⚽ Premier League 2025/2026 Discussion Thread ⚽

[Stavri]

There are some transfer rumours going around related to Arsenal recently. You know that Leao has stated that he wants to leave Milan this summer.

Right after that he has been linked with Arsenal.    What do you think about this potential signing for them if the rumours turn out to be true.

I believe he is a really talented winger apart from his performances at Milan this season. He can be preferred as CF as well sometimes.

Leao will turn out to be a total bust for whatever team buys him
i'm saying this as a long time Milan fan. he doesn't track back and he doesn't press. if he can't find open space, he's completely ineffective. Plus, he's incredibly moody.

He had a period where he played well and was on the rise. At that time, all the teams wanted to buy him, but it's not like that anymore. He's going to leave Milan, and the team that signs him will have to accept the problems you mentioned. A player who doesn't track back after losing the ball up front puts his team behind. His team is more likely to concede goals on quick counter-attacks.

for a while, there were intense rumors in the Turkish media that he could join Galatasaray if Barış Alper were to be sold. in my opinion, Leao would never fight on the pitch as much as Barış Alper does. he is definitely not an economic risk that any tier 1 team should take.

[MorganaX]

I kind of agree with you, though, but I think they became ready even though they were not prepared at some point when they saw how far they'd gone in the competition. I think this shouldn't be enough reason why they didn't lift the Champions League trophy because they were unbeaten. Just that they missed/misused the very opportunity they had at their fingertips to carry that trophy, they played with lots of fears and emotions that they started defending when they were not supposed to, and that mistake goes to Arteta.

I don't see anything wrong with Arsenal being defensive. Especially in a final where you have a strong defensive line when you are leading by 1 goal, it is wrong not to play a defensive plan. However, after the 1-1 draw, Arsenal tried to be a bit more aggressive, but PSG's strong defensive line was the main obstacle to their attack. After the match was tied, we saw counterattacks from both sides, but neither team was successful, so can you blame Luis Enrique for being defensive? If you take the penalty out of the match, you will see that Arsenal were successful in their plan. I blame their luck for the defeat and I blame pressure tolerance.

Defensive play is also a kind of strategy when you want to play am opponent you know very well that you don't have such attacking powers as them and I believe that's why arsenal came with such game plan because if they had play PSG on direct open play and possession football then we would be talking of a totally different scoreline right now because PSG would have out ran and out class them on open and that's why arteta used the defensive method just that they were unfortunate to conceed a penalty.

[BIT-BENDER]

I kind of agree with you, though, but I think they became ready even though they were not prepared at some point when they saw how far they'd gone in the competition. I think this shouldn't be enough reason why they didn't lift the Champions League trophy because they were unbeaten. Just that they missed/misused the very opportunity they had at their fingertips to carry that trophy, they played with lots of fears and emotions that they started defending when they were not supposed to, and that mistake goes to Arteta.

I don't see anything wrong with Arsenal being defensive. Especially in a final where you have a strong defensive line when you are leading by 1 goal, it is wrong not to play a defensive plan. However, after the 1-1 draw, Arsenal tried to be a bit more aggressive, but PSG's strong defensive line was the main obstacle to their attack. After the match was tied, we saw counterattacks from both sides, but neither team was successful, so can you blame Luis Enrique for being defensive? If you take the penalty out of the match, you will see that Arsenal were successful in their plan. I blame their luck for the defeat and I blame pressure tolerance.

To me I think there is everything wrong with it because by playing defensive anytime Arsenal feel threatened by a team is slowly changing the players mindset, everyone is talking about how Arsenal play football, Alex Ferguson congratulated the Paris Saint Germain president because he wasn't impressed with how Arsenal player in the final.
I understand that the desperation to win a trophy is making Arsenal play this way but this isn't the attractive football we want to see, and attractive football will always win in the long run.

[Wake Up]

I kind of agree with you, though, but I think they became ready even though they were not prepared at some point when they saw how far they'd gone in the competition. I think this shouldn't be enough reason why they didn't lift the Champions League trophy because they were unbeaten. Just that they missed/misused the very opportunity they had at their fingertips to carry that trophy, they played with lots of fears and emotions that they started defending when they were not supposed to, and that mistake goes to Arteta.

