**Official** English Football Season 2023/24

[flibbertyjibber]

Don't care who goes down but I want Luton to stay up. They have spent nothing by Premier League standards and are giving it a real go. Play fun football too. Good luck to them.

 

[Socerer 01]

Luton have good Blackpool under Holloway vibes hope they stay up unlike the latter

 

[Skipper Pup]

some would throw in Jones, Kelleher, Elliott, Bradley, Quansah, Konate and probably more

BUT just look at last season, granted an ageing midfield needing some work and Jones and Elliott were there but maybe just needed another year to make more of a mark, and Liverpool were all over the shop

many blame that midfield, but actually look at the stats, in I think it was 10 games they scored 45 goals, in the other 28 it was 30 (?) Bigger problem was an inability to beat teams they should have, sure you expect to lose games against rival big clubs but they were losing to Leeds, Forest, all sorts it is forgivable to lose to but not as many times as they did - and for me that wasn't solely down to midfield, the goalscoring that fired in 10 games less so in the rest


could be a key managerial appointment, plenty of talent at a number of clubs but getting them to play is another thing, this isn't FIFA or PES, or a management game (and could point back to their 20/21 season inbetween title winning season and quadruple tilt seasons. There it was a run of something like 3 wins in 14 games, people blamed the defence that season, injuries, yet it was the lack of goals and both Salah and Mane having a lack of goals in said run made it so bad

and funny how either side of said spell they scored goals, wasn't they conceded more goals simply that middle patch of lack of goals was clear....

I don't even know where to start with this post.

To insinuate LFC's issue was a lack of goals in 20/21 is so far wide of the mark. When Matip got injured after Christmas (GW15) they were top of the league by 2pts. The next four games the CB partnership was Fabinho and Phillips, they dropped points in each game and by the end of GW18 they were 5th and 6pts behind.

Of course when you lose every experienced senior CB at the club it's going to have an impact on the way the team plays, especially when the replacement options involve taking players away from other positions on the field (both Henderson and Fabinho covered CB that season).

The midfield issues from last season are well documented - it is no coincidence they are back at the top now that its been addressed.

 

[sledger]

Luton have good Blackpool under Holloway vibes hope they stay up unlike the latter

Blackpool under Holloway were absolutely awful though.

 

[Himannv]

How many of those make the City side? 2 at best?

That's a bad metric to use because not many players really get into the City side anyway. However, that squad has potential for a coach who plays a similar system. Take Bayer Leverkusen this season - they're on top of the table in the Bundesliga but they don't really have superstars apart from maybe Wirtz. However, their players fit the system perfectly and the results are there for all to see. Liverpool are similar because the players listed all fit the system they play quite well and with a few tweaks they're a solid and consistent team that can challenge for the title even if they aren't able to win it.

 

[sledger]

Yeah, "but would so and so get into another team?" is not usually a very helpful analytical approach at the best of times tbh. It essentially ignores the fact that the dynamics and positional needs of every team are different, and in the immediate context turns a blind eye to the fact that there are numerous Liverpool players who wouldn't get a look in at City but are actually performing an integral role for Liverpool (i.e., a team that is playing really well and is top of the league/above City in the table).

The example of this I'm always reminded of is when in 02/03 people were often heard saying "yeah well Van Nistelrooy wouldn't get in the Arsenal team". And he wouldn't have. But as Van Nistelrooy had a storming season and ended up winning the league when Arsenal finished second, it kind of rendered this criticism completely nugatory.

 

[Socerer 01]

Blackpool under Holloway were absolutely awful though.

hence the good Blackpool bit

 

[sledger]

hence the good Blackpool bit

You mean the imaginary bit?!

 

[Socerer 01]

You mean the imaginary bit?!

thats another way of describing it

 

[Socerer 01]

I don't even know where to start with this post.

no surprises seeing who made that post originally

 

[Socerer 01]

That's a bad metric to use because not many players really get into the City side anyway. However, that squad has potential for a coach who plays a similar system. Take Bayer Leverkusen this season - they're on top of the table in the Bundesliga but they don't really have superstars apart from maybe Wirtz. However, their players fit the system perfectly and the results are there for all to see. Liverpool are similar because the players listed all fit the system they play quite well and with a few tweaks they're a solid and consistent team that can challenge for the title even if they aren't able to win it.

Frimpong and Grimaldo are arguably superstars too tbf and it wont surprise me if Schick and Boniface get into that convo by the end of this season

saying Liverpool’s squad isnt capable of winning titles is blatantly wrong though

 

[Molehill]

saying Liverpool’s squad isnt capable of winning titles is blatantly wrong though

I think it's more that squad without VVD, Salah and Klopp that was one of the points being made.

