English Premier League 2021/2022

[brehme1989]

In Serie A, we play Eto'o as a right back. Fine, that's not as true now as it was in 2010, but there's still more of a defensive and full contribution mindset than there is in the premiership, for example

That was never true


Eto'o only played as left back in the return leg versus Barcelona, for like 35 minutes.

 

[.h.]

That was never true


Eto'o only played as left back in the return leg versus Barcelona, for like 35 minutes.

i know, but i'm kinda taking his words on it ;-)

anyway, the point is, we still expect a hhigh degree of overall pressing, pressure, andd work rate from our forwards in general. It's good, dont get me wrong, and I'd argue its more 'team play', but still.

 

[brehme1989]

They suffer for being in a harder league, but lets not forget Man Utd came top of their CL group, for example, with 1 W 1 D vs Atalanta.

What makes it harder?

Do you know that the players who play there and have been in other places don't consider it a higher level? They actually consider it lower level of football, more basic than other [top] leagues. There's a reason why the only teams that look competitive are the three top ones that have a proper coach there. Everything else is pretty generic and based on luck or budget. The generic part => runs a lot and kicks the ball even further.

But have you seen the data? How much more do PL teams run than Serie A, La Liga or Bundesliga teams? Heck, how much more than Ligue 1 teams?
This was never true for the Premier League.

The main difference is running with the ball (in possession) or without it. They tend to run more without it, because they don't really handle possession very well apart from a few clubs. But overall, they do not run more.



Also, the Atalanta fixtures are irrelevant, Atalanta had something like 8 players absent in one game and 6 in the other.

 

[.h.]

Honestly, I'm not getting into another waste of time 40 page argument with you. We disagree on this, we disagree on whether Lukaku was good, we disagree on whether Icardi was shit, let's just park it.

 

[brehme1989]

Honestly, I'm not getting into another waste of time 40 page argument with you. We disagree on this, we disagree on whether Lukaku was good, we disagree on whether Icardi was shit, let's just park it.

Well, this is based on pure data so I was expecting you to present the data that supports your view. If there is any...

And yes, I know distance covered doesn't really translate to how tiring each meter covered is, but that's what we have, plus the eyes to see what kind of running is done and where the ball is.

 

[.h.]

No, I dont think there is any data that succinctly sums up 'quality of football' in one metric. The only one I'd jump to is the number of different clubs that have made the CL from a country in the last decade - where England leads with 4 different clubs, behind Spain (3), Germany (2), Italy (1), France (1).

I'd bet the stat would be true if you look at the semis as well, but I cant be fucked going back and doing that by hand.

I'd wager the stat holds true if you go back 20 years even. Arsenal and United have all qualified in that time - from Italy its been the same 3 clubs since Sampdoria in 1991? and Spain since Valencia 01?

Put another way - if you dont think the Premiership is the best league right now, what do you think is?

 

[brehme1989]

No, I dont think there is any data that succinctly sums up 'quality of football' in one metric. The only one I'd jump to is the number of different clubs that have made the CL from a country in the last decade - where England leads with 4 different clubs, behind Spain (3), Germany (2), Italy (1), France (1).

I'd bet the stat would be true if you look at the semis as well, but I cant be fucked going back and doing that by hand.

I'd wager the stat holds true if you go back 20 years even. Arsenal and United have all qualified in that time - from Italy its been the same 3 clubs since Sampdoria in 1991? and Spain since Valencia 01?

Put another way - if you dont think the Premiership is the best league right now, what do you think is?

The data would reflect the distance covered, making it 'harder' to play there because it's "faster" or whatever.


There's no such thing as "best league" because leagues aren't entities, they carry separate entities. The only time, in like the history of the sport, we have had a clear answer there was in the late 80s to early 00s with Serie A. The PL being born in that environment gave them the trigger that they have to become "the best", but arguably they were behind other top leagues as a collective in various parameters until this day.

What exactly is the argument that the EPL is the best league at the moment? The CL "dominance" because of two all-English finals? Two of those were flukes, I don't see people saying La Liga was the best league in the early 2000s because they had Real Madrid and Valencia in the CL final so often, and it was much tougher to get there at the time.


The only thing that typically gives this statement is having the best players and teams. Their PR machine is just too strong, but even the strongest marketing campaign cannot make what we saw as the "Ballon d'Or shortlist" the most laughable thing in world football yet!
The very best players are still in other leagues. PSG attracts the best talent, Bayern and Real Madrid have the best players and Barcelona despite being useless for years still attracts better players. Heck, even Juventus and I'd argue even Inter attract top names once again. Sure, the PL guys can flex their wallets, but their shopping cart isn't taking them to Bond Street level football players.


Being a top heavy league apparently was bad, but now it's good? This is why you can never win with PL marketing. Scoring lots of goals = good. Then Serie A has more goals per game as opposed to EPL for like 50% of the time since its inception but somehow that's bad now and a counter-argument. There's no winning with PL fanboys and being surrounded by this infrastructure brainwashes people, even if they don't suspect it, even if they don't care much about the league.

 

[.h.]

what top names are Juve and Inter attracting? Correa? Dzeko? Arthur?

Serie A is a league for rising stars or stars who have taken a hard knock and need to rebuild their career - as Marotta correctly pointed out recently.

