51 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

It's done mate.

The "expert" YouTube fans will tell you "the league is not won in october".

DamaGe is done though. Pool and city have dropped too many points amd that Arsenal defensive structure is just too damn good this season.

Remind me of Jose's first stint. We knew all we needed was one goal, out defence was keeping a clean sheet most games.

I agree. And they are not even that good. Lucky against Newcastle and average against Fulham and Palace. But they are defensively very solid.

I knew Liverpool would be bad and I think I even wrote it here in this topic somwhere, their transfers were nothing special and Salah and Van Dijk are on the decline, it is funny how Liverpool put their trust into two ageing players and offered them those mammoth contracts.

For me it's shocking how bad City are and I think they also managed to make a mess of their transfers and also Guardiola has lost his spark. They were my hope of stopping Arsenal, but they are dross and very soft.

21 years since they last won the league. Absolutely insane how that fanbase are as arrogant as they are.

If they finally do it this season, it’s been a good run at least. Imagine if we end up waiting that long.. with the current situation at the club, it makes you wonder.

37 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

It's already over. Liverpool are awful this season, City are no better than last season. Arsenal will be clear by Christmas.

Yup. Now we have to hope psg are still good enough to beat them in the CL.

8 minutes ago, Term_X said:

21 years since they last won the league. Absolutely insane how that fanbase are as arrogant as they are.

If they finally do it this season, it’s been a good run at least. Imagine if we end up waiting that long.. with the current situation at the club, it makes you wonder.

End of next season will be 10 years since contes win.

whoa we are halfway there...

Shaping up to be an abysmal season all round.

55 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

My fear now is Arsenal winning the CL.

Spurs winning as well. What a weekend.

We could get spanked next week

7 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Spurs winning as well. What a weekend.

They’re were unbeaten in the PL at their new stadium as well. Spurs getting one in for the future pub quiz questions..

31 minutes ago, The Boehly Babes said:

Shaping up to be an abysmal season all round.

Been the case since their decision in sticking with Sanchez.

2 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Spurs winning as well. What a weekend.

I had that sh*t bag Van de Ven on the bench in my fantasy football too. 20 points down the drain.

Time to bin football, the good times are over 😆

9 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

It's already over. Liverpool are awful this season, City are no better than last season. Arsenal will be clear by Christmas.

Not a chance. That is unsustainable

3 hours ago, markpitts said:

Not a chance. That is unsustainable

In 04-05, after 9 games, we only scored 8 goals in total, 4 of them were from set pieces, another 4 from open play. We dominated the league and won by 12 points.

Eventually, they are going to start scoring more goals from open play, and with that defence, it's going to win them the league title.

Things may be different if City and Liverpool were in top form, but they're not, and they're already 6 and 7 points behind, so who's going to stop them?

The only thing that is likely to stop Arsenal is Arsenal f**king everything up again as usual.

23 hours ago, markpitts said:

Not a chance. That is unsustainable

Maybe but as long as they concede 0.5xg/games, they will be in contention.

Edited October 28, 2025Oct 28 by Bob stark

On 27/10/2025 at 12:31, markpitts said:

Not a chance. That is unsustainable

Why?

No team can prevent set pieces. They attack to win field position and fouls.

As long as they keep winning corners and fouls they can maintain their defence. Teams can't even sit back because that is inviting set-piece pressure. They don't actually have to attack with more than a few players. It's a very sustainable way of playing.

The problem will only come after the first loss, it depends whether that will be a blip or a slide.

11 minutes ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Why?

No team can prevent set pieces. They attack to win field position and fouls.

As long as they keep winning corners and fouls they can maintain their defence. Teams can't even sit back because that is inviting set-piece pressure. They don't actually have to attack with more than a few players. It's a very sustainable way of playing.

The problem will only come after the first loss, it depends whether that will be a blip or a slide.

And therein lies the problem. I just feel there is an element of “Spurs” with Arsenal, and you just know one loss could lead to them Spiralling. You also look at the side, and there are no real winners in the side.

PL seems to be shifting towards the dark old days with the classic “9”, long throws and goals from corner kicks. It will be interesting to see how they do against the ugly side like Sunderland and Burnley.

18 minutes ago, markpitts said:

And therein lies the problem. I just feel there is an element of “Spurs” with Arsenal, and you just know one loss could lead to them Spiralling. You also look at the side, and there are no real winners in the side.

PL seems to be shifting towards the dark old days with the classic “9”, long throws and goals from corner kicks. It will be interesting to see how they do against the ugly side like Sunderland and Burnley.

I agree. They are the only team that can stop themselves and that is why Arteta gets far too much praise, they should have had 2-3 titles in the last 5 years and have won nothing. They are not an example to be followed.

I don't mind the shift back towards set-pieces. I've always thought they were important and they are one of the most exciting "1v1" situations in football. I think there was a long period, post-2000 until recently, where set-pieces were way undercoached and underrated, and I think that had a lot to do with the shift away from the 'tactical' battles of Serie A to the EPL and La Liga's dominance. From 2010 onwards I think it was at its most dire where all the great direct FK takers had retired and Juan Mata was seemingly the only player on Earth who could get a corner past the first man.

Interestingly, as good as Mourinho's Chelsea was at set-pieces, Terry says that Mourinho never trained them and famously hated including it in sessions. All the set plays were organised by the players themselves.

I actually find it hard to be critical of set pieces, I watched us win our first ever FA Cup via a long throw !

What baffles me though is near post corners, they drive me mental . We seem to have got more dangerous from corners this season, especially if we don't use the near post tactic .

12 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

I agree. They are the only team that can stop themselves and that is why Arteta gets far too much praise, they should have had 2-3 titles in the last 5 years and have won nothing. They are not an example to be followed.

I don't mind the shift back towards set-pieces. I've always thought they were important and they are one of the most exciting "1v1" situations in football. I think there was a long period, post-2000 until recently, where set-pieces were way undercoached and underrated, and I think that had a lot to do with the shift away from the 'tactical' battles of Serie A to the EPL and La Liga's dominance. From 2010 onwards I think it was at its most dire where all the great direct FK takers had retired and Juan Mata was seemingly the only player on Earth who could get a corner past the first man.

Interestingly, as good as Mourinho's Chelsea was at set-pieces, Terry says that Mourinho never trained them and famously hated including it in sessions. All the set plays were organised by the players themselves.

I read somewhere that José was dismissive of corners and said English fans were the only fans he knew that got excited about the award of a corner.!

How does Turkish football recover from this?

8 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

How does Turkish football recover from this?

Much like Calciopoli in the end, nothing. If all the big teams are affected equally it will be hand-waved away by the league. FIFA are not going to take action.

It is unlikely they were doing result betting, as has been evidenced around the world, the profit comes from organised crime laundering money via bets on incidentals (eg number of corners, cards given, total fouls etc.).

BBC Sport

Tony Pulis column: 'I was seen as a dinosaur but I don't...

In his first BBC Sport column, Tony Pulis looks at the rise in set-piece goals this season and explains why he always thought they were important and how focusing on them is nothing new.

The innovator..decades ahead of the game.

Still find it crazy a large number of top PL teams bought a classic No 9 this summer, and are now reluctant to rain in crosses.

Anyone understand what Slot was upto?

A team with no proper striker and the whole bench was full of kids

Another masterclass from Liverpool hahaha. Slot throwing a tantrum with that team selection, feeling the pressure Arne?

Its not so easy this English football is it. The "Liverpool way"my arse !

Id rather walk alone 😎