English Premier League EPL Thread

[greygoose]

To be fair, Liverpool actually played decent in the first 20 mins, and for most of the 2nd half. Ronaldo's goal was absolute class, whilst the other 2 goals were due to just silly defensive errors. No shame in losing to Madrid though, they're an incredible team.

Those silly defensive errors have been costing us since Rodgers took over.

 

[thecorsair]

Valencia and Januzaj... yeah, the options on the right aren't the best. I still think Januzaj has great potential, but he's nowhere near the finished product. I suppose van Gaal could play Mata there so he can cut in onto his left, but he's certainly not a winger.

At least there's some good news for the game vs Chelsea; Costa is injured. But then they still have Hazard, Oscar, Willian, Fabregas... maybe United can outscore them 5-4 or something.

Yeah, the Fergie thing is odd. I don't want to think he chose Moyes to fail to boost his own ego, but it kind of seems that way.

United have struggled against teams they really should be beating so maybe van Gaal's philosophy will finally kick in and they'll deliver in games that nobody expects them to get anything from, football can be funny like that sometimes.

Not that I'll be suprised if they get hammered by Chelsea and then City but the side does at least have a few goals in it now which is better than nothing.

Unfortunately I think it's becoming increasingly clear that Fergie's ego did indeed play a part.

Had Moyes been a success he'd have lapped up all the praise for choosing him but as that didn't happen he's now trying to play down the role he played in the decision making process.

If he'd recommended someone good there was a chance that the one questionable area of his resume namely his Champions League record could have been bettered so he chose someone who never had a chance of winning a major trophy and who ultimately did a better job of getting United out of Europe than any of their rivals.

He retired a champion and Moyes made him look even more like God in the eyes of most United fans.

Mission Accomplished for Fergie and his ego.

 

[The Tuggernaut]

Those silly defensive errors have been costing us since Rodgers took over.

If you end up getting Valdes like it was rumoured in the past month or so, that could be the start of a defensive rebuild. Although it's just been reported he is currently training with Man United, so who knows.

United have struggled against teams they really should be beating so maybe van Gaal's philosophy will finally kick in and they'll deliver in games that nobody expects them to get anything from, football can be funny like that sometimes.

Not that I'll be suprised if they get hammered by Chelsea and then City but the side does at least have a few goals in it now which is better than nothing.

Unfortunately I think it's becoming increasingly clear that Fergie's ego did indeed play a part.

Had Moyes been a success he'd have lapped up all the praise for choosing him but as that didn't happen he's now trying to play down the role he played in the decision making process.

If he'd recommended someone good there was a chance that the one questionable area of his resume namely his Champions League record could have been bettered so he chose someone who never had a chance of winning a major trophy and who ultimately did a better job of getting United out of Europe than any of their rivals.

He retired a champion and Moyes made him look even more like God in the eyes of most United fans.

Mission Accomplished for Fergie and his ego.

This could either be the game where either everything clicks, or it just goes absolutely horribly wrong. Let's hope it's the former.

Yeah, the whole situation doesn't look good. I give Moyes a lot of stick, but I do feel for the guy in the sense that he was set up for failure. I'm sure he had every intention of achieving great things with United, but it clearly wasn't meant to be.

 

[thecorsair]

If you end up getting Valdes like it was rumoured in the past month or so, that could be the start of a defensive rebuild. Although it's just been reported he is currently training with Man United, so who knows.



This could either be the game where either everything clicks, or it just goes absolutely horribly wrong. Let's hope it's the former.

Yeah, the whole situation doesn't look good. I give Moyes a lot of stick, but I do feel for the guy in the sense that he was set up for failure. I'm sure he had every intention of achieving great things with United, but it clearly wasn't meant to be.

If things go badly in both games the media will start calling for his head but his track record proves he's a slow starter who eventually delivers so he should be given the time that his predecessor didn't really deserve. I think the squad is already looking a lot healthier and with another couple of decent windows they'll be fine, the decline in the squad was caused by years of neglect from Fergie so there's no quick fix even for a club who can throw money around like United.

The 5 million or so that Moyes got as a payoff is considerably better than most people who lose their jobs get but I think he would have swapped that for a successful tenure as manager.

I think he's a genuine enough bloke, he just lacks that "x" factor that all the great managers have and found himself overwhelmed by the size of the job.

