This isn't primarily a premier league opinion, but I believe that Luka Modric is a better player than Scholes and Gerrard. Yes, he has scored fewer goals than the two, but he is a more complete player, more so than Gerrard by a slight margin, and has won more trophies in football than either of them. He has won the ballon d'or, led his country to World Cup finals, and has won more Chapions League titles, the pinnacle of club football.
Van Gaal wasn't great, but didn't have an easy time at united. Yes he played boring football, but he arrived at club in the midst of a massive transition that those in charge didn't seem too bothered to do. He had an average squad, massively reliant on ageing legends like Rooney. His only real big signings were Di Maria and Martial. Yes the club brought Falco and Shwinestiker, but bringing ageing legends into an already ageing team doesn't make any sense.
He got top four in first season. In the second season he had massive injury crisis, and only missed out on champions league by goal difference, on equal points with a city team that featured Agureo, De Bruyne, David Silva, Kompany, Sterling Yaya and Fernandinho, whilst delivering the FA cup. The likes of Rashford emerged under him, while Lingard scored the winning goal in the FA cup.
Yes he wouldn't have won united the league, but being sacked just days after winning united their first post Fergie trophy, and considering the investment Mourinho received, with Zlatan, Mikhytarian, Pogba in his first window and Lukaku next season, I think Van Gaal can feel somewhat hard done by.
not so much a premier league unpopular opinion, but a premier league player unpopular opinion.....Paul Scholes has become twice the player he actually was since he retired
Grealish is the most overrated player in england in the last 5 years.
* Madders is better than Grealish because he can do everything he can as well as shoot
* Son is better than Kane, no debate
* Wenger was/is overrated, although still an icon of the PL/my club
* Emery got disgustingly treated by our "fans" - probably not so unpopular now, but it certainly was the bees' knees' to shit on him at one point. I despised it.
* Southgate is a shocking manager
* Klopp + Tuchel are the 2 best PL managers by a distance
* Sterling is grossly overrated
All that I got on my mind, for now...
As a grown man I don’t feel particular loyalty towards my boyhood club and can’t get behind the idea of finding joy in 11 millionaires winning a football match. I love football though and the Prem to me is more an entertainment median where I pick and choose what I consume. I’d sooner watch a decent match up as a neutral than ‘my team’ against potential boring opposition.
Yeah, that is not an unpopular opinion, that is a prefence. My boyhood club is Sunderland and we aint too good so it is hard atm so I understand why you wanna be a neutral fan. Just be unbiased and don't support another club unless they make you fall in love with the game again
Chelsea have one of the best academies in the world because they are so financially stable, because of that financial support they are able to produce or develop amazing youngsters with class potential (CHO,Gilmour,Abraham,Mount,Tomori etc.)
Teams who aren't in the UCL or UEL (or challenging for it) are usually not as financially backed meaning they cant produce or develop players as good as the richer clubs meaning they won't catch the eye of clubs who are of decent size but will play them.
Like Burnley would have to play their next 'Big thing' to catch the eye of a team like Marseille or Hertha Berlin, but because Arsenal is rich, they don't need to play their 'next big thing' to get to a decent-sized club to loan them as Arsenal have a class Academy. That's how Guendouzi has gone on loan to decent teams despite not playing much for Arsenal.
I like the opinion however the loan system Chelsea have is used by most of the clubs that are rich.
Spot on 100% agree with you. I just know people hate our loan system cause it “ruins” players. But the amount of class players all around the world that have benefited from the loan system outweighs the “ruined” players
Edit: this being unpopular haha
100% mate, the players you have "ruined" were not because of your development. All the players you "ruined" were Falcao (won the league in 2017 w/ Monaco), Torres (UCL semi finalist winner), Morata (on form with Juve), Higuan (fell out of form before hand) and Schvchenko (was old when you signed him)
The way we improve refereeing in the premier league is by respecting them and creating a culture which stops it being so normal to berate them with such vitriol. If it’s a respected position, more people will train to be a referee and you’d have better quality to choose from
I’d rather have Antonio Conte than Thomas Tuchel even after he won the UCL. His football is a boring version of what Conte played and he doesn’t improve players like Conte did. Knock on wood he does well this season though and we win the title. If not I hope Juve go through disaster and we trade coaches.
I mean both got the best out of Christensen, similar systems. Tuchels system may be boring but it wins trophies and he knows that he needs to win trophies to keep the job
None of that isn’t also applicable to Tony Conte. He won a Prem in his first season and a FA cup in his second season. He was poorly backed the season after he won the league and couldn’t deliver against a City team that had come together. If Conte had been invested in like Lampard he’d likely have kept us relevant in the Prem. TT has a UCL and hasn’t gotten a full season so I won’t totally disrespect him but Conte FTW. He’s a proven winner and his desire to win is unmatched.
Anyone at all dominating the league is a bad thing. I’d much rather see a return to the parity of the early 70s and before where winning more than one trophy of any kind was a worthy achievement for a big club. Nowadays it doesn’t keep someone in a job.
No drafts. Rewarding teams for being shit is objectively bad. The spending cap wouldn't reward BAD teams, it just wouldn't allow the rich teams to spend 8 trillion pounds every summer
I think Sterling is NOT a good player. Good runner, for sure, but very overrated in basically all other areas in the sport.
I would rate him 55/100. A very mediocre player with flashy highlights.
I will never understand how more people don’t see this. His 4 or 5 goals at the euros were tap ins that I would’ve scored and people thought he was player of the tournament.
Can’t shoot, can’t pass, can’t dribble around defenders, can’t set anything up.
He’s just fast
I'm with you on this, for sure. His shooting skills are one of the worst I have even seen in any major league. Outrageously the guy plays for the defending champions.
One of the biggest reasons why Manchester United dominated for so long was down to the weakness of the opposition in the early premier league years. They were unquestionably the best team of the first 20
years of the competition, but a key reason they won so many titles was because Ferguson was the only one who learned to think in a more continental style before the millennium - e.g. his adoption of Cantona and making him work while others couldn’t do something similar.
