Football 2011-2012

[kaosmark2]

Chelsea might not even be in the CL though so I'm not sure he'd be interested. Wouldn't mind the pay-rise though I'm sure. Looking at their team they have less players in his position then I thought so could easily happen - only thing that might put them off is they wanna bring their squad age down and Dempsey's 30 next season.

Murphy is old but he's still the main guy who runs our midfield. He never really used pace so his experience / age is more a help then a hinderance. We'll need a creative midfielder to replace him properly and they can be very hard to get... Duff is getting on now too, another player we look a lot worse without.

[Alcatraz]

That must be oh so sweet for Mr Hodgson!

[kaosmark2]

That must be oh so sweet for Mr Hodgson!

[Kowalski]

Always thought that Roy Hodgson would get results at Anfield.

[strummer77]

That must be oh so sweet for Mr Hodgson!

Edited April 22, 2012 by strummer77

[pink_triangle]

Glad to see man city close the gap. As a neutral I dont think Man Utd have played well enough this year to deserve a coronation and the difference between the 2 manchester teams has been minimal. Both sides have the title in their own hands and that feels about right to me, looking at the season as a whole. I like the idea of both teams going into the final game on equal points and similar goal difference, knowing that a win may not be enough. However with Man Citys only realistic route to the title involving beating united I think its unlilkely that Man U will catch up citys goal dfference if they lose that game.

[strummer77]

Glad to see man city close the gap. As a neutral I dont think Man Utd have played well enough this year to deserve a coronation and the difference between the 2 manchester teams has been minimal. Both sides have the title in their own hands and that feels about right to me, looking at the season as a whole. I like the idea of both teams going into the final game on equal points and similar goal difference, knowing that a win may not be enough. However with Man Citys only realistic route to the title involving beating united I think its unlilkely that Man U will catch up citys goal dfference if they lose that game.

Edited April 22, 2012 by strummer77

[eFestivals]

Utd conceding four at home. Not good enough. Really poor defending for the goals. Pity because some of the attacking play was great.

I thought they were great goals by both sides with some shocking defending from both too (tho Utd win for being worst ).

Biggest league game in years now next Monday.

Yep, could pan out in all sorts of ways.

My guess is that it's going to be a bad tempered affair with at least one sending off, so if that's what happens it's going to depend on who gets sent off from which side.

I'll plump for Scholes (by being too slow) or Rooney (thru bad temper) to be the mostly likely fall guy, but I don't discount the possibility of it being a city player.

[worm]

I said Man Utd would draw with Everton, City would murder Man Utd at home as they're miles more talented and that S'land would hold them to a draw at home. So I'll stick with Man City winning the league.

I think Liverpool are attrocious and require a new manager. Dalglish is a dinosaur. He hasn't a fucking clue. Midfielders that don't gel, 35 million spunked on a plank, 22 million on a local player they thought could replace Gerrard. I've never seen a Liverpool squad playing so badly. They aren't being managed.

Edited April 23, 2012 by worm

[strummer77]

I've never seen a Liverpool squad playing so badly. They aren't being managed.

Edited April 23, 2012 by strummer77

[eFestivals]

does anyone know a website that has stats for all the prem teams, but which combines all of the games they've played during a season (not just Prem games) into those stats?

[worm]

We're still paying for that summer we got rid of Rafa if we're honest.

[The Nal]

I've watched every game this season and just can't work out exactly what the problem is.

[worm]

In fairness to Carroll, he has shown glimpses of improvement and it was good to see him screaming at Suarez after he should have squared it yesterday instead of shooting over. Carroll wants the ball which is good to see.

[kaosmark2]

Walker over Aguero for Young Player of the year? Crazy...

Impressed by the inclusion of Colo and Baines in the team of the year, but Parker clearly doesn't deserve the spot alongside Yaya. I'd have plumped for Aguero over Rooney up front as well.

[eFestivals]

I always thought that was a mistake. I remember there were a lot of Rafa haters around at the time saying that he was clueless in the transfer market and couldn't man-manage, but look at those criticisms now.

yeah, it's absolutely dreadful of Kenny to have landed the first bit of silverware since Rafa's first season in charge, and to have a more than decent chance of a 2nd cup too.

Let's get Liverpool back to winning nothing, Rafa's clearly the better manager as that lack of silverware he won got to prove.

It's Kenny's first full season, where he's taken a win-nothing club and won them a cup and might win them a second cup. The league position is a disappointment, but that one cup and perhaps a second, along with an (overall) good performance in the league on the basis of chances-made(-but-not-taken) put that disappointment in a different perspective.