The best talent is always going to be reasonably spread, they want to win trophies and City doesnt have that much more space in their squad.



I think the premiership has some of the best overall teams. Madrid is good, Bayern is good, PSG is okay, but the premiership have Liverpool and City, and you could make a fair argument for Chelsea too being included in that.

Anyway, to my original point, I'm not doing this wall of text pointless headbutting a wall argument with you again

 

[brehme1989]

Juventus signed Cristiano Ronaldo straight from Real Madrid. Name another team that got a starter from either Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern in the last 5 years that's not named PSG.


Inter surely doesn't have the financial muscle to pull a huge move, but provided we offer the same salary, we're at the moment more appealing than almost all PL sides.

 

[.h.]

Aye, they did - and why? Because Ronaldo wanted to reduce his non-domestic income tax bill. No other country in the world offered that at a competitive league level. It was nothing to do with a sporting decision, it allowed him to keep basically >99% of his foreign income - which I assume covers all of his lucrative commercial, sponsorship, etc agreements.


Assuming like-for-like in terms of salary, I think any of the top 4 in the premiership (not the top 6) would pip us to most signings - the prestige, international brand, etc is there. From a sporting perspective, we've finally managed to get out of our group in the CL after 10 years, whereas many of the English sides are latter stage regulars.

 

[brehme1989]

Aye, they did - and why? Because Ronaldo wanted to reduce his non-domestic income tax bill. No other country in the world offered that at a competitive league level. It was nothing to do with a sporting decision, it allowed him to keep basically >99% of his foreign income - which I assume covers all of his lucrative commercial, sponsorship, etc agreements.

And England pays its players and "distributes" revenues from money laundering oligarchs? Why is the tax system important but the source of funds isn't?
That money still isn't enough to lure the very best players in that league, I wonder why... The financial muscle outweighs the next competitor by almost double, yet here we are.

Assuming like-for-like in terms of salary, I think any of the top 4 in the premiership (not the top 6) would pip us to most signings - the prestige, international brand, etc is there. From a sporting perspective, we've finally managed to get out of our group in the CL after 10 years, whereas many of the English sides are latter stage regulars.

I won't count Barella, but we got Hakimi ahead of two strong/wealthy PL clubs that also bid for him.
We also got Godin ahead of PL clubs, but he wanted to move to Italy. But I guess if he wanted to move to England it'd count as a loss...

 

[.h.]

?!

Premiership salaries are PAYE earners on their club wages. The source of the funds is relevant for tax liability - Ronaldo reduced his non Italy earnings taxation to effectively like 40k euros. I don't have any idea how much he makes internationally but the tax relief there is probably worth tens of millions to him. There's no comparable tax reduction scheme available to him in England, at least not one he'd try to take advantage of after his Spanish problems.


Regarding Hakimi I don't know who else bid for him but he came to Inter, as far as I know, specifically because he wanted to play wing back. Given the number of premiership clubs that don't play wing backs it's likely that factored into the decision.

 

[wera]

Dad, mom, stop yelling, please, STOP YELLING

 

[Sawyer]

 

[Sawyer]

Sorry I don't mean to post meme's / funnies of just Man Utd just one of my friends is obssessed with hating them and some of his content is funny.

 

[brehme1989]

This is BEFORE the game... I don't think even banter Inter had these long faces entering the stadium.

Sorry I don't mean to post meme's / funnies of just Man Utd just one of my friends is obssessed with hating them and some of his content is funny.

He'll fit right in.

 

[brehme1989]

Southampton was just bought for 100m GBP from some Serbian dude. 80% of the shares, they belonged to a Chinese owner who has sold at a significant loss.

 

[brehme1989]

“I made the final decision to call time on my playing career before Christmas and it feels like a relief. That’s why I know I’ve made the right choice.

“When I was abroad, I gradually lost the love for the game. It was difficult for me to observe the discipline needed to perform at my best and have my life ruled by a hectic football schedule. And the coronavirus crisis and the lack of visits from relatives and friends haven’t done me any good, either.

“I’m grateful the club [PSV] has made me feel welcome. I had hoped to rediscover the joy in playing football but it was not to be, as I don’t feel comfortable in the world of football. I don’t want to be part of it any longer.”

Pröpper added: “I will take time to discover what my interests are and what I will take up. Of course I had my fair share of beautiful moments which I will cherish. We will see whether I will miss football but I’m ready to focus on new things. I want to thank my family, relatives and friends for all the support they’ve given me. Now the time has come to invest in them.”


It's in the PL thread because the situation he's talking about was from the Premier League and his time at Brighton. No clue what led him to stop now that he's back home, but the whole ordeal seems to have damaged him mentally.

Davy Proper, 30 years old.

 

[Corrode]

Southampton was just bought for 100m GBP from some Serbian dude. 80% of the shares, they belonged to a Chinese owner who has sold at a significant loss.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1478394931261628422

 

[brehme1989]

Some Manchester United players in doubt over Ralf Rangnick's suitability to be Old Trafford boss

There are cliques within the Manchester United dressing room, a source has told Sky Sports News; United lost their first game under Ralf Rangnick on Monday night as Wolves punished another poor display; Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has questioned the togetherness of the squad

www.skysports.com

Marketing United brats don't like the new teacher