2022-23 English Premier League Discussion Thread

[Baphomet]

Here we go. Back again. Discuss the 2022/23 Premier League season here! Newly promoted sides are Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest.



Teams representing the Premier League in Europe are:

Champions League:
Manchester City
Liverpool
Chelsea
Tottenham Hotspur

Europa League:
Arsenal
Manchester United

Europa Conference League:
West Ham United

[HIF]

Watching the Charity shield yesterday, both Haaland and Nunez looked like they'll do well in the prem. Mo Salah was hot. But the biggest takeaway was sadness at what Man city have done to Jack Grealish. At Villa he was the centre of everything, strong, fast, intense, an incredible player. Now he looks lost and lacking in confidence and ideas. Sometimes moving to "big" clubs is the wrong move, I think he's go down the Danny Drinkwater route, rather than the Kanté route.

[KG Leonard]

Watching the Charity shield yesterday, both Haaland and Nunez looked like they'll do well in the prem. Mo Salah was hot. But the biggest takeaway was sadness at what Man city have done to Jack Grealish. At Villa he was the centre of everything, strong, fast, intense, an incredible player. Now he looks lost and lacking in confidence and ideas. Sometimes moving to "big" clubs is the wrong move, I think he's go down the Danny Drinkwater route, rather than the Kanté route.

Maybe he was only Aston Villa level?
He wasn't exactly dominating PL when he went to City. He is too slow to do anything with his dribbling. Frankly he doesn't look like he belongs on City with the lack of end product. Compare him to Mahrez,Salah,Jota,Sterling, Foden, Diaz, Mane if he wasnt English hype..
Also he was never a Bale destroying the PL, CL best teams in Tottenham, this is his last chance in City,Pep is used to world class wingers.

Nunez will have easier to adapt to Liverpool than Haaland because Salah,Diaz is much more direct,speed,counterattacking. KDB, City wingers have to adapt to Haaland,his runs.

[Shaazzam]

Watched the most of the first half, so much fun. So devastating to see Haaland, who United has been interested in for what seems like a decade, like since he was 15, in that city blue. Fack

[HIF]

Watching the Charity shield yesterday, both Haaland and Nunez looked like they'll do well in the prem. Mo Salah was hot. But the biggest takeaway was sadness at what Man city have done to Jack Grealish. At Villa he was the centre of everything, strong, fast, intense, an incredible player. Now he looks lost and lacking in confidence and ideas. Sometimes moving to "big" clubs is the wrong move, I think he's go down the Danny Drinkwater route, rather than the Kanté route.

Maybe he was only Aston Villa level?
He wasn't exactly dominating PL when he went to City. He is too slow to do anything with his dribbling. Frankly he doesn't look like he belongs on City with the lack of end product. Compare him to Mahrez,Salah,Jota,Sterling, Foden, Diaz, Mane if he wasnt English hype..
Also He was never a Bale destroying the PL, CL best teams in Tottenham, this is his last chance in City,Pep is used to world class wingers.

Nunez will have easier to adapt to Liverpool than Haaland because Salah,Diaz is much more direct,speed,counterattacking. KDB, City wingers have to adapt to Haaland,his runs.

What is Aston villa level? I've never heard anything so mediacentric. The guy was absolute class and he outplayed players in all the big teams. He was clearly the best player at Villa unlike Mahrez at Leicester. He was far more important for them and destroyed teams on his own unlike Mahrez who needed carrying for the vast majority of the time he was on the pitch.

KDB only needs to put passes behind the defence for Haaland to shine, he can do that. Haaland will be able to do a Vardy to defences.

[Baphomet]

What is Aston villa level? I've never heard anything so mediacentric. The guy was absolute class and he outplayed players in all the big teams. He was clearly the best player at Villa unlike Mahrez at Leicester. He was far more important for them and destroyed teams on his own unlike Mahrez who needed carrying for the vast majority of the time he was on the pitch.

