Premier League, 2019-2020

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.

 

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.

 

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...

 

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.

 

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.

 

@MicahMan, it can always get worse when it comes to VAR:

https://www.espn.com/soccer/

 

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:

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

A random thought: How the hell is Tim Krul STILL a Premier League keeper?

 

Salient question James. HD with the walk-off HR complete with the bat flip answer. Bravo gentlemen.

 

And...how the hell is Dan Burn a STARTING LEFT BACK for Brighton in the Premier League?

 

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.