OFFICIAL English Premier League thread and competition!

[e-thug]

http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/images/2008/08/16/epl_logo.jpg

The season starts in about 3 weeks so I thought I'd make this official thread and a competition of sorts aswell.

If ya want to participate all ya need to do is send in your predictions for the final standings, FA Cup winner and Top goal scorer (league only).

This will be the format:

1. 15 pts
2. 10 pts
3. 7 pts
4. 7 pts
5. 5 pts
6. 5 pts
7. 5 pts
8. 5 pts
9. 5 pts
10. 5 pts
11. 5 pts
12. 5 pts
13. 5 pts
14. 5 pts
15. 5 pts
16. 5 pts
17. 5 pts
18. 10 pts
19. 10 pts
20. 10 pts

Pickin FA Cup winner will be worth 20 points and picking the top goal scorer correctly will be worth 20 points.

Prizes will be:

1st place: 250,000 credits
2nd place: 125,000 credits
3rd place: 75,000 credits

Deadline: August 13th

Just to make it easy for ya I have put together the list of teams that are in the prem this year:

1. Chelsea
2. Man Utd
3. Arsenal
4. Tottenham
5. Man City
6. Liverpool
7. Aston Villa
8. Everton
9. Birmingham
10. Blackburn
11. Stoke
12. Fulham
13. Sunderland
14. Bolton
15. Wolves
16. Wigan
17. West Ham
18. Newcastle
19. West Brom
20. Blackpool

Pariticipants:

Vexred - Picked
Jack - Picked
FunkYou - Picked
MilesHackett - Picked
Gomi - Picked
Plazzman - Picked
e-thug - Picked
Pearce - Picked
Malky - Picked

Any questions just let it be known in here, otherwise lets discuss the always exciting premier league!

I think this years battle for the title will be really exciting and the race for champions league positions will be closer than ever, not gonna go into too much detail until we get some picks in but I am really looking forward to the start of the season.

[vexred]

I'm going to wait till I know where Torres is going to be before I make my pick. If he goes to Man City or Chelsea, I'll probably pick the team that lands Torres.

[FunkYou]

Ah the traditional hopeful pre-season which will shortly be followed by the crushing disappointment of the actual season. Last year was an exception there is no way Spurs will make it two good seasons in a row.

Especially as they have done nothing to strengthen their weakest areas. If 'Arry signs another midfielder I am going to White Hart Lane to punch him on the nose.

[MilesHackett]

I am so in.

[Gomi]

Would you be okay if I moved this to the Sports Bar?

I'm in, also.

[Pearce]

Count me in!

I'll try not to let my love for Spurs inluence my picks.

[Jack]

I'm all over this bitch.

Will be interesting to see if Villa actually manage to somehow sell all of our best players this summer.

[plazzman]

1. ManU
2. Chelsea
3. Man City
4. Arsenal
5. Tottenham
6. Aston Villa
7. Liverpool
8. Everton
9. Fulham
10. Blackburn
11. West Ham
12. Burmingham
13. Sunderland
14. Bolton
15. West Brom
16. Wigan
17. New Castle
18. Stoke
19. Wolves
20. Blackpool

Top Scorer:
Didier Drogba

FA Cup Winner:
Arsenal

[Jack]

Bump, just in case anyone forgot about this (I did) and wants to get picks in (I do).

[vexred]

1. Chelsea
2. Man Utd
3. Arsenal
4. Man City
5. Tottenham
6. Liverpool
7. Aston Villa
8. Everton
9. Birmingham
10. West Ham
11. Fulham
12. Sunderland
13. Bolton
14. Stoke City
15. Blackburn
16. Newcastle
17. Wigan
18. Wolves
19. West Brom
20. Blackpool

FA Cup : Man City

Top Scorer : Drogba

[Gomi]

1. Chelsea
2. Manchista United
3. Manchista Citeh
4. Arsenal
5. Tottenham
6. Liverpool
7. Villa
8. Everton
9. Blackburn
10. Fulham
11. West Ham
12. Sunderland
13. Birmingham
14. Bolton
15. Wigan
16. West Brom
17. Stoke
18. Wolves
19. Newcastle
20. Blackpool

Drogba
Tottenham

[vexred]

I might have to change my list, Martin O'Neil has just resigned from Villa. O'Neil is just like Clough imo, wants total control & makes average-good players into a great team. Villa will struggle to finish when they did last year.

[Jack]

Yep, we're fucked now.

I just worry about why he went, cos there were rumours that the club were trying to sell Ashley Young behind his back a few weeks ago.

Doesn't bode well for this season, we could realistically go down if a shit manager comes in. Well maybe not that bad, as some shit teams came up this year, but we could be looking at 13-16, easy.

[Malky]

Yep, we're fucked now.

I just worry about why he went, cos there were rumours that the club were trying to sell Ashley Young behind his back a few weeks ago.

Doesn't bode well for this season, we could realistically go down if a shit manager comes in. Well maybe not that bad, as some shit teams came up this year, but we could be looking at 13-16, easy.

Do you think its money related? O'Neill likes to hit the transfer market late and Villa have yet to sign anyone do you think he asked for money and was refused?

[Jack]

I think we knew all along that we had to sell to buy, but he could have been looking for an advance on the money we should be getting for Milner soon, so it's possible.

I just hope we're not selling Young.

[vexred]

Sky are saying that he probably wanted all of the 30mil they would get for Milner & the owners wouldn't let he reinvest it all. As Jack said there had been bids for Young from Spurs.

[MilesHackett]

1. Man Utd
2. Chelsea
3. Arsenal
4. Man City
5. Liverpool
6. Tottenham
7. Aston Villa
8. Everton
9. Blackburn
10. Bolton
11. West Ham
12. Newcastle
13. Birmingham
14. Stoke
15. Sunderland
16. Fulham
17. Wolves
18. Wigan
19. West Brom
20. Blackpool

FA Cup Winner: Man Utd.
Leading Goal Scorer: Wayne Rooney (tempted to pick Drogba, but the Utd fanboy in me thinks Wayne will come back with a vengeance after the world cup).

[Jack]

1. Man Utd
2. Chelsea
3. Arsenal
4. Man City
5. Liverpool
6. Tottenham
7. Aston Villa
8. Everton
9. Blackburn
10. Bolton
11. West Ham
12. Newcastle
13. Birmingham
14. Stoke
15. Sunderland
16. Fulham
17. Wolves
18. Wigan
19. West Brom
20. Blackpool

FA Cup Winner: Man Utd.
Leading Goal Scorer: Wayne Rooney (tempted to pick Drogba, but the Utd fanboy in me thinks Wayne will come back with a vengeance after the world cup).

Rooney looked good in the Community Shield yesterday, as meaningless as that match is.

I'm worried for Villa this season, I really am.

[MilesHackett]

Hey Jack, which sites do you use to follow EPL news? Over here there's very little coverage, so I'm not really up to date on transfers/news in general.

[Jack]

I just stick with the BBC website TBH, and a couple of the newspapers over here that I read anyway (Guardian website mainly). The BBC is the only one you can really trust in my experience, and the 606 section of it (which is like a forum sort of) is pretty good for the rumours.

[MilesHackett]

I just stick with the BBC website TBH, and a couple of the newspapers over here that I read anyway (Guardian website mainly). The BBC is the only one you can really trust in my experience, and the 606 section of it (which is like a forum sort of) is pretty good for the rumours.

Thanks, I'll have to check them out.

[Malky]

skysports.com is decent as well but the bbc website has a better layout and you can customise the bbc website, which is dead handy.

1. Man Utd
2. Chelsea
3. Arsenal
4. Tottenham
5. Liverpool
6. Man City
7. Everton
8. Fulham
9. Blackburn
10. Birmingham
11. Aston Villa
12. Stoke
13. Sunderland
14. West Ham
15. Bolton
16. Newcastle
17. Wigan
18. Wolves
19. West Brom
20. Blackpool

Top scorer Drogba FA Cup Liverpool

[e-thug]

Hey Malky dont forget prem top scorer and FA Cup winner.

[FunkYou]

1. Chelsea
2. Man United
3. Man City
4. Tottenham
5. Arsenal
6. Liverpool
7. Aston Villa
8. Everton
9. Fulham
10. Sunderland
11. Blackburn
12. Birmingham
13. Bolton
14. Wigan
15. Stoke
16. West Ham
17. Newcastle
18. West Brom
19. Wolves
20. Blackpool

Top Scorer:
Torres

FA Cup Winner:
Man City

---------- Post added at 12:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:44 PM ----------


I'm worried for Villa this season, I really am.

Especially so now you are without MO'N. He can have a season off before talking over from fergie.

Is Brian Little available?

[e-thug]

1. Chelsea
2. Man Utd
3. Arsenal
4. Man City
5. Liverpool
6. Tottenham
7. Everton
8. Fulham
9. Aston Villa
10. Stoke
11. Blackburn
12. Sunderland
13. West Ham
14. Newcastle
15. Bolton
16. Birmingham
17. Wolves
18. West Brom
19. Wigan
20. Blackpool

Top Scorer:
D. Drogba

FA Cup winner:
Man City

8-16 is a right pain in the ass and really any of those teams could be inter changeable IMO.

Still gonna tip Chelsea to win as they have the strongest team but it really is hard to say until the transfer window closes as Man U or even Arsenal could be fighting for the title with the signing of a great goalie and solid centre back.

