⚽ Premier League 2025/2026 Discussion Thread ⚽

[Palakka]

I have found a table showing which teams in the Premier League gave chances to teenagers and how many minutes they played as well. It is showing last season data.



Manchester United is topping this table as you can see which is no surprise to me. There are many really talented young players in their squad. Erik ten Hag loves to give all of them significant amount of time to play. This is very important for the development of these players. Maybe Manchester United didn't complete the season in a good place but I appreciated their vision on this topic. 

By the way Brighton is the one surprising me here. I didn't know they gave this many minutes to their young players. I shouldn't be surprised how they are making big profits in player sales. 

The table shows how fair English league clubs are to their young players, when we see that only a few young players are able to develop in other leagues, but English league clubs are actually starting to think ahead to shape the mentality and talent of their young players so that they continue to develop in the future, In my opinion, what Manchester United has done is very correct, although in fact perhaps playing young players is a compulsion for Ten Hag after last season many of their main players were injured, but apart from that, of course playing young players in important matches will give them advantage due to talent and mentality or perhaps also the selling value of the player will increase drastically in the future, last season they lost many of their main players due to injury so it is natural that they fielded many young players as replacements, but what surprised me was that Arsenal no longer seemed to be taking risks by young players last seasons, because maybe they have learned a lot from the failure of past times where the majority of players owned by Arsenal are very young.

[Dzwaafu11]

I think it is reasonable that Mauricio Pochettino has not been able to fulfill his promise because Chelsea did experience a serious decline in the previous season and the coach also needs time to be able to fulfill what is expected and since the time he took office as Chelsea coach he has improved Chelsea's performance and managed to finish better than the previous season, even though his contract at that time lasted 2 years if Todd Boehly had been more patient, Chelsea could have been in the top 3 in his second season, unfortunately the club was not that patient and they fired Pochettino at the end of the season.

If you say Chelsea faced serious criticism in their past season, then what are you going to say about their performance in the previous season before Pochettino comes in as a manager? The thing is that Chelsea wants a quick result, and it will be hard to achieve because I don't see why a coach is signing a team, and you will be expecting a trophy from that coach the same season he got in. No man is impossible; at least there should be enough time to see if he can be able to do it in two seasons.
 
Furthermore, Pochettino was able to restore Chelsea's performance towards the end of last season. I don't know if you see that, so it is surprising that you fired him after he failed to bring the trophy home. I think he tried his best for the little time he spent, and he deserves more time.

[LUCKMCFLY]

Manchester United have always been a very big team, right now they have a very good team, I think they have enough material to be champions, even if they don't find more players I think they're doing great

I don’t really understand you, do you really mean Manchester United have a very good team right now? I don’t really think so, because if they have a very good team, then they won’t have ended last season in the position in which they ended it. I am sure it would have been in a better position. and I don’t thing with the players that Manchester United are having currently, they are going to perform well next season.
 
If Manchester City wants to perform well next season, then there are some things that are supposed to be done. If Manchester maintains their last season squad, then they are still going to disappoint most of their fans because they won’t be able to achieve anything serious by next season. Ten Hag really has lots to work on.

What a great response. The load, and failures will not be on Erik Ten Hag. I'm even disappointed with the news I read today about Sir Jim Radcliffe telling Erik Ten Hag not to fight for the Premier League Competition. I sat back to ponder and wonder if that man is really a Manchester United fan.
It's also surprising to see Manchester United fans wanting change but they don't want certain players to leave the club. Some are even defending wacked and subpar players to remain with the club with high payrolls.

I have the same opinion. I have always wondered how he see's this Manchester United squad. Pep Guardiola would come into Manchester United and chase all of them. One thing I hate about Manchester United is that, they're not always brute and ruthless when it comes to things that propels the club standards higher. Worrying!!

Well, I start from something, if the changes that are going to occur in the club are for the well-being of the team, I think then one as a fan must adapt, this club when I was little inspired a lot of respect in me, because I saw it as the roughest club in English football , even in the football championships I went to, I was somewhat afraid of the English when they played because I know that their football is very rough, very similar to that of the Colombians, but it is a beautiful style, and that style belongs to MU, that is why not everyone plays in the PL currently, I want to see MU play in UCL finals, I want to see them beat City, that is the MU that we want to see.

