Greenlizard0 Weekend Football Thread ** spoilers ** [5th - 9th December 2014]

[jonneymendoza]

I'm not convinced the standard has dropped either, I think certain teams are struggling compared to last year (Liverpool, Everton, Spurs, Arsenal come to mind), but the general standard is still very high imo. For the first time in a while there's no team at the bottom who are miles off the pace. Normally at Christmas you can say for certain that the bottom team are going down, but that's not the case at the moment. I think that reflects the fact that more of the smaller teams are representing a greater challenge to the bigger teams.

I wouldn't say the prem is any worse than any of the other major leagues, it's just that the Spanish and German leagues happen to have arguably the three best teams in the world. I would certainly much rather watch the prem than any of the other leagues, it's boring having one or two teams absolutely dominate. At least in the prem you aren't ever absolutely 100% certain a team is going to win a game, whereas Real and Bayern at the moment are just steamrolling the opposition.

i disagree. Just look at the game last night as a perfect example. both united and southampton where shockingly poor.


Hate to say it but our league has fallen dramatically so far.

miss placed passes, comedy defending, crap finishing from many strikers etc etc

 

[G|mp]

i disagree. Just look at the game last night as a perfect example. both united and southampton where shockingly poor.


Hate to say it but our league has fallen dramatically so far.

miss placed passes, comedy defending, crap finishing from many strikers etc etc

Of course you never get any of those in any other league do you.

LoLjonney.

 

[twist3d0n3]

LoLjonney.

 

[nicktay2605]

i disagree. Just look at the game last night as a perfect example. both united and southampton where shockingly poor.


Hate to say it but our league has fallen dramatically so far.

miss placed passes, comedy defending, crap finishing from many strikers etc etc

I don't think it's fair to base the standard of the league on the performance of two teams in one game. Ok United have dropped off since SAF retired, but that was always bound to happen, and things are finally starting to improve. Chelsea are arguably having one of their best ever seasons, not far off 2004-05, City have come back into form in the last few weeks, Southampton are still having one of their best ever seasons despite the last couple of weeks, West Ham are stunning everyone with their position in the league. I don't think the prem can compete with Barcelona and Real Madrid, but then has it ever been able to really? Players will nearly always choose to go to those two teams over any other simply because of their prestige, past and former success, history, facilities, etc.

Yes there are teams that are struggling, like Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton and Spurs, but I'd argue that most of those teams have either overachieved in the past or haven't really ever hit the heights anyway. For whatever reason Arsenal haven't really been the same team since the invincibles era in the early 2000s, Liverpool had an exceptional year last year that they were always going to struggle to replicate this year, Spurs haven't really been a huge team at any time in the prem era, and Everton have consistently overachieved with a small budget and just seem to be having a poor season this year. I think maybe all it is is that people's expectations of the rest of the so-called 'top teams' is too high.

 

[fez]

i disagree. Just look at the game last night as a perfect example. both united and southampton where shockingly poor.

Southampton weren't that bad they just were not very clinical in front of goal whilst De Gea made some good saves as well. United are in a transitionary phase with the following first team players absent.

Di Maria
Blind
Smalling
Jones
Shaw
Rafael
Falcao

Having potentially 7 first team players out would ruin pretty much any team in the PL. City look rubbish when Yaya Toure and Silva are missing. They are half the side when Aguero isn't playing.

How would Chelsea look without the likes of Terry, Cahill, Fabregas, Costa, Hazard?

Its just retarded to claim that last nights game is either reflective of the PL or Uniteds level at the moment. The fact that everyone has been praising Southampton for their style of football is obviously lost on you. If you paid any attention to the game yesterday you would have seen how high up the pitch we were pressed and how well they did it against us.

 

[G|mp]

What our Dear jonney is clearly forgetting is how competitive our league is compared to others. Every team is capable of beating any other on any given day in the PL.

Can you say that about La Liga/Serie A/Bundesliga/Eridivisie/Ligue1?

Can you balls.

 

[twist3d0n3]

What our Dear jonney is clearly forgetting is how competitive our league is compared to others. Every team is capable of beating any other on any given day in the PL.

Can you say that about La Liga/Serie A/Bundesliga/Eridivisie/Ligue1?

Can you balls.

he definitely couldn't spell half of them.

