English Football 2016-2017: NOW WITH 100% LESS FANERIO
06-19-2016
, 11:12 AM
Quote:
6Hello all, I intend to be the token Middlesbrough poster this season. I was a season ticket holder for seven years before I moved to London. We are currently around 50/50 to be relegated according to bookies, given our current squad I actually think they are kind of overestimating us, but hopefully lots of signings before the season starts.
As it stands I feel like we are kind of similar to Norwich when they came up last season. We had a solid squad and game plan to grind out results against championship teams (with the exception of the madness when karanka nearly left), but we lack quality to take on Premier league teams. I remember a 2-0 home loss against a mediocre Everton in one of the cups last year and they absolutely crushed us really.
As it stands I feel like we are kind of similar to Norwich when they came up last season. We had a solid squad and game plan to grind out results against championship teams (with the exception of the madness when karanka nearly left), but we lack quality to take on Premier league teams. I remember a 2-0 home loss against a mediocre Everton in one of the cups last year and they absolutely crushed us really.
always nice to have fans of other teams in the thread
06-19-2016
, 12:00 PM
Quote:
Recap of 2015-2016
Pre Season
With TSO sporting a nice summer glow having signed a new contract at Chelsea and pretty much everyone predicting them 1st (at worst 3rd), Chelsea were strong favourites going into the season with usual horses just behind. City, having spent 100 million on future superstars De Bruyne and Sterling, were considered the smart price by the sharks of the market.
At the other end of the table Leicester City decided to get rid of Pearson and appoint international managerial failure and nice man, Clownio Clownieri, following a disastrous summer of racism and prostitutes. They were widely expected to go back to the championship with some bookies (pinnacle) not even bothering with title odds.
August to December
The big news here is Chelsea's collapse. They start with what seems a standard inconsistent opening day performance ending in a reasonable draw at home to Swansea with 10 men. However, Mourinho decides it's wise to throw some horrible insults at his medical staff and drops them from the bench for the following game. With forward thinking and all round good men of football (the FA) excusing Mourinho's behaviour, token woman in high level football is eventually forced out of the club.
Chelsea's inconsistent opening day game is in fact an early indicator to some disastrous play (experts such as ducksauce spotted this early) and by mid December they have 15 points from 15 (20% gained from arsenal of course) and travel to the King Power to face 3rd place Leicester who are 17 points ahead of them. Leicester beat them to go top and Mourinho is done, of course blaming all his players on the way out to preserve the self, having embarrassed the club for the previous three months. Chelsea become an irrelevance from this point and the real story starts.
The Mid Point
Arsenal have played the best, run bad as usual (genuinely this time), but Man City are likely still favorites considering the strength of team and squad.
Ok Leicester's rise is a big deal already (with top 4 looking a reasonable bet) but as we know it gets weirder and weirder. With Vardy breaking a league record and scoring in 11 consecutive games (some idiots itt referring to him as Papiss Vardy, other smart arses as Vardinho) and along with the rise of Kante and Mahrez, it is still impossible to see how this is not a race between Arsenal and City. Spurs have done well but they don't reach their peak until later on (and too late).
Before City - Lei; Arse - Lei
Leicester steal 3 points from Spurs away and Vardinho KOs Plop; Arsenal begin to wobble; City look back on track; and Spurs on the rise.
Leicester's next two games: City and Arsenal away.
Leicester beat City away 3-1, which was a really ****ing big deal causing confusion everywhere and genuine belief that they can do it. However, the following week, an excellent point is stolen from them by Arse's most decisive forward Welbeck and Spurs beating City starts to cause panic among not only the arse support but those of Chelsea and pretty much everyone. We're all in on Leicester now while Spuds fans try and claim that finishing 2nd really isn't that disappointing (they fail to do that). I won't go in detail on the rest but Leicester somehow manage to remain consistent and Hazard, who only turned up for the first time that season the week before, finishes Spuds off with a brilliant goal and Leicester win the league.
Everyone is happy. Oh except all the big teams who are probably going to spend lots of money now, having already invested quite a bit on world class management so far.
The New Season
Man City - The Favourites (Last Season - 4th)
Current Market Price (Betfair): 3.25
Having signed Pep Guardiola and with unlimited funds and offering the best wages, bookies are pretty confident this will be the best side this season. Pep will be under pressure to deliver not just excellent football but convincing performances in Europe. Their semi final run last year may have seemed an improvement but an embarrassing performance against Real Madrid is not really acceptable considering the resources available and they had a good run to get there.
Man Utd (Last Season - 5th)
Current Market Price (Betfair): 5.5
Having signed Jose Mourinho and with unlimited funds and offering the best wages, bookies (or people piling on them) are pretty confident this United team will do enough in the transfer market to challenge for the league and get back into the top 4. After embarrassing himself at Chelsea last season, Mourinho needs a good year this season or he will soon start finding himself not being considered among the best coaches around. Some believe this might already be the case. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is sure to sign and imo, this is a solid start and believe his physical capabilities will help him settle easily. I've always had a question mark over Mourinho's transfer policy (some of this out of his hands with agents involved I guess) and it is important that they sign at least one more major player to get back to relevance.