I don't see anything wrong with Arsenal being defensive. Especially in a final where you have a strong defensive line when you are leading by 1 goal, it is wrong not to play a defensive plan. However, after the 1-1 draw, Arsenal tried to be a bit more aggressive, but PSG's strong defensive line was the main obstacle to their attack. After the match was tied, we saw counterattacks from both sides, but neither team was successful, so can you blame Luis Enrique for being defensive? If you take the penalty out of the match, you will see that Arsenal were successful in their plan. I blame their luck for the defeat and I blame pressure tolerance.

To me I think there is everything wrong with it because by playing defensive anytime Arsenal feel threatened by a team is slowly changing the players mindset, everyone is talking about how Arsenal play football, Alex Ferguson congratulated the Paris Saint Germain president because he wasn't impressed with how Arsenal player in the final.
I understand that the desperation to win a trophy is making Arsenal play this way but this isn't the attractive football we want to see, and attractive football will always win in the long run.

Perhaps the game would have been different if Arsenal had taken more risks, but they preferred to play it safe, avoiding risks. Penalties ultimately brought the trophy to Paris Saint-Germain. Arsenal didn't get what they hoped for and lost on penalties in the final. Perhaps that's why Sir Alex Ferguson was disappointed with Arsenal. Frankly, I thought they would play a more active and attacking game.

[Wakate]

I keep wondering the kind of Grace Manchester United is operating with in the English premier League, aside from the golden boots and golden gloves, Manchester United players are sweeping every individual award that's in that league, Senne Lammens just won the English premier League signing of the season, and it's really outrageous, like had it been Michael Carrick came to the to club earlier than the time he came, mehn Manchester United could be in this Arsenal's position with no doubt, and many football fans still doubt what he can do comes next season.

The momentum Manchester United is using to play with other clubs is unmeasurable which is why most of their players are getting awards due to their efforts to play like never were iron machines that are about to dominate every league they participated.
Carrick has shown that he has the tools and knowledge to change the outlook of the team.

[el kaka22]

Liverpool is going with "what could go worse?" method. Iraola is a great manager and I am sure that he is going to do a fine job and the worst case he would be also fifth with this team, it is not like he is going to end up with 10th place suddenly. The team is already decent, and even anyone here would be a top 10 team at the end of the season if we were the managers, and someone like Iraola would definitely do at worst 5th place, so it is not like they are losing much by giving him a chance.

There won't be any quick results, but with the way they have the team, I bet that they won't make too many transfers, just let it ride one more year, they spent too much last season to spend again this season, so maybe a small amount at worst case but the rest will be fine.

[Distraction]

A new era is starting in the PL with no Guardiola... Enzo Maresca is taking his place. Chelsea are also going to be managed by Xabi Alonso. Iraola is very close to signing an official contract with Liverpool.

So a more interesting clash is waiting for us. This could mean another opportunity for Arteta to go for a PL title as other teams could be in adaptation process. A back-to-back chance after ending a drought for 22 years. I say why not? I expect a strong Arsenal.

[Just Say]

Perhaps the game would have been different if Arsenal had taken more risks, but they preferred to play it safe, avoiding risks. Penalties ultimately brought the trophy to Paris Saint-Germain. Arsenal didn't get what they hoped for and lost on penalties in the final. Perhaps that's why Sir Alex Ferguson was disappointed with Arsenal. Frankly, I thought they would play a more active and attacking game.

Yes Arsenal preferred to play it safe by avoiding risks as we noticed that they scored a goal in just 6 minutes and then failed to attack in any attack in that Champions League final match. Anyway if Arsenal could have played fearlessly in this match then maybe they would have been able to counter attack in a more correct way before the scheduled time but this team chose their most known game planning i.e. defensive strategy. In this UEFA Champions League final match Arsenal two reliable players missed penalties due to which we saw that Alex Ferguson criticized this team's strategy actually in this glorious match like the Champions League, the Premier League team only managed their defense.

