Way too early prediction for the next campaign: City will get complacent after winning this year's Champions League, just as Liverpool did this season after finally winning the Premier League last season. Boosted by VVD's return from injury, Liverpool will battle United for the crown, with Solskjær's men restoring pride at Old Trafford in the final weeks of the season. City finishes third, and Chelsea outmuscles Leicester again for fourth. Arsenal finish above Tottenham due to Harry Kane's departure.

Wishful thinking: Erling Haaland wins the Golden Boot at City, and City lift back-to-back Champions League trophies.

What are your picks for next season's top four?

5/23/2021 7:19:09 PM

Honestly the only club outside top 4 that worries me is Arsenal they have some young talent and could spend a little bit and no European football means they will focus on league.

I think it will be a slugfest between Chelsea, City and United. Not sure VVD will be same player when he comes back from injury so unless they upgrade their defense Liverpool will be battling for fourth again.

Will be interesting to see where Kane, Haaland, Sancho, and Lewandowski go. Honestly if Kane goes to City they could be unstoppable.

5/24/2021 8:49:46 AM

Liverpool finished ahead of Chelsea and 5 points behind United so I'm not sure why they would be a class below with healthy players.

The big question will be can/will Liverpool, and maybe United, spend to keep up with the oligarchs this summer after the losses of the last 1.5 years.



Also I was going to make a competing thread bc I'm tired of seeing that username on a State message board, but I'm not feeling confrontational enough today

[Edited on May 24, 2021 at 11:07 AM. Reason : E]

5/24/2021 11:05:25 AM

Anyone watching the Euros? It would be a massive story if Denmark could pull off a repeat of 1992 and go all the way. I know that would bring a smile to Christian Eriksen's face. Looking forward to Portugal vs. Belgium, Spain vs. Croatia, and England vs. Germany.

6/26/2021 11:08:29 PM

Denmark played Wales. Dont get excited yet

6/27/2021 9:06:16 AM

Ouch at that Spain own goal

Also ouch at original post

6/28/2021 12:26:26 PM

^revised prediction: City wins the quadruple this season and Pep is elected mayor of Manchester haha

France vs. Switzerland far exceeded my expectations. Pogba produced a stunning goal. The last Swiss goal was beautifully worked. Never would have bet on Mbappe being the only penalty taker in the shootout to miss.

6/28/2021 9:33:06 PM

Blech united got sancho

6/30/2021 7:36:12 PM

^^I knew Mbappe would be the only one not to score. His whole tournament he looked off don't know if it was arrogance, fatigue, or thoughts about his club future.

With Belgium's injuries I think it will be England-Italy in finals

Sancho to United is not really a surprise but it will unfortunately help City financially.

7/1/2021 9:12:16 AM

^Realistically that final is what I would expect too, but I'm hoping Spain pulls a win. Although Italy has been playing well, their last 15 mins against Belgium was some of the worst shithousery I've ever seen.

7/6/2021 11:25:08 AM

That was a weak fucking penalty

7/7/2021 5:18:25 PM

^Surely you mean the penalty call was weak?

I agree it shouldn't have been a penalty and I hate to see Denmark go home in such a fashion. At the end of the day though, Denmark was outplayed. Not that it justifies it, but England has definitely had their fair share of bad calls made against them over the years so it is about time one went for them.

[Edited on July 7, 2021 at 7:48 PM. Reason : ]

7/7/2021 7:47:15 PM

^yes, of course the penalty kick itself was pretty bad also

7/7/2021 9:50:37 PM

England dominated the game except for about a 25 minute span in first half.

England were due for some luck and benefit of questionable calls

Hand of God
Simeone getting Beckham sent off
Ronaldo getting Rooney sent off
Lampard's goal not given against Germany

7/8/2021 9:07:16 AM

Choke

7/11/2021 6:07:43 PM

^ As is tradition

I love the irony of this loss, given how the narrative was that this was the "least racist England team ever," but then they go and fucking lose to racist-ass Italy, but Italy still isn't as racist as Brexit

7/11/2021 6:11:57 PM

Good to see Mancini is still taking the piss in England. To be fair, both managers and teams performed magnificently in this tournament.

