I assume everyone's heard the ring joke by now? Pretty disappointed by the lack of original content being thrown up by this most glorious day for us proles.
I'll take the day off work gladly but the fact that I'll have to avoid any media for about two weeks is not such a happy thought.
To me Spurs are the most entertaining team in the Premier League this year by some margin.
At the moment, I have to say with shame that I completely agree.
The make-up of the team has some of the hallmarks of Championship winning sides with Bale & Lennon on the wings - vintage Kanchelskis + Giggs, or Robben + Duff. Modric & Van Der Vart would walk into most teams. Defoe on form is brilliant, Crouch is unpredictable against foriegn teams, but maybe too lightweight for the Prem. Spurs defense is the one area that they really need to improve, but that's why games with them are always interesting! Good chance of goals at either end.
At Man U there's only about 3 players I'd want playing for Arsenal. Chelsea have more like 7 or 8 I'd take. Spurs have a good 5 or 6. Liverpool have 1 (and it's not Stevie Me), and Citeh have about 3. I don't know how many players Arse have that other teams would be interested in, as on recent form they've been looking a tad uncommitted and unreliable.
To me Spurs are the most entertaining team in the Premier League this year by some margin.
At the moment, I have to say with shame that I completely agree.
The make-up of the team has some of the hallmarks of Championship winning sides with Bale & Lennon on the wings - vintage Kanchelskis + Giggs, or Robben + Duff. Modric & Van Der Vart would walk into most teams. Defoe on form is brilliant, Crouch is unpredictable against foriegn teams, but maybe too lightweight for the Prem. Spurs defense is the one area that they really need to improve, but that's why games with them are always interesting! Good chance of goals at either end.
At Man U there's only about 3 players I'd want playing for Arsenal. Chelsea have more like 7 or 8 I'd take. Spurs have a good 5 or 6. I don't know how many players Arse have that other teams would be interested in, as on recent form they've been looking a tad uncommitted.
Yeah I think it helps that Arry seems to have adopted the You-score-4-and-we'll-score-5 approach which, with the players at his disposal, seems to be working pretty well for him. I think they are still a bit too vulnerable to offer a sustained attack on the title this year but I'm really enjoying the variation they've brought to the league and the CL (who knows how far they could get there, really depends what team turns up).
There are some real talents at Arsenal and great prospects but it does seem that few are offering the best of themselves at the moment. Nasri seems to finally be stepping up and becoming more consistent with his good performances though and even I shook my head when Cesc went off limping again. Still, win Saturday and you're top for a bit so I think everyone's in a similar boat this year.
Depressing to see an Arsenal fan riding Spurs so hard, it's amazing what one game can do to your mental condition.
Sayin'.
Words fail me Duder.
Paul said:
LOL @ 3 Man Utd players.
Vidic & VdS, maybe Park, but that's about it. Your midfield selection is poor, Fletcher dun fell off. Nani is talented but a complete dickwad. Rooney is an overpaid mercenary c*nt. All the rest are; under-performers, over the hill or up-and-comers.
They were talking to Jens in the halftime chat in some game recently and he said in his opinion, there were only 3 world class gks in the EPL, VdS, Pepe & Cech. Any one of those would do nicely.
I'd take these from Da Sky 4 (personalities aside):
Un*ted:
Rooney, Vidic, Evra, Nani - Giggs and Scholes if they were 10 years younger Arsenal:
Cesc, Nasri, Sagna, Arshavin, RVP. I think doe now is a good time to cash Cesc in to Barca because I can't see him playing beyond 30... Chelsea:
Bigfat, Cashley, Essien, Malouda, Alex, Drogbreath if he was 5 years younger. LFC:
Torres, Stevie, Skittles. Babel I like too, although I suspect no-one, esp. @ LFC, feels the same.
Harry has done what he does best, man-managing and getting the team to gel. If Ledley King could play every match they would be top 4 on the reg.
Citeh still a gang of randoms, although the best squad is beginning to pick itself. Tevez, VK and NdJ are a good nucleus, and IIRC, none of those have two full seasons with the club yet.
Yeah the number of quality keepers globally seems to be diminishing year on year. On a slightly related note I was talking to an Arsenal supporting friend the other day about the problems big teams have with young keepers and it seems to me a lot of it goes back to concentration.