[SOKO-DEKE]

I think it is reasonable that Mauricio Pochettino has not been able to fulfill his promise because Chelsea did experience a serious decline in the previous season and the coach also needs time to be able to fulfill what is expected and since the time he took office as Chelsea coach he has improved Chelsea's performance and managed to finish better than the previous season, even though his contract at that time lasted 2 years if Todd Boehly had been more patient, Chelsea could have been in the top 3 in his second season, unfortunately the club was not that patient and they fired Pochettino at the end of the season.

Honestly, if Chelsea's owner had been patient enough with Pochettino, Chelsea's performance might have improved significantly based on the improvements we witnessed towards the end of the season. I did not really expect that Pochettino should be sacked last season given his performance. Pochettino made Chelsea recover their performances, despite it not being as expected. Let's see what the new manager will do; maybe Chelsea's performances will improve as we expect next season.For now, I can't really say that the new head coach will be better than Pochettino, but if Chelsea's performance does not improve as much as fans expect, it will be regrettable to have sacked Pochettino. I just hope the new manager performs better than Pochettino.

[Oluwa-btc]

I have found a table showing which teams in the Premier League gave chances to teenagers and how many minutes they played as well. It is showing last season data.



Manchester United is topping this table as you can see which is no surprise to me. There are many really talented young players in their squad. Erik ten Hag loves to give all of them significant amount of time to play. This is very important for the development of these players. Maybe Manchester United didn't complete the season in a good place but I appreciated their vision on this topic. 

By the way Brighton is the one surprising me here. I didn't know they gave this many minutes to their young players. I shouldn't be surprised how they are making big profits in player sales. 

I can agree with the first two clubs above topping the charts on that list. Manchester United has been known for such Introduction of young players into the first team football. You can takeba peep backwards at the 1992 set of players used by Sir Alex Ferguson to even win the Premier League Competition. The second club should be because of Roberto De Zebri. Even from his time with Shakter Donetsk, he has been a great fan of young lads.

Kwabala, Kobbie Mainoo, And Garnacho were all academy players who came from the academy side and they all came in doing greatly. I have seen comments on Amad Diallo, for your information, he wasn't from the academy but brought in from Atalanta who were also good attacking side. Erik Ten Hag has been known for working with young talented player's even when he was manager for Ajax.

I don't know them so well but, Roberto De Zebri made good use of the youngins, Ansu Fati and that young lad from ivory coast also won the Afcon did great. Roberto De Zebri has àlso been known for working with youngins well

[ILuckyGuyI]

I don’t really understand you, do you really mean Manchester United have a very good team right now? I don’t really think so, because if they have a very good team, then they won’t have ended last season in the position in which they ended it. I am sure it would have been in a better position. and I don’t thing with the players that Manchester United are having currently, they are going to perform well next season.
 
If Manchester City wants to perform well next season, then there are some things that are supposed to be done. If Manchester maintains their last season squad, then they are still going to disappoint most of their fans because they won’t be able to achieve anything serious by next season. Ten Hag really has lots to work on.

I have the same opinion as you. Manchester United still has areas to improve, starting with defense. Leny Yoro has arrived for that but is that enough? I don't think so at all besides he is also very young now so we don't know how he will perform yet.

de Ligt and Ugarte signings should happen. If Ugarte won't happen then they should go for Zubimendi. Making the defense line and the midfield better would be a big help. They just conceded too many last season.    They aren't achieving anything in that way. First you fix their issues there and then focus on your scoring abilities more. Slow and steady, they can go back to becoming a title challenger club after all these years. It is quite possible.

[irhact]

By the way Brighton is the one surprising me here. I didn't know they gave this many minutes to their young players. I shouldn't be surprised how they are making big profits in player sales. 

