Board 8 > Football/Soccer Stats and Discussion - Part One (New Season!)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Still gonna pretend that the EPL is competetive?

Its Man U and that's it.

From: Revenus | #351
Still gonna pretend that the EPL is competetive?

Its Man U and that's it.

City/Chelsea can win.

--
"It is important that supporters and everyone at the club remembers that the cannon on the chest is more important than anybody."

Liverpool should not have a problem finishing 4th

I am happy Arsenal got trashed like this, maybe this will force them to do something..

--
....

I am happy Arsenal got trashed like this, maybe this will force them to do something..

Nothing should make you happy about losing 8-2 to Man Utd

--
"It is important that supporters and everyone at the club remembers that the cannon on the chest is more important than anybody."

Nice to see Arsene being honest for once and saying that humiliating wasn't too strong of a word.

--
http://www.last.fm/user/jck4332
http://myanimelist.net/profile/jck4332

No I am happy, losing 2-1 or something "respectable" like that would mean we get the same old story we are a young team with lots of promise etc etc

this is reality our current squad is too weak to compete in the PL or champions league and in dire need of improvement

--
....

A little perspective. It doesn't help much, but I'll take anything.

Arsenal: Seaman, Luzhny, Cole, Grimandi, Stepanovs, Pires, Vieira, Parlour, Silvinho, Wiltord, Henry. Subs: Ljungberg, Bergkamp, Manninger, Vivas, Kanu.

That's the team that lost to Man Utd 6-1 in 2001.

--
"It is important that supporters and everyone at the club remembers that the cannon on the chest is more important than anybody."

I'd 8-2 be an Arsenal fan today.

--
<_____________<

From: nintendogirl1 | #358
I'd 8-2 be an Arsenal fan today.

groooooan

--
"It is important that supporters and everyone at the club remembers that the cannon on the chest is more important than anybody."

Also I'm really, REALLY glad I didn't say anything about the sp*rs score before that.

--
"It is important that supporters and everyone at the club remembers that the cannon on the chest is more important than anybody."

Doesn't make Blackburn's 7-1 loss seem as bad now when England's supposedly fourth best team got beat worse.

--
http://www.last.fm/user/jck4332
http://myanimelist.net/profile/jck4332

Makes me wonder how we played out a 0-0 draw with them.

--
Looked impossible not to score today.

From: nintendogirl1 | #362
Makes me wonder how we played out a 0-0 draw with them.

we had Vermaelen and Sagna against you lot.

--
"It is important that supporters and everyone at the club remembers that the cannon on the chest is more important than anybody."

I fall alseep and wake up to see that.

Soooo, about that predix where I had Arsenal out of the top 4, looking real good right now.

--
Vote for this guy in every contest: Sess

di maria dives once every 5 minutes i hate that guy

I could actually go for Everton/Aston Villa/somebody else getting a surprise 4th this year. Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool all look equally inept in my eyes. Spurs at least have decent depth although no striker worth a damn will hurt them a lot, some of the young players at Arsenal and Liverpool getting gametime these days are laughably bad. Have to wonder whats going on in those youth academys, they were so good not so long ago.

--
Smurf, the cream of Sonic fanboyism

Wanted to come in and say lol Arsenal because I expected them to lose, but 8-2 is just terrible. I even feel sorry for them.

--
I do because I can.....and because I'm bored.

Yeah because having a bad game as a 19-year old against fricking Manchester United immediately means that you have no future in football whatsoever.

Liverpool have no depth? they are miles ahead of Everton and Aston Villa, maybe you should actually watch them play sometime

--
....

They've one striker (N'gog and Carroll are terrible), bar Downing no genuine width and a raft of medicore midfield players. Key players Gerrard/Carragher/Kuyt all jumped the shark about 2 years ago and theres no real obvious talent to replace them.

Its difficult seeing Liverpool being anything greater than above average although that may very well be enough for 4th looking at their competition though I see them now as being further away from the top teams now than they've been since the Houllier days.

Although my point stands looking at Liverpool, Everton and Villas bench from this weekends games.

Liverpool: Skrtel, Robinson, Maxi, Spearing, Shelvey, Carroll.

Skrtel is a quality player, Maxi was but now appears to be over the hill so far Kenny is desperate to offload him, Robinson, Spearing, Shelvey and Carroll are nothing players.

Aston Villa: Clark, Ireland, Albrighton, Makoun, Bannan, Delfouneso

Makoun is quality, Clark, Ireland, Bannan and Albrighton are among all premiership quality young players with proven experience.

Everton: Hibbert, Bilyaletdinov, Cahill, Beckford, Vellios, Baxter.

Two great players, an impact goalscorer specialist, a mediocre fullback and two fillers. They still win.

Although none are in an especially strong place at the moment, I can definitely get behind the argument of whoever sucks less between Arsenal/Liverpool/Spurs/Aston Villa/Everton will take 4th. Could see a huge gap between 3rd and 4th.

