2013/2014 Season

[Gladstone]

I thought St Johnstone deserved the victory yesterday. Couple of small things that made a huge impact - Rooney taking too many touches when Mcginn sent him clear at 1-0. If he'd tucked that away, I think it would have been a rout. Aberdeen were looking really in the mood at that point but just failed to convert that into many real chances and put St Johnstone out if sight when they were really toiling.

The other one was the lead up to St Johnstone's first goal. The ball should never really bounce in the 6 yard box. Langfield should have been all over that. Logan should also not have been standing back waiting for someone (Langfield) to deal with it. Ideally, Langfield gives a massive shout that he's coming for it and Logan can stand back but if you don't hear the keeper, you go and get a head on it.

Great credit to them for coming out second half and really going for it. Two great instinctive finishes from a real talent. After the first goal, it just never looked like the Dons were going to get back in top.

I really hope St Johnstone can go and top off their season with a trophy. That, and Aberdeen hold onto second spot obviously!

The English league is getting interesting. Liverpool firmly in the driving seat now.

[Lemonade]

Chelsea have been my fave English team for most of my life and I've hated Liverpool for much of that time too but Chelsea winning the title this year would be shit. Mourinho's awful and the football is dull. Bring Carlo back to the bridge.

 

Agreed. It just hasn't been the same since Cudicini left.

[Paranoid Android]

The English league is getting interesting. Liverpool firmly in the driving seat now.

 

I think people are forgetting just how close it still is. The bookies are making Liverpool clear favourites too with decent odds being offered for both Chelsea and Man City. Winning the title is in Chelsea's hands as well as Liverpool's and a draw between the two sides would put City back in control. It was a huge result yesterday for Liverpool but they still have a lot of work to do and any of the top three can still realistically win it.

[Moose]

I've scarcely had such an overwhelming hunch that we weren't going to win a game after 5 minutes into the second half.  I can't really eplain it, as they weren't exactly all over us.  I think we had 4 absolutely clear cut chances to finish the game off (Rooney's miss, Pawlett's miss and two free headers from Robson and McGinn) so it's a real shame those chances weren't taken better.  Such a strange game.  I was sitting with a smile, fairly certain we were going to the final for all of the 1st half, but that changed almost as soon as the whistle blew for half time  I think we really needed to put the game to bed in the 1st half, which turned out to be true.

 

Good on St Johnstone though.  I'm genuinely pleased for them to be in their first cup final.  Hopefully they can kick on and attract more of a following.

[Gladstone]

I think people are forgetting just how close it still is. The bookies are making Liverpool clear favourites too with decent odds being offered for both Chelsea and Man City. Winning the title is in Chelsea's hands as well as Liverpool's and a draw between the two sides would put City back in control. It was a huge result yesterday for Liverpool but they still have a lot of work to do and any of the top three can still realistically win it.

I agree - I say Liverpool are firmly in the driving seat but perhaps that's a bit strong. They have to be favourites though based on form and the fact the Chelsea game is at home.

Looking at the top 3's remaining fixtures you'd expect them to generally win their remaining games, with the Liverpool v Chelsea being the decider.

There are a few tricky ones in there though:

City and Liverpool have to go to Crystal Palace.

City have to go to Everton.

Chelsea have to go to Cardiff.

I fancy Everton to take something from City but the Palace and Cardiff ties should be 3 points for the top teams (far from easy though). Fancy Liverpool to beat Chelsea at home but it will be massive.

4 to go and still 3 teams firmly in contention for the title. That's great. Pretty good battle in store for the last CL spot too. And, lots of teams still in the relegation fight.

[Soda Jerk]

I think Chelsea will stand a better chance against Liverpool at Anfield than City did. The way City played fell right into Liverpools hands, especially as City were missing Aguero and Yaya for most of the game. City aren't a defensive team and Liverpools pace on the break is massive. Chelsea will play to make life difficult for Liverpool and then break themselves. Mourinho has got alot of experience in upsetting better teams. I still think Chelsea will do it. I hope they do it.

 

If Everton get into the Champions League, and I think they really could, it will further highlight how miserable Moyes' season has been. To be fair, he probably never had the luxury of having a striker as good as Lukaku leading his line previously, but he's still got a better squad at his disposal now than Martinez does at Everton, but one of those teams plays good football, and the other look like they haven't got a clue. It makes you wonder would could have been if Martinez took the United job.

[Gladstone]

Yeah - in my massively long post, I forgot to mention that the Chelsea game will be tougher for Liverpool than the City game.  Chelsea are a team that are much harder to beat than City.  City are better as an all out attacking force than Chelsea, as are Liverpool, but Chelsea will be well organised, and very difficult to break down.

 

I still think Liverpool will beat them and win the league.  It's very nearly 50/50 though.  Chelsea could definitely beat Liverpool and go on and win the title.

 

I'd prefer Liverpool to win out of the top 3.

 

Everton Rovers will win the title next year, and the Champions League and will go on to secure world peace under the stewardship of Bobby Martinez.

 

Meanwhile, David Moyes will be polishing Derek McKinnes's shoes.

[Soda Jerk]

I'd prefer Liverpool to win out of the top 3.

 

You as well? This has to stop.

[Gladstone]

 

You as well? This has to stop.

I don't see how/why Liverpool are any worse than Chelsea or City.  It was refreshing when Chelsea and City first started challenging again (despite the fact it was just because they'd thrown millions of pounds around) and it is refreshing that Liverpool are now challenging (seriously challenging) for the title.

 

It's refreshing to see Everton in with a great chance of 4th place too.  This is by far the most interesting season there's been in England for years - I think that would be devalued slightly if it finishes with Chelsea securing another title, City second and Liverpool third (and Arsenal secure the CL spot).  It would feel a bit samey.  That, and I think Mourinho is a bit of a dick, really.  I'd rather City than Chelsea.  I hope Chelsea come third.