I really feel like Liverpool have a solid chance at that 4th spot this year with Hodgson at the helm I think he could bring the best out of are limited team, ultimately I didn't wanna be to bias so I gave money bags City the go ahead but would really like to be wrong.

[Jack]

1. Chelsea
2. Man Utd
3. Arsenal
4. Man City
5. Everton
6. Tottenham
7. Liverpool
8. Aston Villa
9. Fulham
10. Bolton
11. West Ham
12. Sunderland
13. Stoke
14. Blackburn
15. Wolves
16. Birmingham
17. Newcastle
18. Wigan
19. West Brom
20. Blackpool

FA Cup - Man Utd
Top Scorer - Rooney

I'm probably being optimistic with Villa at 8th (well it depends on who comes in really), but man for man I still fancy our chances for finishing above any of the teams below us. I think it'll be tight between Man City/Everton/Spurs/Liverpool though, then a drop off with us being the best of the rest.

[FunkYou]

I think it'll be tight between Man City/Everton/Spurs/Liverpool though, then a drop off with us being the best of the rest.

Agreed. I put Spurs at 4th but I'll admit there is a certain level of bias there. With a Champions league campaign ahead of us and only 1 1/2 fit centre backs in our squad it might be that we'll drop down a fair bit this season.

[Pearce]

Ok so heres my picks, in at the last minute!

1. Man Utd
2. Chelsea
3. Man City
4. Arsenal
5. Tottenham
6. Liverpool
7. Everton
8. Aston Villa
9. Fulham
10. Bolton
11. Stoke
12. Birmingham
13. Sunderland
14. Blackburn
15. West Ham
16. Wigan
17. Newcastle
18. Wolves
19. West Brom
20. Blackpool


FA Cup: Man City
Top Scorer: Rooney

[Gomi]

14 Aug, 12:45 Tottenham Hotspur 0 - 0 Manchester City White Hart Lane, London
14 Aug, 15:00 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 - 1 Stoke City Molineux, Wolverhampton
14 Aug, 15:00 Aston Villa 3 - 0 West Ham United Villa Park, Birmingham
14 Aug, 15:00 Blackburn Rovers 1 - 0 Everton Ewood Park, Blackburn
14 Aug, 15:00 Bolton Wanderers 0 - 0 Fulham Reebok Stadium, Bolton
14 Aug, 15:00 Sunderland 2 - 2 Birmingham City Stadium of Light, Sunderland
14 Aug, 15:00 Wigan Athletic 0 - 4 Blackpool DW Stadium, Wigan
14 Aug, 17:30 Chelsea 6 - 0 West Bromwich Albion Stamford Bridge, London

Horey shet at Blackpool and Chelsea.

[vexred]

Yeah, really good start to the season for Chelsea. The Spurs v Man City match was one of the most entertaining draws I've seen. Spurs had 5 or 6 great chances in the first half.

[Jack]

Villa played really well today, like really well. Even though West Ham were shit.

I fucking hate West Ham so it was good to see us turn them over like that. It could have realistically been 7-0, seeing as we hit the woodwork like 3 times, should have had a penalty and their left back should have gone for a second yellow.

Albrighton will have a good season, then Man City will probably buy him lol.

Oh, and Spurs should have been 3 up at half time. They made City look ordinary for 45 minutes.

[FunkYou]

Spurs showed Man City thta buying success is pointless if the individuals cannot play together. Pity we couldn't quite finish, although Joe Hart had a great game.

Awesome result for Blackpool. Hollaway has got to be one of the most entertaining managers around.

[e-thug]

Liverpool/Arsenal was quite a good game and had several talking points.

- Joe Cole being sent off was a bit harsh I reckon, not a malicious player at all and the replay showed he was just tryin to block the ball...will let the referee off though as the angle he saw it from definitely made it look worse and really I dunno why Joe Cole would dive in like that especially considering where it was on the field.

- Ngog goal was solid and Almunia gets shit on alot but I think there are only a couple goalies who may have stopped that.

- Arsenal's goal....wtf.

- Koscielny red was pretty harsh, the first yellow he got was warranted but the 2nd yellow was arguable...I just think the ref was tryin to 'even' the score albeit in the 92nd minute.

Overall pleased with the performance and if you had gave me a 1-1 draw at half time I'd have taken it.

[Jack]

I thought Cole's red was warranted TBH. You just can't jump in from that distance with both feet off the ground, although I'd like to see his 3 match ban reduced to 1, as like you said there was no malice involved.

The Koscielny red was ridiculous. No intent to handle the ball there whatsoever IMO.

Reina will get shit on for the goal, but the save he made just prior to it should balance things out IMO. There's only a handful of goalies in the world who would have kept that out.

[e-thug]

I thought Cole's red was warranted TBH. You just can't jump in from that distance with both feet off the ground, although I'd like to see his 3 match ban reduced to 1, as like you said there was no malice involved.

The Koscielny red was ridiculous. No intent to handle the ball there whatsoever IMO.

Reina will get shit on for the goal, but the save he made just prior to it should balance things out IMO. There's only a handful of goalies in the world who would have kept that out.

Yeah the angle the ref had definitely warranted the red, I think if we brought in video replay for that type of thing then it would be a yellow and a strong talking to.

Koscielny one was harsh, if the Torres flick was to get around the last man then I think there would be a strong argument but at the end of the day when the ball is that close to ya how deliberate could it possibly be?

The Reina save against Rosicky was awesome...I just dont understand why Reina didn't put a cap on as ya could certainly tell the sun fucked him up on the blunder.

[vexred]

TOON TOON, Black 'n' White Army!!

[Gomi]

TOON TOON, Black 'n' White Army!!

Pack yer bags, you're leaving.

[MilesHackett]

Man Utd had a good showing today, Scholes and Giggs' collaboration on the 3rd goal was lovely.

[vexred]

Pretty gutting but it was expected! I think we're going to be ok though if we can sign two more players. TOON ARMY

[Gomi]

That's what you get when your players look like a fucking zebra crossing.

BTW, I think the table should be added to the OP:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/table/default.stm

[FunkYou]

Good lot of games yesterday. Chelsea and asenal thoroughly spanking sub par competition.

Terry once again escapes a red card for being a violent twat.

Spurs got the win which is always the most importnt thing.

[vexred]

Nice performance by the Toon so far. Should have had a penalty but its all gd XD

[Jack]

Newcastle are such a shit side. It really saddens me to see us gift them two goals like that. Not to mention our penalty miss.

Villa are really really missing James Collins in this game.

[FunkYou]

Just checked the villa game. Oh Dear.

[vexred]

Newcastle are such a shit side. It really saddens me to see us gift them two goals like that. Not to mention our penalty miss.

Villa are really really missing James Collins in this game.

so shit that we mugged you lot off for 70mins ;)

not to mention all the players we're missing.

[Jack]

Yeah we're just even shittier. Although I'm not sure what this 70min talk is all about, seeing as we outplayed you for the entire first half yet managed to go in three down. You dominated us in the second yeah, but you can't act like the first was anything but us having all the play and you taking the three chances that came your way.

I don't think I saw Dunne contest one header against Carroll all afternoon, such a shit performance from him. No idea why Albrighton started after playing two full matches in the last week, Carew coming off for Reo-Coker was such a WTF moment, and Petrov just couldn't get a handle on things in midfield.

I think the way we came out for the second half shows the difference between having an actual manager, and just having a coach. A manager would have injected at least some life into the team, but we just seemed resigned to our fate.

With how bad Newcastle's defence was, there was still hope for us even at three down, and we just rolled over from there and didn't make a fight. Well, hope for goals at least, but with how bad our defending was I suppose it didn't really matter at that point.

[MilesHackett]

United shit the bed yesterday against Fulham, I could sense disaster when Nani couldn't put the penalty away. Sick goal from Scholesy though.

[vexred]

I'm loving having the Premiership back. There have already been some awesome matches & I cant remember a weekend which had so many goals!

[Wise]

Liverpool got bitch slapped today.

[Gomi]

Hory shet, Chelsea are scary good, Wigan are going down, Blackpool got hammered after a good start to the season and there are so many polarising results I cannot keep track.

[e-thug]

Liverpool got bitch slapped today.

I hate to have to agree.

We were poor today and really paid for it against a solid team, we really need Torres to become fit again and we also need a solid striker to pair up with him as N'Gog just ain't good enough.

On a side note Joe Hart is an amazing goalie and Capello better pick his ass #1 for all of Euro.

[Gomi]

Fuck yaayeah Sunderland :amuse:

[Shamrock-Ortiz]

:)Paul Scholes:)

Incredible
Genius

[Jack]

Overrated.

[MilesHackett]

Hater.

[FunkYou]

So the transfer window has closd. What were the best deals? Really hoping Spurs managed to secure Van Der Vaart today.

[Jack]

Blues getting Hleb looks like a pretty good deal. Fucking cunts.

[e-thug]

Blues getting Hleb looks like a pretty good deal. Fucking cunts.

Very good deal, also the Van Der Vaart signing for 8 mil is a good one for Spurs.

[FunkYou]

Very good deal, also the Van Der Vaart signing for 8 mil is a good one for Spurs.

He's not a fit and durable centre back or a world class striker which is what we actually need but £8m is a price that cannot be ignored.

[Q_F]

This year's transfer season has been about bargains, unlike last year when Real Madrid went on another Perez-led spending spree...

Real got Özil for an underprice, Milan got Ibra and Robinho for insanely low fees, now Spurs got VdV for 8 mil. The only ones paying overprices are City, but i guess they can afford it.