Manchester city giving only one youth a chance shows how Pep gaurdiola is only using experience players and it is making him to win the premier league title every season. Brighton has turned into a football club that only develops players to sell them to bigger teams as Chelsea as they're one of the clubs buying players more from Brighton. Manchester United has an impressive statistic for using young players and regardless of how poor they performed last season, they gave the youths a chance to show the world their talents and that is good for development. Chelsea used the same players as Manchester united but they played less minutes.

[arimamib]

Arsenal played well against Liverpool, but they were unable to win the game, I don't believe Arsenal defense is poor in this match, but Liverpool is not an easy opponent to defeat. However, Arsenal had a chance to score more than one goal in the first half of the game, but they wasted many chances to score due to Liverpool strong defensive line. This is an amazing win from Liverpool, Arne Slot has won his second preseason game as Liverpool's manager, and despite that several of their key players have not yet returned to the squad after the international game, I'm confident that Liverpool is still performing well at this moment because Arsenal is not a weak team in the Premier League.

I believe Arteta should have realized the root of their problems in these preseason games, Arsenal attacking players are not in top form, as shown by Gabriel Jesus who missed chances in the first half, and Havertz converted his own into a goal. If Arsenal wants to win a title next season, they must sign another striker rather than relying just on Jesus and Havertz.

The defeat experienced by Arsenal in the match against Liverpool should be an evaluation material for Arteta because in this match both teams played with a number of their main players, in other words, this match was full of prestige even though it was only a friendly match. I saw that Arsenal's front area was getting sharper by launching attacks, but unfortunately the opportunities that existed had not been successfully executed into goals. One thing might be that Arsenal needs a boost from a quality striker to be their goal machine this season, would you think like that.


Is Gabriel still the best choice for Arteta this season, I looked at his statistics in two seasons, of course Gabriel is not a striker who frequently scores goals.

[Amphenomenon]

I think it is reasonable that Mauricio Pochettino has not been able to fulfill his promise because Chelsea did experience a serious decline in the previous season and the coach also needs time to be able to fulfill what is expected and since the time he took office as Chelsea coach he has improved Chelsea's performance and managed to finish better than the previous season, even though his contract at that time lasted 2 years if Todd Boehly had been more patient, Chelsea could have been in the top 3 in his second season, unfortunately the club was not that patient and they fired Pochettino at the end of the season.

Honestly, if Chelsea's owner had been patient enough with Pochettino, Chelsea's performance might have improved significantly based on the improvements we witnessed towards the end of the season. I did not really expect that Pochettino should be sacked last season given his performance. Pochettino made Chelsea recover their performances, despite it not being as expected. Let's see what the new manager will do; maybe Chelsea's performances will improve as we expect next season.For now, I can't really say that the new head coach will be better than Pochettino, but if Chelsea's performance does not improve as much as fans expect, it will be regrettable to have sacked Pochettino. I just hope the new manager performs better than Pochettino.

Poch would have still remain blues coach till now if not for the unknown issues he had with Todd during their meeting that brought his sudden sack even when we fans were chanting for Todd Boehly's to sack him, he gave deaf ears which was a proof that he really wanted him for a Long term before all the drama happened and now we have Enzo Maresca's as the new head coach.

I hated Pochettino for his tactics but during season ending he started to win our hearts back before it all happened though I won't rate Enzo Maresca's now until this coming season ends.

[TelolettOm]

......Real Madrid is very serious when they want to sign a player. Even Mbppe, they can successfully sign the player, it is not impossible if Real Madrid also succeeds to sign William Saliba.

You made a very good point about the rumour linking saliba to real madrid, because I believe that if the interest of real madrid became more serious, at some point, it would be very difficult for arsenal keep hold of his services for long, just as the saying that most players usually says,

but unfortunately, it seems that is no longer the case, mate. Ancelotti has said that their club is done deal and they probably won't take any more players, especially for their defenders, they already have some players who are back after loan and also Alaba who is recovering. So Ancelotti said that their squad is fixed. And it seems that Arsenal also wants to keep Saliba at the club. Saliba is one of the key players in Arsenal, so this will be difficult to let him go at his high performance.

