GWT: EPL - Matchweek 38

[robertmac43]

Darn. I remember being annoyed when Arsenal let 10-men Fulham draw level back in August. So many what if moments from the early part of the season.

I guess you really do got be perfect to take on this City team over 38 games.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

Sheffield only had two corners today but I loved seeing Dragusin absolutely bodying any opponents who tried to do to Vicario what Ben White did.

Clean sheet to end the year, been a while

 

[trostol]

Anyone that thinks that was cringe needs a hug

from Klopp? i want a hug from Klopp

 

[Savant]

I know I am right but not just with hindsight, it was even awful that day and I was very adament back then also although Arsenal supporters were 'celebrating' that result.

I remember being hopeful that day to see Arsenal the challenger beat the champion at their own yard. Man City just cameback from an horrible game versus LFC which they should have lost if not for VAR not doing their job properly or even Luis Diaz not missing on a break away chance but anyway the point was Man City showed they were very vulnerable defensively. From Arsenal POV, they were stream rolling in the EPL, winning everything by huge margin with all the positive plays and ambition you want from a top side and then they went to the Etihad with a prime Mourinho tactic with every players parked in the box and playing counter football. Showing no ambition and being hopeful to catch City off guard and snatch a win. And then the ridiculous... they were praised for their approach by the fans and some media and how they got a point and were now being hopeful to beat Man City by not beating them but hope some other EPL team will do that dirty job instead of them.

If not LFC, I wanted Arsenal to win the title but after that disgusting game I wanted Man City to win. I was shocked by the lack of ambition from Arteta and Arsenal which had the best team in the league and could have won the league that day.

Edit: I would also add that even if Arsenal had tied that game by outplaying Man City in an offensive football affair it would have been more honorable, they would have shown the right mentality to challenge them. And If (worst case scenario for them) Arsenal had lost, they would have made it more clear for them to focus more on the upcoming CL games and might have won it too. At least on paper and from what I have seen, Arsenal had very good chance to win against City that day and it would have sent a message to the whole league that they are the best team in the EPL and today they would celebrate that title win.

Rodri agrees with you

 

[Rob]

Rodri agrees with you

And if they got a result against Aston Villa it would have been irrelevant.

 

[Savant]

And if they got a result against Aston Villa it would have been irrelevant.

But they didn’t. If the plan was “let’s 0-0 City because we will be perfect the rest of the way” the plan failed.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

And if they got a result against Aston Villa it would have been irrelevant.

Doesn't matter. Rodri coming out with a statement like that on Arsenal is pretty damning TBH and I'm not even saying this to troll at all. He's not even being a dick while calling them out. You can tell he genuinely believes it. Play to win every time.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

But they didn’t. If the plan was “let’s 0-0 City because we will be perfect the rest of the way” the plan failed.

Exactly they keep deflecting about other results. If we would have won x or y other games we would be champion. Every single clubs have these moment or games they should have won, that apply also for City or LFC or Arsenal. They don't get the point by playing safe. Arsenal put all their eggs in the same basket and hoped to out pace Man City for the title with a harder schedule to booth, as I have said LFC have been there and tried many times against City and they failed every single time by a single point, Man City are machine they win their games when they have to, do not try that. Arsenal had the opportunity to put the dagger to their heart with a win at the Etihad and they were coward. They got the title loss but I hope they learned from it and go after every single team next season. That's what LFC did in 2020, they dominated every single games until they were clearly out of reach. If it was a final I would say the opposite though, you simply need one result and the manner is not important, but it was not a final, they left Man City with a lifeline that day.

I also called out LFC weak mentality many times in key games this season but the ones that stood out more were both games against Man United at Old Trafford, they were dominant and should have won easily but they kept them off the hook and instead of playing a very smart and practical game by limiting errors especially in midfield they kept giving them huge chances by forcing passes which United used to score on the counter and LFC came out short both times.

