English Premier League EPL Thread

[greygoose]

Spurs crash again.

 

[LIBBY1957DOG]

Football talk is different and football talk on a high end collectors forum doesn't really count. Have you read any football forums and football facebook pages recently, it brings out the worst in people, discrimination, racism and general trolling. This thread is all cool and clean compared to the real football discussion sites.

yeah i know ,thats why i was surprised to see it here on a "high end toy and collectible"site ,in my opinion just because its worse "somewhere else "it doesn't make it right here ,i still dont think its "clean and cool "but what ever ,stones and glass houses ,if you frequent those "real football"forums ,you will know what comes next ,Hillsborough,Munich,ect ect ,i think robocop said it best in robocop 2 ,and im paraphrasing now "bad words lead to bad feelings " ,anyway congrats on your great form so far this season ,i may be in the minority ,but i think the league benefits from a strong Liverpool team and challenge, but Liverpool have imo the best start and best manager and strongest squad ,including exceptional individuals,that they have had for years ,and united ,have had the worse start they have had for years ,plus uninspired performances ,yet the gap is still only 6 points ,as the great old football saying goes "its a marathon not a sprint "

 

[greygoose]

Happy Transfer Deadline Day.

Expect lots of overspending.

 

[heon123]

Shame to hear Holtby is leaving on loan to Fulham, has so much potential. Always was favourite player behind Bale at Spurs . Talking about Bale, it's such a downer to see great players like him leave the Premier League D:

 

[RagingBull]

Shame to hear Holtby is leaving on loan to Fulham, has so much potential. Always was favourite player behind Bale at Spurs . Talking about Bale, it's such a downer to see great players like him leave the Premier League D:

Good player but I don't miss him at all being an Arsenal supporter

So the Draxler deal is dead for Arsenal this transfer window which absolutely sucks & I can see us missing out on him all together now. The players were being linked with now are very underwhelming like Kalou, I'd rather them just play an up & coming kid than sign someone like that

 

[thecorsair]

United's window has been a pleasant suprise.

They spent big on a decent player, got rid of Fabio and got Anderson halfway out the door by allowing him to go to Fiorentina on loan and giving Mata his squad number.

Zaha should have stayed and replaced Valencia but he's at least getting Premier League experience with Cardiff which is better than having him stuck on the bench doing nothing.

 

[greygoose]

Cattermole to Stoke. That transfer sums up Stokes whole philosophy.

 

[RagingBull]

United's window has been a pleasant suprise.

They spent big on a decent player, got rid of Fabio and got Anderson halfway out the door by allowing him to go to Fiorentina on loan and giving Mata his squad number.

Zaha should have stayed and replaced Valencia but he's at least getting Premier League experience with Cardiff which is better than having him stuck on the bench doing nothing.

Yeah it's good to see Zaha is going to finally get some game time. For all the negativity Utd have had they are starting to look exceptional again with RVP & Rooney returning & with Mata behind that's a fearsome strike force. Then there's the young promising Januzaj, De Gea who are both getting better & better.

I think Utd's next thing to do is get 2 quality centre-backs & then Utd will be looking like the Utd team we all know again (scarily)


I feel Arsenal missed our chance. I'm not saying the Swedish guy was a bad signing I don't know much about him but I think we needed more than that. I'm glad Arsenal failed with there Kalou bid, he was **** at Chelsea. I would love to see Poldolski given a good run now he's fit. He's impressed every time he's come on this season

 

[greygoose]

Liverpool fail to land their transfer target again.

 

[heon123]

then Utd will be looking like the Utd team we all know again (scarily)

It'll be a long time before we can say again

Overall, I think United did well this month, selling 5-6 youth players and loaning out a few. Looking forward to the summer to see what players we can sign. I can understand Liverpool and Arsenal fan's annoyance since January should be a month where they should be taking advantage of.


Predictions for the weekend?

Man Utd 3-2 Stoke (Depends who starts in the back four)

Chelsea 2-5 City (Only time in my lifetime when I can support Chelsea)

Hull City 2-1 Spurs (I really hope Spurs and Everton drop points)

Liverpool 3-1 West Brom (Usual Business)

Madrid 3-1 Athletic (I despise Madrid but any team with Ronaldo in it, I'll support)

Talking about Madrid has anyone else seen the pictures for the new design for their stadium?

Here's one of them, thoughts?

I think it looks amazing but find it hard to understand why and how Madrid continue to spend with their debt, does it come out of the tax payers pockets? Also find it sad that clubs in La Liga like Real Santander fail to pay their own players while Madrid can spend whatever on whoever they like

 

[gypsycatcha]

Spurs crash again.

Some shocking decisions didnt help.

and you still have to play them

 

[thecorsair]

Yeah it's good to see Zaha is going to finally get some game time. For all the negativity Utd have had they are starting to look exceptional again with RVP & Rooney returning & with Mata behind that's a fearsome strike force. Then there's the young promising Januzaj, De Gea who are both getting better & better.

I think Utd's next thing to do is get 2 quality centre-backs & then Utd will be looking like the Utd team we all know again (scarily)


I feel Arsenal missed our chance. I'm not saying the Swedish guy was a bad signing I don't know much about him but I think we needed more than that. I'm glad Arsenal failed with there Kalou bid, he was **** at Chelsea. I would love to see Poldolski given a good run now he's fit. He's impressed every time he's come on this season

If reports are true Zaha had been partying too much with his old pals in London in his spare time and there's also been reports that he was acting big headed during his loan spell at Palace so I think there's been a decent case for United bringing him crashing back to Earth, talent is one thing but if they have a crappy attitude then they only become more trouble than they're worth.

