Premier League Round Up (Nov 21-23 2020)

[tlw content]

The biggest game of the weekend was obviously us v Leicester as firstly, it was us and we’re always the biggest game of any weekend, and secondly it was 3rd v 4th, or at least it was at the time we played. Going into the weekend Leicester were actually top so it was a big one.

 

They aren’t top anymore, as Spurs beat Man City in the second biggest game of the weekend. I say second biggest but City are 13th so maybe I’m giving them too much credit. Obviously that position isn’t a true reflection of their level. I still have them as comfortably the second best team in the league, but it’s entirely possible I’m going to be proved massively wrong there.

 

Was anyone actually surprised they lost at Spurs? Should we be surprised when they lose to anyone these days? Everton, obviously, but if and when the Blues eventually realise that losing to City isn’t actually going to make any difference to Liverpool’s season then even they might have a shot at beating Pep.

 

It’s weird though because if you look at all the numbers from this game it looks like a standard Mourinho smash and grab act. And it was to some extent, but despite all of City’s possession and countless goal attempts, Spurs seemed to carry more menace all day, albeit with far less opportunities.

 

City are just extremely vulnerable to counter attacks. This is why that point we got at their place a few weeks back almost felt like a missed opportunity. I’m not saying we deserved to win that game because we didn’t. I’m saying that with the forwards we have we ought to have caused them more problems than we did and I do feel a sense of disappointment that the only goal we scored was a penalty.

 

City are easy to play through. You see it virtually every week now, even in the games they win. If you can defend well then you can get at them on the counter attack quite easily. The way City are now must be like a Mourinho wet dream. They’ve become the type of opponent he loves and this game went exactly how he’d have envisaged it. 

 

Son ran clear to make it 1-0 after only four minutes. He then teed up Kane to make it 2-0 but it was correctly ruled out for offside. City thought they’d equalised but VAR said otherwise. The Hand of Jesus. 

 

Actually before I go on, that reminds me. Of all the arguments against VAR there’s one that stands out more than anything to me, and it’s this: 

 

If VAR had been around in 1986 then my favourite World Cup goal of all time would never have stood and I wouldn’t be able to mock that Peter Shilton cunt about it on Twitter every time he brings it up. There’ll be plenty of Maradona stuff in the diary so I won’t dwell on it here, but yeah, VAR would have ruled that goal out so that alone is enough reason for me to be against it.

 

Anyway, back to this game and Los Celso came off the bench and scored 30 seconds later after being sent clear by Kane. City never really looked like getting back into it despite having plenty of the ball in Tottenham’s half.

 

Spurs had four attempts, City had 22. The corner count was 10-0 in City’s favour. Yet Spurs won 2-0. How many times have we seen this shit? And then we hear about another ‘Mourinho masterclass’. Makes me laugh. It’s only a ‘masterclass’ when they win. When his teams play like this and don’t win they look fucking awful. Just ask United fans.

 

Despite their lowly league position I’m not writing City off at this point because they if they win their game in hand they’re only five points back. Four wins on the spin will have anyone in the top ten moving up the table and there’s no reason City can’t do that. It’s not like they’re playing badly. They just aren’t the force they were.

 

Guardiola signing a new contract might not be the great news they thought it was either. Don’t get me wrong, all things being equal he’s the best coach they could possibly get (only Klopp is better and they obviously can’t get him because he likes proper football clubs), but he’s been there a good few years now and he’s got the kind of personality that grates on people after a while. His signings have been ropey as fuck too.

 

There was a time when I’d have been made up if he had left but now I’m not sure if it’s better for us in the long run that he didn’t, as he may have outstayed his welcome. We’ll see.

 

So the win put Spurs top and suddenly everyone is falling over themselves to tickle Jose’s balls. No doubt many of the same people who were saying he was washed up when he left United. No-one has benefited more from lockdown footy with no fans than Spurs, that’s for sure.

 

Are they serious title contenders? Well yeah, they’re top so they have to be. But it’s early days and as I say, all it takes is for one of the decent sides to win four on the bounce and they’ll become contenders too. There’s going to be a lot of surprising results this season and no-one is going to put together a run like we did last year. Being a contender now doesn’t mean you will be by the time Easter comes around though.

 

I don’t think Mourinho is working any magic and I’m not overly impressed by how they play. They will probably stay around the top for a while yet though because Kane and Son are genuinely brilliant, as good as any forwards in the league. When you have that you’ve always got a chance. The rest of the team? Meh.

 

The league is fucked up this year because of Covid and the empty stadiums. It’s a great leveller and it’s not going to need a points total in the high nineties to win it this year. So yeah, you can’t dismiss Spurs out of hand, not when Kane and Son are doing what they’re doing. They are still Spurs though, we shouldn’t forget that.

 

 

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[alles ist gut]

Top, top fucking traffic warden analysis there, Dave.

[Arnaud]

It seems Traore is disturbed by the négociations of his contract.

[manwiththestick]

Just wanted to say that I picked up on that Darlo beaut last season so good to see I'm alone.

 

Pickford is the same in that he overeggs simple saves in order to look spectacular, when in fact you're actually bit, err, shit.

 

[Remmie]

This nickname point you've made is exactly why it irks me so much that people call Man Utd 'United'. It meekly supports this arrogant nickname they've given themselves despite several other clubs having it. 

 

Mou is beyond the pale though, cunts trick that Monty. 

[index1000]

A suggestion for theTLW Writers group (who'd have fucking thought !) 

For none Red Double-namers

Just use the first surname and then add Cunt!

Easy, Dominic Calvert -Cunt

Reuben Loftus-Cunt

 

 

[Mudface]

Hope I don't jinx things, but Welbeck has nearly as many England caps (42) as Premier League goals (47). He's 30 and hasn't even got to 50 in the PL and not once has he got to double figures in a league season. Amazing that he's had any sort of career in the top flight, never mind played for both Man Utd and Arsenal.

[Red_or_Dead]

Brewster's got a massive whiff of Solanke about him.

 

 

[A_S]

'Should traffic wardens be armed?'

[Josef Svejk]

On Danny Welbeck:

 

I read the other day that he's scored 45 goals in a 12 year Premier League career spent mostly at Man United and Arsenal.

 

That's appalling.

[aws]

He's a fine striker and will be a big threat. 

[Mark M]

18 minutes ago, Josef Svejk said:

On Danny Welbeck:

 

I read the other day that he's scored 45 goals in a 12 year Premier League career spent mostly at Man United and Arsenal.

 

That's appalling.

Bobby levels of goalscoring that

[DaveT]

15 hours ago, Remmie said:

This nickname point you've made is exactly why it irks me so much that people call Man Utd 'United'. It meekly supports this arrogant nickname they've given themselves despite several other clubs having it. 

 

Mou is beyond the pale though, cunts trick that Monty. 

They'll always be Man U to me, as in the 70s chants.. 'we hate Man U and we hate Man U etc' and 'Nanananana, we are the Man U haters', both sung ad tedium on the train most of the way to Rome after the '77 cup final

[Josef Svejk]

9 hours ago, Mark M said:

Bobby levels of goalscoring that

Bobby has 59 league goals in 5 years. So not really comparable with Welbeck's 45 in 12...