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Fierce_LiNk

Football Season 2019-20

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17 minutes ago, Fierce_LiNk said:

Just switched it on but missed the goal by about a minute. The Blades look great, what an insane season it's been for them.

Beyond my immense love for the city of Sheffield, the team are not only doing well but playing innovative, exciting football. 

The whole argument of ex-Pros in the media decrying the lack of opportunity for English coaches has been laughable for as long as I can remember. But Chris Wilder? He rightly deserves a shot at one of the big clubs. Spurs should have his number ready when the Mou project hits toxic rock bottom. 

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11 minutes ago, LazyBoy said:

Beyond my immense love for the city of Sheffield, the team are not only doing well but playing innovative, exciting football. 

The whole argument of ex-Pros in the media decrying the lack of opportunity for English coaches has been laughable for as long as I can remember. But Chris Wilder? He rightly deserves a shot at one of the big clubs. Spurs should have his number ready when the Mou project hits toxic rock bottom. 

I'm in two minds about this. On the one hand, I do think that if the opportunity does come up (which it will at Spurs, because Jose will not be there in a couple of years and it's already starting to go sour), then Chris Wilder should be in contention. No doubt about that.

The other side of it is that managing at a top/higher level club comes with its own perils. A string of bad results and that could be it. The stakes are raised and it's much more cutthroat. I think there's something very honourable about a manager staying at a club for many years and aiming to raise the profile and status of that side. When the season is over and if Sheffield United don't manage to get top four, they won't be very far off it. That's already a great platform for the next season. We've already seen it with Leicester in recent years who were able to get a Premier League title, so it can be done. It also makes the overall league much more competitive, which is great for the quality of the game. 4 years at the club is great and it's nice to see a bit more loyalty in the game, I feel, rather than a revolving door of managers. I hope that Sheffield United can use this season as a stepping stone for even bigger things next year, because they've been phenomenal this year. 

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Nothing I disagree with there. Managers are given far too little time at the top level - how many clubs would have gotten rid of Solskjaer already? 

My hope would be success is not just a way for top clubs to poach good managerial talent and reinforce their status, but also demonstrate a pathway for competent, thinking coaches. Southampton seem to do that on their own.

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20 minutes ago, LazyBoy said:

Nothing I disagree with there. Managers are given far too little time at the top level - how many clubs would have gotten rid of Solskjaer already? 

My hope would be success is not just a way for top clubs to poach good managerial talent and reinforce their status, but also demonstrate a pathway for competent, thinking coaches. Southampton seem to do that on their own.

I'm so pleased that we stuck with Solskjaer and got Fernandes in. That Fernandes signing is the most important signing we've made Post-Sir Alex. A high quality footballer who also makes others around him play better. Exactly the type of signing we've needed all this time. I'm very optimistic about next season with the forward line of Greenwood, Martial and Rashford, with Pogba and Fernandes helping to supply them.

There is a lot of logic with what you're saying about the pathway. There is such a wide variation in styles with the managers that we have in the league, and that's outside of the "big four" (if that even applies anymore, it's much more muddled, which is a good thing). I look at the likes of Nuno Espirito Santo, Wilder, Hasenhuttl, Potter, and I would still put Howe in there, despite Bournemouth looking likely to go down. (he's still done an amazing job up until now for a club of Bournemouth's side) and I'm amazed at just how many different styles of football we have within one league. It's a great thing. The other side of it is that we're seeing a new generation of managers coming through, which is another good thing for the game. Lampard, Arteta and I would still count Solskjaer in that even though he's been doing it for a bit longer.

For the league to be an exciting, competitive league, we need it to be less of a "big four, and then the rest", which is what it used to be and has slowly moved away from. Liverpool have run away with it this season, and City are the second best side, but then it's really all rather close after that. So, I feel that it's moving in the right direction. I hope that the clubs near the top four or at least in the top 10, 11 and 12 can hold on to their talented managers and their better players, as this can then help them improve in the future. I do wonder how many players look at the likes of City's lineup and bench and think that they'd rather stay where they are rather than sit on the bench.

