2016-2017 English Premier League

[Andalublue]

Some say the feeling can be replicated by waiting around all day, then dashing into a filling station just as it closes to buy a pot noodle for £20!

Well, I think a pot noodle has better defensive skills than David Luiz, so... I might forward this to Conte.

 

[PeteEU]

City without Kun for 3 games.. no Kun at the Manchester Derby. Now we will find out if the City attack is good enough to compensate for this.

Oh and so much for the Sam Allardyce revolution in the English national team. Pretty much the same team starting tomorrow, that failed badly at the Euros and World Cup..

 

[Andalublue]

City without Kun for 3 games.. no Kun at the Manchester Derby. Now we will find out if the City attack is good enough to compensate for this.

Having spent the money he's spent, Pep better not be depending on one player for his team's success.

Having said that, it was a stupid decision to ban Kun. Andre Mariner clearly too spineless to admit he saw it (he couldn't have missed it) and decided against action. I've looked at it repeatedly and there's clearly no intent and no contact. Morons.

 

[PeteEU]

Having spent the money he's spent, Pep better not be depending on one player for his team's success.

Hope so.

Having said that, it was a stupid decision to ban Kun. Andre Mariner clearly too spineless to admit he saw it (he couldn't have missed it) and decided against action. I've looked at it repeatedly and there's clearly no intent and no contact. Morons.

Disagree on the intent.. his elbow has no business where it is. Had it been almost any other team and player, then it would be a no brainier. Also the FA have to consistent.. so if they did not ban him, then their whole system would be put in doubt. They basically pioneered the "after match banning" system, and not doing it in such a clear case... well.

 

[Andalublue]

so if they did not ban him, then their whole system would be put in doubt. They basically pioneered the "after match banning" system, and not doing it in such a clear case... well.

'Such a clear case'!

It's was as clear as my back passage the morning after curry night.

 

[PeteEU]

Watching the Slovakia - England game.. think we can almost confirm that the problem is not the manager, but the players.

But now they are playing against 10 men England.. come on, you should be able to beat 10 men with the players you have...

 

[Apocalypse]

Wow!



.

 

[PeteEU]

Wow!
.

Lucky as hell for England.. seriously that was Fergie time overtime, dunno what the ref was thinking.

 

[Apocalypse]

Lucky as hell for England.. seriously that was Fergie time overtime, dunno what the ref was thinking.

Yeah I really wondered how come he was giving them so much time to play. Slovakia just lost it on the last minute.

 

[Higgins86]

Yeah I really wondered how come he was giving them so much time to play. Slovakia just lost it on the last minute.

Serves them right! Parked the bus in the Euro's and did the same today, eventually you will get caught out and we were banging on the door for the last 20.

England's main problem right now can be summed up by two players, you have Wayne Rooney who has in my opinion been on the slide for years now. He lacks pace, rarely threads the ball though, can't shoot from outside the box anymore, struggles to beat a man and offers nothing defensively. But despite all that he continues to get played and was even praised heavily today by the England manager.
Then you have Rashford a young vibrant player who loves to take on a man, obvious eye for goal, fast, energetic, full of confidence, he has appeared once as a sub for United this season and wasn't picked for England. I mean he got like 10 mins and the Euro's where as Sterling/Wilshire saw a couple of games.

We love to build up players in England and almost refuse to drop them when said player becomes surplus to requirements, madness.

 

[PeteEU]

We love to build up players in England and almost refuse to drop them when said player becomes surplus to requirements, madness.

Yes.. but yesterday Rooney was not the problem. He played very well in fact, as the roaming striker/offensive midfielder. The problem was Kane and the rest of the team. I dunno what it is with English players, but either they lack football intelligence or simply are not trained in different styles of play enough. They look more and more like headless chickens on the pitch once they are told to play outside the 4 4 2 "direct" style system that they grew up on.

Look at any of the top world teams. Most players can play multiple roles and can easily switch around if needed. Gerrard could do that, but the English team now.. especially up top, not so much. Only Rooney really has the ability, some what.

