English Football Thread 2012/2013

[Skater]

Norwich made it to the 4th round, but we won't be going any further as we've got Spurs at home.

 

[Bevab]

Spurs don't look much dangerous to me.

 

[shravi]

Glad the young players got another run out today. Sahin was obviously our best player. Looks like he's getting up to speed now. Shouldn't be long before he's in the first XI. Suso came on and was involved in the goal. Really looking forward to seeing how he goes this season. Assaidi looked a threat and had the better of the West Brom right-back all evening. He has pace and trickery, but more importantly, it looks like he has a good football brain. Before crossing, he always looked up and if there wasn't anyone there he reassessed, he didn't just blindly & haphazardly put a cross in and hope for the best, as many wingers do. Pacheco looked good in behind the striker but I'm still not convinced he's a Liverpool player and I don't think it will be long before he's sold. Yesil had a difficult game, but I wasn't expecting him to go out and get a hattrick by any means. It's a good experience for him at this age. He definitely needs to put on some weight as he got into good positions but was pushed off the ball far too easily. Like most academy players, looks like stamina is an issue for him as well. That will come with time and experience in the first team though.

 

[thedon5]

Good game for us, Arshavin showing his form of old and Theo with a couple of outstanding finishes.

But bloody hell, Gnabry was goddamn amazing. This guy is going to have a huge future, and can definitely break into the first team this season, especially if Theo and Arshavin are off.

 

[War]

Football and Finance, Liverpool and the Top Six | The Tomkins Times | News, Opinion, Statistics and Discussion about Liverpool FC Football Club

Talks through why we suddenly couldn?t afford a ?6m rated 29 year old Clint Dempsey. As well as financial comparisons with the Top 5 clubs in England.

Good read. Such articles further convince me that outfit the journalism world, they are people who really understand the inner intricacies of football.

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Fine read.

Jonathan Wilson - Liverpool Tactics Under Brendan Rodgers Undermined By Individual Mistakes

Ye fair assesment, Liverpool certainly haven't played as badly to be where they are at the moment.

Need a striker in January though.

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He's just far too limited, that's what leads to his inconsistency. That's where almost all of the criticism he gets comes from. Yes, he has a decent finish and he is extremely quick, but he can't do much else. If he were able to dribble, perhaps everyone would be slightly more forgiving of him. The truth is he will most likely never cut it at Arsenal. He isn't a player who can thrive playing possession football, he will really thrive in a counter-attacking set up where he can use his pace and 'ability' to kick the ball really far and run after it fast.

I'm not against playing him as a striker. Wenger is though, I feel that's why he keeps making these statements that Walcott will eventually be a striker, he wants to keep Theo happy without actually playing him there. There are still question marks over our centre forward position, so I have no problem with him getting a game or two there. Even Gervinho got a game there, so he'll probably get his chance soon enough. Perhaps in a cup game.

My opinions are all entirely based on him playing for Arsenal, so if everyone else is basing their opinions on him at England, your opinions will obviously be different to mine.

Don't disagree with your POV and i'm judging Theo based on his arsenal and England career combined.

As you said it worth trying him out as striker, since its clear now he has become disenchanted by playing out on the right-wing.

 

[JD10]

Just throwing controvesy out here but how could Terry only get 4 games ban and Suarez gets 8 for something that they did exactly the same ! Some people think Suarez was harshly done by (me included) but this shows how much the FA loves Terry and Suarez was harshly done by.

 

[shravi]

What's done is done. Time to move on now.

 

[War]

As these two articles rightfully state, debating/questioning the length of the respective punishments that Terry or Suarez received is too to lose sight of bigger racist problem and appalling tribalism that exist in English football.

Oliver Holt Column: The real battle against racism in football hasn't even begun - Oliver Holt - Mirror Online

Abandon the tribalism -- racism is the issue - ESPNFC


However I think convicting him of "racism" does not make sense or at best in poor wording. If it is the FA are rightfully trying to eradicate the racially toxic language to be publicly uttered by its leading practitioners - that is fine and commendable.