[vexred]

He's not a fit and durable centre back or a world class striker which is what we actually need but £8m is a price that cannot be ignored.

Woodgate must be one of Spurs worst signings in recent years. Just like King, awesome on his day but way too injury prone.

[FunkYou]

Woodgate must be one of Spurs worst signings in recent years. Just like King, awesome on his day but way too injury prone.

he had one season where he was fit (well to half seasons back to back).

if they were both properly fit we woulod have the best centre back partnership in world football.

[Gomi]

This year's transfer season has been about bargains, unlike last year when Real Madrid went on another Perez-led spending spree...

Real got Özil for an underprice, Milan got Ibra and Robinho for insanely low fees, now Spurs got VdV for 8 mil. The only ones paying overprices are City, but i guess they can afford it.

We just broke our transfer records signing Gyan.

[Jack]

if they were both properly fit we woulod have the best centre back partnership in world football.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/TheDustyHamster/srsly.jpg

[Q_F]

We just broke our transfer records signing Gyan.

Ouch. But he's class player IMO...

[FunkYou]

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/TheDustyHamster/srsly.jpg

This is a if wishes were fishes type scenario but yeah I am serious. When both are fit I reckon they are the best centre backs easily in this country and probably the world although that is open to debate I guess. Playing together who would you say has a better centre back pair? I will accept 2 out of a back 3.

Unfortunately neither are ever fit so if they were both to be fit and playing at the same time it may be a signal that the apocalypse is upon us.

[vexred]

what a game Everton v Man Utd was! did not see that coming. hopefully the Toon will get another 3 points against Blackpool today xD

[Pearce]

what a game Everton v Man Utd was! did not see that coming. hopefully the Toon will get another 3 points against Blackpool today xD


Yeah just watched that game too, Everton played very well and deserved the draw today imo. Really impressive to come back from 3-1 down against a side like United and get a draw.

Newcastle should put a good show on today against Blackpool too, Ben Arfa is a fantastic signing for Toon and will give them a bit of flair going forward. I reckon they'll take that game relatively easily.

I'm just listening to the Spurs - West Brom game now on BBC Radio. Rumor had it that Billy Gallas was going to get the armband for todays game which would have made him the first man in history to Captain Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs lol. 'Arry gave it to Huddlestone instead, not sure about that one.
One thing which will be interesting the the Spurs game today will be how we set ourselves out. I think he's playing VdV behind a lone Pavlyuchenko which is something i've never seen before. Not sure Pav can lead the line by himself :?:.

[vexred]

I'd never heard of Ben Arfa before, hopefully he'll be able to supply some good crosses for Carroll. We desperately need someone who can do that for us. Pearce, this is Newcastle we're talking about, it really wouldn't surprise me if we lost 3-0 lol.

Just watching the sky sports news channel, sounds like Rob Green has had another howler in goal, looking forward to seeing it on MOTD tonight =D

[Pearce]

lol yeah - poor old Green had a complete nightmare of a first-half!

Spurs 1-1 against West Brom at halftime. Not sure what to make of it really, apart from Bale and a few flashes from VdV our team have been verrrry quiet. I think Lennon is struggling to find space with such a congested Tottenham midfield.

Hopefully Redknapp will tinker with the setup a bit for the 2nd half.

[vexred]

Damn, the Premiership is so unpredictable this year. The Toon getting 3 points at Everton is a quality result for us. From reading Sky Sports Ben Arfa scored a great goal & was probably man of the match. Now to watch Arsenal take on the scum.

[Jack]

Bolton are a pretty dirty side.

Just got back from the Villa game, and what started as a promising afternoon turned into a bit of a dour game TBH. Ref was kind of shit, and let Zat Knight practically rape Agbonlahor throughout the match, they probably should have had a man sent off when Young was through as well (although I haven't seen a replay), but I can't really complain too much about the result.

Taking Ireland off when he was the only player linking up in midfield was kind of weird, maybe he got a knock or something. I dunno.

[Gomi]

Damn, the Premiership is so unpredictable this year. The Toon getting 3 points at Everton is a quality result for us. From reading Sky Sports Ben Arfa scored a great goal & was probably man of the match. Now to watch Arsenal take on the scum.

HAHAHA

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/393752/aoki-finger-2.jpg

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nechronical/aug2009/0/3/darren-bent-624689877.jpg

[MilesHackett]

Berbatov's second goal today was fucking brilliant. That whole play was a classic.

[Jack]

Just watched it on MOTD. Great goal.

It was quite funny today, when I was taking my sister back to University in Manchester. Sooo many people Man U shirts travelling on the motorway to Manchester to watch the game lol, the home fans travelled further than the away fans. Glory hunting bastards.

[MilesHackett]

Haha, that's hilarious. Berbatov's third goal was a pretty nice header as well, nice to see him stepping up while Rooney's trying to find his game.

I think we need to open up a Champions League discussion thread because I just caught highlights of Barcelona's drubbing of Panathinaikos on monday and I need to talk about Messi lol.

[Jack]

I need to talk about Messi lol.

Two goals, a penalty saved and hit the woodwork twice? Not a bad performance from him I suppose ;).
Those stats sound good from a team as a whole, let alone one player lol.

But yeah, they looked really good bouncing back from a bad performance in the league the week prior.

Actually, if you made a list of the ten best footballers in the world today, how many of them play for Barcelona?


EDIT: Messi was stretchered off tonight BTW. Ankle ligament damage I think.

[MilesHackett]

Actually, if you made a list of the ten best footballers in the world today, how many of them play for Barcelona?

I'd say at least 4 of them.. Iniesta, Messi, Villa, and Xavi. That's pretty incredible. How about you?


EDIT: Messi was stretchered off tonight BTW. Ankle ligament damage I think.

Fuck, I just looked it up. I love watching him play, real shame for Barcelona and their fans.

[Jack]

I'd say at least 4 of them.. Iniesta, Messi, Villa, and Xavi. That's pretty incredible. How about you?

I was thinking the same. They obviously have other good/great players, but those four are the ones who really stand out.

The Fabregas to Barca rumours always make me smile, cos right now he wouldn't get in that team (regularly) ahead of Xavi and Iniesta. He'll be Xavi's long term replacement though I assume, and will be wearing a Barca shirt within 2 years.

Fuck, I just looked it up. I love watching him play, real shame for Barcelona and their fans.

Yeah it's shitty news. Hopefully it's nothing too serious.

[FunkYou]

Spurs managed to actually score some goals which was nice to see. Almost felt sorry for McCatthy's side who had come to get a 1-0. As soon as we scored it was going to be a win for us.

Van Der Vaart is looking to be an outstanding signing.

[Q_F]

Fuck Tomas Rosicky! So weak to miss a penalty at that stage of the game. Now we're further behind Chelski and we'll soon face them.

Funk, VdV is a brilliant signing. Funny how Real are just feeding their Dutchmen to other sides for petty fees and thereby improving them...

[vexred]

Not quite sure what is happening at Stamford Bridge. I had to double check when I saw we were 3-1 up. Also Kalou comes on for 10mins and is taken off lol. HOWAY THE LADS!!

[FunkYou]

I am guessing it is against a second or third string chelsea side.

[vexred]

they're both playing second teams. 3-2 now =(

[FunkYou]

Hope you manage to hold on.

[vexred]

4-3 win, we never do things the easy way. Still, happy with a win however it comes. West Brom are beating Man City 2-1 and Liverpool are drawing 1-1 with Northampton LOL. Come on the underdogs!!

[FunkYou]

get in. Always happy to see Chelsea lose.

[Jack]

Glad to see Villa turn it around against Blackburn. God I fucking hate Allardyce.

[FunkYou]

Allardyce is a great Championship manager who just happens to have been in the Premiership for an overly long time.

[vexred]

Allardyce is delusional. He thinks he'd be a good England manager. He'd be a bigger failure than McClaren.

LOL Northampton have taken the lead against Liverpool in extra time.

[e-thug]

Allardyce is delusional. He thinks he'd be a good England manager. He'd be a bigger failure than McClaren.

LOL Northampton have taken the lead against Liverpool in extra time.

T'was a sad day to be a Liverpool fan yesterday.

Originally from Northampton so I do take some pleasure that they took a prem scalp, just wished it wasn't Liverpool's...another trophy-less season and possibly worse with no guarantee someone will purchase the club.

[plazzman]

God why is Liverpool so shit? I just don't get it.

Also, agree with Q_F on the Dutch thing. Madrid is so focused on the starpower that they neglect their fundamental players, or even worse they ruin perfectly good careers.

[Jack]

Roy Hodgson = Ridiculously out of his depth.

[plazzman]

Eh I really don't think it's Hodgson. They've been utter shit for a few seasons now.

[Jack]

They're a mediocre side with or without him, but he has no business managing a club of that size IMO.

[e-thug]

They're a mediocre side with or without him, but he has no business managing a club of that size IMO.

I love the way Hodgson conducts himself, but I gotta agree he shouldn't be managing Liverpool, same scenario as McLaren managing England.

We have soo many problems though, Carragher is WELL past his due date as a prem CB, we still haven't been able to replace Alonso and last but certainly not least we haven't been able to get a good supporting striker for Torres.

We rely way too heavily on Gerrard and Torres.....Torres is playing abysmal right now and it shows with the results we have been getting.

