The Barclays Premier League thread 2015/2016

[stokeriño]

Well that was bloody silly, wasn't it Mikel.

10 minutes left. Definitely in that part of the game where an equaliser begins to feel horribly inevitable...

[FLiam]

I think we miss Coquelin and Cazorla more than anyone. Midfield looks so off without them.

[MDK]

19 minutes ago, stokeriño said:

Well that was bloody silly, wasn't it Mikel.

10 minutes left. Definitely in that part of the game where an equaliser begins to feel horribly inevitable...

Don't tell me what to do

[FLiam]

Get Caulker on up front please.

[stokeriño]

I wonder how many times Hazard is going to tee up Remy/Willian and have them totally fluff it before he actually just takes a shot himself.

We're finally above West Brom (on goal difference)!!  

[Kaney]

I'm pissed off we lost but I can't say I'm surprised. Costa is a horrible unlikeable prick, but at least he can score. The thought that literally all our actual chances fell to Flamini who can't do anything is depressing. I'm still baffled at subbing Giroud.

[Colly]

3 hours ago, stokeriño said:

He's also had a couple of years in English football getting all kind of legitimate penalties/freekicks/etc. ignored so he's had time to calculate just how much rolling is required for the referees to actually pay attention.

I wish Mitrovic would learn the same thing, he gets basically fuckall from refs while any exact reversals of situations are fouls and bookings. Needs to learn when to go to ground and when to battle back.

What is Mertesacker thinking by the way? Glance over the shoulder before diving into a tackle? Bizarre.

Edited January 24, 2016 by Ultra Rare Colly

[DavidMarrio]

Mertesacker deserved to be sent off just for the sheer stupidity. 

Also Wenger taking Giroud off so early was a questionable decision to make. 

[Lineker]

The Crystal Palace striker Connor Wickham faces a three-match ban after being charged by the FA with violent conduct over an incident involving Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen.

Wickham caught Vertonghen in the face with an elbow during Tottenham’s 3-1 victory at Selhurst Park on Saturday. The incident was not seen by the match officials but was reviewed by the FA’s video panel.

The three former elite referees on the panel decided it constituted a sending-off offence, leading to the charge. Wickham has until 6pm on Tuesday to reply.

Should Wickham be found guilty, the 22-year-old would likely miss Saturday’s FA Cup tie at home to Stoke, plus the Premier League fixtures at home to Bournemouth on 2 February and at Swansea on 6 February.

[MDK]

That was a nasty elbow

[Lineker]

Louis van Gaal offered to resign as the Manchester United manager on Saturday following the dismal home defeat by Southampton but Ed Woodward, the executive vice-chairman, persuaded him to discuss his future with his family. Having returned to the Netherlands on Sunday Van Gaal will hold fresh talks with Woodward on Tuesday when he is expected at the club for first-team training.

At the meeting Woodward and Van Gaal will discuss the way forward but it is possible the manager could yet insist it is best for the club if he leaves.

Van Gaal admitted publicly for the first time on Saturday he had failed the United supporters, his comments coming after boos had accompanied him from the field at the end of the 1-0 defeat. It was the first open revolt against him from inside Old Trafford and, because Van Gaal has often cited fans’ backing as a prime factor in his hunger for the job, it moved him to make the offer to resign to Woodward.

The 64-year-old did so in calm fashion and it is a measure of Van Gaal’s loyalty to Woodward that he agreed to think again. He then returned to the Netherlands for his daughter’s birthday.

Woodward also wanted time to digest the defeat and assess the situation because he is keen to avoid having to appoint a manager in the middle of the season. He would much rather wait until the summer to make that decision, should he have to. He also wants to gauge Van Gaal’s mood on his return but, should United lose to Derby County in the FA Cup on Friday, the two may come to an agreement that the manager should walk away.

Woodward is solely responsible for Van Gaal’s future and who will manage United in the long term. Sir Alex Ferguson, the club’s most successful manager who is now a director, has no knowledge of Woodward’s thinking regarding Van Gaal. Woodward talks daily with Joe Glazer, the joint-chairman, and the American family will back Woodward whatever he decides.

When David Moyes, Van Gaal’s predecessor, was sacked Ferguson was unaware of the move and in his book, My Autobiography, made it clear other supposed powerful figures in the hierarchy were not consulted by Woodward either. Of a claimed hotel meeting he wrote: “I would like to know which hotel, because I wasn’t there. Nor were [directors] Bobby Charlton, David Gill or Mike Edelson.”

Van Gaal’s job has been reviewed by Woodward on a game-by-game basis after he came close to losing it following the 2-0 Boxing Day defeat at Stoke City, which was a fourth consecutive reverse and a seventh match without a win.

Although the next result, two days later, was a 0-0 draw with Chelsea at Old Trafford the side’s determination to attack throughout allowed renewed optimism. It was the start of a five-game unbeaten run, yet during this sequence United, apart from a 3-3 draw at Newcastle United, again failed to take the initiative in most matches.

They were fortunate to scrape a 1-0 win at Liverpool, as the team were once more devoid of ideas. At the weekend United continued in their lacklustre fashion against Southampton. It was the manner of the defeat that led to renewed scrutiny of Van Gaal. He appears unable to inspire United to play with the tempo and attacking style the club’s tradition demands.

Van Gaal resigned from Barcelona in 2000 and reached a mutual agreement to depart the Catalan club three years later during a second spell at the club. He also resigned as Ajax’s technical director in 2005 and came close to walking away from Alkmaar when he managed the club from 2005-09.

