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2024-25 Premier League Thread

My goodness was that Liverpool vs Villa match exciting. It's interesting watching Emery go with a very defensive, conservative lineup and gameplan to start against Ipswich and then against Liverpool send out the offensive firepower and a very aggressive attacking gameplan. Both teams will probably feel like they should have scored more as well and my goodness, that clearance by Martinez on a ball he had no business being first to.

I understand a bit how fans can get frustrated with Rashford, he really should have scored after doing the hard work to win the ball and get past the keeper and even at a difficult angle, he should be able to put that into the open net. Just too nonchalant on the attempt and not nearly the reaction you want from a player missing a golden opportunity. Also, interesting to see Maatsen come on as the defensive replacement after Salah decided he was going to utterly own Digne in the second half including walking by his horrible slide tackle to create the second goal. Maatsen came on and was instructed to stay attached to Salah at all times including out of possession and did a really good job turning Salah from Liverpool's biggest unstoppable threat to a bystander.

I honestly cannot wait to watch this replay tomorrow (I couldn't find a good stream at all and I don't have cable).
 
It WAS fun, but I'm increasingly weary of watching them play with patchwork back fours when they failed to make moves to address those issues in January. That defensive shell BS against Ipswich ticked me off too. They ONLY way this particular group are going to get 3 points is if they go score some freaking goals ... even if you give some up in the process.
 
The Ipswich match was so frustrating. It's almost as if we got caught off guard by them playing defensively and clogging the middle and thought they were planning on being expansive and attacking. It's an issue I've had this whole season with us seeming to go into most matches with the same exact gameplan even though it has not been that successful.

As for the back four, I actually really like Disasi so far. Konsa has been having an off season (or maybe last season was the anomaly and this is more his norm, I'm not sure), and from what I've seen I rather Disasi continue to be the main player at RCB. Cash is quality at RB, but his ligaments are made of string cheese. Despite the huge mistake that gifted Liverpool their first goal, Garcia looks promising in attack, though his decision making needs to improve a bit on when to be aggressive. Defensively, he's kind of a liability so far at least. It's obviously a huge jump in competition level from the second Spanish division and I think he's used to having enough size and speed to recover from not the best positioning and he just doesn't have elite size and speed for this level (but you know who does have elite size and speed at any level for a fullback who was on our roster unused for the first half of the season... but I don't need to go into another Nedeljkovic rant). At LB I think we're slowly inching forward to my dream of having Maatsen be the starter and Digne return to his proper role as insanely overpriced backup we can hopefully move in the summer.
 
Rashford to Asensio, rinse wash repeat. 2-1 Villa over Chelsea and Rashford had more assists today than in his whole season for Man United. Honestly, he's starting to get his confidence back a bit and looks a lot more like his old self.
 
Yup, also did a hell of a lot more defending than Ramsey did in the first half. My bigger issue with Ramsey this year than the fact that he can't quite get his offense going consistently is that he has gone from being a very strong defensive player to a non defensive player. We also should have gotten a penalty that didn't even appear to get checked by VAR.

It's hard not to be completely convinced that United is the problem. Antony has two goals and an assist in three matches since leaving. Rashford is still finding his form, but he's putting in effort out there every match. Jaden Sancho... well he looks better outside of United at least.
 
That ManU/Arsenal match could be interesting, as could be the Spurs/Bournemouth fixture. And Brighton could sure use the points to move closer to European football next year. Those are the matches I'll likely focus on.
Oh BTW, don't forget that Daylight Savings Time goes into effect Sunday. ;)
 
Watching Chelsea-Leicester this morning. Clearly I haven’t watched Chelsea much this year because I just realized they don’t have a front of the jersey sponsor.
 
Hmm, I've watched at least a decent amount of Chelsea this year, but I guess that's just not something I really notice. I kind of wish we did live in a world without shirt sponsors, cause it definitely looks clean. Every Villa fan wishes they could purchase the Acorns kits the team wears for the Champions league matches rather than the Betano ones.
 
Honestly, the kits without a sponsor just look wrong. Which is sad because it wasn't all that long ago that sponsor logos became ubiquitous. And yeah, there have been plenty of times I've though about getting an up to date Villa shirt and passed because I'm NOT wearing anything promoting some retail knock-off factory or a betting site. If I could get my hands on an Acorns kit, I would ... except not those blue and silver things. Ugh.