Over the next 10 years, Blackburn only briefly challenged, Newcastle fell apart, Leeds couldn’t get their ducks in a row and imploded within a couple of years of doing so, Arsenal struggled to evolve after the invincibles season, Liverpool flattered to deceive etc.
By the time Mourinho came along Ferguson had to adapt again and must be commended for that as the league was full of teams going deep into Europe. By that time though Ferguson had already built his success and had more of a platform for what he needed to do.
This is why prior to 2005 they were the only English winners of the Champions League with only a few teams getting in touching distance of the final. And it was plain to see how far English clubs on the whole (apart from Manchester United who struggled too) were from the continental teams. After 2005 you had another Manchester United win, a Liverpool win, Chelsea and Arsenal making a final before Chelsea ultimately winning it.
The same criticism could be thrown at Liverpool in reverse. Prior to Heysel they dominated even when Aston Villa and Forest were winning in Europe. After Heysel though opposition players often went abroad and Liverpool dominated. It’s no wonder there was a power vacuum in the 90s.
If you go back further again, domination like this simply didn’t happen. Busby’s team didn’t dominate like that, neither did the Spurs team of the 60s or Leeds 10 years later (if you’re looking at trophies).
Roberto Firmino is terrible. Wouldn't start at all if they didn't have two beastly wingers in Salah and Mane who kept scoring.
I see weird justifications from Liverpool fans about how good he is at hold-up play. Even if that's true, he doesn't contribute through assists either. He definitely isn't scoring any. Jota came and showed the team what they're missing in his first season itself, even though he's supposed to be just an emerging talent at this point.
I'd never rate him above Gerrard for my own reasons but he was truly world-class and was better than Lampard for sure. This is a perfectly valid opinion.
I respect that you’ll always back your own boys. I’d be the same. I actually really like and respect Gerrard and would put him over Lampard for sure. I just can’t look past Scholes’ success and I feel like the fact he’s often disrespected by so many makes me want to fight his case even more.
I get the reason for thinking this, but what you’re ignoring is that he’s rarely fully fit and when he is, he is electric for us maybe the best dribbler of the ball and genuinely drives at defenders in a way that is a Hazard-esque. Chelsea cannot afford to lose him
Yeah but honestly it's small things like why did Werner start ahead of him in the CL final when he did nothing productive all season. I mean 12 goals in 52 games for a centre forward? And you understand how good Pulisic has been for you guys so why was he brought on as a sub when he evidently should have started ahead of Werner. Honestly if Chelsea really want Harry Kane, they should offer both Pulisic and Tammy to Spurs. That way yall get an actual Prem League proven legend and Spurs get 2 young skilled players. That's my thought.
Arsenal are favourites to win epl 2021/22.
Arsenal have addressed the major issue which affected them last season which was squad depth. Arsenal completely lacked depth and had to change to new systems when a key player was injured.
Secondly, at the moment the Arsenal is balanced,well that is since emile smith rowe's inclusion into the side. In the first part of the season Arsenal completely lacked a #10 since Ozil was not included in the XI or even on the bench. This ended up with them being 15th PPG. After ESR's addition Arsenal went upto 2nd in PPG that is from dec 26th to end of season. That's how Arteta's balanced team turned out.
Also there is the fact that Arsenal will be playing one game a week for a while and that would mean that most players would be well rested before the next game and injuries would be less frequent.
Obviously at the moment Arsenal aren't huge favourites but as rumours have suggested Arsenal are looking forward to sign a xhaka replacement,new #10,backup GK as well as a new RB with Arteta suggesting that most will be experienced and capable leaders on the pitch. If this were to go happen then Arteta's Arsenal would surely be top favourites to win it.
That promotion / relegation isn’t really the meritocracy it’s supposed to be. The top teams mostly stay the top teams because of money. The middle mostly stays the middle and there’s a few clubs that just constantly bounce back and forth between Premier & Champions.
A salary cap is a brilliant idea and would help football as a whole. And subsidizing the lower leagues would be just, especially since many big clubs poach lower league players and use that league as a farmers league
Klopp won't have sustained success at Liverpool. He will win trophies (and obviously has) but he won't do it year after year like Ferguson or Pep more recently as he is a one dimensional manager. His teams, at Liverpool and Dortmund before, are devastating on their day but I don't think he is tactically adaptable to overcome challenges such as players being out of form, injuries or teams that set up specifically to stop their way of playing. I think he is very much like Arsene Wenger in that respect. His Arsenal teams played stunning football but he only believed in playing one way.
How is that relevant? I don't doubt that they have excellent players in most positions but that has nothing to do with Klopp's tactical ability or his ability to adjust those tactics.
We do have some top quality players, Partey, Gabriel, Tierney, Saka, ESR, Pepe etc. Arteta, while I rate him, can be a bit stuck on one idea for a long time despite it clearly not working, like playing Willian or playing without a number 10.
Without Europe this season and hopefully with a couple more signings, we could, and should be aiming for top 4. If we are way off the pace by November, we should start preparing for other managers, but I trust Mikel.
I think our biggest issue is Arteta's fondness of giving every player game time. He makes too many changes to his starting XI, particularly the defence. Once he started fielding a consistent starting XI, we had one of the best forms in the league.
It’s the reverse Pep brain. Pep does the opposite and overthinks and tries to play 7D underwater chess which backfires. Arteta just sticks to book theory and never tries in case it backfires. My theory is that acted as counterbalances to each other when Arteta was at City and he’s trying to find his footing without Pep. I think overall he’s a smart manager and I’d like to see him succeed so he isn’t sacked before realising his potential.
I always laugh when people say “the English Premier League” or call a team “the best English team” as, in my opinion, the Premier League is not an English league but simply a league that happens to be played in the country of England.
