PL shit that doesn't need it's own thread.

[AFCB_Mark]

He seems to have been very divisive among the Saints fanbase for a while now, a sample size of the Saints fans I know are split down the middle and have argued about keeping or sacking him for months. A new bloke who can get them all on side would be better for morale, and style of football if nothing else.

 

[Bilo]

Thomas Tuchel is being linked. He could be a significant step up but while he's got the best win record in Dortmund's history he's also had the best team during his years there, and I'd say he's performed on par. Dortmund finished third last season and they really should have had second nailed.

Could go either way but it's a name that should get the Saints fans excited, and no bigger club than them will compete for his signature should he want to get right back into management.

 

[Pagnell]

No disrespect to Southampton, but I can't see Tuchel going there. It would be a significant step down and little prospect of European football.

 

[JimJams]

I have a horrible feeling we're interested in him.

 

[HarvSFC]

It's about time our leadership got their fingers out of their arse, sack Puel and bring in Tuchel to make a statement of intent again. Last season will be forgotten about quickly.

 

[SALTIRE]

Not convinced by Tuchel tbh. Felt he underachieved at Dortmund despite the cup win in his last game.

 

[G.B]

Thought Tuchel did well considering he lost much of the spine of Dortmunds team in Hummels, Gundogan and Micky Targaryen over the summer and had issues with the higher ups due to transfer policy (all 3 of the former being sold, despite promises to the contrary for example), and the CL fiasco ofc. A second place finish (highest points tally ever for second) followed by a third place finish and the clubs first major trophy in 5 years isn't bad going at all, given the circumstances and the underachievement of the club the season before he took over. He did insist on spending £25mil on Schurrle though, which is... yeah.

Southampton might be a decent stop gap for him before heading to Arsenal in two years to fix Wengers mess.

 

[SALTIRE]

I think he should have got more out of the talent he brought in imo, and that defense is shockingly bad now, it got worse under his tenure.

 

[G.B]

The board signed Gotze who Tuchel didn't want, shown to be correct by his lack of appearances and constant struggles with fitness. Aside from that the only other "established players" Dortmund signed were Rode and Schurrle. The rest were either kids or relatively unproven. The season before he and the club did well to sell some under performing Klopp signings for £36mil, replaced their keeper and signed 2 centre mids for a total of £17mil. He was in the process of building Dortmund up again, because it's pretty clear they cant/wont compete in the transfer market. The emergence of Pulisic, Dembele, Weigl, Guerreiro and, to a lesser extent, Mor and Merino shows his intention was to build an exciting team for the future. I don't think a lot of talent was brought in at all, at least not for the now (which is what you seem to be suggesting), given the talent that actually left. Their best player missing most of the season wouldn't have helped much either. But he has set them up for the next few years, or at least until they inevitably sell on the youngsters he's brought through. He certainly wasn't let go for footballing/performance reasons.

As for the defence... well, he lost Hummels without the club getting a proper replacement. But in terms of goals conceded Dortmund still ended up around where Klopp usually had them during his time in charge, so I can't see that much of a difference in the defence tbh, despite losing a top class CB. The season Tuchel did have Hummels he improved on the previous managers numbers, only conceding 34 goals in the league.

 

[Dirk]

and Micky Targaryen over the summer ....

, made my day, G.B. ....Winter is coming (soon). When does the new season of Game of Thrones start ? (yeah I mean the tv series not the PL )

Tuchel linked to Southampton? Interesting. Another German coach in the PL after Kloppo and Wagner? (but tbh I can't imagine this at the moment but who knows?)

 

[JimJams]

I'm with GB on his signings, theyre all solid looking prospective signings, with Dembele a standout. But players like Mor are major works in progress. Promising players from lesser leagues but with a long way to go to be the calibre of players Dortmund have had in recent times. They cant bring in a Reus or Aubameyang every Summer. And even if they do they'll sell them.

I think the setup of his sides was often quite entertaining, but he doesnt seem to be able to change it up during a match.

 

[G.B]

, made my day, G.B. ....Winter is coming (soon). When does the new season of Game of Thrones start ? (yeah I mean the tv series not the PL )

Tuchel linked to Southampton? Interesting. Another German coach in the PL after Kloppo and Wagner? (but tbh I can't imagine this at the moment but who knows?)

16th of July mate. Winter has been coming for 6 years now, they've had a right good summer in GoT land.

