#chelsea spurs and united are here because you just don't know

[flyhighisco]

i've left the ones who are obviously going nowhere (pep, arteta, slot etc) out <3

[timoswerner]

Something I’ve been wondering about since the days you were the only person slating Hojbjerg every match. You’re a STH and match going fan where the majority of people on here aren’t- how do you think that changes things? Have you got a different perspective, different priorities?

firstly, i love that my legacy is being the original hojbjerg hater. secondly this is going to be quite long and rambley...

i think sometimes it's a simple as it comes down to different angles. when you're watching the game from home you can't see the whole pitch for the whole time, but actually at the game, and particularly if you're high up, you can see the whole pitch the whole game. so i could see when he wasn't doing his defensive duties, when he switched off, when he was just standing there flapping his arms about, but you couldn't see it on the tv because the camera would be elsewhere. also when you're at games you don't hear the commentary or the pundits so i'm not going to be swayed by their narratives or anything like that. like i'm just seeing the game as it is right in front of me. but yeah quite often i go on twitter or here and people have a completely opposite opinion on a players performance to what i've seen.

also kind of ties in with something i've said before about twitter tacticos or people with podcasts... they're not always watching football for what it is, a football game? i don't know how to explain it but when you're at the game you're not over thinking the tactics or positions of the players. you're in the moment! like after the north london derby last season, i went on twitter and certain set of people were fuming and saying it was embarrassing and the players let us down - but that wasn't what i saw or pretty much anyone else in the stadium. we all saw a team that gave their all and the atmosphere in the stadium was good! loads of people hanging around after, having a laugh. no one was depressed as they were on twitter. i feel like sometimes those types are sucking the fun and the general essence out of football. or sometimes on twitter you see fans who only want big signings and 'fancy' names in their team over bringing through youth and academy kids but for me watching local lads come through is one of the best parts of football to me!

something else though is sometimes things like rivalries gets missed by people who are 'online' supporters- i remember someone on here did a survey that was like 'as a spurs fan what other team do you hate the most' and a fair few people said liverpool.... blew my mind! what do you mean it's not arsenal or chelsea?! no one who's been brought up around spurs, or goes to games is going to say liverpool but i guess if you've not been brought up with those rivalries then you wouldn't 'get it' in the same way and that's fine, i'm just never going to understand that personally and a lot of other people won't understand it either! same with some of the discourse around spurs fans wanting to lose to city last year - i was flabbergasted that anyone would be okay with us winning and handing the title to arsenal. it's fucking arsenal! i don't have any particularly bad feelings towards city either, but again it's probably just where people have come in to football at different times. people coming in to football now probably feel about city how i do about growing up with united dominating. speaking of- seeing liverpool fans say they feel bad for man united on twitter - sorry what?! can't have been around when united were winning everything hahahaha. but as i'm typing think i think that's more about being brought up around football and getting in to it at different points in time. and that's fine! footballs too big now to just be fans that were born in to a family that have always supported one team!

i do also think football is consumed on here a bit differently to how i was brought up or how i experience it in real life. it's quite fandomised on here? when i first came across football blogs on here i was like what the fuck is going on hahahahaha. and that's fine! it's just not how football is for the general population. and occasionally i have felt like... some people have missed the football part of it all. like to me people get caught up in the fandom side a bit much - i think we've all encountered the mason mount girlies who don't seem to actually understand football, or at one point the deledier girls were doing my head in because i felt like they weren't actually seeing what was going on the pitch? but at the same time and for the most part i think on here is quite fun and in general less serious than other parts of the football world and i like that! it's nice to come on here and have fun with everyone in a way i can't when talking about football with my parents or people i know irl. definitely prefer here to football twitter.

but yeah i think some of it is just different. i think going to games can give you a different view on players, or the team, or rivalries and stuff. i do feel like some people who don't go to games miss things that make football so great for me. but at the end of the day it's just different opinions innit :)

[unitedbydevils]

Match review: Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Manchester United

Another game, another struggle, only this time we got the defeat we deserved.

Last time we played, we beat Spurs 2-0 in a performance that was one of the most controlled I've seen from a United team in years. It was clinical, efficient, and assured. Yesterday we saw quite the opposite.

United started brightly and were fair for the first 30 minutes, but as the first half wore on the tactical discipline - or perhaps just comprehension of Ten Hag's tactics - fell away.

Garnacho played like a youth prospect; without discipline or focus.

Antony was incredibly wasteful and drifted inwards so often it forced Bruno to move out wide right.

Casemiro and Martinez seem off the pace still.

Rashford does not want to be CF, for all he says he's happy to do it. He does not have the discipline or know-how.

Mason Mount - what he do?

The second half saw Postecoglou's Spurs sharper, and United fall away. The midfield battle was a whitewash, which put the defence on the back foot and left the forwards unable to have any impact.

Subs of Sancho, Eriksen and Dalot helped matters a little, and late additions of Martial and Pellistri didn't get much chance to impact, but all in all it felt like the end of the road for Erik Ten Hag's current strategy with this first XI.

Midfield cannot control a game at present. Amrabat, or even McTominay, might bring some balance to proceedings. The problem is Mount; he's an ideal rotation with Bruno, or a 10 if Bruno's an 8. We know the captain CAN play as an 8, so why is ETH not pushing that matter?

Beyond that, a lack of a CF is criminal. Greenwood shouldn't return but United also have an injured Højlund who's yet to make his debut (and is 20) and an Anthony Martial who is seemingly fit? but also as reliable as a Tory MP. Rashford is being asked to lead the line as a wing forward who likes to stretch a defence. Two different styles.

