⚽ Premier League 2025/2026 Discussion Thread ⚽

[Odohu]

The previous Premier League discussion thread is also still active, and @Trofo just hasn't changed the title to the 2023/24 season because the league hasn't started yet. Now it has been updated

Won't this be a clash of two different threads because I'm both discussing the Premier League?

I think the reason for creating this thread is because the precious one is a bit too long and discussion there is fast and people are struggling to keep up with the pace as not all love reading so much. The creation of this thread might be to provide alternatives and shrink the discussion thereby making it easier to follow. I may be wrong but I think thar is the logical explanation for the creation of two Premiership thread.

[fullhdpixel]

Manchester city should not fight the situation, they should take out time and resolve it, this same players your admonishing are the golden boys of Manchester city, they've been defending the league title back to back for four seasons now, and it is natural for there to be redundancy in their performance since they are humans and not machine's, fatigue and injuries are the major factors that usually affect a top club that performs  at optimum level like Manchester city, if they try to come back fully into dominance and at the end of the day, they could not, the club management board should take a chill pill and not rush into any action that might be detrimental to the team by signing players they might not be needing, if they lose out this season on the title race, then next season is their for them to pick up the pace again.

First of all, it's true that most of their players are getting older and they need younger players, but also I would like to point out that they are doing a bit of rebuilding while also keeping their old players as well. Gvardiol was a great transfer, only 22 years old (even though he looks 40 lol), Doku is 22 years old too, and Foden isn't a transfer, but academy player, only 24 years old, and obviously Haaland, he is 24 years old as well.

So, we have 4 players already that are under 25 years old, and if they can continue to rebuild with like one or two younger players every season, they should be fine. But that's a bit hard, because what 23 year old could play as well as KDB? Or Silva? Or most other players, it's a tough deal, they would obviously love to rebuild, but it's difficult.

[aylabadia05]

<snip>

First of all, it's true that most of their players are getting older and they need younger players, but also I would like to point out that they are doing a bit of rebuilding while also keeping their old players as well. Gvardiol was a great transfer, only 22 years old (even though he looks 40 lol), Doku is 22 years old too, and Foden isn't a transfer, but academy player, only 24 years old, and obviously Haaland, he is 24 years old as well.

So, we have 4 players already that are under 25 years old, and if they can continue to rebuild with like one or two younger players every season, they should be fine. But that's a bit hard, because what 23 year old could play as well as KDB? Or Silva? Or most other players, it's a tough deal, they would obviously love to rebuild, but it's difficult.

Manchester City's current squad size is 25 players with an average age of 27.5 years. It is true that the age of many of their main players is approaching 30 or even more, but their performance is still good. This season Savinho is a good addition to their squad, even though he hasn't actually contributed much to his team's goal productivity. Savinho has had 11 appearances in the Premier League and has provided 2 assists, but that is too low compared to his performance last season with Girona.

James McAtee, Rico Lewis, Josh Wilson-Esbrand, Jahmai Simpson-Pusey and Oscar Bobb are some of the young players you may have forgotten to mention. They still rarely get the chance to feature, but Pep Guardiola has played Rico Lewis quite often this season following injuries to his main player. Rico Lewis has played 13 matches in the Premier League this season and he has also provided 2 assists.

[red4slash]

Of course, Manchester City's performance was disrupted due to the poor performance of the substitute players when the main players were injured. Rodri is one of the important players who plays as a defensive midfielder in Pep Guardiola's squad, while De Bruyne is needed to increase the intensity and organization of attacks. Both players are important for Pep Guardiola, as is Doku who operates on the left wing.

If Manchester City have all those players in their main line up, then positive results can be expected. Over time the team's performance will improve and the most important thing is that now Manchester City has managed to stop its bad record by winning the last match against Nottingham.

With this we can know that no matter how good the players are without some vital players in the end make their performance disturbed and what happened to Pep at Manchester City at this time is like that where he is like confused just because some core players are not in position to make Manchester City hassle to even score 1 point in the matches made in recent weeks.

