Premier League 2019/2020 Season

proggy

guitars4you said:

So the transfer season is underway

Think Wan-Biassaka looks a good prospect - maybe a lot of money but an exciting potential

70/80M for Maguire I think is silly money - Not sure he is that good - Great in the air, but I'd be worried about him against the nimble light footed nippy players

Good move for MUFC in getting Rashford signed up on a new deal

Arsenal and Zaha - could be a good move for both, but Arsenal are going to have to be sensible with a better offer - Surely they need to free up some funds and move on Ozil

I totally agree with you about Ozil, but it would be difficult to move him on with that ridiculous wage demand that comes with him. I couldn't see anyone else paying that much money for such an inconsistent player that only turns up when it suits him.

Should never have let Ramsey go for nothing, I can't understand that.

menamestom

underdog said:

Man U are stuck in a position where they have spend huge money to get decent players, as the world class or potential world class players are choosing City, Real, PSG etc, it's an awkward one really.

60 Million for Mahrez
50 Million for John Stones
47 Million for Kyle Walker

City don't attract the same players as Real by any stretch.  Madrid have won the European cup 13 times, 3 times in 4 years and are on a different level.

City get overcharged for average players like everybody else (especially homegrown - see above)

The difference is City have the manager, coaching, systems and structure to develop and elevate players that united don't.

Sanchez, Lukaku, Pogba, Martial etc would all be better players at City, that is the difference.

menamestom

UnclePsychosis said:

£70m for Harry Maguire. LOL! 

Man Utd are lucky they make so much money because they don't half throw it away sometimes. 

It's due to the homegrown squad rules, it will affect all the English clubs.  Decent English players will be sold at inflated prices, that is the market.  

scrumhalf

I'm getting slightly concerned over what's happening at Spurs.

We sold Kyle Walker and in his place promoted Kyle Walker-Peters.

We sold Demebele and signed Ndombele.

We're after Ryan Sessignon and the deal may also include his brother, Steven.

We're approaching the 80s, when we had a team with Hoddle, Waddle, Allen (C) and Allen (P).

Just a shame that in the early 80s we never fielded a team with Garth Crooks, Ian Crook, Richard Cook and Garry Brooke.

And we should have bought Azpilicueta before Chelsea did, then our fullbacks would have been Azpilicueta and Assou-Ekotto.

MrBump

First game for Naaarwich is away to Liverpool...

Welcome to the Premier League, boys!!!

guitars4you

Best kept secret now in the open - Frank gets the Chelsea job - Will be interesting to see how this goes - Can he develop and bring out the best in the youngsters like Mount, Loftus Cheek and Hudson-Odoi - I can't recall his name but they had a promising lad on loan last year at Wigan

I think there has been a plenty of un-rest in the dressing room for a couple of years now, so will be interesting to see how Frank sorts this out, with many good senior players still at Chelsea, like Kante, Luiz

I'm going to make a guess now that Chelsea will be in a fight with Arsenal, Man U for 4th, 5th and 6th - all on  a major re-build - It would not surprise me if one of these finishes behind Leicester or Wolves down in 7th or 8th

SouthpawMark

Chelsea will be battling with the mighty West Ham for 7th. 

Flanging_Fred

Southampton fan here.

In theory, if Saints form under Ralph Hassenhutl continues as last season, then we should be well clear of relegation this season.  Things are never that simple though are they?

What worries the Saints supporters is the ownership of the club. Since being taken over by a Chinese bloke (Gao) seemingly with money borrowed from a bank close to the Chinese government, there’s been a feeling of dodgy shenanigans. Now this years Saints main shirt sponsor is supposedly a Chinese sportswear company, LD Sports. But go and try and find LD Sports on line....  seemingly it doesn’t exist in any meaningful way.  It’s all very fishy indeed and we all know how this shit normally pans out; usually with the fans suffering.

Saints do have the funniest marketing department in the league though, so that’s nice.

proggy

I think Lampard should have stayed at Derby to be honest. He's just a sentimental signing by Chelsea with very little experience, and being as Abramovich and Buck are so trigger-happy anyway, he'll probably do well to last one season.

guitars4you

SouthpawMark said:

Chelsea will be battling with the mighty West Ham for 7th. 

If West Ham have a good season then I wouldn't be surprised - I recall Everton, Leics, Wolves + West Ham all quite close last year - Not sure if any of those 4 can close the gap to 4th position - But it wouldn't surprise me if Man U, Chelsea or Arsenal drop more points next year as they are re-building etc and join that fight around 6th to 10th

Nitefly

proggy said:

I think Lampard should have stayed at Derby to be honest. He's just a sentimental signing by Chelsea with very little experience, and being as Abramovich and Buck are so trigger-happy anyway, he'll probably do well to last one season.

Absolutely this - too much too soon.

If he lasts until the end of his three-year contract, I'll show my arse in woolies' window.

steveledzep

Nitefly said:

proggy said:

I think Lampard should have stayed at Derby to be honest. He's just a sentimental signing by Chelsea with very little experience, and being as Abramovich and Buck are so trigger-happy anyway, he'll probably do well to last one season.

Absolutely this - too much too soon.

If he lasts until the end of his three-year contract, I'll show my arse in woolies' window.

That's a safe bet.....where's your nearest branch of "woolies" ?  I agree, too much too soon.  I have no doubt that he will rise to a top manager's job, but a couple more years at Derby would have been my advice if Frank had asked.  He didn't ask, so let him get on with it !

steveledzep

A further report from the BBC today saying Pogba wants to leave Man U.  I think it could be the best thing possible for Man U, I see Pogba as a disruptive influence.