 

[VASith]

I think tomorrow's united game is a true test for the team. A record money spent, plenty of time for the coach to settle in. Let's see what all that money has bought. Despite the fanfare of united fans I don't see them finishing first. I think 4-0 to Chelsea.

 

[The Tuggernaut]

^ Great prediction, mate.

If things go badly in both games the media will start calling for his head but his track record proves he's a slow starter who eventually delivers so he should be given the time that his predecessor didn't really deserve. I think the squad is already looking a lot healthier and with another couple of decent windows they'll be fine, the decline in the squad was caused by years of neglect from Fergie so there's no quick fix even for a club who can throw money around like United.

The 5 million or so that Moyes got as a payoff is considerably better than most people who lose their jobs get but I think he would have swapped that for a successful tenure as manager.

I think he's a genuine enough bloke, he just lacks that "x" factor that all the great managers have and found himself overwhelmed by the size of the job.

1-1, fair result in the end I think. Fairly solid performance, considering the fact that United haven't had a settled squad whilst Chelsea have played with the same team for the whole season thus far. On to bigger and better things now with Rooney coming back and hopefully Falcao as well.

 

[thecorsair]

^ Great prediction, mate.



1-1, fair result in the end I think. Fairly solid performance, considering the fact that United haven't had a settled squad whilst Chelsea have played with the same team for the whole season thus far. On to bigger and better things now with Rooney coming back and hopefully Falcao as well.

United's first half performance was way better than I expected but the old sinking feeling came back when RVP scored at the wrong end just seconds after a great stop from De Gea....it felt like they'd shot themselves in the foot after holding their own against the side that's been impossible to beat so far.

But they kept going and ended up being rewarded with an equaliser deep into injury time which is something that's not been seen at Old Trafford for some time.

After some of the performances against lesser teams this should be a big boost going into the Manchester derby and looking at the table I think 3rd or 4th is a realistic aim if they can put some kind of run together.

Reducing the injured list would also help, constantly operating with an average of 5-6 players unavailable doesn't really help the manager get any consistency when he's trying to rebuild a side almost from scratch.

United have also been handed a possible boost for the future as reported transfer target Kevin Strootman is set to return to action several weeks earlier than expected.

If he comes through his early return games then I can see a bid in January, possibly with Mata going the other way as he doesn't seem to be a player van Gaal likes that much.

 

[VASith]

^ Great prediction, mate.



1-1, fair result in the end I think. Fairly solid performance, considering the fact that United haven't had a settled squad whilst Chelsea have played with the same team for the whole season thus far. On to bigger and better things now with Rooney coming back and hopefully Falcao as well.

I did think Chelsea would run away with it. I didn't expect united to play for a tie at home. Will be an interesting match when it's played at Chelsea.

 

[The Tuggernaut]

United's first half performance was way better than I expected but the old sinking feeling came back when RVP scored at the wrong end just seconds after a great stop from De Gea....it felt like they'd shot themselves in the foot after holding their own against the side that's been impossible to beat so far.

But they kept going and ended up being rewarded with an equaliser deep into injury time which is something that's not been seen at Old Trafford for some time.

After some of the performances against lesser teams this should be a big boost going into the Manchester derby and looking at the table I think 3rd or 4th is a realistic aim if they can put some kind of run together.

Reducing the injured list would also help, constantly operating with an average of 5-6 players unavailable doesn't really help the manager get any consistency when he's trying to rebuild a side almost from scratch.

United have also been handed a possible boost for the future as reported transfer target Kevin Strootman is set to return to action several weeks earlier than expected.

If he comes through his early return games then I can see a bid in January, possibly with Mata going the other way as he doesn't seem to be a player van Gaal likes that much.

RVP probably should have scored in the first half, but Courtois is a top keeper. Fellaini was actually quite solid as well, and had Fabregas in his pocket for pretty much the whole match. The team was good all round, but an area of concern is Rafael who tends to switch off defensively and then concede a stupid free-kick.

That's the most important thing right now: consistency. Once the starting line-up is consistent, the results will be consistent. And if there's one part of your team you absolutely need to be consistent, it's your defence, which has been chopped and changed for various reasons this season.

Strootman would obviously be a solid signing but someone will then have to miss out. If van Gaal only wants one player sitting in front of the defence then it will have to be Blind.