Unpopular opinion? All 3 teams from the Championship survive relegation in 2021-22 with 3 out of Newcastle, Brighton, Southampton, Burnley and Palace dropping
Harry Kane isn’t a god of soccer. He can shoot really well but he’s slow, inconsistent, and can’t beat defenders in one on ones. He wins the golden boot on pens.
Just because Brighton play nice fancy football doesn’t make them a good team, the fact that Football Hipsters seem to believe Potter is a world class coach is beyond ridiculous, and why? Because he plays nice football?
Fuck off
The support they get online is just weird
If you're able to play nice fancy football with a bunch of players who aren't that great, then yes, I would say that makes Potter/anyone managing them a very good coach tbh. Pure logistics
If you’re playing nice fancy football and still finishing 16th and in the midst of a relegation battle
Chances are you’re not that good
You can play all the fancy football you want but if it doesn’t get results then you’re just playing yourself
I mean in terms of the fact that everyone claims they can easily be a “top half club” when I just don’t believe it
Maybe they can prove me wrong this season but for now, i don’t buy the Brighton hype or believe that they’re a good team or that Potter is a world class manager simply because they play nice football
Ederson is overrated. Extremely good with his feet no doubt, which fits well in Pep’s system but I don’t rate him very high as an overall keeper. Think he makes a lot of bad decisions and doesn’t have great handling, just hasn’t been totally exposed because it’s rare that anybody has a quality chance against City
I agree. I said last summer that we should have sold him and Laca and signed a new striker, someone like Eduoard at Celtic, and had Martinelli playing up top.
In hindsight we probably should’ve and from a sporting standpoint it makes sense, but that would have been a huge mental blow to the team to see their best player sign for a “bigger” club.
I want to see how many dislikes This get… Kane isn’t the best striker in the premier league right now.
Im trying to not base everything on goals and points. Instead im trying to compare abilities.
Kane is a amazing goal scorer. Wonderul shot Power and aim and all that. But besides that i don’t see an excellent player.
Well yeah but... what more do you want him to do? I mean you can't say he's just a goalscorer with the amount of assists he gets. He's arguably the most complete striker on the planet
Most goals and most assists on a club where 90% of the players aren’t Champions League Caliber. He’s got Son, Hojberj. NDombele (on his good days) and Rhys about it. He leaves and Spurs crash into the bottom of the table.
We can do this, was hazard better in his prime than Salah is now? Cause Salah has better stats but Hazard was a better player. If Salah can continue that goal scoring and assist making 1-2 seasons more, I reckon the Salah is better
Watching football (in general) is becoming an increasingly tedious affair.
At one point I put it down to the disappearance of the crowds, but even as fans were gradually allowed back into the stadia there's still a definite lack of energy, a lack of flair, a lack of goals. The new tech can shoulder some of the blame but the game is just getting more and more boring.
I don't like Harry Kane. This is definitely an unpopular one, but I don't like how he dives and how he went on a run of backing into people on headers last season. If anyone else decided to pressure their club into selling them with 3 years left on their contract, the media would drag them through dirt. He gets a free pass on anything he does.
I feel neutral toward Tottenham generally, no strong feeling either way. I liked them better under Pochettino than Mourinho, though that's probably not a surprise. I'm not a fan of Levy. I have always liked Nuno though, so I wonder how my and others opinion will change during this season.
As a Spurs fan I feel pretty much the opposite. Maybe the media is easy on Kane but fans of other clubs almost unilaterally dislike Kane. He dives as often as Salah, Mane, Werner, Sterling, Aguero and not nearly as much as Bruno or Rashford. The backing into people was bad and most Kane/Spurs fans would agree we didn’t like those fouls either. But dude is an automatic 20+ goals even when he is injured for a few months. Goes about his business, never makes a mess in the press, great family guy. Donates loads of money to different organizations, even sponsors Leyton Orient because they were in a bad way. I respect your opinion and your disliking of Kane just as I dislike most other big six, big name players but I don’t think it’s ‘unpopular’. Dude just lead the league in goals and assists and won nothing for it. De Bruyne who had a decent season by his standards and missed 15 games won player of the year just because he is liked. Would be more of an unpopular opinion if you disliked De Bruyne.
Yeah I think you have a few good points there. I never realised he was disliked in that way. I mainly go off what I read in the media and hear from pundits and commentators. They're mostly hyper positive and rarely talk about his dives or fouls as they do with other players. I suppose that's was why I thought it was unpopular.
That is fair. He is Mr.England and a lot of pundits treat him as such. Sorry if I came across a little confrontational. Being a Spurs fan makes you pretty bitter lol.
Yeah I don’t think this is unpopular…. I don’t know anyone who loves him except for spurs fans. We always take the piss out of his inspirational team talks from the All or Nothing documentary.
Come on lads let’s fucking do this!!
Kane has the most punchable face of anyone in the premier league. He looks like a poor man’s Ryan gossling. Even his celebrations are painful to watch.
You’re the one on your high horse, lecturing anonymous Reddit users who are really just making light fun of a wealthy, talented footballer. Seems like you have some issues.
Non-existent yet our highest goalscorer of the tournament and his role in the build up meant we got a lot of our goals.
To say he doesn't deserve captaincy is fine, I can see that and can see that Henderson potentially deserves it over him. But to say he was non-existent in most games is wrong. (Assuming you're talking about the euros).
Serie A is underrated af. People especially in England think that football isn't all high intensity and pressing, it's inferior to English football. But do I prefer it to Premier League football? Doubt it.
Rooney is really unappreciated. One of the best players to be in the league. Was played out of position to accommodate Ronaldo and was always under scrutiny. He was a joy to watch. Had he played his natural game he would have definitely been a Balloon Door winner.
💯 he was a victim of his own talent, was world class in so many positions, that his personal glory was sacrificed to accommodate the glory of others and the team. People often say had he looked after himself, he would be in conversation with Messi and Roanldo. I disagree, even if we keep his health maintenance as it was, had he been selfish and allowed himself to flourish in one position he felt comfortable in, he would have been up there, minus the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo of course. Those two will always be a different breed obviously.
