Football Thread 2020/2021

[Silent Runner]

Rakitic putting Seville up with 10 minutes to go. Spain is where the excitement is this season. 

[Naysonymous]

Juventus outside the Champions League places in Serie A with three games to go, and they've still got to play Inter.   Considering they were one of the driving forces behind the European Super League and have a long history of being general shitbags, here's hoping that they are playing Thursday nights on the Italian equivalent of Channel 5 next season. 

[Fry Crayola]

It's funny how the same fact - clubs currently have to qualify through results on the field - is an argument against the super league for most right thinking people, and an argument for it for the self-appointed elite.

[JamesTW]

PSG might end up not winning the league, you can take the lad out of Tottenham...

[Naysonymous]

1 hour ago, Fry Crayola said:

It's funny how the same fact - clubs currently have to qualify through results on the field - is an argument against the super league for most right thinking people, and an argument for it for the self-appointed elite.

 

Absolutely.  Just look at the decline of AC Milan. For over twenty years they were at the absolute top of the game, I'm sure they considered themselves on a par with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Liverpool in terms of being a global brand but as soon as Silvio Berlusconi stopped paying the bills they dropped off a cliff and disappeared into relative obscurity.  Similar story at Arsenal who were unable to compete once they were financially outgunned by Chelsea and Manchester City.   Manchester United have been in and out of the Champions League since Fergie left (apparently this is the first time they have qualified in consecutive seasons without Ferguson, and they only just scraped in last year so it was close) and owners who thought they were in bulletproof positions suddenly realised they weren't.  It's absolutely disgusting, but I guess it's symbolic of the last decade where football has steadily got worse because of power grabs and the rise of the uberclubs. 

 

Seeing Bayern win 9 in a row in Germany, Juventus do the same in Italy, PSG win 8 of the last 9 in France, the Barcelona/Madrid duopoly in Spain is just fucking boring but new fans coming into the game just accept that as their baseline and then follow one of those clubs and just need everybody else to make the numbers up while their heroes win again.    This season hopefully sees a bit of change, Juve have temporarily been beaten to the title and I hope the usual suspects miss out in Spain and France too, but it wont last.   Really disappointed that Real got that 94th minute equaliser last night, it effectively ended Seville's title challenge but I guess it's still kinda OK to cheer for Atleti. 

[Smoothy]

2 hours ago, Naysonymous said:

Seeing Bayern win 9 in a row in Germany, Juventus do the same in Italy, PSG win 8 of the last 9 in France, the Barcelona/Madrid duopoly in Spain is just fucking boring but new fans coming into the game just accept that as their baseline and then follow one of those clubs and just need everybody else to make the numbers up while their heroes win again.    This season hopefully sees a bit of change, Juve have temporarily been beaten to the title and I hope the usual suspects miss out in Spain and France too, but it wont last.   Really disappointed that Real got that 94th minute equaliser last night, it effectively ended Seville's title challenge but I guess it's still kinda OK to cheer for Atleti. 

 

Sounds like the days when Fergie would be given almost all the time he wanted to help his team equalise before the whistle went  

[Ork1927]

I'd just put in the Championship thread that the play off final might be moved as the Champions League is going to Wembley.

 

But Champions League now being reported as going to Portugal as the UK government won't let UEFA VIPs have quarantine waivers to come into the UK from anywhere to attend the game.

 

How many - 2,000!!!!

 

Which, in theory, would be 20% of the allowed crowd based on the rules announced today for fans (which I'm sure would also be magically abandoned for the Champions League while Brentford will then end up playing Swansea at Old Trafford.

 

 

[JamesTW]

Id love it if it ended up getting played somewhere like Bolton or Middlesbrough, imagine having Middlesbrough '21 on a flag

[Plissken]

We can now add "stop, stop, they're already dead" to the list of reasons for VAR not overturning a decision.

[Plissken]

Official.

 

[GamesGamesGames]

Is it me, or does three games to go feel early for all the relegation places to be settled?

[Plissken]

A quick skim of previous years it seems that there was maybe one place left on the last day at most.

[5R7]

from sky -

21:58

MAKING HISTORY... FOR THE WRONG REASONS

For the first time in Premier League history, all of the relegation spots have been filled with three games of the season remaining.

 

[davidcotton]

8 minutes ago, 5R7 said:

from sky -

21:58

MAKING HISTORY... FOR THE WRONG REASONS

For the first time in Premier League history, all of the relegation spots have been filled with three games of the season remaining.

 

Or

 

”Oh shit, how do we hype up the final day now?!?”

 

It’s “just” europe places tbc now isn’t it pretty much?*

 

 

*assuming man city don’t collapse.

[MikeBeaver]

6 minutes ago, davidcotton said:

 

 

*assuming man city don’t collapse.

 

 

PLEASE let this happen

[Art Vandelay]

Looking at the table it’s pretty much all done now isn’t it? There is a very vague possibility Leicester may blow it and there might be a small amount of meaningless shuffling around the middle, but I think we can thank God in heaven that this cursed season may finally be finished. Give the smelly bag of kit to someone’s mum to sort out and we’ll see you again in August. 

