2012-2013 Soccer Thread (Premier League, ECL, etc)

I know supposedly Wenger doesn't care much for the cup and its a lessened squad, but yeesh, Arsenal getting the doors blown off right now by Reading.

 

The "smaller" clubs like reading go all out for the League Cup because there's a chance of getting into the Europa League next season (if one of them can win), which means more $'s and possibly better players wanting to sign. However, Arsenal couldn't give a fuck since it's more important to remain in the ECL qualifying positions in the league and, if they go out of this cup early, it means less matches so less chances of players getting injured. With Arsenal's current injury list (longest in the EPL at present), I'm not surprised Wenger has pissed away this cup.

Wenger does, however, care more about the F.A. Cup than the League Cup (currently called the Capital One Cup). Also, the F.A. Cup for Premier League teams only begins in January...

 

Just finished watching the replay of Stoke v. Tottenham. Holy fuck how do stoke city fans even get excited for games? Park the bus? More like park the fucking 747.

 

I was hoping for both teams to lose. I cannot abide Spurs' existence as an Arsenal fan, and Stoke are the most awful bunch of cheating thug cunts in the Premier League - Shawcross* and Huth get away with almost maiming players almost every single match. Stoke were also the beneficiaries of the most number of poor refereeing decisions last season - something like 60% of the points they scored were a direct result of referee errors. They should have been fucking relegated last year.

*fucking pig who broke Ramsey's leg in an on-field assault pretending to be a tackle - Ramsey has not looked the same player since returning. Here's the video and the response from Tony Pulis (Stoke's manager). The worst though was when Arsenal played Stoke earlier this season - those Stoke "fans" (about 20000 of them, anyway) actually fucking boo'ed Ramsey! Classless club, classless fans. Fuck Stoke. I hope they get relegated.

 

Watching Fellaini ("the human microphone") headbutting Shawcross was one of the funnier moments of the season so far.

 

re: stoke

There is no way they will get relegated this year, which is a shame. They have 25 points right now, and unless Barca wants to sell Messi to Reading, that team would be lucky to break 30 points for the season, same goes for QPR, I always think Wigan are going down but then they manage to pull something out of their ass in the final 10 games or so, so someone else will be going down but it won't be stoke.

They do play the most worst form of football this side of the Jacksonville Jaguars though. There has been all this talk about bounties in the NFL, it would not shock me in the slightest if there wasn't some under the table bounty system going on at Stoke, their aim seems to be broken bones.

That being said, I'm really interested in how this next transfer window is going to shake down. More to the point, I'm interested to see where Fellaini winds up, if he even does get sold. There is a market for him, and Everton may find the cash too much to ignore, but really, the guy flips out against Stoke and now there are rumors that he has to go? I'm sure 90% of the EPL would have loved to do what he did.

 

Will Walcott sign da ting? Won't he? The suspense is killing me.

 

I don't think Walcott will sign the new deal. Like van Persie, he's had one good season (and a half) and he has been able to hold the club over the barrel for his contract fee, which, from what I've heard on tv and read, is ludicrously high and one which Arsenal are not likely to meet based on their wage structure. I, for one, hope he leaves - there are enough football mercenaries around and the guys at Arsenal are paid quite handsomely. Sadly, I think Arsenal will not make the top 4 this season and Walcott will probably end up at Chelsea, Manchester United, who will most likely be in the Champions League based on current form, or Spurs - Chelsea seem to be improving well under Rafa Benitez (no surprise, since his motto is defense first) and Manchester United are 7 points clear of City. Spurs are also looking very strong of late and seem to have a lot of squad depth in midfield (at least ten midfielders that I can think of - Huddlestone, Lennon, Bentley, Dembele, Bale, Parker, Jenas, Livermore, Townsend, Sandro...) but not enough in defense or in attack, which is what makes me think Walcott will defect to Spurs. I think AVB will sign some defenders in January, while Wenger will sign, most likely, no-one, because he will wait until the 28th before starting negotiations and no movement will happen.

Everton are currently sitting one place above Arsenal in the league table and they are known as a team that play MUCH better in the second half of a season than the first half. Arsenal are, most likely, proper fucked and it is all the fault of the board and manager, for failing to keep pace with the teams around them.

 

Walcott is like a new signing!

This is the problem with trying to correct the course of the season in the January transfer window - no great players are going to be on the market.

