*Official* English Football Season 2013-14

[Furball]

Will he fit into the Arsenal system though ? Wenger likes more rounded footballers technically even as center forward, i think.

Are you saying Lukaku's poor technically?

 

[Pothas]

The top 4 won't change from last season, Liverpool are the new Spurs in terms of being over-hyped on the back of beating dross and being carried by their one class player.

I would tend to agree but Utd are just really not very good.

I think Spurs are a chance, they are not in a bad position considering how poor they have been this season and I still expect them to get better at some point. Do think Everton have half a chance though, their squad is actually really good and Martinez has done a great job so far.

 

[Furball]

2 Injuries in one area is hardly loads tbf in a long season with different competitions. Particularly at CB or even 1 at Centre forward.

What's your point? Arsenal would be weaker if both their centre halves got injured? Newsflash: so would every team in every league around the world.

It doesn't justify Arsenal wasting money on an inadequate centre half when they're reasonably placed for cover.

 

[Furball]

I would tend to agree but Utd are just really not very good.

I think Spurs are a chance, they are not in a bad position considering how poor they have been this season and I still expect them to get better at some point. Do think Everton have half a chance though, their squad is actually really good and Martinez has done a great job so far.

Regardless of the flaws within their squad I'm not buying that the team that strolled the league last season suddenly finishes 5th or worse this season. I just refuse to believe that a) Man Utd's squad could decline that badly, b) Moyes is that bad a manager and c) Liverpool or Spurs are good enough.

Liverpool have a horror run coming up because they've had an incredibly kind first 15 games.

 

[Cevno]

Are you saying Lukaku's poor technically?

No. But he isn't that great at linking up or playing the short passing game etc.. Can be erratic in that regard though obviously he has other benefits.

That is why Mourinho let him go out in the first place whether rightly or wrongly.

Doesn't really strike as a wenger type of forward though. Sir Alex for example mentions in his book at how Wenger didn't rate Van Nistelrooy as highly as he did because he lacked in some areas compared to the other top top strikers.

 

[Pothas]

Agree with you on Liverpool, don't rate them at all.

Would agree with you entierly at the start of the season regards Utd but actually watching them play I am really not sure anymore.

 

[Eds]

The top 4 won't change from last season, Liverpool are the new Spurs in terms of being over-hyped on the back of beating dross and being carried by their one class player.

Haha. There's plenty of criticisms to level at Liverpool but you're really clutching at straws with the one-man team shout.

 

[Cevno]

What's your point? Arsenal would be weaker if both their centre halves got injured? Newsflash: so would every team in every league around the world.

It doesn't justify Arsenal wasting money on an inadequate centre half when they're reasonably placed for cover.

Well, compared to other top teams Bendtner as backup for CF and just Vermaelen as CB isn't all that great in comparison.

I never said that Arsenal should spend on a inadequate centre half though obviously.

 

[GIMH]

Beating dross will likely get a team such as Liverpool into the top 4 this season with the normal top clubs dropping points so frequently.

 

[NUFAN]

Fourth competitive game now in a row that we've scored 2 goals. Not bad for a team who can't score. In saying that, if we had Suarez instead of Defoe up front, 5 - 1 would have been a fairer reflection of how much we dominated in the second half.

 

[mullarkey]

The vast difference between the CL performances and the PL performances for some reason has been so odd too this season too.

Maybe it's the tempo being higher in the League but still it's like 2 different teams.

good point. Fergie is the greatest manager in the history of British football but I always doubted his ability to lead United into Europe. Yes he did win the CL on two occasions but given the number of times we got to the semis/quarters of the comp I think he massively under achieved.
Moyes is well known to be a coach of the highest order, unlike Fergie who managed people, and may be the superior coaching skills of continental europe a far more to his liking. Not suggesting that United will win the CL but it is interesting that Moyes has had a good campaign in CL so far. I wish Moyes well but so far he has made one big mistake in my opinion. I know what I am going to say now is considered sacrilegious but he needs to end the (United) playing career of Ryan Giggs. Giggs is 40 and I won't accept that a player of that age is up to the task of playing at the top at that age. Personally I have never thought that Giggs ever fulfilled his early potential, I thought he was going to be a Messi or Ronaldo type player but he has been living a lie for years, he isn't fit to lace the boots of these true greats.