If Van Gaal is sacked or walks away, Woodward will have plenty to ponder over who replaces him. José Mourinho, who left Chelsea in December, remains a candidate to take over because United believe Bayern Munich’s Pep Guardiola is destined for Manchester City in the summer. They could yet make a move for the Spaniard, who has not revealed where he will be managing next season. Ryan Giggs, the United No2, is another option but most likely on an interim basis.

West Ham have denied claims from the London Legacy Development Corporation that they do not have the power to veto a groundshare at the Olympic Stadium.

The LLDC finance executive, Geraldine Murphy, told an information tribunal that a groundshare could happen “if the teams co-operate and the Premier League co-operates”, during its appeal hearing against the disclosure of West Ham’s tenancy agreement at the Olympic Stadium.

In 2014 Karren Brady, the West Ham vice-chairman, said: “No one has asked us for our permission [to groundshare] and, if they did, we would probably say no.” Murphy said West Ham did not have a veto on such a decision, even if it would require the co-operation of the east-London club. However, a statement from West Ham said they have “overriding priority” to use the stadium.

“As anchor tenant we have primacy of use during the football season and our contract gives us overriding priority to use the stadium, ensuring our fixtures and events are ring-fenced and will always take priority over all other events. It would therefore be impossible to accommodate the fixtures of another Premier League club without West Ham agreeing, a position which was fully supported at today’s hearing.”

Tottenham and Chelsea are looking for temporary homes for when White Hart Lane and Stamford Bridge undergo redevelopment. However, both clubs are attempting to strike a deal at Wembley.

A coalition of 14 supporters’ trusts was represented at the tribunal on Monday, with the LLDC arguing a freedom of information request regarding West Ham’s tenancy agreement at the Olympic Stadium should be rejected, as it would prejudice future commercial negotiations.

West Ham will move into their 54,000-capacity ground next season and in September 2015 the Information Commissioner ordered their tenancy contract to be published without redactions. West Ham’s annual rent, thought to be £2.5m, has never been confirmed while details of catering, hospitality and naming rights agreements have also never been disclosed.

Richard Hunt, who made the original FOI request, said outside the hearing: “I think among football fans it’s more or less a universal concern. You’d be hard pushed to find anybody who would argue in defence of the deal. Football fans have crossed tribal lines to work together on an issue like this, it’s a testimony to the other guys that we have been able to work collaboratively as a team.”

A three-person panel headed by the tribunal judge, Melanie Carter, heard arguments from Murphy as to why the tenancy details should remain private. She argued it would affect commercial negotiations and, ultimately, impact negatively on the taxpayer.

West Ham, who were not represented at the tribunal, have agreed a 99-year lease and paid £15m towards the £272m conversion costs needed to transform the stadium into a dual-purpose venue for football and athletics.

“It’s a very competitive market,” said Murphy. “Competitors will use the release of this agreement to undercut commercial deals. It would benchmark negotiations at a point. In any commercial negotiation, it’s very difficult if you’ve got an anchor.”

[Baddar]

I think it's best if LVG does walk away. I can't see us getting a CL place if he stays, in all honesty.

[Matt]

Let's hope they batter Derby then.

[stokeriño]

Quote

his comments coming after boos had accompanied him from the field at the end of the 1-0 defeat. It was the first open revolt against him from inside Old Trafford 

Really?

[MDK]

Vive la revolution 

[Noah]

One thing I noticed about that game, the boos seemed to stop once Van Gaal had left the pitch and then there seemed to be applause. Was it the United home fans wanting to show they still definitely still support the team but just not the manager, or was that more finally being able to notice the visiting Southampton fans applauding their victorious team once the boos had stopped and our fans had all gone?

[Lineker]

Quote

Louis van Gaal went on the attack at his pre-FA Cup press conference when asked to clarify whether he had offered to resign after last weekend’s home defeat by Southampton.

The Manchester United manager claimed he was being questioned about his future in a disrespectful way and complained his treatment by the media had been “awful and horrible”, but perhaps significantly he did not offer a direct answer. “I don’t think that I have ever mentioned it,” he said. “You make your own stories and I am concerned that people believe what you write,” Van Gaal said. “This is the third time I am sacked and I am still sitting here. You write all these stories and then I have to answer questions about them. I am not doing that, it is awful and horrible.”

That may be how the Dutch manager feels, though there is a distinction between offering to resign and being sacked, one that Van Gaal seems to be trying to blur. And it remains true that the first person to mention the possibility of resigning, or walking away before waiting to be sacked, was Van Gaal himself at the Britannia Stadium following the Boxing Day defeat by Stoke. A slight upturn in results in the New Year put the matter on hold, but a manager of Van Gaal’s immense experience ought to know that if you place such a comment on public record it will naturally resurface should results take a turn for the worse.

Van Gaal did then concede that Friday’s fourth-round Cup tie at Derby County had become a must-win game. “We cannot lose to a Championship club,” he said. “Maybe then you will have written the truth [about him being sacked] because sometimes it happens.”

[Matt]

Don't worry, Luis, I believe you can do it.

[Lineker]

Kevin De Bruyne is set to miss at least 10 weeks after scans revealed the Belgium international tore ligaments in his knee and ankle in the Capital One Cup semi-final victory over Everton on Wednesday. That would mean he would return to action in mid-April and his agent fears the Manchester City attacking midfielder could miss the European Championship as a result.

[DavidMarrio]

That does us a favour for the league cup final. Does my fantasy team no favours