7/11/2021 6:15:17 PM

I hope United use Sancho the same way as Southgate. A soaring talent and he can't see the field til 1` left

Quote :

"Pretty boring to point this out now, but using Bukayo Saka, a great prospect and pretty good player, instead of Jadon Sancho, the most productive attacking player in the world other than Messi, Lewandowski, and Mbappe, is baffling."

7/11/2021 6:31:43 PM

I don't follow futbol much outside the major tournaments... and Pickford had a great tournament, but does he always come across as such a whiney turd?

7/12/2021 2:15:42 PM

I don't know exactly what you mean in this case but yes

7/12/2021 3:22:49 PM

All soccer players are whiny turds, so yes.

7/12/2021 3:51:11 PM

I just mean that the entire tournament he seemed to constantly be screaming and bitching at his teamates, in an extremely whiney way.

And hey, look, Justin has to share his opinions. Thanks for sharing your opinions Justin. We all enjoy listening to you whine about everything, turd.

[Edited on July 12, 2021 at 4:09 PM. Reason : ]

7/12/2021 4:08:12 PM

Pickford was rightfully angry in the final, he made some amazing saves that he shouldn't have had to. He was amazing the entire tournament. Saving two on-target penalties was impressive.

Feel bad for Saka though. Poor kid is 19 years old, never has taken a penalty outside of training in his life and suddenly Southgate has him taking the most important penalty for his country in decades. That is going to haunt him for the rest of his life. Too much pressure for such a young player. Should have been an older player with some experience.

Don't know what Southgate was thinking holding on to his subs like that. Of course hindsight is 20/20, but should have put Graelish and Henderson at the second half and Rashford and Sancho in after extra time. I feel bad for Rashford and Sancho too, they had a whole 1 minute to warmup and didn't even touch the ball prior to their penalties.

[Edited on July 12, 2021 at 7:01 PM. Reason : ]

7/12/2021 7:00:54 PM

^Agree on everything but Rashford.

He got the Keeper to go wrong way but he tried to be too cute. Maybe part of that was not being mentally in the game, but he has taken pressure PK's and buried them.

To be honest this loss is squarely on Southgate. He didn't use subs correctly (tbf he didn't have to until Semi's). He played way too defensive in 2nd half and was punished for it. Grealish should have probably come on sooner and taking Rice out instead of Mount or Phillips was the wrong move. While Luke Shaw was great he looked spent at the end of normal time, but Chillwell wasn't in subs bench.

I think Saka and Rashford should have been swapped as Rashford has more experience.

7/13/2021 8:44:39 AM

Quote :

"he tried to be too cute. Maybe part of that was not being mentally"

Or maybe he just missed. Sometimes players just miss. Its not like he would it 8ft wide, it hit the post.

[Edited on July 13, 2021 at 12:31 PM. Reason : Flip side: I don't think he's taken a penalty with anywhere near that much pressure ]

7/13/2021 12:13:54 PM

Quote :

"Thanks for sharing your opinions Justin. We all enjoy listening to you whine about everything, turd."

No problem, buddy

7/13/2021 3:33:29 PM

So who had Gylfi Sigurdsson diddling little boys on their 2021 Bingo Card?

7/20/2021 8:03:00 AM

I wouldn't mind doing battle on FIFA with this starting 11. Kane is a decent replacement for Aguero assuming Haaland is off limits.

8/5/2021 5:07:35 PM

Looks like Lukaku to Chelsea confirmed

8/7/2021 1:30:30 PM

Messi can pad his goal scoring and assist totals in a Mickey Mouse league. Impressive

[Edited on August 8, 2021 at 5:32 PM. Reason : sour grapes]

8/8/2021 5:32:06 PM

8/8/2021 6:44:05 PM

Lmao you thought messi was coming to city?? Foh

8/8/2021 6:44:50 PM

City was supposedly his most likely move last summer. We haven't been in the conversation this time around.

