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The 2023-2024 Football Thread
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Well, they have suffered some serious injuries to key players (Eze, and Olise, come to mind), several teams have worse stats, - Palace are lying 15th in the table at the moment - and, at the end of the season, they simply need to ensure that they have three teams lying beneath them, or below them, in the table, to be sure of staving off the threat of relegation.
I was right about China, they didn't let it go with the result being they cancelled all the Argentina friendlies that was due to be played in the country.
Sticking with Roy (again) after coming in last season was a massive mistake. I think getting rid of Viera when they did was unfair as the games Hodgson came in for were a lot easier than those that got Viera sacked.
Maybe they'll go for Alan Pardew next 😂
Could you imagine! I think he's destined for Bayern personally...Mourinho is still available lol
I would have thought Ajax. They always seem to want/expect Champions league because of past club history but this year they are struggling. Something the fans will not be happy with. Question is, would the fans be happy to have Mourinho as there new manager considering his history, one/two year hit wonder and then off by the third year.
Petty, petulant, and self-defeating…
Not that I sympathize with the club. Inter Miami have gotten repeatedly walloped on their international tour, Messi is tired and nursing an injury, and MLS starts up again soon. I hope it all bites the club in the backside.
Why do England team managers do this, not picking inform players? Southgate did it at the last world cup and now England's women's manager has done the same for some friendlies. Nikita Paris is currently the 2nd best inform striker at the moment and she has not been picked for the friendlies. Strikers who are currently performing worse than Nikita have been picked.
England: Leah Williamson returns to Lionesses squad for Austria and Italy friendlies
Leah Williamson returns to the England squad for the first time since April for friendlies against Austria and Italy, after recovering from an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury.
www.bbc.co.uk
They should do away with letting the managers pick their players, and they simply get a selection given to them each International break who are leading the Opta stats or something... if you want to play, you have to be performing.Why do England team managers do this, not picking inform players? Southgate did it at the last world cup and now England's women's manager has done the same for some friendlies. Nikita Paris is currently the 2nd best inform striker at the moment and she has not been picked for the friendlies. Strikers who are currently performing worse than Nikita have been picked.
England: Leah Williamson returns to Lionesses squad for Austria and Italy friendlies
Leah Williamson returns to the England squad for the first time since April for friendlies against Austria and Italy, after recovering from an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury.www.bbc.co.uk
Harry Maguire is the one who screws up using stats based data to determine who gets picked for England because whilst in the past during squad selections he has been utterly terrible for his club side Man United, he has persistently put in outstanding performances for England.
Hmmm...to be fair, Leicester are the exception to the Championship rule. They have a stranglehold on first place.vs
We need points!
His international form has always baffled me - and his constant selection for England teams, as we are all fixated on current form and consistency at club level and he rarely has either.
With that said, he's been playing far better football than in the last couple of years, when he has got a run out for Man U this season.
Not sure if it has been mentioned, but congrats to Ivory Coast on their crazy comeback in the AFCON....nowhere in the group stage, manager fired mid-tournament and then they go on to win it all....if that happened in England the nation would detonate. 🤣
I watched little of it, but it seemed like a lot of close, tense, but fairly boring matches. Lots of drama though.
All of the 'big' teams played badly and most were knocked out shockingly early. Teams like Ghana and Egypt looked way, way off their potential.
I wouldn't necessarily say 'outstanding,' but Maguire plays with much greater confidence in an England shirt and international play seems to suit him better. To be fair I think that probably reflects as much on the recent state of his club as it does on him. But also that in terms of what happens on the pitch right now playing for England is easier football than playing in the Premier League. Slower tempo, simpler tactics and many of their opponents are markedly inferior.
When Southgate arrived his selection strategy was largely meritocratic. But since then things have ossified and it's now a good 'ol boys club. It has not been a change for the better, but I'm not sure it has made a massive difference in outcomes thus far. I find debates over national squad composition usually devolve into shouting matches over hypotheticals. Should , for example, Trent Alexander-Arnold be getting more starts for England? I dunno, maybe. I think he's good enough, though whether he fits into Southgate's system is questionable. Has his exclusion made any difference in terms of tournament results? Probably not. And you could go on.
I watched little of it, but it seemed like a lot of close, tense, but fairly boring matches. Lots of drama though.
All of the 'big' teams played badly and most were knocked out shockingly early. Teams like Ghana and Egypt looked way, way off their potential.
I wouldn't necessarily say 'outstanding,' but Maguire plays with much greater confidence in an England shirt and international play seems to suit him better. To be fair I think that probably reflects as much on the recent state of his club as it does on him. But also that in terms of what happens on the pitch right now playing for England is easier football than playing in the Premier League. Slower tempo, simpler tactics and many of their opponents are markedly inferior.
When Southgate arrived his selection strategy was largely meritocratic. But since then things have ossified and it's now a good 'ol boys club. It has not been a change for the better, but I'm not sure it has made a massive difference in outcomes thus far. I find debates over national squad composition usually devolve into shouting matches over hypotheticals. Should , for example, Trent Alexander-Arnold be getting more starts for England? I dunno, maybe. I think he's good enough, though whether he fits into Southgate's system is questionable. Has his exclusion made any difference in terms of tournament results? Probably not. And you could go on.
I remember when a schoolkid every time someone's team lost we would tease the person by chanting 'going down, going down, going down', even if the team was at the top of the league. It was a fun tease at the time but I can see now as an adult how ridiculous that is now, a team in the top 6 of the league with us kids chanting 'going down' because the person we are teasing their team lost lol.THE MASSIVE sure are!
2 - 0
meh!
Well as a kid you had to!
I have a couple of friends who are Man U fans and every time they lose I do the same.
"Don't worry, you'll like the Championship" etc etc
Have to admit that I did do the same to a close relative who is a Leeds fan. When they got promoted to the PL and they started to lose, I kept teasing him by saying 'going down going down going down', and as we all know, they did go down lol.
I remember seeing a funny clip some years ago of Villa fans chanting about "Going straight back down! Going straight back down! Going straight back down!" at Birmingham City to the tune of "Yellow Submarine". It really worked.
I don't think Tuchel is surviving beyond this season. The guy wears out his welcome faster than Mourinho these days.
He is clearly a spiky character and lacks even the sliver of charm Mou can muster.