5000-1 - The 2016/17 Premier League thread

[Crimey]

First topic message reminder :

Also, considering mine and pretty much everybody's doubts Mane has been a fantastic signing.

[Nico the gman]

Wijnaldum always delivers at home

Ben Gibson showcasing why he's not in the top 3 CB's in the PL

Yeh that's the one poor game he's had all season, could be worse he could have cost £50 million and made numerous mistakes. Thank god these other so called top CB's don't have any bad games in a season.

No coincidence that in the first game Middlesborough actually attack this season he is exposed as not actually being as good as when they have everyone camped 25 yards from their goal

Lets see who Gibson's playing for next season, Liverpool, City, Arsenal or Chelsea who've scouted him all season.
Making a judgement on a player I've watched all season based on one game is the exact equivalent of me telling you how good or bad a Norwich player is based on one bad game. Sorry but Gibson's been superb, a standout in a poor season, hence the England call up.

[Guest]

Suits a counter attacking side, sitting deep & not allowing his lack of pace to be exposed. He could be a good replacement for someone like Huth & Morgan at Leicester, as they're are no spring chickens & need replacing.

[Nico the gman]

Suits a counter attacking side, sitting deep & not allowing his lack of pace to be exposed. He could be a good replacement for someone like Huth & Morgan at Leicester, as they're are no spring chickens & need replacing.

Perhaps if they offer the £25 mill they might have a chance, more than likely its a bigger club for him though. His tackling and positional know how is what makes him a good player, that's why he's  had easily the most highest match ratings in our team. Probably watching him week in week out as a season ticket holder puts me in a better position to judge Gibson on a full season, not in one game. I'll leave it at that.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Guys you're only allowed to comment on your own club from here forward apparently

[GSC]

Wash em plae

[GSC]

Jesse Lingard gets 100k a week.

#gamesgone

[Guest]

£75k basic, rises to £100k if Man U qualify for CL. I guess he deserves to be rewarded, given he's contributed with 1 goal & 2 assists in the PL this season.

[compelling and rich]

£75k basic, rises to £100k if Man U qualify for CL. I guess he deserves to be rewarded, given he's contributed with 1 goal & 2 assists in the PL this season.

the lad is the new drogba, just saves his goals for finals

[westisbest]

Guys you're only allowed to comment on your own club from here forward apparently

Nobody's saying that, but when talking about a Boro player, I would pay more attention to the Boro fans who watch him play every weekend

[MIG]

Guys you're only allowed to comment on your own club from here forward apparently

Nobody's saying that, but when talking about a Boro player, I would pay more attention to the Boro fans who watch him play every weekend

You've also got to take bias into the equation though

[Crimey]

Coutinho is ill and a major doubt for the game against Stoke tomorrow, Lallana, Henderson and Mane are all still out as well.

We could end up seeing something like:

Mignolet

Clyne - - Matip - - - Lovren - - Milner

 

Lucas

Can ---------------------Wijnaldum

Firmino - - - - - - Origi

Sturridge

Only other real options are playing with a back three of Matip, Lovren and Klavan and pushing the two full backs up.

Maybe playing Milner in midfield/wing and bring back Moreno.

Or playing one of the kids, you could play Alexander-Arnold further forward or play Woodburn or Wilson on the wings, but Klopp has avoided that as an option so far. 

[TRUSSMAN66]

Might be a good idea if Watford took the lead from that Stallone, Michael Caine picture and tried to tunnel out of White Hart Lane at half time.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

What a huge win.

Swansea were atrocious. Really bad.

[Guest]

A big big win for Liverpool, turning it around after being 1-0 down at Stoke.  I think the likely top four will now be Chelsea, Tottenham, Man City with one of Liverpool and Arsenal, with Liverpool now favorites.

A big big win for West Ham, they are now eight points clear of Swansea, with a far superior goal difference.  There are still 18 points to play for but it looks like West Ham are going to survive.  So for relegation, Sunderland and Middlesbrough look to be certainties, with one of Swansea, Hull City and Crystal Palace joining them.  All have difficult remaining fixtures, especially Crystal Palace, but Palace have two games in hand, plus after beating Chelsea have shown they are capable of pulling off good results against the top teams.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

They almost have to pull off results against the big teams now:

Swansea (28 points):

Watford A
Stoke H
United A
Everton H
Sunderland A
West Brom H

Hull (30 points):

Stoke A
Watford H
Southampton A
Sunderland H
Palace A
Tottenham H

Palace (31 points):

Arsenal H
Leicester H
Liverpool A
Spurs H
Burnley H
City A
Hull H
United A

Bournemouth (35 points):

Spurs A
Boro H
Sunderland A
Stoke H
Burnley H
Leicester A

West Ham (36 points):

Sunderland A
Everton H
Stoke A
Spurs H
Liverpool H
Burnley A

Stoke (36 points):

Hull H
Swansea A
West Ham H
Bournemouth A
Arsenal H
Southampton A

Burnley (36 points):

Everton A
Man United H
Palace A
WBA H
Bournemouth A
West Ham H

[compelling and rich]

fellaini united captain

[Guest]

You know you're sh!t when Lee Cattermole returning to your team is regarded as a bonus.