For example, Foster is having a great season at Birmingham this year but part of his role at a team like that is to be constantly active, making saves, marshalling the back four, picking the ball out of the net etc etc. When you play for one of the big 4/5 you tend to spend way more time in a match with nothing to do before having to suddenly switch on the concentration to make a crucial save after, say, 70 minutes of staring at a ball in the distance. Therefore, while he's now proving himself as a great shot stopper, the requirements are different at the very top level.
If there's one good thing about the cold whether, is it seems to signal the return of good tv. Peep Show starts up again tonight and Frankie Boyles' new show is on later in the week.
also Coogan & Brydon's 'The Trip' has been solidly entertaining, if you haven't been watching.
No free-scoring scummars for me either. Fame costs = Worst. Week. Evarrrr. 15 points.
This was the week that Chelsea were going to turn that corner.
Joker being played for next week. F*ck these douches.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
Actually, I spoke too soon - Nolan didn't play for Toon this weekend, which meant Berbatov got subbed in for him and I got my 25 points after all. :feelin_it:
In other news, Paul Konchesky is a useless fucking lump, but that may not actually be news.
Interesting read about the state of Spanish footy:
Tim Stannard (AKA The Spanish Thing) answers all your questions ahead of Monday's El Clasico. So are Barca a one-man team? Will they still buy Cesc Fabregas? And who wants Llorente?
What can be done to stop la Liga turning (even more) in to the SPL? - European Bob.
TS: It's not easy. The only thing that can be done is for the rest of the second-tier sides such as Valencia, Villarreal, Sevilla and Atl??tico to be given a leg up with a bigger share of the TV money, but that isn't going to happen any time soon.
The rights in Spain are not shared equally as in the Premier League, but instead the split depends on the size of the club. At the moment, Real Madrid and Barcelona get about 20% each, though that could change to 14% in a new deal from 2015 that would still see Bar??a picking up ???140m a year and Getafe, for example, getting about ???22m. Atl??tico Madrid and Valencia sit in a tier below them. But some way off.
Madrid and Barcelona would argue, not unreasonably, that they deserve the higher portion as they have to pay for the transfer fees and salaries of David Villa, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut ??zil, Karim Benzema, Kak??, which in turn generates interest, which in turn generates the advertising money that funds the TV deals. They would also say that unlike Chelsea, AC Milan or even Manchester City, their club statutes do not allow them to be bought and then bankrolled by billionaire benefactors - unlike 16 of the current clubs in la Primera, in fact. TV money, marketing, shirt sales, etc is the only way these clubs have of competing on a European level.
However, Villarreal - one of the clubs rejecting the status quo and proposing a Premier League style share-out - are countering that la Liga is losing value every year because of the growing gap between the top two of the rest. 'No, it isn't' say Madrid and Bar??a as the new TV deal sees the rights going up from ???650m to ???800m. And so on, and so on.
Why is it that despite the huge disparity in wealth betwixt the top two and the rest of La Liga, the league's football is still infinitely more watchable than any other league? - Abelardo.
TS: I guess that beauty is in the eye of the beholder in that department, but you still have players like Luis Fabiano, Jes??s Navas, Santi Cazorla, Nilmar, Giuseppe Rossi, Kun Ag??ero and Diego Forl??n still kicking around outside of the big two. Not to mention plenty of sides who play lovely football like Real Sociedad and M??laga.
What is La liga's marketing department doing to upend the PL? Also what are their plans to increase their presence in Asia (apart from Madrid and Bar??a)? - Yu1mixer.
TS: The short answer is nothing at all. I don't even think the league has a marketing department. It's a mess. The organisation of football here is a shambles, hence last season's Copa del Rey final was scheduled during the World Cup build-up, league fixtures are only arranged one week in advance and the biggest club match of the world calendar, el Cl??sico, is being held on a Monday because of local elections, clubs playing Champions League fixtures and all manner of nonsense excuses. Whilst the game in Spain is run this way, the Premier League has nothing to worry about.
And on the second point, individual clubs tend to do their own marketing. Atl??tico has recently tied up deals with other clubs and companies in UAE, China and Thailand and is even reportedly considering kicking off some home games in 2011 at 12.00 on a Sunday to boost their profile there.
Is Barcelona a one man team? - Esco.
