Consigliere

He wouldn't have been a starter this season had Timber not gotten injured.

Eta. I am surprised that Tomiyasu hasn't been starting more in that position. Has he dropped off or what? 

2 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

Time for another thread title change? Or are we still laughing at Liverpool? 

We should try a bit of positivity.

Let's all praise Leverkusen.

In style.

Had Dortmund not been such gigantic bottle jobs last season, Tuchel would be leaving Bayern without a domestic trophy.

I'm watching Leverkusen/Bremen. Leverkusen's gonna win the title today.

eta. Sealed with a classic Xhaka banger.

If Arsenal win today they move onto 74 points, City on 73 and Liverpool on 71. Three points separating the top 3 with 6 games left to play is hardly game over for Liverpool. City should be favourites though given their favourable run-in with Arsenal having the toughest run-in of the contenders.

Just now, ljkeane said:

To be fair to Ten Hag he seems to have decided that United's attacking players don't really fit into a more measured attacking build up and they're a lot more effective when there's space in behind the opposition. I don't think he's wrong about that. In talking about tactics at the moment there's a lot of focus on control because that's basically the point of Guardiola and Arteta's tactical philosophies but that doesn't have to be your primary goal. Klopp on the other hand is really more about winning in transitions.

I don't watch United that much but my issue with Ten Hag would be not that he's going for a transitional style it's more that I don't really see what the plan is for tilting the odds in United's favour beyond 'create a back and forth game and hope it goes our way'.

The best description I've seen of Ten Hag's tactics this season said that he wants the team to press high but with a low block. Basically, he's sending the front 3 + Bruno and usually one midfielder to push up to press but the rest hold a deeper line. This has resulted in big gaps in the midfield and whoever plays as the #6 (Casemiro mostly but McTominay, Amrabat and Mainoo have all filled that position at times) getting torched.

The whole point of a high press is to compress the pitch to win back possession in the opponent's half so you have to fully commit to it and not just be half in like Ten Hag has been doing - that just makes the press easy to play through because of the big gaps in midfield while also exposing your midfield and defence. If Ten Hag is not confident that his defenders can play a high line then he should be pulling the lines back. It's pretty amateurish to be setting up the team with such a big gap between the lines.

46 minutes ago, kissdbyfire said:

That’s exactly it imo. Israel attacked Iran’s embassy, Iran responded in a measured way I guess? This should be the end of this specific back and forth. But it won’t be if Netanyahu decides he has to retaliate. And since everything points to him wanting a broader war and to drag the US into it so he can stay in power, yeah, that’s what we should be worrying about. 

Yeah, all this pearl clutching over the danger posed by Iran is rather funny. They've tried very hard NOT to escalate things into a wider conflict going back to when the US assassinated that Iranian general and Trump trying his best to antagonise them. The Ayatollah and co. are theocratic nutjobs but not ones without any sense of self-preservation it would appear. They seem to understand that they would be out of power and hanging from meat hooks very quickly if they step out of line. Israel are the ones who are far more likely to escalate things in the Middle East or drop a nuke since it's been proven time and again that Israel has free rein to act with impunity with any disapproval amounting to nothing more than a little tut-tutting while continuing to receive billions of dollars in aid.

Yeah, I think Ten Hag is gone at the end of the season. Last season he implemented a more compact setup but the chaos element showed up from time-to-time. Judging by this season and the fact he's persisted with a tactical setup that leaves the midfield and defence exposed, it does suggest that the chaotic setup is what Ten Hag is actually going for which is clearly not sustainable.

Also think that the setup is at least partially responsible for all of the injuries we've had. United players spend a lot of time chasing the ball and because we're so open the team has to be constantly running all the way up and down the pitch.

War crimes apologists don't get the benefit of the doubt.

Might as well get ahead of it and change the thread title now.

I think that if Spurs make good transfers suited to Postecoglu's system then he wouldn't really need to vary his tactics too much. We've already seen enough this season to say that Postecoglu has a very clear idea of how he wants to play and is pretty stubborn about it. It's been more beneficial than detrimental to Spurs this season and the football has certainly been much better to watch on the whole compared to the turgid football under Conte and Mourinho.

