Weekend Forzaborza Thread.
there's some football this weekend, great stuff. i like football.
does anyone read myles palmer's blog? he's basically this virulent anti-Wenger blogger who talks a lot of crap but occasionally a bit of insight. to be honest i find the crap more entertaining. i particularly like the bit here about van persie 'advising' wenger on his coaching methods
http://www.arsenalnewsreview.co.uk/index.php/news/2883/30/Arsenal-s-problem-is-the-coaching-methods
Alex Ferguson, what a bellend eh?
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I almost wish Wenger would spontaneously retire or be fired
just so that Arsenal fans could see the error of their ways. Even if they made a good appointment in place of him, any improvement would be short-term only. Who is going to take his place and push them on?
There's a belief that Arsenal 2012 version are rubbish. I actually think there's a core there that can be built upon with promise. Mertesacker has settled in now, and is proving a good buy, Arteta, Wilshere, Giroud, Carzola, Walcott, Oxlade, Szecnesy.
Weirdly the youth team seems to have slowed down production, and there's still overpaid dross in the first-team squad, but 2 or 3 good signings over the next couple of transfer windows would put them in a good place.
A core that can be built on :')
I think Wenger deserves credit for consistently overachieving given the relatively small resources he uses (if perhaps criticism for not using the greater resources allegedly available to him), but Arsenal are nowhere near consistently challenging for top honours and probably further away than they have been at any point in the last 7/8 years. Even when they do luck their way to a cup it'll be scarce vindication.
true
but ultimately, what success can a team achieve when its top players leave because other teams can pay mega-star wages (City, United, Chelsea) or can afford to sign a ridiculous number of well-paid squad players (City, Chelsea, United)?
Great teams sometimes arise through fortune and chance as much as by design. Wenger had the luck to receive the famous Graham back-5 and his methods coupled to that back 5 brought great success. The Invicibles was a freak time when Arsenal had 2 world-class players at the same time, and a squad with depth (due to football finances not having gone so crazy as now).
I'm susprised Wenger has missed some transfer deals in the last few years - Benteke was on their radar apparently, Cabaye surely must have been. M'bia was a player who would have made a difference. And so on.
Arsenal are for the moment a team who's aspiration can only be to build a team up slowly over a few years with the aim of using that stability to evolve into a top class side. For the moment Wenger fits with that.
A world class striker welded to Cazorla and Wilshere with a solid-ish defence would really be something.
I don't understand this position, tbh ... Seems fairly confused.
Do Arsenal just need a few more players ('world-class' players, the likes of which they've had no real success signing or keeping in recent years) to compete, or do they need massive changes at the clubs they've struggled to compete with? You say that great teams are sometimes built as a matter of good fortune and that Wenger was lucky enough to inherit a strong defence, but also that he is obviously the best men to build a team ... Lots of stuff doesn't add up there. Not singling you out at all, just seems like Wenger and Arsenal are the subject of a lot of confused platitudes that don't really stand up when scrutinised.
I'm fairly harsh in my criticism of the top teams (including my own), because at that level of football even the smallest of weaknesses will tell. I don't think Arsenal fans need to worry that much about their side but 3rd/4th (and if they're really, really lucky a cup) is about as much as they should be hoping for in the foreseeable future.
yes.. rambling me
I mean, fortune and coincidence are often vital ingredients of a great team, and Arsenal's 2 great sides under Wenger both had this element.
He is a manager who can rebuild and regenerate a team. But I would say that he's not the best at that, not even in this league, and that he needs to either discover a Cristiano Ronaldo or be the beneficiary of some serious good fortune to have Arsenal competing with the best again. I don't believe he can construct a title-winning team in the present premier league because there is now a cabal of 3 teams that spend more than everybody else, investing more money on mega-wages and super-size squads and on overinflated transfer fees for young starlets. Given more time and the luck that is necessary he may be able to punch above their weight and get them into a title-contending season in the next couple of years.
I wouldn't say he's the best man, but he's probably the best man that Arsenal could have right now.
For the record, I consider Arsenal to have had a handful of world class players during Wenger's time:
Adams, Henry, Bergkamp, Fabregas and by the looks of it Van Persie.
When I say world-class I mean it sparingly - the kind of player that can ignite a solid team single-handedly. Discovering something of this quality is what every team dreams of, and if Arsenal were to discover such it would allow them back to the top-table of European football. Otherwise he needs to improve his transfer dealings, ruthlessly clear out the rubbish squad players (Squillaci, Andre Santos, Arshavin, Chamakh for starters) and sign much better - and then let the squad evolve over a longer period of time.
In short, we're all influenced by the ease with which we can improve a team on Football Manager. Wenger is, despite his deficiencies, probably doing as well as can be expected.
very well put
more or less sums up my feelings on arsenal at the moment.
But he could do better in the transfer market.
Could be in for Benteke or Ba and could have been in for Cabaye or Ben Arfa or Cisse or any of the other relatively inexpensive players who've done really well in the Premier League in the last few years. Shouldn't Arsenal have been aware of players like Michu, who scored 15 goals in La Liga before moving to Swansea on the cheap?