[Atila]

United managed to score THREE goals in a single game.

[Crimey]

Good win at the weekend, I think Klopp got the initial tactics completely wrong. Clyne is too defensive to play as a wing back especially when you put him on the other side where he's naturally going to be more tentative. Woodburn did alright but I felt like he wasn't sure if he was starting until the last minute. Unfortunately Origi was awful.

The changes at half time were good though and both Coutinho and Firmino showed their quality, Stoke couldn't cope with either of them. It was good to see Klopp being proactive with early changes as well and I thought Sturridge showed his qualities as well, it was his movement that drew defenders away for Firmino's goal and I felt his all round play was really good.

[Guest]

Arsenal being ripped to shreds

Palace 3-0 Arsenal

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Palace looking very good for it. Think they're certain to stay up now. Allardyce will take all the plaudits, but I bet Pardew would have loved a chance to make a raft of signings.

Sakho was always gonna be great for someone

[GSC]

You suspect there won't be much time for the FA in Sunderland HQ watching Big Sam do Big Sam things

[Dolphin Ziggler]

I'm still struggling to read that

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Wait, I got there. Those at Sunderland won't be happy with the FA as they watch Big Sam rejuvenate Palace.

[Guest]

Crystal Palace have now beaten Chelsea away and Arsenal at home. They still have an incredibly tough run in, but the confidence they now have must be sky high, and they do seem to have good players with a now solid defence. They still have a lot of work to do but I think they are safe. So relegation appears to be Sunderland and Middlesbrough with one of Swansea or Hull City.

Huge blow for Arsenal - Wenger tactically out thought - as often is the case when he comes across a top manager and a good team. So I think the top four is going to be Chelsea, Spurs, Man City, Liverpool in that order, with Arsenal and Man Utd competing for fifth place and Everton not too far behind. Arsenal have to consider transition - when Wenger does go he is probably going to leave behind a relatively poor / unbalanced Arsenal team. It is bit like what happened when Alex Ferguson left Man Utd.

[Fernando]

PFA Player of the year shortlist - Alexis, Hazard, Kane, Kante, Lukaku & Zlatan

PFA Young Player of the year - Alli, Kane, Keane, Lukaku, Sane & Pickford

[Guest]

PFA Player - Kante
Young Player - Alli

No brainer this year

[GSC]

Got a soft spot for Hazard as poty

[Crimey]

Agree with John, think he's been the big difference for Chelsea this year with Conte second biggest difference. Eden Hazard has been really good but I feel like Chelsea owe this title more to Kante than anybody else, it's his addition that has allowed them to play the 3-4-3 with such success because he essentially does the work of 1.5 midfielders in there. 

Dele Alli has also been better than the rest on the list but Lukaku may feel a little bit unfortunate considering the amount of goals he's scored and had Harry Kane not spent so much time injured he'd probably be the favourite. Not sure Leroy Sane has even done enough to be nominated, he's not particularly stood out. Michael Keane has been great and Burnley will struggle to keep hold of him this summer. Jordan Pickford needs to get out of Sunderland, it's important he plays football but playing there is not going to help his football development. Time will tell whether he makes a top goalkeeper, often keepers for teams that are always defending end up looking better than they are because they have the opportunity to make so many saves.

[GSC]

Kantes an excellent player but I think Hazard, like Mahrez, last year is just providing that x factor that turns also rans into title winners. Saw an article earlier that had a decent point imo, there's a bit of hipsterism in going for the all action midfielder over the flashy showboater.

Alli unlikely to be nominated for actual PotY, probably deserves it more than his teammate. Sterling should probably be on the young player one but I suspect I know why he isn't.

[GSC]

Alexis Sanchez is probably slightly fortunate the votes were cast 2 months ago. Eriksen overlooked

[Dolphin Ziggler]

I'd still go Kante; he is the X Factor that they have in their team that I can't see anyone else replicating.

Listened to a discussion about Chelsea going for Sanchez and how that could be a smart move had Hazard been leaving. They couldn't really say one was better than the other, whereas I don't see anyone picking up a Kante figure.

Gana Gueye at Everton has some comparisons, but I don't think he'd be seen as Everton's version if he weren't small of frame and height, as well as black.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Surprised to see Ben Gibson excluded from both lists...

[compelling and rich]

same as others, kante for senior alli for young. alli unlucky not to be considered for senior award. had a better season than sanchez for me he's also scored more than hazard who's many peoples favorite

[Atila]

I think Leicester are going to be safe this season, and I'm happy for them. Didn't want them to get relegated and really wanted them to stay in the Prem when Ranieri was let go. Why? Just thought that too much of a fuss was made when he was let go.

