*Official* English Football Season 2011-12

[Pothas]

No it would not but he has built himself a power base at Madrid in a way that no other coach had managed to do in recent years. He may want the United job but he certainly will not wait around for it.City would definetly appeal to him, he always takes over sides that are either winning or close to winning, taking over a City side badly beaten into 2nd but with the best squad in the league would make a lot of sense.

 

[The Sean]

No it would not but he has built himself a power base at Madrid in a way that no other coach had managed to do in recent years. He may want the United job but he certainly will not wait around for it.City would definetly appeal to him, he always takes over sides that are either winning or close to winning, taking over a City side badly beaten into 2nd but with the best squad in the league would make a lot of sense.

Yeah that's true - it's been said more than once that if Mourinho was in charge of this City team they would have walked the League this year. And he'd essentially be given free reign to spend whatever the hell he wanted, which he loves. Ronaldo at City would make me sad.

 

[The Sean]

Spurs giving it everything in their quest to finish sixth in a three-horse race.

 

[Pothas]

Oh I do hope so, still Arry will get no criticism.

 

[Jarquis]

Hleb did play every week but never developed any sort of end product. Was great at keeping possesion but nothing to show for it. Was so frustrating, another one with bucketloads of talent.

Hleb epitomised the old "Arsenal trying to walk the ball into the net". Just flat out refused to shoot.

 

[Jarquis]

Tevez really did have a quite brilliant season last year, far better than he has ever shown before. Aguero has not come close to matching that but I think he is the more talented of the two.

Suarez should not be ignored either, if he was playing in a better side and was finishing better (not hitting the post all the time) he would be right up there,

Find it amusing how people talk about how often Suarez has hit the woodwork
"If it wasn't for it he'd have doubled his tally of 8"
RVP has hit the frame 7 times too. Applying the same logic we can consider RVP as having 33..

 

[BoyBrumby]

'Mon Canaries.

 

[The Sean]

Ben Arfa's goal sounds like an absolute gem - he's been in stunning form lately. Potentially huge goal for the Magpies.

 

[sledger]

Chelsea got to be bricking it a bit at this stage, with Newcastle in their current form, you'd have to say they have a serious chance of getting 4th place. Especially when the two sides still have to play each other, and Spurs tanking it pretty badly aws. Pressure really on them tonight, Fulham no pushovers either.

 

[social]

That is assuming both Van Persie and Aguero stay in England of course, sure we will see both next year but after that it is hard to tell.

Despite doing so much worse in Europe I think it is fair to say United are better than they were last year as are City and Arsenal but it is still a relatively week year. La liga definetly stronger right now, Madrid and Barcelona are ridiculous and have an outrageous amount of the worlds best players but it really is very competitive below them.

Think I read somewhere that Spain have 5/8 semi-finalists in Europe this year

If that is true (and tbh I cant be ****ed looking it up), the reality is that La Liga is by faaaaaaaaaaaaaar the best comp in Europe despite 1 & 2 being >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 3 - 5 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the rest

 

[TT Boy]

Good man's Nasri just scored another wonder goal.

Graham Carr's job at the Toon seems to be a bit overhyped, all he has done is recommend to buy international proven quality footballers, hasn't he?

Anyone who watches European football or plays computer games, knows all the players he bought well, no unknown names amongst Santon, Ba, Cisse, Ben Afra, Cabaye, Tiote etc. Seen they are now being linked with FC Twente's Douglas, so Carr is also just playing Football Manager a lot as well.

 

[The Sean]

Toffees warming up for their FA Cup semi in some style by giving Sunderland a real pasting.

 

[sledger]

Think I read somewhere that Spain have 5/8 semi-finalists in Europe this year

If that is true (and tbh I cant be ****ed looking it up), the reality is that La Liga is by faaaaaaaaaaaaaar the best comp in Europe despite 1 & 2 being >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 3 - 5 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the rest

That's basically how the premiership was throughout its supposed golden years though to be fair. Arsenal and Man Utd dominated between the mid/late 90s, until the arrival of Mourinho, and then Man Utd and Chelsea have dominated since. Particularly in the first of those eras, the gap between the top 3/4 teams and the rest of the league was pretty huge.

 

[sledger]

Also, I'd really be interested to see what odds you'd get on Liverpool not only finishing behind Everton (which there now seems to be a very realistic possibility of), but actually finishing in 10th place or below...

 

[BoyBrumby]

Norfolk enchants.

 

[TT Boy]

Levy probably wants the payout now for 'Arry. All gone tit ass but Spurs run-in is pretty easy - Villa, QPR, Rovers and Bolton. Toon by contrast have some pretty tough fixtures, got Wigan, Chelsea and Everton all away and Citeh still left to play.

 

[sledger]

If you weigh in their recent form though, and that of their opposition, you'd have to say Newcastle are capable of getting a result in all of those games.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Think the argument is that this lot couldn’t beat Basle at home.
Not sure how a team which reached the Champions League final, were competitive in Europe and didn’t lose to Blackburn at home could be better than a side which has Jonny Evans at the heart of defence and Danny Welbeck “leading” the line.

Any set of results in a small sample size is going to mean a hell of a lot less than results over a big number of games. I could say how are a side that could only win five out of nineteen away games better than this lot? Especially given that's over a larger amount of games. It's not like the Premiership is any worse this year than it was last year and United have just looked miles and miles better than we did last year.

The Champions League is over six games. Over their last six games, City are 10th in the form table. Are they the 10th best side in England? Quite obviously not, which shows exactly how little it means. Are APOEL a top-8 team in Europe? Also obviously not.

 

[sledger]

Frank doing his penalty trick again. Really hope Fulham can claw this back, would be massive.

 

[sledger]

Excellent. Bravo Clint Dempsey. Going through a real purple patch at the moment.