English Football Thread 2012/2013
- Thread starter evertonfan
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MasterBlaster76
ICC Chairman
Don't know that he was. A different player certainly, knew how to tackle for starters, but almost anyone who played with Scholes and a vast portion of people who played against him, rate him as one of the best players they played against. One of my favourite ever players despite not supporting Man U
Gotta be Cantona and Rooney up front. Absolute potential to be a liability, but would be fun finding out ha
Cantona and Rooney up front - now that, I would love to see!
Dr. Pepper
Chairman of Selectors
As much as I loved Cantona, I don't think he was that good. I think his presence at the club has made people exaggerate his ability.
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I'd have Rio and Vidic because they've been such a brilliant partnership. Same with Yorke + Cole.
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I'd have Rio and Vidic because they've been such a brilliant partnership. Same with Yorke + Cole.
MasterBlaster76
ICC Chairman
That's an interesting view on Cantona, you might be right. I think that Cantona at Man Utd was extremely special, but he might not have clicked with any other club, or manager. I think he was that sort of player - and Sir Alex knew how to handle him. He certainly wasn't as good after the long ban - it's hard to say why, there was something missing for me and I'm not talking about the dirty side of his game, although that was pretty much nowhere to be seen after his ban. By taming his aggression he lost something as a player - which is what would happen with Rooney as well.
What about Bruce/Pallister? That defensive combination was very hard to break down for me - I still can't figure out why Bruce never played for England! Irwin would make it into my team as well. Great defender and lethal going forwards as well. His freekicks were amazing and he was a great penalty taker too.
There are so many good players who could make it into the team - what about Andrei Kanchelskis?
The one position I would be certain about is keeper - Peter Schmeichel by quite some distance, with Van der Sar second.
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Dr. Pepper
Chairman of Selectors
Cantona has become an icon at the club and deservedly so but I think a lot of people look at his career with rose tinted glasses. How much did he actually achieve? Did he do it at the biggest stages? Utd failed in Europe - obviously you can't blame him as the team as a whole played too openly to really succeed but he was never really tested there.
The 99 Utd side were also incredibly open but they did succeed in Europe, and that was because of the truly brilliant individuals in the side. Cole and Yorke were the best forward partnership in the world at the time.
Bruce was my 3rd choice defender. He was such a solid player and great leader. Pallister wasn't better than Rio, Vidic, Stam or even Berg though in my opinion.
You have to have Ronaldo and Giggs on the wings and they were better than Kanchelskis by quite some distance.
The 99 Utd side were also incredibly open but they did succeed in Europe, and that was because of the truly brilliant individuals in the side. Cole and Yorke were the best forward partnership in the world at the time.
Bruce was my 3rd choice defender. He was such a solid player and great leader. Pallister wasn't better than Rio, Vidic, Stam or even Berg though in my opinion.
You have to have Ronaldo and Giggs on the wings and they were better than Kanchelskis by quite some distance.
thedon5
Panel of Selectors
Great day for RVP, and also for young Carl Jenkinson. He will be a great player. Performed really well today and showed that he is a much better deputy to Sagna than the hapless Johan Djourou, who I have lost all faith in. I hope Djourou gets transferred, he is certified as useless.
Obviously Jenkinson shaky against Utd in his first game. He's 19 for heaven's sake. I bet a 36 year old would be even more shaky if he made his Arsenal debut against Utd.
Santos improved as well, I have a feeling it was because minimal defending was needed though. He needs to be tried on the left of midfield IMO.
Great to have Vermaelen back, added some class to the defence.
Also, Arteta is also looking pretty solid in midfield.
Despite the good run of form, reinforcements are still needed in January for this injury-prone squad. Guys like M'Vila, Vertonghen and Hazard are what we need.
Obviously Jenkinson shaky against Utd in his first game. He's 19 for heaven's sake. I bet a 36 year old would be even more shaky if he made his Arsenal debut against Utd.
Santos improved as well, I have a feeling it was because minimal defending was needed though. He needs to be tried on the left of midfield IMO.
Great to have Vermaelen back, added some class to the defence.
Also, Arteta is also looking pretty solid in midfield.
Despite the good run of form, reinforcements are still needed in January for this injury-prone squad. Guys like M'Vila, Vertonghen and Hazard are what we need.
shravi
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Alright, well I'm no longer in as much shock and am no longer as angry so my thoughts on the game...
Suarez wasn't at his usual mesmerizing best and that probably had the greatest influence on the result. His first touch was poor and his passing and vision wasn't upto his usual standard either. Despite what others might say, I thought Carroll was great today. He got into great positions, ran hard and actually tried. However, he did get Liverpool's best chance of the game. Also, while he did have a great game, I didn't understand his role. He was just playing knockdowns which nobody was even remotely interested in following up. If you're going to make him do knockdowns as least run forward and make the most of it so your plan actually makes some sense. That's why I think Bellamy should start with Suarez. I don't know if his knees can handle it though.
Downing started the game brilliantly and linked up very well with Enrique in the first 25-30 minutes. However, he soon became anonymous and I wasn't sure why he played the last 20-25 minutes of the first half as an inverted winger. I know that he does that often but it was just ill-advised when the other winger was Henderson. It just made Henderson look even worse. Henderson had a truly awful game. His passing was just abysmal. However, I wish Kenny would play him in his natural central position if he insists on starting with him. Adam had a decent game and didn't play as much Hollywood football. Johnson was okay going forward but left a lot to be desired defensively. He was almost playing as a third central defender and left the left flank far too open for Swansea to attack at times.
Suarez wasn't at his usual mesmerizing best and that probably had the greatest influence on the result. His first touch was poor and his passing and vision wasn't upto his usual standard either. Despite what others might say, I thought Carroll was great today. He got into great positions, ran hard and actually tried. However, he did get Liverpool's best chance of the game. Also, while he did have a great game, I didn't understand his role. He was just playing knockdowns which nobody was even remotely interested in following up. If you're going to make him do knockdowns as least run forward and make the most of it so your plan actually makes some sense. That's why I think Bellamy should start with Suarez. I don't know if his knees can handle it though.
Downing started the game brilliantly and linked up very well with Enrique in the first 25-30 minutes. However, he soon became anonymous and I wasn't sure why he played the last 20-25 minutes of the first half as an inverted winger. I know that he does that often but it was just ill-advised when the other winger was Henderson. It just made Henderson look even worse. Henderson had a truly awful game. His passing was just abysmal. However, I wish Kenny would play him in his natural central position if he insists on starting with him. Adam had a decent game and didn't play as much Hollywood football. Johnson was okay going forward but left a lot to be desired defensively. He was almost playing as a third central defender and left the left flank far too open for Swansea to attack at times.
thedon5
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