KDB only needs to put passes behind the defence for Haaland to shine, he can do that. Haaland will be able to do a Vardy to defences.

I kind of get what he means, though I don't agree with the premise of him being "Aston Villa level". While I think Grealish is a good player and isn't showing that at City, he really needs the ball at his feet. Grealish's strengths (passing, vision, dribbling/penetration into space etc.) are all ball dependent, he's never going to thrive without the ball as he isn't a particularly good runner. He's basically redundant when he's on the pitch with De Bruyne and Bernardo. I'm not actually sure what his role is in that team, as they have other players that are better at #10 and better as a left-sided winger. While it's true that City have far more touches of the ball compared to Villa due to their possessive style of play, in an attacking sense for Grealish they're probably less meaningful touches.

Mahrez has a much more defined role that can translate to any team. Get the ball out wide, cut in, shoot, and his movement allows him to be a poacher too. I don't think he's a better player than Grealish by any means, but he's much easier to plug in to an already structured team. Grealish basically needs to play as the central piece, like De Bruyne, rather than a peripheral role.

I'm sure that he's working on improving his off-ball effectiveness with Pep and the City coaching staff, but I think the fit at City is questionable and probably needs to play on a team constructed around him. Just my opinion.

[Cactus Jack]

Here we go. Back again. Discuss the 2022/23 Premier League season here! Newly promoted sides are Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest.

It's great to see Forest promoted.

[HIF]

Here we go. Back again. Discuss the 2022/23 Premier League season here! Newly promoted sides are Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest.

It's great to see Forest promoted.

wankers

[HIF]

What is Aston villa level? I've never heard anything so mediacentric. The guy was absolute class and he outplayed players in all the big teams. He was clearly the best player at Villa unlike Mahrez at Leicester. He was far more important for them and destroyed teams on his own unlike Mahrez who needed carrying for the vast majority of the time he was on the pitch.

KDB only needs to put passes behind the defence for Haaland to shine, he can do that. Haaland will be able to do a Vardy to defences.

I kind of get what he means, though I don't agree with the premise of him being "Aston Villa level". While I think Grealish is a good player and isn't showing that at City, he really needs the ball at his feet. Grealish's strengths (passing, vision, dribbling/penetration into space etc.) are all ball dependent, he's never going to thrive without the ball as he isn't a particularly good runner. He's basically redundant when he's on the pitch with De Bruyne and Bernardo. I'm not actually sure what his role is in that team, as they have other players that are better at #10 and better as a left-sided winger. While it's true that City have far more touches of the ball compared to Villa due to their possessive style of play, in an attacking sense for Grealish they're probably less meaningful touches.

Mahrez has a much more defined role that can translate to any team. Get the ball out wide, cut in, shoot, and his movement allows him to be a poacher too. I don't think he's a better player than Grealish by any means, but he's much easier to plug in to an already structured team. Grealish basically needs to play as the central piece, like De Bruyne, rather than a peripheral role.

I'm sure that he's working on improving his off-ball effectiveness with Pep and the City coaching staff, but I think the fit at City is questionable and probably needs to play on a team constructed around him. Just my opinion.

So really you agree. Pep is detrimental to Grealish. Agree about Mahrez too - he doesn't do much but what he does he does at a world level (or as I call it a Villa level). At Man city he only has to do that because everyone covers his defensive liability.

[Baphomet]

So really you agree. Pep is detrimental to Grealish. Agree about Mahrez too - he doesn't do much but what he does he does at a world level (or as I call it a Villa level). At Man city he only has to do that because everyone covers his defensive liability.

Oh I agree with you, 100%.

He shouldn't have left Villa. Yes he won the league and is even more minted now but winning the league at City is like losing your virginity to a prostitute. Who cares.

Frankly, I don't think he improves City at all. He isn't a player like De Bruyne or Salah whose presence elevates an already elite team, which is where I roughly agree with parts of KG Leonard's assessment. I think an ideal fit for him would be somewhere like Arsenal, Atletico or Dortmund, on a purely footballing level.

