Whale.io 🐳 | ⚽ English Premier League Season: 2025/2026

[igebotz]

Oook, so it looks like the clubs who were expected to be in the top 4, got in the top 4.    And for a bad season, Man City is just three points behind Arsenal.  That's not bad imho.  And as for Guardiola, it's gonna be interesting what City is gonna do with his demands to sell around 10 players as he explicitly said the team is bloated and that he's having a hard time managing a lot of players.

Let's see how he could make his squad leaner.  It could go easily same as the last season and be bad again or he could turn it around and win the league.  The haters would hate to see that tho.    But that's football.  Not sure why there's hate in the beautiful game.

Trimming down an oversized squad is another difficult job, never as easy as we see it from the outside - few managers could not do it at Chelsea and left, it's a sad situation where you're forced to let go of the unwanted players as well as some of the good ones to balance the books, and if the club is not able to get these players out successfully, then you're left with another tough decision to either let them be part of the team and manage an oversized squad or have balls to leave them out of the team completely till they sort out their future..

Looking forward to how he's going to handle all that before new season.

If there's no hate and banter, the beautiful sports will be boring like Crickets.

[JollyGood]

I think it is clear the mindset of various club owners around the world has changed. Owners, players and fans simply do not view Guardiola in the same light. As you stated, clubs have not come in offering him a way out of Manchester City even though they know he is unhappy there.

Getting exposed and no clubs are coming for him. Alot has changed since last season.

[igebotz]

I think it is clear the mindset of various club owners around the world has changed. Owners, players and fans simply do not view Guardiola in the same light. As you stated, clubs have not come in offering him a way out of Manchester City even though they know he is unhappy there.

Getting exposed and no clubs are coming for him. Alot has changed since last season.

Yeah football has changed - every club wants to build for a longer term and not just buy best players on the market for a short term success ( just how Pep built City) with huge wages.

He may likely end up in one of those Saudi or American football clubs with unlimited resources to get whatever he wants..
 

[JollyGood]

If the Real Madrid and Alonso partnership works out it could be a very long term relationship for them. If Alonso manages to build a team around his style of play and then keeps it going he might be at Real Madrid for 10 years. Their fans can be tough but if Alonso gets a good start, he might win them over. It is a sham he did not manage in the Premier League.

As for Guardiola, after he leaves Manchester City he will have a break and then eventually manage an international team for major tournament.

Yeah football has changed - every club wants to build for a longer term and not just buy best players on the market for a short term success ( just how Pep built City) with huge wages.

He may likely end up in one of those Saudi or American football clubs with unlimited resources to get whatever he wants..
 

[igebotz]

If he Real Madrid and Alonso partnership works out it could be a very long term relationship for them. If Alonso manages to build a team around his style of play and then keeps it going he might be at Real Madrid for 10 years. Their fans can be tough but if Alonso gets a good start, he might win them over. It is a sham he did not manage in the Premier League.

As for Guardiola, after he leaves Manchester City he will have a break and then eventually manage an international team for major tournament.

Has any Manager stayed at Real Madrid more than 5 years since 200s ? They've had the best managers in the world, had all the success but none has stayed more than 5-6 years. You can do 99 for Real Madrid and the remaining 1% can still get you gone- that's how rude less the system is.

International management would be a perfect fit for Pep- at least he can assemble the best players from his local without spending a dime.

[tokeweed]

Oook, so it looks like the clubs who were expected to be in the top 4, got in the top 4.    And for a bad season, Man City is just three points behind Arsenal.  That's not bad imho.  And as for Guardiola, it's gonna be interesting what City is gonna do with his demands to sell around 10 players as he explicitly said the team is bloated and that he's having a hard time managing a lot of players.

Let's see how he could make his squad leaner.  It could go easily same as the last season and be bad again or he could turn it around and win the league.  The haters would hate to see that tho.    But that's football.  Not sure why there's hate in the beautiful game.

Trimming down an oversized squad is another difficult job, never as easy as we see it from the outside - few managers could not do it at Chelsea and left, it's a sad situation where you're forced to let go of the unwanted players as well as some of the good ones to balance the books, and if the club is not able to get these players out successfully, then you're left with another tough decision to either let them be part of the team and manage an oversized squad or have balls to leave them out of the team completely till they sort out their future..

