Official Premiership 2008/09 thread

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

To Hammy,

I have officially forbidden [you] from being a Spurs fan.

Signed,

Ringy

END COMMUNICATION

Come on your Spurs

[Thrilla]

Does Arsene Wenger ever do anything but bitch and moan about how "unfair" everything is for his team?

[alldaws1]

I was thinking that when I read the BBC article earlier. Every team has reason to complain at referees once in a while but he never seems to identify there being anything wrong with his team, it's always a big conspiracy against them. Well, except for the Delap throw-in massacre the other day, at least he said his defenders weren't tall/strong enough to deal with them.

[9 to 5]

It's only just november yet he is crying his players are knackered. News flash, successful teams play more games and you would think with a youthful side they would have more energy. >_>

[Liam]

I was thinking that when I read the BBC article earlier.

And I make three.

He has been the headline on the BBC website and text for the best part of three days, with various whinging and moaning about fouls and the way teams play against them. Does my head in.

[therockbox]

I thought he had a point about some of the tackles Stoke made. There is a way to be 'physical' without resorting to lunging into two footed tackles and looking to injure players, but some of the Stoke tackles were cowardly. Like Shawcross' on Adebayor, there was only one player that was going to come out of that challenge badly and it wasn't the Stoke player.

Same with Delap. Walcott was away from him and whilst I doubt he meant to seriously injure him he went into the tackle with his only intention being to foul Walcott and stop Arsenal attacking.

That said, Arsene doesn't help himself by bleating on about physical sides every time his team get beaten and it's his fault he hasn't looked to try and counter other teams' approach by replacing the likes of Viera, Keown or Adams that could deal with that and allow the more gifted players to flourish.

He's done well to divert attention away from another woeful Arsenal performance though, I'll give him that.

[Liam]

I thought he had a point about some of the tackles Stoke made. There is a way to be 'physical' without resorting to lunging into two footed tackles and looking to injure players, but some of the Stoke tackles were cowardly. Like Shawcross' on Adebayor, there was only one player that was going to come out of that challenge badly and it wasn't the Stoke player.

Same with Delap. Walcott was away from him and whilst I doubt he meant to seriously injure him he went into the tackle with his only intention being to foul Walcott and stop Arsenal attacking.

Challenges like Delaps one happen all the time, and to a lesser extent, Shawcross. It just so happens the Arsenal players got injured. I'm not defending the challenges themselves, but its something we see in the game, it happens to other teams, but Arsene is always gonna be the one bleating on about it constantly.

[therockbox]

Doesn't make it acceptable in any way though, especially the Shawcross one. He tackled him from behind, on the ankle once the ball had gone out of play - and the problem is because tackles like that are generally being allowed because they're seen as physical and not dirty, when the FA or FIFA do have one of their monthly crackdowns every tackle that should be allowed (like Gerrard on Boswinga) is deemed to be a foul.

[Baddar]

Those lucky Welsh bastards!

What's that coming over the hill...

...and all that.

[Pesci]

I love Wenger. Everybody knows that he whines about anything and everything, and never admits any wrongdoing on his team's part. It's what makes him awesome. Same with Ferguson being a complete tosser - he's good fun. If every manager was a stand-up bloke, there'd be no good "banter" (I swear that word died for a few years and then came back as the go-to term for everything) and press conferences would just be dull. I'm up for Joe Kinnear managing every team, personally.

[Farmer Reil]

To be fair, Wenger has a point. Or at least, he did in the original anti-Stoke rant (what is it with Arsenal and Stoke? ¬_¬). When your team has the best disciplinary record in the Premiership, and you suffer injuries due to two pretty awful tackles (yeah, yeah, there have been worse. But Hiroshima doesn't make a nail bomb acceptable), you're entitled to have a bit of a moan.

But Wenger is never content with 'a bit of a moan', is he?

And Tony Pulis is a knob anyway. When you're offered a job, and you accept it, you don't generally fuck off back to your old team within weeks, and then take them into the Premiership. Pfft.

Edited November 6, 2008 by Farmer Reil

[R.W.]

This is the same Arsene Wenger who justified his players attempting to cripple Nani last year in the FA Cup with something along the lines of "he deserved it for showing off" right?

[Anderson]

Delap's tackle on Walcott wasn't good, but it certainly wasn't a bad tackle. Walcott hurt himself when he landed, but Wenger might have a point about the tackle on Adebayor (?)

[Liam]

Hell, the man tried to justify the sending off of Van Persie against Stoke, a challenge which was flagrantly violent conduct and was as obvious a red as you'd get without running up and punching the keeper.

[therockbox]

I'm not saying he's not a massive fucking hypocrite, but he was right when he said some of the Stoke tackles were cowardly. It's just a shame it was him saying it.

[Crybaby Bunting]

If Arsenal don't get into the Champions League next season does anyone think that Wenger could go? He's always been seen as the guy who's revolutionised the youth system at Arsenal getting players for pennies yet doesn't really seem to know what he's doing half the time. Plus if you go about only buying players cheaply when they're young you don't get much flack for them considering by the time they're old enough to play well or fail most Arsenal fans have forgotten about them and are jizzing their pants at the new sensation they picked up from the Lyon academy.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Gutted United lost, but fuck that was a fantastic game, easily one of the best this season. I know Rooney wasn't on great form today, but why not take off Berbatov instead? It just seems like Ferguson is worried to do so, despite him doing nothing throughout the entire game today. Oh and Rafael is one for the future, fantastic player.

[nabeel]

Well, that was nice.

[Matt]

2 great goals from Nasri, the right scoreline in the end IMO. I like how if it had been a draw, Arsenal's season would have been over, despite Man Utd being just 1 point in front of them and having not beaten any of the other 3 in the "big four".

[Grounded Wingman]

Anyone else notice that Andy Gray was still criticizing how Arsenal were playing when they were 2-0 up?