[Majestic-milf]

A new era is starting in the PL with no Guardiola... Enzo Maresca is taking his place. Chelsea are also going to be managed by Xabi Alonso. Iraola is very close to signing an official contract with Liverpool.

So a more interesting clash is waiting for us. This could mean another opportunity for Arteta to go for a PL title as other teams could be in adaptation process. A back-to-back chance after ending a drought for 22 years. I say why not? I expect a strong Arsenal.

That's true. I wonder how Man City will operate under Enzo Maresca because I saw how he handled Chelsea. He was a good coach but his lack of decision making skills affected him at the club. Will he know his first 11 and will the players give him the same support they did to Pep Guardiola?
 Another interesting fact is that Frank Lampard's Coventry have gained promotion to the EPL so it's expected that we'd se challenges especially with the way they played in the championship. Can they pose a threat to the likes of Arsenal, Man City, Man UTD, Chelsea and those other big teams or will they succumb to the pressure that is the Premier league.

[ILuckyGuyI]

I think Enzo Maresca - Manchester City has a bigger potential than Iraola - Liverpool connection. Do you know why?

Because Maresca's vision is quite similar to Guardiola's. His system has lots of similarities to Guardiola's. I don't expect him to change the game plan significantly due to that.

He has also found a chance to apply it to a much stronger squad than Chelsea's this time. But as for Iraola, we haven't seen him managing a big team like Liverpool yet. Let's see then... 

[Tmoonz]

I kind of agree with you, though, but I think they became ready even though they were not prepared at some point when they saw how far they'd gone in the competition. I think this shouldn't be enough reason why they didn't lift the Champions League trophy because they were unbeaten. Just that they missed/misused the very opportunity they had at their fingertips to carry that trophy, they played with lots of fears and emotions that they started defending when they were not supposed to, and that mistake goes to Arteta.

I don't see anything wrong with Arsenal being defensive. Especially in a final where you have a strong defensive line when you are leading by 1 goal, it is wrong not to play a defensive plan. However, after the 1-1 draw, Arsenal tried to be a bit more aggressive, but PSG's strong defensive line was the main obstacle to their attack. After the match was tied, we saw counterattacks from both sides, but neither team was successful, so can you blame Luis Enrique for being defensive? If you take the penalty out of the match, you will see that Arsenal were successful in their plan. I blame their luck for the defeat and I blame pressure tolerance.

Defensive play is also a kind of strategy when you want to play am opponent you know very well that you don't have such attacking powers as them and I believe that's why arsenal came with such game plan because if they had play PSG on direct open play and possession football then we would be talking of a totally different scoreline right now because PSG would have out ran and out class them on open and that's why arteta used the defensive method just that they were unfortunate to conceed a penalty.

Arsenal's pattern of play was totally out of the picture, like it was crystal clear that it was all fear, because someone that is mean at defensive football should at least be targeting on maybe a counter attack, but I didn't see such from Arsenal, they only had one shot on target the whole game and you think it's a strategy for them, and even after Paris Saint Germain had equalize the goal, they refused to come out to play, they were so full of themselves about their goal keeper maybe, forgetting that everything they had in players Paris Saint Germain has it even better, the actual fact is that was the worst of UEFA Champions League final, I'd rate Inter Milan's final higher than this one.

[Shussainshah]

I think Enzo Maresca - Manchester City has a bigger potential than Iraola - Liverpool connection. Do you know why?

Because Maresca's vision is quite similar to Guardiola's. His system has lots of similarities to Guardiola's. I don't expect him to change the game plan significantly due to that.

He has also found a chance to apply it to a much stronger squad than Chelsea's this time. But as for Iraola, we haven't seen him managing a big team like Liverpool yet. Let's see then... 