TS: About ten others would beg to disagree. On a serious point, Leo Messi would not score half the goals he does - literally - without Xavi supplying the passes. And Bar??a would not win their games without Carles Puyol, Gerard Piqu??, Eric Abidal and Dani Alves at the back. Not to mention a certain Andr??s Iniesta kicking about too. So, no, they aren't.
Why do Real Madrid fail to produce youngsters good enough for their first team, when Barcelona have basically perfected Perez's 'Zidanes and Pavons' ideal? - Alex Del Piero.
TS: The Real Madrid youth system is actually very effective. But what the club do lack is patience to allow their young talent to come through, as Barcelona have been able to do. Diego L??pez, Juan Mata, Alvaro Negredo and Alvaro Arbeloa are all Spain internationals who have passed through their 'cantera', and either had to either leave or leave and come back to get a game, as in Arbeloa's case. But even one of the best young players in the country that the club bought this year, Sergio Canales, can barely get a minute, stuck behind ??zil and when he returns from injury, Kak??.
With the imminent breakthrough of Thiago, do you still see Barcelona buying Fabregas? - smithy.
TS: The big problem that Barcelona have now is that Xavi has tendon problems which are only going to get worse over the coming seasons. The 30-year-old played 67 games last season and 71 before that, so the midfielder is currently being rested when and wherever possible. I think that Bar??a would look to Cesc Fabregas as a replacement in the centre of the park, without the side dropping too much in quality as would happen with someone like Thiago, who is still fairly unproven. He could be the new, new Xavi perhaps.
Would Fernando Llorente be a better signing for Real Madrid or Barcelona? Would he be a better signing than Fernando Torres would be for either team? - smithy.
TS: The Athletic Bilbao forward would be best suited for Real Madrid, who only have two strikers on the books in Jarim Benzema and Gonzalo Higua??n. Mourinho is also looking for that 'big man up front' option too. Torres wouldn't work for either side really, firstly because the former Atleti man would not move to the Bernabeu in a billion years and he has shown many times for Spain that he struggles to play alongside David Villa.
Will Mourinho leave on his own accord or will he be pushed? How long is he likely to stay at Real? - Champman Jam.
TS: Mourinho has admitted this week that English football is his natural habitat and he does genuinely seem to miss it. But I don't think he will leave until he has won the Champions League with Real Madrid, which could well be within the next two to three years, considering the progress the side is already making.
Will Florentino P??rez's newest 'project' collapse under the collective weight of the egos associated with it? - Doin' Time.
TS: This one will work. Despite Jos?? Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo - the key figures in the project - being complex, somewhat unpopular characters, they are both desperate to win trophies. And that's what they'll do over the next couple of years. Also, having Ra??l and Guti out the way with Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos as the two big Spanish names has made things a little easier in the ego department, too.
In the upcoming Classico do you see Mourinho staying with the direct attacking football that have made Real Madrid nearly unstoppable this year or reverting to type and trying to stop them the same way he did with Inter in previous years? - BigFatFlyingBloke.
TS: Expect ??zil to be dropped and a midfield three of Lassana Diarra, Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso to try and crowd Leo Messi out as much as possible. As with last season's Inter Milan match, Mourinho will happily concede possession and play on the counter-attack.
How exactly do you think Zidane will help Mourinho? - B9.
TS: Not at all. A purely cosmetic move. Mourinho will tolerate it if it keeps Florentino P??rez happy and off his back.
Going on current form,will Barcelona be able to overcome a four-point deficit should Real win? - Regla.
TS: I'm with both Guardiola and Mourinho, who both say that the game is not in the least bit decisive. It's just that the hype gushing from the Spanish press suggests it is. It just takes someone to slip up away at Sevilla one night not for any damage to be undone.
Reasonably thick at home this morning resulting in mandatory half hour delay on the trains. Snowing quite heavily in London at the moment. Not feeling the Christmas cheer right now.
It's fairly light snow here, the roads are all clear.
Jim you seen this?
I eschew anything in the self-congratulatory vein. Esp. since we've won precisely f*ck all for a long, long time. I was there in the square when City got promoted in the playoffs. Crowd was extremely small tbh. Not fitting for City fans to be making a fuss.
Comments
Fingers crossed..
It will cost me a days pay (more than ??100...) right there.
