2021/2022 Premier League Discussion

halamadrid2 wrote:

An international footballer who plays in the Premier League has been arrested in north London on suspicion of rape (h/t @TelegraphSport). More on @MailSport.

— Sami Mokbel (@SamiMokbel81_DM) July 4, 2022

 

Thomas Partey has been trending for sometime now. Someone made a rape accusation against him, but I don't know if he's been arrested. He may have been and then was released.

This is from one of the accusers, though not the one who accused him this year:

Thomas partey is an ADMITTED rapist

No woman can accuse you of raping her and your response is this????

He raped me, left me in bed unconscious then went out to party in Ibiza, came back, laughed in my face and told me I don’t get to say no to him.

Not once said I was lying pic.twitter.com/qUGmwenNvI

— �‍� (@deffonotchaur) July 28, 2022

Thomas Partey is a serial rapist who has got lucky because the date he decided to rape me whilst we were on holiday together was 10 days before UK law changed allowing UK police forces jurisdiction over crimes committed outside the UK

— �‍� (@deffonotchaur) July 28, 2022

Congratulations Liverpool fans. I thought Liverpool would miss Mané, and they do to a certain extent, but Díaz and Núñez are good enough to make sure Liverpool stay competitive against City.

When Haaland is having a bad game, he's really bad. Donkey-esque performance

Yh he was terrible. I was surprised to see that City have only played 2 preseason games and Haaland only one

Neither striker really amazed me. Núñez indeed looks like a faster Andy Carrol. One might argue he scored a goal and won a penalty but he hit 2 headers off target (including the penalty call) and missed a 1v1. He is getting into good positions and gets his heads on the crosses which is a plus, but technically he hasn't amazed me.

Haaland on the other hand played very poorly. I still think he will bag lots of goals against minnows but it is the big games that counts and he didn't look like a big game player today. And I don't think Álvarez is ready to play in EPL for such a big team, he should have been loaned to another EPL team or another top European league. It is a huge ask to want him to play well in these big matches.

It’s always going to be a weird tactical fit. Pep needs his striker to do a lot in ways that Haaland has no idea how to play. He is young and athletic and he will get his goals but he makes City very predictable

Myesyats wrote:When Haaland is having a bad game, he's really bad. Donkey-esque performance

I saw quite a few poor games from Haaland when he was regaining match fitness after returning from last season's sudden string of injuries, but those were primarily attributed to lack of explosiveness and lower general intensity. I wouldn't necessarily describe those as donkey-esque  

I've been busy today, so I missed this match, but I did see Haaland's sensationally poor use of what should've been a sitter. Any type of player should be expect to score on a chance like that, but I feel like @Danyjr's very "matter of fact" verdict on both Haaland and Alvarez is incredibly harsh and premature, unless you've actually studied these two outside of this preseason and Community Shield final. Considering the track record of this forum, I can't help but assume that you haven't.

My assessment was based on today's game only. The season is long and time will tell if these guys are ready for the big occasion. Not sure if spelling it out is needed, but in no way the assessment is final, obviously.

He might indeed just be a bad fit for Pep's system. Many folks were of that opinion

might've dodged a bullet with this one, dont see him at Barca either, Lewa seems much more suited to how we want to play

but no matter the system you ought to fucking score from 5 yards out in front of an open goal

meh just the Community Shield

danyjr wrote:My assessment was based on today's game only. The season is long and time will tell if these guys are ready for the big occasion. Not sure if spelling it out is needed, but in no way the assessment is final, obviously.

Well, particularly the part about Alvarez and that he should've been loaned out stood out as more than just a single match assessment.

My concern with Haaland going to City is whether Pep will allow Haaland to play fast, physically and take risks.

Because it would a crime against football if Haaland is asked to play in small areas. He's a thoroughbred, not a show horse.

I think the context here is that Liverpool lost Mane, Origi and Minamino while City lost Jesus and Sterling, with transfers in Liverpool got in Nunez and Fabio while City got in Haaland and Alvarez.

Now Liverpool with Klopp can bed these players, Jota and Firmino still there, Nunez can be off the bench for the next 6 months and most of us will not mind, I understand some will but anyone who has followed Klopp will not, there is also the 5 subs rule that Klopp always wanted. Fabio, I doubt anyone even knows him. Will playing Jota or Firmino be as effective as Mane, on paper it might not be, but we see.

City on the otherhand cannot bed these players especially Haaland and then hope they fire in Q12023. Haaland comes in and the poor guy is straight under pressure for the entire City team to adapt to a traditional number 9. Them having won the league consecutively without one, they need to shake up the entire system and start again. This is something we saw a glimpse of in the first 15 mins, where City were pressing Liverpool extremely high, uncharacteristic of them at least against us where they would wait to break. Alvarez, has even a bigger weight on his shoulder with just Foden alongside him to take that weight off the 150m wingers. I will not be surprised if by the end of the window there is another winger coming into City but I do believe Guardiola did not sell 3 key players at their prime for the laughs.

The window is still open but it kind off shows the strategy in place at the two clubs, City have sold 3 prime solid game winning players, while Liverpool are as usual investing in youth and building for the "future" since 2013. I do understand City can spend 45m on Phillips and another 40m on Cucurella for depth unlike us but I would argue they have weakened the squad and so has Liverpool as well when it comes to the gap between all other teams.