I did think Chelsea would run away with it. I didn't expect united to play for a tie at home. Will be an interesting match when it's played at Chelsea.

By then United will have a settled team and probably some new additions. It will be a great victory.

 

[EarlHickey98]

Chelsea were unlucky yesterday, should of had have at least two penalties and no way that was a yellow for Ivanovic.

Good goal for Drogba, but felt if Costa or Remy was upfront we would have scored a few more. His link up play with Hazard, Oscar and Fabregas is not as good as the other two.

But overall it's a decent result.

 

[greygoose]

The quality of the so called 'top' teams this year is poor compared to a few years ago. Inflated egos and inflated wages are ruining the game.

 

[thecorsair]

RVP probably should have scored in the first half, but Courtois is a top keeper. Fellaini was actually quite solid as well, and had Fabregas in his pocket for pretty much the whole match. The team was good all round, but an area of concern is Rafael who tends to switch off defensively and then concede a stupid free-kick.

That's the most important thing right now: consistency. Once the starting line-up is consistent, the results will be consistent. And if there's one part of your team you absolutely need to be consistent, it's your defence, which has been chopped and changed for various reasons this season.

Strootman would obviously be a solid signing but someone will then have to miss out. If van Gaal only wants one player sitting in front of the defence then it will have to be Blind.

United had 7 shots on target to Chelsea's 4 so they had enough chances to have won the game but both goalies played well.

I think Fellaini might be able to do a job against City as his strength could be utilised to stop Toure from doing his usual damage.

There's rumors in the media of a bid for Dani Alves but he's getting on a bit ( in football terms ) and would really be a short term solution to the right back problem.

If Strootman was signed there would still be options to use Blind at the back and it would improve the overall squad....two top class players for every position should be the aim.

 

[shells075]

UTD's worst start to a season since the 1986-87 season
Smalling lost the plot today though, I think Utd could of got something @ City if not for the red card.

 

[EarlHickey98]

Agree. If Smalling didn't get sent off today I think they could of got a point from the game. maybe even three.

 

[Ondi]

I finally FINALLY got to watch Arsenal play on the weekend rather than just having to read about it and catch highlights on the interwebs.

All I have to say is Alexis Sanchez

(I have not seen a performance like that from an Arsenal player in a long time, all out action for the entire 90+ minutes)

The only problem is he makes the rest of the team look pedestrian

 

[thecorsair]

Results right now are far from ideal but there's already some evidence that van Gaal's getting things moving in the right direction again....the aura of negativity that Moyes brought with him has been replaced with something positive and the players are remembering how to fight back.

Last season United would have given up after going behind against Chelsea because Moyes only ever transmitted negativity to his players, he had them thinking they were beaten before they even took the field.

The Chelsea game was more like the United of old, they kept going and got an equaliser at the death.

Today didn't work out so well but they restricted an attack of City's quality to a single goal after playing with 10 men for just under an hour and had a few chances of their own in the closing minutes.

Considering where the side has been post-Fergie most people watching were probably expecting City to get five or six when the red card happened but they kept it respectable and went down fighting so fair enough.

Fergie screwed up the squad by neglecting to improve it for several years and Moyes killed their self belief.

Nobody was going to fix all that in a few months, even with the Glazers suddenly deciding to open the vaults and let the club's profits flow somewhere other than their pockets for a change.

They're within reach of 3rd or 4th which is the only aim for this year and there's still 28 games and another transfer window left.

I think they'll be fine.

 

[thecorsair]

The Tuggernaut,
Not sure if you're aware but your PM inbox is full.

When the Premier League starts back up this weekend it appears as if United will be going into the Arsenal game with injuries to De Gea, Blind, Carrick, Rafael, Evans, Jones, Rojo and Falcao. Smalling will still be suspended although that's a blessing in disguise 'cos he's crap.

United have a big squad but it's been decimated, so much so that LVG might be reduced to the unthinkable....giving Anderson and Young a start

 

[yodasan]

Can someone explain what the heck is going on with FIFA?

FIFA Files Criminal Complaint Over Cup Bids

 

[thecorsair]

Can someone explain what the heck is going on with FIFA?

FIFA Files Criminal Complaint Over Cup Bids

It's a large, corruption shaped mess.

 

[thecorsair]