Cnuts.
I'll take the day off work gladly but the fact that I'll have to avoid any media for about two weeks is not such a happy thought.
At the moment, I have to say with shame that I completely agree.
The make-up of the team has some of the hallmarks of Championship winning sides with Bale & Lennon on the wings - vintage Kanchelskis + Giggs, or Robben + Duff. Modric & Van Der Vart would walk into most teams. Defoe on form is brilliant, Crouch is unpredictable against foriegn teams, but maybe too lightweight for the Prem. Spurs defense is the one area that they really need to improve, but that's why games with them are always interesting! Good chance of goals at either end.
At Man U there's only about 3 players I'd want playing for Arsenal. Chelsea have more like 7 or 8 I'd take. Spurs have a good 5 or 6. Liverpool have 1 (and it's not Stevie Me), and Citeh have about 3. I don't know how many players Arse have that other teams would be interested in, as on recent form they've been looking a tad uncommitted and unreliable.
I'd take Fabregas and that's about it.
Depressing to see an Arsenal fan riding Spurs so hard, it's amazing what one game can do to your mental condition.
Yeah I think it helps that Arry seems to have adopted the You-score-4-and-we'll-score-5 approach which, with the players at his disposal, seems to be working pretty well for him. I think they are still a bit too vulnerable to offer a sustained attack on the title this year but I'm really enjoying the variation they've brought to the league and the CL (who knows how far they could get there, really depends what team turns up).
There are some real talents at Arsenal and great prospects but it does seem that few are offering the best of themselves at the moment. Nasri seems to finally be stepping up and becoming more consistent with his good performances though and even I shook my head when Cesc went off limping again. Still, win Saturday and you're top for a bit so I think everyone's in a similar boat this year.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3243779/Javier-Chicharito-Hernandez-salsa-song.html
Words fail me Duder.
Vidic & VdS, maybe Park, but that's about it. Your midfield selection is poor, Fletcher dun fell off. Nani is talented but a complete dickwad. Rooney is an overpaid mercenary c*nt. All the rest are; under-performers, over the hill or up-and-comers.
Un*ted:
Rooney, Vidic, Evra, Nani - Giggs and Scholes if they were 10 years younger
Arsenal:
Cesc, Nasri, Sagna, Arshavin, RVP. I think doe now is a good time to cash Cesc in to Barca because I can't see him playing beyond 30...
Chelsea:
Bigfat, Cashley, Essien, Malouda, Alex, Drogbreath if he was 5 years younger.
LFC:
Torres, Stevie, Skittles. Babel I like too, although I suspect no-one, esp. @ LFC, feels the same.
Harry has done what he does best, man-managing and getting the team to gel. If Ledley King could play every match they would be top 4 on the reg.
Citeh still a gang of randoms, although the best squad is beginning to pick itself. Tevez, VK and NdJ are a good nucleus, and IIRC, none of those have two full seasons with the club yet.
For example, Foster is having a great season at Birmingham this year but part of his role at a team like that is to be constantly active, making saves, marshalling the back four, picking the ball out of the net etc etc. When you play for one of the big 4/5 you tend to spend way more time in a match with nothing to do before having to suddenly switch on the concentration to make a crucial save after, say, 70 minutes of staring at a ball in the distance. Therefore, while he's now proving himself as a great shot stopper, the requirements are different at the very top level.
If there's one good thing about the cold whether, is it seems to signal the return of good tv. Peep Show starts up again tonight and Frankie Boyles' new show is on later in the week.
also Coogan & Brydon's 'The Trip' has been solidly entertaining, if you haven't been watching.
Been enjoying The Trip, its pretty fresh...Brydon's a friggin legend!
This was the week that Chelsea were going to turn that corner.
Joker being played for next week. F*ck these douches.
In other news, Paul Konchesky is a useless fucking lump, but that may not actually be news.
Tottenham riding their luck at the moment.
Someone is going to stuff them at some point...
For the first time Mourinho actually sent his team out to play football against them and got his just deserts.
the day off!
:beerbang:
Jim you seen this?
I eschew anything in the self-congratulatory vein. Esp. since we've won precisely f*ck all for a long, long time. I was there in the square when City got promoted in the playoffs. Crowd was extremely small tbh. Not fitting for City fans to be making a fuss.