But the victory last week can be an improvement in terms of performance and indeed Manchester City must try their best to keep the momentum now running as it should. They have received a lot of criticism for their poor performance, especially for finishing and defense, so for now Manchester City must continue to keep their performance on track from the beginning of the season.

[Furious 7]

What I regret in the Arsenal match is the composition of the players who made up the line-up of Manchester United in this match that I will not be able to stop before criticizing Amorim for his decision.

I don't know why he is still trying to force Malacia to be in the squad when if you look at the actual game conditions he is not very suitable to be in the conditions of a big match like this.
Although I know that in the end this match is likely Arsenal are still superior and I bet on it but still Amorim should prefer to try something new rather than forcing Malacia to be in a position that should not be there.
Before he played in his ideal position he played badly against Bodo/Glimt and Amorim still tried him in the hope of a change but in the end he didn't really fit the conditions of Manchester United it seemed.

Exactly! I didn't understand some of Amorim's choices in the starting eleven. Why would you risk having Malacia in the lineup in a game like this right after his recovery of injury? 

In the same way, Rashford and Zirkzee were both benched. Just why? Both of them scored 2 goals against Everton as you know. Why wouldn't you start with them while they are in form? I have more questions to ask Amorim but anyway. In short, I can say Amorim has the biggest responsibility behind this loss. At least he could have made his player choices better no matter he lost or won.

It seems that Amorim still wants to try some players by being given the opportunity to develop the wings, but the way in this match is full of risks and in this match we can see that in the end the new scheme tried does not work well for them.
But in other conditions this can also facilitate the performance of Amorim where in the end he can overhaul where the wrong location for Manchester United next season or this half of the season.

Dalot and Malacia in my opinion are still below average and this is still worth looking for new options for these two players even though Dallot is still very useful but in the end there must be a coating in this position because honestly with the performance of Amorim's failed experiment we can see that Manchester United players although paid quite expensive to be at Manchester United but they are still a lot of gaps especially indeed the performance of some players is still below the performance they should have.

[sana54210]

It just requires waaaay too much money to replace that team, they have a few good young players I agree, but to rebuild the team and get younger players would require hundreds of millions of dollars and I do not think that will happen. They won the treble with mainly this squad, that means this squad is capable of doing that, imagine getting younger and getting players who will be able to grow and win the treble, that is not really that possible and I think it happens very rarely so they had their turn and now it's a bit of pain time for them.

I do hope they can figure out how to rebuild, without spending a billion on players, but I do not think that they have the pull some big teams have, so getting younger players do not look all that possible to me. Pep could convince some players of course, but the finances of this looks nothing good. Also, they should wait until they get all these charges decided and then make whatever move, spending a lot right now is a huge risk for them.

[Pokapoka124]

I have said this a billion times, most of these ageing players in Manchester City can not keep up with the pace of the premier league anymore.  Bruno Guimaraes has been mentioned by their management,  who's one of the current and if not the best groud duel winners in the premier league. They have to bring in changes otherwise,  they'll suffer more from this. Below shows the premier league standing after match day 14;

Yes you are right. The Premier League is a competitive league, and for you to stay competitive, you must be fit and agile. As an aged player, it will be almost impossible to keep up with the pace of the Premier League and that's why Manchester City have their sight of Bruno Guimaraes. Bruno Guimaraes is a good and solid defensive midfielder and can give Guardiola more options in the center. I am sure Pep is scanning the market for quality players to sign that will align with his philosophy and tactical plan, to help the club recover from this crisis they are in.

[KingsDen]

I have said this a billion times, most of these ageing players in Manchester City can not keep up with the pace of the premier league anymore.  Bruno Guimaraes has been mentioned by their management,  who's one of the current and if not the best groud duel winners in the premier league. They have to bring in changes otherwise,  they'll suffer more from this. Below shows the premier league standing after match day 14;

Yes you are right. The Premier League is a competitive league, and for you to stay competitive, you must be fit and agile. As an aged player, it will be almost impossible to keep up with the pace of the Premier League and that's why Manchester City have their sight of Bruno Guimaraes. Bruno Guimaraes is a good and solid defensive midfielder and can give Guardiola more options in the center. I am sure Pep is scanning the market for quality players to sign that will align with his philosophy and tactical plan, to help the club recover from this crisis they are in.