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Sheffield's win keeping the battle for Champions League spots interesting. Leicester's final 3 fixtures are Sheffield, Spurs and Man Utd. I wonder what the odds are on them staying top 4?

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15 hours ago, Mandalore said:

Sheffield's win keeping the battle for Champions League spots interesting. Leicester's final 3 fixtures are Sheffield, Spurs and Man Utd. I wonder what the odds are on them staying top 4?

I've got a feeling that the last Champions League spot is going to come down to who wins that last game between Leicester and Man Utd. It's looking that way. I think Leicester will beat Spurs, but may draw against Sheffield Utd. That's so close, too.

Anyone watching Wolves vs. Everton? The third Wolves goal was great! I really rate Neves. 

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Today has certainly made the relegation battle more interesting... I feel a bit more optimistic about Villa's hopes after the second half performance against Palace, the fact that we kept a clean sheet and one of our forward line got on the scoresheet are huge positives and we should go into the Everton game feeling pretty confident of getting something. 

Bournemouth have put the cat amongst the pigeons with their win over Leicester though - what has happened to Leicester? They were flying earlier in the season but have been woeful since about the New Year. Still expect Bournemouth to lose to Man City on Wednesday but they will certainly be buoyed by such a big win. Even if they don't get anything from that game they'll feel like Southampton and Everton are winnable.

It's entirely possible that West Ham and Watford draw with each other and then lose all their remaining games, then wins for Villa and Bournemouth in 2 of the last 3 will keep them both up and send the London clubs down on 35pts. I won't really start believing that we can survive the drop unless we beat Everton but I definitely feel a bit perkier about our chances now

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That Bournemouth second half was AMAZING. Leicester really shit the bed after they gave the penalty away. Never really recovered. 

It's made things interesting for the top 4 positions, too. Chelsea losing yesterday and Leicester losing today means that a Man Utd win tomorrow against Southampton takes Utd third. We've been great post-lockdown, so I think we can get wins from our last few games and do this. :hehe:

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Yeah, our (Chelsea's) consistency, or rather inconsistency, has just been appalling this season. Love Lamps, and don't want to seem like I'm reading too much into this, but it's hard at this point to not be a little worried that there might be something about his coaching style which makes the team more focused in the bigger games, and much, much sloppier in the "smaller" ones. 

Glad that we've got some great names coming in next season, of course, and great to see the board finally backing us in a constructive way after years of making poor decision after poor decision, but the strides we seem to have taken this season - on and off the pitch - are going to fall a bit flat if we don't qualify for the Champions League next season, considering how we've been a shoe-in for it the whole season. 

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So, we’ll find out in a minute if Man City’s European ban gets overturned. Any predictions?

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Yep, as expected the ban has been lifted. Feels like these things always get overturned on appeal.

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In essence, the crimes took place too far into the past/UEFA took too long to provide evidence. The fine was reduced from 30million euros back down to 10million euros, and is for City being obstructive in the proceeding.

Basically, FFP is dead and meaningless. It's a disgraceful and cowardly decision. 

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It's a bit like last season, everyone is trying as hard as possible not to get the Champions League places.

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40 minutes ago, Mandalore said:

It's a bit like last season, everyone is trying as hard as possible not to get the Champions League places.

It's basically a game of hot potato with the amount of fucks up that teams have made this year with regards to those top 4 places.

A very frustrating game yesterday. There's a huge disparity between our attack and defence. I love our attack. We look exciting when any one of Martial, Rashford or Greenwood have the ball, and we look great with Pogba and Bruno supplying them in midfield. Could have scored waaaay more goals yesterday, if it were not for some great goalkeeping, defending or just not hitting the target.