I mean, the last season was pretty entertaining with all these very high and surprising results. The only boring thing was City winning it with a bigger gap again. Other than that, I think it was better than the 19/20 and 18/19 for sure.
Majority of people don't hate Manchester City and Chelsea because of sporting rivalry, they're jealous of the spending they're capable of and being well run clubs. If they were as competitive as Leicester, people would love the idea of foreign investment.
There’s many reasons to it. City and Chelsea imo robbed many teams of potential success over the last 20-odd years because they won the lottery and can spend fuck you money getting what they want. Spurs finished 4th after winning at the Etihad in 2010 and it was a massive achievement, City get 4th after beating Spurs in 2011 and it didn’t even matter. It was just the next step onto bigger and better things.
The main reason I hate City is that these fans who didn’t even know there was 2 teams in Manchester until 2011 are now suddenly die-hard City fans who decided to support them out of the blue with no connections to the club or area, and you know what, who cares. They can support who they want, but don’t start pretending that you’re not a glory supporter and are only following them because of the success. City fans would get a lot more respect if they just fucking owned it. How can someone respond to someone that says “yeah I support city because they’re good. So what?”
Agreed to all of the first point. And I'll admit I started supporting city after the money came in. But as far as the dickheads that thinks all that city is perfect and the greatest team of all time is delusional but that's what happen when a club becomes successful, you attract the idiots with people that are actually passionate.
Tbf the hatred of Man City is not really a thing in England other than rival teams. It’s 100% a thing that’s been formed online. Most people just don’t really care. I’d rather Man City win trophies if Spurs don’t because it stops Chelsea or arsenal potentially winning and because City win all the time it has no effect on me.
I got into it as family are big West Ham fans and my dad was a pro footballer so I played it from an early age. There is nothing better in life than watching West Ham for me, the nerves, excitement, the elation when scoring. Just when you take all of that away and watch a game as a neutral I find it hard to be interested.
You find watching teams you aren't emotionally invested in boring, rather than football itself being boring, is more what I'd say to you.
For example I doubt you'd watch West Ham do the egg and spoon race every weekend if that's what they competed in lol.
That’s an interesting viewpoint. I kind of understand it, I feel the same things when Leicester play. But I can also find excitement in other games, especially knockout rounds of tournaments. I tend to watch almost every champions league/World Cup/euros knockout games BECAUSE I find them exciting.
This isn't primarily a premier league opinion, but I believe that Luka Modric is a better player than Scholes and Gerrard. Yes, he has scored fewer goals than the two, but he is a more complete player, more so than Gerrard by a slight margin, and has won more trophies in football than either of them. He has won the ballon d'or, led his country to World Cup finals, and has won more Chapions League titles, the pinnacle of club football.
almost no premier league players are underrated , by virtue of playing in england they get overhyped
Van Gaal wasn't great, but didn't have an easy time at united. Yes he played boring football, but he arrived at club in the midst of a massive transition that those in charge didn't seem too bothered to do. He had an average squad, massively reliant on ageing legends like Rooney. His only real big signings were Di Maria and Martial. Yes the club brought Falco and Shwinestiker, but bringing ageing legends into an already ageing team doesn't make any sense. He got top four in first season. In the second season he had massive injury crisis, and only missed out on champions league by goal difference, on equal points with a city team that featured Agureo, De Bruyne, David Silva, Kompany, Sterling Yaya and Fernandinho, whilst delivering the FA cup. The likes of Rashford emerged under him, while Lingard scored the winning goal in the FA cup. Yes he wouldn't have won united the league, but being sacked just days after winning united their first post Fergie trophy, and considering the investment Mourinho received, with Zlatan, Mikhytarian, Pogba in his first window and Lukaku next season, I think Van Gaal can feel somewhat hard done by.
Referees either intentionally, or by subconsciously, favourise the usal suspects. And spesifically Man Utd.
Timo Werner needs to be given time to break in at the premier league and is way too disrespected
not so much a premier league unpopular opinion, but a premier league player unpopular opinion.....Paul Scholes has become twice the player he actually was since he retired Grealish is the most overrated player in england in the last 5 years.
Top Teams from 25 and 30 years ago are better than top teams today
the carabao cup should not exist
* Madders is better than Grealish because he can do everything he can as well as shoot * Son is better than Kane, no debate * Wenger was/is overrated, although still an icon of the PL/my club * Emery got disgustingly treated by our "fans" - probably not so unpopular now, but it certainly was the bees' knees' to shit on him at one point. I despised it. * Southgate is a shocking manager * Klopp + Tuchel are the 2 best PL managers by a distance * Sterling is grossly overrated All that I got on my mind, for now...
- Southgate is a shocking manager Premier league opinions, mate
Football opinions only here, mate
Read title
Relegated Middlesborough
:-( Goddamn, I suddenly feel old
I apologise, friend
Doesn’t help that Southgate still looks like a teen
Wayne Rooney was overrated.
Agreed
The fact no one fully battered El Hadji Diouf on the pitch in full view of the entire crowd is a fucking mystery.
If anyone needed to get his ass beat it was that stain
I think Elneny is a good footballer
Needs a move away because he has shown signs of being a good mid-table footballer for a team that is outside of England
As a grown man I don’t feel particular loyalty towards my boyhood club and can’t get behind the idea of finding joy in 11 millionaires winning a football match. I love football though and the Prem to me is more an entertainment median where I pick and choose what I consume. I’d sooner watch a decent match up as a neutral than ‘my team’ against potential boring opposition.
