The official Premier League 22/23 thread

[doppellanger]

Haaland made Areola look like a right tit there

Haaland is like a force of nature, I'd be surprised if he's not top scorer with 30+ goals.

I saw most of the first half and it's not really fun to watch when It's so one-sided. Did West Ham even have a shot on target?

I might watch the Ruhrpott Derby for the second half.

 

[SoundsAboutRight]

De Bruyne to Haaland should be illegal.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

The league is over.


Just present City the trophy.

 

[Handy Run]

The league is over.


Just present City the trophy.

It'll be over by Christmas. Only it actually will be in case people think I'm getting a sneaky WWI reference in.

 

[dukeroyale]

It'll be over by Christmas. Only it actually will be in case people think I'm getting a sneaky WWI reference in.

might be a few lads coming back dehydrated from the world cup. could make it interesting then

 

[Roundyfield]

City look even better. Their system of possession with the two wide players standing on the line and the inverted fullbacks 3/4 of the way up the field is awesome in its application. Add to that the force of nature that Haaland is up top and it looks bleak for everyone else.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

90+ points will be needed to live with them. Spurs certainly have the firepower. Hojberg and Bissouma is a very decent looking pairing imo. Liverpool’s midfield is very poor.

 

[Shabby]

90+ points will be needed to live with them. Spurs certainly have the firepower. Hojberg and Bissouma is a very decent looking pairing imo. Liverpool’s midfield is very poor.

For a team with a very poor midfield Liverpool have done alright I would say?

There’s plenty of potential in Spurs and Chelsea but hitting 90+ points in a season doesn’t come with just potential. You have to deliver pretty much every week. Neither have shown capability of that until now.

I don’t think anyone will live with City. They just brush past teams so easily most weeks.

 

[Philby]

City look even better. Their system of possession with the two wide players standing on the line and the inverted fullbacks 3/4 of the way up the field is awesome in its application. Add to that the force of nature that Haaland is up top and it looks bleak for everyone else.

It's an interesting positional tweak alright and no doubt it'll yield serious output in the final third.

But if teams are brave & smart there remain ways to get at this system - specifically, with pacey runners in behind the full-backs. The pass timing & execution need to be right and you need to have plenty of final third pace, but I can see a chink of light for the better sides in the PL/CL - especially on Cancelo's side, as he doesn't have Walker's blistering recovery pace.

The problem is City might put a lot of games out of sight early with these final third overloads, and that'll break the will of most PL sides.

If City execute this system well, opposition teams will need their CBs and central midfielders to have 9/10 games to close off the passing lanes sufficient - and then hope they're not too shattered to make some incisive first-time passes into the open spaces in the final third .

 

[Hank Scorpio]

The premier league is just going the way of the Bundesliga with Bayern/City walking it every year.

I didn't bother to watch West Ham day as it was a foregone conclusion imo.