⚽ Premier League 2025/2026 Discussion Thread ⚽

[Dunamisx]

Aaand he's gone.
West Ham finally lost thir patience with their head coach, Graham Potter, and they sacked him. It shouldn't come as a surprise as he was rumoured to be on his way out for quite some time.


source: sky news

At this point in time, I am afraid that Graham Potter's career is fast sinking. It is always good when a high level club sacks a coach because he will be hopeful that an average club will come for him. But if a club like Westham could sack him for poor performance, who will employ him then?
If he knew, he wouldn't have gone to Chelsea, all he needed was Brighton.

We cant conclude yet, West Ham is not also a small team, he has been there and well recognized, at least have some achievements he has made while with them, his profile still remains intact, this is not the first time a coach or manager is being sacked, they employ another to take over, while he will also find another team his service could be more needed and as well appreciated, that is how life goes and we don't have to take things too harsh upon ourselves upon any disappointment.

[Jewan420]

The way Liverpool won their games was already signaling to this. A team with a proper defending was going to upset them in the end. I'm not surprised with its being Crystal Palace considering their effort so far.

Liverpool are not a very strong team this season, their squad is not as balanced as last season. In the first matches they could not perform in a way that could be trusted for a long time. I am not surprised at all by the loss against Crystal Palace, because any team can take advantage of Liverpool's weak defense. We may see Liverpool dominate a lot this season. Although Liverpool were ahead in terms of possession and attack against Crystal Palace, their attack was not very effective. On the other hand, Liverpool's weak defense could not handle Crystal Palace's forward players properly. They need to solve this problem very soon.

[KingsDen]

The way Liverpool won their games was already signaling to this. A team with a proper defending was going to upset them in the end. I'm not surprised with its being Crystal Palace considering their effort so far.

Liverpool are not a very strong team this season, their squad is not as balanced as last season. In the first matches they could not perform in a way that could be trusted for a long time. I am not surprised at all by the loss against Crystal Palace, because any team can take advantage of Liverpool's weak defense. We may see Liverpool dominate a lot this season. Although Liverpool were ahead in terms of possession and attack against Crystal Palace, their attack was not very effective. On the other hand, Liverpool's weak defense could not handle Crystal Palace's forward players properly. They need to solve this problem very soon.

I don't understand how we analyse this football differently. I mean Liverpool was the only team that didn't lose since the season started until today. Now that they suddenly lost, you are now saying that they are not a very strong team. If I may ask, which team is stronger than Liverpool in EPL today?
Most times we forget that football is a game of Win, draw and lose. You cannot expect Liverpool to be winning every weekend. Now that they have tasted the lose wine, it is expected that they will get back to their winning streak. There's nothing difficult about this to understand. They did their best but didn't win this time around.

[AYOBA]

Liverpool are handed their first defeat of the season and of course it comes from a very familiar team. Crystal place just know how to beat Liverpool, for the third time in a row Liverpool have failed to beat crystal palace in all competitions. The 100 percent start of the season have finally comes to and end. On the other hand crystal palace remains unbeaten and are only team in the league yet to be beaten.

Yeah, Liverpool has lost their unbeaten streak, their 100 percent record, with this wonderful defeat against Crystal Palace. The game was so interesting and incredibly entertaining because if they told me that Liverpool was going to lose to Crystal Palace, I would never agree with the way they have been playing well right from the start of the season, but indeed with Crystal Palace's much effort, they were able to give Liverpool a tough time by defeating them 2-1, which was a great achievement for them.

Arsenal can surely make use of this Liverpool defeat, only, if only they can beat Newcastle at St. James park tomorrow. This is one of the reason you just have to love the premier league, it is very competitive. A win tomorrow for arsenal will close the gap to just 2 points.

This is the right time for Arsenal to stand on their feet and play well in their tomorrow match against Newcastle and beat them in order to achieve their straight 3 points. The funny part about this premier league is that some teams that had a great winning last week are the ones losing this week to an unexpected club, because of the way Liverpool performed last week, nobody expected them to lose, but I think, as you said earlier, Arsenal is supposed to make use of this wonderful Liverpool defeat and win their game tomorrow so that they can move up to the 2nd position.

[Nightwatchmare]

Arsenal was superior to Manchester City by far, this Manchester City is not longer what it was, Guardiola cant find the path to follow and i start to think he cant find the correct players to develop his way of playing, he is in BIG trouble right now, all his glass castle is falling apart.

I hope to see him leaving, we have enough of him there.

Joke of the day, calling Pep is in trouble is obviously BS. Why don't you even call Arteta is in the worsen situation than pep caused by he won nothing^{(Major trophy)} after almost 1 billion spent?  