Still, I hold out a tiny bit of optimism cuz we have had a real tough start to the year playing Arsenal, Man City, Man Utd and a very good home side in Birmingham within 5 games....the only gimmie game we had was WBA at home.

[FunkYou]

Spurs maintain their consistently inconsistent season.

How exactly have we not got any fit centre backs but Bassong?

[plazzman]

RvV is a fuckin BEAST!

One of the best signings of any team!

Goes to show Madrid does nothing but kill game.

[FunkYou]

Yeah VdV has marched into White Hart Lane and decided to fuck the spaniards and just run things like he grww up there.

We are goint to miss him when we play inter. Although Modric came alive after VdV got sent off mid week.

Fuck Real Madrid.

[plazzman]

Fuck Real Madrid.

Fine philosophy right there

[vexred]

:( De Jong is one dirty bastard. Probably broken Ben Arfas Leg/Ankle!

[FunkYou]

that is shitty and yeah de jong is a fucking filthy player.

[vexred]

Eurgh awful refereeing.

Jonas you fuckin beaut

Cracking goal by Johnson!

The ref is playing for city though, we should have had a penalty & they shouldn't lol.

Summary: City are dirty as fuck. Newcastle need to keep starting Jonas & deserved a point.

looking forward to the Chelsea v Arsenal match :)

[e-thug]

When it rains.....it pours.:cry:

[FunkYou]

When it rains.....it pours.:cry:

I actually feel sorry Liverpool at the moment. well almost.

Arsenal losing is always good, just a shame Man City pulled out a win.

[plazzman]

Oh my goodness Liverpool is so trash!

Sucks that Chelsea won, especially against a top 3 team. Hate seeing those fuckers win.

[Jack]

I'd actually rather Chelsea win than "Other teams aren't allowed to tackle us" Arsenal. Plus Alan Davies is an Arsenal fan, and he's probably the most annoying cunt in this solar system, so I'm content. What an absolute beast of a free kick as well.

Newcastle were kind of robbed against City as well, as the penalty went to the wrong team.

Liverpool, lol.

[e-thug]

Liverpool, lol.

http://stylealchemy.com/ruminations/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/dawson.gif

We HAVE to find new owners first and foremost, I think that is the most unsettling thing at Liverpool right now.

I'm gonna give Hodgson a bit more time as quite frankly I don't think he's been given a fair shake yet...it also doesn't help that Torres isn't in form what so ever and Gerrard can't carry the team by himself.....We desperately need to bring in AT LEAST 3 solid players.

Johnson has been dismal this year and sorry Carragher but its time to leave the prem or retire for you. I blamed the shaky start to a rather tough schedule, losing to Blackpool at home has me generally concerned about are top flight status.

[Jack]

Gerrard played like shit yesterday by all accounts, his ball distribution was awful.

[Q_F]

Nigel "The Asshole" De Jong has been dropped by the Dutch national side.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101004/ap_on_sp_so_ne/soc_netherlands_de_jong

I hope he gets a heavy suspension in the PL, something like 15 games.

[Jack]

The De Jong challenge on Ben Arfa wasn't that bad by any means TBH. Slightly clumsy yeah, but it was more bad luck than anything that left the player injured. Unfortunately things like that happen in football.

You want a bad challenge, look at the one Karl Henry got sent off for at the weekend.

[plazzman]

I dont like the hate regarding De Jong. He's just filling in Edgar Davids' spot.

[e-thug]

You want a bad challenge, look at the one Karl Henry got sent off for at the weekend.

I haven't seen the De Jong challenge yet but I have to agree that Karl Henry tackle was god awful, the timing of the slide was waaaay behind and that was a justifiable straight red.

[Thaispider]

the henry tackle was a bad one for sure but im glad de jong has got punished becuase he does push the rules alot when it comes to tackling but i suppose that is what makes him such a good combative midfielder. just comes with the job in centram midfield if your putting yourself about someone is due an unfortunate injury.

[FunkYou]

I dont like the hate regarding De Jong. He's just filling in Edgar Davids' spot.

Yeah I don't get it. He is usually such a hard but fair player

http://www.thikthak.com/articles-tag/sports-buzz/football/wc-2010-final/nigel-de-jong-xabi-alonso.jpg

Incidentally I saw Edgar Davids is now playing for Crystal Palace in the English lower divisions. Sad to see.

[vexred]

The De Jong challenge on Ben Arfa wasn't that bad by any means TBH. Slightly clumsy yeah, but it was more bad luck than anything that left the player injured. Unfortunately things like that happen in football.

You want a bad challenge, look at the one Karl Henry got sent off for at the weekend.

Of course it was a bad tackle, he left the guy with a broken leg. He went in with both legs so he'd take the player regardless.

Glad to see at least Holland are taking some action. A player who is 'unfortunate' to break a players leg, another players ankle and kick someone in the chest deserves some sort of ban.(within 6 months)

[Jack]

Of course it was a bad tackle, he left the guy with a broken leg.

Well that's just a retarded argument. Plenty of people get injured in perfectly fair challenges, you sound like Wenger or someone talking nonsense like that, come on.

He went in with both legs so he'd take the player regardless.

He didn't go in with both legs at all, it was his trailing leg that caught him. If he went in with both feet then fair enough, but his trailing leg is bent back and his shin/knee ends up going into Ben Arfa. How else are you supposed to tackle if you get criticised for bending your trailing leg?

People get injured in football, it doesn't always mean that a bad challenge was involved.

Glad to see at least Holland are taking some action. A player who is 'unfortunate' to break a players leg, another players ankle and kick someone in the chest deserves some sort of ban.(within 6 months)

Why do people always say stupid, over the top things just cos one of their players got injured? This is coming from a Newcastle fan as well lol, with some of the players you have in your midfield :crazy:.

[e-thug]

Alright so I have seen the tackle and honestly there wasn't anything wrong with it, vexred you are coming off as a bitter fan right now and to talk about bad challenges when you have A.Smith and Barton in your midfield is just hypocritical.

[Jack]

Yep, you're coming off like this curly haired, unfunny, tramp biting cunt (not calling you a cunt, just Alan Davies):

EksWiZcc-ew

This is why people hate Arsenal fans (and is only one reason or many why everybody should hate Alan Davies).

The Shawcross challenge wasn't even a red IMO, it's debatable that it was even a foul. Anybody who has played football, which Davies obviously hasn't, knows that the easiest way to get injured is to bottle a 50/50 challenge like that. Ramsey bottled it, tried to toe the ball away, and he paid a heavy price for it.

It's horrible yeah, but it's the truth. If he'd went in and committed properly he'd have been okay, but you're not allowed to tackle Arsenal players.

Oh, and once more, fuck off Alan Davies you utter cunt.

Ah, that feels better.

[Lotus]

lol i dont even play this game but this thread is full of funny

[e-thug]

Yep, you're coming off like this curly haired, unfunny, tramp biting cunt (not calling you a cunt, just Alan Davies):

EksWiZcc-ew

This is why people hate Arsenal fans (and is only one reason or many why everybody should hate Alan Davies).

The Shawcross challenge wasn't even a red IMO, it's debatable that it was even a foul. Anybody who has played football, which Davies obviously hasn't, knows that the easiest way to get injured is to bottle a 50/50 challenge like that. Ramsey bottled it, tried to toe the ball away, and he paid a heavy price for it.

It's horrible yeah, but it's the truth. If he'd went in and committed properly he'd have been okay, but you're not allowed to tackle Arsenal players.

Oh, and once more, fuck off Alan Davies you utter cunt.

Ah, that feels better.


I could only listen to 50 seconds of that shite, what a prat.

[plazzman]

That tackled wasn't as intentionally malicious as people are saying. Its not like he lunged at him with both cleats out like Richard Dunne. Like Jack said, what are you gonna do with an already bent back trailing foot? It was already tucked away so it wouldn't do damage.

But seriously, how many people has Dunne killed in the past? People should be on his ass instead

[Jack]

Dunne's not really a bad tackler any more (from what I've seen of him at Villa anyway), but he used to be.

Most of his lunges were cos he was slow and fat, and couldn't keep up with the pace of the game. He's in much better shape these days, so he doesn't need to do it any more.

[MilesHackett]

WTF @ Van Der Sar, DREADFUL goalkeeping.

Thankfully Chelsea didn't pick up a win today either though.

[FunkYou]

Spurs marching unstoppably towards our inevitable christmas slump

[Jack]

With a clearly offside goal ;).

Funny watching Arsenal fans squirm at Wilshere being sent off for a wild lunge.

And Eboue being booked for a "scissor tackle" when apparently Wenger had written an article for the matchday program about... yep, how bad and dangerous scissor tackles are lol.

[plazzman]

RvV needs some sort of prize or award. He's just too good lately.

[FunkYou]

With a clearly offside goal ;).


According to the letter of the law he was not active as he failed (thankfully) to make contact with Hud's shot.

[Jack]

According to the letter of the law he was not active as he failed (thankfully) to make contact with Hud's shot.

The letter of the law also includes distracting an opponent though, which he did.

Shearer just has no idea what he's talking about, although he himself is distracted by the effort he's putting into clinging onto that last patch of hair on the front of his head.

[Jack]

Oh, and everybody can now laugh at Liverpool :D.

[Jack]

Triple post? Looks like it.

Rooney looking to leave Man U???

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/oct/17/wayne-rooney-manchester-united

[Shamrock-Ortiz]

Oh, and everybody can now laugh at Liverpool :D.