 

[Himannv]

Frimpong and Grimaldo are arguably superstars too tbf and it wont surprise me if Schick and Boniface get into that convo by the end of this season

saying Liverpool’s squad isnt capable of winning titles is blatantly wrong though

It's too soon to call Boniface a superstar and Schick isn't at that level in my view. Grimaldo and Frimpong are excellent players and critical to how they play but I don't know if you can call them superstars yet. Frimpong maybe. I haven't watched a whole lot of Benfica to rate Grimaldo higher but his performances for Leverkusen have been very good.

Ultimately a lot of the success they are seeing right now is down to the system and the suitability of players to fit into it.

 

[Skipper Pup]

Conor Bradley, remember the name.

What a performance.

 

[Furball]

Am I going mad or are those Chelsea penalty shouts, particularly the Nkunku shout in the 2nd half, just absolutely not penalties?

 

[Skipper Pup]

Interesting game, sort of went the way I expected. No doubt the papers will spin the usual narratives about VAR, Chelsea probably should have had a pen in the 2nd half but it would have been a consolation.

From the outset that was absolute domination. Chelsea couldn't handle the intensity in the first 25min they barely touched the ball. Jota got fortunate for the first goal but once that went in it was curtains, Bradley's goal was a thing of beauty. Darwin should have made it 3-0 but at half-time the game was basically done anyway.

Chelsea were better in the 2nd half after their subs but the third LFC goal was always coming. The next 5-10min was the only period where Chelsea got a foothold in the game, largely due to Bradley, Jota and Gomez being subbed off. LFC fell asleep and Nkunku pounced. Diaz then wrapped it up.

Overall, Bradley was comfortably MOTM, Jota was tenacious and a stand out too. Mac Allister and Jones are the engine of this team though, they were both quietly brilliant. Then there was the enigma Darwin... 1 assist, 11 shots, 4 hit the post. On another day he gets the bounce of the ball and scores a hat-trick, that game could have easily been 7-1.

I'm intrigued to see what Klopp does for Arsenal, it's almost impossible to leave Bradley or Gomez out of this XI and his loyalty to TAA/Robbo is really going to be tested.

Ratings:
Alisson 7/10 - Didn't have much to do
Bradley 10/10 - Just remember the name.
VVD 7/10 - Played some great passes but some questionable tackles
Konate 8/10 - Just rock solid.
Gomez 8.5/10 - Nothing got past him
Macca 8.5/10 - Quietly a complete performance
Jones 8.5/10 - Set the tempo and the press
Szoboslai 8/10 - Worked hard and deserved his goal
Diaz 8/10 - Quieter game but got his goal
Nunez 8/10 - Loses a mark for missing chances but he was a proper menace
Jota 9/10 - Competed for everything and broke the game open

Edit: dropped VVD a mark, gives away 2 pens on another day.

 

[Socerer 01]

Am I going mad or are those Chelsea penalty shouts, particularly the Nkunku shout in the 2nd half, just absolutely not penalties?

he got swiped on the ankle by Van Dijk who had no way of winning the ball so idk how that isnt a pen

telling that Chelsea had 2 penalties not given and still were **** enough to not even feel robbed by the end of it because of how horrendous they were

 

[Molehill]

he got swiped on the ankle by Van Dijk who had no way of winning the ball so idk how that isnt a pen

telling that Chelsea had 2 penalties not given and still were **** enough to not even feel robbed by the end of it because of how horrendous they were

I thought the second was a definite penalty (especially after the one he gave Liverpool) but the first probably not (although if he'd given it, I doubt VAR would've overturned the decision). Slightly concerned that this is the level of refereeing we're going to see on the Klopp farewell tour. It made no difference last night because as you say, Chelsea were awful, but it might elsewhere.

 

[Socerer 01]

I thought the second was a definite penalty (especially after the one he gave Liverpool) but the first probably not (although if he'd given it, I doubt VAR would've overturned the decision). Slightly concerned that this is the level of refereeing we're going to see on the Klopp farewell tour. It made no difference last night because as you say, Chelsea were awful, but it might elsewhere.

i dont think it has to do with Kloppo’s goodbye but more to do with refs being incompetent as usual both the ones on the field and the one in the tech booth

 

[Molehill]

i dont think it has to do with Kloppo’s goodbye but more to do with refs being incompetent as usual both the ones on the field and the one in the tech booth

Not sure, I suspect if Chelsea had scored the second goal it would've been disallowed. And to be honest, I think it probably should've been, you can't just take out the covering defender like that.