Stop being delusional, and accept the fact!  

Despite what people may say right now because of how City have been struggling and Arsenal playing better you still can’t compare Arteta to Guardiola. Pep Guardiola has achieved quite a milestone compared to Arteta, at the moment Arteta seems to be under more pressure to win major trophies than Guardiola is to finish in top four and win any trophy.

What Pep Guardiola has done in Manchester City is extraordinary, and despite Pep Guardiola and Manchester City struggling this season, Mikel Arteta can't be compared to Pep Guardiola because he is yet to win any major trophy with Arsenal since he was hired to become Arsenal manager. Mikel Arteta shouldn't be compared to Pep Guardiola when he hasn't achieved what Pep Guardiola has achieved in his entire career. If Manchester City injury players are fit, and Manchester City's new signings adapt to the premier league and bond with old Manchester City players, there will be a great improvement in Manchester City's performance this season.

[DubemIfedigbo001]

I'm now convinced that there is no hope for Manchester United this season because their problems are far from being over and it is looking like no one have a clue at what the solution should be. Although Brentford have been one of their greatest nightmare, I did not expect it to be this terrible that they will lose 3:1 to a team they ought to beat considering the players they have assembled this season. Let us see the motivational speech Ruben Amorim will drop for the fans tonight.

Personally, I feel those players wants the manager sacked else I don't know why players of this quality would be manifesting such limited motivation in their play pattern, or are my to say that Amorim doesn't know how to keep these players motivated? Look at Rashford who was rejected by him how he's adapting and doing very well at Barcelona. I think all blames should go to the manager, that team is too big for him to handle. This isn't Sporting CP and Amorim has failed to understand that and make amends to his tactics to suite the league he's coaching now. I'll support he leaves since it's obvious he cannot provide Manchester United with the miracle they're looking for

If we want to go with this argument of the players trying to get the manager sacked, then how many managers do you thing will be enough for Manchester United to sack before they can be serious for once. Have you forgotten that other managers tried and still failed? The argument is too weak to convince me even though I still do not know what is the right thing for Manchester United to do to regain their enviable name. They should just continue work hard but try not to be relegated.

I would respond with an image to buttress the points I'll give you now.  

Amorim might be a good coach but not a good leader, he always avoids blame and lays them on his players and trust me that's the least way to keep your players motivated. A good leader should take responsibility for the errors of his team and not criticize them publicly. Even if they made mistakes, you allow them save face in public and call them to order privately. I have the impression that he's more like a boss to his players and not a leader. For me even if he's sacked like he said in the morning, his sack is even long overdue.

[Iroh]

Liverpool are not a very strong team this season, their squad is not as balanced as last season. In the first matches they could not perform in a way that could be trusted for a long time. I am not surprised at all by the loss against Crystal Palace, because any team can take advantage of Liverpool's weak defense. We may see Liverpool dominate a lot this season. Although Liverpool were ahead in terms of possession and attack against Crystal Palace, their attack was not very effective. On the other hand, Liverpool's weak defense could not handle Crystal Palace's forward players properly. They need to solve this problem very soon.

What are you talking about? Liverpool lost a game and suddenly, they're not a very strong team this season. Liverpool did play well in this game. They had more of the ball in their possession but failed to utilize that ad they missed a lot of good opportunities to score goals. I'm quite surprised at Liverpool's loss. I had envisaged a tough game and thought both teams would score with Liverpool ultimately winning the game. Both teams did score but Crystal palace surprisingly went on to win the game.
They've managed to give Liverpool their first loss in the season while having not lost a game yet themselves.

[Amphenomenon]

Another disappointment is Chelsea losing to Brighton 3-1. Chelsea took the lead early, but the red card for Chalobah messed things up for them, and they conceded 3 goals after that, two of them in the stoppage time.

-Image Edited Out-

As you can see in the picture. The same story for Chelsea is repeating in any game. Their defenders seem so stupid by always getting red card. It gets worsen when Maresca changed his scheme by putting all of defenders on the pitch, and let Joao Pedro played alone upfront. It seems to me they always looked like a finished club when they went down with only 10 men on the pitch, or maybe it's all due to the Maresca's bad subs. He always letting their opponent to control over the game by changing all of their forwards with defenders.

I think Chalobah won't be keeping his place on the team, I won't be surprised if he will be forced out next season and we the fans won't really show much support because he has been disappointing and I'm not even considering the red card  today which wasn't his fault but looking at his performance in recent games it's disappointing for me expect he improves.