You say he needs to discover a Ronaldo but I think Arsenal should just be more pro-active in discovering players who are doing alright already.
Yes, that's what baffles me about Wenger
For example they were desperately in need of a decent experienced centre-back one year and Southgate was available , but no..
or they had gone through goalkeeper after goalkeeper and Shay Given wanted to leave Newcastle but no...
That other teams have bought ahead of Arsenal out of France and Belgium surprises me - you'd have thought Benteke and Cabaye at least would have been snapped up by them. He does seem to have an odd preference for a 16/17 year old rather than someone 20-24.
He's always been weak with signings in defence and in goal. And he's always failed to sign enough decent squad players.
you forgot Viera
And Ashley Cole, and I'd be tempted to include Overmars/Ljungberg/Pires etc
i've always said i'm not a fan so much as a (very) interested observer
but i feel weirdly conflicted about it - i do feel guilty about the way wenger's been treated by the fans, (the you don't know what you're doing' chants were ugly) but i don't see them making progress unless he changes his fundamental approach as a manager. and i don't think he's going to do that. so the question then is: is a top 4 finish (and that's by no means guaranteed) now the height of ambiton for arsenal?
more pertinently, who's going to fire him? it's not going to happen. could be a weird few years for arsenaL.
the '2 or 3' good signings line has been trotted out every
year for the past 5 at least, btw
yes, true about the 2 or 3 signings line
but in almost every year of those 5 years they've lost an important player AND signed mediocrely.
He has changed his approach somewhat - it can be seen in the more established transfer signings he made over the last 2 summers, and in the presence of a striker like Giroud receiving crosses and heading goals (very un-Wengerish).
The ratio of good quality to dross has improved this year, and importantly - everyone bar Walcott is tied down to a long-term deal. There actually is an opportunity for growth.
Wenger's got 3 big flaws: he struggles to sign good defenders, he evolves slowly and he doesn't lose faith in average players quickly enough.
Despite this, I still think he's the best man for them for now. Marginally so. The next 2 seasons are as good a chance as ever to resucitate them and the club owes him. If he cannot improve them next season then a parting of the ways may be best.
that's a fair point about giroud and co.
i was thinking more along the lines of the defending though. if any club is to compete at a disadvantage, then some measure of defensive solidity is required. the periods when arsenal have been at their defensive best during wenger's reign can arguably be said to have been down to favourable influence from elsewhere - inheriting the back four, or martin keown's coaching during the champions league run (a time when eboue was at right back). what happened to keown? the rumours of a rift with Bould may well be nonsense but it's illustrative of some of the concerns about wenger that people are even willing to believe something like that.
* can arguably be said to be partly down to influence
this is some really good discussion on arsenal
i thought i had become somewhat apathetic about the club, but lately have realised that this is more a matter of adjusting expectations. all arsenal fans want the club to succeed and to win trophies and failure for this to materialise in recent years has boiled into anger and frustration at the current set up and desire for change. in reality we are now aiming for 3rd or 4th and that should be regarded as par for the course, and admirable given the resources it is achieved on.
its not glamorous but we can't realistically expect to compete on the same level and united, city and chelsea on the pitch because we haven't got the ability to compete with them on a financial level. some are saddened by this (vulgar billionaireball) and long for the past but that's not achieving anything. those arsenal fans that do expect us to be pushing hard for the title each and every year are destined for disappointment- if somehow the stars align and we do make a genuine title tilt and even *gasp* win it in the next few years it would be a minor miracle and one of the great achievements of modern football. it would require so many different variables to sway in our favour that it seems almost impossible, but it might happen, who knows.
either way, what i guess i'm getting at is the culture of expectation and entitlement that looms over arsenal (and, i imagine, many other teams) is almost certainly going to bring disappointment whilst also potentially damaging the club and its relation to its fans. gary neville said some really great stuff after the reading game on this issue- the hysteria and shrillness that stems from this binary attitude towards it all (win/lose, greatest team on earth/pub cloggers not fit to lace bergkamp's boots) is dull and irritating. at the end of the day if you're a real fan supporting arsenal should bring you happiness, even if it is amongst disappointment and crushing woe, that's surely why we're all in this.
agreed
though Arsenal fans discontent can be easily excused by the price of a season ticket at the Emirates.
and on top of that highest-priced ticket in the land, the swashbuckling football isn't as sexy as it used to be either.
i would add
that a lot of discontent stems from Wenger's seeming intransigence and certain tactical/organisational errors being repeated year on year.
another thing - what streetflash is saying about the difficulty of winning the title, the baffling and frustrating thing to me is that there have been a couple of seasons where the title was very winnable and where even a mid-level signing in the transfer window could possibly have given the team what it needed. most notably in 2008 if i remember correctly. which stems back to Wenger's stubbornness - yes the club is at a disadvantage financially, but sometimes it's as if he wants to make things hard for himself.
