*Official* English Football Season 2016-17

[Furball]

Just realised that Tottenham and Leicester are likely to be the winners of the weak groups so it's absolutely vital for Arsenal to win the group to avoid an absolute nightmare draw.

Having said that we'll probably draw one of whoever out of Real Madrid/Dortmund/Bayern/Atletico Madrid finish 2nd in their group.

 

[Uppercut]

Just realised that Tottenham and Leicester are likely to be the winners of the weak groups so it's absolutely vital for Arsenal to win the group to avoid an absolute nightmare draw.

Having said that we'll probably draw one of whoever out of Real Madrid/Dortmund/Bayern/Atletico Madrid finish 2nd in their group.

Yeah this could make a difference, although Spurs aren't in great shape to win their group at the moment, and if they finish second then the opposite of your point becomes true.

Generally speaking the difference between first and second is really small this year. Looking to be something like:

Arsenal/PSG

Napoli/Benfica

Barca/Citeh

Atletico/Bayern

Leverkusen/Spurs

RM/Dortmund

Leicester/Porto

Juventus/Sevilla

I reckon Barca and Juventus are the only two where there's any difference at all, and even then it isn't huge. Could be a lot of fun R16 games.

 

[sledger]

Good to see Spurs making a meal of things.

 

[Furball]

Haha Spurs.

Hopefully they take a doing on Sunday.

 

[Cabinet96]

Seems the most open CL in years. Atletico probably the most impressive side so far. Hope Arsenal can at least make the quarters and have a competitive tie.

 

[Red Wingz]

Madrd puts up an horrifying show yesterday.....Cr7 clearly looks unfit since that euro injury

 

[BoyBrumby]

Just realised that Tottenham and Leicester are likely to be the winners of the weak groups

Looking to be something like:

Arsenal/PSG

Napoli/Benfica

Barca/Citeh

Atletico/Bayern

Leverkusen/Spurs

RM/Dortmund

Leicester/Porto

Juventus/Sevilla

I reckon Barca and Juventus are the only two where there's any difference at all, and even then it isn't huge. Could be a lot of fun R16 games.

"What a difference a day makes,
Twenty-four little hours..."

'Mon the Monegasques!!

 

[Uppercut]

I think Spurs will win on Sunday though. Serious big-game specialists these days.

 

[sledger]

Feeling pretty nervous about it actually.

Given that Spurs tend to turn it on for the big games these days it's a big test for Arsenal. If Arsenal can win I'll seriously begin to think of them as having the mettle to potentially go all the way. November does tend to be the month of doom and gloom though, so I guess we will see if they can buck the trend.

 

[Uppercut]

Feeling pretty nervous about it actually.

Given that Spurs tend to turn it on for the big games these days it's a big test for Arsenal. If Arsenal can win I'll seriously begin to think of them as having the mettle to potentially go all the way. November does tend to be the month of doom and gloom though, so I guess we will see if they can buck the trend.

I think you're good enough this year to have won he league last year. Top five are all so good now though.

 

[Furball]

Spurs look absolutely garbage up front.

Cue ripping Arsenal apart on Sunday.

 

[sledger]

Will need to contain Son.

 

[Cabinet96]

Feel Arsenal can go either way in the big games these days. Can beat United/Chelsea 3-0 or lose to them with stupid red cards and 18 year olds scoring braces. Genuinely don't know what to think. Would probably predict a 1-1 if I had to.

 

[Cabinet96]

Man United stink...and so do the u-turns - Football365

 

[Tangles]

A loss, a Pogba injury and a goal to encourage the Rooney fans. Horror day for Jose.

 

[Uppercut]

I think he's more or less doing ok so far but I'm annoyed by Mourinho playing such a strong team away to a hyper-aggressive Turkish team in a game nobody cares about.

 

[Furball]

Man United stink...and so do the u-turns - Football365

Same thing happened with Moyes, there was a whole 'what could he be expected to do' narrative when he inherited a title winning squad from Ferguson.

 

[Uppercut]

Same thing happened with Moyes, there was a whole 'what could he be expected to do' narrative when he inherited a title winning squad from Ferguson.

Yeah that was such bollocks.

It's not impossible to tell the difference between underperforming individuals and a dysfunctional system. Obviously they interact, but so much of our underperformance is down to bad finishing. The system isn't as impressive as Liverpool's or Spurs's but it's a huge improvement over LVG's and he's only been there a few months.

I do kind of worry about the negative narrative surrounding Mourinho affecting the players. It's another reason why being in the Europa League is such a disaster. Our two wins this season were (correctly) followed by dead silence and our two defeats brought a torrent of "you're all dicks" thinkpieces. The only possible outcome is being embarrassed.

 

[Furball]

Like I said earlier, I'd be very interested in seeing distance run stats because United don't strike me as being a very dynamic side.

 

[Uppercut]

Like I said earlier, I'd be very interested in seeing distance run stats because United don't strike me as being a very dynamic side.

Yeah we're really not. We had been running the least in the division but I would guess that's improved a little bit since Rooney was dropped.

I'm not really buying the "Mourinho's outdated system" story. This idea that the high press is inherently more "modern" and therefore superior is just bollocks, didn't anyone learn anything from Leicester? He's been using a high press selectively for years- that 6-0 game against Arsenal was especially brutal. But right now it doesn't suit our players, so he's looking for a system that does.