This is the one thing i'm enjoying about the Prem this season...

United's ridiculous mistakes are pissing me off.

[plazzman]

Unless he stays in the Prem League, I don't see him amounting to much, if he leaves United.

[MilesHackett]

Real Madrid is interested in him, but I think he needs to stay in England.

[FunkYou]

Real Madrid is interested in him,

This would be the point that Rooney ceases to be relevant as a footballer.

[e-thug]

Oh, and everybody can now laugh at Liverpool :D.

http://www.gadgetrivia.com/photos/o/6904-oh_noooo.jpg

The fact Hodgson could take positives out of Sunday's game was just concerning and I'm losing all confidence in his ability to get us where we need to be.

[Lotus]

http://images.free-extras.com/pics/h/homer_simpson-1080.gif

[MilesHackett]

This would be the point that Rooney ceases to be relevant as a footballer.

Agreed, look at what happened to Beckham.

[Jack]

Agreed, look at what happened to Beckham.

Are you implying that Beckham ceased being relevant as a footballer after joining Madrid? Co that's just not true.

[MilesHackett]

Are you implying that Beckham ceased being relevant as a footballer after joining Madrid? Co that's just not true.

Not completely irrelevant, but I think that he became less relevant when he left the EPL. Beckham's best days were with Man Utd, IMO. I think that his style was better suited to the English brand of football, versus the Spanish and Italian games.

[Jack]

Meh, I disagree. He had more success at Man U in terms of trophies and such, but he played just as good football at Real, and in his first three years there his reputation was as high as it had ever been.

His style of play is more suited to the PremierLeague, but it still adapted well to La Liga.

[FunkYou]

Are you implying that Beckham ceased being relevant as a footballer after joining Madrid? Co that's just not true.

I do think that his level of football was higher in the EPL but for the first couple of years he was still relevant. He was the exception rather than the rule however.

[Thaispider]

Rooney's style is only suited to excel in the premier league. power pace and technique serve him well in such a fast pace game. In spain or italy were the football is slower he wont have a great influence as alot of the good he does is usally during fast frantic counter attacking football.

im dreading him leaving united, becuase even as a die hard fan i can see if he leaves the squad is solid but lacking any real stars.

[plazzman]

Are you implying that Beckham ceased being relevant as a footballer after joining Madrid? Co that's just not true.

I'd say in terms of raw football, Beckham played 150x better while at United. He was a legit force while there. However, while he was at Real, he was just a bigger name, I don't think his game got any better while there. Just his ego grew to destructive proportions. Same pretty much goes to literally anyone who joined Real (MAYBE excluding Zidane, Seadorf, and Carlos)

It's a fact that Madrid kills careers.

Ronaldo -- One of the greatest players ever while at Barca/Inter, goes to Madrid, has a good season and fizzles out.

Owen -- Englands hottest prospect in years, murders the EPL, goes to Madrid and literally dies.

Beckham -- Hottest star in England, a legitimately good player. Goes to Madrid and lives off his name for 3-4 years.

Sneijder, RvV, Huntelaar, Van Nistelrooy-- Non-existent at Madrid, leave and return to top form.

Kaka -- This may be a toss up, but he's playing nowhere near the caliber he was at Milan

C. Ronaldo -- This may be bold, but he was just ridiculously good at United. It may be the change in level of competition, but I don't see that magic in him anymore.

And so on, and so on.

I really hope this doesn't apply to Ozil, dude's got way too much promise.

[Q_F]

Plazz, didn't Van Nistelrooy become top scorer in La Liga in his first season? Also, C Ronaldo scored 33 goals in 35 games for Real, so he hasn't really dropped. Otherwise i agree.

[plazzman]

Yeah I guess you can make an exception for RvN, somewhat, considering his injury.

And as for C. Ronaldo, probably him too for now. I guess he was just born to play for Madrid, his ego knows no bounds.

[MilesHackett]

I'd say in terms of raw football, Beckham played 150x better while at United. He was a legit force while there. However, while he was at Real, he was just a bigger name, I don't think his game got any better while there. Just his ego grew to destructive proportions. Same pretty much goes to literally anyone who joined Real (MAYBE excluding Zidane, Seadorf, and Carlos)

It's a fact that Madrid kills careers.

Ronaldo -- One of the greatest players ever while at Barca/Inter, goes to Madrid, has a good season and fizzles out.

Owen -- Englands hottest prospect in years, murders the EPL, goes to Madrid and literally dies.

Beckham -- Hottest star in England, a legitimately good player. Goes to Madrid and lives off his name for 3-4 years.

Sneijder, RvV, Huntelaar, Van Nistelrooy-- Non-existent at Madrid, leave and return to top form.

Kaka -- This may be a toss up, but he's playing nowhere near the caliber he was at Milan

C. Ronaldo -- This may be bold, but he was just ridiculously good at United. It may be the change in level of competition, but I don't see that magic in him anymore.

And so on, and so on.

I really hope this doesn't apply to Ozil, dude's got way too much promise.


This is exactly what I was thinking and then some. Nice post, Plazzy.

[Jack]

Ronaldo -- One of the greatest players ever while at Barca/Inter, goes to Madrid, has a good season and fizzles out.

Ronaldo had been out basically for three seasons with injuries before going to Real, moved there and then scored 30 goals in his first season, 31 in his second and 24 in his third. One good season and fizzled out? That's just not true. If anything it revitalised a floundering career.

Owen -- Englands hottest prospect in years, murders the EPL, goes to Madrid and literally dies.

Players like Owen always fizzle out, to be fair, as their hamstrings go and they lose their pace. The fact that they never played him even when he was scoring obviously didn't help, but you have to blame the then manager, as opposed to the entire club for that. In terms of football, Owen actually played well at Real, so unless you're insinuating that Real somehow made him ridiculously injury prone, you can't really blame them here either.

Beckham -- Hottest star in England, a legitimately good player. Goes to Madrid and lives off his name for 3-4 years.

Beckham went to Madrid, and continued to be the hottest star on England and a legitimately good player for 3/4 years. The club was a bit turbulent at the time with all the changes in manager, but his second year at Real was some of the best football Beckham ever played.

Sneijder, RvV, Huntelaar, Van Nistelrooy-- Non-existent at Madrid, leave and return to top form.

QF's already pointed out that your'e wrong about Van Nistelrooy. I'll agree on the others though, although they weren't really proven elite players like the others mentioned.

Kaka -- This may be a toss up, but he's playing nowhere near the caliber he was at Milan

Too early to say, although La Liga and Serie A are VERY different leagues.

C. Ronaldo -- This may be bold, but he was just ridiculously good at United. It may be the change in level of competition, but I don't see that magic in him anymore.

He's still playing really well though. You just don't get those opportunities to break from box to box in Spain like you do in England.

And so on, and so on.

I really hope this doesn't apply to Ozil, dude's got way too much promise.

Ozil looks really good so far this season, have you seen much of him this year? He's been Real's best player from what I have. The kid is a seriously good footballer, although he needs to improve his fitness.

EDIT: Thinking about it, you could make the argument that Man U have "ruined" just as many players as you claim Madrid have.

[MilesHackett]

EDIT: Thinking about it, you could make the argument that Man U have "ruined" just as many players as you claim Madrid have.

I think Sir Alex just knows when it's the right time to let someone go and when to bring someone in.

[Jack]

I think Sir Alex just knows when it's the right time to let someone go and when to bring someone in.

Eh? He's made some terrible signings over the years, and bought a lot of players who looked good at their former clubs before not amounting to much at Utd.

[MilesHackett]

Eh? He's made some terrible signings over the years.

He makes far more great signings than bad ones.

[Jack]

Debatable.

[MilesHackett]

If he made more bad acquisitions than good ones, I doubt he'd have half the tenure he's had with the club. I think he's got a good eye for international talent, which shows he has invested a lot in the future of developing global football.

[vexred]

Wenger makes the best signings, apart from in the goalkeeping dept.

Did anyone see Gareth Bale vs Inter? what a player, Spurs will be lucky to hold onto him.

[MilesHackett]

Of course they're lucky, he's Welsh!

[Shamrock-Ortiz]

If he made more bad acquisitions than good ones, I doubt he'd have half the tenure he's had with the club. I think he's got a good eye for international talent, which shows he has invested a lot in the future of developing global football.

The bad acquisitions he's been able to get away with due to...

The biggest decision Sir Alex made was letting go of the first team players in the mid nineties, (Kanchelskis, Hughes, Ince, Bruce) and looking to the unbelievable youth that was coming up through the ranks in Scholes, Beckham, Butt and the Neville bruvs. They are a huge part of his long tenure with the club, they weren't signings made by Fergie, rather him putting faith in them and letting go of the older generation.

Obviously he's made some good signings too. Most of the spine though, (bar Keane) was through the help of the youth system. With Giggs and Scholes still playing even now.

[Jack]

Exactly, the big thing that Ferguson's always been willing to do is risk essentially writing off a season or two, just to let the young players play and really form a team. You saw it a few years ago when Chelsea were on top and everyone said Utd were done, then the team finally came together and won three titles. Poaching all of the smaller teams' youth players obviously helps as well.

If you look at his actual transfer record though, while he does have some really good signings, there are loads of bad ones.

Two Welsh Man Utd fans lol.

EDIT: Whichever way you look at it, I'd say this statement's still wide of the mark:

He makes far more great signings than bad ones.

[FunkYou]

Ferguson has made man many bad signings but when he makes a good one it almosyt out weighs all of the bad.

