Official 2012/13 Premier League thread

[Gazz]

The correct answer is Lee Cattermole, no one likes Lee Cattermole, not even his mom.

[MJB]

I don't like John Terry, Ashley Cole, Lee Cattermole and a lot of other players but Luis Suarez is certainly the worst of the lot.

Odious little cretin.

[EddieG]

He gets on my nerves, but wouldn't say I hate him.

[MJB]

A link to several different angles of Bale's O.G.

http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/gifs-all-the-angles-on-gareth-bales-epic-own-goal-for-liverpool/

[Colly]

Terrys got longevity, but Suarez wins it for me for sheer impactful loathability. The handball at the World Cup I accepted as taking one for the team, but everything from the bite in Holland onwards. Ugh.

[Summers]

I don't like John Terry, Ashley Cole, Lee Cattermole and a lot of other players but Luis Suarez is certainly the worst of the lot.

Odious little cretin.

This.

[Lineker]

Got to the ground slightly late and missed KO, so didn't know the line-ups. Genuinely did not realise that Gerrard was playng for half an hour.

We were, generally, good. Hugo had a good game and Walker followed up a good perfomance on the weekend with a decent outing. Vertonghen was superb as ever and Dawson did well. Gallas was beyond atrocious. He needs to not be playing football anymore. Dembele is so, so good. Brilliant signing. Sandro was solid as ever; Lennon and Bale played their parts but Dempsey did not play well. He just couldn't get involved and cocked up a couple of chances for Defoe, who played well himself.

Liverpool came back well in the second half and a draw would have been a fair result but I'm not going to complain. Now hopefully we can continue this run going against Panathanaikos on Thursday.

On the subject of PL cunts: Joey Barton, Dave Whelan.

[Lineker]

Oh, and tonight's own goal has nothing on Chris Brass' sterling effort a few years back:

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Dembele is so calm and smooth when on the ball. A few times Suarez chased him back and Dembele would just pause, turn him, roll the ball past the outstretched leg and just carry on. He's like silk when he's on form....which seems to be most of the time.

Bale has been great this season and has so much confidence, Vertonghen has just been immense all the time and Defoe's been on great scoring form, but for me Aaron Lennon has been our player of the season so far. You can see it in the way he walks. When he starts strutting around like a little gangster, you can see his confidence is sky high. He's going up for headers, tackling back, taking players on, getting the ball into the box better than he's ever done before....He's at the very top of his form. Lennon and Bale have been so epic pushing forwards this season.

In fact, Tottenham at their best last night were just stunning to watch. We're good at keeping the ball and passing it around, but on the break I just get tingly.

Dempsey's getting better but he's still a step behind. I doubt Gallas would have played if Caulker had been available and I think Kaboul's return will mean that Gallas won't be getting any more game time at all. Dawson's grasped his chance with both hands since returning.

As for Liverpool, it certainly seems like Gerrard's powers are waning. As a couple of pundits have stated, all those years of single-handedly carrying Liverpool to overachieve have finally started to break him. Still, I really rate Enrique and Suarez (as much as I hate him), has a lot of energy up front. Stirling needs to grow both physically and mentally. For most of the game Vertonghen and Dawson were just swatting him away or knew how to draw silly fouls from him.

[Baddar]

It's good to see Lennon doing so well. He's been criticised in the past for not having a final ball, but I've always been excited watching him play.

[Pesci]

To be fair Gerrard hasn't been at his best for far longer than a season. It's just like pundits to catch up on something years later though.

People's hatred of Suarez makes me love him more for some reason. Especially when he's been the best player in the league this season. He's ours and no-one else's

[Colly]

You can keep him.

[Pesci]

Fucking hope so

[Hobo]

Gerrard's powers are waning

It's hard to tell, maybe they are... but he's not playing in the usual Gerrard role anymore. He is deeper, and has to actually do the job of midfielder. Which he's never been good at.

He barely did under Dalglish either, mostly cause he was injured then though. The only time I recall him doing the kind of stuff he did under Rafa was at Norwich last season hen he was played just off Suarez.

Our midfield over all has not been great for a bit. Maybe with Lucas coming back it might shift the midfield about. Allen has looked a bit tired, Gerrard has been meh. Sahin hasn't been great. Henderson has only just got his chance again, I didn't see yesterday but generally he's done well in the centre. Shelvey has been pretty good, if a bit inconsistent.

[therockbox]

The problem is we don't have a defensive midfielder other than Lucas. Cover for him should have been a priority in the summer, instead we spent £15m on Allen who wasn't really necessary, and £11m on Borini who looked lost before he got injured.

We were incredibly dumb in the transfer window, again. £26m on players that didn't address any of the gaping holes elsewhere in the squad.

[Hobo]

A lot is made of Liverpool need a striker, which is true we do need another striker. We also need cover for Lucas, a left back and a goalkeeper, maybe. Considering the whole Doni thing.

[Lineker]

Doni was listed on the back of the programme last night. What's going on with him?

[DavidMarrio]

Personal problems, he has been in Brazil pretty much all season.

[hugobomb]

I love the fact that after Bale goes down his team mate is all 'The fuck Gareth?!' as if Bale is in any state to respond

[Lineker]

Southampton mascot is awesome.