Premier League 2017-2018

[East Coast Bias]

Everybodyyyyyyyyyyyy was riding City last year.

Except the one poster who kept bombing the thread calling him Pep Jackson and a fraud.

Lol that was classic.

 

[Vamos Rafa]

Cahill is officially our new captain, good choice! Azpilicueta as vice-captain is also terrific. I'm very pleased.

I'm very surprised that Fabregas wasn't named VC. I always put him as captain on FIFA/PES when JT is not playing

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

I'm very surprised that Fabregas wasn't named VC. I always put him as captain on FIFA/PES when JT is not playing

I figured it'd be Azpi or Luiz, so this move makes sense to me. I always used Azpi as captain when JT was on the bench in FIFA

 

[Nalens Oga]

I have Cristoph Kramer captaining my Prem side in season 3 lol until Tyias Browning can take over once he's 25 and then hopefully one of the Carrick/Jagielka/Terry regens lol.

Anyways, I'm guessing they didn't make it Cesc as VC because Bakayoko can legitimately displace him in the starting 11 and Matic is technically still there (and I hope he stays at least for this season).

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Conte with the roasts:

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foo...-daniel-levy-transfer-criticism-a3597151.html

 

[YEM]

Conte with the roasts:

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foo...-daniel-levy-transfer-criticism-a3597151.html

I think Conte missed the point of Levy's comments
Conte said:

"Every team has to understand what their ambitions are. If their ambitions are to fight for the title or win the Champions League, you must buy expensive players. Otherwise you continue to stay in your level. It's simple."

yet:

 

[bleedblue1223]

And yet, if they fail in Champions League, it's no big deal. If they don't win a Cup, it's no big deal.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

And yet, if they fail in Champions League, it's no big deal. If they don't win a Cup, it's no big deal.

It isn't hard to understand that spending more money raises expectations. I also think Conte is underselling their ambitions a tad. Spurs performance in the european competitions was absolutely a tragedy.

The price of that XI above is just filthy.

 

[YNWA14]

Yeah that's some damned fine business by Tottenham.

That said they did pay more for some other players who haven't panned out, and their performance in Europe has been pretty underwhelming.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Great starting 11, but what's the cost of their bench/reserves? Oh Sissoko lol.

 

[YEM]

It isn't hard to understand that spending more money raises expectations. I also think Conte is underselling their ambitions a tad. Spurs performance in the european competitions was absolutely a tragedy.

agreed on all points
I just think Conte's wrong; spurs already have some very expensive players in the squad, they just didn't buy them:
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foo...-less-than-current-market-value-a3447646.html

 

[spintheblackcircle]

Conte did say if he could buy any striker in the world it would be Kane.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Yeah, he was very complimentary of them. The only one he was critical of was Levy for not spending more on upgrading the squad to get to the next level.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

Just reading this thread, hadn't heard about the NBC paywall yet. That's garbage.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

http://www.espnfc.co.uk/english-premier-league/story/3140346/premier-league-fixtures-2017-18

I just counted 11 for Arsenal between 11/28 and 1/1

That's insanity

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Yeah, he was very complimentary of them. The only one he was critical of was Levy for not spending more on upgrading the squad to get to the next level.

Window is still open though. Everything has pointed towards Pochettino wanting to assess the squad, especially their youth players, before making any moves.

 

[Havre]

I guess it is difficult to graps the concept of making money before you spend it. Can´t expect a football manager to understand high level financial theory. Fair enough.

City, Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea (with Costa and I don´t know what the deal is with Matic) had big holes they had to fill. Completely different to Spurs. All makes sense to me.

Personally I don´t think Chelsea are any stronger than last year (assuming Costa and Matic leave). I would argue they are weaker - at least until the new players settle.

 

[Adonis Creed]

I guess it is difficult to graps the concept of making money before you spend it. Can´t expect a football manager to understand high level financial theory. Fair enough.

City, Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea (with Costa and I don´t know what the deal is with Matic) had big holes they had to fill. Completely different to Spurs. All makes sense to me.

Personally I don´t think Chelsea is any stronger than last year (assuming Costa and Matic leave). I would argue they are weaker - at least until the new players settle.

Chelsea has no depth....with Champs League etc...it's gonna be tough
United is pretty strong all-around
City still has Stones as starting CB...LOLLLLL
Spurs is pretty strong...but no depht and 1 injury away
Arsenal as no frking CM ...
Pool won Asian trophy...that's the only trophy they can hope for.

 

[East Coast Bias]

Just reading this thread, hadn't heard about the NBC paywall yet. That's garbage.

Yeah it's actually worse than I initially thought.

Doesn't seem like you can cut the cord - you can only buy the package in addition to having NBCSN on cable.

I need to read more on this to figure out if I need it for United matches, or if I have to go to a bar a few times a season

 

[StatesideSensFan]

Yeah it's actually worse than I initially thought.

Doesn't seem like you can cut the cord - you can only buy the package in addition to having NBCSN on cable.

I need to read more on this to figure out if I need it for United matches, or if I have to go to a bar a few times a season

yea right, like most United games wont be on one of the NBC properties.
you should just goto the bar a couple of times a year.

 

[Cassano]

I think UCL can **** up Spurs season, but this is me speaking as a Spurs hater. They lack the overall squad depth to compete in both competitions at once. Gonna lead to injuries and reliance on a shady bench. They should just go all out in the League - they've shown that they're good enough to win it.

 

[bluesfan94]

I think UCL can **** up Spurs season, but this is me speaking as a Spurs hater. They lack the overall squad depth to compete in both competitions at once. Gonna lead to injuries and reliance on a shady bench. They should just go all out in the League - they've shown that they're good enough to win it.

They could just do what they did last year and do awful in Europe.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

I think UCL can **** up Spurs season, but this is me speaking as a Spurs hater. They lack the overall squad depth to compete in both competitions at once. Gonna lead to injuries and reliance on a shady bench. They should just go all out in the League - they've shown that they're good enough to win it.

Once again, the transfer window is still open.

 

[Havre]

I don't see how that is a very good analysis of what happened with Spurs last season.

The same players finished the season fantastically. So they somehow were able to recover from fatigue during the season? Don't believe that for a second.

Depth isn't that bad. It isn't as good as RM etc. of course, but that will never be the case. Pochettino for large stretches didn't on purpose rotate much. Still they finished the season almost perfectly so it is hard to criticize him much for the way he managed the squad.

I'm not sure if Spurs were mentally ready to play important games mid-week last fall. Also some key players injured during that time (Kane and Alderweireld). One might argue Spurs didn't have the depth to replace those players, but no-one except maybe BM and RM have the depth to replace their best players in a good way.

 

[bluesfan94]

I don't see how that is a very good analysis of what happened with Spurs last season.

The same players finished the season fantastically. So they somehow were able to recover from fatigue during the season? Don't believe that for a second.

Depth isn't that bad. It isn't as good as RM etc. of course, but that will never be the case. Pochettino for large stretches didn't on purpose rotate much. Still they finished the season almost perfectly so it is hard to criticize him much for the way he managed the squad.

I'm not sure if Spurs were mentally ready to play important games mid-week last fall. Also some key players injured during that time (Kane and Alderweireld). One might argue Spurs didn't have the depth to replace those players, but no-one except maybe BM and RM have the depth to replace their best players in a good way.

To be fair, fatigue is a lot different when you're out of Europe and after the winter blitz of games