English Premier League EPL Thread

[greygoose]

Being a United fan is more trouble than it's worth and I have grown sick of constantly having to be on the defensive just because they're the team it's cool to dislike.

It's part of being a football fan (or any sports team in general)...

 

[dino76m]

we have been at the end of united taunts for years now, we havent stopped supporting liverpool just because they stopped playing good football or not won the league.. thats what being a fan is all about

 

[greygoose]

we have been at the end of united taunts for years now, we havent stopped supporting liverpool just because they stopped playing good football or not won the league.. thats what being a fan is all about

 

[thecorsair]

Expectations are a lot higher for United fans.

From 2008-2011 they got to 3 Champions League finals.

They lost 2 of them but there was no shame in that because Barcelona were making virtually everyone they played look stupid.

Just 3 years on they look like missing out on qualifying for a wooden spoon and require about £200 million spending on the squad plus a new manager and coaching staff if they're ever going to get anywhere near another final of any kind, let alone the Champions League.

How were things allowed to go to **** so quickly?

 

[greygoose]

How were things allowed to go to **** so quickly?

Fergie left the playing squad in a right mess. With no Fergie factor you're left with a very average squad and now have a very average manager who has never won a trophy.

 

[thecorsair]

Fergie left the playing squad in a right mess. With no Fergie factor you're left with a very average squad and now have a very average manager who has never won a trophy.

Exactly.

But Fergie wasn't always right.

Despite this the "In Moyes We Trust" brigade still think Moyes ought to be given a chance because Fergie picked him.

It'll be intresting to see whether they think the same after the next transfer window closes and the only addition is Baines....if he wants to join a team lower in the table.

 

[RagingBull]

FFS cant Arsenal even win a game at home anymore. Time to follow a more successful team. Maybe the Harlem Globetrotters.

I'm done with Arsenal. They can't even hold a one nil lead for a few minutes

Huge test for Arsenal next week. Man City, who are still my favourites to win the league this season

 

[thecorsair]

https://www.caughtoffside.com/2013/...manager-david-moyes-sooner-rather-than-later/

https://www.caughtoffside.com/2013/...ils-to-secure-champions-league-qualification/

 

[RagingBull]

https://www.caughtoffside.com/2013/...manager-david-moyes-sooner-rather-than-later/

https://www.caughtoffside.com/2013/...ils-to-secure-champions-league-qualification/

What can't help Moyes is how good Everton have become without him. Moyes got praised for managing Everton on a supposed shoestring budget but there all round game has quickly become better since Martinez has taken over & who has also bought wisely & are currently 6 points clear of Utd. If they had beaten Arsenal they would of been joint 2nd now. A couple of the Everton players have sneakily mentioned that they prefer Martinez to Moyes in interviews.

But I do feel sorry for Moyes. The mess Utd are in is partly Ferguson's fault IMO, he let the team age & his late signings have been poor with the exception of RVP who they over payed for really when you take in account his age & that he only had a year left on his contract. If Fergie wasn't secretly planning on retiring I doubt he would of payed the money he did for RVP but he knew he would make the difference for that one last season.

Man Utd really need to buy a stellar player this Jan, they need to lift the spirits of there supporters but Jan is a damn hard time to get a class player but saying that Falcao is apparently unhappy at Monaco. I still can't believe he went there

 

[axecutioner18]

Bayern Munich = No thanks. I don't like the way Guardiola makes his teams play. Passing the ball around endlessly until the opposition falls asleep is OK if I'm playing FIFA but dull to watch.

You obviously have no idea how Bayern are playing with Pep. If you had any real interest in the 'game' as you say, rather than ManU you would/should have seen the Bayern match vs Man City. As for putting the opposition to sleep. Pep's teams tend to finish the match off in the first half most of the time.

THAT is why he is considered such a top coach. Winning, with style and ruthlessness.

Just stick with Utd. It's just a blip, every club goes through it. Even the greats around Europe have had it like Barce in the 90's but look how there supporters got rewarded in the end.

To be honest Barca had some of their best times in the 90s and then hit their lows, it was only during the start of the 2000s that they really really started to become as inconsistent as say Fulham.
The management was ancient and were not bothered about what the performances were. Sold the players integral to their success to avoid increasing their salary (Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Figo)
got rid of anyone who questioned their authority be it a club captain and legend who wanted changes for the good of the club (Guardiola)

It was a terrible terrible feeling to see an indecisive Kluivert, inexperienced Saviola and an aged Luis Enrique slaving out in the front, while current Ajax coach and then club captain Frank DeBoer trying to somehow hold the defence line with a young Carles Puyol who was always competing with Thiago Motta on who could rack up more red cards.

ManU are still mid table with moe than half the season to go and have already qualified for the next round of CL, so its not so bad a situation yet. In those days if Barca qualified for the CL it felt like a miracle.

 

[thecorsair]

What can't help Moyes is how good Everton have become without him. Moyes got praised for managing Everton on a supposed shoestring budget but there all round game has quickly become better since Martinez has taken over & who has also bought wisely & are currently 6 points clear of Utd. If they had beaten Arsenal they would of been joint 2nd now. A couple of the Everton players have sneakily mentioned that they prefer Martinez to Moyes in interviews.

But I do feel sorry for Moyes. The mess Utd are in is partly Ferguson's fault IMO, he let the team age & his late signings have been poor with the exception of RVP who they over payed for really when you take in account his age & that he only had a year left on his contract. If Fergie wasn't secretly planning on retiring I doubt he would of payed the money he did for RVP but he knew he would make the difference for that one last season.