there's a lot of factors and i don't think it can be explained away by a culture of entitlement, although there are obviously going to be people who are like that as well.
you're right
in the sense that wenger has made some decisions that rankle, and can be excessively stubborn.
i was trying to make a wider point about the way fans interact with the club and unrealistic expectations contributing toward the negative atmosphere that runs around the club all too frequently these days.
you're also very right about there being a whole shedload of factors that are very difficult to address fully. i suppose part of my frustration toward some sections of our support is that they're happy to beat wenger/the board/the players over the head using certain lines of reasoning that suit them without considering the other sides of the argument. i find it can be quite hypocritical when really we're all trying to pull in the same direction. i guess i'd advocate a culture of honest criticism of a more constructive manner than we see at the moment, and also a bit of joy applied to it all.
Ferguson is a master
everybody got distracted and didn't talk about how poor certain aspects of their play were, both the defense and the defensive tracking of the midfield.
They need to wake up and sign either a barnstorming central defender or a defensive midfielder and tighten things up.
hmm, i dunno
papers are going with the whole 'Fergie is cracking up!' line, saying he's spouting off because of defensive frailties. not just because, y'know, he's a bit of a cunt. if you look at what he said in the conference its barely any different to the sort of comments he made about Leeds which led to Keegan's 'love it' rant. though people wanted to believe he was cracking up then too.
Jonesy has us covered for both of those anyway.
oh he is undoubtedly a cunt
but as Ferguson said in as many words about Mourinho recently - his cuntish-ness/indiscretions are always aimed for the good of the team. Whether he's the lightning rod taking the flak or he's undermining referees, the FA or other managers, it seems to be controlled and done with the usually successful intention of benefitting his club.
That's management.
As a Saints fan, I love the grace and well-mannered positivity with which Nigel Adkins conducts himself in interviews. But, you can't escape the fact that generally successfully manipualting your inner-cunt is an important facet of top level modern day football management.
i don't think buying a centre half in is really going to help loads, as much as people have been slagging evans down he was half of the second best centre defence in the league last year. rio is well on the down-slope but you'd still be hard pressed to find a centre half who could come in and do a better job, particularly in january.
the most troubling position is still people running at and through the centre mid as you said, doesn't even necessarily need the Roy Keane Style Midfielder the press seems obsessed with, just someone quickish who can stay fit and doesn't mind tracking back. ideally pretty tall too, this must be the shortest united team in my lifetime. three six footers?
oh shit van persie as well he's probably 6'
also http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/12/14/article-2248234-16844BA1000005DC-901_634x516.jpg
You must have avoided talk sports, 5 live, ssn and any papers
For the last couple of days, because its all that they have been saying.
Made two whole FF changes today
Though the wisdom of bringing in an Arsenal and West Ham defender may prove debatable.
Aguero has got one week left to do well before I flog him.
Southend are by the highlights playing some great football right now. Still not seen them this season...
david gold's just a shit alan sugar
right, have a £20 free bet.....any suggestions for nailed on/mega buck winning bets?
have about 25 accys on.....maybe bmouth, tranmere, brentford and shef utd to all win....dunno
Think i'd probably throw it on an Everton/Chelsea draw, tbh.
yeah, might be worth a punt
quite fancy a QPR draw tmrw if Suarez is out.....
Man City today
WHO KNOWS
any decent streams these days?
the ones i used to use, they dead.
wiziwig
expect GOALS in the Man Utd/West Brom game
Fergie rekkins Welbeck, Young and Kagawa could be back, which would be a big help to avoid players getting knackered. Clarke rested Long and Odemwingie in the last game so they should be fresh and ready to capitalize on defensive blunders, and their CM is much tougher than ours. out of the four Xmas period games i'd say its the one we looked most likely to drop points in (though we did against Swansea). i'm gonna say 2-2.
Expect nothing seeing as how it's been called off.
The conspiracy theorists will be going mental.
FFS
Hang on what you on about
Wrong some muppet put on 365 that it was off.
Apologies.
Thought it was a bit odd as I can see Old Trafford from my flat
and it's only been drizzling for the last couple of hours.
pitch inspection was at 1.20 i believe, and passed
typically desperate anti-bants from wilykit. or is it bants? i forget.
although the rain will stop United's usual crisp one-touch football and play into West Brom's hands
gonna go for a 0-4 upset.
remember when Cuellar was amazing for that third division scotch side
comedy refereeing at huddersfield vs. wednesday
apparently helan has been booked twice yet remains on the pitch?
another clean sheet
disappointed we couldn't come away with all three points, sounded like we were all over huddersfield.
would have taken five points from the last three games so to get seven is more than most of our supporters would have imagined. gonna be tough to keep out charlie austin and co. on tuesday however.
Only two of my local non-league games have survived the weather.
Glossop North End v Colne & Stockport Sports v Congleton.
Gonna go for the latter.
Have a good day, fellas.
im wet through
Thoroughly deserved win for Spurs. Made it difficult for ourselves though, as always.
