Rightdm00

PL has moved so far from the EFL that a team has to spend an exorbitant sum to stay up. Or you spend a decade slowly cultivating a squad like Brentford. Sadly being the league winner in the championship means next to nothing if you don't back it up with some significant upgrades during the summer.

Saw that as well when I did a rewatch. McGinn and Ramsey are both high up supporting their respective fullback. It leaves Kamara and Coutinho as the only 2 midfielder helping play out the back. We will struggle with any team in a low block this season. You can't breakdown the middle of the pitch with 2 players and everyone else jammed out wide.

Teams are allowed to keep 40% of concessions and ticket sales. Corporate sponsor (stadium naming rights) dollars also don't have to be shared. Everything else TV, Licensing, merchandising all go into the national revenue sharing pot. Any money for sporting success goes directly to the players. Last year each player recieved $150K for winning the league (super bowl). Money is also handed out for winning at each level of the playoffs but that is also only paid to the players. What's interesting is that the money paid by the league to the team owners isn't the money allocated for salary. In the current CBA the players recieve 48% of all dollars in the revenue sharing pool. That money is then used to set the salary cap for a given year. Each team is required to spend 90-95% of their cap dollars. This is how the NFL is able to ensure all teams are spending within their limits. No team is able to pull a Man City and just take massive losses for sporting success. All spending is based on revenue and hard capped. The above is the NFL model. The other major leagues (NBA/MLB/NHL) all have some form of revenue sharing and total revenue capping player expenses.

Leagues in the state use revenue sharing which pools almost all forms of revenue and then equally distributes it throughout the league. That's how Green Bay, smallest city in the league, just broke the record for annual salary to one player when they resigned Aaron Rodgers this summer.

It doesn't have to be. No one would have called us a long ball team under Dean. If you spread play and allow your ball carriers to go 1v1 you can also get quick progression. Palace did it time and again versus Liverpool yesterday and they probably can't wait to exploit those same gaps versus us.

And it has clearly affected the entertainment value. We are a bore. Really hard to progress the ball quickly when you have to wait for the fullbacks to advance from one box to another.

I think we should be far better. The manager had a full preseason, brought in multiple targets of his choice, installed his preferred tactics and even got to name his own captain. That should be more than enough to leap frog teams like Palace, who lost probably their POTS in Gallagher or Brentford who have spent next to the nothing. We have had two less than stellar performances so far so now the window is a poor one. We aren't going to buy our way into Europe. We already tried that and it ended up with us in the Championship. It will take some cunning and guile for us to get there. I feel we have shown that in our transfer dealings. Securing Chambers and Boubacar on a free. Striking quickly when quality becomes availability (Digne). Rolling the dice on a backup keeper (Martinez). I think what we haven't seen is that same level of cunning from our manager. So many other managers in the PL are doing more with far less. Why can't ours?

Damn he fell for it. Shit housing in the PL has reached a new level this season.

He never hit it. Vieira also did the proper managerial stints before moving to the PL. Didn't get fast tracked due to nepotism.

So he's 5th choice? He looks it. Zaha has been sitting on his shoulder all first half.

Who is the other 1st choice CB for Liverpool. This Phillips kid is getting absolutely abused right now.

Same. I'd also take an all action 8 who can cover a bit of ground. Either way it's the midfield all day that needs the upgrade. It's painful watching Boubacar have no one to pass to because Ramsey and McGinn are so far up the pitch. I rewatched the first half of the Everton game. Coutinho was dropping below the midfield line because no one else was showing. He would initiate the attack but he doesn't have the legs to also show up in the box to finish the move. We desperately need that 8 to help link Boubacar with our creator further upfield.

Steven has to know that too. Begs the question why he sees it as second best. We obviously don't have the players for the narrow 4-3-3 he prefers since it leaves us horribly exposed through the midfield. I wonder how many games we go before he tries it again?

Slightly worried he seems to use this 2 striker formation as his fail safe. Still grasping for straws when it comes to our preferred setup. Hopefully in the near future he can settle on something permanent.

Best to assume we won't see him at anywhere near a 100% for a full 12 months. Anytime before that would be a massive bonus.

When you think about it neither of them were very good 8s. They were both at their best as second strikers playing off the 9. Gerrard did okay under Rodgers at the base of the midfield but he was never truly comfortable, see The Slip.

Look how far Hickey tucks inside for Brentford when they are attacking. I swear we play so simple. Just keep the fullbacks wide and pump in crosses. Brentford look so dynamic. Kinda jealous.

Henderson demanded a loan after they made De Gea first choice. Omg they conceeded again. We want 5!!!!

We want 4!!!

Wait are you not supposed to down 6 of these a day?

The top and bottom are two different shades of diarrhea green. Is that supposed to be intentional?

I blame the awful away kit. They look like a bunch of half ripe limes running around.

Class. Still think he is being asked to do far to much. Will get heavily exposed against the better sides in the PL.

Steven doesn't make that quote if it's just cautionary. Sounds like it's bad and when you are talking ankles that's the bad one.

If they need an MRI for an ankle injury then the Achilles is the concern and that is BAD news. Fingers crossed but not feeling optimistic about this one.