*Official* English Football Season 2013-14

[Furball]

Soldado been really, really unimpressive so far. I'm quite sure he's gone through entire Spurs-dominated games without once touching the ball. Even if he finds a bit of form and gets 20-odd goals he'll only be as useful as Darren Bent, and of course he might not. Spurs look like they've overpaid.

There's a reason Soldado replaced Villa at Valencia. He's a good player but he wound up at Valencia because he was a cheap option. Spurs have been completely mugged by Valencia, he's a £10m player at best.

 

[Furball]

It also shows how effective Arsenal's defence has been imo. Despite the initial hysteria about how good it was at the beginning of last season, and then all the stick it got for being crap throughout the rest of the season, it's actually conceded remarkably few goals.

It's curious that this still gets singled out as being a weak part of the team in my opinion. You might argue that there's a lack of cover, or that it's just not that great, but it says a lot that it stands up so well against a lot of its supposed peers.

It's usually the same morons who tip Spurs and Liverpool to finish ahead of Arsenal that cite Arsenal's defence as a weakness.

 

[Cevno]

That table is pretty interesting for United as it includes the period where towards the end of last season there was bit of slacking off when the title was seemingly won and also includes the start of the new regime which has included some hiccups.

It was pretty remarkable how many points SAF got last season using the squad where there were plenty of players under performing especially in attacking areas. A pretty strong squad over the course of the season and masterful rotation of it, was his strength and it's something Moyes will have to learn to do more as he goes on.

 

[Cevno]

As for Spurs, their problem for me in attack is still lack of width and lack of creativity besides Eriksen who is still settling in himself. Almost everything ends up coming narrow and they take so many long shots.

Lamela might take time to settle and is a really really good talent potentially but from what i've seen of him at Roma he is more of a goalscorer from wide than a creator or a ball carrier himself which is what they need.

Soldado been really, really unimpressive so far. I'm quite sure he's gone through entire Spurs-dominated games without once touching the ball. Even if he finds a bit of form and gets 20-odd goals he'll only be as useful as Darren Bent, and of course he might not. Spurs look like they've overpaid.

They definitely overpaid. Should have just paid whatever Villa were initially asking for Benteke if they had a chance there which seemed to be the case or gotten some younger more all round forward.

But on the other hand almost all half good strikers last summer went overpriced. And Soldado while not being top level of striker is better than he has shown so far too. Just needs to be provided quality service and his scoring record speaks for itself.

It's interesting though that Negredo who is similar level of striker has settled better so far than Soldado in the PL. Maybe it's because he is more physical or maybe because he has better service at City.

It does. It also shows that the Arsenal renaissance was under way well before the start of this season. Someone drew up a similar table for their last 25 games, which sounds a bit arbitrary, but that table had the Gunners top of the pile.

Yeah, saw a table for 2013 IIRC somewhere too and it had Arsenal on top while United were a fair bit down. Arsenal went on a great run at the end of last season and it continued at the start of this season. Villa game being the exception.

 

[Cevno]

Also, what odds on Poyet for Sunderland folks?

Good call, it seems.

 

[sledger]

There's a reason Soldado replaced Villa at Valencia. He's a good player but he wound up at Valencia because he was a cheap option. Spurs have been completely mugged by Valencia, he's a £10m player at best.

Nah come off it. He may have been somewhat overpriced, but he's not rank average as a £10m tag would imply. He's still an above average centre forward, even if Spurs did pay over the odds.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

but he's not rank average as a £10m tag would imply

Are you serious?

 

[NUFAN]

Soldado been really, really unimpressive so far. I'm quite sure he's gone through entire Spurs-dominated games without once touching the ball. Even if he finds a bit of form and gets 20-odd goals he'll only be as useful as Darren Bent, and of course he might not. Spurs look like they've overpaid.

What an odd thing to say. If he scores 20-odd goals he will be ****ing useful and the bolded part is clearly not true in regards to Premier League matches. He has had some excellent touches which have resulted in shots which have invariably been missed/saved. I would definitely like to see him look to shot at goal more often though.

If we want to finish very high this year, we need to get better at backing up from Thursday night Europa matches, especially the matches played away from WHL.

 

[sledger]

Are you serious?

I'm very laid back, apparently.

 

[Pothas]

Well so much for me being excited about the Teixeria loan, has been sent back already.

 

[sledger]

Seems strange that Brentford chose to end it. Were they unable to find him a place in the team or something?

 

[Pothas]

Yeah he was not starting. All seems rather confused at the moment, no idea what our best side is.

 

[cpr]

Good call, it seems.

6/1 at the time, behind Di Matteo and Dutch Schteve, should've put my money where my mouth is

 

[BoyBrumby]

Mildly radio, our Gus. Least he's not actively fascist tho.

Mind you, didn't the Seagulls sack him for gross misconduct?

Yer Mackems really do want to get relegated, it seems.