Looking forward to how he's going to handle all that before new season.

If there's no hate and banter, the beautiful sports will be boring like Crickets.

Banter is good, but actually hate?  I never felt like that mostly unless it's really really cringe.  But I love everything mostly in the beautiful game. 

But at City, I think Pep Guardiola wants to trim down the squad because he's having a hard time managing it rather than balancing the books.  And with how Guardiola is, we know he already has a list of players to let go.

And it's gonna he Txiki's problem.  Lol.

[igebotz]

Banter is good, but actually hate?  I never felt like that mostly unless it's really really cringe.  But I love everything mostly in the beautiful game. 

But at City, I think Pep Guardiola wants to trim down the squad because he's having a hard time managing it rather than balancing the books.  And with how Guardiola is, we know he already has a list of players to let go.

And it's gonna he Txiki's problem.  Lol.

Anyone who hates a footballer outside of the pitch is a loser - I'm Messi fan and I dislike Ronaldo everytime he kicks the ball but outside football - I have zero hate for him.

Stone, Gundogan and Matheus Nunes should be on the list of outgoing players if they're any serious about overhauling.  Txiki is gonna go bald soon. Lol 

[CLS63]

By the way after Leeds and Burnley, the last team promoting to the Premier League became Sunderland as you know. It was a bit surprising though as I was expecting Sheffield Utd instead.

All the teams promoted last season ended this season in the relegation zone. What do you think will happen this time? These teams are actually getting tons of money from TV rights and so on. But we don't see many of them being able to cling to the Premier League.

[igebotz]

By the way after Leeds and Burnley, the last team promoting to the Premier League became Sunderland as you know. It was a bit surprising though as I was expecting Sheffield Utd instead.

All the teams promoted last season ended this season in the relegation zone. What do you think will happen this time? These teams are actually getting tons of money from TV rights and so on. But we don't see many of them being able to cling to the Premier League.

I hate seeing Burnley come back after the shit they did in their last promotion, as well as Leeds; I'm sick of watching these clubs rotate promotion among themselves every season.  Wanted Sunderland; reminds me of the last time they were in the Premier League. Who remembers Sunderland's Guud Johnson?  Prior to his jail time, he was one of my favourite players.

Burnley, Leeds and Sunderland won't survive- alot has changed in the league..

[tokeweed]

Stone, Gundogan and Matheus Nunes should be on the list of outgoing players if they're any serious about overhauling.  Txiki is gonna go bald soon. Lol 

Yup...    But hey, he has to give what the manager wants.  If he wants a lean squad that's easier manage every week then that's what he should have.  The club's top brass still wants to win some trophies don't they?

But yeah, next season will be the moment of truth for those guys.  If they still look poor then it's really time for the manager to go or the squad needs a total rebuild.  Most of these players have been with Guardiola for a decent amount of time...  It's kinda how Poch was at Tottenham.  After 4 years the players just needed something new.

[JollyGood]

It will not have come as a surprise to many that Southampton, Ipswich Town and Leicester City were relegated from the Premier League. These three were the teams that gained promotion only to be relegated immediately. I think the same will probably have happen to Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland.

By the way after Leeds and Burnley, the last team promoting to the Premier League became Sunderland as you know. It was a bit surprising though as I was expecting Sheffield Utd instead.

All the teams promoted last season ended this season in the relegation zone. What do you think will happen this time? These teams are actually getting tons of money from TV rights and so on. But we don't see many of them being able to cling to the Premier League.

[CLS63]

I also think the same as you guys for now. These newcomers in the Premier League all can find themselves relegated by the end of next season.

Because it is really not easy to close that gap with Premier League teams. Forest must be the most successful team among them in the recent years. For 2 years they fought to stay in the league. Now they have qualified for a UEFA tournament.

[igebotz]

I also think the same as you guys for now. These newcomers in the Premier League all can find themselves relegated by the end of next season.

Because it is really not easy to close that gap with Premier League teams. Forest must be the most successful team among them in the recent years. For 2 years they fought to stay in the league. Now they have qualified for a UEFA tournament.

They bought their way to the top, something we should not forget, and they released 98% of the players who led them to the Premier League, bringing in a total of 25 new players last season--not every promoted team has that much to spend on players.  It is difficult to survive in the Premier League without a sugar daddy who's ready to spend

There has been a lot of transfer movements recently - no one is going for Osimhen?

