The 2023-2024 Football Thread

[timber]

Tomorrow Benfica will be playing Olympic Marseille.

A great setting to a have a special guest and a fitting homage to the man that led our team to a champions cup (CL predecessor) final also against Olympic Marseille and at a similar date 18 April 1990.

The supporters demanded, he wanted do come and it was already postponed once for medical reasons but if everything goes OK Sven-Göran Eriksson will get the standing ovation he deserves.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Meanwhile Arsenal showed their inexperience and got lost somewhat. I'm less convinced they'll get through as the Allianz is a tough place to go. That said Bayern will give chances so there is possibility.

To be quite candid, I am not at all bothered by our (possible, nay, more than very likely) exit from the Champion's League.

This season, we demonstrated a degree of development and a considerable improvement by qualifying for the knock out stages of the competition (for the first time since 2017).

To my mind, the Premier League is of far greater importance, especially as we are still seriously in the running (for the title) at this stage of the season.

 

[Don Quixote]

@pachyderm Faint light of hope for staying up...?

 

[daneoni]

Liverpool lose 0-3 to Atalanta at Anfield.

All to do unless they plan is to exit the Europa and focus on the EPL

 

[timber]

It was nice and deserved. His former players came to meet him.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1778514240946483549

Better sound

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1778515922459804098

The broadcaster (and the sign held by fans) says
Eriksson, since 1982, until the end.

 

[pachyderm]

@pachyderm Faint light of hope for staying up...?

Faint.

 

[pachyderm]

Faint.

ugh

Fainter ...

Drew 1 - 1 and dropped one spot

 

[daneoni]

Oof! very damaging that defeat. My Liverpool supporting friend just left the group chat dejected. 😬

I still think Liverpool are in the race personally.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Oof! very damaging that defeat. My Liverpool supporting friend just left the group chat dejected. 😬

I still think Liverpool are in the race personally.

Agree. There will be twists and turns yet, but I’m sure Arsenal and Man City were cheering Palace on.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Yep, I’m pretty much tuned out at this point. It was a good run, and right now it is hard to imagine enjoying supporting Liverpool, or watching the Premier League, as much as I did under Klopp, especially considering the way the sport is going. All good things must come to an end.

MLS is getting into full swing and Columbus look pretty good again this season so I have something else to look forward to. They actually won away in Mexico last week, which is a big deal.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Oof! very damaging that defeat. My Liverpool supporting friend just left the group chat dejected. 😬

I still think Liverpool are in the race personally.

Agreed, Liverpool are still in the race, but their fate may no longer be solely in their own hands.

 

[daneoni]

Looking like a bad sunday for home sides.

EDIT: Yep really bad for home sides. The football gods have swung the title towards City.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Looking like a bad sunday for home sides.

EDIT: Yep really bad for home sides. The football gods have swung the title towards City.

Yep.

Yes, indeed.

Damn, damn, and double damn.

Unfortunately, City would appear to have been the chief beneficiary of the games that have been played this week end.

Moreover, I very much doubt that those European games midweek were of any help to wither Liverpool or Arsenal.

 

[Apple fanboy]

But at least Villa received a boost for their CL spot.

 

[Alphazoid]

Oh well...🤷‍♂️

I mean if we can't beat an understrength Villa, who had 48hrs less to recover at home, then we should pipe down and take the L.

Congrats to City...again

I expect an exit in the UCL on Wed too.

 

[laptech]

The Premier league is City's to lose now in my opinion because they have the easiest run in of games than Arsenal and Liverpool.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

The Premier league is City's to lose now in my opinion because they have the easiest run in of games than Arsenal and Liverpool.

Unfortunately, I find myself in agreement with you.

Even if Arsenal and Liverpool enjoy an excellent run - and claim maximum points - between now and the end of the season, they cannot win the title unless City also stumble.

Until this week-end they each had their respective destinies in their own hands; however, now, after the debacle of this week-end, - a week-end, I suspect, that they will yet look back on as the date when their respective title challenges faltered - City's fate is in their own hands, and the title is City's to lose.

 

[Sal09]

Anything Liverpool can do, Arsenal can do better.

I still haven’t recovered fully from yesterday’s shocking result.

Paul Merson’s reaction said it all when he saw the starting line up and he was very vocal about dropping Jorginho to bench to make space for Jesus and dropping Havertz in middlefield. And he is was absolutely right. Jesus should not have started.

Also Zinchenko starting 🤬 I have no words.

Arteta got it wrong yesterday and we choked.

 

[Sal09]

Oh well...🤷‍♂️

I mean if we can't beat an understrength Villa, who had 48hrs less to recover at home, then we should pipe down and take the L.

Congrats to City...again

I expect an exit in the UCL on Wed too.

We’ll beat Bayern on Wednesday.