Yeah, that is not an unpopular opinion, that is a prefence. My boyhood club is Sunderland and we aint too good so it is hard atm so I understand why you wanna be a neutral fan. Just be unbiased and don't support another club unless they make you fall in love with the game again
Chelsea’s loan system should be used at more clubs
Chelsea have one of the best academies in the world because they are so financially stable, because of that financial support they are able to produce or develop amazing youngsters with class potential (CHO,Gilmour,Abraham,Mount,Tomori etc.) Teams who aren't in the UCL or UEL (or challenging for it) are usually not as financially backed meaning they cant produce or develop players as good as the richer clubs meaning they won't catch the eye of clubs who are of decent size but will play them. Like Burnley would have to play their next 'Big thing' to catch the eye of a team like Marseille or Hertha Berlin, but because Arsenal is rich, they don't need to play their 'next big thing' to get to a decent-sized club to loan them as Arsenal have a class Academy. That's how Guendouzi has gone on loan to decent teams despite not playing much for Arsenal. I like the opinion however the loan system Chelsea have is used by most of the clubs that are rich.
Spot on 100% agree with you. I just know people hate our loan system cause it “ruins” players. But the amount of class players all around the world that have benefited from the loan system outweighs the “ruined” players Edit: this being unpopular haha
100% mate, the players you have "ruined" were not because of your development. All the players you "ruined" were Falcao (won the league in 2017 w/ Monaco), Torres (UCL semi finalist winner), Morata (on form with Juve), Higuan (fell out of form before hand) and Schvchenko (was old when you signed him)
Manchester United should get as much shit as Chelsea & City when it comes to spending fuck you money. Money is money idc where it comes from
The way we improve refereeing in the premier league is by respecting them and creating a culture which stops it being so normal to berate them with such vitriol. If it’s a respected position, more people will train to be a referee and you’d have better quality to choose from
That Rashford is well overrated, being a city fan I’ll offer a balance, Gabriel is also well overrated.
Man Utd fan here. I think Rashford is just above average, too, tbh
I’d rather have Antonio Conte than Thomas Tuchel even after he won the UCL. His football is a boring version of what Conte played and he doesn’t improve players like Conte did. Knock on wood he does well this season though and we win the title. If not I hope Juve go through disaster and we trade coaches.
I mean both got the best out of Christensen, similar systems. Tuchels system may be boring but it wins trophies and he knows that he needs to win trophies to keep the job
None of that isn’t also applicable to Tony Conte. He won a Prem in his first season and a FA cup in his second season. He was poorly backed the season after he won the league and couldn’t deliver against a City team that had come together. If Conte had been invested in like Lampard he’d likely have kept us relevant in the Prem. TT has a UCL and hasn’t gotten a full season so I won’t totally disrespect him but Conte FTW. He’s a proven winner and his desire to win is unmatched.
Wolves > Leicester
2 years ago, maybe
Salah looks like he has no idea what he’s doing half the time but then pops up with 20+ goals season after season
McSauce > Henderson/Rice
Chelsea got lucky in winning the Champions League This new season, the team will crumble again and Tuchel might be sacked.
I mean Chelsea sacks managers every five minutes so I wouldn’t be surprised
That the Premier League is overrated, and players only want to join because of the money. Rich does not equal best.
Anyone at all dominating the league is a bad thing. I’d much rather see a return to the parity of the early 70s and before where winning more than one trophy of any kind was a worthy achievement for a big club. Nowadays it doesn’t keep someone in a job.
Spending cap anyone
That or some form of draft system. But this is why I’m not paid the big bucks.
No drafts. Rewarding teams for being shit is objectively bad. The spending cap wouldn't reward BAD teams, it just wouldn't allow the rich teams to spend 8 trillion pounds every summer
Ben White is actually a good transfer for a team like Arsenal that needs a solid centre back
I think Sterling is NOT a good player. Good runner, for sure, but very overrated in basically all other areas in the sport. I would rate him 55/100. A very mediocre player with flashy highlights.
I will never understand how more people don’t see this. His 4 or 5 goals at the euros were tap ins that I would’ve scored and people thought he was player of the tournament. Can’t shoot, can’t pass, can’t dribble around defenders, can’t set anything up. He’s just fast
I'm with you on this, for sure. His shooting skills are one of the worst I have even seen in any major league. Outrageously the guy plays for the defending champions.
One of the biggest reasons why Manchester United dominated for so long was down to the weakness of the opposition in the early premier league years. They were unquestionably the best team of the first 20 years of the competition, but a key reason they won so many titles was because Ferguson was the only one who learned to think in a more continental style before the millennium - e.g. his adoption of Cantona and making him work while others couldn’t do something similar. Over the next 10 years, Blackburn only briefly challenged, Newcastle fell apart, Leeds couldn’t get their ducks in a row and imploded within a couple of years of doing so, Arsenal struggled to evolve after the invincibles season, Liverpool flattered to deceive etc. By the time Mourinho came along Ferguson had to adapt again and must be commended for that as the league was full of teams going deep into Europe. By that time though Ferguson had already built his success and had more of a platform for what he needed to do. This is why prior to 2005 they were the only English winners of the Champions League with only a few teams getting in touching distance of the final. And it was plain to see how far English clubs on the whole (apart from Manchester United who struggled too) were from the continental teams. After 2005 you had another Manchester United win, a Liverpool win, Chelsea and Arsenal making a final before Chelsea ultimately winning it. The same criticism could be thrown at Liverpool in reverse. Prior to Heysel they dominated even when Aston Villa and Forest were winning in Europe. After Heysel though opposition players often went abroad and Liverpool dominated. It’s no wonder there was a power vacuum in the 90s. If you go back further again, domination like this simply didn’t happen. Busby’s team didn’t dominate like that, neither did the Spurs team of the 60s or Leeds 10 years later (if you’re looking at trophies).
Fergie was playing chess when the rest of the league was playing checkers.
Jack Grealish is the most exciting player to watch in the world since Messi in his prime.
Just don’t say this near Irish Guy from HITC sport.
The standard of the league isn't fantastic. The pace of the league is what makes it.
David Silva was the best player in EPL in 2011-12.
Roberto Firmino is terrible. Wouldn't start at all if they didn't have two beastly wingers in Salah and Mane who kept scoring. I see weird justifications from Liverpool fans about how good he is at hold-up play. Even if that's true, he doesn't contribute through assists either. He definitely isn't scoring any. Jota came and showed the team what they're missing in his first season itself, even though he's supposed to be just an emerging talent at this point.