But, all it takes is one moment at the other end and the other team can score. Our defence make too many mistakes and have too many lapses in concentration. We don't seem to learn that a great goal that we score can easily be cancelled out by one bad pass or defensive lapse at the back. They're both equal and cancel each other out. The quality of our attack is not matched up by the quality of our defence. In the 95th minute of a game, we needed either De Gea to come out and flatten everyone when he punches that ball away, or we need one of Maguire or Lindelöf to take charge. The reality is that we look we at set pieces because De Gea NEVER comes to claim a ball, which gives the other team a huge opportunity every time, and Maguire and Lindelöf's positions are always a bit suspect. 

I think we can still get top 4 and may still finish third. But, defensively, we need to improve. I'm loving the way we can score goals and our overall play is much better than it has been. But, our back 5 seriously need improving in the Summer. Two massive points dropped. 

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6 hours ago, Fierce_LiNk said:

I think we can still get top 4 and may still finish third. But, defensively, we need to improve. I'm loving the way we can score goals and our overall play is much better than it has been. But, our back 5 seriously need improving in the Summer. Two massive points dropped. 

Man Utd, Chelsea and even Man City seem to have the same issues defensively. I wonder if they'll all be trying to bid for the same centre half's in the summer. Van Dijk was such a great purchase for Liverpool, how many more players are out there and available at his level?

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On 14/07/2020 at 6:51 PM, Mandalore said:

Man Utd, Chelsea and even Man City seem to have the same issues defensively. I wonder if they'll all be trying to bid for the same centre half's in the summer. Van Dijk was such a great purchase for Liverpool, how many more players are out there and available at his level?

I expect all three clubs will be looking for the same calibre of defender, but no immediate names spring to mind off the top of my head. There are probably tons of candidates in the Italian and German leagues, or even in the Dutch and French leagues. There's always talent out there, but it's hard finding the right players who can cope with the Premier League and the jump up to standard of the top level. 

The Van Dijk signing looked crazy at the time, but nobody's laughing now. To pay for a centre back of that quality, you're going to need to pay somewhere along those prices to get that. He's made a huge difference. I think the key is finding them when they're much younger and then developing them/moulding them into a top class player, sorta like United did with Vidic. He looked horrendous when he first came, but he left as one of our best ever defenders. Same with Evra. I see certain characteristics in Lindelöf that I like, and he has got age on his side, so maybe. 

I'm not sold on Maguire and think that he makes too many errors or is just not quite solid enough to make it into that tier of player. He has lots of advantages, but quite a few drawbacks. There are times where I can see the Maguire-Lindelöf partnership working and we haven't conceded too many goals in recent games. But, that last minute equaliser for Southampton has left a sour taste in a lot of fan's mouths. In situations like that, you need your defence to take charge and control that situation. It was a test and they didn't do too well. 

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Completely fucked it, it looked like the escape was on but we let Everton have too much of the ball after Konsa scored. A draw at least against Arsenal is a must now, then hope a win at West Ham is enough to keep us up

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17 minutes ago, killthenet said:

Completely fucked it, it looked like the escape was on but we let Everton have too much of the ball after Konsa scored. A draw at least against Arsenal is a must now, then hope a win at West Ham is enough to keep us up

I was checking your score whilst watching the Leicester/Sheffield United match and thought you were good for the win. 87th minute equaliser is harsh. Tomorrow's game between West Ham and Watford is huuuuuuge.

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Assuming Chelsea don't collapse, that last match of the season with Leicester vs Man Utd is probably going to decide the last champions league place. Really tempted to get a NowTV week pass for it.

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Thought United were awful tonight, bar the final half of the second half. The third quarter. Martial and Rashford looked great again, though. Crystal Palace very unlucky not to come away from that game with something.

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Team need a rest. I love the FA Cup, but tempted to say we rest a few on the weekend - Pogba and Bruno in particular.

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6 hours ago, LazyBoy said:

Team need a rest. I love the FA Cup, but tempted to say we rest a few on the weekend - Pogba and Bruno in particular.

I’d like Chelsea to take this approach too. I’d rather Prioritise top 4.

Its going to be tough against Liverpool, hopefully Spurs do us a favour against Leicester!

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