 

[mullarkey]

The vast difference between the CL performances and the PL performances for some reason has been so odd too this season too.

Maybe it's the tempo being higher in the League but still it's like 2 different teams.

good point. Fergie is the greatest manager in the history of British football but I always doubted his ability to lead United into Europe. Yes he did win the CL on two occasions but given the number of times we got to the semis/quarters of the comp I think he massively under achieved.
Moyes is well known to be a coach of the highest order, unlike Fergie who managed people, and may be the superior coaching skills of continental europe a far more to his liking. Not suggesting that United will win the CL but it is interesting that Moyes has had a good campaign in CL so far. I wish Moyes well but so far he has made one big mistake in my opinion. I know what I am going to say now is considered sacrilegious but he needs to end the (United) playing career of Ryan Giggs. Giggs is 40 and I won't accept that a player of that age is up to the task of playing at the top at that age. Personally I have never thought that Giggs ever fulfilled his early potential, I thought he was going to be a Messi or Ronaldo type player but he has been living a lie for years, he isn't fit to lace the boots of these true greats.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Regardless of the flaws within their squad I'm not buying that the team that strolled the league last season suddenly finishes 5th or worse this season. I just refuse to believe that a) Man Utd's squad could decline that badly, b) Moyes is that bad a manager and c) Liverpool or Spurs are good enough.

Liverpool have a horror run coming up because they've had an incredibly kind first 15 games.

You're placing far too much faith in us. Last time we were in this situation McGuinness lead us to eighth in his first season. I think the parallels between then and now are very noticeable, both in terms of the strengths and weaknesses of the squads and the qualities of the managers involved.

That's not to say that we can't finish in the top four but tbh if we do now I think I would be more surprised than if we didn't.

 

[Jarquis]

CB is a worry for me, but not a huge one. Vermaelen is the best 3rd choice CB in the league but he and Koscielny as a partnership makes baby Jesus cry. A Mertesacker backup is what's dreadfully needed, not that I'm convinced one exists,

GF pretending Klose is an original idea really annoys me as well.

 

[Jarquis]

Signing Benteke would be madness too. £20m+ on a player worse than Giroud makes zero sense. Those pretending he''s better than Lukaku are high.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Centre half doesn't need strengthened at all. That's just spending money for the sake of it.

You know, I'd never considered that Arsenal (or anyone else) might suffer a downturn in form if they suffer loads of injuries in one area.

Thanks for that insight.

Tiny contradiction there, no? Since he had his injury Vermaelen just isn't the player he was. He's definitely lost that yard of pace that helped him recover from the odd slip positionally.

We've been linked with Carceres and Jagielka before, but with the WC coming up I'm not convinced either would necessarily fancy sitting on our bench.

I'd be properly sickened if we do end up losing the title because we didn't strengthen the squad.

good point. Fergie is the greatest manager in the history of British football but I always doubted his ability to lead United into Europe. Yes he did win the CL on two occasions but given the number of times we got to the semis/quarters of the comp I think he massively under achieved.
Moyes is well known to be a coach of the highest order, unlike Fergie who managed people, and may be the superior coaching skills of continental europe a far more to his liking. Not suggesting that United will win the CL but it is interesting that Moyes has had a good campaign in CL so far. I wish Moyes well but so far he has made one big mistake in my opinion. I know what I am going to say now is considered sacrilegious but he needs to end the (United) playing career of Ryan Giggs. Giggs is 40 and I won't accept that a player of that age is up to the task of playing at the top at that age. Personally I have never thought that Giggs ever fulfilled his early potential, I thought he was going to be a Messi or Ronaldo type player but he has been living a lie for years, he isn't fit to lace the boots of these true greats.

