Football LXIX - I'm running out of title ideas

[Jeor]

Well, that's one of Sunderland's games in hand gone. They have two more in hand, with a midweek game again next week but considering their next three are Everton, Man City and Chelsea, it's not looking good for them. Hopefully they can take some points off Everton...

[baxus]

To think that a lot of Liverpool fans were terrified and envious of Spurs last summer, and ranting against the owners for not matching their spending. It dominated the LFC forum during the silly season.

Honestly, I still think that Liverpool's activity in transfer windows was insufficient.

They brought in Mignolet, Sakho and Toure and loaned in Cissokho and Moses. I'm not talking about youth players and prospects.

[Calibandar]

To think that a lot of Liverpool fans were terrified and envious of Spurs last summer, and ranting against the owners for not matching their spending. It dominated the LFC forum during the silly season.

Well, Suarez staying is what saved the season for you. The second part of the success is Sturridge and how great these two are together. Then comes the rest. Liverpool didn't have a great transfer season so some of that worry was understandable. But they already had a good side, that was the thing, and eventually they did add some depth in defense where they needed it badly ( and that's an area that still needs improvement). But then there's Henderson and Sterling who are performing above expectation as well, they were in the team before the summer as well. So they did have a weak transfer window, but it hasn't really hurt them. As Chelsea is proving once again, just buying the best players doesn't make you the best team, there's more to it. As for Spurs, I think they bought a lot of second tier talent for that 100 million, and it hasn't even compensated for the loss of 1 superstar. I mean was there one player that they bought that was a really big fish, something that made you shit your pants? Nope.

[baxus]

I really wanted Liverpool to snatch Eriksen but he chose Spurs instead.

It's not about superstars, it's about getting quality players and giving them a chance to shine.

Just look at Sturridge, for example. He's been wasting away at Chelsea even after proving his quality at Bolton until given a proper shot at Liverpool.

Hopefully, we'll be saying similar things about Coutinho next season ;)

[MercenaryChef]

settled ugly and broken at the bottom of the table is sunderland. bringing in di canio was the initial great failure for the mackems. he made wholesale changes to the lineup, the the personnel and the tactics, but without any real idea what he was doing.

and he failed.

so along comes poyet who tried his best to rebuild in short order to save the team from relegation. there was only so much he could do.

the real question now is who else will go down with them?

i have a soft spot for fulham (former club of one of my favorite american players mcbride) and want them in the top flight next season. hopefully they can get their shit together.

[baxus]

If I had to guess, I'd say Sunderland, Cardiff and Norwich or Fulham.

Sunderland is a mess, Cardif and Fulham have repeatedly failed to impress and Norwich has a killer fixture list.

[MercenaryChef]

i blame american striker jozy altidore. every single time ever he plays for an epl team they get relegated. watch him never get signed in the premiership ever again.

[Alex.]

Fulham must stay up. Sunderland, Norwich and Cardiff can all do one.

[Zoë Sumra]

Fulham must stay up. Sunderland, Norwich and Cardiff can all do one.

Plz to not jinx, Alex.

[Mexal]

i blame american striker jozy altidore. every single time ever he plays for an epl team they get relegated. watch him never get signed in the premiership ever again.

To be fair, he's not good enough to play in the EPL. When you can't even make the squad for the worst team in the league, that's an issue. I'm not a fan.

[Alex.]

Plz to not jinx, Alex.

Already past the point of Fulham suffering from bad luck...

But I take your point.

[Mexal]

Looks like the tickets for the July 26th friendly between Arsenal and NY Red Bulls will start going on sale over the next few days. The NYC Arsenal Supporter club gets an allotment that will be up for pre-sale on Thursday morning at 9:45am. I definitely plan on getting two tickets. Anyone else in the area want to go? I think I can buy up to 14 but it's first come first serve so might not get any. I will log on right at 9:45 though.

[Inigima]

To be fair, he's not good enough to play in the EPL. When you can't even make the squad for the worst team in the league, that's an issue. I'm not a fan.

I've said this for a while and people (okay, Alci) keep telling me I'm wrong, but I agree. My fellow Americans really, really want him to be good because they are hungry for American players who are top-flight, but Jozy ain't that guy. It's not like he's devoid of ability, but he isn't Prem level, and he lacks hustle and sometimes fitness.

The blind spots are huge where Jozy is concerned. People always overvalue their home talent, and since nationalism is an issue in this case it's even worse. Poke your head over to a US-centric subreddit like r/mls and you'll see excuse after excuse being made for him. It's the Baghdad Bob of football. Oh, he's not getting service! Oh, that was a good effort! No. Jozy has had plenty of time to prove himself at that level and he isn't up to the task. I'm sorry, but it's the truth.

