EPL 2021 / 2022
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@MajorRage said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Indeed Pep, indeed ....
I do feel a bit for Pep because he's done amazing things with City but everyone's completely focused on Liverpool's (now moribund) quad, plus United's collapse. It's simply a case of ears and eyeballs for broadcasters, however.
That said, I can't believe for a second that the entire country wants Liverpool to do well - there's a massive contingent of United, Chelsea, Arsenal and other "neutral" fans who can't wait for Liverpool to lose their Cup Finals.
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@junior said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@MajorRage said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
Indeed Pep, indeed ....
I do feel a bit for Pep because he's done amazing things with City but everyone's completely focused on Liverpool's (now moribund) quad, plus United's collapse. It's simply a case of ears and eyeballs for broadcasters, however.
That said, I can't believe for a second that the entire country wants Liverpool to do well - there's a massive contingent of United, Chelsea, Arsenal and other "neutral" fans who can't wait for Liverpool to lose their Cup Finals.
He obviously doesn't mean literally. There is a pro-Liverpool slant to most reporting though, that is unequivocal. Yes, a fair bit of that has been excitement about the potential for an unprecedented quadruple trophy season (even my Dutch colleagues were talking about it), but even in standard times, Liverpool are quite fondly written of. Half of sky sports punditry are openly very pro Liverpool.
It's part of the reason why Chelsea fans like I, throughly enjoy watching them lose. Something that hasn't happened often of late ...
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@junior said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
That said, I can't believe for a second that the entire country wants Liverpool to do well - there's a massive contingent of United, Chelsea, Arsenal and other "neutral" fans who can't wait for Liverpool to lose their Cup Finals.
Not to mention all of the supporters of lower league teams who want to see ALL of the big clubs doing badly.
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@KiwiPie plus the Blue half of Liverpool.
Man City are arrivistes and are unpopular because (like Chelsea before them) they are a traditionally second tier - as in just below the elite not second Division - who many believe undeservedly bought their success.
So fans of the 'elite' clubs resent them gatecrashing their cozy little club and other clubs with ambitions deride them as Citeh / Chelski while secretly wishing they had a sugar daddy to'buy' them success. The most recent expression of this is the Newcastle fans circumlocutions to avoid having to confront how unsavoury their new owners are. If they are honest all these other little character clubs would do a deal with the devil if it guaranteed then top six security ad infinitum.
then as @Kiwipie points out the majority of the English football pyramid loathes them all.
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City, with the pressure slightly relieved, have crushed another opposition, and now have one hand and 3 fingers on the premier league
if Haaland maintains his standards next year, holy shit you might need 100 points to win the league instead of the probable 96 to win this year
phenomenal team.
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@dogmeat said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@KiwiPie plus the Blue half of Liverpool.
Man City are arrivistes and are unpopular because (like Chelsea before them) they are a traditionally second tier - as in just below the elite not second Division - who many believe undeservedly bought their success.
So fans of the 'elite' clubs resent them gatecrashing their cozy little club and other clubs with ambitions deride them as Citeh / Chelski while secretly wishing they had a sugar daddy to'buy' them success. The most recent expression of this is the Newcastle fans circumlocutions to avoid having to confront how unsavoury their new owners are. If they are honest all these other little character clubs would do a deal with the devil if it guaranteed then top six security ad infinitum.
then as @Kiwipie points out the majority of the English football pyramid loathes them all.
City are definitely resented for becoming successful due to money injected having not been a traditional powerhouse - same with Chelsea. Liverpool have bought a lot of players in the last few years but don't get the same resentment. Liverpool's transfer business has been great, especially for their forwards Mane, Salah, Jota and Diaz - moderate prices for modern times and they have also moved on Solanke, Brewster etc for decent money. City seem to target particular players and then spend whatever it takes to get them, Liverpool look for value except for the absolute key players like VvD.
Klopp can pretty much rest all his key players for the final 2 EPL games if City win on Sunday given Liverpool have the FA Cup this weekend. If City lose or even draw with West Ham then it is all on for the final day.
