2020/21 Premier League & General Football Discussion

[redhed17]

The Spurs v Liverpool game was a proper match, with both teams playing well, though with few chances. But an enjoyable game. Liverpool had another few makeshift central defensive partnerships. Fabinho got injured before the match, so Henderson and Matip started the game, but Matip only lasted till half time, seemingly emphasising his continuing fragility. So Nat Phillips played the second half, and thankfully had a good game. Seeing as Spurs were in good form, and Kane and Son in particular had been having rave reviews, Liverpool kept them pretty quiet, even before Kane's injury.

Moaninho said Kane said he could play on with one sore ankle, which I think he started with, but not both. Hope Kane gets fit soon, but there didn't seem much to the incident where he got injured.

I have Son and Kane in my Fantasy Football team, but I'm happy to forgo their points for the positive Liverpool, result. I got good points for Alexander-Arnold though.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Jesse Lingard has moved to West Ham on loan from Man United.

January transfer window closes at 11pm on Monday, been a quiet window but a few in and outs have happened.

 

[redhed17]

Jesse Lingard has moved to West Ham on loan from Man United.

January transfer window closes at 11pm on Monday, been a quiet window but a few in and outs have happened.

Good luck to Lingard, maybe West Ham can find out where he plays and some form. He'll do well to get in their team whilst they are in form.

Good to see most teams showing restraint in buying because of the financial situation. Saying that, Liverpool may dip into the having resisted for so long because of the ongoing defensive injury devastation. Though I wouldn't be surprised if nothing happens.

 

[andrea]

Impressive **** tier football on display tonight

 

[Touring Mars]

If Neil Lennon keeps his job after this, I will need to visit a hat shop with a knife, fork and plenty of seasoning...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54671303

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Everton 0-2 Newcastle
Man City 1-0 Sheff Utd
Palace 1-0 Wolves
West Brom 2-2 Fulham
Arsenal 0-0 Man Utd
Southampton 0-1 Villa

Have been at work most of the day so missed about 90% of today's action including the United game but it seems I haven't missed much! Watching MOTD now.

Marcus Rashford has responded to racist abuse he has suffered on Twitter following the Arsenal game, if the morons could stop doing that then that would be great thanks!

 

[andrea]

Made mia

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Last week it was announced that Barcelona's debt is now over 1 billion euros...

 

[redhed17]

Made mia

Last week it was announced that Barcelona's debt is now over 1 billion euros...

Do you think both these things are related! PR in action.

I doubt many were worrying about what Messi was earning when they were winning leagues and cups. Can't really say anything about the contracts he was given during the current lean times! The numbers are obscene to be clear, but they were happy enough to give him that much. If you could get a deal like that, would you turn it down!

Be interesting to know how much Messi brings into Barca for merchandise, as almost every Barca kit I see has Messi on the back of it. And I see more Barca kits than should be seen outside of Spain.

Messi supposedly nearly left at the end of last season, and after wanting to leave, is being made out to be the bad guy for all the negativity surrounding Barca, especially the finances. Whoever was in charge racking up those debts should be highlighted, and it would be interesting to see how much they were paying themselves too during the 'boom' times.

 

[Touring Mars]

€15889 an hour. For 4 years. Not including the sign on fee or bonuses.

 

[Liquid]

Two nuances I'd like to mention:

If Messi demanded those terms, it's pretty obscene to be such a drain on a club you say doesn't invest in the team.
If Barcelona plonked those numbers in front of him, whether out of desperation or misguided belief, I don't begrude him signing it.

I'd hate to be Barcelona's accountant right now.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Chelsea 2-0 Burnley.
Leicester 1-3 Leeds.
West Ham 1-3 Liverpool.

Chelsea fully deserved their win as Burnley did nothing and had zero shots on target, Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso with the goals and the Alonso was a fantastic piece of skill and finishing by him, Slightly surprising result in the Leicester game with them losing, Barnes gave Leicester the lead but Dallas equalised right away, Bamford with a goal and assist for Harrison.

West Ham-Liverpool just finished and great performance by Liverpool and Salah who scored two with two great finishes, Firmino came off the bench to assist Wijnaldum. Dawson got a late consolation for West Ham.

Brighton-Spurs to come tonight.

 

[redhed17]

Two nuances I'd like to mention:
If Messi demanded those terms, it's pretty obscene to be such a drain on a club you say doesn't invest in the team.

Players ask for as much as they can get, as anyone would do during contract negotiations. It is up, potentially in this case, the club to ensure that there is money there to run the rest of the club an improve the team.

I have no doubt during negotiations with a player of that stature within a team that they would also have been given assurances that money would be spent on the team to improve it, and if that doesn't happen, especially when that player could be the brunt of any unhappiness with results and performances, they have a right to call it out.