Should've scored at least 5 with Ade missing from one yard out then one-on-one with the keeper (though that was a magnificent save) and Defoe missing from 5 yards.
Bale booked for diving again, though it wasn't as embarrassing as his previous efforts (slight contact and running at speed - i still don't buy Gary Neville's view that that can bring a grown man down).
Kyle Walker continues to struggle. Lovely fella but we could do with someone to challenge him for his position.
Sandro continues to give heterosexual men massive erections.
Sunderland are dreadful.
Bye for now.
Mignolet is really good
Defoe + Ade at the moment not so much
Hmm not sure i'd agree with you about Defoe
Wasn't at his best today but has been pretty great this season. Ade has been very poor though, and today there were moments where he looked completely disinterested.
Adebayor never cares after his first 6 months at a club
One of the best in the world for those 6 though. Every time.
Adebayor
Ade BYE or
Waste of money
Cost half as much as Gervinho though.
Just saying.
and is probably on double or triple the wages of gervinho
and has a lousy attitude.
quite why gervinho is being used as a benchmark/comparison is beyond me too.
just saying.
:'''')
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-PIckHrZ0o
fair enough
can't really argue with that.
don't City pay half his wages?
thought that was a condition of the transfer but could well be wrong.
been great definitely
both just looking a little off the boil
city 2-0 up already
dzeko in fine form today
goalfest
Oh ffs
King Samir!
What's he done now?
flew into a vicious headbutt upon Sebastian Bassong.
The latter is lucky to be alive quite frankly.
HE COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!
Kick heads out of football I say.
Matt "It Certainly Is" LeTissier
It certainly is.
Pretty generous to Nasri to call that a headbutt.
How are Lee and Holden doing at Bolton this season?
Anyone know?
Isn't Holden still rehabilitating in the States?
Oh, he's back in the UK, I think.
Not played this season yet though.
Maybe.
I've no idea, thus the question.
holden played 60 minutes for the reserves in a closed door friendly today
I miss Verbal :(
I met up with Verbal just before Christmas and asked him that exact same question
Not sure if anything has changed in the last few weeks but, from what he said, (and what I remember), Lee is back but look a pale shadow of his former self at the moment and I think he said Holden was still injured.
kagawa looks alright
Good to see Mark Bright advocating 'proper headbutts' on final score
proper haircuts.
KONE2012
ends with a goal
isn't he supposed to be up before the court of Human Rights in the Hague?
in news that will be celebrated around the world
The Beautiful Game (Southampton) are smashing The Anti-Football (Stoke) at the Britannia 3-1.
I'm still expecting us to throw away another lead and snatch a draw from the jaws of victory though.
and as I type Satan's little helpers make it 2-3
N'Zonzi sent off.
Quite a dirty player isn't he?
Apparently it's a controversial decision and he was unlucky to go.
Oh well.
Dean Ashton is the most boring man in the entire world
great goal Jerome
so this is how it feels to be Le Tissier-ed
It certainly is.
won a cheeky £62.89 off a 25p 7-fold championship accy
might stick it all on Paul lambert to be fired in the next hour
Nah.
Who would they possibly replace him with? Mark Hughes? In time for the January window?
15 goals conceded in a week though, fucking hell.
Some certainties I can derive from these results
1. Paul Lambert will not last the season.
2. Chris Hughton is the real deal.
3. Nigel Adkins will be fired probably in the summer whether Southampton stay up or not.
I still think it's too early to tell on 1. He's doing great at the moment for sure.
If he can turn this current run back into wins I'll probably accept he's the real deal.
Some hopes
1. That Paul Lambert isn't fired til the end of the season.
2. That Fulham keep dropping like a lead balloon.
3. That Wigan do not discover momentum.
4. That Adam Lallana gets back from injury a.s.a.p
5. That we discover some magical transfer to solve all our woes.
Bristol City win.
I wasn't there but, according to our fans, Peterboro continued their attempts to injure as many of our players as possible. Would quite like to see them go down. Or stay up if we go down. But be in a different division to us next season in any case.
Decent performance from City
As soon as Boro went down to ten men, they were trying to run the clock down. Absolutely no attempt to win and some filthy tackles. We wore them down with some good possession football, then finished them off. Even when they snatched their second there was no danger.
Baldock really hates Peterborough - could see him mouthing "fuck off" when he scored his second.
Did Anderson look as good as people on otib are saying or is it the usual hyperbole you get when a player comes into the team and looks decent?
He did a great job today
Obviously scoring will increase the hype, but he did his job very intelligently and caused them a lot of problems with his movement off the ball. His goal was a good example of what he did all day; found some space, lurked around the penalty spot, and I think he'd had a hand in the build up too.
Baldock also had a great game, and Foster was looking much improved until he came off injured (got to see more of Joe Bryan though, what potential he's got). I'd call it a "masterclass" in playing against ten men: keep the ball, tire them out.
Matthew Upson is still a Premiership footballer
Who knew...
