UM fantasy premier league 2015/2016 (SOCCER)

Not that he had good results or team played good football, but it's still a bit unexpected. Rumors are the replacement will be De Boer/Klopp/Ancelotti. Not sure if they are realistic, with more exciting jobs possibly available in the summer.
 
So it actually happened. Klopp is the manager. I am actually kinda scared, and happy at the same time, love the guy. He gives me hope that PL is not gonna lose 4th CL spot, he is great in cups.
 
as long as he can keep a handle on his discipline he'll emerge as a good buy i think. although wijnaldum (obviously) and sissoko were even better i thought, totally ran the show. shame how shit they are at the other end.
 
Probably going to sell Aguero to let Vardy in. Aguero is so injury prone; he may have great couple of games but then he gets injured for weeks.
 
Its shocking how bad are english teams doing in Europe, Liverpool atleast fielded very strong team /taking injuries into account/, Spurs didnt even do that. Arsenal and United are quite bad too, City just has a bit more luck.
 
It wasn't a comment just on current season, I know it's a long term problem. I don't buy that "lack of winter break and tough league" argument. And it's not like the players or managers are not good enough. One interesting theory I heard was lack of HG players, players that spend their whole career in one club.
 
i think the premier league's gone through a bit of an identity crisis due to a desperation to emulate barcelona's success/aesthetic and transition into a high possession style, even though a) no manager is getting enough time to create a team like that from scratch (except wenger and, well, lol), b) england doesn't have the coaching infrastructure to properly teach it and c) european football is arguably moving on from that style already.

that said, i don't think there's some big overarching explanation really, different clubs have different problems. compared to, say, a decade ago when english teams were doing fantastic in europe:
- liverpool and spurs are worse because they sold their best players and made a lot of silly buys/hired some mediocre managers.
- arsenal are on roughly the same level. still flattering to deceive, naively idealistic, always one or two pieces away from the finished article, etcetc.
- utd are worse both because it's difficult to transition away from a manager with a 26 year reign and the team fergie left behind was one of his worst, with virtually all of the best players getting past their primes around the same time (rio, vidic, evra, rvp, perhaps rooney now as well.)
- city have had endless nasty draws in the CL, if they've become chokers it's because of how incessantly the media has labeled them as such imo. i also don't rate mancini at all, his teams never had much balance/purpose and were only successful due to individual quality. i assume they'll come good soon.
- chelsea have been in a transitional phase as well, and their current meltdown is entirely mourinho's doing. i think they're a good enough team for at least a quarter final spot if jose finds his marbles.

then there's the fact that real madrid, barca and bayern have increasingly hogged the best players; a huge amount of english clubs' exits from the CL over the past few years have been at the hands of these teams. can probably add PSG to that mix too soon.

i actually think the premier league mid-table is probably stronger than it used to be a decade ago, for what that's worth, and i like to think one of them might capitalise on the above problems one of these seasons - i hoped southampton were gonna pull it off last season for a while.
 
Exactly, English football is currently experiencing downfall. But it won't, hopefully, last long.

I was shocked with the Newcastle loss yesterday. That referee was an idiot.

That Spurs win though! And Kane scored a hattrick. Finally started scoring. Eriksen is a monster, hopefully he won't be sold to better club during winter/next summer window.
 
twas probably a penalty but a red card was a bit much yeah. i don't think he was getting to the ball ahead of the keeper.

fuck kane btw, why didn't he do this when i had him?