If Barcelona plonked those numbers in front of him, whether out of desperation or misguided belief, I don't begrude him signing it.

I don't begrudge him, or anyone else taking money like that. They pay numbers like that because they know if they don't, others will. The success, and the staggering number of goals he scores, means that many will have thought it has been money well spent. They may also pay more than others would do to scare people off from taking on a contract like that, and so far that has worked.

I'd hate to be Barcelona's accountant right now.

Imagine the size of the spreadsheet with all those large (mostly negative it seems ) numbers.

 

[redhed17]

Salah who scored two with two great finishes

I think that was an understatement, especially for the second goal which was stunning! People are underplaying the pass that Shaqiri played first time into Salah, but few would do that first touch without taking it under control, and potentially losing the chance, but to do it with such accuracy should earn a lot of credit. What Salah did though in controlling the ball and passing it past the goalie was amazing.

Pity Liverpool let a goal in near the end, as West Ham hardly had a chance, but they are always dangerous from set pieces, and if you give them too many chances, goals like that can happen from a corner.
Another team on a run of good form plays poorly. 💡 Ah, Liverpool played well again. Next Sunday's game should be interesting Cit€h, but there is another game for each team before then, and things could look very different.

I didn't see the Chel$ki v Burnley game, but watched most of the Leicester v Leeds, and that was a good game, with a surprising result from the way Leicester started the game. Leicester made changes at half time which seemed to blunt their attacking.

From a Fantasy Football Pov, I would rather my two Liverpool defender kept clean sheets for a lot more points, but if West Ham were to score, I was hoping for Soucek, but sadly not.

 

[redhed17]

I just did a Google search to look at Messi's stats, and on the page with the results, it says he earns £26m a year. Looks like that is quite an underestimate. Only £97m out.

And from Wikipedia,

Thanks to a leak via Spanish newspaper El Mundo, it was reveal that in 2017, Messi signed a four year €555,237,619 (US$673,919,105), if all incentives are met contract, that would make him the most highly paid athlete in known sports history.

I'm assuming some of that money would be results related, so maybe not collecting cup and league winning bonuses every year, especially the Champions League winning bonuses.

Barcelona are threatening legal action against the newspaper that published the leak, whilst taking no responsibility for it. Not sure what basis they could sue for though.

Btw, 455 goals in 502 games for Barcelona is mind blowing.

 

[andrea]

Messi needs a raise imo

Do you think both these things are related! PR in action.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Brighton 1-0 Spurs, Trossard's first half goals gets Brighton a great win, Tottenham were rubbish.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Some deadline day stuff.

Liverpool looking to sign Preston defender Ben Davies and he is set to have medical at club, deal to be worth around £2 million, Liverpool also looking to sign Ozan Kabak from Schalke but that deal is subject to Schalke getting a replacement in first.
Arsenal reluctant to let Maitland-Niles leave on loan to Southampton with Leicester and West Brom also interested, Arsenal have let Mesut Ozil and Sokratis go this window.
Fulham in talks with Bordeaux for loan deal for Josh Maja.
Okay Yokuslu completes West Brom medical ahead of loan move.

As I mentioned before it has been a fairly quiet window but some deals have been done including Villa signing midfielder Morgan Sanson from Lyon for £14 million and West Ham making the Benrahma loan permanent for £26 million, plus all the usual loan deals.

 

[Famine]

Okay

I wonder what his siblings are called.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

The January transfer window is now....closed!

Liverpool, Arsenal and West Brom have been busy today.

Starting with Liverpool as they managed to get two defenders in, Ben Davies has signed from Preston for a deal potentially rising to £2.2 million and Turkish centre-back Ozan Kabak has joined on loan from Schalke with an option to by for £16 million, I have heard a bit about Kabak and I know him from recent editions of the Football Manager games, he is a good young defender with great potential.
Minamino from Liverpool to Southampton on loan could still happen, the Saints tried to get Neco Williams on loan from then earlier but Liverpool turned it down.
Arsenal have loaned out youngsters Joe Willock to Newcastle and Ainsley Maitland-Niles to West Brom, they also cancelled Mustafi's contract so he could join Schalke to replace Kabak, a lot of outs from Arsenal this window with Ozil and Sokratis also leaving.
Joshua King looks set to leave Bournemouth to join Everton o a short term contract, he has rejected the offer from Fulham.
Brighton have signed Moises Caicedo for £4.5 million, the young Ecuador midfielder was linked to Man United earlier in the month.
Everton defender Jon-Joe Kenny has joined Celtic on loan.

That's basically the biggest news from today, a few other notable things is that Dele Alli is staying at Spurs despite only playing 76 mins of league Football so far this season and Watford have signed the sons of Dennis Bergkamp and Pochettino!

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Here are the games for this week.