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@mariner4life Barney Ronay has a different spin
Haaland is a fantasy player but he or Manchester City will have to change | Barney Ronay
Guardiola has signed the one A-list goalscorer who looks an awkward fit but target men have thrived under him before
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@KiwiPie said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@dogmeat said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
City are definitely resented for becoming successful due to money injected having not been a traditional powerhouse - same with Chelsea. Liverpool have bought a lot of players in the last few years but don't get the same resentment. Liverpool's transfer business has been great, especially for their forwards Mane, Salah, Jota and Diaz - moderate prices for modern times and they have also moved on Solanke, Brewster etc for decent money.
Solanke was a great buy for Bournemouth, if it wasn't for Mr cheat code from Fulham he would have topped the championship goal scoring list
Buying players from Liverpool have proven value for others too -
Harry Wilson has been great for Fulham this season too.
Hoping Neco Williams will be next year...
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Solanke would probably have done even better under a different Manager with a more attacking philosophy, rather than playing keep ball in your own half
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@dogmeat lol your parker hate runs deep..29 goals was a good return. I think controlling of possession worked for us mostly as we have bit of speed on the break and with Brooks back that should help too. Will be interesting to see if it works at all next year though
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There is a short video doing the rounds up here (on whatsapp) of a radio show talking about Asthma in the UK. The below webpage summarises it:
Reminds me of the TdF thing where something like 80% of TdF cyclists have asthma. Yeah right.
Not sure how prevalent this is in UK football, or even if the whole thing is bullshit. But I will say, and this is as one of the tiny minority who don't like Liverpool, I'd be looking at the statistics across all PL clubs before pointing the finger.
There's A Conspiracy Theory Going Viral On The Internet That Liverpool Has Been Cheating With Doctor's Notes For Drugs For Years
Well well well. Ain't this a funny coincidence. 63% of the Liverpool team has been diagnosed with asthma. The most elite athletes in the world on one of the world's most successful teams also has an e...
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@bayimports said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@KiwiPie said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@dogmeat said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
City are definitely resented for becoming successful due to money injected having not been a traditional powerhouse - same with Chelsea. Liverpool have bought a lot of players in the last few years but don't get the same resentment. Liverpool's transfer business has been great, especially for their forwards Mane, Salah, Jota and Diaz - moderate prices for modern times and they have also moved on Solanke, Brewster etc for decent money.
Solanke was a great buy for Bournemouth, if it wasn't for Mr cheat code from Fulham he would have topped the championship goal scoring list
Buying players from Liverpool have proven value for others tooSolanke is going well now but it took a while and not sure if he will make it at the top level and Liverpool got 20 million for him. Brewster went for over 20m quid to Sheff U and has hardly played so far.
Meanwhile in 6 years or so, Klopp has bought
Mane 30 million
Matip Free
Wijnaldum 25m (sold for more)
Salah 34m
Solanke 6m
Robertson 8m
Oxlade-Chamberlain 35m
van Dijk 75m
Fabinho 39m
Keita 52m
Shaqiri 13m
Alisson 56m
Elliott 4m
Minamino 7m
Tsimikas 12m
Thiago 20m
Jota 41m
Konate 36m
DIaz 35mThat's a lot of signings and a clear indication of why they now have so much depth.
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@KiwiPie said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@bayimports said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@KiwiPie said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@dogmeat said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
City are definitely resented for becoming successful due to money injected having not been a traditional powerhouse - same with Chelsea. Liverpool have bought a lot of players in the last few years but don't get the same resentment. Liverpool's transfer business has been great, especially for their forwards Mane, Salah, Jota and Diaz - moderate prices for modern times and they have also moved on Solanke, Brewster etc for decent money.
Solanke was a great buy for Bournemouth, if it wasn't for Mr cheat code from Fulham he would have topped the championship goal scoring list
Buying players from Liverpool have proven value for others tooSolanke is going well now but it took a while and not sure if he will make it at the top level and Liverpool got 20 million for him. Brewster went for over 20m quid to Sheff U and has hardly played so far.
