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EPL 18/19 - New Season Begins

kdash

By kdash,
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after this game, even with some of his stars like hazard back, i think Sarri will be under no illusion of the size of the task before him. he will likely not be getting any further reinforcements in the market by 9 Aug and will face an anxious wait until end-Aug to confirm whether all his stars will be staying put. not an easy or comfortable position at all.

 

Jorginho looks off the pace and repeatedly surrendered possession. It will be some time before he acclimatize to the EPL. Morata again shown his issue and Sarri can hardly depend on him for a season long campiagn.

 

overall, Sarri's tactics is clear to see with a 4-3-3 and high press. However, he may not have the players yet to play according to his style. in the central defence, he also has a major liability in David Luiz who can't play in a 2 CB setup. That's another headache. I suspect it wont be until about 8-10 games into the season before his setup will start to work.

 

City, on the other hand, missing a similar number of WC stars in this game, looks so comfortable on the ball and also defensively pressing Chelsea high. They are clear favourites for the title for sure.

Ya agreed on Sarri maybe not having the players to suit his style of play but then again they can be coached if they are versatile enough but trouble is not all players are flexible.

 

Luiz definitely not comfortable in a 2 CB set up as he’s better as a sweeper. Maybe Zouma, Cahill or Christensen can replace him but like all modern coaches, Sarri likes ball playing CBs which the former 2 mentioned are not known to be.

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Fooblack

Fooblack

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Ya agreed on Sarri maybe not having the players to suit his style of play but then again they can be coached if they are versatile enough but trouble is not all players are flexible.

 

Luiz definitely not comfortable in a 2 CB set up as he’s better as a sweeper. Maybe Zouma, Cahill or Christensen can replace him but like all modern coaches, Sarri likes ball playing CBs which the former 2 mentioned are not known to be.

 

agreed that Sarri is also known to be a "coach" manager.  The issue is that Chelsea is not a patient club with so many managerial changes in recent history.  that's the pressure Sarri will be under. 

 

Luiz is comfortable on the ball but lacks overall tactical sense. That makes him a bit of liability in an area on the pitch whereby his weakness can be easily exposed. Is he able to improve? at his age, you wouldn't bet on him making a significant improvement anytime soon.  

 

Constrast to John Stones at City. He's also a ball playing defender. Under Pep, he has improved in terms of his tactical positioning in the 2nd season with Pep.  1st season - Stones was all over the shop.  But, as he is young and with Pep being able to find time to groom him, he has blossomed to be one of the best CB in the EPL. City let in only 27 goals in the EPL last season 

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Atrecord

Atrecord

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If factor in luck, Liverpool would have finished 2nd and Utd finished 4th last season...

 

I hope this year the luck will make up for what happened last year...

 

http://global.espn.com/football/english-premier-league/story/3582725/manchester-united-and-liverpool-finishes-flipped-in-2017-18-premier-league-table-adjusted-for-luck

 

Manchester United were the luckiest team while Liverpool were the unluckiest in the whole Premier League last season, to the point where their table positions would have been flipped if not for luck, results of a research project show.

The Luck Index, designed and conducted by ESPN, Intel and the University of Bath, used a sophisticated predictive model and crunched hundreds of data points to discover how the 2017-18 Premier League table would look if adjusted for luck.

The study found that Manchester United (+0.25 lucky), who finished second behind champions Manchester City last year, would have finished with six fewer points on the season and landed in fourth place behind Liverpool and Tottenham.

United were deemed lucky to beat Swansea on Aug. 19 and Brighton on Nov. 25, and to salvage a point at Liverpool on Oct. 14.

Conversely, the Luck Index showed Liverpool (-0.73 unlucky) would have earned a league-high 12 more points, moving them ahead of third-place Tottenham (whose total stayed the same) and United.

 

 

 

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http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11670/11463977/stan-kroenke-bids-to-buy-arsenal-outright

Stan Kroenke bids to buy Arsenal outright

 

good or bad new?? for arsenal fans

I’m sitting on the fence for this one. He is not the worst owner but there r better ones for sure. Trouble is, if a new owner comes along, he may not necessarily be better for Arsenal. So it’s a case of better the known factor than the unknown?

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http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11670/11463977/stan-kroenke-bids-to-buy-arsenal-outright

Stan Kroenke bids to buy Arsenal outright

 

good or bad new?? for arsenal fans

Arsenal fans it seems are against this purchase as it means supporters n the public can no longer own Arsenal shares n the purchase was “forced” upon the minority shareholders once Usmanov decided to sell.

 

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/stan-kroenkes-takeover-bid-marks-13042971

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Beregond

Beregond

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Arsenal fans it seems are against this purchase as it means supporters n the public can no longer own Arsenal shares n the purchase was “forced” upon the minority shareholders once Usmanov decided to sell.

 

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/stan-kroenkes-takeover-bid-marks-13042971

99% confirm liao.

 

arsenal becoming private. [;)]

 

https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/football-us-billionaire-gets-full-control-of-arsenal-buying-out-russian-rival?xtor=CS1-10

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Maxus-MIFA9

Maxus-MIFA9

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With American as boss ............. :slow:

 

First class miser  ... :a-m1524:

 

 

Look at FSG at Pool, took him several years before he released some money to the team for good players ... :that-dood-is-up-to-something:

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With American as boss ............. :slow:

 

First class miser ... :a-m1524:

 

 

Look at FSG at Pool, took him several years before he released some money to the team for good players ... :that-dood-is-up-to-something:

I also had the same impressions on Americans at first but to be fair, FSG put their money where their mouth is n came out with £ when it mattered n also on the stadium rebuilding so can’t fault them on that.

 

I’m always apprehensive of businessmen taking over football clubs cos their primary objective is normally profit first n not silverware. Ashley being the prime example n maybe even Kroenke but glad to say there r owners who do seem to value football objectives highly n long may that continue!

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kdash

kdash

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Premier League Top 4 predictions by Pundits from BBC.

 

M City is a hot favorite as 24 of them predicted Man City to win the league, follow by Liverpool finishing 2nd. Man United will end up 3rd or 4th.

 

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/24-bbc-sport-pundits-cast-13050687

i dont foresee City being beaten by anyone. Pool reinforced their team so should challenge for the title too. 3rd and 4th will be up for grabs.
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i dont foresee City being beaten by anyone. Pool reinforced their team so should challenge for the title too. 3rd and 4th will be up for grabs.

Do u know the last EPL back to back winner with a WC in between was Liverpool in 1982-1983? Even Man United at their prime in the 90s n 2000s failed to do this.

 

The point here is that it is difficult to win back to back titles in itself, coupled with a WC in between with so many players away n coming back late for pre-season means the Champs often start off on the backfoot n have lots of catching up to do on their rivals who have less players away like eg Arsenal.

 

Maybe this season will be different we shall see.

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kdash

kdash

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Surprisingly bookies make Chelsea 4th favourite over Spurs in 5th, strange to say the least.

Chelsea's managerial and player changes have the potential to improve their performances, as compared to Spurs who have not made major changes to the squad.
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kdash

kdash

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with the close of the transfer window, its time to look forward to the start of the season! 1st game tonight!

 

post-195148-0-12380700-1533862156_thumb.jpg

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