 

[sigma]

Dey turk ur jerbz?

 

[Cosimo]

Dey turk ur jerbz?

Sprechen Sie Englisch?

 

[twist3d0n3]

Sprechen Sie Englisch?

derp

 

[The Running Man]

I think problems are going to occur if you think you can rely on a first team of defenders who are this lot ..

Smalling
Jones
Shaw
Rafael

Either not the required standard for champions league aspirations or too injury prone to play a full season.

For all his stick Evra played on average 42 games a season for utd over 9 seasons (all comps). None of that list, plus johnny Evans would i want to see play 42 games? And the ones who are good enough just can't do it consistently.

 

[nicktay2605]

Running man are you ever happy with United? You're like the United version of DM ffs. It's blindingly obvious that our defence is bad, someone watching their first ever football match would be able to tell you that.

 

[The Running Man]

Running man are you ever happy with United? You're like the United version of DM ffs. It's blindingly obvious that our defence is bad, someone watching their first ever football match would be able to tell you that.

Yeah I'm just trilled about our defence. Iys silly when people pull out these 'missing 7 first team players' lines knowing that jones, smalling, Evans are so subpar it hurts my eyes to see people writing that they think they are quality.

 

[Robbo]

Yeah I'm just trilled about our defence. Iys silly when people pull out these 'missing 7 first team players' lines knowing that jones, smalling, Evans are so subpar it hurts my eyes to see people writing that they think they are quality.

No, but fielding two of them consistently would greatly help. Having actual fullbacks either side probably wouldn't go amiss either.

 

[The Running Man]

No, but fielding two of them consistently would greatly help. Having actual fullbacks either side probably wouldn't go amiss either.

Consistency in staff and formation wouldn't hurt. However can you say that johnny Evans or phil jones playing consistently badly is hardly aspirational for any side trying to get a top spot in the EPL...

Wjen you think back to jaap stam and rio and Vidic, how does smalling, jones and Evans compare?

The real answer is they are horrific. Evans is passable as a sub for a real defender. But that's about it. Who is our first choice centre back pairing, and try to tell me with a straight face. .

 

[RoboCod]

Horrific

 

[fez]

They are all young defenders that have never been part of a consistent back 4 which Vidic and Ferdinand were. I'm sorry but if you ask any ex CB what you need to have a very solid back 4 they will tell you one of the main things is a good partnership between the back 4. Rotating 2 or more of them every single game plays havoc with their understanding and positioning.

I don't know if Jones, Smalling, Rojo, Shaw, Rafael and Evans will ever be good enough for us but to dismiss them as rubbish when they never play more than a few games in a row is ridiculous.

If you look in very simple terms at the injuries that teams have sustained in the PL this season it roughly mirrors the table. Chelsea were playing so well because their teamsheet wasn't changing by more than a player a week unless mourinho wanted it to. Last season Liverpool had very few injuries to the main players.

City look pretty rubbish at the back without Kompany. Hes not a one man defence so why is that?

 

[dannyjo22]

If you look in very simple terms at the injuries that teams have sustained in the PL this season it roughly mirrors the table. Chelsea were playing so well because their teamsheet wasn't changing by more than a player a week unless mourinho wanted it to.

If you believe the Dutch fitness coach that everyone believed so much last year then the fault is the managers and the high intensity and frequency of the training. He says that's the way he always works to get the quickest gains even if it means he has a terrible injury record at all the clubs he manages. He weighs up the gains in improved performance against the loss of players and thinks it's worth it. If that works for him fair enough but you would think he would do it with more players of quality to cover?

By comparison he says Jose does not subscribe to that system of training so that's the reason he keeps so many players fit and playing. So if you are pushing players like that knowing the problems it will/can cause you can't really use that as a defence when you are playing badly because of 40 odd injuries. Perhaps the manager needs to do what most on here thought of Moyes last year, stop being such a dinosaur in his training methods and you might actually get players consistently on the pitch?

 

[fez]

I have no idea what is causing us to have so many injuries but if it is the training methods, hopefully that will start to tail off as he becomes happier with their adoption of his ideas. Moyes was slated because he insisted on so much fitness training without a ball I thought.

 

[RoboCod]

I'd go with Mourinho being right with his approach over thrashing his players to injury then.