Epl 2011/2012

Stayed up late here to watch 2 EPL games last night. Arsenal looked a total shambles against Liverpool. I don't follow them closely enough to know what players will come back from injury, but they were woefully bad in midfield. Liverpool looked like scording even before Frimpong's deserved card.

Then watched Sunderland against Newcastle, which was even worse. Nasty tackle by Bardsley, but Cayabe could have gone earlier as well.

Couldn't keep my eyes open for the third game on offer - Chelsea vs West Brom.

No songs of 1-0 to the Arsenal ??

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Originally Posted by OwlsFan

No songs of 1-0 to the Arsenal ??

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the gunners got outgunned big time today.. serious problems for wenger & arsenal after todays result .

They've sold far too many players, even reserve players have been sold to the point where there is no strenght in depth. You can tell he's a professor of economics, he just looks at every player as an item on a balance sheet, desperate to turn a profit or never financially write off a player. Eboué's the classic example of this, he wasn't a world class player but he was experienced - he's played in World Cups and Champions League finals - and he could have played anywhere across the back four meaning Jenkinson or whatever his name was wouldnt have been so exposed - was it really worth selling him for the €3.5m ??

You can hold your hands up and say maybe he was never going to keep players like Fabregas and Nasri, but he's sold (or not renewed) players like Clichy, Senderos, Gallas, Eduardo, even going back to Gilberto Silva. All of these would have been better than the bench players they had (and better than some of the first team players today) - the squad is paper-thin and it's a thinning that Wenger is responsible for.

It's worth saying Chelsea looked pretty poor this weekend too, John Terry's pace is a huge liability now, all their other defenders are having to double cover him, you'd have to think a back line without him (e.g. Bosingwa, David Luiz, Alex, Ivanovic) would look a bit more stable. They have a spine of incredible slowness with Terry and Lamplard playing. They really do miss pace and guile in the center, Essien is a big loss but I think his career has gone the way of Redondo and he wont play regularly again. Torres is still a millstone around the teams neck if they want to play two at the top they would be better off with Drogba and Lukaku. I don't think Villas Boas has the strenght of character to drop those big name players (Terry, Lampard and Torres) on a regular basis. I can only see this trophy ending up in Manchester or Salford in May.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...n.html?image=8

Great picture. I wonder is the woman in the bottom left a Torres fan or is she just embarrassed for him unlike the rest of the fans.

I see some of the foreign owners are consdering making a move to abolish relegation and to make the EPL similar to the NFL etc. Ferguson and Souness are but two who have come out against this. I am not sure how the NFL works but I assume a large proportion of the teams get to the play offs or whatever they are called so there would be some excitement to replace the relegation struggles. Such a move would of course alienate all the disenfranchised clubs in the football league but in a way might help if the Championship was set up as a rival league. Haven't decided whether it would be good or bad for the "lesser" clubs who could never compete anyway with the Man Us, Liverpools, Chelseas of this world. The EPL teams would of course be prevented from playing in the League Cup which doesn't interest them anyway and possibly the FA Cup. It could lead to the owners taking over the EPL and possibly even preventing their players internationals. WHo knows where it could end.

12 of 32 teams make the NFL playoffs. I think this no relegation is the worst idea I have heard in a long time.

I would say that things will change in the next few years for better or for worse. I notice that the new Liverpool owner was complaining that the TV pot is divided equally between all the 20 Premiership clubs and says that the tv audience don't want to see the likes of Bolton. They want to see the big clubs like his club, Man U, Chelsea and Arsenal. Looks like the rich want to get richer and we know where that philosophy led Ireland.

Some result today. United 1 City 6

If it weren't for the likes of Bolton creating some counterpoint yer mans wouldn't be a "big club".

Even Alex Ferguson pointed out that there's (paraphrasing) "eight clubs in the championship with huge histories". What've Liverpool got on them other than a more recent history?

I don't think it'll happen anyway because there's enough people in there, English and "foreign" who'll see it's throttling the goose that lays the golden eggs. Hopefully it'll be a distant memory soon like the pre-champions league mooted European super-league where Europes "elite" 18-20 teams (a dozen or more of them enjoying permanent un-relegatable status if you don't mind) go hammer and tongs at each other year in year out. Mercifully someone copped on it'd be a yawnfest. I do wonder though where Liverpool would have ranked in such a set-up. Permanent and Unrelegatable? I've my doubts.

Had to laugh after the Chelsea vs QPR game (didn't see the Old Trafford Blitz). CHelsea manager slammed the ref. Warnock on the other hand thought he got all the important decisions correct. WHo'd be a referee?

I was out all day yesterday and couldn't believe the results when i heard them on the six-one news.

I always trust Warnock's post match comments on the ref's decisions, as he is the epitome of objectivity.

My sarcasm detector just blew up!

Chelsea - Arsenal this weekend. Apparently Vermaelen's fit. I still expect Arsenal to come up short, but if they don't make a better fist of it than the Liverpool and Spurs games (might as well mention Old Trafford here) then I'd be surprised.

Paul Scharner just announced on Sky Sports News that he's very happy to pleasure the West Brom supporters. Oh missus.

Well, Chelsea - Arsenal was fun to watch!

Why didnt RTE's Premier League soccer programme tonight show Chelsea v Arsenal first that was clearly the best game instead they showed Everton v Man Utd then Man City v Wolves . MOTD know know the right way to run a programme showing the game at Stamford Bridge first then the second most exciting game of the day next Norwich v Blackburn. Typical RTE.

