same role. Connor Gallagher is green, loses his touch too much, fouls a lot on defense, but he hustles and plays hard. Not a starter, but a good guy to bring on when your midfield gets lethargic later in the game.

We like possession, but we take WAY too long getting the ball upfield. We need to be more direct. Sell Aubamayang in January. Sell Havertz in the summer. Let the contracts of Kante, Jorghi and Thiago Silva expire. Sign a better goalkeeper in the summer.
 
Weekend recap: Arsenal with a quality 4-2 over a good Brighton team, even without Gabriel Jesus. City held to a draw as Haaland scores yet again. He is THOR! But Arsenal have more than a 2 win advantage now at 7 points as we near the halfway mark of the season.

Liverpool seems to be slowly getting better, but it's going to hard for them to make Top 4 without a couple signings in January, IMO. I think their midfield is aging, and several of their attackers have long-ish term injuries.

Newcastle looking more and more real. Man United is improving. They rely on Rashford for too much of their offense, though. The other guys like Bruno Fernandez and a couple others need to return to their form of a year or so ago.

Spurs are sinking. Conte complaining about the lack of depth in his squad after being given $250M to spend last summer after finishing Top 4. I think he will be gone at the end of the season.

Your thoughts on your team?
 
Good stuff Matt. I don't have time for long response but right now just riding this high for Arsenal don't want to jinx it. I admittedly haven't been able to watch as much this year with so much going on but overall I'll just say Arsenal have simply been consistently good night in night out. I don't see anything special with this side beyond that along with the pieces finally fit well together while everyone else has struggled at times.

Haaland has been a goal machine for city but they still have continued to leak points where Arsenal has not.
 
I wonder where City would be without Haaland. Without him they seemed like a well oiled machine, and a well organized team. With him, he is a well oiled machine, but the team seems out of sorts for stretches, almost deferring their opportunities for his sake.

Arsenal is just handling business. They seem to be all in and look like they are poised to carry on through the remainder of the season.

United look like a team that's finding it's footing and confidence - maybe a team who can make a run in the second half.

Newcastle seem like a really strong and cohesive unit, and wouldn't surprise me if they did enough to challenge Arsenal and surpass City.

Chelsea needs change. Whether it's personnel or staff, or both - just seem stale and uninspired. Their most aggressive and attacking players don't play often enough, or play out of position. I think their midfielders are performing subpar and are the reason why they are struggling to live up to the talent expectations.

Spurs need to move Son. He seems discouraged and out of sorts. Kane is probably just past his peak and though he is still dangerous and their best option, their window with him is closing and I don't see them competing for a top four spot in the near future without some change. They have some talented pieces, but, again, like a couple other squads, seem to be out of sorts with their philosophy (management) and talent not meshing.

Leeds plays exciting and aggressive, but this leads to them blowing leads or giving up goals that shouldn't happen. They need defensive help and probably another midfielder to keep them moving up the table. I think they blew four matches in the first half where they had two goal leads. That's a huge 5 - 8+ points they missed out on. Marsh needs to tighten up the backline moving forward.

As an aside, I'd love to see Nottingham do enough to escape relegation. For some reason I like them and hope to see them do well.
 
I wonder where City would be without Haaland. Without him they seemed like a well oiled machine, and a well organized team. With him, he is a well oiled machine, but the team seems out of sorts for stretches, almost deferring their opportunities for his sake.

Arsenal is just handling business. They seem to be all in and look like they are poised to carry on through the remainder of the season.

United look like a team that's finding it's footing and confidence - maybe a team who can make a run in the second half.

Newcastle seem like a really strong and cohesive unit, and wouldn't surprise me if they did enough to challenge Arsenal and surpass City.

Chelsea needs change. Whether it's personnel or staff, or both - just seem stale and uninspired. Their most aggressive and attacking players don't play often enough, or play out of position. I think their midfielders are performing subpar and are the reason why they are struggling to live up to the talent expectations.

Spurs need to move Son. He seems discouraged and out of sorts. Kane is probably just past his peak and though he is still dangerous and their best option, their window with him is closing and I don't see them competing for a top four spot in the near future without some change. They have some talented pieces, but, again, like a couple other squads, seem to be out of sorts with their philosophy (management) and talent not meshing.

Leeds plays exciting and aggressive, but this leads to them blowing leads or giving up goals that shouldn't happen. They need defensive help and probably another midfielder to keep them moving up the table. I think they blew four matches in the first half where they had two goal leads. That's a huge 5 - 8+ points they missed out on. Marsh needs to tighten up the backline moving forward.

As an aside, I'd love to see Nottingham do enough to escape relegation. For some reason I like them and hope to see them do well.

