Official 2012/13 Premier League thread

[9 to 5]

This argument is pretty fucking stupid.

Yup.

[therockbox]

Guys, City's title win last year shouldn't count because United fucked up that one game.

He inherited the second best team in Europe (back to back champs league finals)

The fifth best team in Spain.

I'm sure that's what you said about Liverpool in 2005.

Well, at least we actually won the thing.

Are Bradford one of the best sides in the country because they reached a cup final, beating a number of Premier League clubs on the way?

Except Bradford haven't done that in consecutive seasons. You're being awfully silly if you really think that valencia side was anything other than one of the best sides in Europe. :/

Just like thinking being good in a knockout cup competition translates to being a good league team.

[Matt]

Guys, City's title win last year shouldn't count because United fucked up that one game.

He inherited the second best team in Europe (back to back champs league finals)

The fifth best team in Spain.

I'm sure that's what you said about Liverpool in 2005.

Well, at least we actually won the thing.

Are Bradford one of the best sides in the country because they reached a cup final, beating a number of Premier League clubs on the way?

Except Bradford haven't done that in consecutive seasons. You're being awfully silly if you really think that valencia side was anything other than one of the best sides in Europe. :/

Just like thinking being good in a knockout cup competition translates to being a good league team.

Actually in those seasons 12 out of their 17 CL games were in league format. They lost 3 out of 24.

[stokeriño]

So anyway, Sven to Chelsea?

Sorry, did a small temporal vortex shift this post from 2003 to 2013?

[GoN_]

So they weren't that good because the champions league is a knockout cup (which has just been show, was not entirely true), but then Benitez is great because he won the Champions League with Liverpool, while being bad in the League?

Really, your argument there is really really skewed... really.

[therockbox]

Fair enough, didn't realise it was the old format. Still, it's possible to be good in European competition and not domestic. Dismissing winning two league titles in three years is stupid, if they were 'the best team in Europe' why didn't they win the league before Benitez?

[Thrilla]

So anyway, Sven to Chelsea?

Sorry, did a small temporal vortex shift this post from 2003 to 2013?

Isn't Sven earning loads of money doing bugger all in Abu Dhabi at the minute?

[Matt]

Fair enough, didn't realise it was the old format. Still, it's possible to be good in European competition and not domestic. Dismissing winning two league titles in three years is stupid, if they were 'the best team in Europe' why didn't they win the league before Benitez?

Noone dismissed it, just pointed out that the circumstances were a little different/easier to what "he won la Liga with a team that wasn't barca or real" suggests.

[therockbox]

So they weren't that good because the champions league is a knockout cup (which has just been show, was not entirely true), but then Benitez is great because he won the Champions League with Liverpool, while being bad in the League?

Really, your argument there is really really skewed... really.

Not really. I wouldn't have said at the time Liverpool should have been winning the Premier League just because we won the CL. And I didn't say that Valencia 'weren't that good', just that dismissing two league titles in three years because they lost two Champions League finals in a row is a bit silly.

I wouldn't say he was bad in the league either, qualified for the CL in every year apart from the last one, and in his penultimate season got us closer to the league title than we'd been since last winning it. That was on top of getting us to the latter stages of the Champions League more often than not.

[GoN_]

Fair enough, didn't realise it was the old format. Still, it's possible to be good in European competition and not domestic. Dismissing winning two league titles in three years is stupid, if they were 'the best team in Europe' why didn't they win the league before Benitez?

Well their manager was Héctor Cúper... :lmao:

[therockbox]

Fair enough, didn't realise it was the old format. Still, it's possible to be good in European competition and not domestic. Dismissing winning two league titles in three years is stupid, if they were 'the best team in Europe' why didn't they win the league before Benitez?

Well their manager was Héctor Cúper... :lmao:

How dare you laugh at the man that turned Valencia into the best team in Europe.

[GoN_]

Goes to show how much of a good team the guy had.

[Nerf]

So they weren't that good because the champions league is a knockout cup (which has just been show, was not entirely true), but then Benitez is great because he won the Champions League with Liverpool, while being bad in the League?

Really, your argument there is really really skewed... really.

Not really. I wouldn't have said at the time Liverpool should have been winning the Premier League just because we won the CL. And I didn't say that Valencia 'weren't that good', just that dismissing two league titles in three years because they lost two Champions League finals in a row is a bit silly.

I wouldn't say he was bad in the league either, qualified for the CL in every year apart from the last one, and in his penultimate season got us closer to the league title than we'd been since last winning it. That was on top of getting us to the latter stages of the Champions League more often than not.

This. I don't know where this idea that Liverpool were poor in the league under Rafa comes from at all.

[Crybaby Bunting]

Can't we all just agree that Rafa Benitez was a good manager, but his past accomplishments don't really count for anything at this moment in time, considering he's been 'eh' since his last year at Liverpool.

Lucky is winning the league (or Champions League) once and then not achieving anything else, Benitez won the league twice and got a Champions League trophy so he can't just be lucky.

I'm more concerned about his mental state at this moment in time; he's billed as the stopgap manager who will please owners and offer stability but hasn't actually proved that he can still do that, instead he's shown that he'll easily buckle under pressure and do really stupid things (the FACTS! rant, the rant at Inter fans/board shortly after winning the Club World Championship and now this) if he's that easily triggered then he really needs to get out of high level management for his own health.

[Sam]

I say they should stick with him forever

[Gazz]

Rafa's shit, he hasn't won anywhere near as many trophies as I have.

[Lineker]

So the Premier League will have goal-line technology from next season, that is confirmed.

Man City's Courtney Meppen-Walter, who caused the death of two people in a car crash, has been jailed for 16 months.

[Ant]

So Giggs has signed a new one year deal for Man United.

I can see him being in contention for replacing Sir Alex when he retires.

[MJB]

No chance.

[Noah]

So Giggs has signed a new one year deal for Man United.