--
Smurf, the cream of Sonic fanboyism

lolsmurf

liverpool for 2nd

--
Warning_Crazy
i am not black turtle as i did not win the guru

GaryOak151 posted...
lolsmurf

liverpool for 2nd

Not after they sold footballing luminary Ryan Babel.


--
http://www.last.fm/user/jck4332
http://myanimelist.net/profile/jck4332

Just saw the Man U/Arsenal score....

OUCH!

--
NIO BUNNY - http://img.imgcake.com/nio/76ayvpngam.png

And thats a GREAT gif by the way.

--
NIO BUNNY - http://img.imgcake.com/nio/76ayvpngam.png

Smurf has been ridiculously anti-Liverpool for some time now. It's strange. I mean, I don't like them or anything but yeah. There's very little chance of Villa/Everton overtaking them.

--
"It is important that supporters and everyone at the club remembers that the cannon on the chest is more important than anybody."

I have a feeling Wenger will walk soon.

--
'How random would it be if we both had curly red hair?'
Ravens/Rovers/Murray/Hewitt/England Fan

Not going to gloat over the Utd score because I know Arsenal fans must already be devastated. It's probably a similar feeling to when we ge destroyed by Barcelona but more gutwrenching because at least we're trying to bridge the gap. So I sympathise with you guys.

I will say this though, that was possibly the worst Arsenal team I can remember man for man. I mean looking at the starting defence and midfield, how many of those players would have honestly get into the starting XI for Utd, City, Chelsea, Liverpool or Tottenham? Ramsey possibly and none of the others. Granted I know you have a lot injuries/suspensions but that just screams to me that there's no depth to your squad.

And Wenger can't use the excuse of being young and inexperienced anymore because Utd's average age was 23, Arsenal's was 23.6.

So yeah I really sympathise with you guys because Arsene really does need to go out ad buy some big, quality players like you have been screaming out for. Otherwise you're looking at 6th or dare I say it, worse. And if it doesn't get fixed then can you really see someone as good as Van Persie staying?


I'm a Utd fan and so inherently dislike Liverpool and even I can see they're a much improved, quality outfit this season. They won't be title challengers yet but you can't expect them to go from abject to champions in a season. They just have a suspect defence imo due to it being quite slow. They'll probably come 4th with maybe a 10-12 point between them and 3rd.

--
Crucifying my Oracle average one match at a time

Oh and just to add, hats off to the Arsenal supporters at OT. They were fantastic considering the circumstances.

--
Crucifying my Oracle average one match at a time

Just going to pop my head in to say that was a fun fantasy football week. Now up and away!

--
James - Board 8's Resident Warm And Safe, Slipper-Wearing User
& The Cream of Porcupine Tree Fanboyism

Wenger must have thrown a dart at a random list of football league players when he signed Jenkinson.

--
'How random would it be if we both had curly red hair?'
Ravens/Rovers/Murray/Hewitt/England Fan

Even after starting horrendously last year Liverpool still managed to finish above Aston Villa and Everton after selling Torres and acquiring Suarez/Carrol , now after improving their squad even more I can't see them getting beat by Villa/Everton who lost some of their players, just doesn't make sense.

4th place will go to either Pool or Arsenal, it really depends on what becomes of Arsenal, their 8-2 defeat was not true example of their strength, when their whole squad is fit they should be able to compete with Liverpool for that 4th spot, and if they sign couple of players I would call them the favorites

Part of Arsenal's problem is what it always has been, they are lightweight. And that's true even when everyone is back fully fit.

I really can't understand why Wenger hasn't even made some makeshift signings if his primary targets weren't available. You could have had Barton or Parker who would have both improved your midfield for cheap. Then there's the likes of Enrique who went for dirt cheap.

Realistically Wenger needs to swallow his pride and stump up the cash for Cahill. He can't expect to pay 6m for him when players of a similar level like Jones have gone for 18m.

--
Crucifying my Oracle average one match at a time

From: _Yonex_ | #380
Wenger must have thrown a dart at a random list of football league players when he signed Jenkinson.

Hey, I quite highly rate Jenkinson because you can see how much it means to him out there and how hard he's trying. He just isn't quite good enough for this level yet, and it's not his fault he was asked to start as a teenager at Old Trafford.

--
"It is important that supporters and everyone at the club remembers that the cannon on the chest is more important than anybody."

Newcastle Transfers since January 2011

OUT:

Fraser Forster - GK (loaned to Celtic, both seasons)

Sol Campbell - CB (released June '11)
José Enrique - LB (£6m to Liverpool)
James Tavernier - RB (loaned to Carlisle Jan-Mar and August '11)
Ben Tozer - CB (loaned to Northampton 10/11 season, signed June '11)

Joey Barton - RM (Free to QPR Aug '11)
Kazenga Lua Lua - RM (loaned to Brighton July-Jan '11)
Kevin Nolan - CM (£3.5m to West Ham, June '11)
Wayne Routledge - LW (loaned to QPR Jan-May '11, £1.8m to Swansea August'11)
Alan Smith - DM (released Jun '11)