Arsenal (Last Season - 2nd)
Current Market Price (Betfair): 7.0
Deciding there's no point in replacing Wenger yet and with a warchest due to be opened any day now and offering some of the best wages, Arse are likely to once again produce a solid team. Last year will be a massive disappointment but allowing that to fester would mean they could lose their grip on the top 4 trophy. With the competition around them top 4 is a good result even if league title remains the dream ambition. They have bought midfielder Xhaka from the Bundesliga and I don't know too much about him but if they can add a Vardinho and Mkhitaryan then they will continue to be a force. Arsenal fans will know better in terms of what they need and of course lolarse is always round the corner.
Chelsea (Last Season - 9th / 10th / 11th / 12th I dunno)
Current Market Price (Betfair): 8.6
Pretty unknown / doubtful here after last year. Have money, can pay excellent wages, still a squad with quality. Having signed a manager who is highly regarded and showed some of his worth with his low quality Italy side outplaying a higher quality team recently. But will no champions league football be a problem in attracting better players to improve leaks in the squad or will players look past the short term and realise that no europe gives them an excellent chance to win the league in such a competitive and intense environment? Will they start trusting one or two players who have played in the recent very successful youth sides? And what excuses will Mourinho provide should Chelsea finish above lolutd?
Lads, it's
Liverpool (Last Season - 8th)
Current Market Price (Betfair): 10.0
Big fan of Klopp. Another decent sort it seems and his teams play some really nice stuff. Could they be a dark house? Sure, why not. Not much I can contribute to a write up but I'd be pretty optimistic as a Plop fan.
Leicester (Last Season - 1st)
Current Market Price (Betfair): 34.0
Can they do it again?
Nah.
But like loads of other teams, they will strengthen and I believe we're in for another excellent season even if the trophy does end up in the hands of one of the big teams. That's fine. With West Ham, Southampton, Everton and others already strong or looking to improve, think there will be plenty of good games across the league again. Burnley might even be able to bink a few signings and stay up (or better).
Can't wait.
SUPPORT LIST (50 posts or more from last season - request to be added if missed you out)
Pre Season
With TSO sporting a nice summer glow having signed a new contract at Chelsea and pretty much everyone predicting them 1st (at worst 3rd), Chelsea were strong favourites going into the season with usual horses just behind. City, having spent 100 million on future superstars De Bruyne and Sterling, were considered the smart price by the sharks of the market.
At the other end of the table Leicester City decided to get rid of Pearson and appoint international managerial failure and nice man, Clownio Clownieri, following a disastrous summer of racism and prostitutes. They were widely expected to go back to the championship with some bookies (pinnacle) not even bothering with title odds.
August to December
The big news here is Chelsea's collapse. They start with what seems a standard inconsistent opening day performance ending in a reasonable draw at home to Swansea with 10 men. However, Mourinho decides it's wise to throw some horrible insults at his medical staff and drops them from the bench for the following game. With forward thinking and all round good men of football (the FA) excusing Mourinho's behaviour, token woman in high level football is eventually forced out of the club.
Chelsea's inconsistent opening day game is in fact an early indicator to some disastrous play (experts such as ducksauce spotted this early) and by mid December they have 15 points from 15 (20% gained from arsenal of course) and travel to the King Power to face 3rd place Leicester who are 17 points ahead of them. Leicester beat them to go top and Mourinho is done, of course blaming all his players on the way out to preserve the self, having embarrassed the club for the previous three months. Chelsea become an irrelevance from this point and the real story starts.
The Mid Point
Arsenal have played the best, run bad as usual (genuinely this time), but Man City are likely still favorites considering the strength of team and squad.
Ok Leicester's rise is a big deal already (with top 4 looking a reasonable bet) but as we know it gets weirder and weirder. With Vardy breaking a league record and scoring in 11 consecutive games (some idiots itt referring to him as Papiss Vardy, other smart arses as Vardinho) and along with the rise of Kante and Mahrez, it is still impossible to see how this is not a race between Arsenal and City. Spurs have done well but they don't reach their peak until later on (and too late).
Before City - Lei; Arse - Lei
Leicester steal 3 points from Spurs away and Vardinho KOs Plop; Arsenal begin to wobble; City look back on track; and Spurs on the rise.
Leicester's next two games: City and Arsenal away.
