English Football Thread 2012/2013

[JBlues08]

How did Torres miss that chance for a second goal? 2-2 would probably have been fair.

Lets just say a draw would probably have been a fairer result.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Liverpool were awful. Skrtel's positioning was shocking, midfield was completely anonymous against Parker and Modric who just ran riot, Dalglish's tactics were ridiculous. Carroll as an inverted winger?!? Kuyt or Bellamy should've been brought on at half time for Carroll.

Chelsea should've beaten Utd. Villas-Boas' tactics were superb. The pressing was so brilliant, forcing Utd into so many misplaced passes. They just didn't capitalise on it. Getting Sturridge to cut in late at the back post was also great but Sturridge didn't make the most of it. When you miss 2 open goals and concede 2 goals that were probably offside then it's just not your day.

 

[JBlues08]

Chelsea should've beaten Utd. Villas-Boas' tactics were superb. The pressing was so brilliant, forcing Utd into so many misplaced passes. They just didn't capitalise on it. Getting Sturridge to cut in late at the back post was also great but Sturridge didn't make the most of it. When you miss 2 open goals and concede 2 goals that were probably offside then it's just not your day.

Coupled with the fact that Rooney's goal was a rebound of a Chelsea player IIRC.

 

[barmyarmy]

Chelsea should've beaten Utd. Villas-Boas' tactics were superb. The pressing was so brilliant, forcing Utd into so many misplaced passes. They just didn't capitalise on it. Getting Sturridge to cut in late at the back post was also great but Sturridge didn't make the most of it. When you miss 2 open goals and concede 2 goals that were probably offside then it's just not your day.

Pretty sure that chance was missed by Ramires not Sturridge.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Yeah it was. I was referring to Sturridge getting past Evra at the back post on numerous occasions (he was there when Ramires missed as well) but him not making the most of his chances there.

 

[War]

I would agree with the sentiment that Chelsea didn't deserve to lose and that a draw would have been a fair result.

One thing that i think Chelsea better 3-man midfield exposed was United mid-field, which IMO although United have had a great start to the season is still fairly vulnerable. Still not convinced about Anderson and Carrick has regressed, so to me as the season progresses even if Cleverly continues to step up - United might regret not buying Sneijder - but of course they still have the Janurary transfer window to rectify that.

However ATM Young/Nani on the wings seem unstoppable, not sure if any defense in Europe can handle them right now.

It will be interesting to see how Torres recovers from that horrendous miss, since after his initial goal he was looking close to his best again.

 

[Umair7]

torres miss was the worst miss i have seen

 

[MasterBlaster76]

torres miss was the worst miss i have seen

I laughed my head off when that happened - I was positive he'd score!

Regarding the two 'offside' goals, well we should've had a penalty near the end when Hernandez was fouled in the area and had to go off. The referee booked the offender - so, how was it not a penalty? If he booked him, it was obviously a foul. Oh and one other thing - that 'swings and roundabouts' thing? Well remember an offside goal by Drogba a while back which cost Utd the title? Maybe things do even themselves out even over the course of several seasons.

And yeah, Chelsea could've scored more, but so could we. Rooney's penalty slip and his scuffed shot that went wide, as well as the one that he should've finished himself instead of passing to Berba, who then had it cleared off the line. I think we were worthy winners - if a team gets beaten 3-1, that scoreline doesn't often lie.

Nice that City dropped points today and Liverpool caught a thrashing - a good day all round.

Such as shame that Rooney and Messi weren't displaying their respective form at the CL final - I don't think even Barca could handle Rooney and Utd in this form. Still, there's always this year for revenge.

----------

Liverpool were awful. Skrtel's positioning was shocking, midfield was completely anonymous against Parker and Modric who just ran riot, Dalglish's tactics were ridiculous. Carroll as an inverted winger?!? Kuyt or Bellamy should've been brought on at half time for Carroll.

Chelsea should've beaten Utd. Villas-Boas' tactics were superb. The pressing was so brilliant, forcing Utd into so many misplaced passes. They just didn't capitalise on it..

Well, you have to stick the thing in the net to win football matches.

 

[shravi]

Points wise, it's very open outside the top 2, which is good news for Liverpool. Chelsea with 10, Liverpool with 7, Tottenham with 6, Arsenal with 4. However, tough month ahead for Liverpool with United and Everton.

Everyone is talking about the Torres miss and rightly so, because it was horrendous but don't lose sight of the fact that he actually played well today apart from that. He looked more like his old self and moved well.

 

[Umair7]

^Torres Today 8 Chances 2 On Target 1 Goal 24 Matches 2 Goals

----------

Sky Sports During The Match Showing The Stats OF CR7 And Nani,Nani Has Scored Equal Goals 19 And More Assists
Note-The Stats Only Include First 100 Matches Of CR7

 

[Bevab]

Differentiate them. Can't properly understand them.

----------

And Torres dribbles and passes well, its just that he is not finding the net properly, his finishing has been really poor, many off target, and others weak shots.

Other than scoring he has been doing a good job but still a striker's main job is scoring, which Fernando has not yet done properly.

----------

Actually brilliance on his dribble. He did so well before the miss, that will be a permanent blow to him.

Chelsea should be looking to swap some player with Torres. Milan were said to be tracking him, so a swap of Pato and Torres might occur.

 

[Umair7]

I don't think milan will sell pato anelka want to leave chelsea

 

[Bevab]

It was only a rumour though. Would Roman sell Torres? Never. But it could change in the future.

And also Allegri would not like selling a goal scorer for a goal scratching machine.

----------

Anelka is too old to play in AVB's tactics. Chelsea would be better off finding a replacement for Malouda and selling Anelka.

 

[Umair7]

anelka is better than torres,drogba is better than torres age

 

[JBlues08]

torres miss was the worst miss i have seen

I laughed my head off when that happened - I was positive he'd score!

You people obviously haven't seen some even worse miss than Torres's.

And yeah, Chelsea could've scored more, but so could we. Rooney's penalty slip and his scuffed shot that went wide, as well as the one that he should've finished himself instead of passing to Berba, who then had it cleared off the line. I think we were worthy winners - if a team gets beaten 3-1, that scoreline doesn't often lie.

Yeah, most of your better chances came in the second half when we were chasing the game and exposing ourselves on the counter. Also, the penalty you got shouldn't be a penalty anyway. The replay from one of the angles showed that Bosingwa got the ball first before getting on Nani.

Regarding Ashley Cole, perhaps the reason he wasn't sent off is because Hernandez had already kicked the ball out when he got him.

----------

However ATM Young/Nani on the wings seem unstoppable, not sure if any defense in Europe can handle them right now.

Not if the opposition are more clinical with their chances. Had we done that early in the first half yesterday, things would have been different.

Anyway, just saw these stats.

OptaJoe Opta Sports
20 - Every visiting team to Old Trafford this season has had at least 20 shots: only 2 teams managed this in the previous 5 seasons. Theatre

United conceded 22 shots against Chelsea, 22 at Bolton, 20 against Arsenal, 21 against Spurs and 16 against West Brom. (they?ve allowed more shots than any other Premier League team)