We have decided to leave the major problem and be talking about the secondary problem. If rodri was to be in the midfield and KDB also there consistently, Manchester City will not struggle and will not talk about aging. Manchester city is destabilized from the midfield and that is the problem we are having in the team. I know that when we come to English Premier League we talk about agility. But when you are the one possessing the football he don't need to run your ass off the pitch. Manchester City is always the one possessing football no matter which team they play against so they did not need that extra strength you are talking about to running the whole pitch. They are just taken unaware by injuries.

[len01]

Yes you are right. The Premier League is a competitive league, and for you to stay competitive, you must be fit and agile. As an aged player, it will be almost impossible to keep up with the pace of the Premier League and that's why Manchester City have their sight of Bruno Guimaraes. Bruno Guimaraes is a good and solid defensive midfielder and can give Guardiola more options in the center. I am sure Pep is scanning the market for quality players to sign that will align with his philosophy and tactical plan, to help the club recover from this crisis they are in.

Actually I also agree if Man City finally gave a little enlightenment when they will recruit new players like Bruno Guimaraes. Given the very strong EPL competition, Guardiola should indeed complete every line that must be strengthened and really pay attention to some players who must be released later. If possible Guardiola will focus on defensive midfielders, I think Guardiola should also consider some attacking midfielders to be made second-tier players to try to fight in other competitions such as the UCL.

[Hyphen(-)]

First of all, it's true that most of their players are getting older and they need younger players, but also I would like to point out that they are doing a bit of rebuilding while also keeping their old players as well. Gvardiol was a great transfer, only 22 years old (even though he looks 40 lol), Doku is 22 years old too, and Foden isn't a transfer, but academy player, only 24 years old, and obviously Haaland, he is 24 years old as well.

So, we have 4 players already that are under 25 years old, and if they can continue to rebuild with like one or two younger players every season, they should be fine. But that's a bit hard, because what 23 year old could play as well as KDB? Or Silva? Or most other players, it's a tough deal, they would obviously love to rebuild, but it's difficult.

Aged players are experienced players, they are always useful in a team because they guide the young talented players to the right way, but if the number of old or aged playes is much, it will affect the team’s performance because they can’t play to the required energy the team will need to have their desired result.

Manchester City squad as the subject of discussion is not as old as you may think, the important players are not as old to perform less; I think it is just time for the team to face such challenges especially as Rodri is injured. But there is a need for the management to sign new young players so that they will learn from these old players.

[Pokapoka124]

Here are the odds for all the games of the round 15 (from DuelBits), including the Monday one:



We have a London Derby between Chelsea and Tottenham, which could be worth watching, and also, an even more interesting, the Liverpool Derby (Everton Vs Liverpool FC). Everton is an obvious underdog, but they will surely give their best tomorrow as their fans expect them to.

I'm also curious about how Manchester City will perform against Crystal Palace, who might be placed low in the table but have a pretty solid defence with only 18 goals conceded, which is one less than Man City.

Indeed the London derby between Chelsea and Tottenham would be worth watching. This London derby will see Chelsea want to maintain their class and dominance while on the other hand Tottenham will want to prove a point in front of their supporters, but I don't think they might be stop Chelsea from winning the match. The other match between Manchester City and Crystal Palace will be a dull game, as I know Manchester City will dominate the game throughout and giving crystal palace no space to cause an upset even though the match will played at Selhurst Park.

[Oluwa-btc]

Exactly! I didn't understand some of Amorim's choices in the starting eleven. Why would you risk having Malacia in the lineup in a game like this right after his recovery of injury? 

In the same way, Rashford and Zirkzee were both benched. Just why? Both of them scored 2 goals against Everton as you know. Why wouldn't you start with them while they are in form? I have more questions to ask Amorim but anyway. In short, I can say Amorim has the biggest responsibility behind this loss. At least he could have made his player choices better no matter he lost or won.

