2020/2021 English Premier League

[cam_wmh]

It’d be a win to both shed that whale of a contract, and his head.
Upon expiry of his contract in 2 years, he’ll be 29. I’d be happy with £30m, next summer.

[devo22]

Liverpool and Man United are proposing big changes to the game under the name "Project Big Picture":



very interesting. Have to hand it to them, they've covered a lot of bases ... the EFL will definitely back this, they need the money to survive. The big clubs will probably support it because their influence would further grow, the smaller clubs will probably do too because of the FFP proposals and the expanded loan opportunities. Fans will like it because finally something is done for away fans, the women's league will like it as well ... really, there's something for everyone in there. Scrapping the Caribou Cup is big, too.

This will naturally cause a lot of backlash and discussion, which is good. These discussions need to happen.

[Matty81]

What a ####ing embarrassment any British person supports the Americans in their power grab. I am praying that the other clubs vote this down. The efl money is basically a bribe to support their power grab

The part that is the worst is how they want the cabal of 9 clubs (based on history?l to hold all power over premier league voting with a 6 club majority. 6 clubs control English football completely including rule changes from now on.

I dont even mind the efl cup and charity shield being dropped, but any efforts for the glazers and fenway to grab more power over the epl, man they should be very very wary of that.

Its unsurpring that Americans with their ridiculous sports leagues that reward mediocrity and focus on protecting owner investment would do something like this though

The idea that the 9 of them (including west ham lol but somehow not Newcastle or villa?) deserve such special status is infuriating.

I'll be cheering for 2 or 3 of the teams in that group to get relegated this year. Let's see them make their "special status argument" from the championship. #### off.

[devo22]

well that idea with the 9 clubs will never go through anyway, and thank god for that.

there's solid ideas in there, just have to weed out the dodgy ones (and that one with the 9 clubs is by far the dodgiest of them).

[Senator Clay Davis]

This is really about two things: ensuring there can't be another Man City/Chelsea buying their way to the top (because more teams with a chance to win is a bad thing for whatever reason), and the precursor to a European Super League where the big 6 can just leave because they have the power to do so. There are good ideas, but those good ideas are the bait to ensure the bad ideas happen. Take the bad ideas out and they clubs pushing for the good ideas will drop those ideas immediately. A Super League is inevitable though, so I wish they would just skip right to it and be done with it.

[Matty81]

The whole point by the glazers and fenway on their end is to seize the covid bailout opportunity and feather their nest even more.

I am so glad to see the epl come out against it today. These kind of entitled people with their anti competitive mentality are just trying to find a way to maximize and protect their own clubs profits.

Once they have power in the group of 6, 10 years we'll end up with 18 teams and 1 relegation after some kind of weighted playoff. How can we reduce the odds we will ever go down they are thinking. After that some kind of scheme to control talent and choke out the other clubs. Probably wouldn't dare call it a draft, but will entrench their academy category one scheme more deeply.

Its amazing how those glazer hucksters with their greasy leveraged takeover have the face to try and now grab the reins of power over the whole system.

[The Big Chill]

Games like this make me question the usefulness of VAR. Or at least the usefulness of those running it.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Liverpool have every right to feel aggrieved after that match.

[d_phaneuf]

Just put VAR into a giant cannon and fire it off into the sun please

[Slava]

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

Games like this make me question the usefulness of VAR. Or at least the usefulness of those running it.

I’m not quite as big a Liverpool fan as you or Locke, but that’s just utterly pointless. It’s honestly just ruining the game. The offsides are just dumb and I think the technology is entirely applied incorrectly.

Anyway...best result that others could hope for.

[The Big Chill]

The worst part is that VAR can rule out the goal and penalty to Liverpool, but can’t give Pickford a red for his leg breaking tackle that takes out Van Dijk.

[Senator Clay Davis]

The Van Dijk one is bizarre as if somehow him being "offside" means you're allowed to injure him. Maybe not a penalty, but surely still a red.

[devo22]

it's not VAR, it's the refs.

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by devo22

it's not VAR, it's the refs.

Agreed. There is still too much subjectivity involved for offsides to be called as tight as they are. On the Van Dijk offside the line looks like it gets drawn half way down his arm.

Edit: Mane’s offside line is also drawn from his elbow, not a part he can score with.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

The Van Dijk one is bizarre as if somehow him being "offside" means you're allowed to injure him. Maybe not a penalty, but surely still a red.

yeah I don't get it. So if the ref has blown the whistle, we can now take out opposing players with leg-breaking tackles without consequences? Cool.

[Senator Clay Davis]

And it's all too bad because that was a thrilling game and that's what we should be talking about, instead it's about how we have no idea what to expect game to game, hell even half to half, from the refs and VAR.

[Slava]

While I totally agree with the VAR issues and obviously think something should be done. It’s interesting that it took a robbery against Liverpool to hear anything in most of the media. This garbage has cost a lot of other teams valuable points and big games over the past couple of years. Through that time, the pundits and media have basically said nothing.

I’m not talking about this board, to be clear. But they’ve absolutely robbed teams of goals by drawing the line down past a players elbow or finding them offside by a millimeter when it’s not entirely clear that the ball was passed at that point. It’s laughable. Liverpool has definitely benefited from some of this, so my sympathies for them are limited at best (a certain handball 25 seconds into a CL final is far more egregious than this). But regardless of my loyalties, it’s frustrating that it takes Liverpool to get the short end in order for a lot of pundits to actually say anything.

[devo22]

well that's just not true. For example, those bad handball calls during the last weeks got a lot of attention and criticism in the media.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by devo22

well that's just not true. For example, those bad handball calls during the last weeks got a lot of attention and criticism in the media.

Yeah I guess I'm thinking more of the offsides. Teams like Sheffield United were pretty blatantly robbed (against Spurs for example) and the pundits basically gave it a pass. "Well, offside is offside and that's what the camera shows" kind of thing. It was accepted, despite the same issues we saw this morning.

[devo22]

well I'd guess that those offside incidents are not nearly as common as other VAR/ref errors. In theory, it really is kind of cut and dried ... you draw a line and that's it, there really isn't as much room for errors and interpretation as in other areas. Off the top of my head, I really can't think of any blatant offside errors, but I remember several foul and handball errors that VAR got wrong. Might just be me, but I feel those offside mistakes are few and far between.