Leicester beat City away 3-1, which was a really ****ing big deal causing confusion everywhere and genuine belief that they can do it. However, the following week, an excellent point is stolen from them by Arse's most decisive forward Welbeck and Spurs beating City starts to cause panic among not only the arse support but those of Chelsea and pretty much everyone. We're all in on Leicester now while Spuds fans try and claim that finishing 2nd really isn't that disappointing (they fail to do that). I won't go in detail on the rest but Leicester somehow manage to remain consistent and Hazard, who only turned up for the first time that season the week before, finishes Spuds off with a brilliant goal and Leicester win the league.
Everyone is happy. Oh except all the big teams who are probably going to spend lots of money now, having already invested quite a bit on world class management so far.
The New Season
Man City - The Favourites (Last Season - 4th)
Current Market Price (Betfair): 3.25
Having signed Pep Guardiola and with unlimited funds and offering the best wages, bookies are pretty confident this will be the best side this season. Pep will be under pressure to deliver not just excellent football but convincing performances in Europe. Their semi final run last year may have seemed an improvement but an embarrassing performance against Real Madrid is not really acceptable considering the resources available and they had a good run to get there.
Man Utd (Last Season - 5th)
Current Market Price (Betfair): 5.5
Having signed Jose Mourinho and with unlimited funds and offering the best wages, bookies (or people piling on them) are pretty confident this United team will do enough in the transfer market to challenge for the league and get back into the top 4. After embarrassing himself at Chelsea last season, Mourinho needs a good year this season or he will soon start finding himself not being considered among the best coaches around. Some believe this might already be the case. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is sure to sign and imo, this is a solid start and believe his physical capabilities will help him settle easily. I've always had a question mark over Mourinho's transfer policy (some of this out of his hands with agents involved I guess) and it is important that they sign at least one more major player to get back to relevance.
Arsenal (Last Season - 2nd)
Current Market Price (Betfair): 7.0
Deciding there's no point in replacing Wenger yet and with a warchest due to be opened any day now and offering some of the best wages, Arse are likely to once again produce a solid team. Last year will be a massive disappointment but allowing that to fester would mean they could lose their grip on the top 4 trophy. With the competition around them top 4 is a good result even if league title remains the dream ambition. They have bought midfielder Xhaka from the Bundesliga and I don't know too much about him but if they can add a Vardinho and Mkhitaryan then they will continue to be a force. Arsenal fans will know better in terms of what they need and of course lolarse is always round the corner.
Chelsea (Last Season - 9th / 10th / 11th / 12th I dunno)
Current Market Price (Betfair): 8.6
Pretty unknown / doubtful here after last year. Have money, can pay excellent wages, still a squad with quality. Having signed a manager who is highly regarded and showed some of his worth with his low quality Italy side outplaying a higher quality team recently. But will no champions league football be a problem in attracting better players to improve leaks in the squad or will players look past the short term and realise that no europe gives them an excellent chance to win the league in such a competitive and intense environment? Will they start trusting one or two players who have played in the recent very successful youth sides? And what excuses will Mourinho provide should Chelsea finish above lolutd?
Lads, it's
Spoiler:
Liverpool (Last Season - 8th)
Current Market Price (Betfair): 10.0
Big fan of Klopp. Another decent sort it seems and his teams play some really nice stuff. Could they be a dark house? Sure, why not. Not much I can contribute to a write up but I'd be pretty optimistic as a Plop fan.
Leicester (Last Season - 1st)
Current Market Price (Betfair): 34.0
Can they do it again?
Nah.
But like loads of other teams, they will strengthen and I believe we're in for another excellent season even if the trophy does end up in the hands of one of the big teams. That's fine. With West Ham, Southampton, Everton and others already strong or looking to improve, think there will be plenty of good games across the league again. Burnley might even be able to bink a few signings and stay up (or better).
Can't wait.
SUPPORT LIST (50 posts or more from last season - request to be added if missed you out)
Spoiler:
Spoiler:
06-19-2016
, 12:38 PM
06-19-2016
, 03:51 PM
06-19-2016
, 05:15 PM
Quote:
6Hello all, I intend to be the token Middlesbrough poster this season. I was a season ticket holder for seven years before I moved to London. We are currently around 50/50 to be relegated according to bookies, given our current squad I actually think they are kind of overestimating us, but hopefully lots of signings before the season starts.
As it stands I feel like we are kind of similar to Norwich when they came up last season. We had a solid squad and game plan to grind out results against championship teams (with the exception of the madness when karanka nearly left), but we lack quality to take on Premier league teams. I remember a 2-0 home loss against a mediocre Everton in one of the cups last year and they absolutely crushed us really.
As it stands I feel like we are kind of similar to Norwich when they came up last season. We had a solid squad and game plan to grind out results against championship teams (with the exception of the madness when karanka nearly left), but we lack quality to take on Premier league teams. I remember a 2-0 home loss against a mediocre Everton in one of the cups last year and they absolutely crushed us really.
So...... what do you think about xG?
06-20-2016
, 06:15 AM
06-20-2016
, 06:25 AM
06-20-2016
, 06:26 AM
06-20-2016
, 06:41 AM