The owners got plenty of stick but it's looking like they were correct to replace him.

Not surprisingly, other managers expressed their shock and dismay, even though if they themselves owned Leicester City FC they would most likely have done the same thing to protect their own interests. Not to mention that I'm sure Ranieri got a healthy pay off which should lessen his hurt over being dismissed.

[Hammersmith harrier]

I see the complete other way, I think it shows what a disgrace the likes of Vardy and Mahrez are that they stopped putting the effort in until they got what they wanted (Ranieri sacked), Shakespeare hasn't changed anything at all.

[Crimey]

Demonstrated best by the fact that Danny Simpson complained that the after-match food was changed from chicken burgers to sweet potato...

[Hammersmith harrier]

Demonstrated best by the fact that Danny Simpson complained that the after-match food was changed from chicken burgers to sweet potato...

Demonstrates my point perfectly that they turned into a bunch of prima donnas.

[nathan]

I see the complete other way, I think it shows what a disgrace the likes of Vardy and Mahrez are that they stopped putting the effort in until they got what they wanted (Ranieri sacked), Shakespeare hasn't changed anything at all.

Absolute rubbish. It's pretty clear the game plan has been vastly simplified and Ranieri started to try and get them playing Italian football which none or the team have the ability to so. Which was his downfall.

People just want a reason to hate the team.

[Hammersmith harrier]

Complete garbage, the player's are a disgrace no doubt about that.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Pretty obvious for some reason the players got him the boot with poor performances

[Atila]

I see the complete other way, I think it shows what a disgrace the likes of Vardy and Mahrez are that they stopped putting the effort in until they got what they wanted (Ranieri sacked), Shakespeare hasn't changed anything at all.

Vardy and Mahrez may well be disgraceful but I'm thinking more about Leicester City FC, the fans, yes, even the owners. Just because a few players may be a disgrace doesn't mean that I have to take a dislike to the whole club.

As for Ranieri. It is his job to keep the players motivated and happy. I'm sorry but that's part of any managers job description. If sacking him and replacing him with Shakespeare improves results and squad morale, then the owners are not wrong.

[Hammersmith harrier]

I can't stand this current trend of absolving the players of any blame, it is their fault entirely.

[Atila]

So what should the owners have done? Stuck with Ranieri, possibly get relegated and end up spending years in the lower divisions? Unfortunately, they can't fire the players.

The managers get glory when things are going well, so they have to expect criticism sometimes when things are going bad. Have you never noticed how managers don't quit when things are going bad? That's because they're waiting for their pay off. It's all a money making racket.

Nothing for you and me to get aggravated about.

[Guest]

When Leicester City beat Sunderland 2-0 at home on April 4th, the top rated comment on the BBC report was the following from a Leicester City fan.

26.  Posted by   Stephen  
on  4 Apr 2017 20:54
Part of the problem that undid Ranieri was that he was always changing tactics this season, fearing that the opposition had worked the team out. It confused the players & the results were awful. All Shakespeare has done is to play the same way as last season with guts & no limit to passion....& it is working!!

This makes perfect sense.  

On Jan 22 2017, Leicester were beaten 3-0 away to Southampton.  In that match there were open displays of frustration directed at Ranieri from the players.  They were looking clueless to Southampton's tactical change against their diamond formation.  Pundits put the loss down to the manager's tactics and Ranieri admitted to this afterwards in his post-match press meeting: "It was not a good performance. It is my fault. I wanted to change the shape of my teams in the last two matches.  Against Chelsea, we played three at the back, today a diamond in midfield. Maybe my players didn't understand my idea very well."

This explains it all.  Ranieri fearing that other teams had worked them out, introduced a range of different formations and tactics for this season, and the players that he had, were just not capable as a team, to understand or skilful enough to carry out all these changes.

[Guest]

LOL at Spurs market traders selling "Please Stay Arsene" scarfs.

This is a club that got a DVD made after drawing 4-4 at the Emirates a few years back.

God knows what they'll be flogging should they actually win something?

Epic bantz, I suppose.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

De Bruyne is just ridiculously good

[nathan]

I can't stand this current trend of absolving the players of any blame, it is their fault entirely.

You are yet again talking rubbish. Nobody has said the players deserve no blame. Of course they do, but what you are saying is that's it's entirely the players fault thereby inferring Ranieri did nothing wrong.

It's clear Ranieri is also to blame, even admitting himself he changed tactics and got it wrong. If as a manager you get it wrong you end up losing your job.

[Holymiky]

I'm surprised that people are surprised that Hammersmith Harrier talks rubbish still after all this time.

[NickisBHAFC]

Harry Kane one season wonder

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