For every Juan Sebastian Veron and Kleberson there is a Cantona

for every Diego Forlan and Eric Djemba-Djemba there is a Ronaldo.

[MilesHackett]

EDIT: Whichever way you look at it, I'd say this statement's still wide of the mark:

I wouldn't, just look at how internationalized the team has become. There are quality players from all over the world (not just Europe) on the squad. Chicharito, Park, Nani, Anderson, Berbatov, Vidic, etc. As S-O already pointed out, Ferguson's been a major force in developing the English and international youth as well, the man knows what he's doing, simply being knighted by the queen doesn't keep you your job. His positive signings definitely outweigh some of the mistakes he has made as a manager.

Some of the biggest letdowns were Podborsky, Djemba-Djemba, Veron, Forlan, Barthez, and Taibi. Those don't outweigh Cantona, Van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo, Rooney, Schmeichel, Solskjær, Keane, Stam, Vidic, Ferdinand, Cole, Yorke, and so on and so forth.

I don't know if I can ever agree with you on football, seeing as you think Paul Scholes is the most over-rated player of all time.. plus you like Villa ;)

[Jack]

I'm not saying the benefit of his good signings doesn't outweigh the detriment of his bad, as it clearly does, and he's clearly a great manager. I just took issue with your earlier statement that he made far more great signings than bad.

And Scholes is ridiculously overrated, you just need to accept that ;).

Don't really know if I'd call Ferdinand a good signing either, considering his price tag.

[MilesHackett]

I'm not saying the benefit of his good signings doesn't outweigh the detriment of his bad, as it clearly does, and he's clearly a great manager. I just took issue with your earlier statement that he made far more great signings than bad.

Fair enough.


And Scholes is ridiculously overrated, you just need to accept that ;).

Maybe if Scholes cared about playing for England instead of useless twats like Frank Lampard, you'd have a chance of winning a world cup.

0_I7UYv23AU


Don't really know if I'd call Ferdinand a good signing either, considering his price tag.

Yeah, there is an argument that he wasn't worth the pricetag, but a solid man at the back. I miss Stam though.

[Jack]

Stam was a great player. I still think the real reason for his and Fergies bust up was "teh roids" and not some silly statement he made in a book, seeing as he tested positive straight after he left there.

Ferguson did sell the greatest defender in Premier League history for 400k though :D.

[Thaispider]

scholes is the best midfielder of his generation.

[Jack]

scholes is the best midfielder of his generation.

Ah, Man Utd fans you make me smile at times.

You do know that Zidane is like, 2 years older (?) than Scholes don't you?

He's not even the best Man Utd midfielder of his generation actually.

[vexred]

Zidanes thoughts on Scholes

“It’s only natural to want to select your best players and there is no doubt for me that Paul Scholes is still in a class of his own.

He’s almost untouchable in what he does. I never tire of watching him play. You rarely come across the complete footballer, but Scholes is as close to it as you can get.

“One of my regrets is that the opportunity to play alongside him never presented itself during my career.”

“He is the type of player you want on your side, not in opposition because he could do so much damage.

“He is very gifted. He makes the game look easy because he’s so much natural ability.”


Bit of shinfo for people, the lead singer of Iron Maiden flew the Liverpool team to their match the other day.

[Jack]

You rarely come across the complete footballer, but Scholes is as close to it as you can get.

Well that's just nonsense, Zizou.

[Thaispider]

Well that's just nonsense, Zizou.

haha zizou just fucked your theory up........homie lol

[Jack]

haha zizou just fucked your theory up........homie lol

Not at all. He can still be a great player and talk absolute nonsense. Do you seriously believe that Paul Scholes is the best midfielder of his generation?

[Thaispider]

Not at all. He can still be a great player and talk absolute nonsense. Do you seriously believe that Paul Scholes is the best midfielder of his generation?

honestly yes, i place zidane and figo just behind but its very tight between them all.

i think its becuase i go to see scholes play week in week out for 10 years but up until i was like 12 i didnt regularly watch zidane in action.

[Jack]

It's really not close. Zidane is one of the best players of all time, whereas Scholes is a good player who played in a great team.

Scholes had a great eye for a pass, made some really good runs into the box and struck the ball well from distance. On top of that however, he was also lacking in pace and strength which can be forgiven of course, but is one of the most defensively inept centre midfielders I have ever seen, on and off the ball. His ball distribution in front of the back four has always been shaky, and he makes some of the most lunging, ugly tackles that you'll see from a high level player. This doesn't stop him from being a very good footballer, but it should definitely exclude him from any greatest midfielder of all time talk.

Scholes was a very good player in his day, but he's not even comparable to Zidane. In fact, I'd say both Iniesta and Xavi are both better players right now than Scholes at his peak. They have just as much technical ability, read the game offensively as well as he does, Iniesta especially is a much better dribbler, and both are a lot more defensively adept, particularly in possession.

[Jack]

I may have came off as a bit down on him there, I'm not. Scholes is better than a good player, he was a very good (maybe great player), and his one touch play in and around the centre circle is some of the best the premier league has ever seen, but he just doesn't belong in greatest of all time discussions.

[Shamrock-Ortiz]

It's really not close. Zidane is one of the best players of all time, whereas Scholes is a good player who played in a great team.

Saying Scholes is simply a good player who played for a great team is ludicrous, you ask most of the players in that squad they will point to Scholes as the top, so will Fergie.

And Zidane isn't the only top player to think this about Scholes, I could quote a ton of people now if you want. I have a document of quotes about him from people who you could say, have pretty informed opinions on football.


Scholes had a great eye for a pass, made some really good runs into the box and struck the ball well from distance.

Talk about his merits... I don't know if "struck the ball well from distance" does him justice. He is up there at the VERY top. A HUGE amount of technically outstanding long shots. You won't find many people with as many as he has. His highlight reel of long strikes is insane, he wins this department hands down over other contenders for greatest midfielder of the generation. I understand that there is plenty more about being a midfielder than this, but you cannot just say "struck the ball well from distance"

His eye for the pass, well you can't really put anyone ahead of him there. I think you need to borrow some tape I have if you disagree with this. Xavi is a brilliant passer of the ball, Scholes' range of passing is definitely better though. Better than anybody I have ever seen.


On top of that however, he was also lacking in pace and strength which can be forgiven of course, but is one of the most defensively inept centre midfielders I have ever seen, on and off the ball.


Lacking in pace, but he had good acceleration and was always QUICK to put people under. You ask people who played against him, they fucking hated it - he would snap at your heels and put you off your game. This is the reason that Zidane said he was his toughest opponent, nothing to do with Scholesy's attacking prowess, but because of this part of him game.

Being such a feisty bastard, I don't normally see people state strength as one of his weaknesses, I don't know if you're just saying that because he's small or what. Scholes could definitely hold his own in that department.


His ball distribution in front of the back four has always been shaky,
I am very, very comfortable with Scholes infront of the back four, his distribution is more than fine, it's brilliant.


and he makes some of the most lunging, ugly tackles that you'll see from a high level player. This doesn't stop him from being a very good footballer, but it should definitely exclude him from any greatest midfielder of all time talk.


I won't deny these ugly tackles, but will note again that people don't like playing Scholes because he snaps at you. The way he closes you down quickly and make challenges, he's going to have rash ones and does see a lot of cards.


Scholes was a very good player in his day, but he's not even comparable to Zidane. In fact, I'd say both Iniesta and Xavi are both better players right now than Scholes at his peak. They have just as much technical ability, read the game offensively as well as he does, Iniesta especially is a much better dribbler, and both are a lot more defensively adept, particularly in possession.

Iniesta and Xavi, both tremendous players, love watching Barca one touch football, though neither of these have the goalscoring ability that Scholes did. This is why people say that Scholes could do it all, he was the maker, like Xavi and Iniesta - but he was also a big goal threat. Xavi or Iniesta never have, or will be big goalscoring threats.

[Shamrock-Ortiz]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/9116212.stm
Hilarious

[e-thug]

Haven't really talked about Blackpool here yet but I fuckin love Ian Holloway....he represents the good that is left in football today and he's funny as hell, good on him for speaking his mind against that spoilt lil cunt Rooney.

[MilesHackett]

Wow, Holloway just gained a lot of respect from me. I think he's on the money.. not that I have bias for United or anything..

[e-thug]

Wow, Holloway just gained a lot of respect from me. I think he's on the money.. not that I have bias for United or anything..

Even as someone who loves watching United fail I hate to see what that lil cunt Rooney is doing, just goes to show ya what happens when sports players are paid too much sometimes.

[MilesHackett]

Even as someone who loves watching United fail I hate to see what that lil cunt Rooney is doing, just goes to show ya what happens when sports players are paid too much sometimes.

Especially when young, impressionable, and surrounded by the wrong kinds of people.

[Jack]

It's ridiculous hearing Man U fans calling Rooney disloyal, when Man U took him away from his fucking boyhood club in the first place.

Call him greedy all you want, but he's only leaving Utd for the exact same reason so many players joined Utd over the years.

[FunkYou]

Rooney can do what the fuck he wants when it comes to leaving Utd. Typical fan bullshit calling him disloyal.

He wants success (and money) but he can't get both at Utd because, despite supposedly still having the £80m they got for Ronaldo, top players will not sign for them anymore.

[Q_F]

honestly yes, i place zidane and figo just behind but its very tight between them all.

i think its becuase i go to see scholes play week in week out for 10 years but up until i was like 12 i didnt regularly watch zidane in action.