My dark horse this year is Spurs.

On a sample size of 1 game, its clear that spiderman >>>> haaland

Haaland will be fine. Most teams park the bus against City so he needs to get used to small spaces and scoring mainly tap ins.

Issue is probably the wingers. Grealish and Mahrez hold the ball for too long. They don’t release it early enough so Haaland’s runs on transition will get ignored in favour of control.

That might be a consequence of playing with a false 9 for the last few years. Over time they’ll adapt to him and he’ll adapt to them. I still see him scoring a shitload of goals in the process.

Thimmy wrote:

danyjr wrote:My assessment was based on today's game only. The season is long and time will tell if these guys are ready for the big occasion. Not sure if spelling it out is needed, but in no way the assessment is final, obviously.

Well, particularly the part about Alvarez and that he should've been loaned out stood out as more than just a single match assessment.

With Álvarez I'm confident my assessment is correct. I've watched him enough times to know he isn't ready to play for City. Haaland and Núñez on the other hand are the ones I haven't watched much, especially Núñez.

With Álvarez I believe he won't get much playtime at City, and he is at an age where he needs to be playing week in week out. Getting coached by Guardiola is a plus, because he can be a bit of a headless chicken on the wings and hopefully Pep will instil him more understanding of the game. But the facts are there. Only a handful of young strikers that come straight from Argentinian league can play well in Europe, let alone play for a team like City because of the difference in class between the two leagues. A year on loan for an EPL team would have been more beneficial to him than possibly sitting on the bench for City for the majority of the season.

danyjr wrote:

Thimmy wrote:

danyjr wrote:My assessment was based on today's game only. The season is long and time will tell if these guys are ready for the big occasion. Not sure if spelling it out is needed, but in no way the assessment is final, obviously.

Well, particularly the part about Alvarez and that he should've been loaned out stood out as more than just a single match assessment.

With Álvarez I'm confident my assessment is correct. I've watched him enough times to know he isn't ready to play for City. Haaland and Núñez on the other hand are the ones I haven't watched much, especially Núñez.

With Álvarez I believe he won't get much playtime at City, and he is at an age where he needs to be playing week in week out. Getting coached by Guardiola is a plus, because he can be a bit of a headless chicken on the wings and hopefully Pep will instil him more understanding of the game. But the facts are there. Only a handful of young strikers that come straight from Argentinian league can play well in Europe, let alone play for a team like City because of the difference in class between the two leagues. A year on loan for an EPL team would have been more beneficial to him than possibly sitting on the bench for City for the majority of the season.

Fair enough. I'm not familiar with Alvarez and Nunez at all, but a large part of the internet seems to view preseason as make or break for these players. I'm seeing a lot of extreme hyperboles regarding Nunez and Haaland in particular. I don't think either of them have even played a full match (excluding community shield, which I didn't watch). People have no patience

danyjr wrote:

Thimmy wrote:

danyjr wrote:My assessment was based on today's game only. The season is long and time will tell if these guys are ready for the big occasion. Not sure if spelling it out is needed, but in no way the assessment is final, obviously.

Well, particularly the part about Alvarez and that he should've been loaned out stood out as more than just a single match assessment.

With Álvarez I'm confident my assessment is correct. I've watched him enough times to know he isn't ready to play for City. Haaland and Núñez on the other hand are the ones I haven't watched much, especially Núñez.

With Álvarez I believe he won't get much playtime at City, and he is at an age where he needs to be playing week in week out. Getting coached by Guardiola is a plus, because he can be a bit of a headless chicken on the wings and hopefully Pep will instil him more understanding of the game. But the facts are there. Only a handful of young strikers that come straight from Argentinian league can play well in Europe, let alone play for a team like City because of the difference in class between the two leagues. A year on loan for an EPL team would have been more beneficial to him than possibly sitting on the bench for City for the majority of the season.

Fair enough. I'm not familiar with Alvarez and Nunez at all, but a large part of the internet seems to view preseason as make or break for these players. I'm seeing a lot of extreme hyperboles regarding Nunez and Haaland in particular. I don't think either of them have even played a full match (excluding community shield, which I didn't watch). People have no patience   Things will change as they not only adapt to their respective teams, but improve their fitness levels and sharpness following the summer break.

Casciavit wrote:Haaland will be fine. Most teams park the bus against City so he needs to get used to small spaces and scoring mainly tap ins.

Issue is probably the wingers. Grealish and Mahrez hold the ball for too long. They don’t release it early enough so Haaland’s runs on transition will get ignored in favour of control.

That might be a consequence of playing with a false 9 for the last few years. Over time they’ll adapt to him and he’ll adapt to them. I still see him scoring a shitload of goals in the process.

No point in City signing Haaland if they don't play to his strengths. So many times they could have played quick balls in or crosses but slowed the game down and killed a potential move. Haaland shines when football is end to end and played at speed because he has unbelievable pace and power as well as a goal scorer's instinct. They risk turning him into a Lukaku at Chelsea where his strengths were ignored. Kane would have been the perfect fit for City's style of play as he is more intelligent, can drop off, combine and create.

I'm hoping Forest have done good enough buissness in this transfer window to avoid relegation. We need to bring in a lot of new players since we lost a lot of the loan players we had last season.