AustrianJohn

guitars4you said:

Let's start a new chat about the Premier League for 2019/2020 - Fixtures out and games start 9th Aug

I'm going for Top 2 - Liverpool + Man City - Pretty obvious really - Just which order

Spurs - 3rd

Fight for 4th and a few points behind - Chelsea, Man Utd + Arsenal

Then a small gang including Wolves, Everton + Leicester who sit above the bottom half but can't challenge the top 5/6 clubs

Relegation and I have Sheff Utd + I fear for Brighton this year - So one more, so a fight out between Norwich, C Palace and maybe Burnley or Soton - But I think Newcastle need to sort themselves out to avoid getting dragged into such a fight

In many ways pretty predictable as per 2018/2019 season

I did not realise the 'winter break' was over 2 week ends - 5 matches week 1 and 5 more week 2 so a rolling break as such

Good post. I'm looking forward to the new season.

Chelsea, Man U & Arsenal are all at different stages of rebuilding, so I could see the gap between them and the top 3 growing. Will the chasing group catch them? I don't know, will be interesting.

Brighton's decision to part company with Hughton was either foolish or genius. He clearly saw his job being to avoid relegation, while Tony Bloom want the club to press on, following in the mould of Burnley, Watford or Wolves. As Bloom is a professional poker player (and a successful one at that), swapping Hughton for Potter is a reasonable gamble. Brighton are playing a pre-season friendly near where I live in Austria, so I'll go to the game to get my fix of live footie.

guitars4you

AustrianJohn said:

Brighton's decision to part company with Hughton was either foolish or genius. He clearly saw his job being to avoid relegation, while Tony Bloom want the club to press on, following in the mould of Burnley, Watford or Wolves. As Bloom is a professional poker player (and a successful one at that), swapping Hughton for Potter is a reasonable gamble. Brighton are playing a pre-season friendly near where I live in Austria, so I'll go to the game to get my fix of live footie.

It is an interesting choice for many 'middle' placed clubs - Follow a dream or accept mid table - Look a few years ago at Bolton under Big Sam and Charlton under Alan Curbishley  - After a while mid table, pushing UEFA place is no longer acceptable- 5 years later, change the manager and they disappear 

I suspect Bournemouth and Burnley might go a similar way one day - I'm glad their fans enjoy what they currently have, but you fear it is down to the current manager and not their financial benefactor 

57Deluxe

I just got over the stress of the last one...

Nitefly

steveledzep said:

Nitefly said:

proggy said:

I think Lampard should have stayed at Derby to be honest. He's just a sentimental signing by Chelsea with very little experience, and being as Abramovich and Buck are so trigger-happy anyway, he'll probably do well to last one season.

Absolutely this - too much too soon.

If he lasts until the end of his three-year contract, I'll show my arse in woolies' window.

That's a safe bet.....where's your nearest branch of "woolies" ?  I agree, too much too soon.  I have no doubt that he will rise to a top manager's job, but a couple more years at Derby would have been my advice if Frank had asked.  He didn't ask, so let him get on with it !

Aye, you're right of course @steveledzep , it's an old saying no longer relevant.  How about Wilko's? 

Agreed about a couple more years at Derby, and possibly somewhere else, first.

thecolourbox

AustrianJohn said:

guitars4you said:

Let's start a new chat about the Premier League for 2019/2020 - Fixtures out and games start 9th Aug

I'm going for Top 2 - Liverpool + Man City - Pretty obvious really - Just which order

Spurs - 3rd

Fight for 4th and a few points behind - Chelsea, Man Utd + Arsenal

Then a small gang including Wolves, Everton + Leicester who sit above the bottom half but can't challenge the top 5/6 clubs

Relegation and I have Sheff Utd + I fear for Brighton this year - So one more, so a fight out between Norwich, C Palace and maybe Burnley or Soton - But I think Newcastle need to sort themselves out to avoid getting dragged into such a fight

In many ways pretty predictable as per 2018/2019 season

I did not realise the 'winter break' was over 2 week ends - 5 matches week 1 and 5 more week 2 so a rolling break as such

Good post. I'm looking forward to the new season.

Chelsea, Man U & Arsenal are all at different stages of rebuilding, so I could see the gap between them and the top 3 growing. Will the chasing group catch them? I don't know, will be interesting.

Brighton's decision to part company with Hughton was either foolish or genius. He clearly saw his job being to avoid relegation, while Tony Bloom want the club to press on, following in the mould of Burnley, Watford or Wolves. As Bloom is a professional poker player (and a successful one at that), swapping Hughton for Potter is a reasonable gamble. Brighton are playing a pre-season friendly near where I live in Austria, so I'll go to the game to get my fix of live footie.

I'm a West Brom fan and I can positively confirm that aiming each season for 17th is both pointless and boring as hell, you'll get relegated and be in a mess. But push on, you're overstretched as you have to buy the crap players the good clubs don't want and pay over the odds, you'll get relegated and be in a mess.

It's all pointless for us small clubs! 

guitars4you

Not to long to go - Still a few weeks of trading ref transfers - Still not changed my opinion on the top 3 - Liverpool + Man City for 1 and 2 - Spurs for 3

Man U, Chelsea and Arsenal have a lot of work to do, as they battle for 4th and even try and avoid the fight with West Ham, Everton, Wolves and Leicester for those better mid table placings - I somehow feel that Man U are better equipped today for 4th - Surprised little activity within the Arsenal camp - Chelsea's new incoming players is limited, so would not be surprised if them and Arsenal are way of the pace of a top 4 

Bottom 2 and I'm still going for Brighton + Sheff U - the other relegation place will be the usual battle between 4-6 clubs but if I was a Newcastle fan I would be worried

Nitefly

Bloody hell - £80m for Harry McGuire?!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48989647

They balked at £70m last year!