GWT: English Premier League: 5/21/2017

TheMoreYouKnow

Registered User
May 3, 2007
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Arsenal missing the CL is a justified reflection of their downward trend over the last years. It was bound to happen at some point.

A controversial penalty call in a match that ended 3-0 and didn't involve their side is just a diversion from the fact that Arsenal are no longer a top side and stuck with their dinosaur of a manager.
 

Paulie Gualtieri

R.I.P. Tony Sirico
May 18, 2016
12,328
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Arsenal missing the CL is a justified reflection of their downward trend over the last years. It was bound to happen at some point.

A controversial penalty call in a match that ended 3-0 and didn't involve their side is just a diversion from the fact that Arsenal are no longer a top side and stuck with their dinosaur of a manager.

And to think that they may also lose Sanchez.
 

Live in the Now

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Dec 17, 2005
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I think Spurs should probably not buy many players and instead increase the wages of their best ones. It is inevitable that Manchester United will try to buy Kane and inevitable somebody is going to make a big bid for Alli, so they will need to massively increase the wages of those two players at some point in the next few years.

Liverpool on the other hand have to start getting rid of players who aren't good enough far sooner than they do. They have an enormous wage bill and a lot of it is because they don't let their academy players leave when they won't make it. Their budget will probably increase massively regardless of that and Anfield is going to increase capacity to 60k. Klopp performed a heroes job getting a few of these players to be playing for a top four side. If it was up to me I'd sign Salah and van Dijk/Koulibaly first thing. It's also nice that they have some academy players who are ready for the team and don't need to be loaned out.

For City it's not about who they buy for me, they will need to be more aggressive and prepare for more physicality. There were many performances this season where they were too content to probe around the defense. When Liverpool played them at Anfield was a good example of that, as was their home match against Chelsea. Teams that over attack are always going to be vulnerable on the break, so unless they signed Boateng and Bonucci it's not like they're going to be fantastic at the back.

Chelsea's the best team, but they are getting a little old and need some reinforcements. Nothing further to add about them.

United is much the same as City, but make no mistake they are going to spend an absolute load of money. I think their approach is too tentative these days. Football has fortunately become a lot more attacking over the last five years and they have quality, but they need central defenders. Although, as I just said, unless they buy Boateng and Bonucci they are still going to have problems with balancing defense and attack.

I don't even know what to say about Arsenal at this point. But I do believe that it isn't possible to win the league with Wenger anymore. So I don't know where they go from that. I don't think they have enough great players anymore and I don't think they can get them in one summer. I also don't see someone as good as Sanchez staying around because he's too good for that, and there's no way they can replace him. That all being said, they finished with enough points to finish top four in almost any other season. That's still not good enough anymore though.

All of the six teams are pretty good so it'll probably come down to who has the most convenient fixture list. It's strange but one season after Leicester I think we're further away than ever before from that happening again. The top six sides this year were miles above the rest.
 

Live in the Now

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Dec 17, 2005
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It was still a penalty. Lovren kicked him and grabbed him. The form Mignolet was in he may have saved it anyway like he does half the penalties that are taken against him.

We'll never know though.

What I do know is if Lovren is letting players behind him the first time they attack in CL, Liverpool's journey in that competition will be very short. And referees will call that in European football.
 

SilasAdams

Registered User
Jun 19, 2010
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Would have been such a soft penalty, good decision imo. That being said Lovren is a complete liability and will need to be upgraded on if Liverpool want to have success next year.
 

hatterson

Registered User
Apr 12, 2010
35,319
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I think Spurs should probably not buy many players and instead increase the wages of their best ones. It is inevitable that Manchester United will try to buy Kane and inevitable somebody is going to make a big bid for Alli, so they will need to massively increase the wages of those two players at some point in the next few years.

I think the big test if Spurs can step up will be this upcoming year. Teams almost always struggle when moving into a new stadium and Spurs have struggled at Wembley anyway.

If they falter and drop back to a Europa league spot (or even lower) it'll be virtually impossible to keep guys like Kane and Alli, especially if their wage budget is still low.
 

Live in the Now

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Dec 17, 2005
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I'm still not completely sure Kane would leave, but I know for sure that Alli would.

If I was them I'd sign Cedric for RB, I'd sign Moussa Dembele because Janssen was a total flop (as someone here predicted), and Zaha would be a good signing but I guess Palace is raising his wage to something ridiculous. Anyone else they'd sign would disrupt team chemistry and force them to bench players who shouldn't be benched.
 

hatterson

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Apr 12, 2010
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North Tonawanda, NY
I'm still not completely sure Kane would leave, but I know for sure that Alli would.

If I was them I'd sign Cedric for RB, I'd sign Moussa Dembele because Janssen was a total flop (as someone here predicted), and Zaha would be a good signing but I guess Palace is raising his wage to something ridiculous. Anyone else they'd sign would disrupt team chemistry and force them to bench players who shouldn't be benched.

He wouldn't under circumstances like now. But if the choice is stay, have Alli and maybe a couple others be poached and play in the Europa or lower, or head to United or elsewhere, play in the CL and make double the wage? He might find it hard to stay with even his boyhood team.
 

Live in the Now

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Dec 17, 2005
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Yeah, perhaps. I think they would break their wage structure for him though. The odds on them ever having a better outfield player than Kane are not good.
 