Andy Carroll - ST (£35m to Liverpool)
Shefki Kuqi - ST (released Jun '11)
Xisco - ST (loaned to Deportivo La Coruna Jan '11 - Jun'12)

Transers out: 13 players, £46.3m

IN

Mehdi Abeid - CM (free July '11)
Hatem Ben Arfa - CM (£5m (including loan fee) from Marseille Jan '11)
Yohan Cabaye - CM (£4.3m from Lille Jun '11)
Stephen Ireland - CM (loaned from Aston villa Jan-Jun' 11. Played 49 minutes)
Sylvain Marveaux - LM (free July '11)
Gabriel Obertan - RM (£3m from Man U Aug '11)

Demba Ba - ST (free Jun '11)
Shefki Kuqi - ST (free Feb '11)

Transfers in: 8 players, £12.3m

Net: -5 players + £34m

Club depth in defence and attack? Laughable.
Not a single recognised left back.
Where's the money gone? Mike's Ashley's pie budget.

--
GET ME SOME F***ING PLAYERS.

All that and Newcastle will still not lose 8-2 at Man Utd.

--
"It is important that supporters and everyone at the club remembers that the cannon on the chest is more important than anybody."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/14712232.stm


sounds like a start.

--
Vote for this guy in every contest: ZFS

We didnt release Alan Smith, he came on last game for 5 minutes remember?

--
NIO BUNNY - http://img.imgcake.com/nio/76ayvpngam.png

Would've rather seen Cahill and Tremoulinas, but Andre Santos and Mertesacker are fine too I suppose.

Woah Mertesacker in!

I rate him a lot more highly than Cahill, so this excites me.

He and Verm could be a top CB pairing in the league IMO.

--
"It is important that supporters and everyone at the club remembers that the cannon on the chest is more important than anybody."

And only 6-9million for an experienced international defender in his prime?

Good business, indeed. Save some of that money to spend on a creative midfielder. I hope badly that the M'Villa deal will come through.

Also Sp*rs are trying to get Scott Parker. I think we should try to hi-jack that, as he's a good player and f***ing them over would be good business as well. >.>

--
"It is important that supporters and everyone at the club remembers that the cannon on the chest is more important than anybody."

He comes to us from South Korea
Chu Young Chu Young

He'll be gone next year to shoot a gun
Chu Young Chu Young

But whlie he's here he'll shoot and score and even eat your labrador

Chu Young Park Arsenal's # 9

--
"It is important that supporters and everyone at the club remembers that the cannon on the chest is more important than anybody."

Park has dreamed of playing for Arsenal since he was Young.


HEH

--
"It is important that supporters and everyone at the club remembers that the cannon on the chest is more important than anybody."

Per's a bit wonky, he's really good on FM or PES or FIFA, but IRL he's kind of a surprise package. Though you never know him with vermalen could turn out to be a sleeper hit.

Modric deal is dead, so hopefully we seal another cm, anybody over Mikel plz and man, we've reached the stage where if foreign youngsters say they've always dreamed of playing for Chelsea its getting believable, Abramovich is closing in on a decade in charge.

Though as for young english dudes, you can always believe it given how cool chelsea where during the Vialli days :P

--
Vote for this guy in every contest: ZFS

I feel like we should be posting the wildest transfer rumours of the day.

--
Vote for this guy in every contest: ZFS

Vicente to brighton lol wut.

--
Vote for this guy in every contest: ZFS

After rumours of Blackburn signing Raul, Beckham and Ronaldinho in the past year or so,
disappointing that we're now trying to get Yakubu...

Scott Dann is having a medical which is good though.

--
'How random would it be if we both had curly red hair?'
Ravens/Rovers/Murray/Hewitt/England Fan

Okay

Here are some rumours that are I find intriguing.

Chelsea appears to have sealed the deal, with Pereira.

Ribery to chelsea is the talkk of the town.

Appears that Liverpool have first option for Eden Hazard.

Arsenal did bid 35 million for Goetze looks like, only the bid got laughed out, which would be hilarious if Wenger spent the entire Cesc fee on a 19 year old whizzkid, even if that kid is supposed to be the next big thing in football.

Fulham looking at Gignac which would be pretty astonishing given how much they've already spent on Bryan Ruiz.

Scott Dann to Blackburn and suddenly Blackburn's defence looks reasonably good.

QPR seem to be the only guys willing to take Bellamy and his wages.

--
Vote for this guy in every contest: ZFS

Liverpool will not get Hazard, he has said countless times that outside of Lille there's only two teams he'd play for: Arsenal and Real Madrid.

El Hamdaoui is apparently going to Blackburn.

Coates to Liverpool augh.

Elia from Hamburg to Juventus, good, we needed a left winger. I like Vargas better but hey you take what you get.

At least Steve Kean knows he's in the **** and trying to bring in as many players who might help as he can. Still think he'll be the first to go. We need Martin O'Neill before it's too late.

--
'How random would it be if we both had curly red hair?'
Ravens/Rovers/Murray/Hewitt/England Fan

return of the Hughes :D

--
Vote for this guy in every contest: ZFS