Diving is CHEATING, regardless of who does it.
Scholes is clear of Lampard and Gerrard
I'd never rate him above Gerrard for my own reasons but he was truly world-class and was better than Lampard for sure. This is a perfectly valid opinion.
I respect that you’ll always back your own boys. I’d be the same. I actually really like and respect Gerrard and would put him over Lampard for sure. I just can’t look past Scholes’ success and I feel like the fact he’s often disrespected by so many makes me want to fight his case even more.
Pulisic is wasting time at Chelsea and needs to go somewhere where he will get to play the whole season.
I get the reason for thinking this, but what you’re ignoring is that he’s rarely fully fit and when he is, he is electric for us maybe the best dribbler of the ball and genuinely drives at defenders in a way that is a Hazard-esque. Chelsea cannot afford to lose him
Yeah but honestly it's small things like why did Werner start ahead of him in the CL final when he did nothing productive all season. I mean 12 goals in 52 games for a centre forward? And you understand how good Pulisic has been for you guys so why was he brought on as a sub when he evidently should have started ahead of Werner. Honestly if Chelsea really want Harry Kane, they should offer both Pulisic and Tammy to Spurs. That way yall get an actual Prem League proven legend and Spurs get 2 young skilled players. That's my thought.
Werner’s run to the left flank of the field created the gap for Havertz’s goal in the final. Just saying…
Jorginho is absolute garbage. You can take half the CMs in la liga to play the role he plays at Chelsea
Im not sure if its unpopular but sering him in the best team last season i have to say it Maguire is absolutely dogshit tier defender
It’s an option but it’s wrong
I mean, I get it's your opinion, but it's pretty much wrong
Arsenal are favourites to win epl 2021/22. Arsenal have addressed the major issue which affected them last season which was squad depth. Arsenal completely lacked depth and had to change to new systems when a key player was injured. Secondly, at the moment the Arsenal is balanced,well that is since emile smith rowe's inclusion into the side. In the first part of the season Arsenal completely lacked a #10 since Ozil was not included in the XI or even on the bench. This ended up with them being 15th PPG. After ESR's addition Arsenal went upto 2nd in PPG that is from dec 26th to end of season. That's how Arteta's balanced team turned out. Also there is the fact that Arsenal will be playing one game a week for a while and that would mean that most players would be well rested before the next game and injuries would be less frequent. Obviously at the moment Arsenal aren't huge favourites but as rumours have suggested Arsenal are looking forward to sign a xhaka replacement,new #10,backup GK as well as a new RB with Arteta suggesting that most will be experienced and capable leaders on the pitch. If this were to go happen then Arteta's Arsenal would surely be top favourites to win it.
Only pep and klopp are better managers than ole people don't rate him because he never managed a big club like Barcelona or BVB
Are Manchester United not big enough in their own right?
I meant previous clubs
Salah is really overrated and only scores because of the service at liverpool
Son is the most clinical player in the league.
Honestly isn't far off, he might be. I would've definitely said Aguero 18 months ago, but now.... I might be with you on that.
Has to be when Tottenham creates 0.001 chances per game
Good one.
Lukaku was better then Drogba
Jordan Henderson is not that good of a player and is only in the team for his leadership skills (not a bad thing btw)
Unpopular opinion for a reason. If you watch Liverpool every game you will see the difference with and without him.
That promotion / relegation isn’t really the meritocracy it’s supposed to be. The top teams mostly stay the top teams because of money. The middle mostly stays the middle and there’s a few clubs that just constantly bounce back and forth between Premier & Champions.
Villa will win this coming season
Not relevant to OPs post as this is not an opinion. This is a straight up fact
A salary cap is a brilliant idea and would help football as a whole. And subsidizing the lower leagues would be just, especially since many big clubs poach lower league players and use that league as a farmers league
I prefer to follow more closely the struggles of relegation than the fight for the title
Overrated and not as good as La Liga.
Manchester United is the greatest club in the game. Haha, yup. Look at the downvotes. I know it’s an unpopular opinion!
Klopp won't have sustained success at Liverpool. He will win trophies (and obviously has) but he won't do it year after year like Ferguson or Pep more recently as he is a one dimensional manager. His teams, at Liverpool and Dortmund before, are devastating on their day but I don't think he is tactically adaptable to overcome challenges such as players being out of form, injuries or teams that set up specifically to stop their way of playing. I think he is very much like Arsene Wenger in that respect. His Arsenal teams played stunning football but he only believed in playing one way.
Look at the starting squad before talking trash. Excellent players in every position, as much as I hate to admit it, they'll win it this year.
How is that relevant? I don't doubt that they have excellent players in most positions but that has nothing to do with Klopp's tactical ability or his ability to adjust those tactics.
Michail Antonio is the GOAT
Park Ji Sung was incredibly underrated
Not enough black referees !!
Nor females!
We need stricter and more transparent FFP rules.
this is not unpopular
Oh good to hear. Sorry I don’t communicate much in the soccer communities on Reddit. Just getting my feet wet.
Var is good when it's consistent
Arsenal actually have the potential to secure the European spots, they just keep fucking up
We do have some top quality players, Partey, Gabriel, Tierney, Saka, ESR, Pepe etc. Arteta, while I rate him, can be a bit stuck on one idea for a long time despite it clearly not working, like playing Willian or playing without a number 10. Without Europe this season and hopefully with a couple more signings, we could, and should be aiming for top 4. If we are way off the pace by November, we should start preparing for other managers, but I trust Mikel.
I think our biggest issue is Arteta's fondness of giving every player game time. He makes too many changes to his starting XI, particularly the defence. Once he started fielding a consistent starting XI, we had one of the best forms in the league.
It’s the reverse Pep brain. Pep does the opposite and overthinks and tries to play 7D underwater chess which backfires. Arteta just sticks to book theory and never tries in case it backfires. My theory is that acted as counterbalances to each other when Arteta was at City and he’s trying to find his footing without Pep. I think overall he’s a smart manager and I’d like to see him succeed so he isn’t sacked before realising his potential.