If he wants to be given a chance at United he'll have to knuckle down and show how much he wants it by doing all he can for Cardiff.

The Mata deal represents a good start to the rebuilding process but I was talking about it with a friend who's a Chelsea fan and he says he wouldn't be suprised if there's something else connected to it still to make the news.

His reasons were,

1.Chelsea didn't need to sell him as they're far from being broke.
2.Even though he wasn't a regular, he could have been needed if they got a couple of injuries.

He thinks that Shrek is possibly going to sign for Chelsea at the end of the season.

Despite all the stuff in the papers about United offering him 300 grand a week, the captaincy, info on the club's future transfer targets and access to every granny in the Manchester area I can see it happening.

This summer will probably see the biggest shakeup in United's playing staff since the summer of '95 when Fergie sold Hughes, Ince and Kanchelskis to help make way for Scholes, Beckham, Butt and the Nevilles.

The bad news for fans of other teams is that even without the Champions League money and even with the debt which is now well under the £400 million mark United are a financial juggernaut.

Their new shirt sponsorship deal with Chevrolet which starts in the summer will bring in £53 million a year and a bidding war over who will be their new kit supplier after their present deal with Nike expires next year is underway. That deal has been worth £23.5 million a year since 2002, the estimates for any new deal suggest that could rise to a staggering £70 million a year.

So that's 2 massive sources of income in addition to the money they get from the TV companies, the gate receipts, the merchandising and other sponsors.

Most crucially it seems that the Glazers are finally willing to spend large sums of money on the team.

This season could well turn out to be one that fans of their rivals have to make the most of because if the spending continues only City and Chelsea will be able to compete.

 

[gypsycatcha]

Yeah it's good to see Zaha is going to finally get some game time. For all the negativity Utd have had they are starting to look exceptional again with RVP & Rooney returning & with Mata behind that's a fearsome strike force. Then there's the young promising Januzaj, De Gea who are both getting better & better.

I think Utd's next thing to do is get 2 quality centre-backs & then Utd will be looking like the Utd team we all know again (scarily)


I feel Arsenal missed our chance. I'm not saying the Swedish guy was a bad signing I don't know much about him but I think we needed more than that. I'm glad Arsenal failed with there Kalou bid, he was **** at Chelsea. I would love to see Poldolski given a good run now he's fit. He's impressed every time he's come on this season

Yep id have to agree. Arsenal have a good chance this season but with city Looking unstoppable, Wenger should have brought someone. Losing Walcott, Ramsey set back and Giroud looking burnt out, They should have got someone. If Draxler has a good world cup, his price will probably double.

 

[RagingBull]

@ Corsair
Yeah Utd have always been a juggernaut but don't underestimate Arsenals wealth. There was a big discussion about Arsenal on Talksport between journalists & there getting wealthier & wealthier & now aren't far behind the big 4 (Utd, Bayern, Barca & Madrid) I'm not saying there break in to that top4 but can financially compete but there's a big if they will want to.

City look look to be the force of the next few years now though at least. There squad is huge & is only going to get stronger. Chelsea aren't far behind but Arsenal & Utd are lacking 4 or 5 real quality players to catch up with them.

 

[thecorsair]

@ Corsair
Yeah Utd have always been a juggernaut but don't underestimate Arsenals wealth. There was a big discussion about Arsenal on Talksport between journalists & there getting wealthier & wealthier & now aren't far behind the big 4 (Utd, Bayern, Barca & Madrid) I'm not saying there break in to that top4 but can financially compete but there's a big if they will want to.

City look look to be the force of the next few years now though at least. There squad is huge & is only going to get stronger. Chelsea aren't far behind but Arsenal & Utd are lacking 4 or 5 real quality players to catch up with them.

Maybe years of not spending will ultimately pay off for Arsenal.

With City spending like they do they'll definitely take some stopping now they have a decent manager.

The FFP rules don't seem to apply to them as they're currently violating it but are carrying on regardless....clearly some kind of backhander is being given to the right people.

I think United's present issues aren't just because of the lack of enough decent players to compete, the drivel they're getting fed from the current manager and coaches is clearly having an effect.

Shrek, RVP and Mata all started....Stoke have just scored

EDIT
RVP equalises on 47 minutes with Mata getting the assist!

Unfortunately they didn't stay level for long as Stoke scored again on 52 minutes

 

[bumblebee]

So when will United get a real manager?

 

[heon123]

I've never been this angry watching a football match. I'm ----ing frothing at the mouth at all 22 players on that pitch, which takes some doing.
The kind of football you see in the children's Sunday League at your local park.

At least we'll never get called glory hunters again.

 

[thecorsair]

So when will United get a real manager?

When Fergie and Sir Bobby Charlton are off the board, which will presumably be when they're no longer in the land of the living.

Fergie won't ever allow a decent manager to be hired because his ego can't handle the thought of someone else challenging his status as the greatest United manager in history and Charlton seems to have something against foreign managers as he was the one who prevented them hijacking Mourinho's return to Chelsea.

 

[greygoose]

So the mighty Stoke beat the mighty Utd....

 

[thecorsair]

I think the Glazers should ignore the 2 old farts, ditch Moyes and get Michael Phelan back to take charge for the rest of the season, he at least knows most of the players and how to get them playing coherently again.

The way Fulham are going, Rene Meulensteen won't last long there so they may as well get him back on board for similar reasons then get a proper manager ie Jurgen Klopp.

EDIT
The last time United lost 8 or more of their opening 24 league games was 1989-90 when they'd lost 11 by the same point.

Another record broken by Dodgy Dave, the Dithering Donkey.