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2025-26 Premier League Thread

I can hardly wait until this season is over. I'm worried about even finishing in the Top 5 at this point. And our team has become predictable, and quite boring to watch. So many in the Pasadena Reds and others I've talked to want Slot out; even I'm having my serious doubts.
Meanwhile, I can't see how United has sustained the push they have thus far. And please, PLEASE Arsenal: win the league. Even though many of our group don't like Mikel, I just can't stand the entire City setup: arrogant team, arrogant fans. Can't stand them
 
If this season doesn't get the FA to seriously consider how the game is called, I don't know what will. The product is bad right now. They've just created an environment where the best strategy is to make the game ugly and play for set pieces, corners and deep throw ins and then stop the game and bring up all your big players and turn the six yard box into a royal rumble. It's not like we're seeing awesome set piece goals, we're seeing a bunch of chaos and the person putting the ball in play trying to just drop the ball into the middle of it. US sports leagues have a ton of issues, but every single one of them would look at what's happening in the prem and go, well this isn't good for the product and make changes accordingly.

I actually hope that City win the league, English Arsenal fans are absolutely insufferable and they've been spearheading this slop that's only gotten worse. City's ownership is obviously monsters, but at least Pep always plays entertaining football.
 
VinatieriDefinesClutch said:
If this season doesn't get the FA to seriously consider how the game is called, I don't know what will. The product is bad right now. They've just created an environment where the best strategy is to make the game ugly and play for set pieces, corners and deep throw ins and then stop the game and bring up all your big players and turn the six yard box into a royal rumble. It's not like we're seeing awesome set piece goals, we're seeing a bunch of chaos and the person putting the ball in play trying to just drop the ball into the middle of it. US sports leagues have a ton of issues, but every single one of them would look at what's happening in the prem and go, well this isn't good for the product and make changes accordingly.

I actually hope that City win the league, English Arsenal fans are absolutely insufferable and they've been spearheading this slop that's only gotten worse. City's ownership is obviously monsters, but at least Pep always plays entertaining football.
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Yeah … they managed to make enough changes that they turned the clock back to sometime around 2005 when maybe two teams were even trying to play entertaining football and everybody else was just chucking it in the box and hoping for a call. Congrats.
 
Alright, I just cancelled my Peacock subscription. If I have to watch every villa match on a dodgy stream since I think only maybe four matches this entire season have been on Peacock and they stopped even putting the replays a day later like they did every season before this, there's really no use for paying for a product I don't use. Thanks enshitification!!!
 
Emery out! Holy crap, does Lucas Digne have incriminating photos of Emery or something? I'm just going to refer to him as the turnstile from now on. Marvelous effort by Buendia having to attempt to cover the entire left side of the field.
 
What a weekend in the Prem! Thoroughly enjoyed watching the Max Dowman coming out party (MOTM performance in 15+ minutes? Every touch he made leading to that goal? Phenomenal!)
Bad losses for Villa and Chelsea didn't look so bad when Liverpool dropped two points by allowing their league leading 8th goal in the 90 the minute or later. To Spurs, who have been so lifeless. Then Brentford dropped two by squandering a 2-0 lead to bottom side Wolves to draw 2-2. Leaves them 7th still, for now. And Liverpool are fifth.
Not sure how Arne Slot comes back from this disaster. He's lost the supporters. 🤷🤦
 
In the Prem this weekend, Villa stretched its lead in fourth to five points as they beat West Ham 2-0 while both Liverpool (2-1 losers to Brighton) and Chelsea (3-0 losers to Everton) lost. And with Man U's 2-2 draw with the Cherries, the Villans are only a point behind for third.
Meanwhile, Spurs were thoroughly outclassed by Nottingham Forest 3-0 while Fulham won and Leeds drew 0-0 with Brentford. Then there was Sunderland, who did the double over Newcastle 2-1 in a match marred by pre-match violence outside St. James. Not to mention the racial abuse hurled at Sunderland's Lutsharel Geertruida, delaying the start of the second half. :mad:
 
I'm going to say it: if Liverpool gets KOd by PSG in the Champions League (as is highly likely to happen), Arne Slot won't be coming back next season. No matter what Steve Nicol thinks.
 
