View Poll Results: Who will win the league this season?

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  • Man Utd

    8 50.00%
  • Chelsea

    3 18.75%
  • Man City

    2 12.50%
  • Arsenal

    0 0%
  • Liverpool

    2 12.50%
  • Swansea

    1 6.25%
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Thread: 2011-2012 English Football Season and STEWART DOWNING WHAT ON EARTH Thread

  1. #721
    This is England
    Papa Waigo
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    WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO TO OUR CLUB PSYCHOTIC

  2. #722
    Newbie Administrator Loony BoB's Avatar
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    Loony Bob (Twintania)

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    Eden Hazard will undoubtedly play well for whoever he joins, but man, Ronaldo was considered an introvert so if he ever becomes as good as Ronaldo, then bloody hell, he'll never shut up. He probably won't shut up anyway, but yeah. He'll do well at Chelsea as they don't have someone already in the role that he wants to play in.

    Hoping we get Kagawa wrapped up soon, because I like the prospect of him playing for us. Hopefully he can play a bit further back than he currently does, though.
    Bow before the mighty Javoo!

  3. #723
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    Quote Originally Posted by Old Manus View Post
    WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO TO OUR CLUB PSYCHOTIC
    Well sir

    you may have won the battle

    but I think you just lost the war

    And to think you thought it was a punishment to make me use Brendan as an avatar!

  4. #724
    card mod ur face Rocket Edge's Avatar
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    I actually really like the look of Kagawa more then Hazard, I'd be delighted if we brought him in. As for BR, I feel for you Manus.

  5. #725
    Mold Anus Old Manus's Avatar
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    smurf.

    I'm gutted. This'll put the Sigurdsson deal dead in the water, and with Sinclair's contract due to end this summer I can't see him re-signing. Whispers that Liverpool are after Joe Allen. I'm struggling to think of a replacement as we seem to have gone through all the managers who play our type of football (they all got smurfing poached by bigger teams within two years!). I hope Huw Jenkins had already drawn up some contingency plans during all the Redknapp speculation or we're in deep(er) trouble. Alan Curbishley 8/1. For smurf's sake.

    Farewell ladies and gents, the dream is over. After all those years chasing it, I'd better dust off those Hotels In Barnsley leaflets again. We'll have one more season-long bash in the football thread together, then I'll see you all in another twenty years.


    there was a picture here

  6. #726
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    Some of the reactions from Liverpool fans is utterly pathetic. I get that it's because Kenny is a Liverpool hero. As I said before in this thread, I don't agree with the sacking and think he should've been given one more year, but there it is. It aint Brendan's fault and he is a promising coach though.

    Is he better than Dalglish? Particularly as Rodgers cost £5m? Well, I imagine some of you will say so, all based on one season, but I imagine it's the same among you that thought Hodgson was better than Benitez because the media said so. No, of course he isn't at this point in time.

    However, what I like about Rodgers is that he is a very modern manager and can clearly see the way the wind is blowing in football. Dalglish, meanwhile, is still living the 80's dream. In three years time I believe and hope Rodgers will have surpassed Dalglish.

    This instant success business is very very ugly. 8th, Cup, Cup final. For a club that is called a midtable club by its detractors, the same ones that say we had a bad season, that isn't actually terrible. I'm worried because I think Rodgers is the manager we need, but not yet, and it will take time for him to grow into the role and for the team to start to reflect his vision. I'm worried that if we're in 8th in December or something he's going to get booed and the press will start to call for his blood. I hope, barring a disastrous season (HINT: finishing 8th is not a disaster, I mean full on relegation battle, Hodgson-style) he is allowed to see out the supposed 3 year contract he has, for better or worse.

    I think Rodgers has an advantage in that this team genuinely is not as bad as the league table suggests. There is of course the Lucas issue, as I highlighted earlier - with him fully fit, the team earns twice as many points. The other is this apparent jinx or voodoo on the team. 29 woodwork strikes. Keepers suddenly becoming the second coming of Lev Yashin. Missed penalties galore. Dominating teams for 90 minutes only to lose or draw anyway. I have genuinely never seen a season like it, it has simply been bizarre. If he'd been allowed to stay on, I think Dalglish could've improved on this season by 10 points without even doing anything differently.

