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

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

Agree with Michael B.

Always thought THFC should sign Maddison from Norwich, before anyone else did -- with the proviso that I don't like doing things that hurt Norwich.

Wolves I would think finish 10th or higher.

Leicester never seem to get long-term injuries, particularly to key players. God knows how they manage it.

Ah, every Spurs fan's favourite conspiracy theory

notwithstanding how good a partnership vertonghen/alderweireld have been in a two, this season from the off the former has looked a lot more than a yard short of pace- quite an alarming decline.

given his quality on the ball and in delivery, left back ahead of rose wouldnt be the worst thing in the world (pace used only to get away from your defensive duties doesnt seem to me any great boon) but unfortunately sanchez has been bumpy of late also, and foyth (as discussed with matt, i think) is more....intriguing....than reliable

none of which, im afraid, suggests to me that vertonghen looks like recovering that pace/reaction time that we so badly beed in our centre halves due to seemingly every attack leaving us one on one at the back.

Ah, every Spurs fan's favourite conspiracy theory

IIRC the foremost proponents of that theory round here were Liverpool fans...

That's true tbf

Yep

that was just me in a perm and moustache sorry lads

People discussing THFC, including me, are forgetting ...

SESSEGNON.

!!!!!!!!!

i wouldn't want any other manager than poch coaching the players poch wont pick

^ my actual position, maybe ^

ah I've missed the Spurs thread

Back with a vengeance.

thread pochmarked

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

― deems of internment (darraghmac), Monday, November 4, 2019 12:56 PM (six hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

you summoned him here and this is very otm imo. Poch will prob land on his feet better than avb did post-Spurs, but right now he seems infected with the same career killing virus of nihilism (problably not but def boredom of the most irritating kind). Don't know what the incubation time is but best for both Poch and Spurs for him to leave asap imo

don't understand why Chelsea are still contesting the transfer ban when every BBC pundit has already made it clear they are the best football team that has ever existed

https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/wolverhampton-wanderers-fc/2019/11/06/wolves-and-aston-villa-most-affected-by-introduction-of-var/

Really only feel like one Wolves VAR decision was actually wrong tho.i realize the article is just looking at the quantity

yeah i can't say i feel particularly aggrieved, the change in interpretation of handball isn't specifically caused by VAR, and most of my objections to it aren't about whether it gets decisions "right" or not. think Villa have been robbed a couple of times tho.

Yep

kabasele with maybe the actual stupidest red of the season there

sloppy, passing from back risky and awful, slow to move the ball, kane not in it

but way better than it has been

green shoots

Ah, every Spurs fan's favourite conspiracy theory

― imago, Monday, 4 November 2019 17:17 (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

disqualify leicester from the 15/16 season and arsenal pipped spurs to the title on the last day of the season lol

(xp) Does he score?

he might

ok its awful since start of second half.

hate to actually say desire but our defence is ambling away from the ball and any tackle

cruel on them, that

looked off to me

the defender passed it to him

unbelievable

gone to a very tedious var that should never come into it tbh

Wow. This is really stupid. What a dumb rule.

thats a fucking joke

nothing short of theft this

a shambles and a disgrace

can we do the FA for bringing football into disrepute?

While I’m here, it’s also stupid they won’t stop the clock for reviews and injuries. Technology exists to accurately track time. Pretending it’s the 1800s and you don’t have a digital clock is idiotic.

keeping dier on is a disrepute charge

i've got a fiver on him getting sent off

this game could be salvaged yet

tbf though, it's pretty similar to Aurier's 'goal' against Leicester where we would have gone two up.

true, im railing against the idiocy, not the karmic distribution