EPL Thread

[PARROTHEAD]

[Canadian Saint]

1 hour ago, Oregon Ducks said:

We should go out and get Buendía from Norwich.

The guy is a melon. You can do better.

[PARROTHEAD]

1 hour ago, Oregon Ducks said:

Any team would miss Ndidi but I think Mendy has done very well in his place. I agree that we need more players, though. It looks like we won’t be getting any but I think we need a RW in the worst way. Our choices are Ayoze Perez (yuck) and Under who looked energetic but ultimately did not accomplish much yesterday. There are rumors that Periera will play there when he comes back from injury but he was one of the best fullbacks in the premier league last year so I wouldnt want that.  I also think we need another attack minded CM, especially if Maddison is out again. 

At defense, I feel okay since Amartey has looked good (but he might be injured) and we just splurged on Wesley Fofona who better be ready for the big time.

We should go out and get Buendía from Norwich.

Looks like yall are trying to dump RW Ghezzal right now. Maybe something last minute is in the works like Thomas and Arsenal.

[Dr LBC]

On 10/4/2020 at 1:58 AM, Hunter2_1 said:

Bielsa's teams play exquisite football (not too dissimilar from Pep I guess).

In no small part because Bielsa was a heavy inspiration (I wouldn't go so far as to call him an out and out mentor) for Pep; Pep has gone as far as to say Bielsa was the single-greatest influence.

Sides utilizing styles of play in the Mourinho mold should definitely be worried.  You really can't just sit and park 10 men behind the 18-yard line against Bielsa's sides - they'll wear you the heck down and out.  Arteta's style of play isn't a mirror of Pep's (I'm seeing elements of Pep for certain, but I'm also seeing some elements of Gasperini - which I believe are Van Gaal inspired, but also Marcelo Lippi).  I say elements because I don't feel like he's really gotten to truly mold and implement his style of play because of personnel (obvious budgetary issues and having to trying to make chicken salad out of some cat food, particularly in the midfield).  Long story, short, I'm a little less worried about Arteta being able to handle at least gameplanning against a Bielsa/Leeds side because he's done it successfully before (FA Cup run last season, pre-COVID-break).  I'll still always be concerned because I hold Bielsa in high regard, had been clamoring since it seemed apparent Wenger wasn't going to be able to dig himself out of the hole he created that whoever replaced him should be a Bielsa disciple of some sort.

[Hunter2_1]

13 hours ago, Oregon Ducks said:

Any team would miss Ndidi but I think Mendy has done very well in his place. I agree that we need more players, though. It looks like we won’t be getting any but I think we need a RW in the worst way. Our choices are Ayoze Perez (yuck) and Under who looked energetic but ultimately did not accomplish much yesterday. There are rumors that Periera will play there when he comes back from injury but he was one of the best fullbacks in the premier league last year so I wouldnt want that.  I also think we need another attack minded CM, especially if Maddison is out again. 

At defense, I feel okay since Amartey has looked good (but he might be injured) and we just splurged on Wesley Fofona who better be ready for the big time.

We should go out and get Buendía from Norwich.

It seemed Vardy got absolutely no service. He's got a very good shot to goal conversion rate, but if he's not getting the ball, there needs to be a bit more creativity there. I don't know what or who the answer is. As a WHU fan, I'm very surprised to see LCFC not score at least 2 on us.

Edited October 6, 2020 by Hunter2_1

[Hunter2_1]

6 hours ago, The LBC said:

In no small part because Bielsa was a heavy inspiration (I wouldn't go so far as to call him an out and out mentor) for Pep; Pep has gone as far as to say Bielsa was the single-greatest influence.

Sides utilizing styles of play in the Mourinho mold should definitely be worried.  You really can't just sit and park 10 men behind the 18-yard line against Bielsa's sides - they'll wear you the heck down and out.  Arteta's style of play isn't a mirror of Pep's (I'm seeing elements of Pep for certain, but I'm also seeing some elements of Gasperini - which I believe are Van Gaal inspired, but also Marcelo Lippi).  I say elements because I don't feel like he's really gotten to truly mold and implement his style of play because of personnel (obvious budgetary issues and having to trying to make chicken salad out of some cat food, particularly in the midfield).  Long story, short, I'm a little less worried about Arteta being able to handle at least gameplanning against a Bielsa/Leeds side because he's done it successfully before (FA Cup run last season, pre-COVID-break).  I'll still always be concerned because I hold Bielsa in high regard, had been clamoring since it seemed apparent Wenger wasn't going to be able to dig himself out of the hole he created that whoever replaced him should be a Bielsa disciple of some sort.

