English Football Thread 2012/2013

[JBlues08]

That was a close one for your boys today - a very shaky start to the season indeed!

Meh. Last season, we started the season like a house on fire only for the tyres to fell off shortly after that. So, perhaps it's not such a bad thing to start slowly and shakily.

 

[War]

Frimpong chooses Ghana over England | Soccer News 2011-02-14

Damn, well the FA needs to try to see if their is still any hope of changing him back. This kid is the tough tackling mid-fielder potentially that ENG have been looking for.

 

[shravi]

Decent performance from Liverpool. They didn't go all out and were very slow and relaxed in their build up play but I didn't expect them to be too fussed against Exeter. Suarez had a very good game, scoring one and assisting in the other two. Carroll struck a thunderbolt that would have burned a hole in the back of the net. Spearing was impressive, I thought. Hendo had a very bad game and didn't seem to believe in himself. After Carroll shouted at him, he just lost it and his passing and crossing game was non-existent. He's still young though, and I did like what I saw of him at Sunderland. I just feel as though he's been a little robotic in his games for Liverpool so far. Maybe he's a little nervous about the big step up because the creativity that made Dalglish sign him is clearly lacking at the moment. As I said, he's still young so hopefully it's all uphill from here.

btw, when is Ben Arfa back?

 

[War]

Owen Hargreaves fights back: The moving story of a gifted footballer's refusal to give up | Mail Online

Will be extremely interested to see how this plays out this season.

 

[JBlues08]

Carling Cup 3rd Round Draw (Matches to be played on week of September 19):

Cardiff City v Leicester City
Nottingham Forest v Newcastle United
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Millwall
Manchester City v Birmingham City
Chelsea v Fulham
Blackburn Rovers v Leyton Orient/Bristol Rovers
Aldershot/Carlisle United v Rochdale
Swindon Town/Southampton v Charlton Athletic/Preston North End
Arsenal v Shrewsbury Town
Everton v West Bromwich Albion
Burnley v MK Dons
Crystal Palace/Wigan Athletic v Middlesbrough
Leeds United v Manchester United
Aston Villa v Bolton Wanderers
Brighton & Hove Albion v Liverpool
Stoke City v Tottenham Hotspur

A couple of decent looking matches there(matches not necessary bolded).

 

[Haarithan]

Loving our opposition.

Nottingham v Newcastle should be fun, given the Toons have conceded a minimum of 2 goals in their last 8 Carling Cup matches.

Villa-Bolton & Stoke-Spurs - pick of the lot imo.

 

[shravi]

Carroll is a distraction. A good player, but still has some ways to go because his first touch is poor. Liverpool changes their whole system for him when he plays and can't play that lovely touch football they played today. It was great to watch and I wish they could play like this every week. Downing was superb and I think he will be a great signing. Henderson finally showed some confidence and creativity and played well (aside from his goal). Adam could find any player on the pitch from a mile away. Lucas was reliable as usual at the back. I think Liverpool could use a younger, faster right mid-fielder than Kuyt or Maxi. Suarez was beastly as usual. He's all class.

 

[JBlues08]

Pleased to see Mata scoring on his debut.

The injury to Drogba was a concern with the way he collided with Ruddy and landed on the ground but thankfully, it doesn't look too serious since he will be released from the hospital later tonight.

 

[barmyarmy]

Been meaning to get this off my chest since Thursday...
Is it just me who is embarrassed by our Europa League representatives?
Spurs are the only team there on merit.
Stoke?
Birmingham?
Fulham?

Let's ditch putting the runners up of a joke cup in it and go back to giving the spots to the teams who don't quite make the top 4. Seriously Liverpool and Everton deserve spots not Stoke and Birmingham. I don't have quite as much of a problem with Fulham as that's a fair play thing but losing the FA cup final is not a good reason for being in Europe.

How about this:
No European spot for the Carling cup as decent sides put out their reserves.
Only a Europa League spot if you actually win the FA cup.

 

[Haarithan]

Yeah, never really been a fan of this system by which England's Europa League representatives are decided.

Regarding our match, I think Shravi more or less summed it up to perfection. Was disgusted by the way we lost our cleansheet though.

Meanwhile, Arsenal finally win a silver-ware!

Premier League football news from the Barclays Premier League | Gunners triumph in table tennis

 

[Haarithan]

New record for Arsenal: Out of the Title Race at the end of August.
If I were Wenger, I'd be borrowing Lord Sugar's ropes when he's done with it.

 

[P Squared]

Absolute madness.

 

[JBlues08]

Tottenham 1-5 Manchester City
Manchester United 8-2 Arsenal

The day the Premier League gone mad!

 

[Haarithan]

All in all, Manchester 13-3 London!
Samir Nasri's the luckiest boy on earth!

 

[barmyarmy]

Watched the second half and couldn't stop laughing...