    I think as a long-term change, this is good for LFC. I am hoping we can quietly and slowly build up our strength without any of this "THIS IS OUR YEAR!" "WE ARE TEH BIGGEST CLUB" nonsense. The expectations need to be like those of Newcastle or Everton, rather than trying to compare ourselves to even Arsenal and Chelsea, much less the Manchester clubs. Hopefully we can also avoid debacles like Suarez-Evra. I also hope the lowered expectations mean that the likes of Carroll, Downing and Henderson receive less scrutiny. I think people forget that two of those players are still very young - I guess the instant sucess monster rears its ugly head again. In a few years, hopefully under Brendan, they and other young players like Kelly and Shelvey can form part of a very good team. Exciting times ahead.

  7. #727

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    I want to echo much of what Paul said. I think the move is a good one for Liverpool, as it brings someone who can clearly bring a progressive approach to the squad. For all the love Dalglish has brought, he was a bit out of the times, though ironically, someone like Ferguson keeps on rolling with the changes of football despite being now in to his 70's.

    I think with a healthy Lucas and as I keep saying, with a real poacher striker, Liverpool can absolutely build on this season. Having someone who can actually be a playmaker in midfield when we don't have Gerrard would do wonders as well.

    Finally, I think this about sums up my feelings for one of Liverpool's now dearly departing players:

    Farewell to Dirk Kuyt, Anfield cult hero -- James Tyler - ESPN

    Thanks for the hard work and glory Dirk. You will be missed. Though we still have yet to replace Xabi Alonso's artistry in midfield, replacing Dirk's heart and lungs may be equally as tough.


    Take care all.

  8. #728
    card mod ur face Rocket Edge's Avatar
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    Manchester United have gotten Kagawa, very happy with his signature. I think we need a new center back & maybe a new midfielder.

  9. #729
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rocket Edge View Post
    Manchester United have gotten Kagawa, very happy with his signature. I think we need a new center back & maybe a new midfielder.
    A mass of United fans are saying this and I honestly can't understand it.

    Strikers (3): Rooney, Welbeck, Hernandez. Next in line at the moment is Keane.
    Wingers (3): Valencia, Nani, Young. Argument could be made for Park or Giggs, but both are played in central positions more often than not.
    Central midfield (7), where people think we need more players: Carrick, Scholes, Anderson, Cleverley, Kagawa, Giggs, Park. I'm not going to include Fletcher just yet.
    Fullbacks (2): Rafael, Evra. Fabio is to go on loan next season. Backup are all central defenders naturally.
    Central defence (5): Vidic, Rio, Evans, Jones, Smalling.
    GK (3): De Gea, Lindegaard, Amos.

    The areas we are weakest in are the areas that all United fans want to strengthen in. Why is that? I can understand "But they aren't good enough!" comments, but if we get an injury there, at least we have loads of cover. If we get injuries in the fullback position, we are relying on players who are not fullbacks to cover. If Evra is out for the season, we are relying on Evans as left back. We need fullbacks, and bugger all else. It should also be noted that in the Everton game (amongst others), it was highlighted that the faults were with the fullbacks. So perhaps they are the ones who aren't good enough, not the central mid and the central defence!
    Bow before the mighty Javoo!

  10. #730
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    Yep, full-back is your biggest weakness. I would rather rely on Evans than Evra at full back. Evra is a shockingly bad player to see play for Manchester United and you need a new left back stat. Get Jordi Alba. If you get Leighton Baines I will shake my head.

  11. #731
    Newbie Administrator Loony BoB's Avatar
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    Evra isn't as bad as people make him out to be, and I put Liverpool fans quite high up that list given that he and Suarez obviously exaggerated the dislike between Liverpool and Evra. Evra isn't what he used to be, but the same can be said for Rio who was still great last season. Evra just needs someone to share his position with because at the moment he plays almost every game each season. 40+ games, a brother dying, your legs going, racist abuse and people getting on his back for actually having the balls to complain after said racist abuse? I'd say he's had a very rough year.

    I'd take Baines. I don't think there are any world-class left backs available at the moment so it's a difficult position to buy for. If there were vastly superior left backs in the world, I'd obviously prefer them, but Baines obviously is capable of doing a job in the Premier League as he has proven time and again for Everton. Alba is wanted by Barcelona and I doubt he'll come our way once that happens.