 

[wpdavid]

Mildly radio, our Gus. Least he's not actively fascist tho.

Mind you, didn't the Seagulls sack him for gross misconduct?

Yer Mackems really do want to get relegated, it seems.

I think the 'gross misconduct, was openly criticising the incident in the home leg of the play-off when excrement was plastered over the door or changing room of the visitors. As said visitors were Brighton's old enemy from Selhurst Park, one can only conclude that the top brass at Brighton didn't see the ****-spreading as much of a crime at all. My take on the matter was that Poyet came out of it with rather more dignity than the rest of the club.

No idea whether he'll keep Sunderland up. Probably not, but they do tend to play better in the first few months after a new appointment.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Huh. One from the John Beck school of hospitality there.

Always thought the Brighton/Palace rivalry one of the odder ones, actually. Goes back to the El Twatt days, doesn't it?

 

[wpdavid]

Huh. One from the John Beck school of hospitality there.

Always thought the Brighton/Palace rivalry one of the odder ones, actually. Goes back to the El Twatt days, doesn't it?

Yeah. It originated in the late 1970s when Venables' 'side of the 1980s' was vying for a place in the top flight with Alan Mullery's Brighton side. Both of them made it, but neither stayed there very long. One of my less pleasant memories of the time was visiting the Goldstone Ground to see Brighton outplay us 3-0. Possibly with Peter Ward scoring a hat-trick. But you're right that the extent of the enmity is very odd. I suppose Palace don't have any obviously local rivals in SE London, and they didn't want to stoke up anything with Chelsea or Millwall, so Brighton it was. As for Brighton, I suppose there seemed little point in looking for trouble with Southampton or Portsmouth, who are mutually spoken for.

Talking of which, I came across another odd one when visiting friends in Leicester a few weeks back. Apparently they absolutely detest Notts Forest, which must come as quite a surprise to the latter, who have more obviously local rivals to fall out with. I think the alternative was a rivalry with Kettering, which perhaps would have been embarrassing.


EDIT
Speaking of John Beck, did you see that he's been appointed to a reasonably senior position within the FA? Worrying development, you'd think.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Yeah. It originated in the late 1970s when Venables' 'side of the 1980s' was vying for a place in the top flight with Alan Mullery's Brighton side. Both of them made it, but neither stayed there very long. One of my less pleasant memories of the time was visiting the Goldstone Ground to see Brighton outplay us 3-0. Possibly with Peter Ward scoring a hat-trick. But you're right that the extent of the enmity is very odd. I suppose Palace don't have any obviously local rivals in SE London, and they didn't want to stoke up anything with Chelsea or Millwall, so Brighton it was. As for Brighton, I suppose there seemed little point in looking for trouble with Southampton or Portsmouth, who are mutually spoken for.

Talking of which, I came across another odd one when visiting friends in Leicester a few weeks back. Apparently they absolutely detest Notts Forest, which must come as quite a surprise to the latter, who have more obviously local rivals to fall out with. I think the alternative was a rivalry with Kettering, which perhaps would have been embarrassing.


EDIT
Speaking of John Beck, did you see that he's been appointed to a reasonably senior position within the FA? Worrying development, you'd think.

Yeah, it beggars belief actually.

Not only does he preach a brand of (& this is speaking as a U's follower) football that could charitably be described as functional and direct, he's a confirmed piss pot too.

Unless the FA are using him as a cautionary tale he's the absolute last person who should be getting his hands on the coaches of tomorrow.

 

[MW1304]

Yeah. It originated in the late 1970s when Venables' 'side of the 1980s' was vying for a place in the top flight with Alan Mullery's Brighton side. Both of them made it, but neither stayed there very long. One of my less pleasant memories of the time was visiting the Goldstone Ground to see Brighton outplay us 3-0. Possibly with Peter Ward scoring a hat-trick. But you're right that the extent of the enmity is very odd. I suppose Palace don't have any obviously local rivals in SE London, and they didn't want to stoke up anything with Chelsea or Millwall, so Brighton it was. As for Brighton, I suppose there seemed little point in looking for trouble with Southampton or Portsmouth, who are mutually spoken for.

Talking of which, I came across another odd one when visiting friends in Leicester a few weeks back. Apparently they absolutely detest Notts Forest, which must come as quite a surprise to the latter, who have more obviously local rivals to fall out with. I think the alternative was a rivalry with Kettering, which perhaps would have been embarrassing.


EDIT
Speaking of John Beck, did you see that he's been appointed to a reasonably senior position within the FA? Worrying development, you'd think.

No expert but some of the fire-stoking posters over here suggest Derby are the big rivals for Leicester.

 

[Ikki]

Well so much for me being excited about the Teixeria loan, has been sent back already.

Scored on his return in our U-21 shellacking of Spurs' U-21 team.

Liverpool u21 v Tottenham (5-0) 07/10/2013 - YouTube

5th goal; 3:30 time mark.