Here is the latest news:
Source: Ancelotti: “There will be no more transfers, the squad is settled”

I have the same opinion as you. Manchester United still has areas to improve, starting with defense. Leny Yoro has arrived for that but is that enough? I don't think so at all besides he is also very young now so we don't know how he will perform yet.

And Man United is quite unlucky again this time. Even Leny Yoro, one of the newly brought in players who will be relied on to make the club quite stronger, has been confirmed that he has a foot injury. And unfortunately, he has to get treatment for about 3 months, this makes him absent and cannot start his career at Man United in the next 3 months.


Source: Manchester United confirm Leny Yoro injury

[Docnaster]

By the way Brighton is the one surprising me here. I didn't know they gave this many minutes to their young players. I shouldn't be surprised how they are making big profits in player sales. 

Brighton in the last two years have been making a lot of profit in selling the players that was nurtured at the club and that I think is a very good development for the club. Despite selling these former players who were integral parts of the team before they left, they still manage to build other players from the academy team which I think should be commended. Manchester United if you ask me are at the top of the this particular table because of the injury cases that affected the club's first team players last season which forced the club manager to play the academy players as he was improvising for the absence of the injured players.

[nelson4lov]

~Snipped
Is Gabriel still the best choice for Arteta this season, I looked at his statistics in two seasons, of course Gabriel is not a striker who frequently scores goals.

I don't know but Gabriel Jesus give me a similar vibe like that of Bobby Firmino during his time at Liverpool. Like Firmino, Gabriel doesn't seem like a striker, more like an attacking midfielder or backup striker. That said, it's important to remember that Gabriel Jesus was exceptional last season especially in games he shone really well like vs Manchester United. The major problem he had last season was the excessive injuries. Whenever he gets back from injury and close to a good form, he picks up a new injury. Too bad for him.

[Stepstowealth]

Saliba is one of the key players in Arsenal, so this will be difficult to let him go at his high performance.

Arteta was already prepared for the worst to let him go if Real Madrid pressed on, but they did not, and that is lucky for Arsenal because it now gives them more options of quality defenders to use in important games.

And Man United is quite unlucky again this time. Even Leny Yoro, one of the newly brought in players who will be relied on to make the club quite stronger, has been confirmed that he has a foot injury. And unfortunately, he has to get treatment for about 3 months, this makes him absent and cannot start his career at Man United in the next 3 months.

Lucky For Manchester United they still have the time to get another player I could feel that row as it transfers and is still open because even though the attack is good they also have to have a solid defense to avoid conceding goals when their attack scores. This was one problem that Chelsea and Manchester United faced last season. Ten Hag has to prove himself as he has been given another chance.

[eightdots]

Saliba is one of the key players in Arsenal, so this will be difficult to let him go at his high performance.

Arteta was already prepared for the worst to let him go if Real Madrid pressed on, but they did not, and that is lucky for Arsenal because it now gives them more options of quality defenders to use in important games.

And Man United is quite unlucky again this time. Even Leny Yoro, one of the newly brought in players who will be relied on to make the club quite stronger, has been confirmed that he has a foot injury. And unfortunately, he has to get treatment for about 3 months, this makes him absent and cannot start his career at Man United in the next 3 months.

Lucky For Manchester United they still have the time to get another player I could feel that row as it transfers and is still open because even though the attack is good they also have to have a solid defense to avoid conceding goals when their attack scores. This was one problem that Chelsea and Manchester United faced last season. Ten Hag has to prove himself as he has been given another chance.

Saliba is a player who can always be wanted in the team. He contributes a lot to the game and has the potential to develop. There are very few players that Real Madrid wants but cannot get, and I think Arsenal is pleased with Real Madrid's lack of insistence. In order for Arsenal to realize his dream, they have to maintain the quality of the squad and increase this level with better quality players.

Leny Yoro's injury has put Manchester United in a difficult situation. They still have time to make transfers, but this means additional costs. The club is a bit unlucky in this regard. I don't think Ten Hag can show a different understanding on the field than last season. Manchester United has many deficiencies and it is very difficult to fix these deficiencies.

