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Premier League 2025/26 Thread
- Thread starter Crazy Jamie
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I love cup games
Bayern almost lost to 3. Liga club, Stuttgart the reigning Pokal champs were nearly knocked out by a 2 Buli club
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It's been this way for a bit now hasn't it?
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For more than a wee bit, aye.
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Looks like Newcastle has their striker.
www.skysports.com
Nick Woltemade transfer news: Newcastle agree club-record £69m deal for Stuttgart forward to increase chances of Alexander Isak exit
Nick Woltemade will travel to the North East on Thursday night ahead of his Newcastle medical on Friday; Magpies have agreed club-record £69m deal to sign Stuttgart forward; Woltemades arrival increases the chances of Alexander Isak leaving Newcastle
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He was clearly reasonably far down the pecking order in terms of transfer targets. I've seen plenty of questions as to whether he can step up to the next level. At the same time, he's a young talent and one that apparently Bayern Munich wanted. I think they've overpaid, but the reality is they've been backed into a corner. Clearly opens the door for Isak to move to Liverpool now though.
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It's not the target they necessarily wanted, but it's one they've had to settle for. At least now they can work towards selling Isak before the deadline closes.
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Yep, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Woltemade actually does in the Premier League. It's a massive opportunity for him as their only out and out striker.
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More VAR controversy as they invent a foul for Chelsea v Fulham before a contentious handball. Whilst I think the handball decision was correct they took a comically long time to give it.
Then United had a couple of decisions go their way, although honestly I agree with VAR on both of them. The offside against Burnley was very narrow but clear:
...whilst the last-minute penalty was a clear pen.
Then United had a couple of decisions go their way, although honestly I agree with VAR on both of them. The offside against Burnley was very narrow but clear:
...whilst the last-minute penalty was a clear pen.
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Might be the worst VAR decision I've ever seen. And that's a high bar. As you say, they literally seemed to invent a foul. I'm not much of a fan of Danny Murphy's analysis, but as he says, they're saying he made a careless challenge (whatever that means) when he didn't actually challenge him at all. It's utterly bizarre.
The problem is clearly that it's good technology that is being used by incompetent people. No VAR decision should take longer than one minute. Two in the most complicated cases. If you need to spend three, four and sometimes six, seven or eight minutes making a decision, there are two obvious points to make. The first is that if it takes you that long, it is not clear and obvious that the original decision is wrong. The second is that if it's more than two minutes, the interruption to the game causes more significant damage than getting the decision "correct". I really think all of this is obvious, but as has always been the case, the people making these decisions and designing these systems for football, more than any other sport I know, are just awful at what they do.
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Yes, a small gesture but hopefully one that carries in to the rest of the season.
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Isak to Liverpool has been agreed upon. The saga is finally over.
www.skysports.com
Alexander Isak transfer news: Liverpool set to sign striker from Newcastle in British-record deal on Deadline Day
Liverpool set to complete Deadline Day move for Newcastle striker Alexander Isak after reaching an agreement that eclipses the £115m Chelsea paid Brighton for Moises Caicedo two summers ago; striker set to undergo medical on Monday morning ahead of signing a six-year deal at Anfield
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I'll admit that even I'm exhausted by this saga, but Newcastle did need to sign a replacement first and were going to wait until after we played each other, so a last minute deal was always more likely. Looks like Guehi is going to get done as well, in which case I can't really imagine being any happier three games in. That defensive performance against Arsenal was really unexpected, and as much as the margins are always going to be fine when you win a game with a goal like that, it gives a lot of optimism for the rest of the season.
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Even without the Isak signing, this has been arguably the best window Liverpool has had. Perhaps a sign of a return to glory?
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Newcastle got their second striker in Wissa. Deal was agreed upon for a fee of £55M.
www.skysports.com
Yoane Wissa transfer news: Newcastle agree £55m deal to sign Brentford forward on Transfer Deadline Day
Yoane Wissa is set to sign for Newcastle after a deal worth up to £55m was agreed with Brentford; Newcastle had multiple offers rejected for Wissa this summer; forward took to Instagram to push for a move to their Premier League rivals; Newcastle also signed striker Nick Woltemade
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I think it's difficult to say that until you've had the benefit of hindsight. We've had been consistently competing for the league and other cups since Klopp's third year, and would have won a few more leagues if not for City being City. Now we've won it again in Slot's first year. If City don't get back to winning ways and Arsenal don't take that next step, we could very well repeat this year and win a few over the next five years. But it's never something I'd actually expect and you take every season as it comes. It's only really after a particular for or so year stretch that you can look back and say we were dominant.
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And just in case rival fans were on the fence about whether to jump, Liverpool strengthen further by completing that expected signing of Marc Guehi that Jamie mentioned.