[KG Leonard]

What is Aston villa level? I've never heard anything so mediacentric. The guy was absolute class and he outplayed players in all the big teams. He was clearly the best player at Villa unlike Mahrez at Leicester. He was far more important for them and destroyed teams on his own unlike Mahrez who needed carrying for the vast majority of the time he was on the pitch.

KDB only needs to put passes behind the defence for Haaland to shine, he can do that. Haaland will be able to do a Vardy to defences.

I kind of get what he means, though I don't agree with the premise of him being "Aston Villa level". While I think Grealish is a good player and isn't showing that at City, he really needs the ball at his feet. Grealish's strengths (passing, vision, dribbling/penetration into space etc.) are all ball dependent, he's never going to thrive without the ball as he isn't a particularly good runner. He's basically redundant when he's on the pitch with De Bruyne and Bernardo. I'm not actually sure what his role is in that team, as they have other players that are better at #10 and better as a left-sided winger. While it's true that City have far more touches of the ball compared to Villa due to their possessive style of play, in an attacking sense for Grealish they're probably less meaningful touches.

Mahrez has a much more defined role that can translate to any team. Get the ball out wide, cut in, shoot, and his movement allows him to be a poacher too. I don't think he's a better player than Grealish by any means, but he's much easier to plug in to an already structured team. Grealish basically needs to play as the central piece, like De Bruyne, rather than a peripheral role.

I'm sure that he's working on improving his off-ball effectiveness with Pep and the City coaching staff, but I think the fit at City is questionable and probably needs to play on a team constructed around him. Just my opinion.

This exactly what I mean,not to disrespect Aston Villa but they aren't top 6 level, definitely not City,Pool level. The reality that City bench is better than Couthiho,starters in Arsenal, Tottenham, Man utd( the ones not named Son,Kane,Saka).

I rate Mahrez more highly than Grealish because what he did at Aston Villa don't matter in City today. Like you said Mahrez has his role,excells in it, he is vastly more important to City right now because he scores 15-18 PL goals, he has end product. A poor man's Salah is better than what Grealish is showing in City right now. He will never get the ball as much as KDB probably the best attacking midfielder in the world, he has to star in his role soon. He has to learn to be a sidekick to KDB,start scoring or assists from the wing. He can't play like Bernando Silva who is technically vastly superior player who would star for Real,Bayern,Liverpool,Barca level teams. Grealish has never showed that level of talent so far.

[KG Leonard]

So really you agree. Pep is detrimental to Grealish. Agree about Mahrez too - he doesn't do much but what he does he does at a world level (or as I call it a Villa level). At Man city he only has to do that because everyone covers his defensive liability.

Frankly, I don't think he improves City at all. He isn't a player like De Bruyne or Salah whose presence elevates an already elite team, which is where I roughly agree with parts of KG Leonard's assessment. I think an ideal fit for him would be somewhere like Arsenal, Atletico or Dortmund, on a purely footballing level.

[LDNMagic90]

This may be a lengthy post.

I'll add to the Grealish discussion from the POV of a Villa fan. (Not sure if you guys watched much of his time at Villa) I'll give you some insight on why Grealish is not good for City and may never be, Grealish is a maverick player in the sense of you give him the ball and you watch in awe what he could do.

When he came through our academy we all knew he would get to the level he's at now, not many can dribble the way he can and draw so much attention. The closest players I'd say to compare him with is Gascoigne. When he was in his early 20's Grealish's biggest flaw was that he weren't producing on the stat sheet and I know football is not all about stats but for a player of his ability he should've been getting on the scoresheet more and more assists. Dean Smith when he took over Villa, challenged him to up his production and stats pretty much every year he played with us and he did. He was the one you gave the ball to and our team worked around him. He was the World class player in the team and we signed players to compliment him, so during the 20/21 season early in we were flying up the table until covid and injuries hit. By all accounts he was almost a one man band, I know we also got Emi Martinez in his own right is one of the best keepers around and that pretty much was it in the squad.

