Premier League 16/17
- Thread starter LionNYC
- Start date
Tragic watching Williams cry on the field. Gotta feel for him. Equally amazing to see Wagner earn his spot in the PL
Those Huddersfield jerseys are sweet!
Yeah, it was a total gut punch to lose like that when he's been toiling for so long on a team below his level.
Really hope somebody picks Williams up, even Huddersfield could use a guy like him. Some of the lower ranked PL teams should take a look, and he'd be a nice fillin at Leicester for the loss this year of Kante.
That's too bad. I'd recorded the match figuring that something as high-stakes as a promotion playoff would be a good watch, but alas. Were both teams being too concerned with slipping up? Finalitis?
Huddlesfield managed all of 1 goal in its 3 playoff games. It had a -2 GD for the year while finishing 5th in a 24 team table. They were the only team of the 4 in the playoff to have a negative GD. Without actually ever having seen them I have to think their strategy is extremely conservative and drove today's result. I also have to infer that they were fairly lucky this year, including today. Right now I'd consider them the top candidate for immediate relegation unless they substantially improve the team.
OTOH I watched exactly 0 Championship games this year including today.
I didn't watch any of their games, but they were a top 3 team for nearly the entire season.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016–17_Huddersfield_Town_A.F.C._season
Their last four games were 3 losses and were outscored 9-2, so that's where they went negative on the GD. They also had a massive streak of wins mid season. Makes me wonder if they had injuries that led to the decline at the end. They also forced a replay with MCFC in the 5th round of the FA Cup, so they had a decent run of a few wins there.
Any team going up is an immediate consideration for dropping back down, there just isn't enough pull and money to attract the quality of players needed to stay up. Also, many teams that do go up won't break the bank on players because if they drop, even with the parachute payments, they still have pricey contracts to pay out and that's a fast route to being in the red.
Actually, their goal was an own goal. So they scored 0 goals themselves in the playoffs.
Not defending Huddersfield here per se, but own goals in general. Unless a defender is actually aiming for the net and scores an owngoal, it can be argued that the offensive team creates the own goal by placing the defensive team in the position of which they cannot successfully clear the ball; they either fail at the clearance or the offensive team succeeds with their shot/cross/pass.
I did and thought the same thing. I was able to catch live the second half of extra time and the shootout. Teams looked cautious. The emotional burden was intense. On a side note, I got a huge kick out of seeing Patrick Stewart in the crowd rooting for Huddersfield.
I was really hoping that Huddersfield would get the promotion spot. On a purely personal level, I always like it when teams who haven't played in the PL before get to go up, and this year we get two with Brighton also winning promotion. Plus I have to give respect to Huddersfield for their history - six top-three finishes in a row in the 1920s, including three league wins on the bounce. Very few teams can boast that, they're one of the past greats of the game.
Actually, at Wembley. The cameras were all over him, haha.
Forgot to mention, Wagner is a Klopp disciple- he typically does try to play attacking tactics.
Disciple/best friends/whatevs. Wagner was CP's first coach at BVB. Klopp signed CP and brought him into early first team training.
But Huddersfield have a problem in that they don't have very many (any) good players. Danny Ward, LFC loanee goalkeeper, was possibly their best player on the year.
Wagner did more with less than anyone around this year. He's USMNT manager in waiting at this point. The point at which that happens is up to him.
I think Klopp retires in 4-5 years, for at least a year if not permanently. Could see Wagner replacing him at Liverpool. As part of that, and based on pure conjecture and even then it's a stretch, I could totally see Klopp doing something nuts like coming to keep the seat warm for DW. it's just the kind of guy he is.
2026, y'all.
Wagner could possibly get the players he needs to stay up - the owner of the team is worth half-billion bucks and he probably will be more agreeable to opening his wallet now that they're in the PL. between that and the TV$, and Wagner could have a decent transfer budget.
Cool I only know he's from Huddersfield/ a Huddersfield Town fan because in his, recently canceled , show Blunt Talk he had a framed signed Huddersfield Town shirt in his office. Very funny show IMO though an acquired taste, lots of jokes about The Falkland's for example.
Back to pertinent footie points, agree with anyone glad to see a new team. The first time Reading came up (I believe it was ever not just in the premier league?) that was cool but since they've become a yo yo team I'd much rather see someone else get a chance. Though I'd imagine Brighton have a much better chance of actually staying up of the two.
Moving away from PL, where Danny Williams belongs, he would be an absolute beast in MLS.
He's been the best player on Reading for 2-3 years. He's now out of contract. For his sake, hope he gets picked up by a PL team. But he would be a killer signing for us. We would actually have 3 strong midfielders to rotate among our 6/8 roles.
He's been the best player on Reading for 2-3 years. He's now out of contract. For his sake, hope he gets picked up by a PL team. But he would be a killer signing for us. We would actually have 3 strong midfielders to rotate among our 6/8 roles.
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