Football (Soccer) Thread

[Josquius]

Amidst the whole points docking thing going on there's one actor not really getting a mention - Leicester.

https://www.skysports.com/amp/football/news/11712/13099943/leicester-city-could-be-hit-with-bigger-points-deduction-than-nottingham-forest

Seems to be quite a mess brewing there with them having already been relegated and potentially going up again this year - earning a huge pay day at the expense of teams which haven't broken any rules.

Really seems there needs to be a big rule reform to cover lower leagues too. But just what will happen here is anyone's guess.

[Josquius]

A 30 second video
Anyone else noticed the increase in injured keepers lately?
Hadn't really thought of it but...makes sense.

[FunkMonk]

Desperately resisting the urge to post about Arsenal vs Chelsea

[Josephus]

Desperately resisting the urge to post about Arsenal vs Chelsea

I'll do it for you.

Chelsea

[Sheilbh]

I saw lots of Arsenal fans saying they wanted Everton to do them a favour. Which suggests they don't know Everton because the last time we won a derby at Goodison, Arteta scored

But (NOT JINXING IT)...

[FunkMonk]

[Josquius]

 Fucking hell Liverpool. Well they've really bottled that. Arsenal are the only hope now.

[Sheilbh]

John Bennett
@JohnBennettBBC
Tracksuit Dyche has a 100% record.

[FunkMonk]

John Bennett
@JohnBennettBBC
Tracksuit Dyche has a 100% record.

 

[FunkMonk]

First Arsenal Chelsea 5-0, then Everton dunk on Pool and put them out of the race. What a week 

[FunkMonk]

Arsenal are now the only hope against Manchester 115 Charges. Will the rest of the league now band together to bring down Pep's cheating machine? 

PLEASE  

[Josquius]

Also, I'm really cheering for Luton at the moment. They deserve to stay up more than forest. Despite the geography.

[Gups]

Xavi's staying on Barca after all. Quite the u-turn

[Tamas]

Liverpool cannot be low enough on the table for me to be satisfied with it.

Tamas, I'm chatting with a Chelsea fan on a discord server and he seems to think this Chelsea team will mature and be contenders for the league title in two years. I'm curious if you think similarly.

Hey, so did the Arsenal game answer this? 

I think they could become CL-place contenders IF: 1. we could get a striker who isn't either a complete muppet or near-permanently injured and 2. the current defense is in fact able to learn how to defend

On strikers, I have come to really despise Jackson. It's one thing to be a young striker who lacks confidence in the big leagues, not to mention that Drogba being the last Chelsea striker to actually find the net regularly, has been kind of our thing now for a decade or so. But I don't think its a lack of confidence he certainly seems to think very highly of himself.

I also have lost patience with Pochettino. I don't see where he is having any positive effect. Heck, even Lampard during his first stint you could kinda' see the team of kids he had had hunger even if clearly tactics-wise there was nothing to be excited or even happy about.

I remember under Mourinho (well, his first time with Chelsea, anyways) if they played shit the first half they'd come out with different tactics or at least a different level of motivation. Same with several other managers, not with this dude however. I am not saying he is not a good/decent coach, I readily admit that the current Chelsea must be a friggin' nightmare to manage, a bunch of young kids bought after some American re-watched Moneyball.

But he is not good enough for this situation. Most telling are his substitutions, they often reek of desperation of the "well, might as well try this since I have no idea what to do" kind.

I am semi-seriously yearning for Mourinho to come back. Yes, he'd crash and burn in a couple of seasons the most and no the game has left him behind so he won't turn us into champions overnight, but we need somebody who can out-ego all these kids and used to be being ruthless in drilling a system into a team. Any kind of system and coherence would do.

And... who else of any (past) note would take the job on?