Premier League Round Up (Nov 23-25 2024)

[tlw content]

 

 

Another week another City loss. This time it was a fucking mauling too. By Spurs of all teams, who a week earlier had lost at home to Ipswich. Thing is though, for whatever reason Spurs are like Kryptonite to City. It feels like they always beat them, which obviously isn’t the case, but Spurs do have City’s number and this was second time they’ve beaten them this month. Spurs are to City what Ben Doak is to Josko Gvardiol.

 

I wasn’t shocked that City dropped points, I could easily have seen a draw or if I was being wildly optimistic a narrow Spurs win. A 4-0 spanking though? That’s wild, the kind of result that sends shock waves around the league. We’re in completely uncharted waters here with Guardiola’s City. This shit just doesn’t happen to them. Five losses in a row is mad, but for the fifth loss to be an utter humiliation against a Spurs team missing both first choice centre backs, this is unimaginable. I’m a little giddy about it, I can’t lie. Are we witnessing the beginning of the end of those cheating cunts? God I hope so.

 

It got even worse for them when they blew a 3-0 lead against Feyenoord by conceding three times in the last 15 minutes, causing Guardiola to self harm. His face and head were full of cuts as he kept scratching himself. He’s always been weird, and that was when they were winning. It’s understandable that he’s lost his mind because he’s never been in this situation and just doesn’t know how to deal with it. It’s like if Sean Dyche ever went on a six game winning streak, he’d end up looking like Freddie Krueger.

 

What the fuck is happening here though, have we entered the twilight zone? This is absolutely wild. Guardiola’s City haven’t won in six games and they’ve lost five of them, some of them in embarrassing fashion. And next up for them is Anfield. Kinell.

 

I’ve got a lot of thoughts about City but I’m saying nothing until after the weekend, I’m confident, but it’s making me a little anxious seeing so many Reds talking about battering them and putting them out of the title race. We barely beat Southampton so there are no guarantees here. City might rediscover something if we’re not right at it and a win against us would get them right back on track. If we do get on top of them early then we could well give them a beating for the ages, but it also feels dangerous to me as everyone is writing them off. I’m expecting a tough game and if it turns out to be easy then great. The main thing is to just win, I don’t care by how many.

 

Seeing what Spurs did to them was very interesting though and you have to take confidence from seeing that. They played it perfectly. They defended really well but it was more the way they systematically picked their way through City at will that was most impressive. They did a lot of the things Fulham did to them the other week, only Spurs were clinical and didn’t give away goals at the other end.

 

I don’t watch any live games other than us, but from time to time I will switch them on if it’s going the way I want (especially if its City or Arsenal losing) and often that has backfired on me as they score straight away. When I heard Spurs had gone ahead I resisted the temptation to put it on. When it went 2-0 though I sensed that something seismic might be happening. Spurs are well capable of remembering who they are and blowing that kind of lead, but equally they’re really fucking good on the break so there was a chance they’d just keep picking City off. 

 

So I switched it on at half time and I’m glad I did, because I really enjoyed that second half! They led 2-0 courtesy of a Maddison brace (on his birthday, he's 28!!! How did that happen?), but City had started really well and should have taken the lead through the cave troll. Maybe it would have been different if they had scored first, but I doubt it given how they looked throughout the game. City have been increasingly vulnerable this season to the point that they now look like a quivering mess when they don’t have the ball. 

 

There are gaps everywhere (presumably the Rodri factor) but they don’t have the legs to cover the gaps anymore. Gvardiol in particular is all at sea at the moment and seems to be suffering a severe case of PTSDoak. He defo hasn’t been the same since the two chasings he had from our wee boy.

 

Spurs just ran all over them, while also using the ball intelligently to pick them apart. Their second half display was really measured and clever, just defending well and then picking their moments to attack. It was a masterclass in how to beat City, really impressive stuff. It’s hard not to watch that and think “if Spurs can do that, what will we be able to do to them?”. Hopefully we’ll find out on Sunday.

 

Spurs are weird though. I always say goal difference is a good barometer of where a team should be. You can tell the frauds and the under-achievers based on goal difference, and right now Spurs are second only to us. Yet they’re 12 points behind us in 6th place. Why? Because they’ve thrown away some games they should have won. 

 

They should be finishing in the Champions League places but no-one will be shocked if they don’t, because they’re Spurs. 

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[Rushies tash]

Not bothering to watch City or Arsenal when they're winning is the kind of pettiness we can all get on board with.

[Arnaud]

I hardly watch football outside our games as well. What’s the point ?

[sir roger]

2 hours ago, Arnaud said:

I hardly watch football outside our games as well. What’s the point ?

 

I used to watch any football I could, even park games if I was passing, but outside ourselves I can't be bothered much these days.

[Arnaud]

44 minutes ago, sir roger said:

 

I used to watch any football I could, even park games if I was passing, but outside ourselves I can't be bothered much these days.

I meant on tv, but I love going to the games. I could not get ticket for Brighton away in the cup, so I went up to Glasgow for a game, really enjoyed it. 

[The Rake]

Badiashile is the worst defender in the league btw

[Mudface]

8 hours ago, The Rake said:

Badiashile is the worst defender in the league btw

 

Badiashite, more like.

[dave u]

8 hours ago, The Rake said:

Badiashile is the worst defender in the league btw

 

Ok that's a bold statement, I'll keep an eye on him. Never really noticed him much as he came in with about a hundred others players and I had no idea who any of them were. Mavrapanos has been a train wreck every time I've seen him.

 

Is Tim Ream still at Fulham? He was the worst at one point until all of a sudden he started looking ace and their fans loved him.