I'd entirely forgotten he existed...
he'll be back in the England set up soon enough
Another black day for West Midlands football
All 5 lost.
Much like London Midland's train service, Wolves were a shambles again.
Stoke drew.
We're west midlands too. Get midlands today on tv.
Meant it in terms of the county like
So are Shrewsbury and Vale in terms of the West Midlands region and they did alright (a draw and a win respectively)
fucking gaaah
trampling all over a terrible, terrible derby county and then we get the magical peno + red card kapow! DAT KAPOW
guess I should be happy we got a point given the ensuing string of pressure/saves but god that was frustrating
pritchard I <3 u, u might be my favourite in fact but my god next time you have an unchallenged shot from 8 yards at least make some effort to keep it down
Chelsea fans -
what are your thoughts on Danny Sturridge joining us? Is he gonna be another Joe Cole? Would you rather have kept him? Is it hard to celebrate with your player when he's doing those awful dances?
Decent player, with potential (that shouldn't take much to be realised) to be good.
Bit irked to see him leave given how things have gone for us up front in the last 18 months- I shouldn't be able to mention potential in the same breath as Sturridge as he really should have been given a chance to sink or swim here.
He's at least direct, and I guess Liverpool lack directness under Rodgers. I can't imagine he'll set Anfield alight but given the fee and the fact that their are broader issues at Liverpool than those a 23 year-old striker can solve, I can't see him being a hilarious flop either.
I'll take that.
Dunno why a lot of our fans are turning their noses up at him.
fuck off basically
also rochdale fans singing 'is there a fire drill' at our fans leaving early
pretty stupid to say the least
keith hill SACKED by barnsley
hope he can find himself another club soonish
david perkins for manager!
He's a decent manager. Can't immediately see who's going to come in there and do a great deal better.
Guessing their planning on O'Driscoll though...
*they're
they need someone to come in and make an impact right away
o'driscoll's a good coach but he's more of a builder
steve cotterill would be a good shout for them
Totally agree on O'Driscoll being a builder but I still reckon it's who they'll go for.
Cotterill's a good shout and probably better in the circumstances but selfishly I hope they get O'Driscoll. Last thing I want is them going on a good run of form...
Stockport Sports won 2-0.
Just seen a few of the goals from today....
- Gareth Bale really is shameless, isn't he? Looks more and more like a future Man United player by the day. Five bookings for diving in half a season is bad.
- Stoke ain't been too bad to watch of late.
- Nasri's red card should really be rescinded. Wouldn't bet on it, though. Still, no point in bashing the officials too much, they're only human, like City's kamikaze defenders.
- Villol.
Hull put in the most complete performance I've seen in years against Leeds
Including chelsea, every other premier league team we've played
Hull. A Steve Bruce team.
we (leeds) were poor again today
cant seem to get the ball going from defence to midfield and onward
We're just looking like most teams away,
Pretty crappy with the occasional good result.
At least Elland rd is becoming a fortress for the first time in years. Fancy beating Bolton in a few days. Just wish we looked half as dangerous away as we did last season
No shame in losing to Hull today, we would've had to be at our very very vest to get even a point. Unlike forest or derby or other recent losses.
yeah I've heard they're playing beautifully
bruce is an odd one, every so often he'll get a team to do that, frinstance chelsea 3-0 at the bridge with sunderland
Also enjoying the current rvp chant
:')
the 'he nearly died' one?
think i heard both the man utd and west brom fans singing today. great bants.
jfc, mate.
you're taking needlesslydefensive to new levels.
sorry?
and you're taking your stalking to embarrassing depths.
Leave off him.
he only does it to reel in his first love
weird feeling after that Saints game
obviously annoyed to throw away that lead, but hopefully that open goal miss at 3-1 will mean Adkins' odd faith in Guly will end, and you can't help but be impressed by that Jerome goal- if you are going to concede a late equaliser it's better if it happens like that.
Also, Villa are horrible so confident we can stay up
Hell of a lot of empty seats at the Emirates.
They're getting a bit schooled by Newcastle, tbh.
Only one winner out of those two.
would never defend bale or anyone else for diving
But today's definitely wasn't. He's probably gonna find himself in a boy cries wolf situation
from now on
Behave yourself.
nah
There's one angle which clearly shows bales thigh moving about six inches to the left as he gets kneed.
Nah.
Fully aware of the (minimal) contact from the defender. Bale's fall was completely unnatural for the contact.
Scum.
Totally agree
if it was the first time he had been caught diving then possibly you could give have given the benefit of the doubt but it's getting silly now he's giving the Bale name a bad rep.
Just find it a bit weird how people constantly blame foreigners...
when the most frequent divers in English football are almost all British.
Course, diving has increased with the swell of foreign players into the English league, but that's not really the point.
Bale, Young, Gerrard, certain others - all shameless cheats.
Say this every week these days
Wolves can fuck off
Aww, I'll feel a little bit bad for Newcastle if they get done like this again.
Only a little, mind.
