General Premier League Thread 2023-24 Mod Note in op 27/6/23 And 21/05/24

I agree but there's no way they could've kept it quiet.

He was about to sign for City when all of this broke. We can’t have them wasting money now can we !!

Of course. Up is down and down is up. As someone else said on here, you’re just being a contrarian. Everton’s football is dogsh*t. Hoofs from Pickford. It can’t be argued. But anyway…

Yeah. Pigeon chess.

No one in Ireland was paying through the nose to watch/endure that 19 times a season.

What we were seeing in Ireland was the potential to compete, to dare to dream. Everton are a club that has won things in the past but has spent the entire decade of the 20s trying desperately to avoid getting relegated. I watch a lot (too much) football and Everton have been chronic this season, definitely from an entertainment value. This is the club with fans who chased one of their better players, Anthony Gordon, out of the club. Just like West Ham fans didn't like Moyes' football, I doubt that the true Everton fans are enjoying the current "style" from the Toffees. Crystal Palace finished the season more or less like Everton, but their football was a joy to watch.

I spoke to a mate of mine on this after Sheffield Utd got battered by Arsenal and Stan Collymore tweeted about it. My view was the same as yours, in essence. I can't intuitively understand why teams come up and try to exist in the Premier League with a similar approach as the one they used to get promoted. When they are completely outmatched 1 to 11 at the higher level.

It was explained to me that all of the formal training programs and certs teach keeping control of the ball as a fundamental platform to long term success in football. This is supported by data and case studies at all levels of the game. Playing a possession based style and trying to keep the ball is an essential plank of modern football theory. Every new coach / former player who joins a pro club staff will be taught this way. Younger executives tasked with operational roles at pro clubs think this way. To not think this way puts you at odds with an increasing orthodoxy.

So, if you're Sheffield Utd, you just got promoted the prior year because you implemented a holistic approach to staff recruitment, player acquisition, training, recovery, tactics and on pitch adjustments that you believe in. And it delivered results. Everyone in the club believes in trying to play this way. Your squad fits this approach and your youth structure is aiming to deliver players who can also fit this approach. To play a different more utilitarian style would be to do something you philosophically oppose, is in opposition to your data sets and case studies. But most importantly is not what your players are any good at.

Coaches like Pulis are a dying breed but so are the players who Pulis would have bought to implement his approach. The U.K. academies are incredibly technical landscapes and the pipeline is increasingly full of technically adept players who have limited experience with strategies built around conceding possession and territory to opponents. This will absolutely have an effect on the "tough away days" aspect of the Premier League. We are in an environment where everyone is playing versions of the same framework, and the differentiators are around player recruitment and micro innovations from the tactical perspective. In theory the time is perfect for an "old school" approach, but finding an owner and a front office who would hire someone to implement that is becoming a longer shot.

As such, teams get relegated like this but it's actually in the best interests of everyone involved long term. The coach is doing the right thing so he may get rehired. The squad is ready to immediately get promoted again. The money can be banked and reinvested into a cohesive project that doesn't alternate widely from one manager's style to the next. It's all deeply counterintuitive to how we understood football growing up, but the logic is there…

Groupthink

Very well put.

It is definitely having an effect on the "competitiveness" of the league. As you said when all teams are playing the same fundamentals then it stands to reason that those with more resources will be able to implement these better.

The less technical players are very likely not making it out of youth football anymore as they are just simply seen as not good enough footballers to persist with. So I guess there is less of a pool to pick from to build your "anti" team.

The quality of the football on show is better. I'm not sure it is more exciting.
The league for example was over once Arsenal lost to Villa realistically as you looked at City's fixtures and knew nobody (bar a slight chance of Spurs but even that was a long shot) would have enough to even live with them.

In years gone by you'd be chasing a team in a title race and looking at away games to Fulham (who had been in form) Forrest (fighting for their lives against relegation) and Brighton and thought well maybe one of those could catch your rival out.

An away game against a team fighting relegation near the end of the season used to be a nightmare fixture. Now it's a walk in the park.

It’s homogeneous and increasingly sterile alright.

Yeah it really felt that way alright and I dont think anyone would have given Arsenal much chance of winning all of the last 6 games either.

Nope!

Utd are doing the right thing here. The FA Cup is immaterial to the broader expectations and ambitions of the club. ETH demonstrated he was not at the required level.

It's been said for a few weeks that the decision was made and he was gone once INEOS had done their internal review. He was effectively auditioning for the job for next season. That was coming from a few well placed lads who used to get little bits of info.

There's clearly leaks within that squad/club anyways with the amount of stuff that has come out over the last few years.

Very weird timing that it's gotten out to the press now though, officially, on the eve of the cup final.