Tonight.
Sheffield United v West Brom (6pm)
Wolves v Arsenal (6pm)
Man United v Southampton (8.15)
Newcastle v Crystal Palace (8.15)

Wednesday.
Burnley v Man City (6pm)
Fulham v Leicester (6pm)
Leeds v Everton (7.30)
Aston Villa v West Ham (8.15)
Liverpool v Brighton (8.15)

Thursday.
Tottenham v Chelsea (8pm)

All games are live on BT Sport.

 

[Phoenix]

United just trashed Southampton 9-0.

Soton with 2 red cards. The first one was clear, the 2nd one was really cheap.

Great result for United, and the plus goals is a nice bonus for the lads.

 

[Famine]

90th-minute match-winner in the Wednesday game...

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Wolves 2-1 Arsenal
Sheff Utd 2-1 West Brom
Newcastle 1-2 Palace
Man Utd 9-0 Southampton

Quite a few controversial moments tonight, starting with the Luiz sending off in the Wolves game which I still cant get my head around, Wolves player's trailing leg hits Luiz on the knee and then he goes down in the box and that was a red card for Luiz and a penalty! The penalty I get as Luiz was last man but the red was ridiculous, Neves converted the pen and then Moutinho scored with a great finish after Pepe gave Arsenal the lead, Leno got himself sent off for handling outside the area as Arsenal went down to nine.

Southampton first red card was after just 76 seconds as Young midfielder Jankewitz put a really bad challenge on McTominay which left him with stud marks on his thigh, was a definite red, we ran riot after that and it was 4-0 at half time, the second red was undeserved as the contact was minimal, I do feel for Southampton, but its a great confidence boosting win for us, there have now been three 9-0's in PL history and either Man United or Southampton have been involved in all three!

In the other two games Sheff Utd continued their recent revival with a win over WBA and they have now equaled the worst points total of 11 set by Derby in 2007, really not looking good for either United or WBA to stay up though. Shelvey gave Newcastle the lead early on but Riedewald and Cahill gave Palace the win.

 

[Dave A]

I felt sorry for Southampton in the second half. United were ruthless last night, everything went our way but we took full advantage. Even against 10 men for nearly all of the game I wouldn't have expencted that scoreline. Southampton were unlucky, thier offside goal was so marginal, I don't like those calls. I also hav e amajor gripe that they base the decision on the frame after the ball has been kicked not the frame before and players at full pelt can move over a foot in distance between frames. So with calls this close the player probably is onside at the moment the ball was kicked a lot of the time.

The Cavani penalty/free kick was a bad call too, the ref blew for a penalty just as Greenwood was putting the ball in the net. Surely that sould have been advantage. Then there was trhe whole farce over was it in the box or not, his foot was on the line but the contact was further up his leg and not on the line.

And then the second red was very harsh, there was clear contact, Martial was through on goal so a definitely penalty, but this rule that it's a red becuase he didn't go for the ball is stupid. He didn't go for the ball becuase he tried to pull out of the challenge. The idea he could have taken Martial out in a much bigger way but only got a yellow beucase he went for the ball is ridiculous.

Very pleased with the ruthlessnes son display, but we have to take that game in isolation. Everton next, they won't be easy. That game yeterday was one of those that just goes for you. But I will finish on priase for Luke Shaw, what a player he has been this season. Absolultely phenominal last night and he's been consistent all season so far.

 

[daan]

 

[Famine]

Man Utd 9-0 Southampton

I don't actually recall hearing it happen, but apparently the Southampton 'keeper made six saves. Still, that means that he let in two shots out of every three...

Incidentally, take a bow James Ward-Prowse. He's the first ever Premier League player to have been on the pitch for every goal conceded in two 9-0 defeats.

 

[88GTA]

I was wondering if he was the only one left from last season's 9-0 loss at St. Mary's to Leicester. Did he captain last season's match as well?

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Did anyone hear about what happened at Marseille yesterday?, manager Andre Villas-Boas was unhappy that they club had signed Oliver Ntcham on loan behind his back after he said not to sign him, AVB found out that they had signed him from the club website and he offered to resign to the board of directors, he mentioned this during an extraordinary press conference yesterday and was then suspended by Marseille!

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Fulham 0-2 Leicester
Burnley 0-2 Man City
Leeds 1-2 Everton
Aston Villa 1-3 West Ham
Liverpool 0-1 Brighton

Two home defeats for Liverpool in a row, it was another drab performance as well and Brighton fully deserve the win, Alzate with the goal in the second half, Liverpool play Man City on Sunday at the Etihad and if they lose that then you could say that they are out of the title race.

Apart from that it was fairly standard stuff tonight, Lingard scored twice on his West Ham debut in their win, routine wins for Leicester, Man City and Everton.