Somehow I felt bad for them at 4-3
but not now at 7-3 ...
defence is so bad without mertesacker
great game though
great day of football today
all these goals!
speak for your own club mate :')
theo :D
please sign you dick
Two days until he can talk to other clubs, right?
Or is that just foreign clubs?
dunno :(
i'm pretty much resigned to losing him to a rival english club, where he goes on to do really well whilst we end up paying worse players in a few years the kind of money he's asking for now cos of wage inflation.
he's been so good this season
He'll be going to United.
Of the three big English clubs, they're the one who will suit his style of play best, they're the ones with the manager who'll get the most out of him, they could offer him the most regular football, and they can match anyone for wages.
No brainer, imho.
genuinely think he wants to play centre-forward though
tbf who can blame him when he gets a hat-trick like that. 2 assists as well i think.
but yeah he wont play centre-forward at united
tbh, i think the 'wants to play forward' thing is just a convenient out for him.
Bottom line...
playing on the wing, for Man United, winning trophies, pocking £150k a week
v.
playing upfront, for Arsenal, winning nowt, on half that.
No contest, really.
He wouldn't play upfront for Chelsea or City either, let's be honest.
arsenal could do a swap deal involving ashley young if they're desperate to get a return
*Nani
he could go Manchester City and play up front
I could see Balotelli being shipped off back to Italy in January or in the summer which leave a centre-forward berth that needs filling.
If i was a young English player...
the last place i'd be going was Man City.
Besides, you'd hope Theo would have a bit more ambition than being City's fourth choice striker.
if he could perform like he did today on a consistent basis
he wouldn't be City's 4th choice striker though, for me if he reached the heights of today regularly then he would be a much better option than Tevez, all Tevez has over him at the moment is that he chases down the ball like a lunatic to much better effect than Walcott does.
yeah, if a player scored a hat-trick every week he'd be alright.
but let's not get too giddy.
well I didn't mean exactly that
I just meant if he could play at a level near the top of his game on a consistent basis then for me he would be a better option than Tevez and Dzeko for that matter.
A quarter of a good season and he's a good as Tevez?
firstly what i said was IF he played consistently at a high level then he's got to be seen as a better player than Tevez
and secondly is Tevez really that good? Sure he runs around a lot but for me since he's come back from his self-imposed exile he hasn't been consistently at the same level that he was at before.
Again your comment reads a bit like if he was good he'd be good.
Which is a nonsense. 7 goals and 5 assists this year despite being a long way from his best. So at pretty much his worst, without counting the bit where he was a cock and fucked off for months, he's still probably about as good as Theo. Also that's with him being played as a proper no 10 rather than the out and out striker he was in goal scoring pomp for us.
there's something really cute
about the way Arsenal fans begin awarding their players Best Player in the Universe award the moment they manage to string two decent performances together. This, by the way, is Theo Walcott, the inevitable butt of every Arsenal joke Walcott, Theo "can't cross to save his fucking life" Walcott, Theo Walcott who is quite clearly going to walk out on them the second he manages to scrape together an ounce of ability despite the management caving into his shrill demand to be allowed to be the main character. Theo Walcott.
Yeah, I'd assume anyone who hasn't resigned by now
has probably agreed a deal elsewhere. I expect Cole and Lampard have.
I used a colon there, ffs phone
Hyphen, even
Fuck off
don't say that
How many high-profile players get into the last six months of a contract
and then remain at the same club? My impression is that not many do, but it might be that I'm being swayed by the big names who've moved on.
i refuse to give up the tiny glimmer of hope i have
without hope we are nothing
Cole's signed for PSG, hasn't he?
Genunely wouldn't surprise me if Lampard tipped up at one of the Manchester clubs for a cheeky season or two.
Past it or not, invaluable experience, and a great pro.
Cole apparently has agreed to join PSG.
Gutted for us, regardless of what people say or think it'd cost a hell of a lot of money to replace him. Can't blame him if it's true though- why not earn a fuckload of money winning some new trophies while not being hounded by the press? Sounds pretty good to me.
I, perhaps naively, don't think Lampard would move elsewhere in England.
The PSG story that Cole has already signed was a hoax it seems
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/chelsea-transfer-news-paris-saint-germain-1454109
apparantly they want Evra instead as he can already speak French and Cole from what history has taught us is a bit of a twat who'll never grasp the French language and will struggle to integrate himself into the French way of life.
Huntelaar.
he signed a new deal never actually got to the final 6 months close but no cigar
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/dec/23/arsenal-huntelaar-schalke
My Arsenal mates seem to reckon he's going to Liverpool.
He supports them apparently, and I suppose it'd make sense from Liverpool's point of view as even with Sturridge they could probably still do with beefing up the attack further.
It would make a sense in a way I guess
but why would he leave a team that qualifies for the Champions League knock out stages year after year after year to sign for a team that struggles to qualify for the Europa League?
Quite.
But then, despite what's been said above, I don't really see that the two Manchester clubs or Chelsea particularly need him, so if he does decide to leave Arsenal, I guess his options might be limited.