Nah man, Zizou is the best midfielder in football period. Just check out his game vs Brazil in WC 06 and you'll know what i mean.

I actually put Vieira ahead of Scholes during their primes...

[Thaispider]

Nah man, Zizou is the best midfielder in football period. Just check out his game vs Brazil in WC 06 and you'll know what i mean.

I actually put Vieira ahead of Scholes during their primes...

now thats just silly

[Q_F]

now thats just silly

Why? Vieira was a monster in the late 90's and early 00's and was considered to be the best def midfielder in the world. Scholes was never thought to be the best in the world in his position, aside from Man U fans. He played at the same time as Zidane, Figo and Nedved and later on with Gerrard and Ballack.

Don't get me wrong, i like Scholes, but Man U fans seem to hype him up to some deity...

[Jack]

I'd have Viera on par with Scholes, two very different players but equally effective.

Interesting question I heard the other day, who was the last English player to be considered the absolute best in the world in their position?

[Thaispider]

I'd have Viera on par with Scholes, two very different players but equally effective.

Interesting question I heard the other day, who was the last English player to be considered the absolute best in the world in their position?

Bobby Moore???

[Q_F]

Interesting question I heard the other day, who was the last English player to be considered the absolute best in the world in their position?

I hate to say it, but Ashley Cole? I also think that Gerrard was considered the best CM in the world a while ago.

[Jack]

Ah good point about Cole. Disagree on Gerrard though.

[Jack]

Apparently Rooney's signed a new contract at Man Utd.

[vexred]

amazing what a bit of intimidation will do lol.

[Jack]

Talk about his merits... I don't know if "struck the ball well from distance" does him justice. He is up there at the VERY top. A HUGE amount of technically outstanding long shots. You won't find many people with as many as he has. His highlight reel of long strikes is insane, he wins this department hands down over other contenders for greatest midfielder of the generation. I understand that there is plenty more about being a midfielder than this, but you cannot just say "struck the ball well from distance"

That's just hyperbole tbh, saying he struck the ball well from a distance sums up that part of the game without slobbering on his balls in my book.

His eye for the pass, well you can't really put anyone ahead of him there. I think you need to borrow some tape I have if you disagree with this. Xavi is a brilliant passer of the ball, Scholes' range of passing is definitely better though. Better than anybody I have ever seen.

You need to take your Man Utd blinkers off here IMO.

Lacking in pace, but he had good acceleration and was always QUICK to put people under. You ask people who played against him, they fucking hated it - he would snap at your heels and put you off your game. This is the reason that Zidane said he was his toughest opponent, nothing to do with Scholesy's attacking prowess, but because of this part of him game.

Meh, his acceleration was never anything special and his constant high pressure style is hardly a strength, as it's all he knew how to do, making him predictable. You also seem to be giving him praise for fouling people, and being unable to tackle correctly.

Being such a feisty bastard, I don't normally see people state strength as one of his weaknesses, I don't know if you're just saying that because he's small or what. Scholes could definitely hold his own in that department.

He was never a strong player by any means, but as I said in my previous post, his lack of strength wasn't really a big deal.

I am very, very comfortable with Scholes infront of the back four, his distribution is more than fine, it's brilliant.

No, it's really not. The amount of times he gives the ball away in his own half trying to do something flashy makes it a weakness.

I won't deny these ugly tackles, but will note again that people don't like playing Scholes because he snaps at you. The way he closes you down quickly and make challenges, he's going to have rash ones and does see a lot of cards.

Again your pointing to his inability to tackle correctly as a strength. And we all know he should have picked up more cards than he did, but he plays for Man U so go figure.

Iniesta and Xavi, both tremendous players, love watching Barca one touch football, though neither of these have the goalscoring ability that Scholes did. This is why people say that Scholes could do it all, he was the maker, like Xavi and Iniesta - but he was also a big goal threat. Xavi or Iniesta never have, or will be big goalscoring threats.

Neither have his goalscoring prowess, no (although you're overstating it slightly) but their technical ability, defensive awareness and in Iniesta's case his dribbling skill, make them superior footballers to Scholes.

[Thaispider]

im glad in a way, as there must have been some sort of promise from the management that new players will be bought.

have lost alot of respect for rooney though, but aslong as he scores goals i couldnt give a shit tbh. modern players apart from a few exceptions are mercenary's.

[Jack]

Why have you lost respect for him?

[Thaispider]

Why have you lost respect for him?

the way he conducted himself in the media, if he wanted assurances on future players and the direction in which the club was going, it should have been done behind closed doors. and never let out in the public domain.

just is not the way he should have gone about it.

[Jack]

The club made the first statement on the issue, not Rooney, and even then his statement was pretty respectful.

[MilesHackett]

I'd have Viera on par with Scholes, two very different players but equally effective.

Interesting question I heard the other day, who was the last English player to be considered the absolute best in the world in their position?

Beckham?

[plazzman]

Are we talking internationally, or club level?

---------- Post added at 01:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:26 AM ----------

Why? Vieira was a monster in the late 90's and early 00's and was considered to be the best def midfielder in the world. Scholes was never thought to be the best in the world in his position, aside from Man U fans. He played at the same time as Zidane, Figo and Nedved and later on with Gerrard and Ballack.

Don't get me wrong, i like Scholes, but Man U fans seem to hype him up to some deity...
I'd say Makelele was a much better def mid than Viera. But I agree about Zidane. His game was almost infallible and he had none of that stupid South American folklore/hype/aura about him to over elevate his status, dude was just a fucking solid player and ill be as bold to say that France would have won in 06' had he not been sent off.

Call me crazy but imo Zizou > Maradonna

[FunkYou]

Call me crazy but imo Zizou > Maradonna

Debatable. Zidane was a great player but Maradonna regularly made poor to mediocre teams seem great all by himself. Zidane never really palyed in anything but a really good team.

[Jack]

Zidane's up there as one of the very best players of all time, but I don't know if I coul put him above Maradona, a man who essentially won the world cup on his own. He's up there though.

People forget how good Maradona was IMO. It always makes me smile when people claim that Messi is a better player.

[FunkYou]

Best player of all time? Messi shouldn't even be in the conversation.

Pele, Beckenbauer, Maradona or if you prefer style over substance then Cruyff. No one else.

[Jack]

They're doing a best 11 of all time thing on the Guardian right now to celebrate Maradona's and Pele's 50th and 70th birthdays, and it looks like Gerrard is gonna make the list of four midfielders. Fucking Liverpool fans.

EDIT: Looks like he made it:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/poll/2010/oct/19/greatest-football-xi-midfielders

Fucking nonsense.

[FunkYou]

Gerrard shouldn't even be on a team of the current generation let alone of all time. Unless that team had to be made up entirely of players who underage school girls.

Then he could make the bench.

[FunkYou]

I know its a double post but I am a rebel and don't care.

Rafael VdV looked awesomeness again today and he and Modric are really starting to link up well. The croatian had a great game today even of he started to drop a little deep in the second half.

We should have won but looked a little gassed as the game went on.

Assou-Ekotto being in the spurs first team is precisely as ridiculous as his corn-row / afro combination.

[Gomi]

Lol.

Sunderland somehow managed to get a win today. Jesus must've wanted us to win :nuts:

[vexred]

Crucial win for the TOON today =) Barton is having a great season so far.

We'll see you next weekend scum bag!

[MilesHackett]

People forget how good Maradona was IMO. It always makes me smile when people claim that Messi is a better player.

It may be slightly premature, but I say give him a chance man.. Messi is only 23 years old and by the end of his career he could very well end up in the pantheon of all time greats without a marred reputation. Messi, in my opinion, is equally as skilled, if not more than Diego, but it's hard to compare them because they're from completely different generations of the sport (and they had/have different roles on their teams too).

Here's a cool discussion about Messi involving Dwight York, Eider Gudjohnsen, and Graeme Souness I stumbled upon while looking for highlights over the past few days:

http://www.timesoccer.com/video/010/20-barcelona-vs-copenhagen-live-highlights.html

Messi's first goal was gorgeous.

[FunkYou]

Mark Clattenburg worst referee in the league. Yet another dodgy decision goes United's way at Old Trafford.

[vexred]

I feel for you Funk! that was really bad, what made it worse was the fact Nani dived, handled the ball & then scored. the little shite.

[Jack]

It may be slightly premature, but I say give him a chance man.. Messi is only 23 years old and by the end of his career he could very well end up in the pantheon of all time greats without a marred reputation. Messi, in my opinion, is equally as skilled, if not more than Diego, but it's hard to compare them because they're from completely different generations of the sport (and they had/have different roles on their teams too).

What do you mean by more skilled? At this stage of their careers, I find it hard to make a fair comparison between the two, partly because Messi still has a lot of time to develop, but mainly because he doesn't really stack up all to well compared to Maradona at this point.

Time will tell, and Messi may become a better player than Maradona ever was, but right now, it's not really that close.

Here's a cool discussion about Messi involving Dwight York, Eider Gudjohnsen, and Graeme Souness I stumbled upon while looking for highlights over the past few days:

http://www.timesoccer.com/video/010/20-barcelona-vs-copenhagen-live-highlights.html

Yeah I saw that on Sky last week, god they have some terrible pundits on. I tend to skip through anybody not named Andy Gray these days TBH.