Nice post. I agree that Arsenal is cruising right now. I hope for them that guys like Saka and Martinelli can keep enough goals flowing until they either buy another attacker this month, or Jesus gets back in Feb/March.

The thing with City is that their midfield has lost some luster. DeBruyne is doing great in fantasy points, but Guardiola has commented about him being grumpy and out of sorts with the press. Ferndandinho is getting older. Grealish isn't worth anywhere near $100M, and Foden is good in stretches but too inconsistent to be relied on so heavily.

Agree that Son has been poor. They should sell him to a club in Italy, which would probably suit him well. Harry Kane passed his "sell by" date a couple years ago, and I see him at the stage Wayne Rooney fell to, when he no longer could impact the game as well up front in the box, so he had to drop deeper and deeper into midfield to get on the ball. They should have sold him to Madrid 2 years ago for $120M. They'd be lucky to get half that much now. He has a LOT of miles on his legs.

United and Liverpool are starting to get solid (not great) results, but are slowly moving back up the table.

Leeds does need more talent, and not just at the back. When Patrick Bamford is your leading scorer and he's been hurt for most of the time you've been back in the Premier League, that's not a good sign.

It's like how West Ham have been too reliant on Mikail Antonio, and then when he was out / out of favor for the first half of the season with all this new talent (Scamacca, for example) the goals dried up, and now David Moyes, after a couple tremendous seasons, is playing too conservative for the quality of players in his squad. He still thinks like a small team coach, not the coach of a Champions League contender.

Nottingham can rot in hell after today's game! LOL

Chelsea need to clear out some of the older guys who don't think highly enough of Mr. Potter to work hard under his system. Like Mikel Arteta, Potter would do better with younger, hungrier players with something to prove. They are recruiting appropriately, I think, but Potter tinkers too much. I liked them in the back 4, in a 4-2-3-1. It's more progressive, packs more attacking threat with 4 players forward instead of only 3 in a 3-4-3 like they had been playing.

And you don't have to play guys like Pulisic or Sterling or Ziyech or Azpilicueta at wingback. I hear Potter is good with younger players, but I don't like the faint praise he has given Zakaria in his last couple starts. He's not quite as skilled with the ball at his feet as Ruben Loftus-Cheek, but he's good in the tackle, and they need that if they are going to play Jorghi or Gallagher out there in holding midfield.

Play the young guys, move out the ones who "float" through games, with little impact. It worked for Lampard for a year, and it brought us a whole new crop of players. Potter has to start doing the same.
 
Going to a Man City match in mid April and then probably QPR match a few days later and I’m going to probably be the most clueless person in the stadium both times but it should be fun.

I'm sure you'll have a great time. Just don't wear the jersey of an away team to either game.
 
Lots of good stuff I don't have a lot to add that would deviate from the points already made. Glad a new PL post was shared - love having this thread to read through.

A few small nuggets on things-

1- Really hope Leeds stays up for a while with Marsch and Adams. Love to see them go after a couple more Americans and would love to see Jesse's name pop up for the USMNT. I have a good friend i used to work with who is back in England who is a massive Leeds fan so it's been fun chatting since they broke their 13 year drought.

2- Another friend in the same crew as my Leeds buddy is a Forest lifer and same as my Leeds buddy it's been such a blast as they are top flight first time since the 90s.

3- I would love to see Pulisic go to Italy, France or back to Germany. His skillset and strengths can be better utilized there and not forced out of position. He needs to be able to come into 2026 in top form and how he is being used at Chelsea that will never happen. I don't like him for Spanish football or continuing in the EPL.
 
I'm sure you'll have a great time. Just don't wear the jersey of an away team to either game.
This is my second time at Etihad Stadium; I went with friends in 2017, I think.

The first time, we went to a pub near the stadium before the match. We were almost not let in because one of my friends was coincidentally wearing a shirt that partially matched the color of the opponent’s team. Not full-on match and he was wearing a jacket over the shirt but the bouncers were worried that we were there to start trouble.
And then they heard our American accents.
 
Lots of good stuff I don't have a lot to add that would deviate from the points already made. Glad a new PL post was shared - love having this thread to read through.

A few small nuggets on things-

1- Really hope Leeds stays up for a while with Marsch and Adams. Love to see them go after a couple more Americans and would love to see Jesse's name pop up for the USMNT. I have a good friend i used to work with who is back in England who is a massive Leeds fan so it's been fun chatting since they broke their 13 year drought.

2- Another friend in the same crew as my Leeds buddy is a Forest lifer and same as my Leeds buddy it's been such a blast as they are top flight first time since the 90s.