Setting a high bar for Jiggsy there, but it is an interesting point.

With his early pace and control his end output should probably have been higher than it was. By necessity he's a different player now he's into his fifth decade, but maybe if he'd moved away for a time (like his compatriot Bale has done) he might've developed a more hard-nosed approach to goalscoring.

Georgie Best's contribution to that Reebok advert didn't seem that fanciful at the time, but seems very bittersweet now with Bestie having passed away and Giggs not really quite being fit to lace the great man's drinks:

 

[Tom Halsey]

I know what I am going to say now is considered sacrilegious but he needs to end the (United) playing career of Ryan Giggs. Giggs is 40 and I won't accept that a player of that age is up to the task of playing at the top at that age. Personally I have never thought that Giggs ever fulfilled his early potential, I thought he was going to be a Messi or Ronaldo type player but he has been living a lie for years, he isn't fit to lace the boots of these true greats.

I don't really see how Giggs has been "living a lie" as I don't recall him ever pretending to be as good as Best/Ronaldo/Messi/whoever, and I don't recall anyone at all saying he ever has been. He was the best left winger in the world though at his peak, which will do for me.

EDIT: And as to whether he should still be playing, I half agree with you. The fact that a 40 year old is still playing for us is a sad indictment of the times, but used correctly he is still a vital member of the side when he is fit to play, because we simply don't have anyone better.

 

[Uppercut]

Regardless of the flaws within their squad I'm not buying that the team that strolled the league last season suddenly finishes 5th or worse this season. I just refuse to believe that a) Man Utd's squad could decline that badly, b) Moyes is that bad a manager and c) Liverpool or Spurs are good enough.

Liverpool have a horror run coming up because they've had an incredibly kind first 15 games.

Evidence so far suggests the correct answer is b), but a lot of people are going with a). There's a weird idea going around that all of our players coincidentally transformed into pumpkins the moment Ferguson left.

I've found Liverpool quite impressive this season but they're not actually in great shape given their fixture list. They'll need to put in some serious performances to still be in the top four come January. Spurs are sort of the opposite, probably actually doing better despite having looked much worse.

 

[Uppercut]

good point. Fergie is the greatest manager in the history of British football but I always doubted his ability to lead United into Europe. Yes he did win the CL on two occasions but given the number of times we got to the semis/quarters of the comp I think he massively under achieved.
Moyes is well known to be a coach of the highest order, unlike Fergie who managed people, and may be the superior coaching skills of continental europe a far more to his liking. Not suggesting that United will win the CL but it is interesting that Moyes has had a good campaign in CL so far. I wish Moyes well but so far he has made one big mistake in my opinion. I know what I am going to say now is considered sacrilegious but he needs to end the (United) playing career of Ryan Giggs. Giggs is 40 and I won't accept that a player of that age is up to the task of playing at the top at that age. Personally I have never thought that Giggs ever fulfilled his early potential, I thought he was going to be a Messi or Ronaldo type player but he has been living a lie for years, he isn't fit to lace the boots of these true greats.

I think Moyes's biggest mistake was dumping all of the coaching staff. I'm still not sure what he was thinking there, maybe he was a bit paranoid about being undermined. It's a bit like taking over the most successful business in the company and immediately firing everyone and replacing them with your cronies.

 

[Ikki]

Liverpool have a horror run coming up because they've had an incredibly kind first 15 games.

No.

Look at the fixture list, we've had more or less the same as Arsenal's. The 5 games before the 2nd half of the season for the two teams:

Arsenal: Everton, City, Chelsea, West Ham and Newcastle.
Liverpool: West Ham (beaten), Spurs, Cardiff, City and Chelsea.

3 of them are the same teams; and frankly I'd rather face Spurs and Cardiff at this moment than Everton and Newcastle.

Haha. There's plenty of criticisms to level at Liverpool but you're really clutching at straws with the one-man team shout.

Even if people hadn't watched our games to know we have several great performers this season; surely they'd remember Suarez missed the first 5 games lol.