So when he got his transfer to City, most Villa fans knew that it was not the best place for him. Pep is a manager that rarely allows players to be bigger than him if that makes sense? (Just look at his treatment of Aguero and Yaya Toure for example). Also City have a bunch of world class players there's no denying, however most of them are in defined roles. You can't define Grealish's role in my opinion, he needs to have free reign to do what he does and Pep is not going to allow him to such a thing. Also Grealish is not going to get the same love he got at Villa. I see it online, City fans were saying literally a week after signing him (when Messi became available) to send him back to Villa etc. He's just lucky he's not the vocal point of that team. I've always said he suited Man Utd or Chelsea more than City, I also have a theory that the Grealish deal was to benefit City commercially as well as himself. I know it sounds weird but City despite winning all these trophies have a poor turnout at their ground and in my opinion, people don't really care about them as much as the traditional big teams.

This is part of the reason why he struggled so much with City, he almost looked like a kid playing with a bunch of grown men and it pains me as a Villa fan to see him like this now. Just go and look on Youtube all of his highlights from his time with Villa and you can see its night and day.

This season is a make or break for him, City have sold Sterling and Jesus so all eyes are on him this season. He is going to be starting most games for them, so he needs to hit the ground running.

[Baphomet]

I think something we can all agree on is that Grealish is a very good player when he's allowed to play the role he's best at. "Maverick player" is actually a nice way to put it, as LDNMagic said.

[The_Brecht]

I didn't even start thinking about fpl yet and it starts again.
Damn, that went fast.

[LDNMagic90]

I didn't even start thinking about fpl yet and it starts again.
Damn, that went fast.

We should have a realGM FPL possibly, especially if we can get some decent numbers.

[LDNMagic90]

What are you guys predictions for the Prem as of now? I'm mainly basing this on squads on paper and transfer activity.

I think I have it as:

Champions - Liverpool

Rest of the top 4 (not in any order) - City, Arsenal and Tottenham

Top 6 - Man Utd and Chelsea (not in order)

7 - West Ham

8-12 - Leicester, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Brentford (I can see Brighton struggling this season)

13-16 - Wolves, Brighton, Southampton, Nottingham Forrest

17- 20 - Leeds, Everton, Fulham, Bournemouth

[HIF]

What are you guys predictions for the Prem as of now? I'm mainly basing this on squads on paper and transfer activity.

I think I have it as:

Champions - Liverpool

Rest of the top 4 (not in any order) - City, Arsenal and Tottenham

Top 6 - Man Utd and Chelsea (not in order)

7 - West Ham

8-12 - Leicester, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Brentford (I can see Brighton struggling this season)

13-16 - Wolves, Brighton, Southampton, Nottingham Forrest

17- 20 - Leeds, Everton, Fulham, Bournemouth

Champions Man city
CL : Pool, Spurs, Chelsea
EL: Arsenal, Leicester
Conf.L.: West Ham
8-10 Manchester, Newcastle, Brighton
relegation: Forest, Fulham, Bournemouth (but I hope Everton)

[Baphomet]

I didn't even start thinking about fpl yet and it starts again.
Damn, that went fast.

We should have a realGM FPL possibly, especially if we can get some decent numbers.

We've had this for a few years, although we're not too likely to pull in any crazy numbers. One year it was just me, Brecht and Boognish. Was still super close and fun, though.

Here's the thread: viewtopic.php?f=266&t=2217493

League code is: gbc7cg

[LDNMagic90]

I didn't even start thinking about fpl yet and it starts again.
Damn, that went fast.

We should have a realGM FPL possibly, especially if we can get some decent numbers.

We've had this for a few years, although we're not too likely to pull in any crazy numbers. One year it was just me, Brecht and Boognish. Was still super close and fun, though.

Here's the thread: viewtopic.php?f=266&t=2217493

League code is: gbc7cg

Oh wow! Alright I shall be joining tonight!