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pies. they add loft.
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EPL Season
- Thread starter VLM
- Start date
originally posted by VLM:
originally posted by Yixin:
Liverpool needs about 10 players, all outfield. I write this after a convincing derby victory.
There is only one Stevie.
Less convincing yesterday (another Cup Final, hooray!), and Liverpool need perhaps 15 outfield players and at least one goalkeeper who doesn't get himself sent off.
originally posted by Yixin:
originally posted by VLM:
originally posted by Yixin:
Liverpool needs about 10 players, all outfield. I write this after a convincing derby victory.
There is only one Stevie.
Less convincing yesterday (another Cup Final, hooray!), and Liverpool need perhaps 15 outfield players and at least one goalkeeper who doesn't get himself sent off.
And a manager with some grasp of tactics.
I still think Reina is a fine keeper. I think he's just done with Liverpool.
originally posted by .sasha:
OK, in context, Tevez's 7-iron was hilarious.
Definitely looked like he was trying to push a seven instead of hitting a full nine or wedge. I'll defer to Blackwood on that one...
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the worst thing about today's result was that it has seemed grimly inevitable since koscielny stood on barry's foot a week ago.
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is there a good soap opera on , on Monday afternoons ? Need something to watch during the Manchester derby
originally posted by .sasha:
is there a good soap opera on , on Monday afternoons ? Need something to watch during the Manchester derby
Rat bastard! I'll be repairing to the Student Union for the live broadcast (and they'd best have it on) -- do you want me to live blog it here? Happy to do so for you.
Mark Lipton
The Glazers of Manchester United (by way of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) are a known and loathed rapacious pestilence. While their seven-year organized pillage through Old Trafford has yielded plenty of silverware -- four EPL titles and a Champions League win since 2005 -- the latest meticulous financial reporting estimates that Familia Locusta has also siphoned more than $750 million out of the Red Devils in the form of debt, interest on loans, bank charges and personal payments.
At the Etihad, Sheikh Mansour hasn't leveraged anywhere near as much debt because, well, he makes Bill Gates look like a miserable pauper, spending more than a billion pounds since 2008 on transfer fees, player wages and the takeover itself.
Considering that the oil barons could buy out the Glazers with the loose change buried beneath the cushions on their private jet -- not to mention being willing and able to comfortably outbid the Red Devils on any player just for kicks -- it's no contest. Also, only half of Manchester hates Mansour. They all hate the Glazers.
Mark Lipton
At the Etihad, Sheikh Mansour hasn't leveraged anywhere near as much debt because, well, he makes Bill Gates look like a miserable pauper, spending more than a billion pounds since 2008 on transfer fees, player wages and the takeover itself.
Considering that the oil barons could buy out the Glazers with the loose change buried beneath the cushions on their private jet -- not to mention being willing and able to comfortably outbid the Red Devils on any player just for kicks -- it's no contest. Also, only half of Manchester hates Mansour. They all hate the Glazers.
Mark Lipton
I thought that the Red Devils looked old and slow today. Yes, they had the advantage in the air pretty consistently (though the one goal came on a header -- go figger) but strategically they ceded City the wings and left Evra to cope with both Nasri and Zabaleta who carved him up. In reality, one-nil was the best result that they could have hoped for and it was only for a lack of decent play by Agüero that they got it.
Mark
Mark
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the commentary pointed out that SAF fielded similar lineups at away UCL games, and ( as we now know ) with similar results
originally posted by .sasha:
the commentary pointed out that SAF fielded similar lineups at away UCL games, and ( as we now know ) with similar results
Frankly, I'm shocked that United gave City such a run of it given the difference in quality between the squads.
I wonder if this means a year or two in the wilderness while SAF rebuilds (again) or whether this marks the beginning of the next (Mourihno?) era at United?
Zabaletta, Kompany and Toure were great. Nasri can suck it.
United were pedestrian. I can't believe the record they compiled this year. Does anyone know how that happened?
originally posted by VLM:
United were pedestrian. I can't believe the record they compiled this year. Does anyone know how that happened?
I'm pretty sure that SAF was in heavy negotiation with Old Scratch this season. Nothing else makes sense.
Mark Lipton
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originally posted by VLM:
Zabaletta, Kompany and Toure were great. Nasri can suck it.
But Clichy was quite good. And coming from me, you know that means something
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originally posted by VLM:
originally posted by .sasha:
the commentary pointed out that SAF fielded similar lineups at away UCL games, and ( as we now know ) with similar results
United were pedestrian. I can't believe the record they compiled this year. Does anyone know how that happened?
the long and the short of it is that old bacon face-blew it. i can't recall a manure starting line up containing park, scholes and giggs in a single other premiership game this season. with good reason. old legs.
watching park run around chasing shadows in the first 45 mins was like looking at a shelf-talker for shelf-life. and all the time, valencia -- who makes at least some of that record make sense -- was warming the bench.
hilarious.