Meanwhile in 6 years or so, Klopp has bought
Mane 30 million
Matip Free
Wijnaldum 25m (sold for more)
Salah 34m
Solanke 6m
Robertson 8m
Oxlade-Chamberlain 35m
van Dijk 75m
Fabinho 39m
Keita 52m
Shaqiri 13m
Alisson 56m
Elliott 4m
Minamino 7m
Tsimikas 12m
Thiago 20m
Jota 41m
Konate 36m
DIaz 35mThat's a lot of signings and a clear indication of why they now have so much depth.
Relative wise, Salah was an absolute bargain.
I remember being rather surprised at the time at the cost of van Dijk, but I'd argue that's been the best signing. It's certainly been the one that in my opinion has brought the most success.
If pundit's weren't so obsessed with giving the award to Messi, he'd have a Ballon D'Or as well to show for it.
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@MajorRage said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
There is a short video doing the rounds up here (on whatsapp) of a radio show talking about Asthma in the UK. The below webpage summarises it:
Reminds me of the TdF thing where something like 80% of TdF cyclists have asthma. Yeah right.
Not sure how prevalent this is in UK football, or even if the whole thing is bullshit. But I will say, and this is as one of the tiny minority who don't like Liverpool, I'd be looking at the statistics across all PL clubs before pointing the finger.
Well well well. Ain't this a funny coincidence. 63% of the Liverpool team has been diagnosed with asthma. The most elite athletes in the world on one of the world's most successful teams also has an e...
Was rife in British rugby about 20 years ago
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@bayimports Nah I don't hate Parker. I just think he's been very lucky to get the two managerial positions that he has despite having zero track record.
I'd have been in favour of him getting the chance to bring Fulham back up from the Championship this season. What most Fulham fans hold against him is the way he left.
It was very clear that he wanted to sign with Bournemouth but he wouldn't resign dragging it out and then tried to get Fulham to pay out his contract.
Mate you want out - we're prepared to let you go and part amicably, best for all concerned tec. Don't try and screw us.
then the fact that Silva took basically the same players and transformed them while the Cherries looked increasingly shite....
I don't think he's got what it takes and reckon Bournemouth are doomed with him in charge. Mind you I'm not that hopeful of Fulham staying up either.
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@KiwiPie said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@dogmeat said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@KiwiPie plus the Blue half of Liverpool.
Man City are arrivistes and are unpopular because (like Chelsea before them) they are a traditionally second tier - as in just below the elite not second Division - who many believe undeservedly bought their success.
So fans of the 'elite' clubs resent them gatecrashing their cozy little club and other clubs with ambitions deride them as Citeh / Chelski while secretly wishing they had a sugar daddy to'buy' them success. The most recent expression of this is the Newcastle fans circumlocutions to avoid having to confront how unsavoury their new owners are. If they are honest all these other little character clubs would do a deal with the devil if it guaranteed then top six security ad infinitum.
then as @Kiwipie points out the majority of the English football pyramid loathes them all.
City are definitely resented for becoming successful due to money injected having not been a traditional powerhouse - same with Chelsea. Liverpool have bought a lot of players in the last few years but don't get the same resentment. Liverpool's transfer business has been great, especially for their forwards Mane, Salah, Jota and Diaz - moderate prices for modern times and they have also moved on Solanke, Brewster etc for decent money. City seem to target particular players and then spend whatever it takes to get them, Liverpool look for value except for the absolute key players like VvD.
Klopp can pretty much rest all his key players for the final 2 EPL games if City win on Sunday given Liverpool have the FA Cup this weekend. If City lose or even draw with West Ham then it is all on for the final day.
now that City are all but confirmed, i have seen a lot of chat around City and how no one will remember them blah blah,
mainly from bitter Liverpool and Man U fans
Yes, they are loaded and spend heaps. But guess what? So the fuck does everyone else at the top (especially England with a league full of Europe's biggest spenders).
It's really hard to find just outlay information, as everything is net spend. But you know who has the biggest net spend over the past decade? Man U. And they are shit. Money isn't everything
(as an aside, Liverpool always come in low on these things, something Liverpool supporters love to throw around, but that is only because somehow Barcelona were tricked in to spending $135M on Coutinho, and also the sale of Suarez for $82M).