[buwaytress]

Someone who can entertain me here: is there any Premier League action going on here that I've been missing out on? Just want to make sure I'm donating my money to the right causes nexts season

There has been a lot of transfer movements recently - no one is going for Osimhen?

I didn't get this either. Was already expecting United to go for him last season, and then someone else surely. But not even a whisper from Prem this season. Proven goalscorer, great instincts, absolute beast... I would think at least midtable interest but nothing. Criminal.

[JollyGood]

I also think the same as you guys for now. These newcomers in the Premier League all can find themselves relegated by the end of next season.

That is the likely trend because of the gap between the established teams and the newly promoted teams is massive. They might have to buy some big names in the hope of avoiding relegation but it will be very difficult.

There has been a lot of transfer movements recently - no one is going for Osimhen?

There is plenty of time for a Premier League team to find a way to sign Osimhen. He is the type of player that deserves to play in the Premier League. Rumours linking him to Manchester United and Chelsea have persisted therefore something might happen.

[igebotz]

Someone who can entertain me here: is there any Premier League action going on here that I've been missing out on? Just want to make sure I'm donating my money to the right causes nexts season

We've been burning the kitchen here and Jolly is doing a great job filtering out the spammers - this is one of my favorite English league thread. BTW no Pool action is going on here, just pure discussion and banter.

I didn't get this either. Was already expecting United to go for him last season, and then someone else surely. But not even a whisper from Prem this season. Proven goalscorer, great instincts, absolute beast... I would think at least midtable interest but nothing. Criminal.

They didn't think he's worth 250k/week but we have Mount, Kai Havertz, Sterling and Rashford bagging more than that weekly meanwhile none of these players can lace Osimhen's boots currently. It's pure criminal at this point.

There is plenty of time for a Premier League team to find a way to sign Osimhen. He is the type of player that deserves to play in the Premier League. Rumours linking him to Manchester United and Chelsea have persisted therefore something might happen.

Every clubs are going in for their first striker choice and no one has discussed or had contact with Osimhen - are you saying he's a 2nd choice striker?

[JollyGood]

There are strong possibilities Osimhen could join Arsenal because of the photo that was taken in London with and Arteta standing together posing. Also, his links to a possible move to Manchester United have not dissipated either. Some Premier League teams do view him as a first choice striker but will not be able to meet his pay demands.

I think a player such as Osimhen will be fantastic in the Premier League.

Every clubs are going in for their first striker choice and no one has discussed or had contact with Osimhen - are you saying he's a 2nd choice striker?

[igebotz]

There are strong possibilities Osimhen could join Arsenal because of the photo that was taken in London with and Arteta standing together posing. Also, his links to a possible move to Manchester United have not dissipated either. Some Premier League teams do view him as a first choice striker but will not be able to met his pay demands.

I think a player such as Osimhen will be fantastic in the Premier League.

Every clubs are going in for their first striker choice and no one has discussed or had contact with Osimhen - are you saying he's a 2nd choice striker?

Isn't Arsenal in direct contact with Sesko?  I don't see how they can sign both high-profile attackers in the same summer; it's either Sesko or Gyokeres at this stage, or they may bottle both and play without a striker next season.

I want Osimhen in the Premier League as well, but if he doesn't get the respect and pay he deserves, I'd rather he stay at Gala for another season.

[JollyGood]

I do not know what is happening in the transfer market these days, I have to catch up on the rumours and reports. About Gyokeres, he is being linked with Arsenal but also with Manchester United. If he came to the Premier League I think there would be more chanced of him playing under his former manager Amorim at Manchester United rather than Arteta at Arsenal.

Isn't Arsenal in direct contact with Sesko?  I don't see how they can sign both high-profile attackers in the same summer; it's either Sesko or Gyokeres at this stage, or they may bottle both and play without a striker next season.

I want Osimhen in the Premier League as well, but if he doesn't get the respect and pay he deserves, I'd rather he stay at Gala for another season.

[JollyGood]

Tottenham have sacked Postecoglou just 16 days after winning the Europa League. He thought his job was safe because he won a European trophy (beating Manchester United in the final) but their form in the Premier League was extremely bad. Tottenham have not announced a replacement yet.