We face Arsenal soon but Nottingham Forest are next. Rashford left, Sancho right, Martial no9. Lets see how that works for us. Similarly, fucking buy Amrabat already. He's cheap. We're just bad at sales. Van de Beek's sale is dragging. Bailly is still here despite his fee being £0 for prospective buyers. Williams and McTominay might go. These are all tasks for the pre-season, not post-kick off. We should have the funds from these sales to bring in Amrabat and maybe Pavard. It's frustrating that we're still seeing shortages in the team.

I know, I know, Mount was £60m, you get Amrabat and Pavard for his fee. It's true. I still think he has a lot to offer though and needs time to bed in, to understand. He tries hard, has good technical skill, and I think will perform better than Antony's first season. Pressure is far higher at United than Chelsea though, especially after a tough year with injury, Chelsea's managerial merry-go-round... it's hard to settle mentally.

We're only two games in. This isn't disaster territory. It isn't as bad as last year either. Both our opponents had new manager bounce too. We just have to fix up quickly and click, because Arsenal and Brighton are in better shape than Spurs and will do a number on us. Maybe the old baptism of fire might galvanise the squad, but I don't back these lads under the cosh too much. Plucky game vs Barca? Sure. Underdog vibes, shit's exciting. League vs Brighton, who constantly trouble us? We'll panic or get frustrated and sulk our way out of a gameplan and into a 3-0 panning.

[scoatneyhall]

This except Jamie is going back to City before any other big six clubs.

In order, the big six Clubs Jamie would play for: #1 City, #2 Chelsea, #3 Liverpool, #4 Spurs (those two are maybe tied depending on whether he wants to leave London or not and how well Spurs do in the next few years. I'd prefer Spurs, the idea of Jamie in a red shirt of any description makes me sick unless it's England away) #5 Arsenal (a personal decision I've made due to them harbouring a rapist, Jamie ain't going there to me) and then like.... literally any other club in Europe, then... #537 Manchester United.

Anyway he deserves to go back to City as soon as he's done with Richmond and reclaim his birthright and shit. He will be so happy there.

Also I might be misinterpreting this but just so everyone knows, he can absolutely bang the coach in peace even while playing for Richmond. I promise you that this is allowed and not a breach of conduct or against the rules. Of course every case is different, in terms of personal ethics someone COULD be exploited in this situation, but in women's football it has happened a fair few times - relationships marriages between players and coaches where there was no issue at all within the club. Pauline Cope played as goalie while her partner was the manager at Charlton, for 6 years together. There was another player Mo Marley at Everton who played for her husband when he was the club's manager and then when she eventually retired she stole his job. As in, he was let go and she took over from him as manager. They are still together. This is not only fine but extremely funny to me.

There was another time at Fulham Ladies when the club hired both a new head coach and new midfielder who were already married and had a kid, as in, they arrived as a set. Anyway there are quite a few player/coach relationships in women's football, they are usually the most successful and least questionable when the player is good enough to not even be able to benefit from any extra special treatment, like, as in, they're always going to be a starter and not get unfairly selected. Actually, let me pull out a quote about the Fulham people. Not linking, because it's the Daily Mail, but here's the whole thing:

Rachel Yankey, who won 139 caps for England, was at Fulham when the Haugeneses arrived.

'They were signed fully knowing they were married,' she told Sportsmail. 

'You would never have known they were in a relationship. They had a kid together and we all knew. They kept their personal life and professional life very separate. It was never a problem. She was never treated any differently: in fact maybe she was treated harder because he didn't want to show favouritism.'

Yankey believes more relationships could exist in the men's game that have not been made public.

'There aren't many women working in the men's game and no-one has come out as gay, so if there are gay relationships going on we would never hear about it,' she said. Just because we don't hear about those relationships doesn't mean they're not happening.'

Point is, Roy and Jamie could absolutely functionally exist as a couple when Roy is the manager and Jamie is the star player on the team. Jamie being the star player means that he's earned his place on the starting line up by being good, not by fucking the coach. Given they're already extremely fucking weird about each other, and that Jamie's whole power dynamic thing with Roy stems from Roy being a childhood hero, not his coach... the job titles they hold really don't get in the way of them being the total freaks they are about each other and I think that's very sexy of them.

do you think richmond wins the treble next year (to you)? i know it's unrealistic but i want itttt. at the very least the premier league they have to win. like, jamie deserves to win a trophy with his besties before he moves on to chelsea/psg/wtv so he can reach his full potential AND bang his fave coach in peace <3

It IS unrealistic but LIVE YOUR DREAMS.

I could see a multiple-trophy season as, like, a culmination of Jamie's years at Richmond, their golden years etc, but honestly not any S4-ish timeline because the stars really have to align for a continental treble, and the Champions League especially is such a wild card (and Richmond have never even been in the UCL before!) You need a well-honed team with deep pockets at Richmond in S3 are just starting to play with the cool kids. BUT maybe they get super lucky because everyone else gets super unlucky, who knows? LIVE YOUR DREAMS

Anyway they absolutely have it in them to win one (1) trophy next season,at least. I believe in them. (Which in turn would block City from winning their treble, though since the show is one year behind. Sorry City)

Also: fun fact, Roy's background at Chelsea from early-00s to mid-10s means that he's a double winner, because Chelsea won the FA Cup and the League title in 2010. That man has so many medals at home.