English Football Thread 2012/2013

[MasterBlaster76]

BBC - Phil McNulty: Crawley expose Man Utd's squad depth

Very true. Obetran & Bebe were always joke buys. SAF should have really bought Van Vart, especially when the made a "come a get me plea to United" when he leaving Madrid.

Plus Carrick just continues to not be able to step up.

Yes - hopefully we'll get Bale in the summer, or someone like that. Bebe is useless and Obertan's not too far behind.

Man United at the moment aren't exactly a big pond anyway.

I wonder what that makes Chelski, being more than ten points behind us?

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Utd have confirmed they're after Stekelenburg. The goalkeeping coach preferred Neuer though I think, but Stekelenburg has the scouts and van der Sar's backing.

Hamsik's too erratic I think. Don't really need another like him considering we have Nani, Rooney and Berbatov who are all hot and cold players. Someone like Modric would be absolutely perfect, but don't really want to see Carrick as a benchwarmer.

 

[JBlues08]

I wonder what that makes Chelski, being more than ten points behind us?

10 points? What 10 points?

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Utd have confirmed they're after Stekelenburg. The goalkeeping coach preferred Neuer though I think, but Stekelenburg has the scouts and van der Sar's backing.

Hugo Lloris might be another option especially when he said he wants to move to Man United a few days ago.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

10 points? What 10 points?

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I'm sorry - I meant twelve points.

 

[JBlues08]

I'm sorry - I meant twelve points.

That's right.

Anyway, we're just having one of those seasons and one that is similar to what you guys experienced about 6-7 years ago.

 

[Auwais]

Utd have confirmed they're after Stekelenburg. The goalkeeping coach preferred Neuer though I think, but Stekelenburg has the scouts and van der Sar's backing.

Hamsik's too erratic I think. Don't really need another like him considering we have Nani, Rooney and Berbatov who are all hot and cold players. Someone like Modric would be absolutely perfect, but don't really want to see Carrick as a benchwarmer.

Not convinced by Stekelenburg. Seems prone to lapses a bit too often for a keeper playing at the level he is. You're right on Hamsik, although if he played a more deeper role more often, I think he could dictate games. We'll just have to wait and see what happens regarding that central midfield area.

Hugo Lloris might be another option especially when he said he wants to move to Man United a few days ago.

He seems to flap at crosses quite often but I rate him higher than Stekelenburg.

 

[War]

BBC - Football Tactics: Can Torres and Drogba play together?

 

[Bevab]

How about De Gea for United? His age his somewhat the reason why you should think twice.

 

[JBlues08]

BBC - Football Tactics: Can Torres and Drogba play together?

David Pleat wrote on this issue too on The Guardian.

Time for Chelsea to pair Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres | The Guardian


On the Man United's goalkeeper topic, why not try getting the one that is sitting on the bench at other side of Manchester?

Pepe Reina also maybe a good choice and was recently linked to Man United too.

 

[JBlues08]

With Spurs losing at Blackpool, the night just got a whole lot better!

 

[War]

Yes - hopefully we'll get Bale in the summer, or someone like that. Bebe is useless and Obertan's not too far behind.

Last i heared rumored was the spurs slapped a ?100 million price tag on him ha..


Cant see him leaving Spurs once Harry is their though. Harry would have to become ENG manager next year, while at the same time presumably Giggs will retire next season & SAF will use him to try and convince Bale to go to United.

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On the Man United's goalkeeper topic, why not try getting the one that is sitting on the bench at other side of Manchester?

Ye definitely, im surprised Given hasn't been mentioned as an option yet. He would be perfect.

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David Pleat wrote on this issue too on The Guardian.

Time for Chelsea to pair Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres | The Guardian

Ha clash of two opinions. One man believes Drogba & Anelka are too similar to play together, while another thinks they could.

If i where Chelsea fan i would certainly want both starting regularly:


--------------------------Torres-----------Drogba------------------------

Malouda-------------------Lampard--------Essein------------------Benayon

Missing Yossi currently of course.

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Meh, vdV's a bit of a crock and prefers being the big fish in a small pond.

Id say VDV killed the reputation based on his performances during the back end of his Madrid career.

 

[JBlues08]

Ha clash of two opinions. One man believes Drogba & Anelka are too similar to play together, while another thinks they could.

If i where Chelsea fan i would certainly want both starting regularly:


--------------------------Torres-----------Drogba------------------------

Malouda-------------------Lampard--------Essein------------------Benayon

Missing Yossi currently of course.

After watching yesterday's match against FC Copenhagen, I would say Anelka and Torres work better than Drogba and Torres. Anelka IMO can at least drop back into midfield and link up the play which helps the team.

By having both Torres and Drogba upfront, they will just stay upfront and wait for something to happen around them.

As for the formation, we did deploy the 4-4-2 yesterday but that is extremely risky against better opponents than FC Copenhagen. We lacked a natural holding midfielder to protect the back four but they did not exploit the space between our midfield and defence enough which is somewhat fortunate from our point of view.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

David Pleat wrote on this issue too on The Guardian.

Time for Chelsea to pair Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres | The Guardian


On the Man United's goalkeeper topic, why not try getting the one that is sitting on the bench at other side of Manchester?

Pepe Reina also maybe a good choice and was recently linked to Man United too.

I would agree, if Given wasn't as old as he is - like Van der Sar, he's surely coming to the end of his career - we need a young keeper for the future.

 

[War]

I would agree, if Given wasn't as old as he is - like Van der Sar, he's surely coming to the end of his career - we need a young keeper for the future.

When United bought VDS he was 34 IIRC & United have gotten 5 superb seasons from him. Given is 34 now & potentially they could get 5 solid years from him too.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

The reason Utd aren't really pushing for De Gea or Lloris is because of their inexperience. I like the idea of signing keepers who are into their 30's and you can get 3/4 years at least of solid, reliable keeping. No point getting a 20 year old wonderkid who's erratic and can't be trusted as keeper. That's the main issue with keepers - trust. Those who have it succeed, those who don't fail.