Paulie Gualtieri

R.I.P. Tony Sirico
May 18, 2016
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I'm still not completely sure Kane would leave, but I know for sure that Alli would.

If I was them I'd sign Cedric for RB, I'd sign Moussa Dembele because Janssen was a total flop (as someone here predicted), and Zaha would be a good signing but I guess Palace is raising his wage to something ridiculous. Anyone else they'd sign would disrupt team chemistry and force them to bench players who shouldn't be benched.

You're giving kinda mixed signals by first saying that they should invest in wages over acquisations, but then suggesting that they should buy Dembele and Zaha. And I'd think acquiring Zaha would lead to the exact situation you described shouldn't happen.

I personally would focus more on buffing up the wage structure and I'd be very willing to sacrifice Walker for it. As for transfers I'd like Sissoko to be replaced with somebody more creative, N'Koudou to be sold to give Onomah and Edwards more minutes, Janssen to be replaced with a speedier striker that can be a good sub to press the living hell out of a tired defense, Wimmer to be replaced with a better option at CB (preferably left footed), and ofcourse a rotational RB if Walker gets sold. These acquisations should hopefully all be in the £15-25M range. Would also like to see another depth CM, just someone cheap that can do a decent job.

Didn't this happen last year as well?

It's astonishing how they came up with 0 trophies from their 'historical' run.

Because people can't praise them for the progress they have made, can they?
 

Power Man

Grrrr
Sep 30, 2008
31,254
3,151
221B Baker Street
Calling it now - Bayern will stumble in the group stages of Champions League and get third, fall to Europa League, and Arsenal will have to make their annual trip to the Allianz in the round of 32
 

PeteWorrell

[...]
Aug 31, 2006
4,664
1,788
Oliver handing out yellows like candy, and he had the stones to rightly give Kos a red in the 14th minute. But he can't seem to find his pocket on both Williams' and Schneiderlin's second yellows. This is why players surround the ref as much as they do, despite how much everyone on here complains about it.
Pretty much what i was saying in the Champions League thread after the Atlético-Real Madrid 2nd leg match.If you're going to card people like crazy be consistent about it.
 

Live in the Now

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Dec 17, 2005
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You're giving kinda mixed signals by first saying that they should invest in wages over acquisations, but then suggesting that they should buy Dembele and Zaha. And I'd think acquiring Zaha would lead to the exact situation you described shouldn't happen.

Not sure it's contradictory. They have very little strength in depth and do have to acquire a few players. If they're going to let Lamela leave and they should, it would make sense to replace him with Zaha. Janssen's not good enough, so replacing him with Dembele seems smart. It's not like they can go without signing any players.

The problem is of course that every player costs too much now.
 

Chimaera

same ol' Caps
Feb 4, 2004
30,973
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La Plata, Maryland
I'm interested to see the spend by some of these clubs this summer.

City, Liverpool, Chelsea, and United should all spend well over a 100 million in the transfer market. Heck, United might blow that in 2 players and wind up doing another 250+.
 

Pavel Buchnevich

Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Dec 8, 2013
57,615
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Janssen to be replaced with a speedier striker that can be a good sub to press the living hell out of a tired defense

Jamie Vardy.

Didn't have a great season, but held up pretty well. Could make for a decent back up for a good team. Very speedy. Leicester is done, they aren't getting back to Europe. He's 30, probably wants to win, doesn't want to be the best player on an average team.
 

les Habs

Registered User
Sep 21, 2005
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Wow. Look at some of those scorelines. And this from the most ever competitive league in the free Universe ENGLISH Premier League. Up until today it only ever happened in other leagues.

I'm hustling back from church to watch the second half, but if anyone's watching the Chelsea game right now, why did Terry come off?

EDIT: oh wait it was the 26th minute I get it

So it's common for the wives of his teammates to text him in the 26th minute?
 

Wee Baby Seamus

Yo, Goober, where's the meat?
Mar 15, 2011
14,902
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Wow. Look at some of those scorelines. And this from the most ever competitive league in the free Universe ENGLISH Premier League. Up until today it only ever happened in other leagues.

I will say that (with the exception of Liverpool and Arsenal), no team today had anything to play for. Relegation was locked up, as was the top 7 (with the aforementioned exception).
Two of the three worst scorelines were against sides who had already gone down. However, the overall message of your post is enjoyed :laugh:
 

les Habs

Registered User
Sep 21, 2005
22,239
3,967
Wisconsin
I will say that (with the exception of Liverpool and Arsenal), no team today had anything to play for. Relegation was locked up, as was the top 7 (with the aforementioned exception).
Two of the three worst scorelines were against sides who had already gone down. However, the overall message of your post is enjoyed :laugh:

Yeah, I know. I also figured that with some sides probably not having much to play for they might have fielded some youngsters or weakened sides for various reasons. I have to say though that I don't appreciate your enjoyment of the overall message of my post. You're ruining any fun I could potentially have in this thread apart from pointing out Pedro's performance relative to Edo's narrative on the player or my fantasy players racking up more stats yet again. I hope you have an unpleasant evening. :p:
 

Blender

Registered User
Dec 2, 2009
51,399
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"No team can win a title with Pedro as a starter" will forever make me laugh.
 

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