Premier League, 2019-2020

Discussion in 'Prem talk, Those Other Leagues, and International' started by HatterDon, Aug 10, 2019.

  1. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Location:
    Peoples Republic of South Texas
    Watched parts of two matches today as well as Liverpool's massacre on Friday. Here's a couple of observations:

    1. The gap between Liverpool, Man City, Tottenham and Man U and the rest of the league continues to grow. After Citeh's match, the first thing that struck me was that they already had GD over Liverpool -- on the first weekend. I think it's fair to expect that LIverpool and Citeh will be fighting it out for the title [pretty much alone] for the next few seasons.

    2. Sheffield U and Norwich City are just pleased to be part of the dance. Villa will move heaven and earth to stay up, but the other two promoted clubs know they're in the Prem for two or three seasons at best. There's just too great a disparity in wealth to give them a chance of staying up. It's especially sad for SheffU who should not have been relegated in the first place. For those of you who don't remember their relegation in 2007, they went down because the FA decided to overlook repeated violations by West Ham and NOT dock them any points for it. Why? As I remember it was along the lines of "the club did violate rules and other clubs who did things similar were docked points, but ... IT WOULD BE CRUEL FOR WEST HAM'S SUPPORTERS for them to be relegated." I'm certain that the fact that WHU was in London and that THE bigwig of the FA was a former Hammer's star had nothing to do with it.

    3. During the course of both matches I watched, references were made to Fulham's misadventures last year and the danger in equating hyperactivity in the market during the off season and potential success.

    4. When Spurs scored their third, there was a cutaway to three or four young men applauding -- one of them being Sess. Sigh

    5. God help me, I've DVRd tomorrow's Chelsea match. It's all about Pulisic.
     
    #1
    encorespanish and SoCalJoe like this.
  2. jumpkutz

    jumpkutz Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2011
    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    After watching the extended highlights of ManUre and scum, it would appear that Frank's got his work cut out for him. To his credit, he's playing younger players, but it's a bit too late for them to be their usual selves. Good...
    I honestly don't think it's even a two horse race...Citeh look to be even better than last season. Scousers are largely unchanged, Spurs too. Pulled away late at the new stadium to pip Villa after conceding the opener. I just wonder how much Sess will see the pitch this season. Had to be done, but I wish we could have kept him for a couple of more seasons. Leicester and Wolves were terribly underwhelming, as were Arsenal and Toons, though the gooners managed a goal.
    Only the first weekend, I know, but I didn't see anything to thwart a Man City repeat.
     
    #2
    encorespanish likes this.
  3. SoCalJoe

    SoCalJoe Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2006
    Location:
    Walnut, CA
    Watched the Scum v ManUre match, strange scoreline since Chelsea dominated the first 25 minutes and hit both the post and crossbar. They should be better once Giroud comes back. Already hating the espnfc coverage of Pulisic (over the top and unnecessary), almost as much as seeing him in the blue jersey.

    The one thing I can see stopping Citeh repeating is that Pep wants one thing above all and that’s the Champions League. He must stay up nights thinking about how they blew it to Spurs in the CL and that they would’ve gone on to win. He’ll be more then willing to potentially give up league points w/lineups that aren’t full strength in chase of it. Conversely Liverpool is dying to get that no title since the inception of the ‘Premier League’ monkey off their back and will prioritize that.
     
    #3
  4. nevzter

    nevzter Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2007
    Location:
    A City by a Bay
    To HD's #2 (take that how you may): Carlos Tevez. Did Chelsea find their new shirts in a previously unopened box from 1993? It's only missing the splash of neon...
     
    #4
  5. FulhamFanUSA

    FulhamFanUSA New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2019
    Norwich may not stay up, but man is Pukki burning it up so far. Just watched him level versus Chelsea around the half hour mark and it rocked the stadium.
     
    #5
  6. MicahMan

    MicahMan Administrator

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2014
    VAR once again couldn't bring justice in a match. This time the victim was Jack Grealish who was wrongly called for diving just as 10-man Villa scored the tying goal in the 96th minute. Grealish was bumped at the top of the box while dribbling at full speed. Rather than using his right foot to keep himself upright Grealish used it to pass the ball Lansbury who put the ball in the net. Grealish fell over because he had no foot to stand on, but didn't look for a call, and got up immediately. The ref had already blown his whistle on Grealish before the shot was taken rendering any VAR review useless. I can't ever remember a ref blowing play dead because of diving, and it certainly seems bizarre to have done that in the era of VAR. I'm no fan of Manchester City or Jack Grealish, but these experiences confirm for me that VAR fixes nothing, it just provides new opportunities for controversy.
     
    #6
  7. SoCalJoe

    SoCalJoe Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2006
    Location:
    Walnut, CA
    #7
    MicahMan likes this.
  8. MicahMan

    MicahMan Administrator

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2014
    Yes, we are all Mark Davison. Well, actually, they may be driving Mark Davison crazy, but at least they are getting the calls right! Mark is lucky that when he wonders if he got correct change after buying a pint that the VAR ref doesn't say "Sorry, no can do. You already accepted the change, so it is non-reviewable. Even though it is clear you are owed £4, there is nothing we can do."

