The 2016-2017 Football Thread

[Scepticalscribe]

Good win for City considering they weren't at full strength. Mou got his team sheet wrong. The Mikhi hype is looking disappointing. Starting Lingaard ahead of Matial, Mata etc was hilarious.

Wheels might be coming off the Leicester wagon

I don't think that 'the wheels' are coming off the Leicester wagon just yet, but - increasingly - it is becoming clear that N'Golo Kanté played an incredibly important role in last year's challenge for the championship and their ultimate success, (although, as is the way of such things, Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez received more attention as they were the main goal scorers) and that Leicester need to be able to find someone who can do - at least some - of what he did.

As I don't much care for Mr Mourinho, - not least the delight he takes in psychological combat, and mentally unsettling his opponents - I am delighted to see that he has lost this round to Mr Guardiola - mentally, physically, psychologically, and on the score line. Blaming his players - and not himself - so early is quite telling.

 

[Apple fanboy]

So missed this due to work yesterday, but I have to say I'm yet again ashamed to be a West Ham fan.
Not talking about our capitulation on the pitch, but the violence off of it.
Terrible. Ban all they find guilty for life and put them in prison.
Shocking.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

So missed this due to work yesterday, but I have to say I'm yet again ashamed to be a West Ham fan.
Not talking about our capitulation on the pitch, but the violence off of it.
Terrible. Ban all they find guilty for life and put them in prison.
Shocking.

Well said.

I read about it, and thought of you. Not a good day for West Ham, but, more generally, this was a problem that I had assumed was long behind us.

 

[pachyderm]

THE MASSIVE SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY WIN!

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Mourinho got outfoxed by Pep, pure and simple, but then went on to moan about his own players and the ref. He'll have to do better than that next time.

Liverpool under Klopp will always deliver exciting football - but I fear they may become another Arsenal...great to watch but vulnerable to the cynical, results-oriented teams like Man Utd and Chelsea when it comes to the big games.

THE MASSIVE SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY WIN!

I thought Forestieri was being poached by another club during the transfer window; I'm sure Wednesday fans are happy he's still around.

Columbus bumbled their way to yet another home defeat. this time against Vancouver. They just keep finding interesting new ways to lose. The most concerning thing seems to be an uncanny knack for scoring and then immediately leaking a goal to the opposition. This season has been one long tale of woe for the defense - especially surprising given that Berhalter was himself a defender in his playing days.

EDIT: I hate Diego Costa. What a dirty whiny POS of a human being. He is immensely talented, but if ever there was a player I'd feel not-so-bad about Joey Barton headbutting, it would be Costa.

 

[pachyderm]

I thought Forestieri was being poached by another club during the transfer window; I'm sure Wednesday fans are happy he's still around.

No. We, for the most, part are not happy. It wasn't so much that he was being poached as he was pouting about his contract. He simply didn't go to the Norwich game. Which we drew. Might have won had he gone. It was all about money.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

No. We, for the most, part are not happy.

Hmm. He'd better start scoring often or else...

 

[twietee]

Hertha has had its best start into a season ever!!1!

That means we never ever won our two first games in a row before. Ever. Can't say that's that impressive - but YEAH!!

Also likely explains why I always head into a new season fairly pessimistic

 

[Lord Blackadder]

A great start in the Champions League for Leicester, 3-0 against Brugge. It's going to get harder than this for them pretty soon, but they showed they are still a good football team and not intimidated by the occasion. Best of luck to them.

Man City look like a Guardiola team already. Aguero makes me quite nostalgic for the good old days Liverpool had with Suarez...having a top-drawer striker in your side makes life a lot easier.

Man Utd, Spurs and Arsenal have European football to distract them, which gives Liverpool and Chelsea something of an advantage in the hunt for a top four spot. That makes Friday's game between the latter two important - Klopp will want maximum points against what is a direct rival.

 

[JamesMike]

What about Barca's win 7-0! And BM's win 5-0! Not bad.

 

[Apple fanboy]

What about Barca's win 7-0! And BM's win 5-0! Not bad.

Celtic are not much of a challenge these days, mostly because they don't get challenged in their domestic leauge.
But a 7-0 thrashing is embarrassing.

 

[pachyderm]

EDIT: I hate Diego Costa. What a dirty whiny POS of a human being. He is immensely talented, but if ever there was a player I'd feel not-so-bad about Joey Barton headbutting, it would be Costa.

All good people hate Diego Costa.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

What about Barca's win 7-0! And BM's win 5-0! Not bad.

