Lads, it's the Premier League thread - EPL 2019/20

Yes, he was horrified. The red will get overturned on appeal but I don’t think he wanted to stay on.

that just isn't a red card

but...i don't know how you reverse it

VAR can reverse it but didn’t, for whatever reason. Terrible refereeing all round.

letting emotions get in the way

12 mins of stoppage

Fucks sake.

pickford wanting to go forward when it's 1-1, love it

out

cunts

Can’t let the manifest, game-changing injustice of the red card take away from the fact that Newcastle managed more shots on target vs West Ham than Spurs have in the last three matches combined.

diabolical game between two of the dullest teams in a league consisting almost entirely of complete rubbish

calmed down a bit

poch out

cunts

Worst weekend for VAR yet

Problematic media representation of that match. All the focus on one injury - 'Football is simply irrelevant compared to this', 'Nothing else matters compared to sending our best wishes to Gomes' -- but they also didn't show the injury or even tell us what its medical effects were, so the viewer could have no real idea why football was now simply irrelevant and nothing else mattered.

But MotD2 were right to pick up on the unprecedented oddity of Son being given a yellow card, then a red when the referee had thought about the injury a bit longer.

The Premier League released a statement to explain Son was sent off for ‘endangering the safety of a player which happened as a consequence of his initial challenge’.

A weak attempt to defend the indefensible.

Coleman going to the dressing room to console Son is very sweet. Aurier praying on the pitch made me worry it was worse than a leg break.

If Son's ban isn't rescinded that is a terrible precedent

albeit he should have already been booked for diving haha

althooough, if he had been booked for diving he'd never have clipped Gomes, and the injury would never have occurred. book players for diving

MOTD not showing the injury was especially problematic because you couldn't see that it was actually Aurier that caused it (and the commentary didn't note this either)

I don't believe I've seen any player booked for diving when a penalty isn't awarded after a VAR check. Presumably another stupid quirk of the PL's take on it

Didn't watch MOTD2 because I didn't want to see the injury tbh.

i think tbh that even saying 'caused it' is too euphemistic

aurier went in out of control at force and bears high responsibility. he has plenty of previous in not controlling himself in tackles

sending son off is a joke decision, that trip happens ten times a game

anyway can anyone make a defence of picking eriksen or aurier at this stage. i think its looking clearer by the match that poch is going to force a sacking- whether that's directly as an aim, or because he is actually too stubborn to change a single thing in his approach isnt really an important consideration at this stage

Nothing Pochettino says gives the impression that he wants to leave THFC. He doesn't sound like he does.

THFC would be mad to fire him.

Aurier is a liability though also has some good moments in attack. Maybe he is picked for lack of alternatives.

Eriksen's distractedness has probably been exaggerated. He has always been in and out. Paper talk. Good player, play him and let him find form.

Not having seen the injury, I can't say how responsible Aurier was, and didn't really even see what Son did.

THFC are 11th and I am unworried. Great manager, good players, big new stadium, training ground etc. Keep this manager another 15 years and cherish him. Pity to be out of the League Cup, though.

Leave the panic and anger and recrimination for Arsenal Fan TV FC (5th in the table and their fans are furious).

lookit

if pochettino showed any actual signs of wanting to address the selection/tactical/performance issues that have been constant since February this year, id have him and the youth team in and happily sign up for a double decade

he's doing none of the things that he did when he joined. wont drop players despite hideously disinterested displays. gravitates towards one selection, one tactic regardless of performance (our press was found out a long time ago, we havent adapted). wont bring in youth (even to shame/scare/simply remove underperforming seniors). insists it takes 18 months for any signing to learn tottenham. press conference behaviour has been horrible for months.

i agree hes our best manager since god knows when but the above is not very handwaveable away when it has carried on for so long and theres not much healthy about a cult of personality around a manager that isnt getting it done.