Effectively, some fans think City are shit simply for the crime of not being huge in the 90s when the money in football exploded. Fact is they are an incredible team with a great manager, and people are wildly jealous. Their football is also fucking brilliant, but some people hate that too (see the reactions to Barcelona and the way they played). They score more than 2.5 goals a game in the league FFSThe fact is football is a money game. having money is not a difference maker. Fans of any big side whinging because City can just go buy who they like are having a laugh surely,.
It must be infuriating for them that they keep fucking up the Champs League though
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@mariner4life said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@KiwiPie said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@dogmeat said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@KiwiPie plus the Blue half of Liverpool.
Man City are arrivistes and are unpopular because (like Chelsea before them) they are a traditionally second tier - as in just below the elite not second Division - who many believe undeservedly bought their success.
So fans of the 'elite' clubs resent them gatecrashing their cozy little club and other clubs with ambitions deride them as Citeh / Chelski while secretly wishing they had a sugar daddy to'buy' them success. The most recent expression of this is the Newcastle fans circumlocutions to avoid having to confront how unsavoury their new owners are. If they are honest all these other little character clubs would do a deal with the devil if it guaranteed then top six security ad infinitum.
then as @Kiwipie points out the majority of the English football pyramid loathes them all.
City are definitely resented for becoming successful due to money injected having not been a traditional powerhouse - same with Chelsea. Liverpool have bought a lot of players in the last few years but don't get the same resentment. Liverpool's transfer business has been great, especially for their forwards Mane, Salah, Jota and Diaz - moderate prices for modern times and they have also moved on Solanke, Brewster etc for decent money. City seem to target particular players and then spend whatever it takes to get them, Liverpool look for value except for the absolute key players like VvD.
Klopp can pretty much rest all his key players for the final 2 EPL games if City win on Sunday given Liverpool have the FA Cup this weekend. If City lose or even draw with West Ham then it is all on for the final day.
now that City are all but confirmed, i have seen a lot of chat around City and how no one will remember them blah blah,
mainly from bitter Liverpool and Man U fans
Yes, they are loaded and spend heaps. But guess what? So the fuck does everyone else at the top (especially England with a league full of Europe's biggest spenders).
It's really hard to find just outlay information, as everything is net spend. But you know who has the biggest net spend over the past decade? Man U. And they are shit. Money isn't everything
(as an aside, Liverpool always come in low on these things, something Liverpool supporters love to throw around, but that is only because somehow Barcelona were tricked in to spending $135M on Coutinho, and also the sale of Suarez for $82M).
Effectively, some fans think City are shit simply for the crime of not being huge in the 90s when the money in football exploded. Fact is they are an incredible team with a great manager, and people are wildly jealous. Their football is also fucking brilliant, but some people hate that too (see the reactions to Barcelona and the way they played). They score more than 2.5 goals a game in the league FFSThe fact is football is a money game. having money is not a difference maker. Fans of any big side whinging because City can just go buy who they like are having a laugh surely,.
It must be infuriating for them that they keep fucking up the Champs League though
There's no doubt a lot of jealousy there, and also some upset from the bigger, more established clubs that their stranglehold on English footy has been rendered moribund. They still have massive fanbases, though, which is why Liverpool's relative success gets massive headlines and now and why, even when they're now absolutely shite, Man U still get loads of media attention. It's also part of the reason why everyone's a bit blasé about Man City's success. Add in the resources at their disposal, and the amount spent, and people expect City to walk the league practically every year now. While what they have done is impressive, it's at risk of becoming only Bayern Munich levels of impressive (and thank God for Liverpool actually creating a couple of good title races in recent years). And that's where the UCL becomes important (not just to add to their impressive trophy collection but also to elevate them globally).
The other thing is that the Man City "story" has lost a bit of romance. No one will forget 2012 and "Agueroooooo", but basically since Pep has come in they've gone from rags to riches underdog to financial and footballing soulless juggernaut. Even the "story" of the rich foreigner coming in and taking over and creating this monster that changes the face of English football isn't that compelling because Chelsea did it first.