But the fact is Terry was cleared by courts of England for simply uttering those comments in a query like manner. He did utter those words to Ferdinand in a discriminatory manner. So all these headlines in the media that he has been accused of "racism" is a bit off the mark and a bit misleading to a casual observer of this case. Since I don't believe Terry is a racist at all, neither does the judicial system of this country.

At best they should have said, is the he is guilty of breaching the FA code of conduct for using abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour with reference to colour/race to the Ferdinand.

 

[Epic]

City win, United loss, wonderful start to the weekend.

 

[Sahil 7]

Very bad to see united lost and that to at old trafford. van persie had a very great chance to equalize on 69 min but he missed it

 

[War]

It may be floggin a dead horse, but good god if Hodgson can tempt Scholes out of retirement, England just may be reach another level in brazil 2014. Can't find enough superlatives to praise him.

With Gary Neville in the england management and a close personal of Scholes, he is perfect man for Hodgson to send to negotiate with him. The more i see Scholes plays like this for United - the more I feel England are being robbed.


Speaking on United's mid-field, i think its obvious that after such a performance (especially in the first half), that calls for United to have a touch tackling mid-fielder amongst the mid-field trio is needed. Especially with the defensive vulnerabilities of Scholes/Carrick/Kagawa.

But inversely those three guys are excellent on the ball and the more they play together, i think it will develop greater understanding and teams will find it hard to get the ball of them.

Similarly to what Xavi/Busquets/Alonso does for Spain and Barca.

 

[Auwais]

Carrick/Scholes just doesn't work these days. It works even less when you have another 35+ year old playing alongside them.

Why on earth Cleverley and Anderson weren't involved baffles me, Fergie's become far too reliant on his aging midfield players for his own good.

 

[BKB1991]

I thought maybe fitness reasons may have been the reason why Anderson/Cleverley didnt play. Both looked bright against Newcastle. Scholes was too good today

 

[thedon5]

Very bad to see united lost and that to at old trafford. van persie had a very great chance to equalize on 69 min but he missed it

Something you'll get used to with van Persie - he scores some terrific goals, but he misses so many clear chances as well. He is not perfect.

Anyway, great to see Utd lose, this is the one fixture I'm happy to see Spurs win in . COYS!

Terrible loss for us though, I'm not sure what the hell we were doing and what I saw. Bloody terrible football from us, can't believe we were dominated by Chelsea.

Also Diaby out yet again, puts pressure on Jack to come back.

 

[shravi]

We're gonna have a party, we're gonna have a party, we're gonna have a PARTY, WHEN SUAREZ GETS A PEN!

Getting slightly ridiculous now. Rodgers went slightly overboard when he said that Suarez is completely honest because he does go down easily sometimes, but his reputation has come before him these past few weeks.

Now, onto the game-

Non-Liverpool supporters have been saying this for a while and perhaps Liverpool supporters felt it too but didn't want to say it aloud. Pepe Reina is really slipping and has a bit of a shocking start to the season. He needs to pick his game up or Rodgers may have to dip into the market for a new first keeper in the summer.

Wisdom looked alright but it's obvious he isn't a right back. However, you don't put young center backs in that position when you are blooding them in. You ease them in through the side back positions. I suspect Liverpool are doing the same with Kelly though he seems a bit more natural in the role. However, he has played a lot more games in the first team than Wisdom so perhaps it will come with time. Wisdom's positioning wasn't great as he was often too central, which not only made it easier for Norwich to attack from the left but also isolated Suso from teammates or pushed players like Suarez and others too wide to compensate for Wisdom's lack of movement.

Now, onto the positives:

Suso looks like a hell of a player as I've said before. His interplay with Suarez was telepathic at times. He played well in an unfamiliar inverted winger position, though there isn't really much place for him in his best position with Sahin, Allen and Gerrard occupying the midfield 3 (with Lucas to come).

The stats paint a pretty accurate picture, really:

- Joe Allen : passes-95, completed-91, success rate - 96%
- Liverpool made 734 passes today, which is the most by LFC in the history of PL
- 67% possession