[topbitcoin]

Mauricio Pochettino cannot get Chelsea out of the slump in just one season, he needs at least two seasons to achieve the desired results. Jurgen Klopp also needed time to bring Liverpool out of the slump, but because Klopp had the trust of the management, he managed to make Liverpool win several trophies. Chelsea dismissal of Pochettino was too quick, Todd Boehly was too ambitious to improve Chelsea performance without going through the process, clearly that cannot be realized by any coach. If Todd Boehly doesn't change his attitude soon, Enzo Maresca will also suffer the same fate as Pochettino because he will never be able to complete his task in just one season.

The first season for Poche was actually very good but because of the less harmonious relationship it accelerated his coaching career at Chelsea and I think we are too cornered Todd in this case even though it was Todd's fault for preparing to find a new coach when mid-season Chelsea was not very good in terms of performance but towards the end of the season we could see that their performance improved with Poche's cold hands.

This is not about a matter of trust between Chelsea and Todd but indeed Poche left based on his own wishes because we know what happened was that Poche really wanted to leave Chelsea not being fired so when the decision has been taken and both parties have agreed to part ways amicably then why be forced because Poche and Chelsea have their own path.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Mauricio Pochettino cannot get Chelsea out of the slump in just one season, he needs at least two seasons to achieve the desired results. Jurgen Klopp also needed time to bring Liverpool out of the slump, but because Klopp had the trust of the management, he managed to make Liverpool win several trophies. Chelsea dismissal of Pochettino was too quick, Todd Boehly was too ambitious to improve Chelsea performance without going through the process, clearly that cannot be realized by any coach. If Todd Boehly doesn't change his attitude soon, Enzo Maresca will also suffer the same fate as Pochettino because he will never be able to complete his task in just one season.

The first season for Poche was actually very good but because of the less harmonious relationship it accelerated his coaching career at Chelsea and I think we are too cornered Todd in this case even though it was Todd's fault for preparing to find a new coach when mid-season Chelsea was not very good in terms of performance but towards the end of the season we could see that their performance improved with Poche's cold hands.

This is not about a matter of trust between Chelsea and Todd but indeed Poche left based on his own wishes because we know what happened was that Poche really wanted to leave Chelsea not being fired so when the decision has been taken and both parties have agreed to part ways amicably then why be forced because Poche and Chelsea have their own path.

Pochettino's help has not helped Chelsea's start to the season. Despite performing well in a few matches, we saw Chelsea's erratic and poor performance in most of the matches. And this is why Chelsea management decided to change their coach in the middle of the season. But gradually Pochettino was able to stabilize the Chelsea squad. And in the last few games of the season we have seen consistently good performances from Chelsea. Then the Chelsea management should have withdrawn from the decision to change the coach. But the Chelsea management didn't do that, and eventually they sacked coach Poch

Chelsea have changed their coach. Enzo Maresca is now Chelsea's new coach. But is Enzo Maresca an experienced enough coach? He coached Leicester City last season. And the team qualified for the Premier League with the help of Enzo. But can Enzo bring the Chelsea team into the top 4 of the Premier League table? I have enough doubts.

[asriloni]

I think it is reasonable that Mauricio Pochettino has not been able to fulfill his promise because Chelsea did experience a serious decline in the previous season and the coach also needs time to be able to fulfill what is expected and since the time he took office as Chelsea coach he has improved Chelsea's performance and managed to finish better than the previous season, even though his contract at that time lasted 2 years if Todd Boehly had been more patient, Chelsea could have been in the top 3 in his second season, unfortunately the club was not that patient and they fired Pochettino at the end of the season.

Honestly, if Chelsea's owner had been patient enough with Pochettino, Chelsea's performance might have improved significantly based on the improvements we witnessed towards the end of the season. I did not really expect that Pochettino should be sacked last season given his performance. Pochettino made Chelsea recover their performances, despite it not being as expected. Let's see what the new manager will do; maybe Chelsea's performances will improve as we expect next season.For now, I can't really say that the new head coach will be better than Pochettino, but if Chelsea's performance does not improve as much as fans expect, it will be regrettable to have sacked Pochettino. I just hope the new manager performs better than Pochettino.

