2022/2023 English Premier League

[Locke]

It would give entirely new meaning to the Manchester Derby.

Blue vs. Red

Abu Dhabi vs. Qatar

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by d_phaneuf

Everything I've read has been positive

Article on the athletic talking about how much if a leader of men he is, to a man basically every former player would run through a wall for him, is the most promising

Think a boost in morale is as important as any signing for next year

I hope they give him a long leash too. Give him time to develop a squad

[Locke]

Godspeed you big, beautiful bastard!!

James Milner will join Brighton & Hove Albion as a free agent next month following his successful eight-year spell at Liverpool, the two Premier League clubs announced on Wednesday.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/...ving-liverpool

[cSpooge]

Fubo sent out an email saying EPL matches will be available in 4K next year.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by cSpooge

Fubo sent out an email saying EPL matches will be available in 4K next year.

What year is it??

[d_phaneuf]

Man city really coming through for me this year

https://twitter.com/user/status/1671979528648794131

[Matty81]

Wow. City are getting to the point where I can start to see the EPL turning into La Liga with one or two teams just completely dominating and the product gets a lot less interesting, especially if Newcastle turn into City 2.0. 5 out of the last 6 titles and if they pip Arsenal to Rice, I can't see anyone else coming close to winning again this year

[Winsor_Pilates]

I hate City so much. The league is a joke now, just give them the next 3-4 titles and save us all time and money.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Matty81

Wow. City are getting to the point where I can start to see the EPL turning into La Liga with one or two teams just completely dominating and the product gets a lot less interesting, especially if Newcastle turn into City 2.0. 5 out of the last 6 titles and if they pip Arsenal to Rice, I can't see anyone else coming close to winning again this year

Was it much better when only 4-5 teams had a real shot?

[devo22]

what have I missed? As far as I can see, the reliable sources like Ornstein only said that City would probably make a bid, but that's about it. Nothing set in stone at all.

Might also just be a strategy by West Ham to drum up interest and increase the price. United have been thrown in as well.

[Swift]

Yep and apparently Rice wants to stay close to family in London, so doesn't want a move to Man City.

[Senator Clay Davis]

And where does he even fit? Maybe if they didn't just get Kovacic, or if they are dumping Phillips, I could Rice making some sense. But otherwise this just feels like West Ham trying to drive up the price, which Man City would obviously be happy to help with.

[MegaErtz]

Gundogan looks likely to be signing with Barcelona, so that leaves a huge hole in central midfield next to Rodri. Phillips is on the way out the door as Pep has criticized his weight repeatedly. I’d like to see Rice go to Arsenal as we’re all sick of City running away with the title every year.

[Matty81]

Originally Posted by troutman

Was it much better when only 4-5 teams had a real shot?

For me it was. There was a decade there with 5 or 6 winners and about 8 or 9 teams who managed to have a season in the top three. I found the league interesting and a lot of the title races pretty compelling.

I don't like North American leagues where there is no connection between how much money you earn from your fans or how well you develop players and winning - would never want them to swing that far, chasing parity to the point where you eliminate the meritocracy. You don't attract enough fans or develop or scout players well enough, you don't deserve to win, full stop. The EPL has no teams like the Oilers who have failed their way into competitiveness and that alone makes me like the league way way more.

Entry drafts and salary caps for me are the worst. But I think that the prem has become something else now with "financial doping".... the clubs that are winning aren't doing that on the back of commercial or developmental success, its become completely driven by who is willing to sustain the biggest losses and just inject the most money from ownership.

FFP rules need to be enforced a lot harder moving forward but not a lot of faith that will happen

[devo22]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1672357329386217473


Chelsea just taking the piss at this point. That was supposed to be Uniteds final offer ... seriously hope they walk away, but I doubt it. Wouldn't love this deal for 40m in all honesty, but paying this kind of money for a player with one year left is insane. Just walk away, for the love of god.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Matty81

For me it was. There was a decade there with 5 or 6 winners and about 8 or 9 teams who managed to have a season in the top three. I found the league interesting and a lot of the title races pretty compelling.

I don't like North American leagues where there is no connection between how much money you earn from your fans or how well you develop players and winning - would never want them to swing that far, chasing parity to the point where you eliminate the meritocracy. You don't attract enough fans or develop or scout players well enough, you don't deserve to win, full stop. The EPL has no teams like the Oilers who have failed their way into competitiveness and that alone makes me like the league way way more.

Entry drafts and salary caps for me are the worst. But I think that the prem has become something else now with "financial doping".... the clubs that are winning aren't doing that on the back of commercial or developmental success, its become completely driven by who is willing to sustain the biggest losses and just inject the most money from ownership.