 

[Power Man]

Rodri agrees with you

That mentality worked in the 2nd leg of the CL semi final
Rpdri is such a c’own holy shit

 

[maclean]

Downside: Cheaters win another title. Hope they get thrown out of the Football League

Upside: Sweet, sweet Arsenal fan tears

I ain't crying. Was fairly expected. We're trending upwards, that's what I see. It's early days, our players are young, you don't become a title-winner overnight. We're not there yet, I'm not ashamed of that. You get some more experience, grow wiser as a team, add another couple pieces and go at it again. I do wish Pep would just leave though

 

[maclean]

Strasbourg hasn't been owned by locals since the early 90s. Outside of Germany, most football clubs are no longer owned or controlled by fans or locals. Being owned by a club from another league that just wants to use you for their benefit is definitely worse than being owned by some foreign billionaire who just wants you for prestige, for sure.

I will say this. My local side with local owners can never have any good players because any time any of our players start to shine, one of the bigger teams snaps them up, even if they then end up sitting on the bench most of the time. Indeed, one of the only ways we get half-decent players is renting bench-level players from the bigger teams. Do I want a big international team or rich foreign owner to come buy us to help with that? I mean, not particularly, but there could definitely be an upside to it. The point though is more that small, independent clubs will never actually be fully "independent" in a world that is solely dictated by capital, so making that distinction and calling it the death knell of football seems strange to me, though there are definitely cases where the practices can and should be called into question.

 

[maclean]

Last point, having caught up on the thread - It's football. Fans of all teams are insufferable. The whole culture is toxic and honestly despicable. But here we all are. It is what it is. <3

 

[AlanHUK]

Now they've 'made history' and this season is complete

Under the assumption the 115 charges levied against City are evenly spread across the years they occured, If they were treated like Everton or Forest, a base of -3pts per charge being applied the following season, their highest finish would be 3rd, they'd have qualified for the ECL 4 times, and lost somewhere in the region of £300m in prize money/ECL qualification money, likely causing more PSR breaches.

There'd still be another 6 charges somewhere in there as well due to the number of charges not dividing equally over the seasons they occurred in.

------

On Chelsea, they've sold hotels to themselves to try and avoid a PSR breach, which they were supposed to get approval to do before adding it to the accounts, which with what's known publicly they haven't done.

Will be interesting to see how the league handles it, especailly since they removed £31m of deductions from Forest's accounts (which the EFL had previously approved) on June 2nd and expected them to make that up before June 30th.

 

[robertmac43]

Pep alluding to leaving at the end of next season. Maybe he needs to get out before those charges are brought down on City...

^ Sarcasm above, i don't actually think City is getting charged...

 

[spintheblackcircle]

Play to win every time.

"'oi, you don't understand rivalries. mate!" says every 60+ year old who has never left England

 

[luiginb]

I will say this. My local side with local owners can never have any good players because any time any of our players start to shine, one of the bigger teams snaps them up, even if they then end up sitting on the bench most of the time. Indeed, one of the only ways we get half-decent players is renting bench-level players from the bigger teams. Do I want a big international team or rich foreign owner to come buy us to help with that? I mean, not particularly, but there could definitely be an upside to it. The point though is more that small, independent clubs will never actually be fully "independent" in a world that is solely dictated by capital, so making that distinction and calling it the death knell of football seems strange to me, though there are definitely cases where the practices can and should be called into question.

Hang in there. My local team existed since 1920, never was higher than 4th, got bankrupt in the early 2010s, started again in the 4th league, than last year finally won the league with only the fourth largest budget, and we keep being sellers but for once the planets aligned. That just means so much more than all titles money can buy.

 

[maclean]

Hang in there. My local team existed since 1920, never was higher than 4th, got bankrupt in the early 2010s, started again in the 4th league, than last year finally won the league with only the fourth largest budget, and we keep being sellers but for once the planets aligned. That just means so much more than all titles money can buy.

We're 1905 and we will always have the 1982/83 title season to look back on, and the immortal fame of Panenka. Last year we even managed to make it to Europe for the first time in 36 years, but this year it was back to fighting to stay off the bottom end of the table. Also went bankrupt in 2005 and the fans made a collection and bought a 3rd league licence to work their way back up. I don't think there's another title waiting for us as even the 4th largest budget is a pipe dream for us. Our stadium's also falling apart, but it doesn't matter because we have the best fans in the country

 

[bluesfan94]

And if they got a result against Aston Villa it would have been irrelevant.