 

[Dirk]

16th of July mate. Winter has been coming for 6 years now, they've had a right good summer in GoT land.

Thanks.

btw: You are really well informed about Dortmund. Kudos.

 

[G.B]

Thanks.

btw: You are really well informed about Dortmund. Kudos.

Cheers. I do like me some Bundesliga, more so than the Premier League tbh. Congrats on escaping relegation yet again btw, that was a hell of a run you lot put together.

 

[Jamie_SFC]

Puel's still here.

 

[Dirk]

Cheers. I do like me some Bundesliga, more so than the Premier League tbh

...because Newcastle was out of it for 1 year or generally? Anyway, would be nice to read your thoughts in the German Football thread in future.

Congrats on escaping relegation yet again btw, that was a hell of a run you lot put together.

Oh man, that season made my heart weak (literally ) and the season ending...overwhelming. Grown man dancing with tears in their eyes after the goal in the 88th minute

Congrats back to Newcastle for promotion.

 

[G.B]

...because Newcastle was out of it for 1 year or generally? Anyway, would be nice to read your thoughts in the German Football thread in future.




Oh man, that season made my heart weak (literally ) and the season ending...overwhelming. Grown man dancing with tears in their eyes after the goal in the 88th minute

Congrats back to Newcastle for promotion.

Just in general. Teams tend to try not to lose before anything else in this division so the football is usually crap to watch. German football is the opposite in my experience, much more open and positive. I think that has a lot to do with the emphasis on producing home grown/young talent for a lot of the clubs and allowing them to express themselves rather than worrying about making mistakes all the time.

I dunno how HSV keep doing it but 2 points on the board with a 3rd of the season gone must be some sort of record for a club beating relegation. Incredible escape. Your relegation battles have become a bit of a habit though so I suppose you're seasoned vets by this point Deserving of more tbh, a proper historic club HSV.

 

[Dirk]

I think that has a lot to do with the emphasis on producing home grown/young talent for a lot of the clubs and allowing them to express themselves rather than worrying about making mistakes all the time.

Interesting that you mention this because it's exactly the point Jürgen Klopp mentioned in a recent interview with German footy mag "Kicker" where he compared the talents of England and Germany. Here's the excerpt:

http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...in-deutschland-besser-ist.html#omsearchresult

Sorry, it's only in German but the "nucleus" of his answer is, that the reservoir of talents in Germany isn't better than in England but they can develop better in Germany than in England because the pressure on the 18/19 year olds isn't so immense as in the Premier League. They are allowed to make mistakes and he states that you are a youth player until the U19 in Germany and in England only until the U18 and that this one year is pivotal. He wants to establish this mentality in Liverpool, too. Give the home grown talents more time and let them make some faults and don't condemn them so soon

I dunno how HSV keep doing it but 2 points on the board with a 3rd of the season gone must be some sort of record for a club beating relegation. Incredible escape.

Yeah, it was. I mentioned it in the German Football thread. Never before has a club in the Bundesliga survived a season start with only 2 points in 10 matches

Your relegation battles have become a bit of a habit though so I suppose you're seasoned vets by this point Deserving of more tbh, a proper historic club HSV.

Unfortunately, 3 of the last 4 seasons were deep relegation battles with escapes only in the last matches (2-times relegation matches and this time in the final, the 34th match). Thank God we could avoid the match against Eintracht Braunschweig. This would've destroyed me personally due to my link to both cities (born and bred in Hamburg, studied in BS)

 

[Jamie_SFC]

Schmidt & Tuchel on our shortlist to replace Puel.

 

[Bilo]

Schmidt & Tuchel on our shortlist to replace Puel.

Well either one of them would be a clear step up. I better go back and delete some posts on the subject.

 

[St. Juste]

Interesting that you mention this because it's exactly the point Jürgen Klopp mentioned in a recent interview with German footy mag "Kicker" where he compared the talents of England and Germany. Here's the excerpt:

http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...in-deutschland-besser-ist.html#omsearchresult

Sorry, it's only in German but the "nucleus" of his answer is, that the reservoir of talents in Germany isn't better than in England but they can develop better in Germany than in England because the pressure on the 18/19 year olds isn't so immense as in the Premier League. They are allowed to make mistakes and he states that you are a youth player until the U19 in Germany and in England only until the U18 and that this one year is pivotal. He wants to establish this mentality in Liverpool, too. Give the home grown talents more time and let them make some faults and don't condemn them so soon

Germany has almost 30 million more people than England, I think it quite clearly has more talent. And that has been expressed vividly by their greatly superior record in international football.