 

That is true - most of the major signings are done in the summer transfer window, but some signings that can keep a club up can be done in January. For example, look at Q.P.R last season - they signed Cisse in January and his goals helped to keep the R's in the top flight, despite losing on the final day to Manchester City. Some club sales, too, can condemn clubs to relegation - look at Bolton and Gary Cahill for an example of that phenomenon. I have no doubt if Bolton had kept Cahill that they would probably have stayed up at the expense of Q.P.R., due to him being the best defender at a bottom 5 positioned team last season.

You know Arsenal will sign absolutely no-one though, other than a handful of 8 year-olds who will make their first team appearances in 2023 or something. This team desperately needs to finish 5th a few times to get rid of that leech Kroenke, then maybe we can look to rebuilding, like what Liverpool is doing right now. Rodgers seems to be doing a pretty good job with them - that thumping of Norwich almost had an Arsenal-of-old look about it.

 

Still have about a week left in the transfer window and I have yet to see anything that really jumps out of the page except for maybe Ba and Sturridge (Holtby to Spurs looks nice, but that's for next summer). Maybe Fellaini will force a move, but that seems to be one of the only EPL team -> EPL team rumors that I've heard lately that could really shake up the top 4/5 race, so unless you believe the stories coming out of Barca (Villa) and RM (the team revolting against the special one), the EPL rosters for the top half look to be pretty well set. The only other interesting story from my vantage point is Coloccini from Newcastle, with espn & f365 both saying that he may just walk away from the team, regardless of whether or not a transfer to Argentina can be agreed to. I admit I don't watch too many Newcastle matches, but he is their captain and I know he's generally been a rock for them, last year they finished 5th and they are currently 2 points away from the relegation zone, if he walks it only increases the likelihood they will go down, which I don't think anyone would have predicted.

Also, why does Arsenal fuck with their fans so much? Team sources link them to so many players during every transfer window and then shit doesn't happen.

Edit: It's also nice to see Stoke finally giving up a bunch of goals, fuck that entire organization.

 

I think Holtby to Spurs is a pipe dream, unless Spurs can offload at least 2 midfielders - they are already overstocked in central midfielders (Parker, Huddlestone, Dembele, Sandro (admittedly out for the season but still there nonetheless), Sigurdsson, Jenas, Livermore, Townsend...). Spurs' priority must be a centre-forward, since Adecuntor is away at AFCON and Defoe is playing every match - Dempsey is more of an attacking midfielder than a forward and Kane is on loan at the Canaries. I think Fellaini might be a more likely move, since he already has international team-mates there (Vertonghen and Dembele) and can play as a forward or attacking midfielder and can take the pressure off Defoe. Spurs also don't have a lot of height in midfield or up front, aside from Adecuntor.

I have seen at least half of Newcastle's matches this season (my dad's a fan and they're my second team behind the Gunners). Coloccini has already been relegated once with Newcastle and I think he feels threatened with all the defensive signings Pardew is making (Debuchy, Yanga-Mbiwa, Haidara...) and he has not played particularly well so far this season - I reckon he'll go before the close of the window. He's never been the quickest defender but he looks to now have the pace of Carragher, so it might be a good move for the club. I also think Gutierrez will be gone soon, too - he's looked largely unimpressive this season. I think Newcastle have missed Danny Guthrie more than any other player this season - letting him leave for Reading for free was a daft move by Pardew.

I still hold out hope that Arsenal will sign someone - I'm hoping for Julio Cesar from QPR (he has been their outstanding player by miles this season) and at least once decent ball-winning centre midfielder to break up attacks (Diame... please?). Seeing the backs of Santos, Squillaci and Arshavin would be a bonus, too - as would permanent moves for Chamakh, Park, Djourou and Denilson. I hope that, if Coloccini does move, that Arsenal make a bid - he might not have too much pace left, but he has the ability to marshal a defence when he wants to, and Arsenal lack a defensive leader - Vermaelen and Mertesacker are both ineffective at this. AFC also need a decent left-back as cover for Gibbs - TV has played poorly there when Gibbs has been injured so it's definitely a position Wenger needs to fill. 2 proper wingers would also be nice - TW's wing play has improved but I think he's more effective now as a striker. I'd also like Bendtner back - he may be infuriating, but he has height and, often, a good first touch and maybe, just maybe, he has gained some humility after getting the square root of fuck all chances at Juventus.