Meanwhile Chelsea have worked their voodoo magic and managed to swindle even more money out of Bayern for Nicolas Jackson, whilst Spurs pick up PSG's talented but out of favour Randal Kolo Muani on loan and United look set to sign Senne Lammens over Emi Martinez in their desperate quest to pretend that Onana and Bayindir don't exist.
Meanwhile Chelsea have worked their voodoo magic and managed to swindle even more money out of Bayern for Nicolas Jackson, whilst Spurs pick up PSG's talented but out of favour Randal Kolo Muani on loan and United look set to sign Senne Lammens over Emi Martinez in their desperate quest to pretend that Onana and Bayindir don't exist.
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Completely get this view. Obviously it's a long season and it would be very unusual for a team to stay top the whole way from week 3 onwards. All teams will have dips, unusual results, and runs of good form. But can't argue with the impact that this result might have. I think it's overly simplistic to say that Arsenal fall short in the big moments and Liverpool always find a way to win, but those sorts of narratives can seep through into the players over the course of the season. It's not nothing.
I also don't want to make it look like I am being unreasonable pessimistic either. I was bouncing off the walls when that free kick went in yesterday, and I am still buzzing with that energy today. The optimism is real after the nervousness of the first two games. Conversely, I can imagine how gutted Arsenal fans are at this point after two excellent first games. This is a big result.
The Ten Hag thing is funny. I'd need to read more into that. Surely it's not as simple as bad form after that short a time.
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Yes, I think my despair with your first two wins is because we all know importance of those points. I don't think Liverpool will be in those kinds of positions much this season and for the rest of us we need you to follow through and draw (or lose).
I'm not overly disappointed with the result but I think the pundits had some ridiculous takes. Perhaps Arteta's game plan was conservative but it was probably in part influenced by the lack of Saka and Odegaard and only foiled by a moment of unpredictable brilliance, and for all of Liverpool's newly-found defensive solidity they created little themselves (it was the lowest xG aggregate in three years). I don't really think this should add to that narrative because I think there's a difference when there's a moment of magic out of nowhere rather than the last two wins where they were (slightly unfairly to say) more "regular" goals but I understand after those first two games why it has done so.
It's also because Liverpool have had a good transfer window, albeit less good with the news that the Marc Guehi transfer is off. Ekitike has made a strong start and whilst Wirtz and Kerkez have struggled a bit they will come back at their age. If Isak goes through then that's a top tier signing where unlike those other ones you are paying top dollar but for proven PL quality.
I mean, perhaps it all goes wrong? Maybe Liverpool do struggle to fix their defensive issues without strangling their attacking output. Maybe Wirtz and Kerkez never get going. Who knows?
I think from what I've seen he's basically managed to fall out with the executives already.
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Agree with all of this. In the past ten to fifteen years these games at Anfield have been open, and Arsenal have usually been outplayed. That did not happen at the weekend and Liverpool actively slowed the game down to stop Arsenal from taking control of it. That speaks to a positive change, which was also evident in your first two games with a grindy 1-0 and a much more free flowing big win after that. Unfortunately it's the nature of pundits and the news cycle that they draw conclusions from everything when it's too early to do it. The BBC had an initial reaction article after the first week, which included observations that City looked excellent and Chelsea were struggling to score. Both of those were in the bin after week 2.
I think it's easy to understate just how good that free kick was. It was so far out and Raya's positioning was perfect. When you watch it in slow motion his fingers were a couple of inches from it, and it went in off the post. Genuinely one of the best free kicks I have ever seen. An outstanding way to win a game, but also very unusual. If it's half a foot either side it's not a goal and we're talking about Arsenal getting a decent point at Anfield. The margins are so fine.
Liverpool's next three games are Burnley away, Everton at home and Palace away. We unexpectedly lost to Forest away in the fourth game of last season, the derby is unpredictable anyway but Everton genuinely look decent, and Palace away is going to be a tough fixture for everyone this season. You want three wins or two wins a draw out of those three, but if we lose any one of them the narrative suddenly changes again.
At the same time, Arsenal are home to Forest, home to City and away to Newcastle. Again, could be three wins with the way you've started. Could very easily not be. There are so many different variables after the next three games that the narrative will have changed again by then.
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Daniel Levy has been sacked by the Lewis family as Spurs' executive chairman.
I think the reception from their fans is mixed to concerned. As much as Levy has a reputation for prioritising business success above all it seems like his hands are tied given the limited funds that have been put into the club. The new stadium does seemed to have secured their status as a top six club at least in revenue terms.
I think the reception from their fans is mixed to concerned. As much as Levy has a reputation for prioritising business success above all it seems like his hands are tied given the limited funds that have been put into the club. The new stadium does seemed to have secured their status as a top six club at least in revenue terms.