I think the problem has been, that the media/pundits have a bad tendency to build up teams and players to something that they are not. I would not be surprised if England struggle to qualify directly to the World Cup if they keep playing as they did yesterday.

 

[Andalublue]

Serves them right! Parked the bus in the Euro's and did the same today, eventually you will get caught out and we were banging on the door for the last 20.

England's main problem right now can be summed up by two players, you have Wayne Rooney who has in my opinion been on the slide for years now. He lacks pace, rarely threads the ball though, can't shoot from outside the box anymore, struggles to beat a man and offers nothing defensively. But despite all that he continues to get played and was even praised heavily today by the England manager.
Then you have Rashford a young vibrant player who loves to take on a man, obvious eye for goal, fast, energetic, full of confidence, he has appeared once as a sub for United this season and wasn't picked for England. I mean he got like 10 mins and the Euro's where as Sterling/Wilshire saw a couple of games.

We love to build up players in England and almost refuse to drop them when said player becomes surplus to requirements, madness.

Rooney and Kane again shooting blanks, and so was Lallana. I absolutely don't understand the praise he's received for last night's performance. He must have had about 5 opportunities to score and fluffed every one except the last. Sterling certainly answered his critics with a good performance and Kyle Walker, Stones and Dier were fairly solid. Sam's still got a lot of work to do, but the performance in the last 25 minutes will have given everyone a bit of relief - that was a dogged way to break down a parked bus. Okay, it was against 10, but frankly Skrtel stayed on the pitch about 15 minutes longer than he should have. His final yellow should obviously have been a straight red too.

All in all, after the nightmare in France, there were some causes for optimism in that result.

 

[Higgins86]

This Rashfors kid is for real.

 

[PeteEU]

Real Madrid and A. Madrid hit by transfer bans.. not allowed to register any new players before 1st January 2018.

EPL teams are next on the hit list. Chealski name has been floated (since they already been busted once), and I suspect Arsenal, City and United will be in the firing line... depends on how far they go back. Fifa seems not to have capacity enough to investigate everyone, so Spanish teams first... and then English. We shall see.

 

[Andalublue]

EPL teams are next on the hit list.

You got a link? City are still awaiting a judgement on the Myles Beerman transfer, but I haven't heard of anything else pending.

 

[PeteEU]

You got a link? City are still awaiting a judgement on the Myles Beerman transfer, but I haven't heard of anything else pending.

Was floated in January when the ban against Madrid and A. Madrid came out.. think it was the Madrid lawyer that said "English teams" were under investigation. It only makes sense in my opinion. FIFA cant just look at La Liga, when we both know that certain teams across Europe have been doing "such things" for a long time.

Personally I think it is all bull**** and FIFA flexing its muscles for some reason. They are basically ruining the careers of young players for no good reason. Yes the players in question are banned from playing in a professional club or to have anything to do with the club that supposedly did something wrong. You try explaining that to a 16 year old who just wants to play football with his mates.

 

[Andalublue]

Was floated in January when the ban against Madrid and A. Madrid came out.. think it was the Madrid lawyer that said "English teams" were under investigation. It only makes sense in my opinion. FIFA cant just look at La Liga, when we both know that certain teams across Europe have been doing "such things" for a long time.

Ah, so it was the Real Madrid lawyer who said so. I'll not lose sleep until I hear something from FIFA then.

Personally I think it is all bull**** and FIFA flexing its muscles for some reason. They are basically ruining the careers of young players for no good reason. Yes the players in question are banned from playing in a professional club or to have anything to do with the club that supposedly did something wrong. You try explaining that to a 16 year old who just wants to play football with his mates.

If it were just about that then they'd still be able to play with their mates, just not for money. How many Atléti and Real players are going to be banned from playing, do you know?

 

[PeteEU]

Ah, so it was the Real Madrid lawyer who said so. I'll not lose sleep until I hear something from FIFA then.

Its not only him.. heard it also from reporters on Talksport and Sky Sports... been a while. As I said, I would not be surprised that FIFA was investigating everyone.

If it were just about that then they'd still be able to play with their mates, just not for money. How many Atléti and Real players are going to be banned from playing, do you know?