I'd love him
Just can't see him being even slightly interested in us based on how poor we are currently and how little we could pay him compared with either Manc club or Chelsea. It would definitely make for a sexy set of attacking options for us if it happened.
In terms of defending, the Premier League is easily the poorest major league in the world.
In terms of entertainment for the neutral, by far the best.
couple of misses aside, Walcott is looking like a proper striker, huh
some lovely finishing from the lad.
!
that last goal could not have been more like Messi.
(i cannot believe i'm saying this)
is actual thierry henry still gonna come back?
i hope he does. last year was fun
Sunderland after Tim Cahill
Nasri needs to improve his headbutting skills
How come Joe Hart's not that good any more?
It seems now every week he makes a big error leading to a goal, he's lucky he has little to no competition at either club or international level or else he wouldn't be playing regular at either level.
It's not a bad point.
He's not having a good season. Might do him good long-term, though.
Not going to encourage you any more than that 'ryan' (Yaya).
poor centre halves, always struggled behind a porous defence.
Hmmm.
Nastasic has been their best player this season.
Kompany's the current Premier League Player of the Year.
Probably not that, tbh.
Villa fans leaving at 57 minutes!
a fine club, a proud tradition of proper support
Nah
They just fancied another balti pie
when Man City attack at their best, no-one in England, arguably Europe bar Barca, is anywhere near them.
when they defend at their worst, might as well be Reading.
if Cameron Jerome did that every week...
he'd be better than Messi.
Aye, it was an absolutely lovely strike.
0 days since a Stoke striker thumped it hopefully in the general direction of the net and landed on the 1 in the 1000
peter crouch was the best thing about that goal
I still reckon the main reason he's been at Arsenal so long
Is because his name sounds a bit like Arsenal
Nice to see Gareth Bale being defended on Match of the Day.
The defender clearly had his arm across him, so it wasn't a dive.
he still goes down very easily
his foot's already on it's way down
Perhaps.
But given his pace it probably doesn't take much to upset him (as you'll recall from the Wales v Scotland game earlier in the year, no doubt ;-))
DON'T.
;-D
I forgot you were Welsh.
bit late with this
but it was a very strange defence of him, they showed the Aguero clips where he was hit a lot harder by defenders but stayed on his feet yet still they both said Bale didn't dive, very strange defence for me as all the clips really showed was that Bale is a diver as if other players can withstand more contact yet stay on their feet why can't Bale?
You don't believe that.
If you do, you're obviously a bit thicker than i thought you were.
Seem to have had a bit of a sense of humour malfunction in this thread mate.
Go have a nice sleep, I'm sure you'll find it again once you log into Republik of Mancunia in the morning.
get off my nuts, boss.
i'm not going to sleep with you.
it wasn't the arm that caused him to fall over
it was the defender's contact with his knee.
dunno if he was already on the way down, but if you're sprinting and get knocked on your knee from the side, that'll finish you off.
It's a bit weird how people have pointed to there different non-fouls.
Seems Bale was tripped, kneed in the thigh, and barged off the ball.
Wonder he's still alive, really.
The kid's a cunt. Doesn't matter if plays fro Spurs, Woking, Man City or Real Madrid, he's a cheat, simple as that.
BOLLOCKS
QPR at home means I can't get into any of my locals for the 1.30 kick off. FUCK YOU, QPR AND LIVERPOOL.
I reckon two draws today.
Great, going to see us get a dicking on a hangover
woo fucking hoo
no chance of Everton/Chelsea being a draw, imho.
(though i did go for it on my doomed accy).
gonna go one way or the other, no question.
...
http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/social/4422555#r7238344
you monster! :D
Ba to Chelsea then.
If he costs 7.5 and Sturridge goes for 8+, that's pretty good business I reckon.
Chelsea are gonna win this.
that eerie hush
when he calls one
he has all angles covered to be fair
http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/social/4422555#r7239091
http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/social/4422555#r7238344
this was covered about three posts up by someone else.
we know you like the sound of your own voice, but jfc.
i backed the draw. thought a classic bit of anti-bants would swing it for me, but it let me down for once.
yeah JFC maaaaaan
:'D
Everton unlucky...
...not to get at least a point. we played well. Chelsea had their tactics down tho. credit to them.
Clint Hill vs Suarez.......................................
i'm listening to stars of the lid and watching qpr v liverpool
its quite wonderfully dramatic
When will QPR be relegated do you think?
March? February? Also, when was the last time a team spent this much money and performed this abysmally? Even Newcastle finished 18th that one time.
they won't go down.
bookmarked.
classic bit of anti-bants
you alright, mate?
you've been losing the plot a bit this weekend.
self-this :D
brilliant touch
Don't count the money yet
'Arry's got a transfer window to chuck cash through
We only spent £14m on transfer fees
It's wages where we really spunk our dosh
Absolutely delighted with that result.
Everton can consider themselves really quite unlucky to not have taken all 3 points, never mind salvaged a draw.
On this basis, we should beat QPR about 24-0 on Wednesday.