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originally posted by fatboy:
originally posted by VLM:
originally posted by .sasha:
the commentary pointed out that SAF fielded similar lineups at away UCL games, and ( as we now know ) with similar results
United were pedestrian. I can't believe the record they compiled this year. Does anyone know how that happened?
the long and the short of it is that old bacon face-blew it. i can't recall a manure starting line up containing park, scholes and giggs in a single other premiership game this season. with good reason. old legs.
watching park run around chasing shadows in the first 45 mins was like looking at a shelf-talker for shelf-life. and all the time, valencia -- who makes at least some of that record make sense -- was warming the bench.
hilarious.
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Yeah, the team he fielded could only make sense to him. Even Macca had enough brains to question it.
But looking at the squad, how were they even in the race to begin with?
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originally posted by VLM:
But looking at the squad, how were they even in the race to begin with?
i think it's because the defence and scholes / carrick are mainly solid, and young and especially valencia (esp with fabio behind him) are penetrative enough to make chances in most games. think chelski in the cl, but as a way of life...
when they have stuck to plan a, the results have come. bacon-face's mistakes have come whenever he has tried plans b or c. the squad just isn't up to it, as you note.
given the huge crop of zlotys that the glazers have been spiriting out of the club, i think some chickens may be about to find a home.
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originally posted by fatboy:
originally posted by VLM:
But looking at the squad, how were they even in the race to begin with?
i think it's because the defence and scholes / carrick are mainly solid, and young and especially valencia (esp with fabio behind him) are penetrative enough to make chances in most games. think chelski in the cl, but as a way of life...
when they have stuck to plan a, the results have come. bacon-face's mistakes have come whenever he has tried plans b or c. the squad just isn't up to it, as you note.
given the huge crop of zlotys that the glazers have been spiriting out of the club, i think some chickens may be about to find a home.
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What is your read on what we'll do this off-season? Was the Arteta experiment a one-off, or does it mark a start of recruiting mature players with an eye for the short term? I'm particularly interested in the Clint Dempsey rumors. I think his robustness would give us a nice plan b without sacrificing plan a. Another striker (or two) has to be our first priority..
There are also rumors of a clear-out with an eye towards re-balancing the wage bill in order to change the scale so that we can accommodate the salary of a world class player like RvP. Presumably, that would enable us to compete for the likes of Goetze and Hazard. The M'Vila rumors persist, which I hope is a good thing. I'd also like to see quality depth behind Sagna.
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i hope that the arteta signing is best understood in the context of wilshire - as providing both experienced cover for a season that was always uncertain, and an intelligent model to learn from. if there is anything to that notion, then a similarly experienced signing at left back would make a ton of sense. if there's one thing we learned this season it's that we need good cover for our full backs.
as for the rest, the pluses i take from this season are the continued development of rvp, sagna, song, chesny, and -- not to be understated -- the improvement of the vermaelen / koscielny partnership. at times in the run in, it seemed, dare i say it, almost impressively reliable. i still have an open mind about mertsaeker as cover for them -- did he ever appear in the same team as a fullback?
arteta has also bedded in quite nicely, and the reemergence of rosicky has been welcome and impressive. plus there's the ox, who has shown promising signs, and gibbs has shown flashes, but is still very much a project. if wilshire and diaby are fit and ready to go, then i'd quite like the idea of someone skillful and robust to take benoin's spot. the space in front of gibbs has bothered me this season. dempsey might fit that bill, and would again add something in terms of lending wisdom and experience.
given we already have podolsky on board (he too should bolster the left flank),i think the pressing need is still in defense -- we need more cover at right back and more experience on the left. but as i said, some more heft -- especially skilled heft -- in midfield would also be welcome, and would ease the pressure at the back.
of course, the whale in the corner is rvp. i think it's anyone's guess what he'll do. the above all assumes that he is in the side next season.
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as for the rest, the pluses i take from this season are the continued development of rvp, sagna, song, chesny, and -- not to be understated -- the improvement of the vermaelen / koscielny partnership. at times in the run in, it seemed, dare i say it, almost impressively reliable. i still have an open mind about mertsaeker as cover for them -- did he ever appear in the same team as a fullback?
arteta has also bedded in quite nicely, and the reemergence of rosicky has been welcome and impressive. plus there's the ox, who has shown promising signs, and gibbs has shown flashes, but is still very much a project. if wilshire and diaby are fit and ready to go, then i'd quite like the idea of someone skillful and robust to take benoin's spot. the space in front of gibbs has bothered me this season. dempsey might fit that bill, and would again add something in terms of lending wisdom and experience.
given we already have podolsky on board (he too should bolster the left flank),i think the pressing need is still in defense -- we need more cover at right back and more experience on the left. but as i said, some more heft -- especially skilled heft -- in midfield would also be welcome, and would ease the pressure at the back.
of course, the whale in the corner is rvp. i think it's anyone's guess what he'll do. the above all assumes that he is in the side next season.
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