Speaking of Maresca he might not survive this season before being sacked as things are going now and our next game against Liverpool will more likely end in a lost looking at our backline and how he reacts in pressure.

[Agbe]

Snip

What are you talking about? Liverpool lost a game and suddenly, they're not a very strong team this season. Liverpool did play well in this game. They had more of the ball in their possession but failed to utilize that ad they missed a lot of good opportunities to score goals. I'm quite surprised at Liverpool's loss. I had envisaged a tough game and thought both teams would score with Liverpool ultimately winning the game. Both teams did score but Crystal palace surprisingly went on to win the game.
They've managed to give Liverpool their first loss in the season while having not lost a game yet themselves.

Liverpool has been winning games but the fact is that, Liverpool defense has been terrible and today they got punished by palace. I expected that Liverpool coach should have fund a way to reduce the way that, Liverpool is conceiving goals but it continued this lost should sound as a warning to Liverpool moving forward and they should learn from This because Liverpool will have problems with this type of defense line.

[Stable090]

Manchester United lost as expected, Liverpool caught napping, Chelsea after leading conceded 3  goals 🥅, perhaps these midweek games all bad for a teams performance that gets to play 3 days later... Anyway we wait to see how Arsenal will play against Newcastle, Newcastle for the win.. anybody thinking like me

I knew Manchester United won’t be able to get a win against Brentford even before the match started, Brentford performance isn’t so good this season yet, but Manchester United couldn’t still win them. Manchester United performance is just terrible this season, and they were just lucky to win against Chelsea, because if Chelsea didn’t receive red card in the match, then the match will have been something different entirely. I was surprised that Bruno Fernandes lost a penalty today, I don’t really know what’s happening to Fernandes, his performance has dropped, and he isn’t performing so well recently.

Arsenal match against Newcastle is going to be a interesting one, but Arsenal should be able to get a win in the match, Newcastle performance isn’t so good this season, Arsenal performance is just better, so I expect Arsenal to get a win in the match, but the match won’t really be a easy one for the two teams.

[Abu-Naim]

I would respond with an image to buttress the points I'll give you now.  

Amorim might be a good coach but not a good leader, he always avoids blame and lays them on his players and trust me that's the least way to keep your players motivated. A good leader should take responsibility for the errors of his team and not criticize them publicly. Even if they made mistakes, you allow them save face in public and call them to order privately. I have the impression that he's more like a boss to his players and not a leader. For me even if he's sacked like he said in the morning, his sack is even long overdue.

This blame Ruben Amorim throw to Bruno Fernandez is not proper, he should have just manage and take the defeat like that because he is the coach and most players are making mistakes like this one. He is not the first player to miss a penalty in Manchester United, and just because he missed today when the team needed that goal is not a reason to attack the player because he wasn’t happy too. The manager have every right to drop the player before the match or change him along the line not to be blaming him for why he should have controlled by given another player a chance to take that penalty.

However, Bruno also have fault because this is the second time he missed penalty, even though I know that there is a lot of pressure when playing such penalty, but he should have given it to another player if he isn’t confidence on himself when he is about to play the penalty.

[Abdulzuruku01]

I think this is strange, does Man utd want to follow in the footsteps of Leverkusen when Ten Hag was fired because I heard it was related to the players, and for example Man utd did the same thing and boom they finally became a respected team again, I don't think it's that simple, besides I don't hear that Amorim has a problem with the current Man utd players, what I know is that Amorim applies a high level of discipline and that is also for their own good. Basically Man utd problem is very complicated, management must start looking at the small things outside the field such as staff performance, internal operations, and the overall structure behind the scenes. The focus should not only be on the head coach.

The issue with Manchester United seems critical, as it's unclear whether the problem lies with the players or the manager. Although I think Ruben Amorim should be held accountable for their consistent losses, but what if they sack him and things don't improve? Remember how Man United struggled under Erik ten Hag, and replacing him didn't fix the problems.

Chelsea had one narrative to change; equalizing that game. But, it was never made easy for them playing against 11 players on that condition. Nothing about the game turned out thrilling except for the Man U side who were winning. That was an opportunity they can't let slide, considering their position in the table.

My expectations for Chelsea to be a strong contender in the English Premier League this season honestly I'm losing hope for them, not because of their loss in today's match, but due to their unimpressive playing pattern, which hasn't lived up to my initial thoughts. In their last Premier League match against Man United, they received a red card, and the same thing happened today. Playing one man down against any team, strong or weak, causes more pressure. That's what they faced today, resulting in them conceding two goals in extra minutes. Another Chelsea problem is that they often struggle against weaker teams. Although Brighton isn't a weak team, they're not as strong as Chelsea, so I expected Chelsea to win.

