Premier League 2020/21

[FLiam]

We haven’t scored from open play for seven hours now. Even shifting to a back four with Pepe and Willock starting, Aubameyang playing centrally and we looked shite.

Pepe making noises about not starting games and then going and doing that was a smart move too.

[The Lusophone]

United up into 10th, and a win over a terrible Burnley side - not a guarantee, even with their awfulness - leaves us just 4 points off the top.

Which is pretty decent tbh.

[Baddar]

Loving the optimism but we've got Southampton next.

[The Lusophone]

1 hour ago, Baddar said:

Loving the optimism but we've got Southampton next.

I meant that they're our game in our hand. Though having had a look, that game hasn't even been scheduled yet, so who knows when it'll be.

[Gazz]

Sky cut this part of the post-match interview out.

[Baddar]

Didn't see the Saka one, but Pique's knee injury had nothing to do with the amount of games he'd played.

They could definitely increase the amount of subs. But in terms of the scheduling, teams who play in the CL have done Saturday/Tuesday/Saturday and Sunday/Wednesday/Saturday matches for years now. 

He's not just talking about Liverpool of course, but I'm not sure what time slot that game could have been given last night that was any better, due to the internationals that had just taken place. Liverpool's next league game is 12.30 Saturday, but move that any later and it's even closer to the following CL game, so there's going to be complaints about scheduling regardless.

[Jimmy]

To be fair, we were about to bring on Gareth Bale as our third sub on Saturday just before Toby went down with an injury. He had played all three internationals - and it's interesting to hear that managers are very wary of making the third sub cos the likelihood of injury has increased. 

[Marcos]

5 minutes ago, Baddar said:

Didn't see the Saka one, but Pique's knee injury had nothing to do with the amount of games he'd played.

They could definitely increase the amount of subs. But in terms of the scheduling, teams who play in the CL have done Saturday/Tuesday/Saturday and Sunday/Wednesday/Saturday matches for years now. 

He's not just talking about Liverpool of course, but I'm not sure what time slot that game could have been given last night that was any better, due to the internationals that had just taken place. Liverpool's next league game is 12.30 Saturday, but move that any later and it's even closer to the following CL game, so there's going to be complaints about scheduling regardless.

The difference this year is that for the CL games, they used to be every second week whereas this years it's every week.  So you'd have went previously, Saturday/Tuesday (CL)/Saturday/Midweek Off (League Cup etc)/Saturday to now Saturday/Tuesday (CL)/Saturday/Wednesday (CL)/Sunday.  Plus three international fixtures in both the October and November international breaks instead of the usual two.  

I'm not sure why the Champions League couldn't have been single leg matches from the round of 16 onwards.  You could then expland the group stages to be played up until February next year and then single leg matches late February, March, April and May for the last 16, quarters, semi's and then final.

[DFF]

Insert the "I remember the day when we had only 1 sub, and you only used him if someone broke a leg!" comments. 

[The Lusophone]

1 hour ago, Marcos said:

The difference this year is that for the CL games, they used to be every second week whereas this years it's every week.  So you'd have went previously, Saturday/Tuesday (CL)/Saturday/Midweek Off (League Cup etc)/Saturday to now Saturday/Tuesday (CL)/Saturday/Wednesday (CL)/Sunday.  Plus three international fixtures in both the October and November international breaks instead of the usual two.  

I'm not sure why the Champions League couldn't have been single leg matches from the round of 16 onwards.  You could then expland the group stages to be played up until February next year and then single leg matches late February, March, April and May for the last 16, quarters, semi's and then final.

In a word - broadcasters. Any game not held is a game that UEFA, FIFA, national FAs, league organisations etc etc have to compensate for.

Take the England friendly that was originally against New Zealand as an example - New Zealand cancelled, but rather than shrugging and moving on the FA found a replacement in Ireland, because to not hold the friendly would've resulted in a seven figure refund to broadcasters.

[Adam]

I do think that they should be allowed 5 subs since every other league has allowed it, there has been an increase in injuries and the schedule is tough.

As for playing Wednesday night and then Saturday lunchtime...tough. I'm tired of listening to Klopp's whining related to his team to be honest, I've got Liverpool fans telling me how hard done by they are. Even without some key players they stuffed a very good Leicester team yesterday and are having a good season on all fronts because their squad is of the highest quality and has great depth compared to most others.

Make the point about 5 subs and more injuries, absolutely. Don't use disingenuous reasons to make the argument though.

Every EFL club is basically having to play Saturday-Tuesday every single week with smaller squads and much lower resources and we're still putting full squads out.

[Colly]

Yeah I'm struggling to see how a 12:30 kickoff versus a 3pm makes an awful lot of difference.

[Lineker]

Five subs should be universal, until things settle down and go back to normal.

[DavidMarrio]

2 hours ago, Adam said:

I do think that they should be allowed 5 subs since every other league has allowed it, there has been an increase in injuries and the schedule is tough.