We Don't Need To Underestimate Iraola at this stage . The season didn't even start .Iraola have good experience. They are good manager with so much premier league experience . We need to give it some time then we judge. he is not better than Xabi Alonso he is perfect for this Liverpool team but Liverpool can't sign Xabi Alonso instead of sign Iraola. I think Liverpool need Experience manager and Xabi didn't manage PL team I know they played PL as a player but I think as a manager the game not the same as the player you can be good in many thing to be a good manager.  So that's why They didn't sign Xabi Alonso

[Silence Scream]

I think Enzo Maresca - Manchester City has a bigger potential than Iraola - Liverpool connection. Do you know why?

Because Maresca's vision is quite similar to Guardiola's. His system has lots of similarities to Guardiola's. I don't expect him to change the game plan significantly due to that.

He has also found a chance to apply it to a much stronger squad than Chelsea's this time. But as for Iraola, we haven't seen him managing a big team like Liverpool yet. Let's see then... 

We Don't Need To Underestimate Iraola at this stage . The season didn't even start .Iraola have good experience. They are good manager with so much premier league experience . We need to give it some time then we judge. he is not better than Xabi Alonso he is perfect for this Liverpool team but Liverpool can't sign Xabi Alonso instead of sign Iraola. I think Liverpool need Experience manager and Xabi didn't manage PL team I know they played PL as a player but I think as a manager the game not the same as the player you can be good in many thing to be a good manager.  So that's why They didn't sign Xabi Alonso

The Premier League battle will continue, and I think managers familiar with the league are more likely to succeed. Xabi Alonso has embarked on a new adventure and will begin his challenge. However, I think Iraola, who has taken over at Liverpool, is already accustomed to this league and can be successful tactically with his good players. At least, I think he will be more successful than Arne Slot. I'm really curious to see what Xabi can do with Chelsea.

[AYOBA]

Defensive play is also a kind of strategy when you want to play am opponent you know very well that you don't have such attacking powers as them and I believe that's why arsenal came with such game plan because if they had play PSG on direct open play and possession football then we would be talking of a totally different scoreline right now because PSG would have out ran and out class them on open and that's why arteta used the defensive method just that they were unfortunate to conceed a penalty.

Arteta really use a great strategy against PSG and it work for them is just they penalty that that PSG last got later in the second half spoil their plans, if not PSG couldn’t win the champions league but that’s football is game of luck; Arsenal go again next season but honestly the way people was hype PSG they will score many goals in that I was shocked that they where unable to score a single goal if not be penalty that comes their way.

But I know that if to say is PSG that first score goal Arsenal will not understand the entirely match, because they will have more power than Arsenal to fight for more goals.

[W Jr.]

Defensive play is also a kind of strategy when you want to play am opponent you know very well that you don't have such attacking powers as them and I believe that's why arsenal came with such game plan because if they had play PSG on direct open play and possession football then we would be talking of a totally different scoreline right now because PSG would have out ran and out class them on open and that's why arteta used the defensive method just that they were unfortunate to conceed a penalty.

Arteta really use a great strategy against PSG and it work for them is just they penalty that that PSG last got later in the second half spoil their plans, if not PSG couldn’t win the champions league but that’s football is game of luck; Arsenal go again next season but honestly the way people was hype PSG they will score many goals in that I was shocked that they where unable to score a single goal if not be penalty that comes their way.

But I know that if to say is PSG that first score goal Arsenal will not understand the entirely match, because they will have more power than Arsenal to fight for more goals.

Arsenal's early goal disrupted Paris Saint-Germain's entire game plan. Arsenal defended very well and put up a good fight throughout the match. They even managed to take the game to extra time and penalties. However, things didn't go as planned in the penalty shootout. I didn't think the Premier League champions would play so passively and defensively against Paris Saint-Germain. In the end, the risk they took didn't make them champions. They stopped Paris Saint-Germain, but they gave away the trophy on penalties.

[Issa56]

I don't see anything wrong with Arsenal being defensive. Especially in a final where you have a strong defensive line when you are leading by 1 goal, it is wrong not to play a defensive plan.

Arsenal scored during the early minutes of the match, it was just too early for them to play a defensive game, and it was just a goal difference. If Arsenal had played an attacking football in the match, maybe they would have scored another goal in the first half of the match, and they can just start playing a defensive game in the match. We know PSG attack is just so strong, and I knew no matter how Arsenal tries to defend the 1 goal which they had, PSG Will equalize and that was just what happened.

