Association Football 2020/21

[Fight for Trump]

Brilliant win for St Mirren to beat Rangers, who are unbeaten in domestic and European competition this season, in the Scottish League Cup. Obviously, if Rangers have to lose, I would rather it be in meaningless competitions like the Scottish League Cup, but credit has to go to St Mirren, who were massive underdogs.

Also, West Brom is officially in panic mode, signing Big Sam. I disagree with the move, as they were actually playing decent football under Bilic, and Big Sam is a greedy old mercenary and tactical dinosaur. They're in 19th with what is probably the 18th or 19th-best squad in the league...

Allardyce is not a dinosaur. Allardyce has never been relegated from the Premier League. Dinosaurs got relegated 65 million years ago and haven't recovered since.

Allardyce takes teams that are not that bad, has them play long ball football, getting mediocre results, and survives. He's never managed a truly small club in the past 20 years. Just decent or better clubs that happened to be in bad form. Bolton is 12th (although not really a big club by the time he took charge), Newcastle is 7th, West Ham is 17th, Blackburn is 13th, Sunderland is 10th, and Everton is freaking 1st in all-time seasons in the English top flight. He couldn't keep the likes of Brighton or Bournemouth up.

[The Houstonian]

Brilliant win for St Mirren to beat Rangers, who are unbeaten in domestic and European competition this season, in the Scottish League Cup. Obviously, if Rangers have to lose, I would rather it be in meaningless competitions like the Scottish League Cup, but credit has to go to St Mirren, who were massive underdogs.

Also, West Brom is officially in panic mode, signing Big Sam. I disagree with the move, as they were actually playing decent football under Bilic, and Big Sam is a greedy old mercenary and tactical dinosaur. They're in 19th with what is probably the 18th or 19th-best squad in the league...

Allardyce is not a dinosaur. Allardyce has never been relegated from the Premier League. Dinosaurs got relegated 65 million years ago and haven't recovered since.

Allardyce takes teams that are not that bad, has them play long ball football, getting mediocre results, and survives. Other than Bolton, he hasn't managed a truly small club in the past 20 years. Just decent or better clubs that happened to be in bad form.

Sunderland have been in bad form for the past four years. Crystal Palace also experienced some bad form after he left, but they coincidentally recovered in spite of hiring another mediocre English dinosaur.

[Fight for Trump]

Brilliant win for St Mirren to beat Rangers, who are unbeaten in domestic and European competition this season, in the Scottish League Cup. Obviously, if Rangers have to lose, I would rather it be in meaningless competitions like the Scottish League Cup, but credit has to go to St Mirren, who were massive underdogs.

Also, West Brom is officially in panic mode, signing Big Sam. I disagree with the move, as they were actually playing decent football under Bilic, and Big Sam is a greedy old mercenary and tactical dinosaur. They're in 19th with what is probably the 18th or 19th-best squad in the league...

Allardyce is not a dinosaur. Allardyce has never been relegated from the Premier League. Dinosaurs got relegated 65 million years ago and haven't recovered since.

Allardyce takes teams that are not that bad, has them play long ball football, getting mediocre results, and survives. Other than Bolton, he hasn't managed a truly small club in the past 20 years. Just decent or better clubs that happened to be in bad form.

Sunderland have been in bad form for the past four years. Crystal Palace also experienced some bad form after he left, but they coincidentally recovered in spite of hiring another mediocre English dinosaur.

Sunderland is a massive club that is unfortunately in the 3rd division right now, just like Newcastle, Man City, Leicester, and Norwich (actually more of a 2nd division club) have been in recent years. When they were in the Premier League, they had the brand name and the talent to stay up.

Allardyce is just fortunate to have carved out a name for himself as a mercenary survival specialist. Whenever a team called on him in the past 15 years, it has been a sign of desperation.

[The Houstonian]

Brilliant win for St Mirren to beat Rangers, who are unbeaten in domestic and European competition this season, in the Scottish League Cup. Obviously, if Rangers have to lose, I would rather it be in meaningless competitions like the Scottish League Cup, but credit has to go to St Mirren, who were massive underdogs.

Also, West Brom is officially in panic mode, signing Big Sam. I disagree with the move, as they were actually playing decent football under Bilic, and Big Sam is a greedy old mercenary and tactical dinosaur. They're in 19th with what is probably the 18th or 19th-best squad in the league...

Allardyce is not a dinosaur. Allardyce has never been relegated from the Premier League. Dinosaurs got relegated 65 million years ago and haven't recovered since.

Allardyce takes teams that are not that bad, has them play long ball football, getting mediocre results, and survives. Other than Bolton, he hasn't managed a truly small club in the past 20 years. Just decent or better clubs that happened to be in bad form.

Sunderland have been in bad form for the past four years. Crystal Palace also experienced some bad form after he left, but they coincidentally recovered in spite of hiring another mediocre English dinosaur.

