Premiere League & World Soccer Thread

#7,327
#7,327
Charlie Kelly said:
If Arsenal win tomorrow and then go on to win the league this season, I would guess it’ll be judged pretty significant in retrospect.

To be completely honest, tomorrow is more about preventing them from winning the League than the race for fourth. At least for me it is. I would imagine a lot of Tottenham fans feel the same way.

But in answer to your question, I’d say 2017 was pretty big for us. First time we’d finished higher in the table than them in something like two decades. Kept us alive in the title race that year too.
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bleedorange0037 said:
Biggest I can remember in terms of BOTH teams having stakes. Even 6-7 years ago when Spurs were challenging for the title, Arsenal were so far down the table their only real motivation was wrecking Spurs’ season.
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That was the timeframe I had in mind too but wasn’t sure if the 2nd game that year was as close to the end of the season as this one.
 
#7,331
#7,331
Nash_Vol97 said:
Right on cue. Only reason that goal just happened is because White blocked Spurs keeper from coming out for what should have been a fairly easy punch out.
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Yup - not sure how it is allowed. Ben White lines up for it on every corner. There is no skill in it.

Of course commentators were like Ben White is not doing anything besides standing in front of GK. He literally threw his body into GK to knock off the line and also banging his elbows into GK.
 
#7,332
#7,332
VolsLFC said:
Yup - not sure how it is allowed. Ben White lines up for it on every corner. There is no skill in it.

Of course commentators were like Ben White is not doing anything besides standing in front of GK. He literally threw his body into GK to knock off the line and also banging his elbows into GK.
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Agreed. Every team does it, some more successful than others because they have that guy that can toe the line of causing havoc but not getting called for it. White is Arsenals guy for sure. To be a little fair, there is a bit of a skill to it. A dark arts if you will. Still not a fan of it for the most part though.
 
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#7,333
#7,333
Nash_Vol97 said:
Agreed. Every team does it, some more successful than others because they have that guy that can toe the line of causing havoc but not getting called for it. White is Arsenals guy for sure. To be a little fair, there is a bit of a skill to it. A dark arts if you will. Still not a fan of it for the most part though.
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To your point, the only skill in it is not getting caught. Is that skill or ref neglect?
 
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#7,335
#7,335
Unlucky not to get a point at least, as I thought we were the stronger side over the course of the 90. Sometimes the bounces just don’t go your way.

We didn’t quit though; I can’t be displeased with the effort. Very proud that we continued to fight until the last whistle.
 
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#7,336
#7,336
VolsLFC said:
To your point, the only skill in it is not getting caught. Is that skill or ref neglect?
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It’s a bit of both, IMO. I’m admittedly a little biased here. I never played competitive soccer but I played travel hockey growing up and I absolutely loved the dark arts in hockey. I was a center and one of my favorite things was messing with the goalie when we had control of the puck in their end. There was definitely a deceptiveness needed to be able to piss off and affect the goalie in front of the net that certain players were just better at while also not crossing the line to get penalties. Kind of reminds me of the keeper situation to a degree. Whether we call that skill or not, idk, but it can definitely be a learned tool or ability.
 
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#7,338
#7,338
YankeeVol said:
Not surprised at all.
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Thanks for the memories, Silva! His goodbye message the club posted this morning was pure class. His sons play for Chelsea and sounds like they are going to continue to do so. Silva also wants to come back eventually albeit in a non-player role. He is getting his UEFA-B coaching license right now.

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#7,339
#7,339
Saw Jamie Carragher mention this and thought it was interesting. Timeline seems to suggest he's right. Liverpool go after Edwards but he “wants to focus on his company”. Then once Klopp decides it's his last season, they go back for Edwards (with an improved offer to be fair) and now he's on board.

I don't buy the conspiracy people out there that the club asked a club legend manager to leave so they can bring back Edwards, that's just silly, but I do think it's certainly plausible that these two for some reason don't want to work together again. Wonder what the story is to have caused that rift.

 
#7,349
#7,349
Nash_Vol97 said:
Was not expecting that result at all. Squad is the walking wounded but they played hard today. Two day turnaround to play West Ham on Saturday will be tough.
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You’re our Florida haha. We rarely beat Chelsea, especially at the Bridge. You guys could play with 8 and we’d still find a way to tie that game.

I have to agree with you though, you guys wanted it more than we did. Half of our players looked disinterested. Sarr, Bissouma and Emerson were particularly awful. And despite what Ange says, we definitely need a set pieces coach.
 
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#7,350
#7,350
Charlie Kelly said:
You’re our Florida haha. We rarely beat Chelsea, especially at the Bridge. You guys could play with 8 and we’d still find a way to tie that game.

I have to agree with you though, you guys wanted it more than we did. Half of our players looked disinterested. Sarr, Bissouma and Emerson were particularly awful. And despite what Ange says, we definitely need a set pieces coach.
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Midfield was where that was won. Caicedo and Gallagher were massive. Cucurella also inverting into midfield helped a lot there too. They seemed to really overwhelm Bissouma especially.

I hear you on set pieces though. Idk what the numbers look like on set piece expected goals after today but coming into the match Chelsea had the lowest XG from set pieces in the league. Spurs were tied for 2nd lowest. Chelsea are a tad bit better defending them but still middle of the pack, while Spurs are bottom 3. Neither of our teams have been near good enough in that department this season. We just hired Brentfords set piece coach and he will start next season. Fingers crossed he can make an impact.
 
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