Poch to Ajax/Bayern? (in case of the former if Ten Hag leaves for Bayern) I could see it happening. Think Poch at Spurs has run its course, nothing dramatic about it tbh.

xp he's yr best manager since Jol obv

Best since Nicholson as far as I can see, insofar as comparisons are possible at all.

lookit!

Bayern Munich would want him. Ajax, though a great club, are too small for him.

xp id agree with that pf

but how long do you live on that while he doesnt seem to be doing any of the fairly obvious stuff that needs doing, given the long tail of this current league form?

be almost a relief to cut the contract lads in jan tbh, that at least would look like authoritative action

'cult of personality' = supporting a manager who has taken a club that was going downhill to unprecedented repeated CL qualifications over 5 years.

Happy to be in the cult.

D-Mac, you have been attacking Pochettino on her for about 4 years - I've always assumed it was a comedy act. Perhaps it wasn't. But your stance on him is hardly new to 2019.

heh ive been solidly pro-poch with the usual outbursts when hes wrong

anyways more than a hint of avb about him these days, which is rotten to see

ah I've missed the Spurs thread

weve been good u cheeky sod

anyway were taking nuno so shove that

I meant it sincerely, kind of

Dunno why Nuno would go to a worse squad tbh

Just seen the Son trip btw, what a ridiculous red

It's rare to have an Everton game discussed in such depth on this thread. See you all again in April.

April?!

everton surely play liverpool, city, leicester or wolves before then

Yesterday's game was dire even without the injury and both teams looked devoid of ideas and creativity. Dele's flickering form a rare bright spot although we were very lucky not to have conceded a penalty.

I still have no idea if Lo Celso is any good or not.

Who does he play for?

Once Gerrard goes to Liverpool that'll free up the Ibrox hotseat for Pochettino.

I think the reason Poch isn't dropping players says more about the lack of squad depth and quality in key areas and that's an issue with transfer policy over the last couple of seasons. I've written fourth off now but I think there's still pressure there that wasn't present in the days when he could drop four international midfielders for Ryan Mason.

The team itself is aging at roughly the same level - I'm not sure Toby and Verts can play together any more - and there's a lack of pace without Son in the team and maybe Lucas. Most of the top four have players who could skin ours without breaking a sweat these days.

If only we'd acquired a fast, skillful, goal-scoring attacking midfielder in the summer...

Swapping Eriksen for Lo Celso in the Crvena Zvezda game might make sense.

It seems true that Vertonghen and Alderweireld have looked off the pace this season - as against Bayern.

But ... it is only a few months since Vertonghen was fans' player of the year; he was immense last season. Hard to see that both players can have lost it so fast.

Yes, age is a factor, but players also come in and out of form. THFC will have one or more good spells during the rest of this season and will reach the top 6 or so that way. Some players like Vertonghen or even the widely suspected Eriksen will look good again. And if you don't like the Belgians we have one or more other centre-backs.

People say Ndombele is good? Maybe he will show it.

Kane was out ill yesterday, would also have made a difference.

There may be call for careful and judicious upgrades and rejuvenation (even the new GK might be that), but there is no need to panic. Eventually this team will look good again.

PS Vertonghen last season: remember him at left-back vs Dortmund at Wembley?

We have needed better forward back-up for years - that's not new at all - but at least we now have two top strikers, not 1.5 - as well as Moura who has shown he can be a hero on his day.

Still unsure if a lad from the reserves can come through on that front, as we'd want.

Top 4 sounds tough - as well as important.

We're clearly behind LFC, MCFC, and, I'm afraid, CFC.

But ... if I were MUFC, AFC or even, yes, Leicester City, I wouldn't be entirely confident of finishing above us.

I don't think Wolves, Everton, West Ham, Bournemouth will do that either.

We could finish 4th above all that lot.

Leicester are really playing like the 3rd best team in the League right now. A couple of injuries could screw them though. I doubt theres much depth in the squad.

Said at the start of the season I'll be more than happy if Wolves finish top half, especially if we make the Europa knockouts