Premier League 2020/21

[Adam]

To be fair, he was first choice goalkeeper until the punishment was handed down, and the incident was known to everyone for most of last season.

But yes, don't think he's played for Leeds since so they got it right eventually with him. Helps that they've got Meslier who is clearly very, very good.

[lanky316]

Poor Villa, missed loads of chances and have a last minute equaliser disallowed for offside... because he was being fouled.

[Lineker]

Quote

Liverpool FC will submit a planning application for the proposed expansion of the Anfield Road Stand this week, reports James Pearce.

The £60 million redevelopment of Anfield was placed on hold in April as a result of the pandemic.

However, Liverpool have now decided to make their full submission to Liverpool City Council with a decision expected in the spring of 2021.

From The Athletic

[Lineker]

Quote

Newcastle’s Premier League game at Aston Villa on Friday is in danger of postponement after Steve Bruce’s entire first-team squad were asked to self-isolate on Monday amid a growing Covid-19 outbreak at the north-east club.

The training ground will not reopen until Wednesday at the earliest after a specially ordered set of coronavirus tests on Sunday revealed a significant number of players and staff had recorded positive results.

Bruce cancelled a planned training session on Sunday morning and ordered a deep clean of Newcastle’s weekday base when it became clear four players and one member of his backroom team had tested positive. As a precaution, everyone in the first-team “bubble” was retested but the amount of positive results caused sufficient alarm to result in a blanket self-isolation order.

Should, as may well happen, Newcastle ask for the Villa game to be postponed it would be the first Premier League fixture delayed on such grounds since the initial resumption of top-tier games in June.

Yet although Bruce, who was without Isaac Hayden, Emil Krafth, Jamal Lascelles, Andy Carroll and Allan Saint-Maximin when Newcastle won 2-0 at Crystal Palace on Friday, is anxious he will not have time to prepare properly for Friday’s trip to Villa, the Premier League are likely to be resistant to the idea of delaying the game.

The general rule – still to be properly tested by a club in the grip of an outbreak – is that matches should proceed providing teams have a starting XI plus three substitutes but Bruce is understood to be concerned that players who have not trained properly could be at additional risk of injury.

With the training ground shut, all physiotherapy treatments have been suspended. Bruce suspects the outbreak originated with players returning from playing abroad during the recent international break but cannot be sure. Steve Agnew, his assistant, missed the recent Premier League home defeat with Chelsea for unexplained reasons, while Hayden’s absence at Palace was attributed to illness. Of the other absentees at Selhurst Park all bar Krafth, a Sweden defender, were reported to be injured.

After the Palace win, Bruce said he was “a little bit anxious” about the situation and concerned for the welfare of not only his players but the support staff around them.

 

[The Lusophone]

13 hours ago, Lineker said:

Ah, I thought that the goalie was club captain for some reason.

That's because Bielsa did indeed make him club captain for a short period after it all happened. Even defended it too.

[Matt]

17 hours ago, Lineker said:

Ah, I thought that the goalie was club captain for some reason.

Nah, he was made captain for one game when Meslier went back to France to pack his bags and Cooper was injured. It was a strange and rather unpopular decision but I suspect it was done to give the illusion that we weren't desperately trying to get his 50k wages off the books. 

16 hours ago, Adam said:

To be fair, he was first choice goalkeeper until the punishment was handed down, and the incident was known to everyone for most of last season.

But yes, don't think he's played for Leeds since so they got it right eventually with him. Helps that they've got Meslier who is clearly very, very good.

And on this, it wasn't a clear cut case with video evidence or anything. In hindsight it looks bad and it turns out that Meslier is shit hot anyway but if all you've got to do is make claims that a player said something racist and the expectation is that his club will drop them for 5 months until the hearing, that's absurd.

[Gazz]

Villa vs Newcastle has been postponed.

[Lineker]

Quote

The Football Association has announced a radical post-Brexit shake‑up that will mean Premier League and EFL clubs cannot sign foreign players until they are 18, with all transfers from European Union nations set to be subject to work permits that will be allocated using a points-based system.

In a controversial move that could have seismic effects on the recent dominance of English clubs over their European rivals, a joint statement from the FA, Premier League and EFL confirmed on Tuesday that the new system, which will come into force when the UK’s transition period after leaving the EU ends on 31 December and has been approved by the Home Office, will also see Premier League clubs limited to signing no more than three overseas players under the age of 21 in any single transfer window and a total of no more than six per season.

Designed to help encourage clubs to produce more homegrown talent, the Governing Body Endorsement (GBE) plan was submitted to the government last month by the FA and will come into effect from 1 January in time for the next transfer window. Similar to the current regulations that require players from non-EU countries to have played a high proportion of international matches, its points-based system will be determined by a number of criteria, including senior and youth international appearances, the “quality of the selling club, based on the league they are in, league position and progression in continental competition” and club appearances, based on domestic league and continental competition minutes. It is understood that players will need 15 points in order to be granted a permit for the UK, with the FA believed to have pushed for a higher threshold.