There's more than one sub-standard player in the squad, but with the necessary tweaking in the summer - not a huge amount required - that league position is reversible. If Liverpool can change their goals-taken-from-chances into the league's average then they're top four next season.

But hey, someone from the north east, that hot-bed of winning nothing, says that it's time to sack Kenny.

[eFestivals]

I can. Scoring goals. You don't have a goalscorer. As much as people have a pop at Carroll, I'm all for giving young players time. But in the meantime, you need someone to do the job. Hes not a primary Liverpool goalscorer. Nowhere near. And Suarez, as good as he is, doesn't score enough.

Look at Utd. Not the greatest Utd team ever, far from it. Welbeck is showing signs of improvement and hes getting time to improve but Utd have Rooney to score the goals in the meantime as Welbeck has only scored 3 or 4.

Liverpools finishing yesterday was abysmal. Ball bouncing around the box and players just hacking at it in the general direction of the goal, Hendersons chance aside. Compare that to Agueros finish yesterday or Rooneys, or Nani, or Fellaini, or Odemwingie.

In fairness to Carroll, he has shown glimpses of improvement and it was good to see him screaming at Suarez after he should have squared it yesterday instead of shooting over. Carroll wants the ball which is good to see.

I agree with all of that.

I'm not entirely sure of replacing Carroll with a Rooney-quality goal-scorer would be enough because there'd be lost impact elsewhere on the pitch (and too many of the players are just too short of quality), but if Liverpool can get their goals scored from chances to the league's average they'd be doing hugely better than they have done.

I don't think they're as far away from being up there with the big boys as their league position suggests.

[worm]

yeah, it's absolutely dreadful of Kenny to have landed the first bit of silverware since Rafa's first season in charge, and to have a more than decent chance of a 2nd cup too.

[The Nal]

yeah, it's absolutely dreadful of Kenny to have landed the first bit of silverware since Rafa's first season in charge, and to have a more than decent chance of a 2nd cup too.

Let's get Liverpool back to winning nothing, Rafa's clearly the better manager as that lack of silverware he won got to prove.

Edited April 23, 2012 by The Nal

[worm]

Rafa won the FA Cup in his 2nd or 3rd season in charge too. He had his failings, a couple of major boo boos but he won the Champions League (unbelievably), got the final two years in a row, won the FA Cup and should have won the league. And all that under the ownership of dumb and dumber who hated him. And remember, he was competing against a Utd team with Ronaldo in it, Chelski managed by Mourinho, Arsenal team with Henry etc. The EPL was a much better standard then.

You forget how much money Daglish has spent. A fortune. Look at the team that played yesterday - Shelvey, Spearing, Downing, Carroll, Maxi, Henderson. Average players. 12 losses in the league this season. 37 points behind the leaders - who are a far from great Utd side.

Kenny has won the pisspot, scraped by a Championship team on pens, and is in the FA Cup final. In both of those competitions combined, Liverpool have played against - what - 3 good teams?

Don't get me wrong - its better to win something than not but I don't really think its a reflection in any way of how the club are doing in general. Its papering over the cracks.

[strummer77]

Kenny has won the pisspot, scraped by a Championship team on pens, and is in the FA Cup final. In both of those competitions combined, Liverpool have played against - what - 3 good teams?

Edited April 23, 2012 by strummer77

[kaosmark2]

The other thing I really see wrong with Liverpool is their wingers. They can't take it wide as an outlet except if Johnson or Enrique roam forward. It means they can ONLY play through the middle, which means teams can set themselves up to defend against that more easily. Teams go compact, so they can get the block in, they can mean the space for a shot is narrower and the keeper's more likely to save, etc. If you attack from out wide, there's one, possibly 2 of the defensive players going to the man with the ball, meaning that's one or two less cramping up the box. They need to get the play too perfect in order to score, and they've not got good enough players to do that regularly.

Not only that, but Liverpool lack pace up front and in midfield, so they can't counter at all. Suarez has trickery and some pace but he's not lightning fast, Downing's useless, Carroll's slow, Gerrard's never been particularly pacy, Adam's not, Henderson's not, etc., etc. When Bellamy plays, he gets them scoring goals on the counter, but he's not fit enough to play every game.

[kaosmark2]

actually worth £20m. Like the ones Rafa used to buy. But we sacked him.

[The Nal]

To be fair we played Chelsea (away), Man City (x2), Everton, United and Stoke (Home and away) so not too easy. Was really the final that was supposedly easy. But that's what makes it more frustrating. We're big game players, we fucking bottle normal games.

[strummer77]

Aquilani. Johnson. Babel. Riera.

The grass is always greener.