General Premier League Thread 2024-25

He's perfectly fine outside the injury issues. He kinda reminds me of a younger Robertson.

It'd be a risk starting next season with him as no. 1 choice at RB but a LB, CF and possibly DM are probably of higher need.

Why what does it seem?

What issue have you got with either spurs/bodo or united/bilbao being in the CL?

He was but Slot hadn't someone he trusts to play the role the same way and Gravenbach probably won't be available for the same minutes next year between proper rest and potential injury.

They know the referees are going to give it to them too. 3 attempts to give them a penalty (plus a ropey as f*ck free kick to set up the actual penalty) before Pawson was able to give them one that actually stuck.

Who could have guessed that letting regimes with ridiculously questionable records into football was going to make it harder to trust what you’re watching.

He decided that over 12 months ago. Can’t begrudge anyone getting an upwards move no matter what their chosen career is. Most of us would do the same in our own jobs.
I think he’ll be brilliant for them.

Are Madrid entering another galactico age, similar to the early noughties?

Theyve been doing it for Leeds matches for years anyway to cover up a certain chant

Yeah I agree I think he'll be great for them, just makes so much sense on both sides.

They'll hire Alonso too who is used to playing with Frimpong really successfully last few years so that will be his role

If he fails there, Liverpool will take him back, if he succeeds he'll be there for the rest of his elite career before going off the States

I hold nothing against Trent for leaving. But just leave, don’t say how much you love the club and fans as you’re walking away for a better offer. He can’t have his cake and eat it.

Game week 35 table

Probably because Real wouldn't pay it...

This stuff was probably informally wrapped up a long time ago.

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To get into the "Champions" league Utd will have to have won the FA Cup and followed it up by winning the Europa League.

Utd's inclusion seems fairly fair in that sense.

I suspect if the club getting in via this method wasn't Utd people wouldn't have cared as much.

Are people as arsed that a club can finish 5th in the PL, go out in every cup 1st round and get a CL spot?

Ah the Utd thing is a great story — having to win the FA cup to get into the Europa, and then having to win that to get bumped up to the Champions League is a pretty cool route through over the course of a couple years. Yeah, they'll maybe be off the pace in the CL next year in comparison to the best of the best, but there's no shortage of teams in the same boat in this expanded CL.

Life is more complicated and nuanced than that though — you can definitely both love your boyhood club that gave you your career and some of the best moments of your life, and also quite understandably want to go experience something else and get a great wage to do it. We all know how embedded he's been within his community for his whole life, and just how much work he's put into local charity stuff, local school's stuff, and hospital stuff… at 26, even with all those connections, I can see how someone might like to try moving away from the city they've spent their entire life living in up to this point and try something new.

Yeah, Real have beaten Liverpool a few times… I don't think that should be a consideration though, it's just too superficial and removed from the actual real choices of a player's real career and real life, and it's not like he's joining Utd or something. Players don't exist to tick off PR boxes... Madrid is a cool city, and Real's a massive club, about to bring in a brilliant (and Liverpool adjacent) manager, and one of his best friends already plays there.

Of course it tars his legacy more than if he'd stayed a one-club man or whatever, but that's alright. We don't need to view him as a lifetime legend kinda guy, but also don't need to begrudge him making life choices that do something other than devote his career to his boyhood team. I'm disappointed he's leaving, but I'm glad we had him. I won't be deifying him, but I also wouldn't boo him if he comes back to play at some stage.

Ultimately, we all have more important things going on in our lives than whether or not Trent stays or goes. So I think its fair enough that he bases his choices on things other than our fleeting emotional responses and reactions.

He retired after his contract expired, same with Thiago. Neither had played in a long time and were never going to recover to play again at that age unfortunately