Official 2012/13 Premier League thread

[Summers]

Darren Bent needs to remember how to score some goals.

[Szumi]

The plan, of course, is that the midfield won't give away the ball so cheaply, allowing the other team to coutner on the wings. Johnson and Enrique can go forward, but the team is fucked when you have people trying to force passes that have no business being made, or if Suarez decides to have the first touch of a rapist like he did today. Today was perhaps the worst game Suarez had in a Liverpool jersey. His first 10-15 minutes were good, but he was terrible afterwards.

Unless Rodgers can get the side going here soon, I see it being a very bad year for Liverpool because Rodgers will either get sacked and you're again starting all over, or a lot of players will say fuck it and give up. Borini needs to settle and actually play well; Gerrard needs to realize his ability and try to dial it back a notch; Reina needs to get back in form; Suarez needs to actually finish; the back line needs to be more consistent. Problems, problems, problems at Liverpool.

[Sam]

Ben Arfa's strike was beautiful.

[Summers]

GOOOOSE!

[Dingle]

Allen certainly isn't going to be grabbing plenty of assists or many goals, but he's certainly not bad going forward. He did it well at Swansea when you had Britton holding and Allen moving a bit further forward to bring in the wingers and Sigurdsson. Gerrard playing more advanced would help, hopefully, minimise his ability to give the ball away during the build up play. He goes for glory too many times with fancy balls across the pitch, and playing him just behind Suarez would hopefully prevent that.

[GoN_]

Siggurdson did really well for Swansea last season.

Like I said, I don't know him that well, but I do know that his Porto squad was based on ball possession and some really fluid attack transitions so quality passing was really needed.

[Crybaby Bunting]

So wait a minute, AVB does awesome in Portugal by joining a team and not making many changes (instead making the most of the team he knows and understands) but he needed to destroy the core of Chelsea in order to accommodate Modric? Isn't that the entire opposite of his ideology?

Pretty much spot on. What he did in Porto was take a team that did badly in the season before, create a strategy that fitted not only his style but also the players he had (well I forgot that he got an important signing in Moutinho that played his best football that season and was simply amazing in AVB's system). I think that when he got to Chelsea he defined a different objective. He had an aging team that "really needed some new blood" but he tried to do too much too soon. Right now, the fact that he missed Moutinho's signing might screw up his plans, afterall he lost Vaart and Modric his best playmakers. I don't know Sigurosson besides him being a really good and cheap player in Football Manager, but I doubt he will fill that role like AVB needs.

Just wondering, what was he in relation to Porto before he became manager? Was he their assistant manager or some coach or something? Because it looks a lot like he lived and breathed Porto in the same way Guardiola breathed Barcelona so allowed him to work out how to play the team to its strengths long before he was in control of the team.

Which doesn't actually prove that he knows how to deal with transfers or manage a club that he hasn't researched for years beforehand It can explain his baffling signings, a desire to bring in players he's comfortable with and his inability to work out how to play each team in the league.

edit: scrap this, I googled it and discovered that the guardiola link doesn't work at all

[Thrilla]

Second in the EWB FF league after this weekends games, don't have any players involved tomorrow though so don't think it'll last!

Top of the league. Having a laugh.

[Colly]

Top of the Sun one, happy with that.

[Matticus]

Glad Southampton lost, as a Reading fan, need the smaller teams around us losing, even if it doesn't mean that much this early on.

Edited September 3, 2012 by Matticus

[GoN_]

So wait a minute, AVB does awesome in Portugal by joining a team and not making many changes (instead making the most of the team he knows and understands) but he needed to destroy the core of Chelsea in order to accommodate Modric? Isn't that the entire opposite of his ideology?

Pretty much spot on. What he did in Porto was take a team that did badly in the season before, create a strategy that fitted not only his style but also the players he had (well I forgot that he got an important signing in Moutinho that played his best football that season and was simply amazing in AVB's system). I think that when he got to Chelsea he defined a different objective. He had an aging team that "really needed some new blood" but he tried to do too much too soon. Right now, the fact that he missed Moutinho's signing might screw up his plans, afterall he lost Vaart and Modric his best playmakers. I don't know Sigurosson besides him being a really good and cheap player in Football Manager, but I doubt he will fill that role like AVB needs.

Just wondering, what was he in relation to Porto before he became manager? Was he their assistant manager or some coach or something? Because it looks a lot like he lived and breathed Porto in the same way Guardiola breathed Barcelona so allowed him to work out how to play the team to its strengths long before he was in control of the team.

Which doesn't actually prove that he knows how to deal with transfers or manage a club that he hasn't researched for years beforehand It can explain his baffling signings, a desire to bring in players he's comfortable with and his inability to work out how to play each team in the league.

edit: scrap this, I googled it and discovered that the guardiola link doesn't work at all

He was a Porto fan since forever. He started his link to football thanks to Bobby Robson who was then Porto's manager. He became assistant manager with Mourinho in... Porto. He started his career in Academica that has been a "friend club" to Porto for the last few years. So yeah the guy has been linked to Porto in some form for most of his career.

But before we jump into conclusions about he "only being good with Porto" let me tell you that the guy had already impressed me with Academica, his first team as manager. That team was awful, seemed condemned to relegation. They played a really good football for the rest of the season with him in charge. Again, nicely organized and offensive, something quite unusual to see here with smaller teams.

Well, maybe his style is not suited for english football. Which I find odd since he was three years with Mourinho in Chelsea.

[Steeb]

Top of the Sun one, happy with that.

I'ma coming for you!

Very happy with 2nd at the minute though TBF.

[Baddar]

A crazy end to the game yesterday. I put it down to Baddarina's insistence on wearing a United shirt for the last 10 minutes at 2-1 down. Well done to her!

[Colly]

Already posted in the transfer window thread (oops), Pardews got a two match ban for pushing the linesman.

[Lineker]

A Manchester City footballer arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving has been released on police bail.

Kulwant Singh, 32, of Salford, and his sister Ravel-Kaur Singh, 37, of Cheetham Hill, died in the crash between a Mercedes and a Nissan Micra on Bury New Road on Saturday night.

Ms Singh's two teenage sons were seriously injured.

Courtney Meppen-Walter, 18, was driving the Mercedes.

A 19-year-old man driving a Volkswagen Golf was also arrested at the scene after the collision, which happened at about 22:15 BST, on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and has been bailed.

Police said Ms Singh's two sons were passengers in the back of the Micra.

The 16-year-old boy has a head injury which is not believed to be life-threatening.

The 17-year-old boy also sustained a serious head injury and he remains in a critical condition. Both remain in Salford Royal Hospital.

Meppen-Walter joined City in July 2010 and has yet to play for the Premier League champions.

The youth team player has been a regular in the England under-17 side.

...plum.

Great name though.

[Gazz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqAy_U_px8o&feature=player_embedded

I'll just leave that here...

[Lineker]

[Gazz]

She's young, blonde, German, batshit crazy and obsessed with Newcastle.

She's my dream woman...

[DavidMarrio]

"Hey i've never met you and this is crazy but u re such a great man(ager) so marry me maybe"

[Colly]

Saw it earlier, mental. I'm sure she popped up on a Newcastle forum I occasionally view, convinced its just some fat bloke massively trolling as many places as possible.