Spot on, I couldn't believe RTE's selections.

I'm guessing they're just gauging the audience's preferences. Irish people generally support the successful teams in bigger numbers than the others they just do em roughly in order of their league position. Wolves with the Irish connection probably swung it for the City game.

There are more football fans unattached to Premier League clubs in England so it makes more sense for MOTD to show the most exciting game.

Did it show Von Persie's nazi salute? Hand to the left shoulder and then straight up. I know he has since denied it but it looked dodgy to me even when I saw it for the first time.

I just can't get enough:)

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Originally Posted by OwlsFan

Did it show Von Persie's nazi salute? Hand to the left shoulder and then straight up. I know he has since denied it but it looked dodgy to me even when I saw it for the first time.

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Clearly he didn't mean to give an actual Nazi salute.

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Originally Posted by Poor Student

Clearly he didn't mean to give an actual Nazi salute.

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Why "clearly" ? It was the bit where he started the salute by touching his left shoulder and then straightening his arm which made it have all the hallmarks of the Nazi salute.

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Did he put his finger over his lip too? Nonsense.

Nonsense? I saw it live and having an avid interest in WW2, I immediately thought it was a Nazi salute. It wasn't the raised hand so much as the touching of both shoulders followed by the raised arm. What did that mean? Strange. For someone brought up in Holland he should have known better but Holland had the highest number per capita sign up for the Waffen SS to fight in the Soviet Union. Thankfully, the gesture wasn't made against Spurs, then the s... would really have hit the fan whether he meant it or not.

I missed the argument between Jamie Rednapp and Gary Neville about whether all in the goals in the Premiership are down to poor defending (Neville) or exciting attacking (Rednapp indoctrinated by Sky). I quite like Neville as a pundit.

Please!!!!:rolleyes:

Roy Hodgson blasts West Brom striker Peter Odemwingie over injury problems

West Brom manager Roy Hodgson has reveald his frustration at the continued absence of striker Peter Odemwingie. After hearing that the Nigerian’s comeback against Tottenham this weekend is now in doubt, the Baggies’ manager has revealed his frustration towards the absent forward.

A knee injury picked up during a training session is the latest set-back for Odemwingie this season, with his scheduled comeback against Tottenham now thrown into doubt by the Baggies’ medical staff.

Hodgson told the Birmingham Mail: “Peter is difficult to work out - you’d have to speak to the doctor about him.

“This is still the same problem he’s had for a month.

“He was supposed to be fit for the Arsenal game but wasn’t. Then he was definitely going to be fit for the Bolton game but wasn’t.

“And he is supposed to be fit for the Tottenham game [this Saturday] and now there’s a doubt about that too. So I take any optimism with a pinch of salt

“I’m frustrated because we’ve got nothing out of him this year.

“He didn’t take part in many of the pre-season matches and he hasn’t taken part in many of the matches since then. It’s been one problem after another.”

The former Liverpool manager went on to compare the Nigerian to other players in the squad, seemingly questioning the striker’s commitment to the club.

“For a player who we really put so much into, in the hope that he will be the one who will be our major force for staying in the Premier League, at the moment we have not had much of a return,” he continued.

“We have a lot of players at the club who will play when not fully fit.

“That’s what makes it even harder when you get a player who is frustrated or is frustrating as it gets highlighted more when you’ve got the likes of the [Zoltan] Geras, the [Shane] Longs, the [Steven] Reids and the [Jerome] Thomases who play through pain every week.”

You managed to bring him into a Champions League forum earlier, you have his quote as your signature... and now this. I think the problem is more serious than I originally thought :eek:

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Originally Posted by DeLorean

You managed to bring him into a Champions League forum earlier, you have his quote as your signature... and now this. I think my problem is more serious than I originally thought :eek:

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Fixed that for ya!

Haha, touché :o

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Originally Posted by DeLorean

Haha, touché :o

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Don't be :giggle:

Peter Odemwingie has tweeted a picture of his injury and stated he does care. This is the sort of carry that went on at Liverpool under the Hodg.

I was at The Emirates on Saturday. Poor enough match, Arsenal were seriously lacking urgency and Fulham actually looked the more accomplished footballing side, without any real killer instinct. The most impressive player on show, for me, was Fulham's Dembele. Apparently Spurs are looking to sign him and he only sees Fulham as a stepping stone towards something bigger.

Only saw the hilights myself so hard to go on but Arsenal didn't seem to apply much pressure after they scored. One half chance for Van Persie but nothing more.

Looking like MON for the Sunderland job. They made the right call getting rid of Steve Bruce imo. He had enough time and money to spend.

Manchester United have confirmed that captain Nemanja Vidic will miss the rest of the season after suffering knee ligament damage in their 2-1 defeat at Basel in the Champions League.

The centre-half twisted his right knee tussling with Basel's Marco Streller during the first half in Switzerland.

The Serbian and Streller chased down the ball and their legs tangled.

Vidic immediately looked in distress and was carried off on a stretcher before leaving the ground on crutches.

I'd give them pretty much zero chance of the PL now. In fact, they're lucky that the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal are so hit and miss because their top four place could also have been in jeopardy.

I thought Evans was reckoned to be a good prospect, is he as poor as he looked against Basel?

Anyone got any idea why City are wearing armbands?

"Luis Suarez falls over, to the elation of 70,000 Mancunians.......or, Manchester United supporters at least."