Liverpool love talking about how Arsenal should have played at the Etihad but there’s one problem

Doesn't matter. Rodri coming out with a statement like that on Arsenal is pretty damning TBH and I'm not even saying this to troll at all. He's not even being a dick while calling them out. You can tell he genuinely believes it. Play to win every time.

City went 0-1-2 against Arsenal this season with Arsenal winning silverware. I don’t think the mentality was the problem.

But they didn’t. If the plan was “let’s 0-0 City because we will be perfect the rest of the way” the plan failed.

And if they had lost against city, otherwise being perfect would have failed, too. It kept it in Arsenal’s control. They just happened to drop points elsewhere in 2024. In one other game. At least they didn’t choke away an actual lead in the title race like Liverpool did.

 

[Savant]

Liverpool love talking about how Arsenal should have played at the Etihad but there’s one problem

i don’t see the problem. If anything we’re trying to give you (for lack of a better word/maybe the wrong word) advice to go there and try. Instead we watched you make the same mistake that we did. But again at least we’ve won their in UCL, and we did win a PL against Pep, so I wouldn’t exactly say we are unqualified to say “hey maybe think you should have done that” . Also - who is this team with the great record at the Ettihad in general here?

City went 0-1-2 against Arsenal this season with Arsenal winning silverware. I don’t think the mentality was the problem.

And if they had lost against city, otherwise being perfect would have failed, too. It kept it in Arsenal’s control. They just happened to drop points elsewhere in 2024. In one other game. At least they didn’t choke away an actual lead in the title race like Liverpool did.

Counting on City to drop points is never a good strategy, plain and simple. Arteta of all people should have known that.

That mentality worked in the 2nd leg of the CL semi final
Rpdri is such a c’own holy shit

He isn’t wrong though. You can take a second 2nd of a UCL final to penalties. Can’t do that in the league

 

[JPBolts]

Why did VAR send him to the monitor?

Absolutely never a handball when it's not the goal scorer

The interesting comparison is from last week where Bournemouth had a goal disallowed for the same type of thing.

 

[Jussi]

Pep alluding to leaving at the end of next season. Maybe he needs to get out before those charges are brought down on City...

^ Sarcasm above, i don't actually think City is getting charged...

They already are, hence the nickname "115 charges". Now what sentence they will get, that is the question mark.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I will say this. My local side with local owners can never have any good players because any time any of our players start to shine, one of the bigger teams snaps them up, even if they then end up sitting on the bench most of the time. Indeed, one of the only ways we get half-decent players is renting bench-level players from the bigger teams. Do I want a big international team or rich foreign owner to come buy us to help with that? I mean, not particularly, but there could definitely be an upside to it. The point though is more that small, independent clubs will never actually be fully "independent" in a world that is solely dictated by capital, so making that distinction and calling it the death knell of football seems strange to me, though there are definitely cases where the practices can and should be called into question.

There is a world of difference between a foreign owner and a foreign club owning you. They're not remotely the same thing and Strasbourg fans are acutely feeling the difference today. They just watched their former club toss every experienced guy out the door to please Chelsea.

And I just want to repeat, I insist that I don't think this means any fans should stop cheering for their team. I'm just saying - don't be a hypocrite. It's a bad look.

 

[bluesfan94]

Counting on City to drop points is never a good strategy, plain and simple. Arteta of all people should have known that.

They weren’t until they lost to Villa. Which was, you know, after the city game and gave the league to Liverpool who went on to choke. But I guess everyone is so used to Liverpool choking when it matters against city it’s not noteworthy anymore

 

[Savant]

They weren’t until they lost to Villa. Which was, you know, after the city game and gave the league to Liverpool who went on to choke. But I guess everyone is so used to Liverpool choking when it matters against city it’s not noteworthy anymore

I think we have different definitions of that word. Get your trophy count up and then we can talk about what choking means.

I think it’s really funny that the argument is basically we aren’t good enough to have choked. Which I don’t know how is better, but maybe that’s just me. Arsenal should have played for a win against City. LFC should have signed three players in January. Shit happens

 

[hatterson]

Arsenal choked by drawing City (away) on March 31st, but Liverpool did not choke by drawing United on April 7th (or drawing City at home on March 10th)

Arsenal choked by losing to Villa on April 14th, but Liverpool, who were level with Arsenal at the time with equal games played, did not choke by losing to Palace.

Checks out.