Football 2011-2012

[thetime]

Once upon a time a cup winner was considered a better team than a league winner - which gets to show how these things are viewed has changed once and could change again.

[thetime]

Will make it simple for you terrible lot.

Man city best players

Man utd best team.

newcastle over achieved

spurs, well spurs have always been the same.

chelsea on the wane.

Liverpool mid table obcsurity.

[kaosmark2]

Will make it simple for you terrible lot.

[jammy2211]

Will make it simple for you terrible lot.

Man city best players

Man utd best team.

newcastle over achieved

spurs, well spurs have always been the same.

chelsea on the wane.

Liverpool mid table obcsurity.

[pink_triangle]

Anyone done the premierleague.com 20 years poll?

http://www.premierleague.com/content/premierleague/en-gb/20-seasons.html

My choices

game - liverpool v newcastle

goals - le tissier v newcastle

celebration ferguson/kidd

save - jakelainen

team schemichel, neville, adams, stam, cole, ronaldo, viera, scholes, giggs, henry, bergkamp

The list shows how bad the premiership has been for right backs

Barton, carr, Dixon, Johnson, Rob Jones, Kelly, Petrescu, Richards, Sagna, Neville

Nothing against Sagna, Neville and Dixon but the rest range from medicore to pretty poor.

[thetime]

Arsenal not even good enough to get mentioned?

[Banana Co]

C'mon URZZ! Reading promoted! We all ran on the pitch for a second time.

[kaosmark2]

The list shows how bad the premiership has been for right backs

Barton, carr, Dixon, Johnson, Rob Jones, Kelly, Petrescu, Richards, Sagna, Neville

Nothing against Sagna, Neville and Dixon but the rest range from medicore to pretty poor.

[eFestivals]

When?

back when organised footie first started. No one thought much of league ideas back then, it was the cup that was the important competition. And just to prove it, most peeps with a bit of footie knowledge know who won the first FA Cup but not so many know who first won the league.

I saw something on a TV programme - it might have been QI - within the last few years, which said what I've said here, that leagues weren't of as much interest in the past as cup competitions. I presume that that was properly researched and was right.

I'm not entirely sure when things switched around, tho 40 years ago it was definitely the case that the FA Cup was of hugely more importance than it is now, that winning the FA Cup was considered much more of a success against winning the league than it is now (tho not necessarily as the better thing to win). I know who won the cup in the years I was aged 5 to 10 but I've little idea who won the league - tho I accept that might be more the result of what got my interest at that age than it being the same all-round.

[The Nal]

Anyone done the premierleague.com 20 years poll?

[strummer77]

Team Schemeichel, Neville, Adams, Terry, Cole, Ronaldo, Gerrard, Scholes, Giggs, Henry, Bergkamp/Shearer.

Not fair you cant have Henry, Bergkamp and Shearer i the team. Who do you drop there?!

[Jaybles]

While I agree the league is a better way of reflecting how good a team is than a cup, I dont think that the winner of a league is automatically the best. People say luck evens itself out and to some extent it probably does, however its not an exact science. There have been seasons where the premiership title has been decided by 1 point, nobody will convince me that a side who over 38 games is only 1 point ahead of the 2nd place is automatially the best team. It could be that over the 38 games the winner has had 1 or 2 more dodgy decisions in their favour which if corrected could easily have caused a 2 point swing against them. It could also be that the team at the top have had worse refereeing than the team in 2nd and deserved to win by more.

[The Nal]

Probably agree with your team. I'd go Shearer just to mix things up a bit but it is incredibly tough.

[eFestivals]

I think the league table does a pretty good job at displaying who has been the best team in the league for the longest period.

I think it does a pretty good job too - but there's a method that could do a better one (whatever that method is [i'm not claiming to know it]), that accounts for a team's form on any day in relation to the strength of the opposition they're playing.

[pink_triangle]

Interesting listening to the football podcasts this week, Ashley Young has been given more penalties than any other player since the start of last season. Only 1 more than the 2nd or 3rd players combined!! Second place is Suarez, so the fact he wasnt at liverpool at the begining of last season and has had a big ban this season make the gap look bigger than it should.

I agree with Marcotti when it comes to the whole "it was a penalty because there was contact" argument. Nowhere in the rules does it specify contact=penalty.

[The Nal]

Interesting listening to the football podcasts this week, Ashley Young has been given more penalties than any other player since the start of last season. Only 1 more than the 2nd or 3rd players combined!! Second place is Suarez, so the fact he wasnt at liverpool at the begining of last season and has had a big ban this season make the gap look bigger than it should.

[eFestivals]

Interesting listening to the football podcasts this week, Ashley Young has been given more penalties than any other player since the start of last season. Only 1 more than the 2nd or 3rd players combined!!

according to (I think it was) the chairman of the PFA, Young is definitely not a diver. He's slightly built so gets knocked off his feet much easier than other players.

I reckon Young has a very good chance of taking Tom Daley's place at the Olympics.

[The Nal]

according to (I think it was) the chairman of the PFA, Young is definitely not a diver. He's slightly built so gets knocked off his feet much easier than other players.

[thetime]

Well done chelsea half way there, will be supporting chelsea all the way next tuesday.

[pink_triangle]

I wouldnt go as far as wanting chelsea to win, but you have to admire the defensive discipline, add to that a decent slice of luck and its a big win for chelsea. I am not a fan of the away goal rule but it could be huge in this tie, if chelsea can score in the nou camp, barca are in big trouble. I personally hope barcelona go through, while I admire the defensive skill of chelsea, its not the style of football I enjoy playing. However if chelsea played the style of football I enjoy watching they would have been destroyed, so Robbie D got his tactics right.

[thetime]

so Robbie D got his tactics right.

[pink_triangle]

Anyone else agree that the away goal rule is a crappy rule. My view has always been if 2 clubs play each other over 2 matches and cant be seperated, it should be a draw and then penalties. I dont see the relevance of how many goals are scored home and away, to me the rule ruins too many ties by putting games out of reach that would otherwise be competitive without the rule in place.

[strummer77]

Anyone else agree that the away goal rule is a crappy rule. My view has always been if 2 clubs play each other over 2 matches and cant be seperated, it should be a draw and then penalties. I dont see the relevance of how many goals are scored home and away, to me the rule ruins too many ties by putting games out of reach that would otherwise be competitive without the rule in place.

[Ed209]

Anyone else agree that the away goal rule is a crappy rule. My view has always been if 2 clubs play each other over 2 matches and cant be seperated, it should be a draw and then penalties. I dont see the relevance of how many goals are scored home and away, to me the rule ruins too many ties by putting games out of reach that would otherwise be competitive without the rule in place.

[strummer77]

On a sidenote, pet hate of mine "away goals count double". Whenever I hear this I want to hurt puppies. Its not true

Edited April 18, 2012 by strummer77