I like what Souness said about Messi's physique compared to Maradona's though, as while Maradona's short stocky style with crazy powerful legs was great for powering past defenders, it's not exactly designed for longevity. Although saying that Messi's up there with him right now is just way too premature.

As much as I hate to do it, I agree with Dwight Yorke.

Messi's first goal was gorgeous.

Indeed it was, I love the little pass inside from Iniesta there as well, so simple how he looked to the left winger as if he was gonna play the longer ball then just played it inside, yet so effective. What a hit from Messi as well, he hardly even lifted his foot and got crazy power on it.

Mark Clattenburg worst referee in the league. Yet another dodgy decision goes United's way at Old Trafford.

I wish I could say I was surprised, Funk.

Some blame has to lie at the feet of Gomez, as you play to the whistle, but he should never have been in that situation in the first place. Nor would he have been if you were playing at almost any other ground in the country, outside of the big 4/5 clubs in the league's eyes.

[FunkYou]

I wish I could say I was surprised, Funk.

Some blame has to lie at the feet of Gomez, as you play to the whistle, but he should never have been in that situation in the first place. Nor would he have been if you were playing at almost any other ground in the country, outside of the big 4/5 clubs in the league's eyes.

Gomez should play to the whistle but he and nani both knew full well Nani handled the ball. Clattenburg fucked up again plain and simple.

Old Trafford is the home of dodgy decisions and Rio "cunt" Ferdinand yelling in the ref's face when he went to talk to the linesman made me want to punch my tv.

[Jack]

Yeah you could tell from how long Nani stood with it at his feet for so long that he knew he'd handled it. The worst things is that Clattenburg probably did too, but bottled the decision cos of where it was.

Remember when they were going to start clamping down on players shouting in the ref's face? lol

[vexred]

TOON TOON, BLACK'N'WHITE ARMY!!! Enjoy the match Gomi?

[MilesHackett]

The second goal shouldn't have counted, but what can you do? Nani handled the ball, but he played by the whistle. Just a really awkward moment of miscommunication between referee, linesman, and players.

Check out Clatternburg's angle @ 13:50 and you'll see that he can't see the handball.

http://www.timesoccer.com/video/04/25-manchester-united-vs-tottenham-live-match-highlights.html

The fault is with the linesman, IMO.

[Jack]

That'd be okay if it was once, but it's the fact that you constantly see those type of decisions go Man U's way, particularly at Old Trafford.

That's the same of most teams to an extent, whereby whoever is the bigger name usually gets seemingly preferential treatment from the officials, on a smaller scale the further down the table you go. Still, doesn't make it right.

[MilesHackett]

I'm not saying it's alright, by any means. That sort of thing happens in every sport, being the home team is always an advantage for that reason.

[Jack]

It's not home team advantage though, that I could stomach as it's bound to balance out. It's big club advantage.

[Gomi]

TOON TOON, BLACK'N'WHITE ARMY!!! Enjoy the match Gomi?

Too busy destructing trick or treaters in the face.

I have no idea what you are talking about, though. I heard Sunderland won 1-5 :amuse:

[vexred]

haha I bet :laugh:

We got lucky with the Bramble sending off, however that donkey deserves it for all the times he let the TOON down.

I live on a farm so not got any shits at my front door, they'd deserve a large amount of sweets if they made the effort get here.

[Jack]

I live on a farm

http://www.themmanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/matt-hughes-highschool83.jpg

[vexred]

:finger:

[FunkYou]

Dullest 4-2 game ever today. Spurs looked largely ineffective and Sandro may well be the worst player to play for spurs since Ruel Fox.

[Jack]

Villa... meh.

[Thaispider]

Super Park to the rescue:D

[MilesHackett]

Villa... meh.

More like Villa.. LOL.

Brutal time to concede a goal.

[FunkYou]

Villa haven't been the same since Platt went to Sampdoria.

[Jack]

When your only fit recognised striker is a 19 year old who hasn't started a game yet this season, it doesn't bode well.

How Reo-Coker has managed to make his career as a footballer I will never know.

[FunkYou]

Cos its easy to sing a chant including his name?

[vexred]

What a result for the TOON!! I'd have taken a point before the match. Now a sunday roast & to watch Chelsea thrash Liverpool :D

[Jack]

Soooo, Fernando Torres... yeah.

[vexred]

ha Torres has been shit all season, gd to see him back in form now. Pretty weakened Chelsea team though.

[Jack]

He took his first goal ridiculously well.

Drogba just got brought on for Chelski.

[vexred]

pfft Chelsea were awful, really missed Essien & Lampard. Anyone else think that Tiote is one of the best summer signings by any prem team?

[MilesHackett]

So happy Chelsea lost. Also, anyone else checking to see how they're doing in the competition? I'm not doing so well, pretty bizarre season so far..

1. Man Utd
2. Chelsea
3. Arsenal
4. Man City
5. Liverpool
6. Tottenham
7. Aston Villa
8. Everton
9. Blackburn
10. Bolton
11. West Ham
12. Newcastle
13. Birmingham
14. Stoke
15. Sunderland
16. Fulham
17. Wolves
18. Wigan
19. West Brom
20. Blackpool

[Gomi]

1. Chelsea
2. Manchista United
3. Manchista Citeh
4. Arsenal
5. Tottenham
6. Liverpool
7. Villa
8. Everton
9. Blackburn
10. Fulham
11. West Ham
12. Sunderland
13. Birmingham
14. Bolton
15. Wigan
16. West Brom
17. Stoke
18. Wolves
19. Newcastle
20. Blackpool

If only some teams switched one place, I'd have five or something correct. For now, all I have is Stoke.

[Jack]

Liverpool in 16th is wild.

They're up to 9th after today.

The table's so close right now anyway, there's like 5 points between 6th and 18th.

Did you catch any of Barca's game tonight, Miles? Messi fanboy that you are ;).
He was running wild against Getafe, although it was a great attacking performance from the team as a whole really.

[MilesHackett]

They're up to 9th after today.

The table's so close right now anyway, there's like 5 points between 6th and 18th.

Ah, I must be looking at a table that hasn't been updated. Nice jump up the rankings though lol.

[Shamrock-Ortiz]

I'm not doing so well, pretty bizarre season so far..

You could say bizarre season, but football is like this every year. Predicting where every team is gonna be in the league, is pretty hard :laugh:

Of course, it's likely your predictions are going to look a lot better the longer the season goes.

[e-thug]

You could say bizarre season, but football is like this every year. Predicting where every team is gonna be in the league, is pretty hard :laugh:

Of course, it's likely your predictions are going to look a lot better the longer the season goes.

This, just so ya know im gonna be doing an update on this halfway through the season (19 games) cuz as everyone has said its just such a cluster fuck right now I doubt anyone is doing that great.

Oh and my by Torres is BACK!:D

dRa7eStSMqU&feature=related

[Jack]

The second goal was great, obviously, but I was as impressed (if not more even) with how well he took his first.

[e-thug]

The second goal was great, obviously, but I was as impressed (if not more even) with how well he took his first.

Definitely, the composure he showed for the first goal was great, the 2nd goal I enjoyed more so due to how well he hit it but both were outstanding...nice to see Reina play out of his skin aswell and we missed Kuyt while he was gone forsure.

4 wins in a row, things are finally lookin up!

[FunkYou]

Its is nice to see that normality has resumed and Spurs are once again fucking useless just when they need to step up a gear.

[Jack]

Still a decent result for Villa today. We deserved the win as we slaughtered them in the second half, but I'd have taken 2-2 at before the game so can't complain too much.

lol at people who try and say that Man U don't get preferential treatment though. They could have arguably had three players sent off today.

[MilesHackett]

Typical Man U today, never giving up and pressuring until the very end for a far less disappointing result. Nice goal by Macheda and a very good performance by Villa, oddly enough. :p

[Jack]

lol, it's actually three good performances (in terms of the actual football we've played) in a row now, which is worrying.

Kind of gutting that we let you back in by just sitting deep after the second goal, but like I said before, I'd have taken a point before the game.

Honestly, if Agbonlahor had stayed on I think we'd have won that game, as he pressured your back four and made runs off the ball that Delfouneso just didn't when he came on. That kind of thing makes all the difference when you're trying to protect a lead against one of the best sides in the country.

If Villa were a London side the press would be raving about the group of youngsters we have right now. But we're not, so they aren't.

[MilesHackett]

Unfortunately I only caught highlights of the game, one thing that sucks about living in Canada is that all United's games are exclusively shown on Setanta, which I can't be bothered to subscribe to.

God bless timesoccer.com!

[vexred]

Damn, as much as it pains me to say it...Sunderland were awesome today!

[Jack]

Yep, I was half watching the game and they looked really good. Always good to see Chelski lose, anyway.

Oh, I meant to say this yesterday but:

Liverpool, lol
Gerrard, lol

Ah, that feels better.

[Gomi]

Damn, as much as it pains me to say it...Sunderland were awesome today!

I had to have a run down with the team before the game. It worked, apparently,

[plazzman]

LMAO Am I seeing these results correctly?

[Shamrock-Ortiz]

Milan derby was Sunday. Inter are really struggling at the moment, they've got a few injuries, but now 6 points behind Milan and in 5th place.

[MilesHackett]

LMAO Am I seeing these results correctly?

I was thinking the same thing, I automatically read it as 3-0 for Chelsea. It wasn't until I talked to my Dad at dinner that I realized I had read it wrong lol.

[Jack]

Anybody watching the England game?

lol, that is all.