[l99l]

I'm now convinced that there is no hope for Manchester United this season because their problems are far from being over and it is looking like no one have a clue at what the solution should be. Although Brentford have been one of their greatest nightmare, I did not expect it to be this terrible that they will lose 3:1 to a team they ought to beat considering the players they have assembled this season. Let us see the motivational speech Ruben Amorim will drop for the fans tonight.

Personally, I feel those players wants the manager sacked else I don't know why players of this quality would be manifesting such limited motivation in their play pattern, or are my to say that Amorim doesn't know how to keep these players motivated? Look at Rashford who was rejected by him how he's adapting and doing very well at Barcelona. I think all blames should go to the manager, that team is too big for him to handle. This isn't Sporting CP and Amorim has failed to understand that and make amends to his tactics to suite the league he's coaching now. I'll support he leaves since it's obvious he cannot provide Manchester United with the miracle they're looking for

Is the problem solely Amorim's, Manchester United's, or is it a general lack of consistency that has led to Manchester United's current predicament?
I don't want to solely blame Amorim, there's a problem with the team. I wonder if Fernandes would have been better off leaving, because the entire game revolves around him, and perhaps that's where the inconsistency stems from.
Instead of changing managers, I think Manchester United should consider replacing some players who have been with the team for years.

[Fiatless]

Amorim might be a good coach but not a good leader, he always avoids blame and lays them on his players and trust me that's the least way to keep your players motivated. A good leader should take responsibility for the errors of his team and not criticize them publicly. Even if they made mistakes, you allow them save face in public and call them to order privately. I have the impression that he's more like a boss to his players and not a leader. For me even if he's sacked like he said in the morning, his sack is even long overdue.

You are correct that q good coach should always take responsibility for the performance of the club. This was why Jose Mourinho easily lost the confidence of his players. The Portuguese always complain about their players and refuse to take blame. 

But I feel the pain of Ruben Amorim. So much was expected from him but he had not lived up to expectations.  He was given enough funds to buy players, yet there has been no proof of such investment.  It is now looking like the players are conspiring against the coach.

[IceLincoln]

Liverpool are not a very strong team this season, their squad is not as balanced as last season. In the first matches they could not perform in a way that could be trusted for a long time. I am not surprised at all by the loss against Crystal Palace, because any team can take advantage of Liverpool's weak defense. We may see Liverpool dominate a lot this season. Although Liverpool were ahead in terms of possession and attack against Crystal Palace, their attack was not very effective. On the other hand, Liverpool's weak defense could not handle Crystal Palace's forward players properly. They need to solve this problem very soon.

What are you talking about? Liverpool lost a game and suddenly, they're not a very strong team this season. Liverpool did play well in this game. They had more of the ball in their possession but failed to utilize that ad they missed a lot of good opportunities to score goals. I'm quite surprised at Liverpool's loss. I had envisaged a tough game and thought both teams would score with Liverpool ultimately winning the game. Both teams did score but Crystal palace surprisingly went on to win the game.
They've managed to give Liverpool their first loss in the season while having not lost a game yet themselves.

The problem with people is when their expectations are not met sometimes they blame others or find fault in where there is none. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the Liverpool squad, they have all it takes they might even be the most complete team in the EPL with a good squad depth. People fail to understand that Crystal Palace has developed to be a strong team and can’t be kicked around as usual, Since last season their trajection has been going up, even when they lose they give you a tough match.
Last season they crowned their efforts with winning the FA cup against Manchester City, also played out a 2:2 draw with Liverpool in the community Shield before eventually winning it.
This is not a small team right now and they should be given their flowers and respect. They 100% Deserve it.

[Woodie]

I would respond with an image to buttress the points I'll give you now.  

Amorim might be a good coach but not a good leader, he always avoids blame and lays them on his players and trust me that's the least way to keep your players motivated. A good leader should take responsibility for the errors of his team and not criticize them publicly. Even if they made mistakes, you allow them save face in public and call them to order privately. I have the impression that he's more like a boss to his players and not a leader. For me even if he's sacked like he said in the morning, his sack is even long overdue.

Damn tell me the shared photo and what was said was done by some Amorim/Manchester United hater because if this is what happening then the cracks are showing at United, and btw to some extent Bruno should take the hit because other players are putting in everything to win penalties and all and he failed to make it count with his casual penalty which should have changed the outlook of the game, but unfortunately it was draining on his teammates and they went on to concede two more goals...