Logically, Pochettino deserves a chance to stay for another season. He brought Chelsea to 6th place. This was a big achievement, as they finished 12th under Lampard previously. The decision to sack Pochettino is the worst ever i seen. Pochettino had given his best last season for Chelsea. And it was his first season with a young, inexperienced squad after a major overhaul of the club. Boehly once again did it wrong by firing Pochettino from his position as head coach.

About Chelsea's performance, I'm not sure they will improve. No improvement so far has been shown by Chelsea in the pre-season games. Pochettino did better in the pre-season games compared to Maresca.
That's why fans have asked Todd Boehly to message Lampard. Fans are expecting Todd boehly to sack Maresca in the middle of the season. Fans are not having big expectation to the Maresca.

[Helena Yu]

About Chelsea's performance, I'm not sure they will improve. No improvement so far has been shown by Chelsea in the pre-season games. Pochettino did better in the pre-season games compared to Maresca.
That's why fans have asked Todd Boehly to message Lampard. Fans are expecting Todd boehly to sack Maresca in the middle of the season. Fans are not having big expectation to the Maresca.

Lol, Chelsea will end up like Manchester United, a team that get controlled by fans and never trust a process, all they want is coach must able to make the team to win Premier League and Champions League in his first season.

Anyway why the fans asked Todd Boehly to message Lampard? Lampard is a failed coach.

[tiCeR]

About Chelsea's performance, I'm not sure they will improve. No improvement so far has been shown by Chelsea in the pre-season games. Pochettino did better in the pre-season games compared to Maresca.
That's why fans have asked Todd Boehly to message Lampard. Fans are expecting Todd boehly to sack Maresca in the middle of the season. Fans are not having big expectation to the Maresca.

Lol, Chelsea will end up like Manchester United, a team that get controlled by fans and never trust a process, all they want is coach must able to make the team to win Premier League and Champions League in his first season.

Anyway why the fans asked Todd Boehly to message Lampard? Lampard is a failed coach.

But what's the negative about fans that want their coach to win a title when the club that is coached is called Chelsea? I think it is not the same when the discussion is about Bournemouth, but a team like Chelsea with all the investment they have made into the team over recent years should of course aim for a top result. Does it have to be the title? I don't know, but I understand as a fan that if a billion was pumped into the squad and I pay horrendously ticket prices that there is some demand created for success on the fans' part.

What should they expect in your opinion? You are right about Lampard though, he hasn't been doing very well.

[Mr.right85]

~Snipped
Is Gabriel still the best choice for Arteta this season, I looked at his statistics in two seasons, of course Gabriel is not a striker who frequently scores goals.

I don't know but Gabriel Jesus give me a similar vibe like that of Bobby Firmino during his time at Liverpool. Like Firmino, Gabriel doesn't seem like a striker, more like an attacking midfielder or backup striker. That said, it's important to remember that Gabriel Jesus was exceptional last season especially in games he shone really well like vs Manchester United. The major problem he had last season was the excessive injuries. Whenever he gets back from injury and close to a good form, he picks up a new injury. Too bad for him.

You and I know that Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta is not buying a striker. if he buys one, I will dance for street naked. This man I know, will put his trusts in Kai Havertz and Jesus until they prove otherwise. Arsenal still need a striker even if Kai Havertz is the first choice because Gabriel Jesus won’t take them anywhere. He’s not reliable and consistent. His injury record has been the cause of his poor form since his arrival in Arsenal.
Arteta seems to be prioritizing other positions in the squad, which seems like Arteta does not think his team needs a striker. I’m sure that Arsenal won't drop €80m, €100m for a striker, that’s not happening. Benjamin Sesko was their best bet and probably he wasn't guaranteed being on every starting lineup. Honestly, I will want them to get a new striker before the end of the transfer window，but if they don't get one, I still expect them to win the EPL title.