8/8/2021 7:33:41 PM

^That's because City, Chelsea and PSG were the only clubs willing to spend Money last year with the pandemic.

The question now is how much City will pay for Harry Kane, after the Community Shield loss and the CL Final where they failed to score in both, supporters are probably wanting to see a goal scoring CF/Striker signed.

8/9/2021 1:29:47 PM

More importantly, how will Liverpool recover after winning zero trophies last season and barely qualifying for the Champions League?

I admit that Jesus can't match Aguero's talent. But he didn't even play at Wembley, and the team on the field was hardly City's best squad. Leicester's lineup was much closer to full strength.

8/10/2021 3:22:03 PM

Liverpool spent most of the season with replacement level defenders and finished. I'm not real confident that Liverpool will contend for the PL title but I'm extremely confident* that they will be top 4. Liverpool brings back a team that walked the league when healthy. Unfortunately the other rich teams spent gobs of money to get better. I think the split bw top 4 and everyone else will be very stark this year.



*knock on wood assuming the injury issues we had last year don't repeat.

8/10/2021 4:29:10 PM

^this exactly.

Robbo doesnt look good but we also were in first for a while with our full team fit. Im not concerned.

8/11/2021 8:32:52 AM

First arsenLOL comes early

8/13/2021 3:29:54 PM

Expect a lot of it. Everything about Arsenal is a goddamn mess.

Need about 7 new players, a new owner, new director of football, new manager, and a new coaching staff.

8/13/2021 7:20:27 PM

feels so good to be back.

8/14/2021 11:38:52 AM

Mo Salah just might have a future in this league

8/14/2021 5:46:04 PM

Whoops

8/15/2021 1:22:38 PM

Lol

Quote :

"City at the new Tottenham stadium: 2018/19 CL: Spurs 1 City 0: 13-10 on shots 2019/20: Spurs 2 City 0: 3-19 2020/21: Spurs 2 City 0: 4-22 2021/22: Spurs 1 City 0: 13-18 Aggregate: Spurs 6-0 City, 33-69 on shots "

8/15/2021 1:57:24 PM

Fun facts:

4,921 days since Spurs last won something
1,544 days since Manure last won something
416 days since Liverpool last won something

[Edited on August 15, 2021 at 6:34 PM. Reason : silverware]

8/15/2021 6:24:14 PM

When the best shit you can talk is "oh you haven't won since the previous season" you are bad at talking shit

[Edited on August 15, 2021 at 6:54 PM. Reason : Also, lol, he says "silverware" vs Manu and Liverpool? ]

8/15/2021 6:52:59 PM

Lollllllllllllll

8/16/2021 7:58:09 AM

^^^Citeh need a offensive holdup CF with the style they play otherwise Sterling and Grealish are neutered.

Observations of Match Week 1
-City can't score but still good defensively (3rd straight 1-0 defeat all away from home)
-United looked entertaining but it was against a Leeds squad that overachieved last season
-Chelsea and Liverpool cruised to easy wins.
-Chalobah is having a fairy tale start to season and pushing Kurt Zouma out the door.
-VVD and Matip being healthy will make Liverpool contenders again
-Mikel Arteta will not make it out of August as manager of Arsenal
-Great hearing fans in stands again it makes broadcasts and games more entertaining
-VAR improvements so far have looked good and games are flowing again.

[Edited on August 16, 2021 at 8:10 AM. Reason : ^]

8/16/2021 8:10:21 AM

Quote :

"-VVD and Matip being healthy will make Liverpool contenders again"

Matip just doesnt have the fitness to keep up. Gomez and Konate will be great fill ins though. Really excited about this season.

Also Jota is going to be a legend before its all said and done.

8/16/2021 10:33:42 AM

Quote :

"Mikel Arteta will not make it out of August as manager of Arsenal"

The incompetence of technical director Edu will keep him there a bit longer, imo.

They will buy Odegaard and think he will fix the creativity problems.

8/16/2021 1:24:55 PM

^honestly he didn't do much for them last year and now the rumors are they are trying to get rid of Aubemayang and Lacazette.

8/17/2021 8:51:20 AM