EPL 2023-24

Couple of good ones this weekend. Spurs (no Kane, new mgr) vs Man U and Man C vs Newcastle who looked impressive first game out.
 
BrooklynRed said:
Seeing Harry in a uniform other than The Spurs is strange after him spending over a dozen years with them (plus being on their "youth/development" team).
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Get over it. ;) . The only thing strange is that new purple and black uni. After 3 years with Bayern, and hopefully a CL trophy, he'll be back to the PL and break the scoring record there.
 
Two Americans to keep an eye on. Not in the EPL any more but Christian Pulisic scored a belter for Milan last weekend. First American to score in the German, English and Italian top leagues. After declaring for the US in the summer, Flo Balogun is leaving Arsenal for Monaco. Good move for all.
 
TX Redman said:
Two Americans to keep an eye on. Not in the EPL any more but Christian Pulisic scored a belter for Milan last weekend. First American to score in the German, English and Italian top leagues. After declaring for the US in the summer, Flo Balogun is leaving Arsenal for Monaco. Good move for all.
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If we are talking Serie A (ok, I am talking about it since I grew up watching it) add Yunus Musah who is Pulisic’s teammate on Milan (missed the first game due to suspension over yellow card accumulation) and Tim Weah who played very well in his first game with Juventus, as players to watch.

Normally I do not follow the summer transfer very closely. But this year was different with so many Americans making big move.

Having US players on high level European clubs is very exciting.l and tells a lot about the talent pool.
 
Spurs have transformed themselves without Kane under Postecoglou. Can it last? And where is Guinness77 to give us his take?

I enjoyed Arsenal finally beating City in the League. About time! If we can get Martinelli, Jesus and Saka all on the pitch at the same time, we could be very good. Midfield (aside from Havertz) looks great and White / Saliba / Gabriel have been excellent.

Big story so far has been the (bad) officiating. Too many blown calls.
 
TX Redman said:
Spurs have transformed themselves without Kane under Postecoglou. Can it last? And where is Guinness77 to give us his take?

I enjoyed Arsenal finally beating City in the League. About time! If we can get Martinelli, Jesus and Saka all on the pitch at the same time, we could be very good. Midfield (aside from Havertz) looks great and White / Saliba / Gabriel have been excellent.

Big story so far has been the (bad) officiating. Too many blown calls.
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That's why Bayern love it when they have English refs for international games. :rolleyes:
 
TX Redman said:
Spurs have transformed themselves without Kane under Postecoglou. Can it last? And where is Guinness77 to give us his take?

I enjoyed Arsenal finally beating City in the League. About time! If we can get Martinelli, Jesus and Saka all on the pitch at the same time, we could be very good. Midfield (aside from Havertz) looks great and White / Saliba / Gabriel have been excellent.

Big story so far has been the (bad) officiating. Too many blown calls.
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It’s still so early but what I’m seeing is a cohesive unit versus a go through one or two guy mentality that seemed to exist whenever Kane and Sonny are on the pitch. Maddison is the signing of the summer, imho, and you have a manager who believes in guys like Bissouma, Sarr, Udogie, Porro, etc. Conte couldn’t be bothered with most of them. Our midfield is light years better than even just last year.

The two guys I really want to say have mattered the most is van de ven and Romero. A strong CB combo is so, so, SO important in this league and getting vdv next to Cuti has transformed this team. He has the speed to cover a lot of ground which gives Romero the confidence and backup to do whatever he needs to do. He’s also playing much more controlled and one thing Ange has done has made him a captain which (and I think winning a World Cup helps too) has made him relax, be a leader. Which he is, plus my favorite player on the team. Vdv is giving him a run, but considering I’ve played stopper/sweeper most of my life, I’m probably biased there. Ledley is my favorite Spur of all time.