 

[Dirk]

St. Juste : I agree but as I stated above the answer about the talent reservoir was from Jürgen Klopp and not from me But if it comes to talents reservoir it's not only the higher population otherwise a nation like Russia would be more successful or a nation with not so many people like the Netherlands wouldn't produce so many talents (ok, actually Netherlands isn't the best example , but normally it's the case that they have a lot of talents, more than nations with much higher population)

 

[Stevencc]

Football pundits have reportedly been left deeply confused over the case of Manchester City footballer Kelechi Iheanacho, with widespread recognition that the 19-year-old is, inexplicably, neither a “beast” nor a “tank”.

Rumours regarding the Nigerian forward began circulating last season, after a series of stunning technical performances left journalists and television pundits at a loss to describe him adequately.

This problem has reportedly been exacerbated by further encouraging displays, leading to an emergency meeting being called yesterday due to the level of disorder among pundits.

“I just don’t get it. What’s going on?” sources quoted former Liverpool star and current Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness as saying. “I’m not sure what the lad is but he’s not a beast, I can tell you that.”

These sentiments were echoed by BT Sport’s Robbie Savage, who stressed that while the forward reminds him of Didier Drogba and other “strong” players, he remains at a loss to properly describe him.

“Honest to God, he’s got the technique and flair of a light-skinned player – the awareness, the touch, he’s certainly not that strong – but perhaps he’s a skillful tank?” he posited, before being vociferously beaten down by his colleagues.

Alan Brazil, according to those in attendance, insisted he’d rather die than call him anything other than a “tank”.

At press time, a number of journalists tentatively settled on making up a new adjective for Iheanacho after vehemently opposing a motion from Jamie Carragher that they simply call him any one of “talented”, “intelligent” or “adroit”.

 

[Dirk]

A "tank".
Are these silly militarisms still in use in english football language? And I thought only German players could be tanks back then (or a "blitz" for the team. Heard these comparisions the first time concerning the German team when I visited the Euro 1996. Couldn't believe it the first time I read it in the newspapers. More than 50 years after the End of WW 2 and they were using these words for a football player or the team). Anyway, so Iheanacho is neither a tank nor a beast. I am relieved

(btw: I have to google the meaning of "adroit", first I read "android" )

 

[Bilo]

I had a rant five or six years back about the term "beast" being incredibly overused for black players. I still stand by it I guess. Didn't Welbeck have a big rant on a tangent to this as well?

 

[Stevencc]

I had a rant five or six years back about the term "beast" being incredibly overused for black players. I still stand by it I guess. Didn't Welbeck have a big rant on a tangent to this as well?

I don't remember Welbeck's comments but you were/are right, almost any black player that can hold off a defender or attacker for a few seconds is referred to as a beast or a tank or something to that effect.

 

[SALTIRE]

A "tank".
Are these silly militarisms still in use in english football language? And I thought only German players could be tanks back then (or a "blitz" for the team. Heard these comparisions the first time concerning the German team when I visited the Euro 1996. Couldn't believe it the first time I read it in the newspapers. More than 50 years after the End of WW 2 and they were using these words for a football player or the team). Anyway, so Iheanacho is neither a tank nor a beast. I am relieved

(btw: I have to google the meaning of "adroit", first I read "android" )

Oh the English press will still bring all that stuff up to this day, you can bank on it.

 

[SALTIRE]

I don't remember Welbeck's comments but you were/are right, almost any black player that can hold off a defender or attacker for a few seconds is referred to as a beast or a tank or something to that effect.

Could you get a new avatar Stevie, that one scares me...

 

[Bilo]

I don't remember Welbeck's comments but you were/are right, almost any black player that can hold off a defender or attacker for a few seconds is referred to as a beast or a tank or something to that effect.

Yeah but I probably went way over the top the way I usually do so nobody agreed with me at the time. But this must have been back in 09, maybe 2010 and a lot has changed since then.

Welbeck's rant was in general regarding black football players being incredibly stereotyped, he wasn't wrong. But stereotyping people who don't look like yourself is human nature unfortunately, and it can probably only be tackled by having less white male pundits.

 

[Renegade]