@sparky said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Ha! Villa beat Man Utd 1-0 at Old Trafford. Happy days
Man Utd were awarded a last minute penalty but Bruno Fernandes forgot for a second he's not Jordie Barrett.
So many times yanited get gifted last gasp pens
@bovidae said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Did Emi save the penalty or was it a miss?
It went a long way over the cross bar. Emi messed with Bruno's head before it, telling him he should give the penalty to Ronaldo. Brilliant mind games.
A reversal of last week when United got the late winner and then West Ham missed the pen.
A good day for Man City with none of their 3 main rivals winning - great game between Brentford and Liverpool. Brentford overloading Trent T-A repeatedly and he struggles to defend without being overloaded.
And if Brighton win the last game of the weekend they go top for the first time ever.
@bovidae said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@Hooroo North London is red today.
I have a feeling we won't get much to celebrate this season, so I am clinging on to this like we have won the Prem! 
Has MK Dons played Wimbledon AFC this season? Is this the first season they have been in the same div??
@hooroo said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Ronaldo is a Freak!
The jury is still out on whether he will be the catalyst to United winning titles and cups or the weight around Ole's neck that will bring him down. He does seem to be playing him a lot in a long season and a few times Ole seems to have no idea what formation to play to get the best out of his players - almost too many attacking options now and they can't all play at the same time.
As for Spurs, they look close to falling apart and Harry is bringing down his transfer value with every game. Nuno might have been passed a very well paid hospital pass - let's see if he can get the best out of what is still a talented squad.
As for Arsenal, they look well set up to compete in the battle for 5th to 9th place - the new right back looks decent which makes the defence looks better overall and Partey needs a long run to keep the team stable.
24 days later
In these trying times it's always good to find some joy in the world
Going to Old Trafford and winning 5-zip definitely sparks joy.
Add in Ronaldo losing his shit and should have been sent off, while Pogba also lost his shit, and WAS sent off, and Salah scored 3.
The top 3 all had huge wins and it looks pretty much like it's them fighting out the title
Spurs lost again, and that doesn't appear to be going well at all.
If Newcastle don't start winning games they might end up the richest Championship club in history
And still Ole keeps his job, at least until Saturday. Looks like all he needs is a win against another team (some time soon) or maybe even a draw and he can stay indefinitely. The Liverpool game had the look of a manager on his way out due to the fact that it was entirely predictable that they would be thrashed (in fact Scholes during the week had said that "if they play like they did against Atalanta, then Liverpool could be 3 or 4 nil up by half time").
Spurs are also reeling at the moment so it is entirely possible that United will beat them. Strange days. And hard to see it being anything but a 3 horse race for the title from here.
@kiwipie said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
And still Ole keeps his job, at least until Saturday. Looks like all he needs is a win against another team (some time soon) or maybe even a draw and he can stay indefinitely. The Liverpool game had the look of a manager on his way out due to the fact that it was entirely predictable that they would be thrashed (in fact Scholes during the week had said that "if they play like they did against Atalanta, then Liverpool could be 3 or 4 nil up by half time").
Spurs are also reeling at the moment so it is entirely possible that United will beat them. Strange days. And hard to see it being anything but a 3 horse race for the title from here.
i think they have something like Spurs in to City in to Chelsea over the next 3 weeks. I probably wouldn't chuck a new manager in to that either. That's assuming there is one ready to go.
Not the EPL, but Barca have sacked Koeman after another defeat. That club is a dumpster fire.
@bovidae said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Not the EPL, but Barca have sacked Koeman after another defeat. That club is a dumpster fire.
it's insane how they have fucked that place up so badly
@mariner4life said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@bovidae said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Not the EPL, but Barca have sacked Koeman after another defeat. That club is a dumpster fire.
it's insane how they have fucked that place up so badly
I'll say, its amazing how fast they have gone from world beaters to also rans. Some of the best football I have ever watched has been at sitting in Camp Nou
@bayimports said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@mariner4life said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@bovidae said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Not the EPL, but Barca have sacked Koeman after another defeat. That club is a dumpster fire.
it's insane how they have fucked that place up so badly
I'll say, its amazing how fast they have gone from world beaters to also rans. Some of the best football I have ever watched has been at sitting in Camp Nou
that period where they, and Spain, won basically everything on offer was incredible.