 

I'm going to stick with my prediction (that I gave my Liverpool supporting brother at the start of last week) of:

 

1. Liverpool

2. City

3. Chelsea

4. Everton

5. MAN UNITED

6. Arsenal

7. Spurs

[Soda Jerk]

For me, it's not really about a different team challenging, or how they got to be title challengers. City and Chelsea are a bit soulless in terms of their wealth and how they have gained their weight as a big football club, but I'm not really bothered if either of them won the league. Liverpool are a proper club with a history of success predating the 21st century. I still hate 'em though. And as with football teams you hate, you don't even need a reason. I don't really have one. My mum's side of the family are all United fans who all hated Liverpool. Even though I do quite like Brendan Rodgers. I'm quite a fan of that young full back of theirs too, Flanagan. He's a good player, even though he looks like his mum and dad are brother and sister.

[Paranoid Android]

It's obviously different if you've been brought up with allegiances and hatreds passed down from family members. I would never back Rangers to win anything no matter how long it had been or how great their team was. That's just how football is. However when it comes to football outside of Scotland I wasn't really raised with any opinions about specific clubs at all. I'm not sure my dad even paid that much attention to the Premier League at all when I was young. I've liked and disliked many teams in England over the years and at times the strength of feeling has almost matched what I feel about Aberdeen / Rangers in Scotland but even if it lasts for years it proves to be temporary. I guess because it is based upon feelings towards certain players and coaches etc rather than that unidentifiable reason Soda Jerk mentioned. 

 

Also I feel like lately my love for the game itself has become bigger than an attachment to certain teams and I'm enjoying football more now than I have done in years. There are loads of great players I probably never really appreciated in the past just because they played for teams I didn't like and I don't want that to be the case. I want to enjoy watching Ronaldo be a boss even if he is doing it for Madrid.

 

Rambled on a bit from the original point there. Go Liverpool.

[TR!ΔNGL€ T€€TH]

 Flanagan. He's a good player, even though he looks like his mum and dad are brother and sister.

Whatever do you mean?

 

[Paranoid Android]

All their team looked like that a few seasons ago.

[Lemonade]

Norwich's last four games are against Liverpool, Man U, Chelsea and Arsenal. And they're currently one place above safety. So I'd say they're a fairly safe bet for the drop.

[Camie]

They can easily win against Man Utd and Arsenal. Just you wait and see.

[Paranoid Android]

The match against Fulham was vital for them, that loss surely relegated them.

 

Fulham are looking solid under Felix.

Edited April 14, 2014 by Paranoid Android

[Soda Jerk]

[Paranoid Android]

I liked Park but Gattuso was a far better player. The guardian's running an excerpt about him almost signing for Barca. It's mostly interesting for the revealing how much he loves playing Fifa and that he and Nesta would play against each other for hours before and after training.

 

We were talking about Dennis Bergkamp not long ago, here's a nice in depth piece on that world cup goal he scored against Argentina.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/apr/15/world-cup-stunning-moments-dennis-bergkamp-wonder-goal

[The Milner]

giffs of shit players

 

 

 

 

[Soda Jerk]

I liked Park but Gattuso was a far better player.

 

Oh very much so. Gattuso is amongst the pinnacle of modern defensive midfielders, and he was obscenely good at man-marking creative players right off the pitch, like he did against Ronaldo, and like Park did against Pirlo.

 

I can't tell if Pirlo wrote that whilst laughing his head off, or if he's a little bitter. It comes across as a little precious. Either way, his autobiography will be a good read.

[Soda Jerk]

giffs of shit players

 

 

 

 

 

 

Van Wolfswinkel is so bad. He was awesome the past two seasons. What happened to him?

 

Marouane FeLOLni

[Camie]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27031438

 

What's everyone's thoughts on this? A-League are going to start putting mics on the refs.

I think it can work in theory but depends how well it's implemented. It won't change anything other than everyone having a better understanding of the referee's decision.

Edited April 15, 2014 by Camie

[Gladstone]

Yeah - I reckon it would be good to hear what all the officials are saying.  It would be an interesting insight to hear the discussions between the assistants and the referees when you see a decision given apparently by the assistant.  Sometimes it's impossible to tell what a decision has been given for etc.

 

It could also cut out a lot of the crap that referees take from players - maybe.

 

All that said - I wonder if this would put referees under even greater pressure to get everything absolutely spot on.  What I mean there is that I would imagine that sometimes the chat between the assistant and the referee could reveal that neither know what the fuck just happened and they're making a huge judgement call or something.  It could put a referee's inadequacies (I don't really mean that in a derogatory way - I mean, they're all human and can't be 100% spot on and see absolutely everything that happens on the pitch all of the time) in sharp focus.

 

Not sure - I've always thought that rugby appears to be refereed way better than football and the referees hold much more respect from the players because they're able to be much firmer with the players it seems.  Moving forward 10 yards if any descent and all that stuff.   Sin bins probably help slightly too - instead of getting a couple of warnings and then binned completely, rugby players get a chance to cool down and come back on after leaving their team short for a period of the game.  If referees knew the red card they pulled out wouldn't be quite as big a decision, they may be more keen to pull out the second yellow for diving or for swearing at the ref or whatever.  I digress...  I was going on to say that microphones on rugby referees seem to work.  Different game etc. but it could work in football.

[Paranoid Android]

I only just realised how much easier Arsenal's run-in is than Everton's. I can't really see Everton winning all their remaining matches and it's hard to see where Arsenal will drop points now.

[Captain America]

Girouds goal last night was glorious.

 

 

Magnificent French bastard.