Official 2012/13 Premier League thread

[Dingle]

Really surprised how things have been turning out for AVB. The guy did an amazing job with Porto, I really thought he would be doing great in England.

Seems like he got lucky with Porto in many ways. I like the guy and won't write him off yet, because I like Redknapp and even he had an awful patch of a season. Many do. However, his decisions tonight were baffling and I hope he starts to realise that he can't just force his system, it needs to work for the players. Some complaints were levy'd () on the BBC website from some spurs fan saying:

We should have paid anything to get Moutinho. Without a creative central player supporting the play Bale, Lennon, Adebayor, Defoe, Gylfi, Dembele are all useless.

Which is what I find issue with. Bale, Gylfi and Dembele are all creative players and whilst not central, United and City both play without overly creative CM's (I'd argue that Yaya is a CAM nowadays when at his most threatening), so it's hardly a death sentence. AVB just needs to pick teams to pick on other teams' weaknesses. Against Norwich you don't need two holding players, push one further up and play Lennon and Bale wider and you'll make Norwich work very hard to recover possession. Lack of width at times, slow and static build-up play and crosses to a striker like Defoe was a problem for sure, but it became a problem because AVB selected that line-up and that formation.

[brenchill]

Really surprised how things have been turning out for AVB. The guy did an amazing job with Porto, I really thought he would be doing great in England.

What did he do that was amazing? I would have thought winning the title would have almost been a certainty with the squad he inherited. I know he won the Europa Cup but still... he won it with Porto. They have always been a strong side in Europe.

Winning the Champions League with Porto would have been amazing and worthy of high praise.

[Lineker]

The reason that the Moutinho deal couldn't go through was due to an issue with third party ownership.

[Hobo]

Really surprised how things have been turning out for AVB. The guy did an amazing job with Porto, I really thought he would be doing great in England.

What did he do that was amazing? I would have thought winning the title would have almost been a certainty with the squad he inherited. I know he won the Europa Cup but still... he won it with Porto. They have always been a strong side in Europe.

Winning the Champions League with Porto would have been amazing and worthy of high praise.

They went a season unbeaten too, I think?

[Dingle]

If Lineker is back soon, he can do the fancy line-ups, but this has just been announced.

City: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov; Rodwell, Nasri, Silva, Toure; Dzeko, Tevez.

Subs: Pantilimon; Clichy, Kolo, Milner, Sinclair, Abdul Razak, Balotelli

So Sinclair is the only TWDD signee to appear, and Silva, Rodwell, Lescott and Dzeko return to the starting line-up after being left out for the Liverpool game.

I don't always enjoy Nasri and Silva playing together, but I think that'll change when Javi Martinez starts and allows Yaya to start further forward and he'll drop/rotate Silva and Nasri. Oh, and here's the QPR line-up.

QPR: Green; Bosingwa, Ferdinand, Nelsen, Da Silva; Wright-Phillips, Granero, Park, Faurlin; Zamora, Johnson.

Subs: Murphy, Derry, Cisse, Mackie, Onuoha, Dyer, Hoilett.

[Dingle]

The reason that the Moutinho deal couldn't go through was due to an issue with third party ownership.

It's an absolute shame, I'd have loved him at Spurs (or anywhere in the premier league), but it's always easy for people to say "just pay a bit more" when they don't have a clue about what the actual contractual issues are.

[GoN_]

Really surprised how things have been turning out for AVB. The guy did an amazing job with Porto, I really thought he would be doing great in England.

What did he do that was amazing? I would have thought winning the title would have almost been a certainty with the squad he inherited. I know he won the Europa Cup but still... he won it with Porto. They have always been a strong side in Europe.

Winning the Champions League with Porto would have been amazing and worthy of high praise.

They had just finished third in the league with pretty much the same team. He won the league with no defeat, beat the reigning champions 5-0, ended with a 21 point margin to the second place and 36 points to the third. This was the same year we had three portuguease teams at the Europa League semis. Oh and did I mention that not even Mourinho got to win the league unbeaten? All of this playing a greatly organized football, scoring loads of goals and conceding few. He wasn't lucky, he did great. And again, I'm a Benfica fan, so it was a nightmare season.

[Dingle]

YAYAAAAAAA~! Poor defending from the corners by QPR all game.

[Cheeky Hughes]

We should have had two or three before half time. QPR have made it all too easy for us, but I really doubt the second half will be the same.

[Dingle]

Unlucky for Zabaleta there, very good overlap from him to burst into the box. City need to capitalise though.

[Dingle]

Oh no, Zamora pulls it level! Time to bring on a sub for Nasri and push Yaya forward >_>.

[IAceI]

Just checking in to shout: STEVEN FLETCHER!!! Welcome to Sunderland

[Cheeky Hughes]

Zamora scores a header from a yard out, following a nice save from Hart off a Johnson shot.

Two minutes later, Edin Dzeko puts us back in front. Game just got spicy.

[Dingle]

DZEKOOOOO~! Didn't think he'd get anything from today before being taken off. Now to kick into gear and get a few more now.

[Dingle]

Tevez! 3-1. That's exactly what Dzeko needs, someone to put his wild shots into the back of the net >_>!

[King Ellis]

Yaya Toure, noted Kieron Dyer fan. He was right in there wanting to swap shirts.

[Cheeky Hughes]

Knowing Dyer's track record, swapping shirts with him is a rarity.

[Jimmy]

phenomenal save at the death there

[Chief87]

Just checking in to shout: STEVEN FLETCHER!!! Welcome to Sunderland

Will be the first of many for him imo, much better player that people make him out to be, we should be quite solid to play against once we get everyone fully fit

[stokeriño]

However, his decisions tonight were baffling and I hope he starts to realise that he can't just force his system, it needs to work for the players.

That sound you hear is Chelsea fans laughing.