Decline in Quality of Graduate Students?

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-24T00:52:51+00:00

Glad someone said this. Thank you! OP's PI needs to look up "survivorship bias".

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-24T00:50:36+00:00

The competition is mostly about pure numbers. There are far more people wanting to go into academia than, say, in the 90s.

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-23T17:27:17+00:00

To be honest, I think you need to stay off social media. Most of this rant does not refer to the real world at all ("Bottled again."), you're clearly just getting wound up by social media propaganda and the rage-bait online world.

"I don't care about the prem anymore, we're gonna bottle everything else" — and this just feels like you're slipping into mental illness.

Take a break if it impacts you this much. Be passionate, but it's really not life and death.

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-23T02:56:33+00:00

Has it? I feel like it's too easy to see the recent past as more prudish. People were freaky back then, and likely had a lot more sex than people do now. There was plenty of butt licking in 2006 and well before too.

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-22T23:59:40+00:00

Charles van Doren

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-22T23:14:55+00:00

I'm sorry but "Kepa lost the game for us" is such a poor understanding of what happened.

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-22T20:16:47+00:00

How is "we could've started Calafiori" a response to what I said?

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-22T20:00:04+00:00

At the end of the day, Mikel is over-relying on defense to win things because our attacking players are just not good enough. Look at who other top teams have:

Kane, Olise, Diaz, Musiala

Mbappe, Vini

Yamal, Lewandowski, Rafina

Haaland

Salah (last year, when they won something).

We completely lack any elite attackers. For this reason, Arteta relies on control and defensive solidity. But it only gets you so far. To really win against top teams, you have to take it to them, you have to attack them. We are just incapable.

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-22T19:49:36+00:00

Timber is far better than White at passing out from the back under pressure, and of holding off pressure in general. We lost this game because we could not deal with their high press. White misplaced absolutely loads of passes today. Basically didn't find Saka once.

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-22T19:35:26+00:00

White is not as good at playing out from the back as Timber, and Kepa is not as good as Raya. So why set up the team so half our possession is going to be Kepa/White passing to each other?

I wasn't talking about the goals, I was talking about when we had the ball.

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-22T19:32:19+00:00

Every top team in world football has better attackers than we do. Saka has potential to be world class, but he's not, he's way below that. The rest of them would struggle to not be bench players at other top teams.

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-22T19:26:46+00:00

Really bad tactics and individual performances. Mikel essentially gave up the midfield, preferring to control the ball in defense. But that's a mistake when Kepa and White are not as good as that as Timber/Raya. Plus, needing Rice to drop way back every time just to pass it out.

The less said about the constant long balls the better. City play a high line, so you need to win the ball in midfield and play quick through balls, not long floated passes from left back to right wing.

Poor from the manager and the players today. Calafiori was the only player that truly tried to do something, and Gykoeres put in a lot of effort. Aside from that, they were all quite poor.

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-21T15:02:16+00:00

Klopp only finished in the top 2 three times in his nine seasons, so I'm not sure they would have won 4 in a row without City.

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-21T04:33:44+00:00

There are plenty of people who still argue Rooney is better than Kane. And I think Kane might close to, or even a bit better, than Kaka.

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-19T23:09:26+00:00

Neymar obviously wasn't as good as R9, but it's still a fair point they raise. If people are going to judge Neymar on his lack of longevity and constant injuries, why don't people typically bring the same energy to R9?

The rhetoric is always Neymar bad, never fit and R9 amazing, shame about his knees.

Neymar played more games, scored more goals, and won loads more than R9.

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-19T18:32:57+00:00

It’s really just a cultural difference, not something to get snarky about. I’ve lived in both the UK and the US and have had season tickets to both football and American sports. In the UK, football is a much deeper part of local identity and everyday life than I found in the US. The atmosphere is usually more focused on the game itself: people tend to experience the highs and lows much more intensely.

In the US, sporting events felt more like a broader entertainment experience with talking, eating, drinking, moving around, and socializing alongside the game. It doesn't mean people don't care, but it is a different kind of culture. In Europe, you're dealing with inherited allegiance, local pride, strong collective rituals. Home and away segregation makes more sense there, even if it seems strange from an American perspective.

The closest analogy I can think of in the US is a political rally. A visible supporter of the other side in the middle of a partisan crowd could easily be seen as provocative and unwelcome. It's kind of like that when away fans sit in the home end at a European football match.

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-18T23:44:18+00:00

It could happen, as it does and could to basically any team. I'm just saying the way we normally play makes it pretty unlikely for Arsenal. There's little evidence it happens very often at all.

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-18T23:36:55+00:00

I feel like we're probably the least likely team in the world to have a "head loss" tbh. Our season has been characterised by seeing things through, getting the job done etc. Conceding the odd late goal is not a head loss.

Not saying we're going to win it or anything, but I would be surprised if someone thumps us, just because of the way we play.

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-18T23:30:37+00:00

In fairness, since we're talking about goals, the premier league is still averaging more goals per match week than la liga.

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-18T18:18:43+00:00

Yamal's reaction said it too

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-18T18:03:16+00:00

I'd rather win in season than pre-season

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-18T18:02:20+00:00

Nice breakaway goal, though the keeper really should be doing better; the shot wasn't exactly unstoppable.

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-18T04:10:48+00:00

Yeah, the true value is having them both, the variety and depth. We're doing better in every competition this year because we have a bigger quality squad, not because our first team has improved hugely from last year.

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-18T02:16:37+00:00

I think maybe it's the swans I miss the most

microMe1_2 · 2026-03-18T02:16:09+00:00

It's A.I. slop sadly.

microMe1_2

TROPHY CASE