Sunderland is a massive club that is unfortunately in the 3rd division right now, just like Newcastle, Man City, Leicester, and Norwich¹ (actually more of a 2nd division club) have been in recent years. When they were in the Premier League, they had the brand name and the talent² to stay up.

¹I'd be surprised if any of these teams have played third division football since I was born.
²Does this include the talented trio of Borini, Lens, and Rodwell?

[Fight for Trump]

Brilliant win for St Mirren to beat Rangers, who are unbeaten in domestic and European competition this season, in the Scottish League Cup. Obviously, if Rangers have to lose, I would rather it be in meaningless competitions like the Scottish League Cup, but credit has to go to St Mirren, who were massive underdogs.

Also, West Brom is officially in panic mode, signing Big Sam. I disagree with the move, as they were actually playing decent football under Bilic, and Big Sam is a greedy old mercenary and tactical dinosaur. They're in 19th with what is probably the 18th or 19th-best squad in the league...

Allardyce is not a dinosaur. Allardyce has never been relegated from the Premier League. Dinosaurs got relegated 65 million years ago and haven't recovered since.

Allardyce takes teams that are not that bad, has them play long ball football, getting mediocre results, and survives. Other than Bolton, he hasn't managed a truly small club in the past 20 years. Just decent or better clubs that happened to be in bad form.

Sunderland have been in bad form for the past four years. Crystal Palace also experienced some bad form after he left, but they coincidentally recovered in spite of hiring another mediocre English dinosaur.

Sunderland is a massive club that is unfortunately in the 3rd division right now, just like Newcastle, Man City, Leicester, and Norwich¹ (actually more of a 2nd division club) have been in recent years. When they were in the Premier League, they had the brand name and the talent² to stay up.

¹I'd be surprised if any of these teams have played third division football since I was born.
²Does this include the talented trio of Borini, Lens, and Rodwell?

Okay, I misremembered Newcastle being in League One (must've been thinking of Leeds), but unless you're like 10 years old, the others famously have. Norwich was in League One in 2010, Leicester was in League One in 2009, and Man City were in League One in 1999.

[The Houstonian]

Brilliant win for St Mirren to beat Rangers, who are unbeaten in domestic and European competition this season, in the Scottish League Cup. Obviously, if Rangers have to lose, I would rather it be in meaningless competitions like the Scottish League Cup, but credit has to go to St Mirren, who were massive underdogs.

Also, West Brom is officially in panic mode, signing Big Sam. I disagree with the move, as they were actually playing decent football under Bilic, and Big Sam is a greedy old mercenary and tactical dinosaur. They're in 19th with what is probably the 18th or 19th-best squad in the league...

Allardyce is not a dinosaur. Allardyce has never been relegated from the Premier League. Dinosaurs got relegated 65 million years ago and haven't recovered since.

Allardyce takes teams that are not that bad, has them play long ball football, getting mediocre results, and survives. Other than Bolton, he hasn't managed a truly small club in the past 20 years. Just decent or better clubs that happened to be in bad form.

Sunderland have been in bad form for the past four years. Crystal Palace also experienced some bad form after he left, but they coincidentally recovered in spite of hiring another mediocre English dinosaur.

Sunderland is a massive club that is unfortunately in the 3rd division right now, just like Newcastle, Man City, Leicester, and Norwich¹ (actually more of a 2nd division club) have been in recent years. When they were in the Premier League, they had the brand name and the talent² to stay up.

¹I'd be surprised if any of these teams have played third division football since I was born.
²Does this include the talented trio of Borini, Lens, and Rodwell?

Okay, I misremembered Newcastle being in League One (must've been thinking of Leeds), but unless you're like 10 years old, the others famously have. Norwich was in League One in 2010, Leicester was in League One in 2009, and Man City were in League One in 1999.

I stand corrected. Still, Norwich and Leicester spent one season there, and Sunderland is going into their third.

[Mike88]

Benfica was almost disqualified yesterday in the competition many considered, myself included, to be "created" specifically for Benfica, the Taça da Liga. They tied with Guimarães 1-1 in regular time, but won the penalties by 4-1.

[Fight for Trump]

France Football stole the Ballon d'Or from Lewangoalski for no good reason, but finally FIFA of all organizations made things right and gave him The Best award or whatever their equivalent is called. Easily the best striker since van Basten.

[Fight for Trump]

Will Arteta be able to stay in his job until the new year if he loses at Goodison tomorrow? As stern of a test Everton will be, it won't get any easier with Man City and Chelsea coming up... Let's be real, even as an Arteta admirer, 15th in December is a disgraceful position for the 3rd-biggest club in England.