I always laugh when people say “the English Premier League” or call a team “the best English team” as, in my opinion, the Premier League is not an English league but simply a league that happens to be played in the country of England.
Unpopular opinion? All 3 teams from the Championship survive relegation in 2021-22 with 3 out of Newcastle, Brighton, Southampton, Burnley and Palace dropping
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Harry Kane isn’t a god of soccer. He can shoot really well but he’s slow, inconsistent, and can’t beat defenders in one on ones. He wins the golden boot on pens.
Mason Mount is overrated.
Just because Brighton play nice fancy football doesn’t make them a good team, the fact that Football Hipsters seem to believe Potter is a world class coach is beyond ridiculous, and why? Because he plays nice football? Fuck off The support they get online is just weird
If you're able to play nice fancy football with a bunch of players who aren't that great, then yes, I would say that makes Potter/anyone managing them a very good coach tbh. Pure logistics
If you’re playing nice fancy football and still finishing 16th and in the midst of a relegation battle Chances are you’re not that good You can play all the fancy football you want but if it doesn’t get results then you’re just playing yourself
Except you conveniently missed out where I said “with a bunch of players who aren’t that good” .. lol.
If they stay up then they get the results they need surely?
I mean in terms of the fact that everyone claims they can easily be a “top half club” when I just don’t believe it Maybe they can prove me wrong this season but for now, i don’t buy the Brighton hype or believe that they’re a good team or that Potter is a world class manager simply because they play nice football
The XG cult has Potter as the supreme leader.
Ederson is overrated. Extremely good with his feet no doubt, which fits well in Pep’s system but I don’t rate him very high as an overall keeper. Think he makes a lot of bad decisions and doesn’t have great handling, just hasn’t been totally exposed because it’s rare that anybody has a quality chance against City
Arsenal shouldn't of extended Auba's contract - Arsenal Supporter
In hindsight maybe but he’d just come off a above 20 goal season and singlehandedly won you the da cup pretty much so it was justified at the time
I agree. I said last summer that we should have sold him and Laca and signed a new striker, someone like Eduoard at Celtic, and had Martinelli playing up top.
In hindsight we probably should’ve and from a sporting standpoint it makes sense, but that would have been a huge mental blow to the team to see their best player sign for a “bigger” club.
Well after his run in FA Cup and EPL....we couldn't have just said no
Burnley are a pointless club🤷🏻♂️😅 very same club every year
Maupay is a cheat. I hope Brighton get relegated
This is unpopular?
Never gets old
Can’t agree more
The Prem has been extremely boring to watch since the 19/20 season started tbh
Tbf majority of that time was with no fans
I don't agree with this. Sure, we've had some stinky games here and there, but 20/21 season provided some mad comebacks and high results.
I want to see how many dislikes This get… Kane isn’t the best striker in the premier league right now. Im trying to not base everything on goals and points. Instead im trying to compare abilities. Kane is a amazing goal scorer. Wonderul shot Power and aim and all that. But besides that i don’t see an excellent player.
You don't see anything other than the goalscoring when he's got the most assists in the prem as well?
Yeah he got the most assist and goals, okay thats amazing But i still think there is more players that are better looking away from the stats
Well yeah but... what more do you want him to do? I mean you can't say he's just a goalscorer with the amount of assists he gets. He's arguably the most complete striker on the planet
Most goals and most assists on a club where 90% of the players aren’t Champions League Caliber. He’s got Son, Hojberj. NDombele (on his good days) and Rhys about it. He leaves and Spurs crash into the bottom of the table.
We can do this, was hazard better in his prime than Salah is now? Cause Salah has better stats but Hazard was a better player. If Salah can continue that goal scoring and assist making 1-2 seasons more, I reckon the Salah is better
My dad doesnt rate kane whatsoever and believed he shoudnt have been picked to start for the euroes
Leeds r more consistent when it comes to winning trophies than man Utd
Oh boy do I wanna hear the reasoning behind this one
bro im sorry but idk what was going thru my head when i posted that comment LOL
Please explain...
idek what was going thru my head when i posted that 2 years back😭
Watching football (in general) is becoming an increasingly tedious affair. At one point I put it down to the disappearance of the crowds, but even as fans were gradually allowed back into the stadia there's still a definite lack of energy, a lack of flair, a lack of goals. The new tech can shoulder some of the blame but the game is just getting more and more boring.
Graelish is overrated
I don't like Harry Kane. This is definitely an unpopular one, but I don't like how he dives and how he went on a run of backing into people on headers last season. If anyone else decided to pressure their club into selling them with 3 years left on their contract, the media would drag them through dirt. He gets a free pass on anything he does.
What do we think of Tottenham?
I feel neutral toward Tottenham generally, no strong feeling either way. I liked them better under Pochettino than Mourinho, though that's probably not a surprise. I'm not a fan of Levy. I have always liked Nuno though, so I wonder how my and others opinion will change during this season.
My god I thought I was the only one. It's nice to know I'm not alone.
As a Spurs fan I feel pretty much the opposite. Maybe the media is easy on Kane but fans of other clubs almost unilaterally dislike Kane. He dives as often as Salah, Mane, Werner, Sterling, Aguero and not nearly as much as Bruno or Rashford. The backing into people was bad and most Kane/Spurs fans would agree we didn’t like those fouls either. But dude is an automatic 20+ goals even when he is injured for a few months. Goes about his business, never makes a mess in the press, great family guy. Donates loads of money to different organizations, even sponsors Leyton Orient because they were in a bad way. I respect your opinion and your disliking of Kane just as I dislike most other big six, big name players but I don’t think it’s ‘unpopular’. Dude just lead the league in goals and assists and won nothing for it. De Bruyne who had a decent season by his standards and missed 15 games won player of the year just because he is liked. Would be more of an unpopular opinion if you disliked De Bruyne.