 

Very good article on Wenger.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/d363b054-6548-11e2-8b03-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=published_links/rss/life-arts_simon-kuper/feed//product&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter#axzz2J1A4VL99" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/d363b054-6548 ... z2J1A4VL99</a>

Basically praising his approach and the reasons for its success, but the playing field has changed and now big money rules the game. What worked magnificently on a more insulated plane is now akin to bringing a knife to a gunfight. It's still effective enough to finish top half of the table, because Wenger is a very smart man and still a good coach, but maybe not enough to win hardware with the big spenders throughout the Premiership.

Basically, he's running a great business, financially, but we all know sports are more than just a healthy balance sheet.

 

Yes, that is a great article, but it doesn't highlight that Wenger has spent money on players who have either been played out of position (Arshavin and, latterly, Podolski - Podolski is at his best as a centre-forward imo) and some who are simply not up to the required standard (Santos for £6 million is arguably the worst player in an Arsenal shirt since some of the midfield in George Graham's team of the early 1990's, Ramsey for a similar amount has been almost as bad, Squillaci is fucking terrible, Denilson - Mr. Average-To-Poor himself, Djourou, Vela, etc. etc.) and that basic squad strengthening has not been able to take place due to wasting money on excessive wages on middling players due to continued managerial caving-in to those players' demands. Diaby must have the highest relative wages-to-games-played score EVER for any player in any team.

I hope Arsenal will start putting more players on pay-as-you-play deals. At least one other professional sport (rugby here in S.A.) is moving closer to that model and other sports are bound to follow, due to increased financial prudence.

 

So Arsenal did sign someone: Nacho Monreal from Málaga C.F., who plays as a left-sided full-back for an undisclosed fee but guessed by some as £8.5 million. It is a good sign that Wenger has realised that the left side is a problem and has been for some time now, since the sales of Clichy and Traore. I am hoping Monreal is a better player than Andre Santos (which should not be difficult). Unfortunately, Monreal is cup-tied, having already appeared for Málaga in the Champions League, so Santos will start against Bayern due to Gibbs' injury. Bayern should win both games comfortably with that being the case.

 

Monreal is solid; people are saying he's the second best LB in La Liga after Jordi Alba. At the very least, he knows when to clear the ball. I guess we'll see what he's made of against Stoke in half an hour.

In other transfer news, Spurs fans cut themselves over their woes at striker, Balotelli fucks off to AC Milan with nary a tear shed, and Beckham signs for PSG. You have 5 seconds to figure out which one of these stories was deemed worthy for American Sportscenter.

Also, it's almost time for DA HEX. Will USA qualify? Is Jurgen Klinsmann any good as an international manager? Will Deuce save us again?

 

Good result for Arsenal against Stoke, especially with Everton and Chelsea dropping points. I gotta admit, I was psyched to see Nacho be physical; there are way too many glass cannons on that squad. Cazorla also sorely needed the rest, as he provided a spark after his substitution.

 

Walters was a great target for Monreal, and I laughed especially hard when Monreal hit him in exactly the same place in the second half, which went unnoticed by Foy. Unsurprising, since Foy had a terrible game - Walcott was getting pounded by Wilkinson and Wilkinson got away with flooring him at least 6 times illegally before Foy showed him the yellow - I saw at least 4 elbows to the back. It was disgraceful. Walcott's hip-check on him later, right before he was subbed off, was well deserved.

Shawcross is still a cunt. I hoped that Koscielny would kick his ass after the studs-to-the-groin incident, but it didn't happen, sadly. Every Arsenal fan would have cheered if Kos had beaten Shawcross to a bloody pulp on the field. Fuck him - he deserves it. Whelan is also a shit bucket. Should have had a red instead of a yellow for that challenge. Owen is apparently being brought up on charges for trying to punch Arteta - it was a tough tackle, but Arteta did hit the ball first.

 

Saturday was fun: Arsenal threw away their only realistic chance at a trophy. Granted, Blackburn (Hanley in particular and Gamst Pedersen) put on a top-drawer defensive performance to shut Arsenal out. Cazorla's screamer of an effort was unlucky but summed up the day nicely, and Arsenal's season so far: concede a bullshit goal, throw everything at the other team, come away with nothing.

Tonight is Arsenal vs. Bayern Munich. I'm pretty sure, based on Bayern's record in the ECL and Bundesliga so far this season (setting new records for points scored during the 20 opening matches of the Bundesliga season) that it'll be one-way traffic and Arsenal's defense will be battered into submission. It's not gonna be pretty for Arsenal fans, that's for sure.

 

Arsenal board yet again claiming they've given Wenger £70m to spend. I don't know why anybody should believe them.

In any case, buy a strong mid (Fellaini?) and a striker (Michu?) and Arsenal are a trophy winning club.