The Official Premier League 2025/26 Thread

[nelly sham]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2010652981264597338

The staple of Own Goal and Gaffs VHS tapes!

One of them had a fella that kicked the ball off his own face too and almost knocked himself out. Imagine waking up to be told you scored an OG.

 

[jimmym]

Let the debate begin

 

[Nollaig O Muracu]

Let the debate begin

Stop trying to wind me up Jimmy, it won't work...



:fucking langer:

 

[Nollaig O Muracu]

Let the debate begin

Jamie carragher better than Desailly and McGrath

What fucking idiot decided that?

You nearly had me an all

 

[Philby]

I was thinking, after Arbeloa's appointment, that you don't tend to see that many full-backs end up as managers - so I did a bit of a deep dive with some AI tools.

The data backs up that view. There's a strong bias towards the key players down the spine of the team - with centre-backs and centre-mids to the fore.

I expect there are a few factors interweaving here

- Central midfielders tend to often be team leaders (even if they aren't necessarily the captain) driving the team forward
- Centre-mids especially need to have a 360 view of the game and be alive to threats & opportunities. If you can thrive there you probably have a strong grasp for tactics & positions
- Full-back was traditionally the lowest status outfield position. It may have attracted more timid characters who wouldn't be seen as managerial material?
- Are attacking mids losing out because of the assumption that they are 'flakey' or reliant on natural ability more than smarts?

Any other factors?

Note: the categorisation below may now be 100% kosher for every player (e.g. Arteta) but I expect it's relatively accurate on an aggregate basis

 

[Nollaig O Muracu]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2011188482786369555

 

[Philby]

Champions (spent half a billion in the summer), vs Champions elect (squad worth 1.3 billion ish) and this is what they produce.

But the EPL has not gone to shit at all

A stalemate in a single game isn't a particularly reliable barometer for the health of a league m8. By all accounts there were some very exciting & high-scoring games the previous night.

Arguably there has never been such a concentration of global talent in any league as there is in the PL right now, due to its relative financial power over all other leagues.

I think Rory Smith has a point here.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2011779031755067675

 

[Gregory_Mike]

Let the debate begin

Carragher definitely shouldn’t be in there, I’d have Woodagte, Radebe in there. John Terry was far better than Van Dijk .

​

 

[nelly sham]

I was thinking, after Arbeloa's appointment, that you don't tend to see that many full-backs end up as managers - so I did a bit of a deep dive with some AI tools.

The data backs up that view. There's a strong bias towards the key players down the spine of the team - with centre-backs and centre-mids to the fore.

I expect there are a few factors interweaving here

- Central midfielders tend to often be team leaders (even if they aren't necessarily the captain) driving the team forward
- Centre-mids especially need to have a 360 view of the game and be alive to threats & opportunities. If you can thrive there you probably have a strong grasp for tactics & positions
- Full-back was traditionally the lowest status outfield position. It may have attracted more timid characters who wouldn't be seen as managerial material?
- Are attacking mids losing out because of the assumption that they are 'flakey' or reliant on natural ability more than smarts?

Any other factors?

Note: the categorisation below may now be 100% kosher for every player (e.g. Arteta) but I expect it's relatively accurate on an aggregate basis

View attachment 47024

Wasn't Malky Mackay a right back?
Oh wait, that was right wing

 

[wat_boy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2011528747300925612