    And here's video in case ESPN takes it off the homepage:
     
    #8
    SoCalJoe likes this.
  9. MicahMan

    MicahMan Administrator

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2014
    I hope everyone got to watch Norwich vs. Manchester City yesterday. If you decided not to watch because you assumed Norwich would get throttled, well you weren't alone. What happened instead was one of the most exciting Premier League matches I've ever watched. The best part is that Norwich earned their victory by executing their game plan. Kevin Friend, VAR, or some fluky goal had nothing to do with the win. They had a very narrow path to 3 points and they stuck to it.
     
    #9
    sacffc, SoCalJoe and encorespanish like this.
  10. jumpkutz

    jumpkutz Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2011
    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    I watched those extended version highlights and couldn't believe it. Great win for the Canaries. Daniel Farke is the early first round leader in the clubhouse for manager of the year, and Pukki has been a revelation. The man is 29 and spent 4 years toiling in Denmark...BLOODY DENMARK...before Norwich signed him last summer on a free transfer from Brondby. They released him after they couldn't resign him. Just goes to show you how much the so-called "experts" know about talent evaluation. Whoever spotted him for Norwich should be given a rather substantial bonus.
     
    #10
    encorespanish likes this.
  11. jumpkutz

    jumpkutz Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2011
    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    Well now....
    A quick glance at the PL table reveals this bottom 3: Wafford, Norwich City and Everton, although Southampton is virtually tied with the Toffees for the last spot. Early, but my, how Norwich have floundered since beating citeh.
     
    #11
  12. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Location:
    Peoples Republic of South Texas
    Early doors, as my Brit buds would say, but standings indicate that perhaps we shouldn't automatically talk about "the top six."

    4th Leicester City
    6th Crystal Palace
    7th Burnley
    9th Tottenham
    12th Man U
    18th Everton
     
    #12
    encorespanish and SoCalJoe like this.
  13. jumpkutz

    jumpkutz Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2011
    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    As much as I hate it (and hate to admit it), Lampard’s got scum rolling. Pulisic is finding his groove, and Tammy Abraham is making the most of his long awaited coming out party at the top level. Only 24, seems like he’s been knocking around our league forever. They’re defending pretty well, too.
    Nauseating.
     
    #13
  14. SoCalJoe

    SoCalJoe Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2006
    Location:
    Walnut, CA
    Well that didn’t take long for VAR controversy (even though the ref absolutely should’ve made that correct call then see if there was an ‘overturn‘). Sheffield U and Aston Villa drew 0-0, but SU had a goal not allowed that was an egregious error on both human/tech levels. The Villa keeper caught an in-swinger, was right on the line, stumbled off his own defender and into the net. It was obvious that the ball crossed, even if just by reading the GK’s embarrassed expression and all the players around on both side’s body language. The ref blew it and seemed to pass the buck by putting his hand to his watch (Hawkeye) then to his ear piece to see if there was to be a review...there was none.

    The worst part is the implications it could have on both ends of the table. SU sits in 6th, but those 2 pts would’ve leapfrogged them ahead of ManU and only 2 pts behind 4th place The Undead. I’m guessing the conspiracy theories are flying about amongst their fans. Meanwhile Villa at 19th will gladly take it to move them within a point of a 3 team logjam (Spam, Watford, & Bournemouth) at 27 points. Throw in Brighton at 29 and 0nly 3 of the 5 will be getting that vital full share of that Prem TV $$$ next season.
     
    #14
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2020
    nevzter likes this.
  15. jumpkutz

    jumpkutz Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2011
    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    A random thought: How the hell is Tim Krul STILL a Premier League keeper?
     
    #15
  16. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Location:
    Peoples Republic of South Texas
    he's actually a keeper in the Premier League -- NOT a Premier League keeper
     
    #16
    astroevan and sacffc like this.
  17. SoCalJoe

    SoCalJoe Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2006
    Location:
    Walnut, CA
    Salient question James. HD with the walk-off HR complete with the bat flip answer. Bravo gentlemen.
     
    #17
  18. jumpkutz

    jumpkutz Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2011
    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    And...how the hell is Dan Burn a STARTING LEFT BACK for Brighton in the Premier League?
     
    #18
    HatterDon likes this.
  19. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Location:
    Peoples Republic of South Texas
    He's been ever-present except for injury this season and last. He's doing a hell of a job for them -- the world's tallest left back.

    Also doing well, Ollie Norwood at Sheffield United
     
    #19
  20. jumpkutz

    jumpkutz Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2011
    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    Yeah, they are, and it's good to see, especially Ollie. We don't go up in 2018 without him. I always liked Big Dan, his instincts and positioning are very good. Just wasn't sure he was good enough. Guess I was wrong. And he's only 28, should still have several, if not more, serviceable seasons.
     
    #20
Similar Threads: Premier League
Forum Title Date
Prem talk, Those Other Leagues, and International Premier League ’23-’24 Dec 6, 2023
Prem talk, Those Other Leagues, and International Premier League 22’-23’ Aug 29, 2022
Prem talk, Those Other Leagues, and International Premier League 2021-22 Aug 13, 2021
Prem talk, Those Other Leagues, and International 2019/20 New Premier League kits Oct 18, 2019
Prem talk, Those Other Leagues, and International 2017-18 Premier League Aug 13, 2017

Share This Page