***Official*** English Football Season 2020-21

[Furball]

Nuno can't coach an attack either, I'd say you'd look pretty similar under him as under Arteta. Ancelotti was exactly the wrong type of coach for where Arsenal were. Allegri, meh. He's a good tactician but he tends to leave clubs in worse shape than they were when he arrived. Again, not what Arsenal needed.

Arteta was always likely to "fail" because he inherited a mid-table squad with expectations of a top four challenge. But he had good upside and made sense given the club's situation at the time. Just because it might not work out doesn't mean he was the wrong choice.

Yeah this is the crux of the issue for me. Aubameyang excepted, I doubt any of Arsenal's players would be coveted by teams challenging for the top 4 (hell, Chelsea released Willian and basically gave away David Luiz), which means there's only really so much you can reasonably expect Arteta to get from them. He's probably not helped himself in terms of expectations by winning a trophy so early, although even that was done mostly on the back of being well organised defensively and some individual brilliance on the part of Aubameyang.

 

[sledger]

Yeah this is the crux of the issue for me. Aubameyang excepted, I doubt any of Arsenal's players would be coveted by teams challenging for the top 4 (hell, Chelsea released Willian and basically gave away David Luiz), which means there's only really so much you can reasonably expect Arteta to get from them. He's probably not helped himself in terms of expectations by winning a trophy so early, although even that was done mostly on the back of being well organised defensively and some individual brilliance on the part of Aubameyang.

 

[sledger]

oh god just seen next week's game is against spurs

 

[grecian]

Meh, Sheffield Wednesday, guess it's winnable, but not exactly one to set the pulse going.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Southampton away, good job no fans can go as that a long way to go to watch a 3-0 defeat.

 

[GIMH]

Worst draw imaginable, championship club away. Will get beat, won't get any TV money. Bah

 

[grecian]

Trying to remember if Pulis is one of those managers who cbf'd with cups, hope so could do with the prize money.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Huddersfield away. Couldn’t be a lot worse.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Huddersfield away. Couldn’t be a lot worse.

Least you can win.

 

[Pothas]

Nuno can't coach an attack either, I'd say you'd look pretty similar under him as under Arteta. Ancelotti was exactly the wrong type of coach for where Arsenal were. Allegri, meh. He's a good tactician but he tends to leave clubs in worse shape than they were when he arrived. Again, not what Arsenal needed.

Arteta was always likely to "fail" because he inherited a mid-table squad with expectations of a top four challenge. But he had good upside and made sense given the club's situation at the time. Just because it might not work out doesn't mean he was the wrong choice.

Can't he? Sure his style is different to most of the leading coaches around at the moment but Wolves in general are very well coached side no? Think people rather take for granted how good he has been at Wolves, yes they obviously have some really good players but that whole project could have easily gone horribly wrong.

Don't really have a strong opinion on Allegri but don't think he can really be blamed for the decline at Milan or Juventus. Milan were heading in the wrong direction anyway and he did a good job to win one last title with them and Juventus have just started to do weird things because they are desperate to win the Champions League. No idea if he would have worked out at Arsenal or not.

Don't at all disagree with the basic point that Arsenal just don't have especially good players.

 

[Uppercut]

Can't he? Sure his style is different to most of the leading coaches around at the moment but Wolves in general are very well coached side no? Think people rather take for granted how good he has been at Wolves, yes they obviously have some really good players but that whole project could have easily gone horribly wrong.

Don't really have a strong opinion on Allegri but don't think he can really be blamed for the decline at Milan or Juventus. Milan were heading in the wrong direction anyway and he did a good job to win one last title with them and Juventus have just started to do weird things because they are desperate to win the Champions League. No idea if he would have worked out at Arsenal or not.

Don't at all disagree with the basic point that Arsenal just don't have especially good players.

Yeah I rate Nuno but he’s a defensive coach. Wolves don't combine especially well in the final third, and so obscenely talented players like Jota, Podence and Traore had/have disappointing output when playing for them. It would be a bit like hiring Benitez, which maybe isn't even the worst idea but you can see why they don't do it.

 

[JOJOXI]

Yeah I rate Nuno but he’s a defensive coach. Wolves don't combine especially well in the final third, and so obscenely talented players like Jota, Podence and Traore had/have disappointing output when playing for them. It would be a bit like hiring Benitez, which maybe isn't even the worst idea but you can see why they don't do it.

I do think Arsenal would basically be like the Arsenal of last season under Arteta - where there were signs of definitive improvement and they were a bit more fluent in attack than they are now but not as fluent as some of the Wenger teams even in the latter part of his reign.

I do think Nuno is a pretty pragmatic coach but think there is a risk of underplaying just how well Nuno has done as Pothas has said.

When Jota joined he was a youngster with potential but not much else, got some goals for Pacos in Portugal then on loan from Atletico at Porto. Adama Traore looks far better then when he was at Villa or Boro (although I did see a couple Boro fans say during his last season he was showing signs of improvement). Neither player had done all that much to guarantee they would perform to a high level with Wolves. Far better players have joined PL teams and it not work out for one reason or another. Sure Jota has gone a great run of goalscoring since joining Liverpool but I think that's a combination of a hot streak, Klopp and playing for a high pressing, attacking team giving him more chances. Podence has looked solid whenever I've seen him too despite still beiing relatively new in a new league and new country. Certainly they play within themselves Wolves but I think its harsh to say the output from their attackers are poor with Pedro Neto doing solidly at Wolves too and their star man Jimenez - if another manager took over following their promotion I don't think their goal tally would be any higher and I reckon we'd be speaking about them as a top 10 challenger rather then a side who has finished 7th 2 seasons in a row.

I do think it'll be interesting to see how they approach things without Jimenez though - looking forward to seeing Fabio Silva get a run of games

 

[andruid]

So...who will be the last EPL team to in a league match

 

[GIMH]

& the ballot doth deliver, BOOM, going the ****ing match on Saturday. Up the ****ing whites

 

[Furball]

Jammy bastard

 

[GIMH]

Haha. Was a 65% chance tbf.

Kind of hoping I miss out for the following game (midweek in mid-December at home to Stevenage, doesn't get any less appealing) so I can go on Boxing Day.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Around 75% of our fans have said they will definitely go if allocated a ticket. The rest are either unsure or definitely won't until the pandemic is over. I assume each club will have their own cross section.

 

[GIMH]

Yeah we did opt outs ahead of the ballot.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Yeah I'm not sure about that VAR decision in the City game

 

[Furball]

Yeah I'm not sure about that VAR decision in the City game

I thought it was Cancelo who was given offside in the build up?

There was definitely an appeal from Porto when the ball was passed wide before it was crossed. BT Goals Show didn't have a clue.

Balances out the stonewall penalty not given against Ederson.