FFP rules need to be enforced a lot harder moving forward but not a lot of faith that will happen

Still though even back then there were 10 teams a year that likely had no shot of ever winning it. Not just that season, but ever.

It's why Leicester is the greatest team sports story of all time, the most unthinkable and remarkable champion in any sport ever.

Problem is it's not like you can just say "the smaller teams need to scout better and find younger players" because those big teams just buy every 18 year old with promise too and then loan them out.

North American sports have their flaw but at least you know if your team is run properly you can win a title won day.

European football means that if you're run properly maybe you can hope to get in Europe one year and then you probably lose half your players anyways.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by devo22

https://twitter.com/user/status/1672357329386217473


Chelsea just taking the piss at this point. That was supposed to be Uniteds final offer ... seriously hope they walk away, but I doubt it. Wouldn't love this deal for 40m in all honesty, but paying this kind of money for a player with one year left is insane. Just walk away, for the love of god.

Just keep trying...you'll get Mason Mount eventually!

[Matty81]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Still though even back then there were 10 teams a year that likely had no shot of ever winning it. Not just that season, but ever.

It's why Leicester is the greatest team sports story of all time, the most unthinkable and remarkable champion in any sport ever.

Problem is it's not like you can just say "the smaller teams need to scout better and find younger players" because those big teams just buy every 18 year old with promise too and then loan them out.

North American sports have their flaw but at least you know if your team is run properly you can win a title won day.

European football means that if you're run properly maybe you can hope to get in Europe one year and then you probably lose half your players anyways.

Both systems have some good ideas, but for me I'd skew more towards the financially open free market side of things vs. the closed shop reward the failures/draft system. There are franchises that are competitive in North America that don't deserve to win. They have no fans, or are mismanaged badly and get handed star players for free. It's really just about the club of uber rich owners trying to find a system that gives them their turns to line their collective pockets. You can keep losing but honestly, it's hard after a while. No critique of people who like the system either, those make for some interesting stories too, but not my favorite system

I think the order can change in european league orders. If you look at the EPL winners list there are clubs like Leeds, Forest, Wednesday, Sunderland, who were top of the heap during previous decades. The pecking order is just more entrenched and takes longer to change.

City and Newcastle ownerships are a big problem in the long run (and probably have to mention Chelsea and Abramovich as the turning point), but if you take those clubs out of the mix, look at the teams in the race for europe and top half in the table. Brighton, Fulham, Brentford. Not exactly big powerhouse teams. They've bought and scouted brilliantly. They've all expanded their stadiums massively and completely changed their stature and revenue base permanently. It took a long time, but they truly earned their success. And success doesn't have to be winning the league. Lot of big clubs down in league one who did the exact opposite and paid the price, have crumbling stadiums and decreasing fanbases.

EPL and other euro leagues do need some more regulation, like actually enforcing FFP rules and restricting transfers on players who are <18 and families moving cities just to join a different academy. Maybe spreading out the TV money a little more widely too across the leagues. But if you take the financial doping out of it, I love the system.

[Slava]

^ problem is that last sentence though. At this point, getting the financial doping out is extremely difficult. Look at Chelsea. There were a lot of people hoping and thinking that with Roman out, it would be different. Somehow they got the ~£1.5bn debt absolved (which was completely ridiculous). Now they have an owner backed by the Saudis and they've just continued the spending. There were lots of predictions that it would be a huge problem, and who comes to the rescue? The Saudis. They'll buy all their players that no one else wants. Everyone knows what is happening, and it's in broad daylight.

Now United is being purchased by another power and we know that will lead to the same thing. There is really no will to make changes or to enforce FFP. It seems like the only clubs that have actual FFP issues are smaller clubs at this point. The clubs brazenly contradicting measures just continue unaffected.

[Matty81]

Originally Posted by Slava

^ problem is that last sentence though. At this point, getting the financial doping out is extremely difficult. Look at Chelsea. There were a lot of people hoping and thinking that with Roman out, it would be different. Somehow they got the ~£1.5bn debt absolved (which was completely ridiculous). Now they have an owner backed by the Saudis and they've just continued the spending. There were lots of predictions that it would be a huge problem, and who comes to the rescue? The Saudis. They'll buy all their players that no one else wants. Everyone knows what is happening, and it's in broad daylight.

Now United is being purchased by another power and we know that will lead to the same thing. There is really no will to make changes or to enforce FFP. It seems like the only clubs that have actual FFP issues are smaller clubs at this point. The clubs brazenly contradicting measures just continue unaffected.

Yeah it's bad right now no debate there, has the potential to completely destroy the system. The Chelsea and Wolves transfers recently have been thinly veiled bailouts if at all and Chelsea turning a Ligue 1 team into a puppet club is sad to see as well. Such good foundations from a competitive standpoint but the system is really being exploited badly right now