Author Topic: EPL 2011/2012  (Read 18877 times)

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EPL 2011/2012
« on: August 07, 2011, 10:26:13 AM »

Offline boscel33

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me thinks man-u is in for a long season with th new keeper.  he is no where near the class of van der sar.  btw, some how,chelsea has got to get sturridge into the lineup.
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Re: EPL 2011/2012
« Reply #1 on: August 22, 2011, 01:30:37 PM »

Offline Scott

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Monday Night Football, Man United and Spurs.

Hopefully Tottenham's 21-year run without a win at Old Trafford ends tonight.

Re: EPL 2011/2012
« Reply #2 on: August 23, 2011, 07:00:18 AM »

Offline ederson

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me thinks man-u is in for a long season with th new keeper.  he is no where near the class of van der sar.  btw, some how,chelsea has got to get sturridge into the lineup.

he is 20y.o.
he CAN`T be near VD Saar

thankfully scot the didn`t end :D
De Gea Evra  Jones Evans Smalling Anderson Nani Young Cleverley Rooney Welbeck

Re: EPL 2011/2012
« Reply #3 on: August 23, 2011, 07:25:10 AM »

Offline Who

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It was good seeing the crowd get behind De Gea last night. They cheered everything positive he did. Every touch, every pass, every clearance. Looked like it gave him a nice boost.

Very nice job by Man Utd's supporters.

Re: EPL 2011/2012
« Reply #4 on: August 23, 2011, 07:34:36 AM »

Offline ACF

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me thinks man-u is in for a long season with th new keeper.  he is no where near the class of van der sar.  btw, some how,chelsea has got to get sturridge into the lineup.

Goalies like van der Sar only come around every 10 years or so. United have got Lindegaard on the bench and he'll step up if De Gea "crashes" during the season. I'm actually surprised Lindegaard is not the number one choice but I guess I'll have to trust Fergie and the goalie trainers on this one  ;)

Re: EPL 2011/2012
« Reply #5 on: August 28, 2011, 01:12:52 PM »

Offline ACF

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Manchester United 8, Arsenal 2. Class dismissed!

Re: EPL 2011/2012
« Reply #6 on: August 28, 2011, 03:19:44 PM »

Offline ederson

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Manchester-London 13-3


too bad i only watched the first half of the m.u.-arsenal.

i feel a little bad for wenger but the last couple of years he seems more interested in making money for arsenal than strenghening the team

Re: EPL 2011/2012
« Reply #7 on: August 28, 2011, 07:01:04 PM »

Offline Adelaide Celt

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Same old, same old in the Premier League.

With Man City stepping up as the biggest threat to Man United, I can see the league becoming as much of a joke as the Scottish Premier League where Celtic and Rangers take turns winning the title every year.

Could well be Man U/Man City every year for the next decade or two. So much more exciting than Man U/Arsenal every year ::)
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Re: EPL 2011/2012
« Reply #8 on: August 29, 2011, 03:57:03 AM »

Offline ederson

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what about Chelsea ???


Re: EPL 2011/2012
« Reply #9 on: August 31, 2011, 07:31:07 PM »

Offline Who

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Interesting transfer deadline day.

Raul Meireles to Chelsea for £12 million. Mikel Arteta (£10mil), Per Mertesacker (£9mil) and Yossi Benayoun (loan) to Arsenal. Liverpool add Craig Bellamy to the mix with Joe Cole leaving and on his way to Lille. Scott Parker moves to Tottenham for £5.5 million.

Very disappointed to miss out on Luka Modric (£40 million bid rejected) but Meireles is a nice consolation price. He'll add some quality and depth to Chelsea's midfield.

I thought Craig Bellamy was a great signing for Liverpool. He was playing excellent footie for Man City before his bust up with Mancini. I think he'll be a very good addition to that Liverpool front-line. Kenny Dalgish is doing a great job of building a high quality squad there.