3- I would love to see Pulisic go to Italy, France or back to Germany. His skillset and strengths can be better utilized there and not forced out of position. He needs to be able to come into 2026 in top form and how he is being used at Chelsea that will never happen. I don't like him for Spanish football or continuing in the EPL.
I think Pulisic could thrive in EPL, in the right situation. I agree that Chelsea, as it currently is, is not that place.
 
I think Pulisic could thrive in EPL, in the right situation. I agree that Chelsea, as it currently is, is not that place.

He just needs a run of games, and some more protection from the referees. He gets fouled an awful lot. I think he could do very well at Newcastle. Arsenal would be a good fit, too, but I don't think they want to see him go to the Gunners.
 
He just needs a run of games, and some more protection from the referees. He gets fouled an awful lot. I think he could do very well at Newcastle. Arsenal would be a good fit, too, but I don't think they want to see him go to the Gunners.

Yeah I'm torn- I just don't see a good fit for him in England even for Newcastle or Arsenal. I think a stint out of then maybe coming back in a few years makes more sense.
 
Yeah I'm torn- I just don't see a good fit for him in England even for Newcastle or Arsenal. I think a stint out of then maybe coming back in a few years makes more sense.

I think he can play in the Premier League. I just think he needs a team that believes in him and will let him play. I believe 100% that he can give a team 10 goals and maybe that many assists in a full season.
 
I think he can play in the Premier League. I just think he needs a team that believes in him and will let him play. I believe 100% that he can give a team 10 goals and maybe that many assists in a full season.

I'd love to see it and my doubts be proven wrong
 
I'd love to see it and my doubts be proven wrong

I've watched every game he's played for Chelsea. He and Mason Mount combine well together. Mount tends to drive horizontally across the defense, whereas Pulisic is more direct and attacks the goal.

Pulisic gets in the box at the far post a lot, and he makes great runs into the box, and can thread a pass on the fast break. I think he is currently better than Havertz, just because he doesn't coast through games.

The biggest complaints about Pulisic are (1) that he gets hurt a lot, and (2) that he isn't that good defensively. On defense, he does a lot of running, but is not so adept at sticking in a boot. His recoveries of possession are more often attacking from the back side of a double team. So, he's good at part of the job, but could be better in the challenge.

As for the injuries, he should take up yoga, and he should listen to his body better. Sometimes you shouldn't exert yourself that "extra little bit", when that's the part that gets you injured. I've seen it from him 3 times or so, where trying too hard gets him injured. Fix that, and I think he's a hell of a player.
 
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So of course Pulisic gets his 3rd straight start and promptly gets hurt before halftime. Wow, what a mess at Chelsea!

Aubamayang with another no-effort performance. I don't know that I'd play him again. Get him out in January. I heard he wants to go to PSG. Let him go for free.

Zakaria played well and has started 3 straight. Chukwemeka was pretty good in relief of Pulisic. Give up on Europe this year. Play the kids (and new signings) and find out what you've got before you go spend another quarter of a billion dollars on guys who don't quite fit together.
 
Chelsea facing a real crisis against Man City today. Down 3-0 at half, getting utterly embarrassed. Too much negative, backward play on offense. Too timid, afraid to make mistakes, playing too passive, not enough effort. It's almost like I'm watching Syracuse play.

Edit: Frank LeBouef going on a wild rant about how shameful and disrespectful the effort and lack of pride of Chelsea players has appeared.

P.S.S. - Kepa is freaking terrible. At least Mendy can stop shots.
 
Chelsea facing a real crisis against Man City today. Down 3-0 at half, getting utterly embarrassed. Too much negative, backward play on offense. Too timid, afraid to make mistakes, playing too passive, not enough effort. It's almost like I'm watching Syracuse play.

Edit: Frank LeBouef going on a wild rant about how shameful and disrespectful the effort and lack of pride of Chelsea players has appeared.

P.S.S. - Kepa is freaking terrible. At least Mendy can stop shots.
Midfield is a mess. Starts there.

No poise, pressure, or pace.

There's talent in forward attacking positions, but they are set up for failure by the midfield.

Same with the defense. Talent there, set up for failure by the middies.

If Chelsea had Rodri, Gundogan, and De Bruyne in the middle, they'd be Man City.
 
Any Arsenal fans here? I'm an Evertonian, and I just got tickets to go to Arsenal's visit to Goodison on February 4.

Lampard's gotta go before you suffer the drop.
 
Very few managers could avoid the drop the way the club is run.

They had a terrific squad just 2 or 3 years ago. The Carlo Ancelotti hire made me believe they want to challenge the top 6.
 
They had a terrific squad just 2 or 3 years ago. The Carlo Ancelotti hire made me believe they want to challenge the top 6.
They're consistently done in by no depth, especially at striker. Calvert-Lewin can't stay healthy and neither can anyone on the back line.
 

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