Let the manager manage for goodness sake. If you think you'd do a better job than him, why not go make application to land the job? All he did was try to rotate the squad and make every member of tue squad feel involved,  thet he is here with them and not being baised and one sided. You want to blame him for the lose? Man United have final third issues, didn't you notice? It breaks my heart to see how most of you on here make analysis. 💔

[blue Snow]

It seems that Amorim still wants to try some players by being given the opportunity to develop the wings, but the way in this match is full of risks and in this match we can see that in the end the new scheme tried does not work well for them.
But in other conditions this can also facilitate the performance of Amorim where in the end he can overhaul where the wrong location for Manchester United next season or this half of the season.

Dalot and Malacia in my opinion are still below average and this is still worth looking for new options for these two players even though Dallot is still very useful but in the end there must be a coating in this position because honestly with the performance of Amorim's failed experiment we can see that Manchester United players although paid quite expensive to be at Manchester United but they are still a lot of gaps especially indeed the performance of some players is still below the performance they should have.

On the other side Arsenal is playing well, they implemented a good strategy to intercept MU wings, so that situation makes their attacking not evolve yet to stumble on the front. Arsenal knows how to overcome them, they put a reliable player to hold Dalot and Malacia, Sichenko and Rice to to drive out Dalot, and Timber to block movement from the other side. I think Dalot still needs to improve his dribbling to be better at outwitting his opponents, he has an accurate pass, but sometimes he always loses the ball when he gets it, and too late to pass it to the attacker.

[Velvet78]

The Everton - Liverpool game today has been postponed due to bad weather conditions.



https://x.com/Everton/status/1865313860523049020

We still have nice games ahead today though.    Crystal Palace - Manchester City and Manchester United - Nottingham.

Manchester City have finally broken the bad streak by beating Nottingham. I think this win will be a big help for them to go for a streak with a bigger morale. I expect another win by them.

I expect a victory by the Red Devils as well honestly. They couldn't do what they wanted at Emirates but I think Amorim will prepare his players better for this one.

[tusandii]

The next transfer window will be open and next season Manchester City should definitely buy some quality players in some important positions so that Manchester City can return to good performance again.

Have you forgotten that Manchester City are entangled in many charges regarding their budget? they could recruit players but this might add to the problems for them who are struggling to resolve the case I think Man City are keeping a low profile in recruiting players they also still have the best players at the moment we just have to wait for Man City's revival and trust everything to Pep Guardiola.

[Litzki1990]

Manchester City needs regeneration from now. They are very vulnerable to defeat if one of them is missing. KDB is not young, there will be a time he have retires, and The city needs substitute that is equal with his capabilities. Nothing is feasible at the moment, Pep must do it immediately to moving forward. And I think, even if no one have the same capabilities with them, Pep must use another strategy or scheme to support it, and so far unsuccessfully when we look how the lost 5 match on the row.

In this season, some important players of Manchester City are not able to contribute well for the team due to which the team is performing poorly regularly. The players who are performing best in other seasons are now injured and those who are on the field are not able to give their best. Manchester City players should be planned in such a way that those players stay at Manchester City who can contribute to Manchester City and those who cannot contribute are not needed at the club. The next transfer window will be open and next season Manchester City should definitely buy some quality players in some important positions so that Manchester City can return to good performance again.

Yes, Manchester City's team is constantly underperforming as some important players are out of the team due to injuries. If the best players of the team are not associated with the team, the team becomes very weak, maybe watching the game of Manchester City proves this. But Manchester City beat Nottm Forest yesterday in the Premier League match. The performance of the Manchester City players in that match seemed like we were watching the mighty Manchester City of yesteryear. Manchester City won yesterday after a long time after losing the last few matches, Maybe this win will motivate Manchester City to play better in the next match.

Manchester City have regularly dropped points in a number of matches before winning the last match they won. Manchester City have started the Premier League this season with a weaker team than last season.  However, their weaknesses were not so obvious at the start of the season but they have been performing really badly since the last few matches, which makes it very challenging for them to be in the top three positions in the Premier League points table. Manchester City are trying to turn around but they are not doing it well because they don't have enough players in their reserves. 