I was disappointed with Arsenal's moves. Not sure about Mertesacker in the Premiership. Too slow, not enough foot speed. I think the Premier League will be too fast for him. I don't like paying £10 million for a 29 year old stop gap signing (Arteta) either. Desperation moves. They panicked.

Starting to worry about Tottenham's medium to long term future.

Re: EPL 2011/2012
« Reply #10 on: August 31, 2011, 07:50:36 PM »

Offline Casperian

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I was disappointed with Arsenal's moves. Not sure about Mertesacker in the Premiership. Too slow, not enough foot speed. I think the Premier League will be too fast for him. I don't like paying Ģ10 million for a 29 year old stop gap signing (Arteta) either. Desperation moves. They panicked.

Oh, you knew I had to react to this, huh?  :P

According to FIFA, during the WC 2010 Mertesacker's top-speed was 28.35 km/h, John Terry's was 22.53 km/h. Mertesacker is in the top 3 in top speed on the german national team among players older than 20.

Just sayin`
In the summer of 2017, I predicted this team would not win a championship for the next 10 years.

3 down, 7 to go.

Re: EPL 2011/2012
« Reply #11 on: August 31, 2011, 08:25:21 PM »

Offline Who

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I was disappointed with Arsenal's moves. Not sure about Mertesacker in the Premiership. Too slow, not enough foot speed. I think the Premier League will be too fast for him. I don't like paying £10 million for a 29 year old stop gap signing (Arteta) either. Desperation moves. They panicked.

Oh, you knew I had to react to this, huh?  :P

According to FIFA, during the WC 2010 Mertesacker's top-speed was 28.35 km/h, John Terry's was 22.53 km/h. Mertesacker is in the top 3 in top speed on the german national team among players older than 20.

Just sayin`
Am I thinking about the right guy? Big tall center half, slow, doesn't change directions well, yeah?

Or, maybe, does he have good speed over longer distances but poor quickness in short distances? That is a really surprising statistic. Not Terry. But Mertesacker.

Or I am just flat out wrong about Mertesacker? And he is not slow at all.

Re: EPL 2011/2012
« Reply #12 on: August 31, 2011, 09:13:47 PM »

Offline Casperian

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Am I thinking about the right guy? Big tall center half, slow, doesn't change directions well, yeah?

Or, maybe, does he have good speed over longer distances but poor quickness in short distances? That is a really surprising statistic. Not Terry. But Mertesacker.

Or I am just flat out wrong about Mertesacker? And he is not slow at all.

No no, youīre thinking of the right guy. I just think itīs a matter of perception. Tall, lanky guys tend to look slower than they really are. To be honest, I couldnīt believe that stat, either, when I saw it the first time, but itīs confirmed that Mertesacker is among the fastest players on the german national team among players 21 and over. And yes, I think his acceleration isnīt all that great.

I mean, in the end, it doesnīt really matter. You donīt amass 75 caps for Germany by the age of 26 if youīre just some average player. I could be wrong, but if I remember correctly, Mertesacker was among the best players in duels won (on the ground, and in the air) for WC 2006, Euro 2008 and WC 2010 as well as in the qualifications for Euro 08 and WC 2010. He had a fantastic game against Argentina at WC 2010, for example, and their attackers are all small and quick. Heīs just an excellent reader of the game.

Getting such a guy for less than 10 million seems like a bargain.
Additionally, both Werder Bremen and Germany tend to play with a very high line, much like Arsenal, so he should have less difficulties to adapt.
« Last Edit: August 31, 2011, 09:22:11 PM by Casperian »
In the summer of 2017, I predicted this team would not win a championship for the next 10 years.

3 down, 7 to go.

Re: EPL 2011/2012
« Reply #13 on: September 04, 2011, 07:32:29 PM »

Offline CaptainJackLee

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I think Mertesacker's reputation is much larger than his talents. He was horrid this past season, sluggish, slower than ever and terrible distributing the ball. I estimate that more than a dozen goals can be attributed to unforced mistakes by him. At this point, Friedrich is so much better than Mertesacker it's not even funny.