I can’t say enough things about Ange. He seems like a proper guy, very honest, puts a lot of belief in his players…something I’m not so sure about since Poch left. You all know how I feel about Mourinho, I liked him and thought that he was not supported by management whatsoever. But, he had fragile players who, I’m sorry, treated that locker room like a country club and Mou couldn’t get through to those guys. Which, because Levy is such a cheap prick, Ange has had the balls to just drop guys no matter what. If you’re not in, you’re out, as simple as that. It’s a beautiful concept.

Sorry to be a little long winded, but I want to see what the cheap prick does in the next window. This team is an injury or two from being in serious trouble, we have no depth. I really wanted Tapsoba from Leverkusen and that ship has sailed now because they look like they could give Leipzig and Munich some headaches this season, but we need two more backs, and another offensive minded middie to cover Maddison.

Do I think we’ll win the league? I’m not convinced. It’s City’s until it’s not. We do have a bit of an advantage not playing any European footie, plus your boys look good too and have more depth than us. Can I see us being around until the end though? Yes. And, PS, still hate Levy. He stepped in crap with Big Ange. I’m not letting him off the hook. Sell guys, even for a loss, and back the gaffer, simple as that.
 
Can I rant a little about Ireland too? I know Greece isn’t a bad team, but how do you lose that game in front on your home fans with everything on the line? Is Kenny the problem? Do they not have enough good players to compete? I look at the roster they have and it’s not bad. I watched the France match, and besides the horrific giveaway that lead to their goal, we played good. The Netherlands game, we score right away, play decent enough, and then lose it at the end.

How is it 2023 and this team can’t compete still? They haven’t been even decent since the days of Robbie and Roy Keane (and he had his issues with the coaches), Damien Duff and Shay Given. Is the FAI incompetent? Do none of the players want to represent Ireland? On paper, we have a team that should be able to make the Euro and in reality we have a team that can’t even grab a point at home against Greece when you have neighboring countries like Wales beating Croatia and Scotland looking good too.

Can someone who knows better give me some kind of an answer? Maybe I’m giving the Irish players a little too much credit? I don’t know, a lot of their players play in the European leagues. I know they might not be the biggest names in the world but they collectively can’t make a tournament that has become almost a hiccup to get into.
 
re: Spurs, you are right, thin squad and injuries could be their downfall
re: Ireland, aside from Evan Ferguson (who is young & raw) do they have any other players in the top tier? The talent isn't there and the manager is no great shakes either.
 
Tex…I know you’re probably not ecstatic with the result but nice job by your boys stealing back that point, down 2 with about 20 minutes left. Man, talk about a team that was playing not to lose…Chelsea just looked so shook, I was happy they held on. I tell you, looking at Poch from the outside, his team had zero composure and to me, that’s on the coach. Not to mention, Mudryck’s goal was pure luck.
 
Today perfectly encapsulated what I was saying. Our first team players are excellent and our CB partnership is amazing (god how fast is van de Ven?) and Ange is the perfect manager who expects his players full tilt all game (said the last 45min was the worst they’ve played all year, love to hear him say that) and perfect manager for this frenetic high press we play, true Tottenham footie.

Also showed how little depth we have as there was a big drop off after our substitutions. I know we got Betancur coming back and Johnson and GLC are coming off injuries so I’ll give them a pass for now but it shows we are just an injury to Maddison or Romero or Bissouma away from dropping in class.
 
Section9 said:
Next you'll start to get all warm and fuzzy when Dortmund wins. ;) I hear you about MU, do you think TenHag survives until January with this win?
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I do. I think he would have survived even if the match stayed 2-0. I don’t think they change anything big until the new ownership steps in.

I don’t hate Dortmund for some reason. I certainly don’t root for them but Dortmund is the Tottenham of Germany in so many ways. I think most of the time I just feel bad for them.

Oh, and to add, Romero out 4-5 weeks. What the hell else can happen to this team? Have to get Todibo from Nice at the very least (and as quick as possible). Van de Ven expected back mid-January, we need Todibo, plus another defender and a forward to cover Son. This team is such a mess with injuries, it’s amazing we’re in 4th.
 
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