Official 2012/13 Premier League thread

[Dynamite]

Just looking, Sunderlands next three games are Man United, Chelsea and then an away derby match against Newcastle. Can't see them getting many points from that. Plus they are only 4 points above Wigan (who have a game in hand) so it's pretty possible they'll be in the bottom three at the end of this little spell of games.

[MJB]

According to BBC Sport, they'd already be bottom and 9 points adrift of safety without Steven Fletcher's goals this season.

[brenchill]

According to BBC Sport, they'd already be bottom and 9 points adrift of safety without Steven Fletcher's goals this season.

Where would Man Utd be without Van Persie's goals? Or Spurs without Bale's?

I know they've been reliant on him, but that's a pretty dumb thing for BBC to report. It means nothing.

[Jimmy]

They should call Wickham back and give him a chance up top.

[Colly]

According to BBC Sport, they'd already be bottom and 9 points adrift of safety without Steven Fletcher's goals this season.

Where would Man Utd be without Van Persie's goals? Or Spurs without Bale's?

I know they've been reliant on him, but that's a pretty dumb thing for BBC to report. It means nothing.

In fairness the BBC didn't report it, they just quoted an Opta twitter feed on their Sportsday Live. It is a stupid stat though, its the stat that if Sunderland played with ten men for any game that Fletcher scored in they would struggle. You don't say.

[MJB]

Jimmy, Wickham is back, he came on against Norwich last time out.

[brenchill]

Wickham scored again the other night for the U-21s. Not sure what's happened with him at Sunderland, tbh.

[Nerf]

According to BBC Sport, they'd already be bottom and 9 points adrift of safety without Steven Fletcher's goals this season.

Where would Man Utd be without Van Persie's goals? Or Spurs without Bale's?

I know they've been reliant on him, but that's a pretty dumb thing for BBC to report. It means nothing.

This. They also seem to pretend that even if Fletcher wasn't there, they'd somehow be playing with ten men and wouldn't have another player in his role (or another) contributing.

[Gazz]

Sunderland usually play like they've only got nine players on the field anyway.

The other two are on the sidelines, having sex with their own sisters.

[Colly]

According to BBC Sport, they'd already be bottom and 9 points adrift of safety without Steven Fletcher's goals this season.

Where would Man Utd be without Van Persie's goals? Or Spurs without Bale's?

I know they've been reliant on him, but that's a pretty dumb thing for BBC to report. It means nothing.

In fairness the BBC didn't report it, they just quoted an Opta twitter feed on their Sportsday Live. It is a stupid stat though, its the stat that if Sunderland played with ten men for any game that Fletcher scored in they would struggle. You don't say.

According to BBC Sport, they'd already be bottom and 9 points adrift of safety without Steven Fletcher's goals this season.

Where would Man Utd be without Van Persie's goals? Or Spurs without Bale's?

I know they've been reliant on him, but that's a pretty dumb thing for BBC to report. It means nothing.

This. They also seem to pretend that even if Fletcher wasn't there, they'd somehow be playing with ten men and wouldn't have another player in his role (or another) contributing.

Hmm...

[Jimmy]

Wickham scored again the other night for the U-21s. Not sure what's happened with him at Sunderland, tbh.

They really fucked up with him. He was fantastic at Ipswich and was far and away the best player at 18. He seems to score plenty at England youth level but just can't seem to get a look in under O'Neill.

[Nerf]

According to BBC Sport, they'd already be bottom and 9 points adrift of safety without Steven Fletcher's goals this season.

Where would Man Utd be without Van Persie's goals? Or Spurs without Bale's?

I know they've been reliant on him, but that's a pretty dumb thing for BBC to report. It means nothing.

In fairness the BBC didn't report it, they just quoted an Opta twitter feed on their Sportsday Live. It is a stupid stat though, its the stat that if Sunderland played with ten men for any game that Fletcher scored in they would struggle. You don't say.

>

According to BBC Sport, they'd already be bottom and 9 points adrift of safety without Steven Fletcher's goals this season.

Where would Man Utd be without Van Persie's goals? Or Spurs without Bale's?

I know they've been reliant on him, but that's a pretty dumb thing for BBC to report. It means nothing.

This. They also seem to pretend that even if Fletcher wasn't there, they'd somehow be playing with ten men and wouldn't have another player in his role (or another) contributing.

Hmm...

I meant that as a blanket statement. For everybody that says "what would Spurs do without Bale?" or "what would Liverpool do without Suarez?" they never mention the fact that there would be somebody else playing that role, albeit probably not to the same level. And if take the best player out of every team, I dare say the table would look pretty much the same as it does now.

[Starvinho]

Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby out for up to nine months with cruciate ligament injury #SSN

That lad hasn't had the best of luck the past few seasons. Shame really because he's a quality player when fit. Edited March 28, 2013 by Starvinho

[brenchill]

That sucks. Did it happen in training?

[Starvinho]

Statement from Arsenal;

The Club can confirm that Abou Diaby injured his left knee in training on Wednesday and subsequent scans have confirmed that he has torn his anterior cruciate ligament.

Following consultations with specialists, Abou will undergo surgery to repair the injury in the near future. Abou is expected to be out for around eight to nine months.

The thoughts and best wishes from everyone at Arsenal are with Abou, and we all wish him a successful recovery.

[supergrass]

Ugh, it kind of feels like that could be the end for him, at least as a first teamer at Arsenal. He started the season really well and looked like exactly what we had been missing in midfield and a much better foil for Arteta as the deeper two. But he just can't stay fit. Realistically it's time to either bring someone in or look to give more playing time to Coquelin to see where he can go.

It's such a shame because as has been said he can be such a good player when fit - how comparable he is to someone like Yaya Toure is impossible to say considering he hasn't been able to put a proper run of games together in years, but there's always the promise that he could get near that level. He's remained one of my favourite Arsenal players over the last few years too, mostly for his love of dribbling directly into 4 or 5 oncoming players to see if he can then find a way out of it.

His plus point is Wenger has always been a staunch supporter and never waivered in that despite any of the setbacks. I'd really like him to one day get an injury free run like van Persie has over the last couple of years, but every season it becomes harder and harder to ever see it happening.

[FLiam]

So harsh, feel bad for the guy. By all accounts he was so confident at the start of the season as well. There are Arsenal fans already throwing out insults toward him, hardly his fault is it? He's put a ridiculous amount of work into getting fit again, after what's happened with him and Eduardo they ought to give Ramsey more credit for coming back from such a horrific injury as well.

People forget that Diaby has been on the receiving end of 3 terrible tackles all on the same ankle/leg over his Arsenal career. It feels like this will be the end though.

On the other hand, he could be fit by January. He'd be like a new signing.

[HailtotheYo]

I don't ever like seeing that happen to someone. Ever. It's terrible.

However, despite his hard work and his passion I'm not too heart broken that this likely spells the end of his run as a significant player for Arsenal. With flashes of brilliance spotted around he's also been terrible. He's a work-a-holic on the pitch and ultimately that is his undoing. He simply tries to do too much and the results aren't balanced enough to warrant it.

[Rafael]

There have been rumours about Milan trying to sign Man Utd's Nemanja Vidic, and Galatasaray willing to pay 12M for Gervinho.

[therockbox]

Galatasaray willing to pay 12M for Gervinho.