9 minutes ago, Darryk said:

Dier said Ange doesn't do tactical work in training and it shows. Pass pass pass pass pass pass lose ball get counterattacked concede. Then to rub salt in the wound we're shit at set pieces. We've been figured out and will struggle top be midtable next season.

That would also depend on how well Spurs do in the transfer market and also how your direct competition fares next season. Spurs have had an advantage this season though with no European football and bombing out early of both domestic cups so your fixture list has been light compared to the teams around you which also made it easier to cope with injuries.

Replace Iran with Israel or Ukraine and the person posting such a thing would've gotten a warning and their post deleted at the very least if not banned.

Liverpool can put Atalanta under pressure if they can get the first goal. Problem is this Liverpool team does give the opponent a chance on the counter as they are easier to play through. The midfield of Fabinho-Henderson-Wijnaldum/Milner were pressing monsters who could suffocate opponents in a manner that the current midfielders cannot.

Still fairly confident that England will finish top 2 in the coefficient standings and get an extra CL spot. Would have been a near certainty had one or both of Newcastle and Man United gotten out of their groups or even dropped into the Europa League. Newcastle is more understandable as they were in the toughest group whereas United's performance was particularly disgraceful finishing last in a group containing Copenhagen and Galatasaray.

Sheffield United didn't breach PSR or FFP spending rules but rather they defaulted on payments to other clubs during the 2022/2023 season. A further two point deduction has been suspended until the end of next season but will be activated should they default on any payment due to another club under a transfer or compensation agreement for more than five business days from the due date for payment. The club has also agreed to pay the EFL's costs totalling £310,455.

Premier League clubs have approved the use of semi-automated offside technology for next season.

eta. https://www.premierleague.com/news/3962262

Kane elbowed Gabriel deliberately imo. He's a dirty player but one who's very adept at making his dirty play look innocuous/accidental.

The Saka one is 50/50 as far as I'm concerned. It's one of those situations that whatever the original on field call was that decision should stand.

Yeah, I think the Gabriel one was ultimately the right call. It is something that Arteta might want to address though since that play is something Arsenal regularly do so their CBs need to be more aware or just refrain from picking the ball up in the box for short goal kick plays. The whistle can clearly be heard on replays when Raya passed the ball to Gabriel and he picked it up. Another ref on another day could have easily called that a pen.

Bayern have not been all that good either. They've basically been gifted two goals but their general play has been poor and it's hard to see them actually creating anything of note off of good play rather than Arsenal shooting themselves in the foot.

Martinelli hasn't really gotten into the game. Good thing Arsenal have a very good alternative option on the bench in Trossard though.

Yeah, Liverpool's squad looks to be really good. They did well to sort out the midfield and for a very reasonable amount of money as well. Some academy players coming through this season has been a huge boon. They probably need a replacement for Thiago and another DM to rotate with Endo so MacAllister can stay in his best role. A clinical forward would be nice but easier said than done to find one plus there's still Jota who fits that bill - honestly think that if Jota was fit for most of this season, Liverpool would've had a bit of breathing room at the top of the table.

Wonder how much Saudi Arabia are actually willing to piss away going forward. There's been some reports that they plan to curb spending - they spent around £900m just on transfer fees and significantly more on crazy contracts. Their strategy looks to be a failure. Apparently attendances in the Saudi Pro League this season are down compared to last season.

Everton club statement:

Quote

In January 2024, Everton were charged by the Premier League for breaching the permitted Profit and Sustainability thresholds for the assessment period ending 2022/23.

The matter was referred to a Premier League Commission, which has today announced Everton will receive an immediate two-point deduction. While the Club’s position has been that no further sanction was appropriate, the Club is pleased to see that the Commission has given credit to the majority of the issues raised by the Club, including the concept of double punishment, the significant mitigating circumstances facing the Club due to the war in Ukraine, and the high level of co-operation and early admission of the Club’s breach.

Everton remains committed to working collaboratively with the League on all matters relating to PSR but is extremely concerned by the inconsistency of different commissions in respect of points deductions applied.

The Club would like to place on record its thanks to the Fan Advisory Board and other fan groups for their submissions during this process, and to all Evertonians for their ongoing patience and unstinting support.

The Club and its legal representatives have begun the preparations to appeal the Commission’s decision.

No further comment will be made at this time.