    Shame Fabio has had so many injuries or he'd be a great prospect, although I still think that he and Rafael are both better suited to winger roles (not quite Valencia/Nani/Young level when it comes to goals, but the one game they have played on the wings was against Arsenal and they were epic).

    Evans is far from better than Evra at playing left-back. That goes without saying to most people.
    Bow before the mighty Javoo!

  12. #732
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    Baines is a name I've been hearing float around the last few days. I'd take him all day long.

    I do agree that we have a mass of players in our centre midfield & defence, but I think our best players lie in our strikers & wingers. Rio isn't getting any younger, nor Vida, and I dunno, I'm not certain on the likes of Evans, Jones, & Smalling just yet. Maybe another experienced defender would do nicely in the ranks. Jones & Smalling can play right back fairly comfortably anyway. As for midfield, on further thought your probably right, although sometimes last season I felt we ran out of ideas within the park. Apart from Scholes, Giggs, and to a certain degree Cleverly, none of our other central midfielders are great at holding onto the ball & have the ability to do intricate passing, something we miss when we play against Barcelona or even Bilbao.

  13. #733
    Newbie Administrator Loony BoB's Avatar
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    I would say that's more down to our seeming inability to hold onto a ball against sides that focus on extreme pressing when they do not have the ball. Bilbao, Basel and Barcelona (I wonder if it's a B-thing? ) all did it to us. Our best holder of the ball is Anderson as far as I'm concerned, he can keep players off us easily. But the overall passing ability belongs to Carrick and Scholes, who were still beaten by these teams. It's not a passing issue, it's an inability to cope with pressing. It could well be the entire strategy of the evening set by SAF, who knows? We've missed Fletcher, too, but I'm not so sure he'd have made all the difference on his own. When we have right backs who aren't right backs and left backs who have play 180 minutes a week, every week, then eventually we get caught out.

    The only way Smalling, Evans and Jones are going to become more experienced with our team is to play more, and bringing in a third experienced defender is going to stop that from happening. I think Smalling has rarely let us down, and Evans proved a big doubter (me) wrong last season by not getting sent off at every opportunity. So they are clearly learning. I think Jones needs a bit more training, if any of the three, really. He can leave us wanting at times.

    Every club goes through transition once in a while and we are currently training up the future. We have the players to train in almost every position... but no backup at all for Evra, let alone players to train, as Fabio is going away.

    Rumours say Alba, Baines and Clyne are our options. The latter seems most likely, as Evra will still probably play more games than the newcomer and Baines/Alba won't be so intersted in playing second fiddle. I mean, I assume whoever comes in will be second fiddle, otherwise why would we send Fabio away to get more gametime? Unless Evra is going to take the back seat, which is possibly the reason Fabio is going on loan - because he lacks the experience to properly take over? Dunno.
    Bow before the mighty Javoo!

  14. #734
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    Being a Liverpool fan has nothing to do with what I think of Evra as a football player; stop buying into media hype and sensationalism. I genuinely don't give two smurfs about the Suarez-Evra incident anymore, it was stupid and boring. Apart from the always magnificent Donal, I am the most logical and unbiased person in this thread*. For god's sake man, I think Michael Carrick is a bloody fantastic talent. I smurfing want Dimitar Berbatov at Liverpool, and it is so smurfing depressing you got Young and we got Downing.

    I think Johnny Evans has developed quite nicely this season and is nowhere near as bad as you seem to think he is. And I think Patrice Evra is the worst Manchester United captain I have ever seen, and the worst first choice left-back I have ever seen. The man is a liability. Now, don't get me wrong, he used to be pretty bloody good and with the exception of Chelsea, would've walked into any Prem team 2-3 years ago. Now he would not get into any of the top 8 apart from United, obviously. He is simply not Manchester United quality. He's not even Liverpool quality for god's sake. He wouldn't even get on our bench and we're smurfing awful. To be honest with you, the idea of Alba or Baines being the back up to Evra is laughable. They're miles ahead and he'd be the one getting bench time.

    BRING BACK DENNIS IRWIN

    *shut up manus yes I am, you take whatever quote you want to make and shove it up your bum.

  15. #735
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    Michael Laudrup for Swansea? Interesting...
    "Excuse me Miss, do you like pineapple?"

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