I think the most recent kit I've got is one of the Nike Acorns shirts from like 2010. Since then I've either hated the manufacturer (Castore, Kappa) or the sponsor (most of them) or they had those stupid little collars. I hate collars.
 
See, I actually love kits with collars. It just feels so old school. Love a rugby kit with them too. I don't always like that half collar thing that a lot of the Villa ones have though. My favorite all time is still the 08-09 away kit where it was blue with black sleeves. I know it's not the classic colors, but it's the nicest looking uniform during my time watching, plus it's Nike and has Acorns on the front. I have one of Laursen's of that kit and it's definitely too small for me now, but I like to look at it.
 
My favorite unconventional shirt is the harlequin burgundy/white from 13-14 or so ... but it had one of those dopey half collars. Love that shirt though. Plus, I'll take any kind of change shirt so long as it isn't a white shirt with freaking pinstripes ... especially if they wear the light blue shorts. I hate that look and we've seen way too much of it over the years.
 
With 7 matches to go, Southampton is relegated after losing 3-1 to Spurs, it’s the earliest relegation ever. And really, it’s all over for Leicester and Ipswich too. Leicester are on 17 points, Ipswich on 20 but 17th placed Wolves are on 32. So it looks like all 3 promoted teams will be one and done. This will be just the 2nd time since 1997-98 that the 3 promoted teams are immediately relegated; the first time it happened was last year. Burnley and Sheffield United are first and 2nd in the Championship, Luton may be relegated again, they’re 23rd.
 
Southampton just never had any starch to their game this time around. Not sure if they weren't preparing to get promoted last year or what, because you kind of have to plan these things out to avoid the immediate rejection. I feel like neither Southampton nor Ipswich really had much of a plan to make a run at sticking. Leicester on the other hand are just kind of a big showy mess who still somehow seem hung over from 2016.
 
BTW, two wins over similarly placed clubs has brought Villa back into the fight for European spots. Their new players have added scoring depth as well as just depth depth ... especially up front where there were some tired, tired legs.
 
Liverpool are going to win the league, Arsenal are almost certainly going to finish second. After that, three through ten or eleven could all potentially end up in the various European spots. It is gonna be a pretty boring finish to the season overall since I cannot remember a season (I'm sure it's happened) where there was no real question about who was going to win the league and who were going to be relegated as early as it was this season.
 
VinatieriDefinesClutch said:
Liverpool are going to win the league, Arsenal are almost certainly going to finish second. After that, three through ten or eleven could all potentially end up in the various European spots. It is gonna be a pretty boring finish to the season overall since I cannot remember a season (I'm sure it's happened) where there was no real question about who was going to win the league and who were going to be relegated as early as it was this season.
Click to expand...
The Prem could end up with 11 teams in Europe if things break right.

It’s almost guaranteed that there will be 5 teams in the Champions League, England leads the UEFA coefficient. But the rest gets weird and requires teams to competitions

There are various scenarios whereby 11 of the current 20 Premier League teams could qualify for Europe. Here is one of them:
- Liverpool, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions League.
- Newcastle finish fifth and claim England’s additional Champions League spot.
- Brighton & Hove Albion finish six and qualify for the Europa League.
- Bournemouth finish seventh and take the Conference League place passed down by EFL Cup winners Newcastle.
- Chelsea finish eighth and qualify for the Europa League by winning this season’s Conference League.
- Aston Villa finish ninth and qualify for the Champions League by winning this season’s Champions League.
- Crystal Palace finish 10th and qualify for the Europa League by winning this season’s FA Cup.
- Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur finish 11th and qualify for the Champions League by winning this season’s Europa League.

Such an improbable outcome would mean SEVEN English clubs playing in next year’s Champions League, THREE in the Europa League, and ONE in the Conference League.
Click to expand...

www.premierleague.com

The Big Question: Can 11 Premier League clubs qualify for Europe?

Ben Bloom examines the potential scenarios that could lead to 11 English sides competing in Europe next season
www.premierleague.com www.premierleague.com
 
After being relegated, Southampton sacked manager Ivan Juric after 104 days in charge. He replaced Russell Martin in December and signed a contract for 18 months, but won only 1 of his 14 Premier League matches, against fellow straggler Ipswich. They also beat Swansea in the FA Cup 3rd round before losing to Burnley in the 4th round. First team coach Simon Rusk was appointed interim manager and will be assisted by Adam Lallana, who has made 18 appearances for the Saints this season.
 
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