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@junior said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@mariner4life said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@KiwiPie said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@dogmeat said in EPL 2021 / 2022:
@KiwiPie plus the Blue half of Liverpool.
Man City are arrivistes and are unpopular because (like Chelsea before them) they are a traditionally second tier - as in just below the elite not second Division - who many believe undeservedly bought their success.
So fans of the 'elite' clubs resent them gatecrashing their cozy little club and other clubs with ambitions deride them as Citeh / Chelski while secretly wishing they had a sugar daddy to'buy' them success. The most recent expression of this is the Newcastle fans circumlocutions to avoid having to confront how unsavoury their new owners are. If they are honest all these other little character clubs would do a deal with the devil if it guaranteed then top six security ad infinitum.
then as @Kiwipie points out the majority of the English football pyramid loathes them all.
City are definitely resented for becoming successful due to money injected having not been a traditional powerhouse - same with Chelsea. Liverpool have bought a lot of players in the last few years but don't get the same resentment. Liverpool's transfer business has been great, especially for their forwards Mane, Salah, Jota and Diaz - moderate prices for modern times and they have also moved on Solanke, Brewster etc for decent money. City seem to target particular players and then spend whatever it takes to get them, Liverpool look for value except for the absolute key players like VvD.
Klopp can pretty much rest all his key players for the final 2 EPL games if City win on Sunday given Liverpool have the FA Cup this weekend. If City lose or even draw with West Ham then it is all on for the final day.
now that City are all but confirmed, i have seen a lot of chat around City and how no one will remember them blah blah,
mainly from bitter Liverpool and Man U fans
Yes, they are loaded and spend heaps. But guess what? So the fuck does everyone else at the top (especially England with a league full of Europe's biggest spenders).
It's really hard to find just outlay information, as everything is net spend. But you know who has the biggest net spend over the past decade? Man U. And they are shit. Money isn't everything
(as an aside, Liverpool always come in low on these things, something Liverpool supporters love to throw around, but that is only because somehow Barcelona were tricked in to spending $135M on Coutinho, and also the sale of Suarez for $82M).
Effectively, some fans think City are shit simply for the crime of not being huge in the 90s when the money in football exploded. Fact is they are an incredible team with a great manager, and people are wildly jealous. Their football is also fucking brilliant, but some people hate that too (see the reactions to Barcelona and the way they played). They score more than 2.5 goals a game in the league FFSThe fact is football is a money game. having money is not a difference maker. Fans of any big side whinging because City can just go buy who they like are having a laugh surely,.
It must be infuriating for them that they keep fucking up the Champs League though
There's no doubt a lot of jealousy there, and also some upset from the bigger, more established clubs that their stranglehold on English footy has been rendered moribund. They still have massive fanbases, though, which is why Liverpool's relative success gets massive headlines and now and why, even when they're now absolutely shite, Man U still get loads of media attention. It's also part of the reason why everyone's a bit blasé about Man City's success. Add in the resources at their disposal, and the amount spent, and people expect City to walk the league practically every year now. While what they have done is impressive, it's at risk of becoming only Bayern Munich levels of impressive (and thank God for Liverpool actually creating a couple of good title races in recent years). And that's where the UCL becomes important (not just to add to their impressive trophy collection but also to elevate them globally).
The other thing is that the Man City "story" has lost a bit of romance. No one will forget 2012 and "Agueroooooo", but basically since Pep has come in they've gone from rags to riches underdog to financial and footballing soulless juggernaut. Even the "story" of the rich foreigner coming in and taking over and creating this monster that changes the face of English football isn't that compelling because Chelsea did it first.
I should also say that I am seeing more and more people mentioning the sports washing thing when talking about Man City's success. I guess more people have now clocked onto this as a concept in light of the recent Abramovich / Chelsea stuff, as well as Newcastle's new ownership. I'd bet about 90% of that is pure cope and the overwhelming majority of football fans would not give a shit if their club was owned by the same people (provided of course that the club was well run and the team had on field success)