That FA Cup tie was awesome. It was like how a Barca team of recent past would play it around Arsenal. Leeds lacked a goal, but they didn't lack anything outfield. 

Going to give the below a read (tactical piece on that game) because I haven't studied how Mikel's Arsenal plays yet. This is just one example of course, I need more.

https://spielverlagerung.com/2020/09/08/arsenal-leeds-bielsa-arteta-analysis/\

 

 

"The only true chance that Arsenal created from structured possession in the first half actually came from them losing the ball then immediately winning it back from counterpressure.

Within that lies one of the potential downsides of man-to-man pressing in that you’re more likely to win the ball back from duels as opposed to interceptions. The negative side of this is that you may be more susceptible to counterpressure upon winning the ball. If you win the ball in a duel – you immediately have an opponent in close proximity who can apply counterpressure.  

For the most part, though, Leeds’ strategy stifled Arsenal significantly and restricted the home side from creating many dangerous situations at all. This is as much a testament to Leeds’ approach without the ball, which has steamrolled a number of Championship teams through its intensity, as it is a criticism of Arsenal’s lack of strategy to outplay it. When preparing for a team such as Leeds – who have a consistent approach regardless of opponent – you largely know what you’re in for. For this reason, it was quite surprising to see Arsenal without a clear strategy with the ball.

It must be said that it’s one thing to prepare a strategy, and it’s another to execute it on the pitch against such an intense opponent."

Edited October 6, 2020 by Hunter2_1

[Dr LBC]

9 hours ago, Hunter2_1 said:

That FA Cup tie was awesome. It was like how a Barca team of recent past would play it around Arsenal. Leeds lacked a goal, but they didn't lack anything outfield. 

Going to give the below a read (tactical piece on that game) because I haven't studied how Mikel's Arsenal plays yet. This is just one example of course, I need more.

https://spielverlagerung.com/2020/09/08/arsenal-leeds-bielsa-arteta-analysis/\

 

 

"The only true chance that Arsenal created from structured possession in the first half actually came from them losing the ball then immediately winning it back from counterpressure.

Within that lies one of the potential downsides of man-to-man pressing in that you’re more likely to win the ball back from duels as opposed to interceptions. The negative side of this is that you may be more susceptible to counterpressure upon winning the ball. If you win the ball in a duel – you immediately have an opponent in close proximity who can apply counterpressure.  

For the most part, though, Leeds’ strategy stifled Arsenal significantly and restricted the home side from creating many dangerous situations at all. This is as much a testament to Leeds’ approach without the ball, which has steamrolled a number of Championship teams through its intensity, as it is a criticism of Arsenal’s lack of strategy to outplay it. When preparing for a team such as Leeds – who have a consistent approach regardless of opponent – you largely know what you’re in for. For this reason, it was quite surprising to see Arsenal without a clear strategy with the ball.

It must be said that it’s one thing to prepare a strategy, and it’s another to execute it on the pitch against such an intense opponent."

One thing to consider is that this was all of a month and a half (if that) into Arteta taking over as head coach.  It's extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible, to come in and wholesale swap out tactics and strategy; part of that was why I gave Emery the length of leash I gave him before I finally gave up on him, because by the end Arsene's laissez faire strategy was literally just that - "go out there and play your natural game," ignoring how the natural game of some of his players butted heads with the natural game of others (most notably Xhaka - who needed to be micromanaged, particularly in training, as could be seen all the way back to Monchonglaadback when the manager would literally whistle-stop training sessions to tell Xhaka he needed to move a matter of centimeters to his left or right for proper positioning relative to maintaining the shape; but also players like Ozil whose "natural game" didn't involve much defending at all, and what shifts he did put in were half-arsed and soft).

Clearly, in that FA Cup tie we were saved by the mercy of the fact that Patrick Bamford can't hit the broad side of a barn, but there was definable strategy - I remember being damn near agog that Mustafi was actually disciplined and following through on a prescribed objective, particularly for a player who has a terrible penchant for freelancing (and blaming others for his mistakes).  The first half of that match (I was watching live at pub) felt very much like one side who had been bedded in under their manager for more than a season versus another side still very much in the bedding process.  It was also a match where Arteta's ability to make second half adjustments was very clear to me.

[persiandud]

On 10/5/2020 at 12:28 PM, PARROTHEAD said:

good guy Ozil! 