Perhaps the managers rigid tactics are what will cost him his job because he always reacts last when things aren't going his way.. Mr 4321 aka 3421

[EL MOHA]

As you can see in the picture. The same story for Chelsea is repeating in any game. Their defenders seem so stupid by always getting red card. It gets worsen when Maresca changed his scheme by putting all of defenders on the pitch, and let Joao Pedro played alone upfront. It seems to me they always looked like a finished club when they went down with only 10 men on the pitch, or maybe it's all due to the Maresca's bad subs. He always letting their opponent to control over the game by changing all of their forwards with defenders.

There was never a time in the game when something like this actually happened and the team had all their defenders in the team with only Joao Pedro upfront although he actually made some mistakes yet again after getting a red card, we were here last week when Sunderland where held to draw my Aston Villa right after they got the red card if it was Chelsea Maresca tactical twerk will only have killed that game. For me personally Maresca actually yet again allowed his fear to actually kill off this game, if Chelsea had actually be left like they were with the addition of a midfielder they would have been better

Three straight win now for Brighton against Chelsea they did a double move the blues last season and pull off this very one in a very competitive manner. Biggest problem Chelsea have now and what they have had for a very long time ago is the lack of consistency, they can hardly go on even two to three matches straight win and this will seriously not make them challenge for anything there

[GiftedMAN]

Liverpool has been winning games but the fact is that, Liverpool defense has been terrible and today they got punished by palace. I expected that Liverpool coach should have fund a way to reduce the way that, Liverpool is conceiving goals but it continued this lost should sound as a warning to Liverpool moving forward and they should learn from This because Liverpool will have problems with this type of defense line.

Liverpool have to learn and work on their defense after this defeat cause they were exposed in this game against Crystal Palace and they suffered for it as they were defeated by 2:1 to stop their unbeaten run, Liverpool will have to improve in their defense they have got a good attack but they can't keep conceding goals as a strong team the manager has to find a lasting solution to their defensive errors.

[slapper]

Liverpool are handed their first defeat of the season and of course it comes from a very familiar team. Crystal place just know how to beat Liverpool, for the third time in a row Liverpool have failed to beat crystal palace in all competitions. The 100 percent start of the season have finally comes to and end. On the other hand crystal palace remains unbeaten and are only team in the league yet to be beaten.

Arsenal can surely make use of this Liverpool defeat, only, if only they can beat Newcastle at St. James park tomorrow. This is one of the reason you just have to love the premier league, it is very competitive. A win tomorrow for arsenal will close the gap to just 2 points.

Liverpool had 10 straight wins over Palace in the league from 2017–2022, including a 7–0 thrashing. The shift is Oliver Glasner. Palace are in an 18-game winning streak under him, it is their first time ever starting the first six league games unbeaten, and they have earned points in 4 of the past 5 games against Liverpool

Liverpool’s loss was not unlucky either. They controlled 72 percent of the ball and only 5 attempts and 0.30 xG. Isak touched the ball 19 times within 90 minutes and this is screams sterile possession. Palace created nearly three times the quality of the shot per attempt



And also, Arsenal might reduce it to 2 points. But that is a huge "if". They’ve bottled 3 of their last 6 chances to capitalize on rivals' slip-ups, lost their last 3 at St. James’ without scoring, and Newcastle are statistically the hardest team to create against right now. The Prem is competitive, alright, but there is a reason why Arsenal has a 44% win probability there, offered by Opta

[Miles2006]

Amorim might be a good coach but not a good leader, he always avoids blame and lays them on his players and trust me that's the least way to keep your players motivated. A good leader should take responsibility for the errors of his team and not criticize them publicly. Even if they made mistakes, you allow them save face in public and call them to order privately. I have the impression that he's more like a boss to his players and not a leader. For me even if he's sacked like he said in the morning, his sack is even long overdue.

You are correct that q good coach should always take responsibility for the performance of the club. This was why Jose Mourinho easily lost the confidence of his players. The Portuguese always complain about their players and refuse to take blame. 

But I feel the pain of Ruben Amorim. So much was expected from him but he had not lived up to expectations.  He was given enough funds to buy players, yet there has been no proof of such investment.  It is now looking like the players are conspiring against the coach.

Not this conversation again, why will the players conspire against Ruben Amorim knowing what led to Erik ten Hag sack was as a result of poor performance. Why will the team players purposely perform poorly for just this reason, the honest truth is both players and coach failed 100% starting the season in this manner. Bruno Fernandes missing a penalty on 76 minutes is absolutely sad, he has gone down maybe because the team is not competitive enough while Ruben Amorim is not that bad so what’s the problem each week Manchester United never fail to disappoint their fans, the team should be fully aware sacking Ruben Amorim now will bring no good except they want same story again.