[Ork1927]

There are quite a few teams that are going to start next season back in the league they left in 19/20 with fans missing the actual promotion/relegation run in at the end of 19/20 or the league just being decided on PPG half finished then missing the entire season where they went back down or back up.

 

West Brom and Fulham go back down to the Championship

Watford and Norwich return to the Premier League and Bournemouth could join them via the play-offs.

Hull come straight back up to the Championship.

Wycombe and Rotherham go straight back down to League One.

Bolton go back up to League One and could be joined by Tranmere via the Play-offs.

Swindon and Northampton go straight back down to League Two.

 

And spare a thought for Southend who got relegated twice during Covid and are now in the Conference.

 

Worse than that - Macclesfield looked like staying up at the end of the 19/20 season in League Two, but were then relgated due to points deduction and then wound up.

[DirkCrisis]

Thanks for the assist, Burnley. And I’m sure Southampton fans appreciate it too.

And we finish a season with Neal Maupay being the only player in PL history to be sent off and concede a penalty after the final whistle. Great stat.

[Gotters]

Brighton such a weird team - expected points is a measure of points based not on actual results but on the basis of the xG in every game. By that measure they'd be fifth in the table. It would need closer study to look at the underlying shots to say whether its simply the lack of finishing (which I suspect) or whether they are taking a lot of low quality shots which add up to a decent xG total but in reality have low probability of going in. 

 

 

 

 

[Dudley]

8 hours ago, Ork1927 said:

Wycombe and Rotherham go straight back down to League One.

 

 

tbf, Wycombe weren't even technically in the playoff places and then cup ran their way to promotion, that someone managed to finished behind them is a miracle.

 

And actually with the whole Derby thing, they could still stay up couldn't they?

[DirkCrisis]

20 minutes ago, Gotters said:

Brighton such a weird team - expected points is a measure of points based not on actual results but on the basis of the xG in every game. By that measure they'd be fifth in the table. It would need closer study to look at the underlying shots to say whether its simply the lack of finishing (which I suspect) or whether they are taking a lot of low quality shots which add up to a decent xG total but in reality have low probability of going in. 

 

 

 

 

Having watched nearly every game this season I can confidently say it’s our finishing. There have been plenty of near open goal misses from a few yards out which blow my mind. At this point I’d be happy with an ihenacho, Abraham, Antonio or Chris Wood. But that’s expensive and I think we just need better coaches for the forwards maybe.

 

The Potter difference is that it doesn’t feel like we’re digging in and scraping another season. At least we’re getting an identity and I hope it pays off.

[Plissken]

Table based on xG?  If my grandma had balls etc...

[Gotters]

10 minutes ago, Plissken said:

Table based on xG?  If my grandma had balls etc...

 

Clearly not for proper football men that eat those nasty pies with smears of meat flavouring in them whilst drinking pints of bitter whilst nodding about a new signing showing some good touches. 

 

An xPts table is clearly for chichi St Pauli supporting hipsters that like talking about how difficult it is to capture and model team shape data or talk about the new signing making a lot of high intensity runs in zone 14 of the pitch (thirds is so old school)

 

It's an informative table, not to be taken too seriously as like claiming you're ahead on points when getting ko'd in boxing, but it does highlight over the course of a season like this something beyond what the actual results say. if a team has problems knowing what they are is quite important if you want to fix them

[Naysonymous]

It makes you wonder how Graham Potter would do at a club who had Harry Kane and Son Heung-min up front instead of Danny Welbeck and Neal Maupay.  

[Gotters]

6 minutes ago, Naysonymous said:

It makes you wonder how Graham Potter would do at a club who had Harry Kane and Son Heung-min up front instead of Danny Welbeck and Neal Maupay.  

 

If he wants to test that theory of Kane up front he shouldn't go to Spurs this summer.

[ryodi]

Kane isn’t going anywhere this summer. Not because he wants to stay at Spurs but because no one can afford what Levy would want for him.

[Boothjan]

Fans allowed back into Molineux for the final game of the season v Man Utd.  Cheapest ticket - £40.  Fucking hell, Wolves - read the room.  Really hope they see sense and change their decision on this.  It's a dead rubber, in a almost empty stadium - charging 40 quid is a disgrace.

[Chewylegs]

Whatever happened to the outcry of fielding a weakened side?... That Man U side is a disgrace.

[spork]

12 minutes ago, Chewylegs said:

Whatever happened to the outcry of fielding a weakened side?... That Man U side is a disgrace.

 

Whatever happened to the outcry of having to play 3 games in 5 days?... That fixture list is a disgrace.

 

[ilpostino]

14 minutes ago, Chewylegs said:

Whatever happened to the outcry of fielding a weakened side?... That Man U side is a disgrace.

 

Well if they fielded this team against Liverpool on the 13th we wouldn't care - three games in five days is bollocks though.