Football 2022/23

[charlierc]

4 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

Do Spurs necessarily need to take the handbrake off. It would only take Newcastle or Man Utd form to slightly to take a hit, for Spurs to overtake them the way they are playing now. There is still half a season left.

Well certainly it would help if they stopped conceding the first goal, which they did with quite high consistency between October and January.

But yes, even though they've played an extra game on top of Newcastle and Man United, Spurs are 3 points behind with 17 points to make up. That gap is not exactly the 10 point margin Liverpool and Chelsea have to make up, where realistically a top six place feels like the target for them to aim for.

[pink_triangle]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

Well certainly it would help if they stopped conceding the first goal, which they did with quite high consistency between October and January.

But yes, even though they've played an extra game on top of Newcastle and Man United, Spurs are 3 points behind with 17 points to make up. That gap is not exactly the 10 point margin Liverpool and Chelsea have to make up, where realistically a top six place feels like the target for them to aim for.

I think people forget where we are in the season because of the World Cup. Despise not being convincing Spurs are about where I would expect. They may feel that greater squad depth puts them in a good position to catch Newcastle.

[Punksnotdead]

1 hour ago, pink_triangle said:

Do Spurs necessarily need to take the handbrake off. It would only take Newcastle or Man Utd form to slightly to take a hit, for Spurs to overtake them the way they are playing now. There is still half a season left.

Man United have played City & Arsenal twice. On paper, they have the easiest 2nd half of the season. I know football is not played on paper, but they don't look like a team that's about to collapse. They obviously ain't gonna win the league, but they look like a team for the first time since Fergie left.

I'd be amazed if Spurs finish above us!

Edited January 26, 2023 by Punksnotdead

[pink_triangle]

25 minutes ago, Punksnotdead said:

Man United have played City & Arsenal twice. On paper, they have the easiest 2nd half of the season. I know football is not played on paper, but they don't look like a team that's about to collapse. They obviously ain't gonna win the league, but they look like a team for the first time since Fergie left.

I'd be amazed if Spurs finish above us

Man Utd also have a bit more depth which is why I see them coming third. I  wouldn’t be surprised if Spurs got past Newcastle, at the same time I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t.

[Gnomicide]

Looks like Dyche is going to be the new Everton manager, shame, I quite like him and seems a safer bet to keep them up than Bieslsa. Boyhood Liverpool fan though so it won't take much for them to turn on him.

 

[thetime]

14 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

Boyhood Liverpool fan though so it won't take much for them to turn on him.

 

Isn't that the same for the majority of his generation? That didn't support there home town club. 

[Gnomicide]

1 hour ago, thetime said:

Isn't that the same for the majority of his generation? That didn't support there home town club. 

Probably. He said he supported Kettering Town and Liverpool. 

Seems to be going down reasonably well with Evertonians because he once wound up Klopp. Similar to them being happy with Lampard because he once shouted at Klopp. That turned out well.

[thetime]

1 minute ago, Gnomicide said:

Probably. He said he supported Kettering Town and Liverpool. 

Seems to be going down reasonably well with Evertonians because he once wound up Klopp. Similar to them being happy with Lampard because he once shouted at Klopp. That turned out well.

Good oppointment I'd say. 

[Gnomicide]

3 minutes ago, thetime said:

Good oppointment I'd say. 

Sadly, yes. Can definitely see them climbing the table with him behind them.

[pink_triangle]

45 million for Gordon seems a good fee for Everton, although I’m not sure what 45 million gets you anymore!

[charlierc]

22 hours ago, pink_triangle said:

I think people forget where we are in the season because of the World Cup. Despise not being convincing Spurs are about where I would expect. They may feel that greater squad depth puts them in a good position to catch Newcastle.

 

22 hours ago, pink_triangle said:

Man Utd also have a bit more depth which is why I see them coming third. I  wouldn’t be surprised if Spurs got past Newcastle, at the same time I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t.

Agreed. Instinct tells me that it'll likely be Spurs or Newcastle alongside Arsenal and the two Manchester clubs, even though we are still above Man U in the PL table for now (though the gap was bigger and has since shrunk down to goal difference).

I cannot say I'm 100% convinced the thing that could keep others at bay in the top 4 is Anthony Gordon, with rumours today strongly suggesting we've agreed a fee with Everton - as much as I'm aware we'll need to replace Fraser, Ritchie etc as our wide squad players and that some of his Everton predicament is as much the toxicity of the place, I can't say I'm enthusiastic about it as I am for some of our other signings. They must see something in the underlying data though.

[charlierc]

1 hour ago, pink_triangle said:

45 million for Gordon seems a good fee for Everton, although I’m not sure what 45 million gets you anymore!

60million is apparently the fee we were quoted for James Maddison, which imo would've been a good move. Maybe not so much for Leicester who have limped without him after he was injured for the first month post-Qatar.

[WS_Jack_III]

On 1/26/2023 at 7:51 PM, thetime said:

The fixtures are being kind to you, and we all need that. FA Cup free weekend, then a potential final against united with a full week's rest. Whilst united have a 2nd leg against Barcelona 3 days before. 

Be interesting what's happens next season in the Champions League.

Going out of the FA cup is definitely a blessing and lack of European football is great for this season. I think it could a great final between Newcastle United and Manchester United though.

[thetime]

16 minutes ago, WS_Jack_III said:

I think it could a great final between Newcastle United and Manchester United though.

🤣

[WS_Jack_III]

42 minutes ago, thetime said:

🤣

😄

[Neil]

1 hour ago, thetime said:

🤣

We all hate utd. 😛

 

[Punksnotdead]

7 hours ago, Neil said:

We all hate utd. 😛

 

Some of us don't! 😃

[The Nal]

60m looks like a steal for Casemiro

[charlierc]

Seems to have been a fairly lean round for upsets so far in the FA Cup. Although you could argue Liverpool beating Brighton might count as one both on current form and the fact Brighton have had 4 points off Liverpool in the PL.

Maybe Sassuolo ending an 8 game winless run in Serie A by thrashing Italian champions AC Milan in the San Siro is the nearest we've got.

[pink_triangle]

Couldn’t get a ticket for Wrexham today, having to watch with Lineker and Shearer instead !

[thetime]

12 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

Couldn’t get a ticket for Wrexham today, having to watch with Lineker and Shearer instead !

And sparky. 😍

[thetime]

So who's replacing klopp at Easter?

[The Nal]

24 minutes ago, thetime said:

So who's replacing klopp at Easter?

I guess the long term plan was for it to be Leagueless but that's not a runner now. 

[pink_triangle]

I love the FA cup, but it can break your heart at times!

[WS_Jack_III]

YES! GET IN!

 

First final since 99.