*Official* English Football Season 2014-15

[flibbertyjibber]

For your Phone/Desktop wallpaper needs:

Just right for my dartboard.

 

[sledger]

you're from Southampton.

No I'm not you idiot.

 

[Furball]

Got mine sorted

One of the Premier League's greatest moments.

 

[sledger]

Haha, said it at the time, but it's worth repeating, nearly as good as the John Terry penalty moment.

 

[Furball]

The John Terry moment is the ultimate because of how immediately and crushing his failure would have been.

The Gerrard moment was just hilarious because of his "this does not slip" comments after the Man City game.

 

[Cabinet96]

The Gerrard moment was great because media world had already rammed down our throats how great him winning the league was going to be.

 

[Ikki]

It would've been, it should've been.

From 7th to potentially champions. It would have added another legendary chapter to his career.

What a cruel end to it. I wouldn't have wished it on my worst enemy.

 

[Furball]

The Gerrard moment was great because media world had already rammed down our throats how great him winning the league was going to be.

And because of the whole "single handedly carried Liverpool to trophy X" narrative shoved down our throats when people try to justify why they rate Gerrard ahead of superior midfielders, it was ****ing hilarious that his slip single handedly cost them the league.

 

[Furball]

It would've been, it should've been.

From 7th to potentially champions. It would have added another legendary chapter to his career.

Yeah. As it is he'll just need to retire with the same number of league and Champions League winners' medals as Djimi Traore.

What. A. Player.

 

[Ikki]

And because of the whole "single handedly carried Liverpool to trophy X" narrative shoved down our throats when people try to justify why they rate Gerrard ahead of superior midfielders, it was ****ing hilarious that his slip single handedly cost them the league.

A lot of butthurt in this post. I don't think any one player really carries a team; but he's got to be one of the few players who've had the most burden. He's won basically everything at Liverpool besides the league - came 2nd thrice - and he's done that with less help than any player I can think of.

There are no superior midfielders; he ****s on all the others.

 

[Pothas]

What, all midfielders? Or just English ones?

 

[Furball]

Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and Patrick Vieira would like a word.

 

[Ikki]

What, all midfielders? Or just English ones?

Correction: all players, everyone, in history .

Nah, anyway to me there is no EPL midfielder who has been better and from 04-09 I think cumulatively he was the best player in the world. Definitely was thereabouts for a year or two. He was robbed of that Ballon d'Or after Istanbul.

Anyway, it's no secret I'm clearly biased but I just don't see how you could make a more complete midfielder. He literally played every position in midfield to a Player of the Year standard. I don't get the hate for him at all, it simply baffles me. Maybe he said or did something here or there to get on peoples' ****, but the hate is just ridiculous. I don't even hate Terry or Giggs and they're pieces of **** in comparison.

Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and Patrick Vieira would like a word.

All surpassed when he was 23-24.

Heck, Vieira himself basically admitted it. Objectively, I just don't think their argument is as strong. He did what they did, as good if not better and did a whole lot more. He's like a hybrid of them, plus add in Lampard's goal scoring, plus the ability to play out wide because of his speed.

 

[Pothas]

The Gerrard thing has been done on here probably more than any other topic. Don't really have much issue with people calling him the best English midfielder of his generation, there are arguments that can made either way.

Broaden it out though and it is such an obvious no. There is this guy called Xavi.

 

[Ikki]

The Gerrard thing has been done on here probably more than any other topic. Don't really have much issue with people calling him the best English midfielder of his generation, there are arguments that can made either way.

Broaden it out though and it is such an obvious no. There is this guy called Xavi.

I like Xavi, but I think he's a become a bit overrated. Was not even really considered one of the best midfielder until 08 and then more or less the Pep revolution happens and his team change football forever - midfielders averaging 100 passes per game and 70% possession overall. It's no coincidence more or less anyone else Pep coaches starts putting up that kind of influence, passing-wise at least. Xabi Alonso is averaging 105 passes at Bayern, and he's more of a career 60-70 passes per game kind of guy. This is a long way of saying; I think Pep made Xavi in terms of how he is renown at the moment.

I rate Pirlo higher.

 

[Pothas]

Has been absolutely central to possibly the greatest club sides ever and one of the best international ones as well. Has won everything, what more could you want?

 

[Ikki]

Has been absolutely central to possibly the greatest club sides ever and one of the best international ones as well. Has won everything, what more could you want?

I edited the above, if you want to see my reasoning. I'm not saying he is not a great midfielder; I just don't rate him as most people do because of what has happened in the last 7-8 years. For me both that Barca and Spain team had a comparative advantage: playing with more or less the same players (most of them, the best of their generation), who've learned football in the same setup and used a revolutionary way to play the game - suffocating possession - to win an unprecedented amount of titles in this span of time.

I think for that time they had a comparative advantage and as we've seen it has been less and less effective as teams have learned to counter it. Consequently, so too has Xavi. Even Iniesta has had a poor season for his standards - his team might win the treble and he's been a passenger for the most part. Outside of high volume and high accuracy passing; I don't think other facets of their game stand out.

Take Pirlo; he does what they do; regardless of what team he plays in; and he is also one of the best creators from the deep - akin to an attacking midfielder. I think he'd be universally great no matter what team he'd play in; I have my doubts about Xavi.

 

[Uppercut]

The Gerrard thing has been done on here probably more than any other topic. Don't really have much issue with people calling him the best English midfielder of his generation, there are arguments that can made either way.

Broaden it out though and it is such an obvious no. There is this guy called Xavi.

Yeah we're going off topic, let's get back to the slip.

John Terry's still the marginally funnier moment for mine, but the fact that he went on the win the CL tacked on a downer ending to that one. Gerrard's sequel was much better, when he lost Liverpool the following season's crucial match because United fans kept singing about the slip and made him lose the rag.

I can't think of any moments that come anywhere near close to those two though. The Messi+Ronaldo of footballing schadenfreude.

 

[Ikki]

It's not a 'mistake' but for me :

Losing the league more or less with the last kick of the season, to your City rivals. I think I've mentioned it before; I'm not quite proud of it; but my cousin is a United fan and we gave it to him. Surprised he didn't have a heart attack.

He maintains it was that suicidal game United City (1-6) loss that cost them the league - that if you'd just lost 3-1 that would have done it.

 

[Furball]

Yeah we're going off topic, let's get back to the slip.

John Terry's still the marginally funnier moment for mine, but the fact that he went on the win the CL tacked on a downer ending to that one. Gerrard's sequel was much better, when he lost Liverpool the following season's crucial match because United fans kept singing about the slip and made him lose the rag.

I can't think of any moments that come anywhere near close to those two though. The Messi+Ronaldo of footballing schadenfreude.

Terry hasn't played in a victorious Champions League side.