Anyway, I have Everton-Arsenal 1 as one of the best value bets for tomorrow. Southampton-Man City 1X, Fiorentina-Verona 2, Leverkusen-Bayern 1X, Schalke-Arminia 2, VVV-Venlo-Twente 1X are also pretty good, imo.

[NewYorkExpress]

Will Arteta be able to stay in his job until the new year if he loses at Goodison tomorrow? As stern of a test Everton will be, it won't get any easier with Man City and Chelsea coming up... Let's be real, even as an Arteta admirer, 15th in December is a disgraceful position for the 3rd-biggest club in England.

I think it's slightly more likely that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gets canned at Manchester United, given the drastic disparity between their results in the Champions League/Europa League and the Premier League.

[Alcibiades]

Will Arteta be able to stay in his job until the new year if he loses at Goodison tomorrow? As stern of a test Everton will be, it won't get any easier with Man City and Chelsea coming up... Let's be real, even as an Arteta admirer, 15th in December is a disgraceful position for the 3rd-biggest club in England.

Anyway, I have Everton-Arsenal 1 as one of the best value bets for tomorrow. Southampton-Man City 1X, Fiorentina-Verona 2, Leverkusen-Bayern 1X, Schalke-Arminia 2, VVV-Venlo-Twente 1X are also pretty good, imo.

I do hope Arteta stays, as I think he actually has some sort of long-term plan/philosophy. Obviously our performances so far have been appalling, but I think that they are more indicative of bad luck and blips in form than longer-term structural problems.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Napoli win our appeal to reschedule the Juventus match! Didn't even play after losing two in a row and elevated to third on the table! Now let's hope Fiorentina finishes their job!

[Battista Minola 1616]

Napoli win our appeal to reschedule the Juventus match! Didn't even play after losing two in a row and elevated to third on the table! Now let's hope Fiorentina finishes their job!

Cuadrado got expelled early on in the game so I'd say Fiorentina has it easy... but we'll see in an hour.

Meanwhile, Spezia lost Sunday, but since it lost against Inter, I can't say I'm disappointed. Atalanta destroying Roma was just beautiful instead.

Also: NEW RECORD. During Sassuolo-Milan Leão scored a goal in less than 7", breaking the record for the fastest goal in the history of Serie A!

[Fight for Trump]

lol Arsenal. If you want easy money at this point, just bet against them in every match. They always have people putting money on them because of their brand name.

[Battista Minola 1616]

lol Arsenal. If you want easy money at this point, just bet against them in every match. They always have people putting money on them because of their brand name.

Lmao

In other news, Fiorentina did indeed finish its job, steamrolling Juventus 3-0 in Turin. Actually, when was the last time Juve lost home by 3 goals in Serie A?? Must be a long time.

[Fight for Trump]

lol Arsenal. If you want easy money at this point, just bet against them in every match. They always have people putting money on them because of their brand name.

Lmao

In other news, Fiorentina did indeed finish its job, steamrolling Juventus 3-0 in Turin. Actually, when was the last time Juve lost home by 3 goals in Serie A?? Must be a long time.

Even if Milan don't win the Scudetto this year, which they have to be considered favorites to do at this point, the fact that they're doing it with a young team instead of big-name veterans like Inter or Juve, might mean they're headed for a run as the best team in Serie A.

[NewYorkExpress]

Couple of good matchups in the Carabao Cup tomorrow.

We've got Stoke City/Tottenham and Everton/Manchester United.

[Mike88]

FCPorto just won the Portuguese Super Cup against Benfica 2-0:

https://twitter.com/FCPorto/status/1341881404125302786

[NewYorkExpress]

Thomas Tuchel sacked at PSG, Mauricio Pochettino is the likely replacement.

[Fight for Trump]

God has given Mikel Arteta a bloody Christmas miracle.

[Fight for Trump]

Everton win their first ever match without Richarlison since he signed for them 2.5 years ago...

[JGibson]

God has given Mikel Arteta a bloody Christmas miracle.

As a Gunners fan, I am very pleased Arsenal got a big 3-1 win over Chelsea today. That was a vital three points for us in the table. AlexandreLacazette, Granit Xhaka, and Bukayo Saka scored goals for us. Leno stopped a late penalty from Jorginho (last year's villain who should've been sent off only to tie the game up 1-1) to keep it 3-1.  Please keep the 4-2-3-1 as our formation!

[Fight for Trump]

Thank you Fat Sam for parking that double-decker bus.

[The Houstonian]

Thank you Fat Sam for parking that double-decker bus.

I told you he was a good manager.

[Fight for Trump]

Thank you Fat Sam for parking that double-decker bus.

I told you he was a good manager.

He's not a good manager, lol. Slaven Bilic drew with Man City, a much better team than Liverpool, playing much better football. Liverpool were outplayed by Midtjylland not long ago.

"Sam Allardyce is a good manager" is something no person who knows anything about soccer has ever said.