Arteta should have made it 2 goals before he start playing a defensive game. PSG is having a strong attack, and when the pressure is just too much on the defense, no matter how strong it is, error might just happen and your opponent might secure a goal, which was just what happen in the match. After PSG equalized in the match, arsenal started playing attacking football also, and everything was balanced, if Arsenal had started playing attacking football early, they might score more than a goal in the match.

[pawel7777]

Arsenal's early goal disrupted Paris Saint-Germain's entire game plan. Arsenal defended very well and put up a good fight throughout the match. They even managed to take the game to extra time and penalties. However, things didn't go as planned in the penalty shootout. I didn't think the Premier League champions would play so passively and defensively against Paris Saint-Germain. In the end, the risk they took didn't make them champions. They stopped Paris Saint-Germain, but they gave away the trophy on penalties.

That's a common scenario when things backfire: A team that usually plays offensively scores early in an important game and decides to change their style by 180 degrees and focus on the defence and give the initiative to the rivals. This tactic, while intuitive, often times brings the opposite result to what was intended.
We could've seen a completely different game if Arsenal had decided to try to increase the lead instead of defending the 1-0. PSG has much more experience in playing against defensively set teams than Arsenal has in being 100% focused on defence. Even though PSG couldn't score from open play, Arsenal also didn't score as many as they potentially could have scored if they played more offensively. They could've done much better than 28% possession and one shot on target. PSG weren't as strong as they were last season.

[EL MOHA]

To me I think there is everything wrong with it because by playing defensive anytime Arsenal feel threatened by a team is slowly changing the players mindset, everyone is talking about how Arsenal play football, Alex Ferguson congratulated the Paris Saint Germain president because he wasn't impressed with how Arsenal player in the final.
I understand that the desperation to win a trophy is making Arsenal play this way but this isn't the attractive football we want to see, and attractive football will always win in the long run.

Attractive football will win a long run? I will say that run will be three seasons, for me I still don’t blame Arsenal for actually trying to win the game by going defensively, it was there best chance at it. Fans and even some haters say Arteta should be bold to change his formation and playing pattern in a final after using that formation for the whole season against better oppositions, I will say this defensive tactics is there best chance at the trophy against PSG. Trying to come out and match PSG would have definitely be worse in result than what we experienced. Arsenal do not have the kind of attacks that the clubs that will match PSG have. Arteta actually went back to Been this defensive when he actually came second three times in the league while playing the beautiful football that everyone is talking about, so I don’t blame him for that decision even though it was making the match looking a little sore to the eyes, Arsenal and Arteta couldn’t offer more than what they offered

[Sally9256]

Arteta really use a great strategy against PSG and it work for them is just they penalty that that PSG last got later in the second half spoil their plans, if not PSG couldn’t win the champions league but that’s football is game of luck; Arsenal go again next season but honestly the way people was hype PSG they will score many goals in that I was shocked that they where unable to score a single goal if not be penalty that comes their way.

But I know that if to say is PSG that first score goal Arsenal will not understand the entirely match, because they will have more power than Arsenal to fight for more goals.

It was really a good strategy, I think that's the best strategy they can go with since they don't have a strong attack and playing against a team like PSG these kinds of plan is usually effective in games like this and I guess that the main reason why PSG found it very difficult to penetrate Arsenal defense.

PSG wasn't hyped, they are very good in attack. If Arsenal had faced them head on I don't think Arsenal will be able to hold on and I think there will be a lot of goals. Adopting a defensive strategy is what gave Arsenal a chance.

[whiteblue]

Many doubted Arsenal's performance this season, because they think that Arsenal will lose in competition with Manchester City. However, Arsenal managed to quell those doubters by winning the Premier League title this season.

As for the Champions League, Arsenal might not have an easy time winning the trophy, as the other teams were stronger. However, their performance this season was truly remarkable, reaching the final despite losing to PSG.

Arsenal strength under Arteta's leadership has certainly earned them the title epl this season.