[Iskaral Pust]

Honestly, I still think that Liverpool's activity in transfer windows was insufficient.

They brought in Mignolet, Sakho and Toure and loaned in Cissokho and Moses. I'm not talking about youth players and prospects.

Liverpool did have a poor transfer window but my point was that some fans always want infinite spending every summer like they're playing FM. It rarely helps a team to add more than 3-4 new starters. Any more kills cohesion.

Liverpool's execs have been poor at closing deals, partly because Anfield was not a great destination last summer. But Daniel Levy transfers weren't the answer either. Their team is always losing the most influential player (Berbatov, Keane, Modric, VDV, Bale) and then gambling on replacements. It makes for great optimism in July but not much more.

Liverpool will need a much deeper squad next year but I hope 2-3 great transfers will be enough alongside the emergence of Ibe, Ilori, Coady, Borini, Alberto and Suso, and hopefully the sale of Aspas.

[Alcibiades]

I've said this for a while and people (okay, Alci) keep telling me I'm wrong, but I agree.

I don't think I ever said that. I just said that I hoped he would be successful, but that obviously hasn't panned out. I just declined to join in the fun of ridiculing him or scapegoating him for Sunderland's many problems. I don't think you can point to any Sunderland players, apart from maybe Johnson for 5 or 6 games, who've acquitted themselves well this season. Like it or not, he's probably still going to start for us in Brazil, and this disaster of a transfer has set us back a good ways.

[SerFelixCulpa]

I've said this for a while and people (okay, Alci) keep telling me I'm wrong, but I agree. My fellow Americans really, really want him to be good because they are hungry for American players who are top-flight, but Jozy ain't that guy. It's not like he's devoid of ability, but he isn't Prem level, and he lacks hustle and sometimes fitness.

The blind spots are huge where Jozy is concerned. People always overvalue their home talent, and since nationalism is an issue in this case it's even worse. Poke your head over to a US-centric subreddit like r/mls and you'll see excuse after excuse being made for him. It's the Baghdad Bob of football. Oh, he's not getting service! Oh, that was a good effort! No. Jozy has had plenty of time to prove himself at that level and he isn't up to the task. I'm sorry, but it's the truth.

I hate to say it, but you've just articulated something I had been worrying about for a while. I really did want to believe in Jozy but...after a while the evidence just becomes damning. Maybe we'll have to reevaluate if he has a really good World Cup, but I've gone from being cautiously optimistic on that score to fatalistic.

[Inigima]

What exactly are you worrying about? He's not a world class soccer player. It happens. Lots of people aren't world class soccer players. I'm one of them.

If you mean the USMNT World Cup chances, well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we aren't going to win it this time around, and we never were, with or without Jozy. That happens to lots of countries. Just enjoy the ride as best you can and be happy when we do well.

[Mexal]

Yea, Jozy isn't the future. We're a better team with Wondo up front and Johannsson on the wing. Though I'd much prefer us moving to a 4-4-2 and pair Johannsson up front with someone.

[baxus]

Liverpool did have a poor transfer window but my point was that some fans always want infinite spending every summer like they're playing FM. It rarely helps a team to add more than 3-4 new starters. Any more kills cohesion.

Liverpool's execs have been poor at closing deals, partly because Anfield was not a great destination last summer. But Daniel Levy transfers weren't the answer either. Their team is always losing the most influential player (Berbatov, Keane, Modric, VDV, Bale) and then gambling on replacements. It makes for great optimism in July but not much more.

Liverpool will need a much deeper squad next year but I hope 2-3 great transfers will be enough alongside the emergence of Ibe, Ilori, Coady, Borini, Alberto and Suso, and hopefully the sale of Aspas.

I would love to be proven wrong on this one, but I can't see Borini, Alberto or Suso having any greater impact on the squad than Aspas.

Ibe, Ilori and Coady are still too young and I haven't seen them play nearly enough to form an opinion, though Ibe looked great on those rare occasions I have seen him. He still has a lot of work to do to become a first team player for a title contender (which I hope Liverpool will be in years to come ;)) but I think he has what it takes to do it.

[SerFelixCulpa]

What exactly are you worrying about? He's not a world class soccer player. It happens. Lots of people aren't world class soccer players. I'm one of them.

If you mean the USMNT World Cup chances, well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we aren't going to win it this time around, and we never were, with or without Jozy. That happens to lots of countries. Just enjoy the ride as best you can and be happy when we do well.

I was hoping that Jozy was a world class soccer player and worrying that I was drinking the Kool-Aid on him and/or being unreasonable in hoping that, against the evidence adduced this season, he just needed the right support to be a world class player. In short, I was agreeing with you.

I meant "cautiously optimistic on that score to fatalistic" with regard to Altidore's performance, not the USMNT's.