No not seen the list. But the punishment is actually slightly different than with Barca. Barca was allowed to buy players but no register them. This time around both registering and buying is banned. Recalling loans is okay though.

But looking at the Real Madrid teams.. on the Real Madrid Castilla team, there is Morrocan that is under 18, a Chinese player who is 19 now, but came the club in 2015.. depends on the dates I guess. There is a Mexican and Venezuelan plus a couple of Argentinians on their youth squads.

For A. Madrid there is a Brazilian or two, a Moroccan, Algerian, Argentinian or two, Dominican Republic and Venezuela. Anyone of those could be banned I am guessing.

For Barca it was 11 players, 1 from Ecuador, 1 from Kosovo, 1 from the US, 2 from Guinea Bissau and a couple of more.. also 2 from South Korea, where one of them was / is possibly still a massive talent. I think they are suing FIFA and I hope the Real and A. Madrid players do the same. FIFA basically ruined these kids lives.

 

[PeteEU]

Watching the Manchester Derby on Sky Sports (dont ask how..) and I have to say the commentators are morons.... well one of them at least, think it is a Neville brother, which explains their anti-City and especially Bravo comments and of course when De Gea makes a massive mistake then it is "brilliant save".. err okay. Pathetic.

But so far City deserve the win (15 minutes before the end).

 

[PeteEU]

Clattenidiot.. that was a clear red card for Rooney! For **** sake.,,. saying that, he should have been sent off long ago.

 

[Andalublue]

Phew! That was tense!

An absolutely stunning first 35 minutes from City. They played some almost sublime football and made United look lead-footed. Then Bravo made that horrible error and things changed for the next 30 minutes. United looked energised and determined and City looked slightly nervy at the back, except for Stones who was a rock. Bravo did struggle, but then to make your debut in the cauldron of the derby must be hideously stressful. Still, we had chances to score again and despite United throwing everything at us we held out well for yet another victory at the Swamp.

The signs for the future are looking terrific. United look a bit better than last season, but not by much.

It was interesting how all the pundits predicted a United win before the game, based on Mourinho's Prem experience, but honestly, can anyone deny that the better side by a margin won.

That was sweeeet!

 

[Andalublue]

Clattenidiot.. that was a clear red card for Rooney! For **** sake.,,. saying that, he should have been sent off long ago.

Yeah, he was crap today. So much shirt-pulling went unpunished and some very tasty tackling ignored. Rooney should have seen red, no doubt, but I don't think there are many refs would have the balls to send off Rooney at the Swamp in a derby. Doesn't excuse it though.

 

[PeteEU]

Phew! That was tense!

An absolutely stunning first 35 minutes from City. They played some almost sublime football and made United look lead-footed. Then Bravo made that horrible error and things changed for the next 30 minutes. United looked energised and determined and City looked slightly nervy at the back, except for Stones who was a rock. Bravo did struggle, but then to make your debut in the cauldron of the derby must be hideously stressful. Still, we had chances to score again and despite United throwing everything at us we held out well for yet another victory at the Swamp.

The signs for the future are looking terrific. United look a bit better than last season, but not by much.

It was interesting how all the pundits predicted a United win before the game, based on Mourinho's Prem experience, but honestly, can anyone deny that the better side by a margin won.

That was sweeeet!

Funny thing about the Bravo error.. the pundits seem to have forgotten how badly De Gea had it the first many games, and yet he is now according to the very same pundits.. the best goalkeeper in the PL.

 

[Andalublue]

Funny thing about the Bravo error.. the pundits seem to have forgotten how badly De Gea had it the first many games, and yet he is now according to the very same pundits.. the best goalkeeper in the PL.

It was a couple of errors to be honest, but nothing to get the heeby-jeebies about. He'll be fine, just needs time to gel with the defenders, who generally had a great game, all four of them.

Yes, people do seem to forget how bad De Gea was for most of his first season.

 

[PeteEU]

Liverpool looked good offensively... weak that back. They have to take Sakho back imo, Lucas aint no centerback.

Watching my 5th match of the day.. Barca vs Alves... and damn that Barca bench... Iniesta, Suarez and Messi lol.