Man Utd really need to buy a stellar player this Jan, they need to lift the spirits of there supporters but Jan is a damn hard time to get a class player but saying that Falcao is apparently unhappy at Monaco. I still can't believe he went there

Had United won the league the year City did Fergie would have retired then, but ending his career with City as champions was never an option.

So he got the Glazers to stump up the cash for RVP to ensure he'd go out on a high with his reputation intact among the majority of United fans.

Mission accomplished.

But he left the squad in a mess and didn't help by recommending a manager who was barely adequate enough for a Premier League team, let alone one of the biggest clubs on the planet to follow him.

It's the equivalent of a guy running a corner shop being asked to go and run Harrods.

As far as new blood is concerned United have a dubious history with South Americans eg,

Veron = Lazier than Berbatov.
Kleberson = Crap
Forlan = Scored goals elsewhere but did bugger all at United.
Heinze = Decent, but fell out with Fergie towards the end.
Tevez = Good, but major attitude problems.
Anderson = Crap
Valencia = Crap
Rafael = Has improved a lot in the last year but still not outstanding.
Fabio = Not as good as his brother.

With that in mind I think Falcao would be a risk even if he could be convinced to join.

He's also a striker, it's people to provide the ammunition that they're sorely lacking.

 

[greygoose]

THAT is why he is considered such a top coach. Winning, with style and ruthlessness.

I'm sure Utd fans would rather have Pep as coach than Moyes any day.

 

[thecorsair]

You obviously have no idea how Bayern are playing with Pep. If you had any real interest in the 'game' as you say, rather than ManU you would/should have seen the Bayern match vs Man City. As for putting the opposition to sleep. Pep's teams tend to finish the match off in the first half most of the time.

THAT is why he is considered such a top coach. Winning, with style and ruthlessness.

Being entirely focused on United for so long and paying virtually no attention to the goings on elsewhere in the game means I have missed a LOT of stuff.

I have read the occasional thing about how Arsenal have tried to emulate Pep's Barcelona though and assumed that was how he has Bayern Munich playing.

My bad. I was wrong. Again

If Munich are currently winning trophies then obviously they're playing better than Arsenal have for the better part of a decade.

 

[axecutioner18]

Pep has till date won atleast 3 trophies every season so he is quite a successful manager (though he has had 4 complete seasons and is ongoing his 5th in charge as a manager)

However I dont think belittling Arsenal is very wise on your part. Yes they havent been very fortunate with trophies in their recent history, but its not like no other team hasnt gone through the same cycle.

 

[thecorsair]

Pep has till date won atleast 3 trophies every season so he is quite a successful manager (though he has had 4 complete seasons and is ongoing his 5th in charge as a manager)

However I dont think belittling Arsenal is very wise on your part. Yes they havent been very fortunate with trophies in their recent history, but its not like no other team hasnt gone through the same cycle.

Moyes is quite successful too....getting a 6 year deal worth something like £5 million a year to take one of the biggest teams on the planet into obscurity isn't a bad reward for a decade of holding Everton back

As for the Arsenal remark you're probably right, but their fans have hardly wasted time in laughing at United's demise so it was a response to that.

I can't bring myself to watch United any more, but I'll always have a soft spot for them on some level, even if it's just restricted to memories of the last 20 years or so.

One day that sticks out was the FA Cup game in 1990 at Forest where the rumor was that if United lost Fergie would have been sacked. I saw them win 1-0 and they went on to win the competition.

The rest is history.

 

[greygoose]

I can't bring myself to watch United any more, but I'll always have a soft spot for them on some level, even if it's just restricted to memories of the last 20 years or so.

As a football fan (and Liverpool fan who's never witnessed Liverpool winning the Premier League title) I find this such a poor thing to read. Support 'your' team.

 

[heon123]

Guardiola is a beast, I'm praying he comes to United. It'll probably be his biggest challenge plus want to see what he does with Januzaj (Only reason to watch united nowadays) until he gets lured away by Madrid with their money. Hate them so much because of the way they go about buying the best players and how their fans treat United especially after United practically made their whole team. cough ronaldo cough

not much to say about the united situation, its really difficult to see them playing without thinking its a horror film but like everything it takes time so ill just be patient. plus it reveals the real united fans, not hitting at corsair since i understand his opinion and hes been a united fan a lot more than i have

just wanted to post this

 

[heon123]

balon dor talk?


being a united fan my answers obvious but i want to hear other peoples opinions because messi was a monster last season as usual and ribery for me not so much since the treble took the whole teams effort and i wouldnt be suprised if robben or muller was also elected since i think their both better players than ribs

 

[axecutioner18]

I doubt Messi will win this season because voting for the Balon D'Or works until almost November, so its not last season but last season and more effectively the last few months which remain fresh in the minds of voters.
Messi spent most of the last 3 months injured playing zero games, though again as usual at the start of the season he led the scoring charts in La Liga and Champions league.
However like I said, the fact that inspite of winning the Liga and being highest scorer in The League last season. His absence towards the end of last season and just after the beginning of this new season will cost his aura of achievement which he usually has every year.

Ribery - yes he has won everything, but if there was anything that should be called team effort in winning everything it should be last season's Bayern Munich. It wasnt just Ribery but Robben, Muller, Mandzukic and ofcourse Lahm and Javi Martinez and Dante who were stellar figureheads for Bayern's tank like performances. So considering his individual aura is not even close to the monsters like Messi or Christiano I doubt he will be able to garner enough votes

So by the last two paragraphs Im guessing itll be Christiano's year, his contributions last season was average (considering its like another day at the job for him) but his contributions from the start of the season has been really escalating and has hit the right peaks to grab eyeballs just at the right time when voting starts.

 

[greygoose]

Ronaldo should win it this year, he deserves it. Plus I'm bored of Messi winning it.