“Players accumulating the requisite amount of points will earn a GBE automatically, while players just below the threshold may be considered for a GBE by an exceptions panel,” said the statement.

“The system meets the joint objectives of the Premier League and the FA allowing access to the best players and future talent for clubs, as well as safeguarding England teams, by ensuring opportunities for homegrown players. In the Premier League, the number of overseas U21 players a club can sign will be limited to three in the January transfer window and six per season moving forwards. This enables the recruitment of the best players from around the world to train and play together with homegrown talent. The UK’s exit from the EU will also mean that clubs will not be able to sign players from overseas until they are 18.“The leading football bodies have also agreed to work together to continue to improve the player pathway system.”

Mark Bullingham, the FA’s chief executive said: “Despite having different starting perspectives on how Brexit should impact football, this is another example of how the football authorities can work effectively together for the greater good of the game. We have a strong working relationship with both the Premier League and EFL and will monitor this new agreement together to ensure it evolves to best meet our joint objectives over time. We will also discuss improvements to the player pathway for the mutual benefit of football clubs and homegrown talent in this country.”

In the women’s game, the entry requirements will not take youth international appearances or the selling club’s progression in European competitions into account.

Richard Masters, the Premier League’s chief executive, said: “The Premier League has worked with the FA to come to an agreement to ensure no part of Brexit should damage the success of the Premier League, or the prospects of the England teams.

“Continuing to be able to recruit the best players will see the Premier League remain competitive and compelling and the solution will complement our player development philosophy of the best foreign talent alongside the best homegrown players. Following the January transfer window, we look forward to reviewing the agreement with the FA.”

 

[The Lusophone]

Agenda etc etc 

Spoiler

 

[Baddar]

Poor Jurgen.

[Colly]

He'll still find a way to drastically overplay 42 year old James Milner. 

[stokeriño]

Good thing Chelsea didn't reach the EFL Cup quarters, then. 

[DavidMarrio]

1 hour ago, MadJack said:

Agenda etc etc 

  Hide contents

 

Basically all this shows is the teams who are in the League Cup have a shorter turnaround. Colour me shocked! This isn't exactly breaking news or anything is it. 

[Lineker]

Quote

Jürgen Klopp said he is still waiting for the first benefit of Brexit following the Football Association’s announcement of its ramifications for English football.

The FA, in conjunction with the Premier League and EFL, confirmed this week that English clubs cannot sign foreign players until they are 18, or more than three overseas players under 21 in a single transfer window once the UK leaves the EU on 1 January. Other rules include work permits, allocated on a points-based system, for all transfers from EU nations.

Klopp, a long-time Brexit critic, believes the Home Office would have enforced greater restrictions but for resistance from many within the game, and he considers the transfer rules another example of Brexit’s negative impact.

The Liverpool manager said: “Michael Edwards [Liverpool’s sporting director] was involved in a lot of these discussions and the clubs fought pretty hard for a solution – kind of a good solution or as good as possible. Without the discussions it would have been worse. I am still waiting for the first advantage of Brexit that someone can tell me. What really improves after Brexit? It’s obviously not my thing to judge, but as an interested person I just wait until the first really positive impact of Brexit. Maybe I didn’t read it because I’m too much in football, but I don’t remember a lot, to be honest.”

The Governing Body Endorsement plan is designed to promote more homegrown talent in the English game. Klopp, however, believes English talent is thriving because players can train alongside some of the best youngsters in Europe, an opportunity that will be lost post-Brexit.

“People – the FA or whoever – want to make sure that the clubs don’t sign too many players from other countries because they are afraid that not enough English talents will make their way. But if you look at the English youth national teams at the moment they are in the top two or three – if not the top – in nearly all age groups; talent-wise they are 100%, and that is with the way we did it before.

“So let’s think about why that happened. They had a lot of players around them that played good football as well. It’s helpful. We cannot just create more talents because we deny other talents. But, as I say, it’s not my thing to judge. It’s just one of the smaller problems which we will all be aware of when Brexit is finally there.”

Trent Alexander-Arnold returned to training on Friday having missed the past four weeks with the injury picked up at Manchester City. He could be involved in Sunday’s game against Wolves.

 

[Szumi]

That's a tidy little finish by Robbie Brady on his weaker foot!

[DavidMarrio]

 

We are now slowly edging closer and closer to the BOOOOOO stage of the graph 

[Adam]

That nutmeg by Rodriguez in injury time though...

[Bobfoc]

Heysel being on there is rather unpleasant.

[Kyle]

I'm sure its us that are meant to be obsessed.  

[DavidMarrio]

11 minutes ago, Kyle. said:

I'm sure its us that are meant to be obsessed.  

It's all crumbling down now that Chippy Tits has been arrested.