As for playing Wednesday night and then Saturday lunchtime...tough. I'm tired of listening to Klopp's whining related to his team to be honest, I've got Liverpool fans telling me how hard done by they are. Even without some key players they stuffed a very good Leicester team yesterday and are having a good season on all fronts because their squad is of the highest quality and has great depth compared to most others.

Make the point about 5 subs and more injuries, absolutely. Don't use disingenuous reasons to make the argument though.

Every EFL club is basically having to play Saturday-Tuesday every single week with smaller squads and much lower resources and we're still putting full squads out.

You could argue that whilst lower league teams do have smaller squads and lower resources most of their players aren't getting shipped off to play international games in the middle of the season on top of playing the two games a week. If you're going from a pure capitalist and commercial point of view, for big Prem teams the players themselves are massive investments and the club will want to protect their assets.

Personally, I think fixture congestion in the country as a whole is ridiculous especially the back end of last season and this season it feels like everything is crammed in. 

I am gonna disagree with you though about feeling hard done by as yes whilst wr do have squad depth and resources I can still feel hard done by things like Gomez got injured on international duty (I do not care in the slightest about England especially when it's friendlies) and I can feel hard done by Van Dijk getting taken out by Pickford and being out for the season as a result of it when I feel that VAR fucked up and I still do. Them two injuries I feel hard done by the others not really it's more down to the circumstances of the injuries. 

I imagine the Wednesday night/early Saturday thing is a combination of recovery time and preparation. I've no knowledge of sports science and the recovery time of athletes but I imagine even a few hours can make a difference. Same with I imagine having a bit less time is far from ideal in preparing for the match following a game late in the evening. Personally I just hate early kick offs

 

 

[Colly]

To be fair Van Dijk gets injured regardless of VAR getting the decision right. Injuries happen.

[DavidMarrio]

20 minutes ago, Colly said:

To be fair Van Dijk gets injured regardless of VAR getting the decision right. Injuries happen.

I badly worded that I meant more hard done by the fact that he got wiped out and nothing happened out of it i.e a red card / penalty 

[Baddar]

Yeah, the ones to Van Dijk and Pique happen regardless of the amount of matches played in a short space of time. It's the muscle injuries that can be reduced with extra subs.

Debating whether I can sit through 90mins of Burnley-Palace now.

[Adam]

58 minutes ago, DavidMarrio said:

You could argue that whilst lower league teams do have smaller squads and lower resources most of their players aren't getting shipped off to play international games in the middle of the season on top of playing the two games a week. If you're going from a pure capitalist and commercial point of view, for big Prem teams the players themselves are massive investments and the club will want to protect their assets.

Personally, I think fixture congestion in the country as a whole is ridiculous especially the back end of last season and this season it feels like everything is crammed in. 

I am gonna disagree with you though about feeling hard done by as yes whilst wr do have squad depth and resources I can still feel hard done by things like Gomez got injured on international duty (I do not care in the slightest about England especially when it's friendlies) and I can feel hard done by Van Dijk getting taken out by Pickford and being out for the season as a result of it when I feel that VAR fucked up and I still do. Them two injuries I feel hard done by the others not really it's more down to the circumstances of the injuries. 

I imagine the Wednesday night/early Saturday thing is a combination of recovery time and preparation. I've no knowledge of sports science and the recovery time of athletes but I imagine even a few hours can make a difference. Same with I imagine having a bit less time is far from ideal in preparing for the match following a game late in the evening. Personally I just hate early kick offs

 

 

On the contrary, Doncaster Rovers had four players out on international duty in the last two international breaks so it isn't just the big boys. Obviously it isn't our whole squad but it still makes a difference and our first choice striker came back injured from England U20s in the October break and hasn't played since. But that happens.

The fact Van Dijk's injury is an example of one that can happen anytime proves my point on Klopp being disingenuous.

As Colly says, the difference of a couple of hours is going to make little-to-no difference on Liverpool's players. The Premier League teams are all happy to rake in the millions from their huge TV deal but don't like letting them dictate kick-off times. Funny that.

As I say, teams in Leagues One and Two are all playing every three and four days each week. We've just now been allowed 5 subs in games but many don't have first team squads totalling more than 18 players anyway, nevermind 20-25 international players. The Premier League should have 5 subs too and I think certain cup competitions could have been cancelled this year but it didn't happen, and I'm fed up of Klopp (and Guardiola) complaining about it in the way that they are.

[Tigerstyle]

They have every right to moan, it’s on other managers if they don’t want too - They’re not wrong about fixture congestion, and if they don’t speak up, nothing will get done about it (like anything would get done about it)

Honestly, the league and the FA doesn’t give a fuck about the players and the teams, they’re just commodities to make more money for them as nothing can change that.

The FA (and FIFA) should’ve taken the hit on there being no League Cup, no international football this season to try and make it easier seeing as there is a whole season to play plus multiple international tournaments in the summer.

But we’re here now

[Nerf]

1 hour ago, Adam said:

 I'm fed up of Klopp (and Guardiola) complaining about it in the way that they are.

Then stop watching their interviews and talking about them incessantly 🤷‍♂️