Wenger should be fired, to be quite honest. He turned Arsenal into a club that doesn't really contend for the title any more. Installed a losing mentality. That's great for him - coaching without the pressure of having to win! It's terrible for the club though.

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I'm also unimpressed with Chelsea's off-season. Mata was the type of acquisition they needed but I'm not sure it was enough. I think they still lack creativity, offensive explosiveness. If Modric failed, they should have gone after someone else. Guys with the talent to create opportunities out of nothing. As of now, there are too many strikers and too many mediocre/ageing players as wingers and CMs. In fact, I think AVB had more offensive talent in Porto last season than in Chelsea this season (starting XI) only, which is kind of sad considering the difference in resources. Mata helps, but they needed more. Hopefully the spaniard stays healthy.

Meireles is a nice player, but he has stamina issues when asked to do that box-to-box job (the one he has done for almost his entire career). AVB should have paid for Moutinho - a world-class version of Meireles.

--------------------------

Liverpool... I like their team, but I question the decision to spend more than 100 millions in the likes of Carroll, Downing, Adam and Henderson. I think that Dalglish is still a great a coach, very astute tactically and as a man manager, but he's too old fashioned when it comes to personnel decisions. Those guys are good players but like any other Brit, their price is grossly inflated. And Coates is a nice young prospect, but he's not used to defend high-up the pitch like European teams do and  he'll struggle a bit as his acceleration, while better than one would expect, isn't top notch. But he had a great Copa America...

Just imagine how good Liverpool could be if they had spent the money in, I don't know, Pastore, Falcao and Lucho Gonzalez. Or they could keep one of CMs they sold and acquire a winger like Hazard. Plus a really good central-defender: if they wanted a young south-american, Rafael Tolói or Mário Fernandes, who have higher potential than Coates and are more suited for the European game. Same money spent and they'd have a much more talented team.

------

Those 3 teams could have done better. Therefore the Manchester teams ought to be considered favourites. Just slightly though, I don't think the situation is really comparable to Spain or Scotland.

Re: EPL 2011/2012
« Reply #14 on: September 04, 2011, 09:15:02 PM »

Offline Casperian

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I think Mertesacker's reputation is much larger than his talents. He was horrid this past season, sluggish, slower than ever and terrible distributing the ball. I estimate that more than a dozen goals can be attributed to unforced mistakes by him. At this point, Friedrich is so much better than Mertesacker it's not even funny.

Wenger should be fired, to be quite honest. He turned Arsenal into a club that doesn't really contend for the title any more. Installed a losing mentality. That's great for him - coaching without the pressure of having to win! It's terrible for the club though.  

Sorry, but thatīs bogus. The comparison between Mertesacker and Friedrich alone makes me cringe. Friedrich is 33, and had one good tourney, Merte is 26, and had 3 of them. Friedrich already lost his place on the national team, while Mertesacker will most likely remain first choice. They are simply not comparable.

Btw, Friedrich and Mertesacker both were injured for a good part of the season, so I wonder how you come to the conclusion that Friedrich is so much better, "itīs not even funny". There are several reasons why Bremen (and by extension, Mertesacker) leaked so many goals last season:

1. They play a heavily offensive-minded game.

2. Mertesacker was injured for a good part of the season.

3. Naldo, his partner at CB, was also injured, and they didnīt have any suitable back-ups.

4. Both their FBīs are abysmal.

5. They played, contrary to most teams in the league, with only one DM, Torsten Frings, who simply wasnīt good enough for the BL anymore.

Even if all you claim is true (and it isnīt), that would be his first bad season after seven excellent ones, a bit too soon to write a 26-year-old player with his pedigree off, donīt you think?

Itīs easy to make outrageous "estimations" on the internet, but this one has nothing to do with reality.
In the summer of 2017, I predicted this team would not win a championship for the next 10 years.

3 down, 7 to go.