The presidents of the two big Spanish clubs have too much control but never take responsibility for their financial mismanagement that hamstrings the club.
@bovidae said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
The presidents of the two big Spanish clubs have too much control but never take responsibility for their financial mismanagement that hamstrings the club.
yeah they were flat broke anyway and now have this on top.. lol
Bizarre ole day. City lose 0-2, Liverpool draw at home to Brighton after being 2-0 up. ManU pump Spurs away and we won away against Leicester and are now 5th I think.
EDIT:
6th after the Man U win
@bovidae said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@hooroo Did you see Ramsdale's save from the Maddison free kick?
Yes. Spectacular.
@dogmeat said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
How long will Nuno last?
Spurs signed the wrong Portuguese Manager
Apparently he's gone
The Spurs saga is bizarre. Replacing Poch with Mourinho was strange, firing Mourinho just before the League Cup final was strange, appointing Nuno after making it clear he was their 7th choice was strange and then firing him almost immediately when he performed as everyone expected was strange. Meanwhile Kane's value is dropping fast.
Conte will probably get a tune out of that squad though at least in the short term.
@kiwipie said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
The Spurs saga is bizarre. Replacing Poch with Mourinho was strange, firing Mourinho just before the League Cup final was strange, appointing Nuno after making it clear he was their 7th choice was strange and then firing him almost immediately when he performed as everyone expected was strange. Meanwhile Kane's value is dropping fast.
Conte will probably get a tune out of that squad though at least in the short term.
Levy is the constant. He has built a great stadium but in terms of football decisions he is shite. He is pennywise pound foolish and has pissed away all the work Pochettino did. Failed to back Poch when he wanted to retool the squad then fired him because the team got stale and stopped playing for him. Signed Jose who got a bounce but eventually had the same players stop trying for him too. Nuno never had a shot and still there are about 6 or 7 players from the Poch era who, with the exception of Son should probably all be sold. Held onto players like Rose, Eriksen, Ali far too long and either ended up getting nothing when they left or let their value decline by keeping them. Lost revenue from UCL or EL because the team foundered and we couldn't get a high enough spot in the league to qualify. If Conte signs on he should do so on the proviso that Levy backs out from all football operations and let's Conte and the DoF build and manage the squad as they see fit. He might be able to get Kane back on board, but he needs to sell on at least 6 players and buy in some replacements. We have some promising young players who are showing up some of the tired older ones with their effort
@canefan Conte negotiations fell over in the summer due to the lack of any transfer budget. So that must have changed as Conte is a done deal. It just hasn't been announced yet.
I think a lot depends on how much Conte/Levy want instant success. They are in a great position now to build something properly for the future if they do it right. The squad needs a refresh & perhaps introduce a few more academy players. Young players will want to play for them now with their colossal stadium & strong fan base.
But if they throw everything at a trophy this season, then I think they'll be in the same position at the end of the season at which point they'll probably fire Conte & bring Pochettino back. Who they should never have sacked in the first place.
@majorrage Levy should have given Poch a chance to rebuild the squad as reward for a number of very good years. He didn't, the players were getting stale and stopped listening as Poch predicted, and he lost his job. Several of those players are still there. Unless Conte thinks he can turn them around they should be shipped out soon. We got rid of several in the offseason, and new players like Romero, Royal and Gil look very good, along with young academy players like Skipp and Tanganga
@bovidae said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
How much does Nuno Espirito Santo walk away with?
One media outlet says 14M GBP. He only did 4 months so I expect it would be a decent wedge
18 days later
Manure lose 4-1. Taxi for Ole?
Great to see Villa back to winning ways in their first game under Steven Gerrard.
@majorrage Chelsea are going good aye? Like their team and like their coach. Playing good, balanced football. Will only get better too.
@mariner4life Chelsea or Liverpool for the title. Both look well coached and are playing some very good stuff.
Man City should have bought Kane instead of Grealish in the summer.
@mariner4life Yeah, I think Tuchel is working out very well.
Now that I say that though, of course its' going to be a rough trot ahead. Liverpool still looking very strong.
Great to see the Arteta / Klopp scrap yesterday. Good to see some passionate coaches.