*24-1
A joyous, shirtless Cisse to run up and kiss the camera after 92nd minute consoler
Such a joyous moment.
I was reminded of it the other week when Torres, after an absolute shocker of a performance, turned and roared in delight after tapping in the 5th goal past a hapless Leeds defence.
Slightly galling that the likes of Phil McNulty will lick Benitez's balls tomorrow even though we'd have lost by 2 or 3 goals if not for Everton's misfortune/wastefulness, but I'll grab any kind of jammy win over Everton with Cisse-esque gusto.
Tell McNulty to get in the queue.
Don't get me wrong, not slating Benitez here.
More saying that Everton played really well and but for the odd mm every now and then, the result and subsequent editorial and blog pieces would have been very different even the performance itself would have been largely the same.
yeah, well we hit the underside of the bar and it bounced down onto the line yesterday
would have put us 2-0 up
but derby probably deserved a point; and regardless of 'deserved', they got one - once a goal/no goal has been established, it is up to a team to respond accordingly, which chelsea largely did
sure you can say that that wasn't the most secure win, but some of chelsea's attacking play was good and apart from the woodwork strikes and a great save from cech, everton looked short of ideas up front and enormously dependent upon baines for inspiration. that they competed so well speaks for their central solidity and a superb defensive performance, especially from distin, who seems newly invigorated
you seem unhappy. in fact you always seem unhappy, even though your team is an FA Cup-holding, CL-holding behemoth which occasionally busts out an 8-0 like it ain't no thing. do you feel guilty on behalf of all chelsea fans? does your conscience compel you to disdain abramovich-era achievements? clearly there's a dual impulse, which colours your reading of individual matches even as it feeds from the bigger picture. the individual match is a case of my village versus your village, tactical battles, personal glory and incident. let the guilt go! your village would still be doing reasonably well without its benefactor, and its media profile would still be high enough to produce a daily stream of comment and opinion for you to carp at and scorn
^^^in a nutshell, why i've been a bit of a dick to you of late - you tend to turn chelsea into an anguished melodrama when they're actually a reasonably entertaining carnival
...
Just said Everton played well, mate.
Man, there's no joy to be had seeing last season / championship old-guard
QPR lose, in the same way it's never really funny to see reading or other championship-quality clubs fail in the league. At least cesar is playing
Bring back bosingwa and park etc
I'm alright with it
As joyless a win as that should have been I for one really enjoyed it
Was nice to take revenge against QPR for the 3-2 last year and Redknapp for the 2-1 in his first game in charge of Spurs (a result about which I've been bitter for ages). Also enjoying the antics of this Stewart Downing impersonator we've got on the left these days too.
We were great in the first half.
Just worries me that once people suss us out, we look totally toothless.
They marked Suarez out of the game in the 2nd half. Shame too that Enrique looks broken again, just as he's returning to form.
Sturridge & Ince can't come soon enough - take a bit of the pressure off Sterling's shoulders.
Enrique will be a loss.
Thought he had a really good game against Stoke - very committed performance.
Just *praying* it doesn't mean we put Agger there.
We can't afford a Carragher 1st team return, nor can we rely on Coates to have a run there - he needs a loan I think.
It's a shame Jack Robinson seems to have regressed so much for the reserves cos he was itching to get a game at one point. I don't like Downing there either, so it's a bit of a problem position.
We'll probably put Johnson there and Wisdom at RB
Or Kelly if he's still alive.
I like his new hair-do.
Thought Liverpool were playing Walter White at LB first time I saw it.
Breaking news for north-west-based sports fans!
Alistair Mann (the commentator from Team of the Week and MOTD) is presenting the LFCTV phone-in. It's weird because he's referring to the club as 'they' instead of 'us' and he's clearly not a fan. But this is huge news - Alistair is tearing up the rule book here.
http://imgur.com/fk2hC
What was your stake, mate?
5p - bants
£20 - anti-anti-anti-bants.
50p
That was geniunely upsetting to endure
I've never left a QPR game early but the only thing that stopped me leaving in the 35th minute was choosing to have a nap in my seat.
Dunno what 'Arry is talking about we'll stay up. We are done. Down by much. The only thing we should be doing in Jan is trying to flog everyone. And oh yeah, 3-0 down, let's go 4-6-0. Nice one you twitchy cunt.
Only high point - singing *You're nothing special, we lose every week*
And it wasn't so much the result - I expected a beating
But the performance really was something
last one
Mbia's diving was a disgrace. Over and over and over. Started doing it against West Brom and seems to be getting worse.
I'd be properly chuffed if Chelsea signed Ba.
If the reported clauses and wage demands have any truth to them, he seems like an absolute no-brainer for about 3 or 4 PL teams.
If my football manager game is anything to go by (and I'm pretty certain it is)
then everyone should be snapping him up at 7.5m
Redknapp's voice breaking as he says "There's no reason we can't stay up":
Borderline inspirational, according to Murray.
You do have to wonder what pictures of which media representatives with whose pets that man has got stowed away.