Ed H in Pasadena said:
In the Prem this weekend, Villa stretched its lead in fourth to five points as they beat West Ham 2-0 while both Liverpool (2-1 losers to Brighton) and Chelsea (3-0 losers to Everton) lost. And with Man U's 2-2 draw with the Cherries, the Villans are only a point behind for third.
Meanwhile, Spurs were thoroughly outclassed by Nottingham Forest 3-0 while Fulham won and Leeds drew 0-0 with Brentford. Then there was Sunderland, who did the double over Newcastle 2-1 in a match marred by pre-match violence outside St. James. Not to mention the racial abuse hurled at Sunderland's Lutsharel Geertruida, delaying the start of the second half. :mad:
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Huge sigh of relief from Villa fans. West Ham has been a stumbling block over the years and so has Nuno … albeit with different clubs. Just somehow hanging on to that 4th slot is the difference between a well funded program this summer and slowly dying on the vine.
 
It was nice to see an actual decent performance from Villa. I found I couldn't completely enjoy it as I'm starting to get worried that Emery is Martin O'Neil 2.0. Obviously a significantly better manager and unlike MON, I'm sure the team actually trains, but I'm worried that he's going to leave the team in pretty much the same situation with a way too old and expensive roster and nothing really for the future. He's just so reluctant to bring in and work with younger players and tends to write them off almost immediately and then ship them off. Guessand has immediately flourished the second he started being played not completely out of position at Palace. I know I'm a broken record, but Maatsen is a young exciting player WHO STARTED A CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL, and he's still losing minutes to the shell of Lucas Digne who even for as much as I have hated him in the past has been even worse this year. He moves like I do and I'm in my 40s and have never been a professional athlete.

I know it's kind of messed up to be complaining about by far the most successful modern Villa manager and squad, but the financial rules won't allow us to recover as the squad continues to get older and more expensive. I truly thought that based on the early signings and moves the Emery and co made when they came in, they understood this. It's purely speculation, but I do believe that Monchi understood this, but Emery as a manager has a win now attitude and he's at the top of the org chart. He also just has not adapted to the changes in the league at all. He came in with ideas that worked great for how the league was playing when he first came, but the league is constantly changing at this point and he has not adjusted at all to his style.
 
Didn't catch the game today, but I did see that Digne is back to being the starter and that's just fucking fantastic. Tie Digne and Emery back to back and launch them out of a fucking cannon. I've never actively hated a Villa team as much as this one, but combine boring players with boring tactics and here we are! I could have take over after Gerrard and looked like a genius, the bar was just so low!
 
Yeah, well … if they qualify for CL then this summer’s budget should allow for them to finally refresh the roster. Emery is going nowhere, but at least you’ll have some fresh guys to get sick of :0)
 
Most of what I've seen is that even if we make the champions league, we still have to sell. Even though we've been pretty much even for our transfer spending, our wages are so high, because we have so many old expensive players our squad cost ratio is too high for the prem and way too high for Europe. Plus, it doesn't matter who we bring in, cause Emery won't play them, or play them out of position and immediately write them off.
 
Great to watch Leeds start off fast, scoring twice in the first half hour, then holding on to defeat a ten-man United side, 2-1. They are now six points clear of relegation after the first win at OT in 45 years.
 
With a draw today at Blackburn, Coventry City clinched their first promotion to the Premier League in 25 years. Their last appearance was the 2000-01 season when they were relegated after a 19th place finish. The club that finished 18th that was also relegated? Man City. The last place club that year was Bradford City, who currently play in League One and have not been back to the Premier League since.
 
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