[Oregon Ducks]

SMH. They should be ashamed of themselves:
https://www.espn.com/soccer/english-premier-league/story/4207376/top-clubs-threatened-premier-league-exit-during-project-big-picture-talks-fa-chief

[PARROTHEAD]

15 hours ago, Oregon Ducks said:

SMH. They should be ashamed of themselves:
https://www.espn.com/soccer/english-premier-league/story/4207376/top-clubs-threatened-premier-league-exit-during-project-big-picture-talks-fa-chief

Narrowing down my team. Then West Ham tosses their hat in the ring with response to this.

But I say let them go. There are plenty billionaires and groups lined up to buy teams. Be a slight dropoff in play for a couple years. But Saudi PFI, QSI, DaGrosa and all work in the mix. Instead of pushback from the 6 that didnt want competition to enter.

[Mega Ron]

20 hours ago, PARROTHEAD said:

Narrowing down my team. Then West Ham tosses their hat in the ring with response to this.

But I say let them go. There are plenty billionaires and groups lined up to buy teams. Be a slight dropoff in play for a couple years. But Saudi PFI, QSI, DaGrosa and all work in the mix. Instead of pushback from the 6 that didnt want competition to enter.

There's nowhere for them to go, and they don't actually want to leave.

What they want is to control the money so that they get much more if it than anyone else.

[PARROTHEAD]

1 hour ago, Mega Ron said:

There's nowhere for them to go, and they don't actually want to leave.

What they want is to control the money so that they get much more if it than anyone else.

Yes. But they want to lay ground work and test the waters for an eventual Euro Super League. The heavy hitters in Italy are hundreds of millions in debt. Between the 2 alone, could probably have 10 teams towards it.

Edited October 15, 2020 by PARROTHEAD

[Mega Ron]

3 hours ago, PARROTHEAD said:

Yes. But they want to lay ground work and test the waters for an eventual Euro Super League. The heavy hitters in Italy are hundreds of millions in debt. Between the 2 alone, could probably have 10 teams towards it.

I think they know that a super League won't work. Every team that would be in it is used to being more or less the big fish in the small pond.

None of them want to be less successful. They just want the TV money.

[Hunter2_1]

in a bid to push through a transformation of English football being engineered by Liverpool and Manchester United that would hand them more power and wealth.

 

At some point the league needs to stop letting these two drive every single narrative of everything to do with English football. I get the fan base and money etc, but you don't find this in the NFL. You cannot say 90% of pundits are either ex Dallas or SF players, for example. You don't have Nantz displaying outright blatant favouritism in his commentary (check Martial's first goal, for example. Tyler ceases his job as a commentator and becomes full on fan). It's also strange how Man United have topped the penalty given stats more than other clubs in the last 10 years. 

 

[PARROTHEAD]

2 hours ago, Hunter2_1 said:

in a bid to push through a transformation of English football being engineered by Liverpool and Manchester United that would hand them more power and wealth.

 

At some point the league needs to stop letting these two drive every single narrative of everything to do with English football. I get the fan base and money etc, but you don't find this in the NFL. You cannot say 90% of pundits are either ex Dallas or SF players, for example. You don't have Nantz displaying outright blatant favouritism in his commentary (check Martial's first goal, for example. Tyler ceases his job as a commentator and becomes full on fan). It's also strange how Man United have topped the penalty given stats more than other clubs in the last 10 years. 

 

Quote

 

Three and a half decades ago, the rumblings of discontent from what were branded the “big five” – Liverpool, Everton, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United – eventually led to a succession of tense showdowns between the Football League and its clubs. One particular coming together, in a hotel near Gatwick Airport, set in motion a turn of events that threw the big five into discussions with ITV over the potential launch of a Super League, one in which they would be given greater power and other participants would be there via invitation. It would have been a very different beast to the Premier League. 

It was only to be a brief reprieve for the Football League. An uneasy alliance limped on and four years later Sky assisted in precipitating a whole new ball game – yet it wasn’t one that loaded the dice for the big five. It was all about the collective. Superiority complexes soothed for a generation, but for the biggest clubs, a new ticking timebomb was placed into a slow countdown. The problem wasn’t solved – it was simply kicked far down the road. 

So here we are again. The clubs who are English football’s biggest selling point once again feel like they should be given a larger piece of the pie. It is out in the open now and it is an itch that can’t go ignored. Suddenly, the Premier League is in a vulnerable place it never imagined possible. After years of suspiciously eyeballing the spectre of a European Super League as the great threat, the betrayal might well arise from within its own ranks instead.

 

https://thesefootballtimes.co/2020/10/16/project-big-picture-may-be-dead-but-revolution-is-now-on-the-horizon-in-english-football/