 

[laptech]

Looking at what games are left, depending on how results go for the teams at the top and the bottom of the Pl, the end of season game between Arsenal v Everton could be a cracker of a game because as I said, depending on results in other games, that game could have the potential to decide who becomes title winners and who get's relegated. This has got to be one of the best seasons for neutral fans, very tight at the top and very tight at the bottom. The London derby between Arsenal v Spurs is also going to be a tough one because not only is it a local rival derby, it's also against a team trying to win the league against a team trying to get the 4th league spot for the champions league.

Liverpool have got 3 extremely tough games, one against Everton who are fighting for league survival, one against Aston villa and one against Spurs who are both fighting for the last champions league place.

Man City's toughest game could be against Spurs because Spurs are fighting against Villa for the last champions league spot. Apart from that game, the rest of City's games should be straight forward wins. The game against Nottingham Forrest has the potential to be a tough one because Forest are fighting for league survival. On paper City should be able to beat all the teams they will be facing but as we have seen throughout the years, what is says on paper does not always translate well to the real world.

 

[Sal09]

 

[Alphazoid]

Anything Liverpool can do, Arsenal can do better.

I still haven’t recovered fully from yesterday’s shocking result.

Paul Merson’s reaction said it all when he saw the starting line up and he was very vocal about dropping Jorginho to bench to make space for Jesus and dropping Havertz in middlefield. And he is was absolutely right. Jesus should not have started.

Also Zinchenko starting 🤬 I have no words.

Arteta got it wrong yesterday and we choked.

Tbf to Arteta games are coming thick and fast and Jesus was brilliant against Bayern. And Kiwior was rinsed, so i can understand why he reshuffled. Plus all these players are supposedly the ‘leaders’ of our team. And we’re at home. We even started brilliantly but the boys let him down. Got spooked by the earlier results.

But i also didn’t agree with his subs. Zinny should’ve been subbed at half time. And Martinelli in earlier (saying Martinelli has been shocking too). And he should’ve brought on Partey to help Rice. But i guess he’s saving Partey for today’s game.

The game showed that we’ve outgrown Zinny and Jesus (albeit less so with him). We need Gyokeres or Toney in and we need Timber back…hopefully fit and firing.

We’ll beat Bayern on Wednesday.

There’s always a ‘week of hell’ with Arsenal, decades old tradition. Usually when the pressure is on.
We’re away at the Allianz…with fans present. AND there appears to be a mental block and fatigue kicking in. I don’t think we have a chance personally but i hope I’m wrong.

We’ll likely exit today, then go on and win the next 4 or 5 games because pressure is off. And nothing at stake.

 

[laptech]

Sometimes a situation occurs in football where you have to applaud opposition fans and in this case it is Arsenal fans giving Xavi some stick for him complaining about Barcelona losing their champions league game and thus ending their champions league participation. Basically Xavi was complaining about how bad the ref was and the sending off of Ronald Araujo which affected the team. I was reading a news article about the game and the author of the article pointed out that Arsenal fans had taken to social media to give Xavi some stick because of what happened to Arsenal when they played Barcelona in a champions league game in 2011 (i think it was 2011). Arsenal was on top in that game until a bad ref decision which resulted in Robin Van Persie being sent off for what was considered a very 'soft' incident (kicking the ball away) which resulted in Barcelona winning the game which ended Arsenal's participation in the competition. Xavi was a player in the Barcelona team. Arsenal fans were saying 'what goes around comes around' meaning Barcelona benefited from bad ref's decision in a game where they were second best and could well have possibly lost if Van Persie had not been sent off. Now Barcelona are the victims of a bad ref's decision and are out of the competition.

I have to applaud Arsenal fans who gave Xavi some stick

 

[Sal09]

Tbf to Arteta games are coming thick and fast and Jesus was brilliant against Bayern. And Kiwior was rinsed, so i can understand why he reshuffled. Plus all these players are supposedly the ‘leaders’ of our team. And we’re at home. We even started brilliantly but the boys let him down. Got spooked by the earlier results.

But i also didn’t agree with his subs. Zinny should’ve been subbed at half time. And Martinelli in earlier (saying Martinelli has been shocking too). And he should’ve brought on Partey to help Rice. But i guess he’s saving Partey for today’s game.

The game showed that we’ve outgrown Zinny and Jesus (albeit less so with him). We need Gyokeres or Toney in and we need Timber back…hopefully fit and firing.



There’s always a ‘week of hell’ with Arsenal, decades old tradition. Usually when the pressure is on.
We’re away at the Allianz…with fans present. AND there appears to be a mental block and fatigue kicking in. I don’t think we have a chance personally but i hope I’m wrong.

We’ll likely exit today, then go on and win the next 4 or 5 games because pressure is off. And nothing at stake.

Above should have been the ideal line up against Aston Villa regardless of the outcome.

Firstly he waited too long to make substitutions. One could clearly see we were piss poor in the second half and yes when he did decide to make substitutions. He got it totally wrong.

As much as i was against Havertz signing hes been good for us. He actually bullies opponents defenders and goalies and makes things happen.

 

[Silencio]

Both Arsenal and city on track to be eliminated from Europe as things stand. Arsenal barely hanging on at the moment...