It is normal that a player will not be fully fit in one season and the one who performed well in the last season may not perform well in the next season so the manager has to form a team keeping in mind all this. Hopefully Manchester City manager will focus on strengthening the bench players as well as strengthening the main eleven next season.

[hyudien]

Have you forgotten that Manchester City are entangled in many charges regarding their budget? they could recruit players but this might add to the problems for them who are struggling to resolve the case I think Man City are keeping a low profile in recruiting players they also still have the best players at the moment we just have to wait for Man City's revival and trust everything to Pep Guardiola.

Yes Manchester City are in some trouble but at the same time they always get away with it. I don't want to think negatively but my question is is there someone playing behind the scenes? But I hope that is a baseless question and it doesn't happen. I don't know what moves they will make in the transfer market, will they recruit a lot of players or will they stick with what they have now. But when you look at Guardiola, I think he is one of the managers who is quite clever in bringing in players and maybe he will do that in this transfer window.

[Odohu]

Have you forgotten that Manchester City are entangled in many charges regarding their budget? they could recruit players but this might add to the problems for them who are struggling to resolve the case I think Man City are keeping a low profile in recruiting players they also still have the best players at the moment we just have to wait for Man City's revival and trust everything to Pep Guardiola.

Yes Manchester City are in some trouble but at the same time they always get away with it. I don't want to think negatively but my question is is there someone playing behind the scenes? But I hope that is a baseless question and it doesn't happen. I don't know what moves they will make in the transfer market, will they recruit a lot of players or will they stick with what they have now. But when you look at Guardiola, I think he is one of the managers who is quite clever in bringing in players and maybe he will do that in this transfer window.

Indeed the days if troubles are not over for Manchester City as they are losing again to a small team Crystal Palace who we all thought would be very easy for Manchester City to win. At this point, the solution to the challenges of Manchester City is not in sight because it seems even Pep Guardiola is confused. When they won their last match, I was thinking that everything has come back to normal, little did I know that that winning changes nothing for the club. It is obvious they have to keep struggling until Rodri returns from injuries.

[Palakka]

The next transfer window will be open and next season Manchester City should definitely buy some quality players in some important positions so that Manchester City can return to good performance again.

Have you forgotten that Manchester City are entangled in many charges regarding their budget? they could recruit players but this might add to the problems for them who are struggling to resolve the case I think Man City are keeping a low profile in recruiting players they also still have the best players at the moment we just have to wait for Man City's revival and trust everything to Pep Guardiola.

I personally am quite sure that the allegations FFP violations will not be affected by their activities in the transfer market later, because I think  the problem has continued to drag on and it seems that indeed the FA cannot touch them although their have  many alleged violations so far, Everton and Nottingham only need one mistake to get a penalty from FA, while Manchester City has actually got 115 charges but is still safe, doesn't any something that can indeed avoid them from punishment so far?

The match between Crystal Palace vs Manchester City is ongoing, and it seems that Manchester City still cannot rise from their slump because for the time being, Crystal Palace is draw 2-2 with Manchester City.

[Abu-Naim]

The match between Crystal Palace vs Manchester City is ongoing, and it seems that Manchester City still cannot rise from their slump because for the time being, Crystal Palace is draw 2-2 with Manchester City.

Its too early to conclude because we still have few minutes to the final whistle, and it is an important time for any team among them to make changes.

I never expected such score line in this match, I was expecting Manchester City to win the game with good goal margin, but they are even struggling to level up after been scored two times.

Are we sure that City will be back on form soon?

Can Manchester City go like 10 winning streak in a row this season as they used to do? Because they are now struggling to get three points unlike when they used to win with high number of goals.

It's almost time and Manchester City is yet to score the winning goal, lets wait for the final whistle before we can conclude since anything can happen and for the fact that Manchester City player Rico Lewis just receive a second yellow card, it will be very difficult for City to win this match.