The Barclays Premier League Thread 2013/14

[Jimmy]

Just seen the Torres goal.

hahahaha, oh wow.

[Matt]

Everyone seems to be blaming Hart and I'm not saying he's not at fault whatsoever but apparently Nastaaic was shouting at him to come out.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Next week it's Liverpool vs Arsenal. That's excellent news for us and Chelsea....although we're travelling to Everton which is going to be tough. Although I think we perform better against teams like Everton, Southampton, Aston Villa etc as there's more space behind their defence. Townsend should definitely be put out onto the left. I know he likes to cut inside but when he did drop out onto the left in the second half he looked dangerous and he'll find it easier to take men on without running the ball out if he goes on the outside. He's got a better right foot than Bale so should still find cutting inside worthwhile. Lennon's a billion times better on the right than the left but I was pleased with his comeback and a couple of lovely balls.

Lamela should certainly be given more of a chance. He's been doing the simple things well, tracking back and working and just needs that extra bit of confidence, comfort and game time to find his feet. Soldado is probably the best penalty taker we've had in yeeeeeears (not that we ever found out who our penalty taker was last year) and pumps up the crowd like Van der Vaart used to when he scored one.

Defence is brilliant though (except Walker of course) and Chiriches is settling in well. Great marauding runs forward too. Looks composed on the ball.

[9 to 5]

Everyone seems to be blaming Hart and I'm not saying he's not at fault whatsoever but apparently Nastaaic was shouting at him to come out.

Yeah but one is English and we love to bash the English.

[Baddar]

I suppose it takes the focus off Cech somewhat, because he should have done better with the Aguero shot.

[Jimmy]

AVB has launched an attack on Tottenham's fans at WHL today, for their lack of support and negativity. Not his most sagacious move

From Gary Lineker's twitter. This is gonna be interesting. Can attest from the few games I've been to that Spurs fans at WHL are pretty negative when things aren't going our way and it is a bit silly. But yeah.

[METALMAN]

Lineker digging out the thesaurus there.

[Nerf]

Spurs fans in being the worst shocker.

[Jimmy]

You're just like a parody of yourself now.

[Kaney]

Ugh, seriously? :/

How can we argue about this? Both Spurs and Liverpools fans are the worst.

But especially Man U fans.

[Nerf]

You're just like a parody of yourself now.

That's kind of the point

[Matt]

Ugh, seriously? :/

How can we argue about this? Both Spurs and Liverpools fans are the worst.

But especially Man U fans.

Clearly we've been too well behaved in recent years

[Jimmy]

You're just like a parody of yourself now.

That's kind of the point

Oh. Then good job. Keep up the good work.

[stokeriño]

[jack95]

Ever since they signed him, I was convinced it was Yoann Gourcuff playing for Newcastle. The fact that instead it's someone called Yoan Gouffran baffles me.

[Cymbols]

Admittedly, until I just googled him, I thought it was Yoann Gourcuff who played for Newcastle...

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Tottenham fans ARE often the worst. I remember the 90s and the early 2000s when we'd be finishing 12th-16th in the league. Losing everything 3-2 and 4-3. Scoring goals left, right and centre but conceding more. Under 'Arry we'd be losing games like this one today. It's extremely frustrating when you're drawing against a team like Hull with 20 minutes to go, but the amount of possession we have these days, the way we recycle the ball, the way that the defenders find actual outlets rather than just punting away, the way we win the ball back and the way we pass is the best I've ever known for us. The final third has been a problem for a while now but I've got faith that the players we've got will gel into getting that sorted.

We're FOURTH. We're a point behind second and only three off the lead. We've had one of our best starts that I can remember if not THE best. This season we've won 12 out of 15 in all competitions. We've conceded five goals in 15 games which is frankly astonishing for me. We're beating what's put in front of us with only a loss away to Arsenal (hardly a shock, and we were the better team for much of it), a draw against Juan Mata and that shock result against West Ham (a lucky goal meant we were chasing and then got caught twice as we opened up).

It pisses me off. Yeah we've "spent money" but that money is covered and I bet our wage bill is probably the same as it was last season with the players that have been sold. This is our best chance in YEARS of having any chance of having a title challenge. We're grinding out wins where we used to draw or lose and the average age of our squad is about 17. AARON LENNON is one of the older players!

AVB is right to slag the fans off. They were awful today. The players played with patience against a defensively tough team who have done well this season so far. The mongs will probably start calling for AVB out which would be the worst thing I could think of. The guy's brilliant and I hope he's at Tottenham for years to come.

[Jimmy]

Hammy

[Matt]

, until I just googled him, I thought it was Yoann Gourcuff who played for Newcastle...

Ever since they signed him, I was convinced it was Yoann Gourcuff playing for Newcastle. The fact that instead it's someone called Yoan Gouffran baffles me.

Glad I'm not the only one that's an idiot

[Lineker]

Hammy got it spot on. Nobody excelled today but nobody was awful. We ground out a win, albeit by a fairly harsh penalty (not seen it on television yet mind you). Long way to go this season yet.

How Arsenal and Liverpool do in their next ten games, in tough fixtures, is what will be interesting.