As Apple Fanboy says, and with all due respect to Celtic, they are a "big" club off the pitch but in terms of competitiveness they are mediocre. There are in the Champions League by virtue of being the Scottish champions, but there are plenty of clubs in England, Spain, Germany, France, Portugal, the Netherlands etc etc who are better.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Big win for Liverpool today, and overall a good performance.

Liverpool are an exciting team with one obvious weakness: they don't know how to play Mourinho-ball and kill a game when they need to. With that being said, they managed to hang on today and definitely looked the better side. The pundits keep highlighting defensive frailties But I've come to see that as an inevitable side effect of Klopp-ball, so to speak. In any event, it's exciting to watch and a win is a win.

A drab showing from Man Utd against Feyenoord - away, to be sure, but Mourinho teams are usually more ruthless than that.

 

[JamesMike]

I agree that even though Man U is my team they were lackluster, horrible showing.

 

[hank moody]

A thread to follow

 

[pachyderm]

THE MASSIVE SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY play birmingham city, one of our serious bugaboo teams...

UP THE OWLS!

 

[Lord Blackadder]

A day of big, lopsided score lines...no surprises either. West Ham continue to sputter.

Leicester have bounced back well from their defeat to Liverpool with a comfortable win over Brugge in the Champions League followed by today's thumping of Burnley - with big-money singing Slimani scoring two. Conventional wisdom still states that Leicester will sink down the table this season, but recent performances indicate they are still a good team with a decent chance of pushing the richest teams near the top of the table.

 

[Apple fanboy]

A day of big, lopsided score lines...no surprises either. West Ham continue to sputter.

Leicester have bounced back well from their defeat to Liverpool with a comfortable win over Brugge in the Champions League followed by today's thumping of Burnley - with big-money singing Slimani scoring two. Conventional wisdom still states that Leicester will sink down the table this season, but recent performances indicate they are still a good team with a decent chance of pushing the richest teams near the top of the table.

More than a sputter. To be honest thinking less about Europa now than relegation! To concede 4 goals at West Brom is not a great result.
Meanwhile Man City march on.

 

[Alphazoid]

Might need to bring in De Bruyne for Mane in my fantasy squad. Looks set for a great season bar injury.

 

[daneoni]

Sanchez's attitude is startling to annoy me. Yes he's our best player but going against pecking order and holding the club to ransom by demanding 200k a week AND an affordable release clause is unscrupulous. I hope the club don't bow down to him.

Meanwhile City look the team to beat. I just hope they don't run away with it which would be no fun.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Columbus just completed the shakiest 4-1 win I think I've ever seen. After racing to a 3-0 advantage at the end of the first half, they faded horribly in the second half - relying on several sharp saves from Clark, some sloppy shooting from Orlando and a bit of luck to avoid embarrassing themselves. On top of that, they flubbed a few golden chances to score more. No joke, it should have been 6-0 or 7-0. To be fair, Orlando upped their game in the second half, but I'm so used to seeing second half collapses this season I was very nervous until the fourth went in.

More than a sputter. To be honest thinking less about Europa now than relegation! To concede 4 goals at West Brom is not a great result.
Meanwhile Man City march on.

I never fully rated Bilic, though I can't put my finger on why - he's obviously not a bad manager, but the dip in form this season has got to be alarming to West Ham fans.

Sanchez's attitude is startling to annoy me. Yes he's our best player but going against pecking order and holding the club to ransom by demanding 200k a week AND an affordable release clause is unscrupulous. I hope the club don't bow down to him.

Meanwhile City look the team to beat. I just hope they don't run away with it which would be no fun.

There is a lot of season yet to play, but Guardiola seems to have worked some magic so far. He has Sterling playing very well again.

 

[balamw]

Columbus just completed the shakiest 4-1 win I think I've ever seen.

A win is a win. Was shocked that the Revs also managed to pick up 3 points over Montreal tonight. With lost of points to be shed in the next couple of weeks the East could look quite different in October.

It's amazing how much difference Pep seems to have made with City. He's taken an already good team and tuned them up to a play like a great team.

B

 

[circatee]

I need Watford to beat Man Utd today. Only 5 minutes to go...

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Well, that was somewhat surprising...after Rashford equalized I expected Man Utd to grow into the match, but Watford simply clicked into a higher gear and Man Utd looked out of ideas - the team seems unbalanced despite all the talent and money. Rooney remains the elephant in the room.

Apparently Mourinho hasn't lost three in a row since he was at Porto.