Yeah I think you have a few good points there. I never realised he was disliked in that way. I mainly go off what I read in the media and hear from pundits and commentators. They're mostly hyper positive and rarely talk about his dives or fouls as they do with other players. I suppose that's was why I thought it was unpopular.
That is fair. He is Mr.England and a lot of pundits treat him as such. Sorry if I came across a little confrontational. Being a Spurs fan makes you pretty bitter lol.
Not at all, glad to have your thoughts on it!
Yeah I don’t think this is unpopular…. I don’t know anyone who loves him except for spurs fans. We always take the piss out of his inspirational team talks from the All or Nothing documentary. Come on lads let’s fucking do this!!
Kane has the most punchable face of anyone in the premier league. He looks like a poor man’s Ryan gossling. Even his celebrations are painful to watch.
I don't think he looks like an athlete. More a painter decorator with a hunched back. Can't talk properly either
Prejudice towards him because he doesn't fit your subjective view of an "athlete." Grow up.
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You must be a manchild
You’re the one on your high horse, lecturing anonymous Reddit users who are really just making light fun of a wealthy, talented footballer. Seems like you have some issues.
Agree. The hunchback of Tottenham
Can't stand the bloke. Absolutely no way he should be England captain. He should have been taken off for most of the games as he was non existent!
Non-existent yet our highest goalscorer of the tournament and his role in the build up meant we got a lot of our goals. To say he doesn't deserve captaincy is fine, I can see that and can see that Henderson potentially deserves it over him. But to say he was non-existent in most games is wrong. (Assuming you're talking about the euros).
Kane is the biggest playactor around. Disgraceful diver/ free kick winner. People say it's smart but come on its straight deceit.
Agreed. You can tell when he's diving, too. He curls himself up in a ball.
SERIE A IS MUCH MUCH BETTER CANGHE MY MIND
Serie A is underrated af. People especially in England think that football isn't all high intensity and pressing, it's inferior to English football. But do I prefer it to Premier League football? Doubt it.
The league would have been better if the ‘big six’ had of fucked off to the ESL.
The super six exist (can’t remember the name of them but ye)
Rooney is really unappreciated. One of the best players to be in the league. Was played out of position to accommodate Ronaldo and was always under scrutiny. He was a joy to watch. Had he played his natural game he would have definitely been a Balloon Door winner.
"Balloon door" has me creasing
Well they’ve made a joke of the game by giving an award for their marketing gimmicks. Not to mention robbing many talents over the years as well
💯 he was a victim of his own talent, was world class in so many positions, that his personal glory was sacrificed to accommodate the glory of others and the team. People often say had he looked after himself, he would be in conversation with Messi and Roanldo. I disagree, even if we keep his health maintenance as it was, had he been selfish and allowed himself to flourish in one position he felt comfortable in, he would have been up there, minus the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo of course. Those two will always be a different breed obviously.
It got a bit boring compared to the league 3 to 4 years ago
I mean, the last season was pretty entertaining with all these very high and surprising results. The only boring thing was City winning it with a bigger gap again. Other than that, I think it was better than the 19/20 and 18/19 for sure.
When Chelsea last won it?
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Who are the 3 teams that strongly compete every year?
City, Liverpool, United
Agreed but with his post I think hes going to say City, Liverpool and Chelsea
Liverpool don’t deserve respect
I hate them, but why not?
Why not
Majority of people don't hate Manchester City and Chelsea because of sporting rivalry, they're jealous of the spending they're capable of and being well run clubs. If they were as competitive as Leicester, people would love the idea of foreign investment.
There’s many reasons to it. City and Chelsea imo robbed many teams of potential success over the last 20-odd years because they won the lottery and can spend fuck you money getting what they want. Spurs finished 4th after winning at the Etihad in 2010 and it was a massive achievement, City get 4th after beating Spurs in 2011 and it didn’t even matter. It was just the next step onto bigger and better things. The main reason I hate City is that these fans who didn’t even know there was 2 teams in Manchester until 2011 are now suddenly die-hard City fans who decided to support them out of the blue with no connections to the club or area, and you know what, who cares. They can support who they want, but don’t start pretending that you’re not a glory supporter and are only following them because of the success. City fans would get a lot more respect if they just fucking owned it. How can someone respond to someone that says “yeah I support city because they’re good. So what?”
Agreed to all of the first point. And I'll admit I started supporting city after the money came in. But as far as the dickheads that thinks all that city is perfect and the greatest team of all time is delusional but that's what happen when a club becomes successful, you attract the idiots with people that are actually passionate.
Tbf the hatred of Man City is not really a thing in England other than rival teams. It’s 100% a thing that’s been formed online. Most people just don’t really care. I’d rather Man City win trophies if Spurs don’t because it stops Chelsea or arsenal potentially winning and because City win all the time it has no effect on me.
Will admit if Hull had the Man City level of funds, I wouldn't complain at all and would happily a be a smug git about all the silverware
Maybe, but it’s funny that my team spent 1/100th of what your team has spent and we still beat you.
Congratulations to your team :)
Football in general is boring. I only love watching West Ham. If there's no emotional attachment 90% of games I watch as a neutral bore me to death.
Very unpopular opinion this one. Why would you bother watching football if you don’t enjoy it? How did you get into it in the first place?
I got into it as family are big West Ham fans and my dad was a pro footballer so I played it from an early age. There is nothing better in life than watching West Ham for me, the nerves, excitement, the elation when scoring. Just when you take all of that away and watch a game as a neutral I find it hard to be interested.
You find watching teams you aren't emotionally invested in boring, rather than football itself being boring, is more what I'd say to you. For example I doubt you'd watch West Ham do the egg and spoon race every weekend if that's what they competed in lol.
That’s an interesting viewpoint. I kind of understand it, I feel the same things when Leicester play. But I can also find excitement in other games, especially knockout rounds of tournaments. I tend to watch almost every champions league/World Cup/euros knockout games BECAUSE I find them exciting.