We Go Again! The 2014/15 Premier League Thread

by Guest Fri 26 Dec 2014 - 23:21

First topic message reminder :

Dirty, scheming, diving sh!thouse.

by Stella Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 7:38

Finding the groove? You've been inconsistent all season. Thing's may change, but it's all guess work at present.

by socal1976 Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 7:48

Stella wrote:Finding the groove? You've been inconsistent all season. Thing's may change, but it's all guess work at present.

I am an admirer of Wenger but he made a huge mistake not investing in the defense and DM this season. If we can get a couple of good players in January to help there it might make a big difference. But frankly Arsene usually doesn't do very much of anything in January so who knows. Very inconsistent, loss at Southampton and Stoke were very pathetic performances.

by lfc91 Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 9:41

There is so much inconsistency from every team chasing top 4 that at the moment anyone could grab it.(Excluding the top 2 of course as I don't think they will be caught). IMO arsenal look best bet for 3rd as long as Sanchez doesn't get injured, if he misses anything more than a month they miss top 4.

by Ent Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 9:45

United southampton was an atrocious game.

1 shot on target between the 3rd and 4th side in the league. Absolute garbage with no quality on display.

Both sides deserved to lose, chelsea and City miles ahead of the rest of the pl.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 9:52

Hammersmith harrier wrote:Showing yourself up with those comments about Carrick and Mata instantly Gerry, a classic case of a fair weather fan who doesn't have a clue and isn't interested if the team isn't winning.

We do need to ditch the back five, it limits our line of attack far too much and congests the midfield in particular centrally. It's surprising he's persisting when the best form we showed was using the diamond formation, something that was getting the best out of Rooney and Di Maria.

Carrick/Blind

Herrera-Di Maria

Mata/Rooney

Rooney/Falcao-Van Persie

It appears again to be a very congested midfield but gives more licence to the midfield two to drift wide and get support from the fullbacks, too much is being expect of our wingbacks currently. Shaw is a good young defender but he's not an attacking full back so utilising him as a wing back doesn't work and Valencia needs an overlapping fullback to fully utilise his pace.

This post is spot on Ok!

by wadey101 Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 10:24

Not surprised at all to read that Man U have the same points as last season and this point. Everyone saying how much better they've been this season but to me they haven't improved at all. I can't remember them playing well in a game all season, they've just managed to grind out wins when not playing well like at Southampton, home against Stoke and home against Everton relying on De Gea to make outstanding saves.

To me it's still the same United as last season, poor to watch and struggling through games.

by compelling and rich Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 11:42

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:Except Rooney has looked fantastic in midfield lately and Di Maria probably has found his best form of his career centrally able to drift out wide rather than as a winger

keep hearing this nonsense, he played well against newcastle and has been totally missing in every game since. he's been in awful form recently yet people ignore it untill he has that one good game again

by **Crimey** Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 11:43

I think the big difference between Moyes and Van Gaal at this point, and it is a really crucial point is that Moyes had lost the fans and players whilst Van Gaal's more natural charisma has managed to keep most of them on his side. Also the most obvious reason is that Moyes had to follow Ferguson, Van Gaal has had to follow Moyes, the pressure is simply not the same between the two and the standards accepted by fans no longer as high.

by Guest Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 11:54

Essentially, it's last years teams that did well, who have now gone backwards, has made LVG/United appear in better shape, however, everyone with a brain can see no real progress has been made, even with £150m spent. LVG is proving that he's doing nothing really, tactical errors & stubbornness to not alter a flawed system will continue to harm United. The funny thing is, United are going to need to spend near £300m, in order to sort this team out or complete what LVG wants. Great manager, I don't think so.

by Hammersmith harrier Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 12:44

Liam

You are aware that Moyes took over a title winning side that should have been full of confidence and destroyed them, LVG has taken over that destroyed team and until recently was making progress.

As for him not being a great manager, i'm not sure how 6 months undoes a whole career, you may as well say Mourinho isn't a great manager for the blip he suffered at the end of his original Chelsea stint.

You can mention the £150mil spent all you want but it would only have relevance if they hadn't been injured for large parts of the season, no one has had a prolonged period of fitness to impact the team so as per usual we've relied on Rooney and De Gea.

by wadey101 Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 13:01

Hammersmith harrier wrote:Liam

You are aware that Moyes took over a title winning side that should have been full of confidence and destroyed them, LVG has taken over that destroyed team and until recently was making progress.

Was he really making progress? You were still playing poorly but just managing to get results mainly through De Gea's outstanding saves. I remember against Stoke, Everton and Southampton in particular him making great saves that meant you won the games instead of drawing. Even against Liverpool, they had as many chances as you just you had a far superior keeper. You still haven't played convincingly well all season and a really poor team to watch.

by Hammersmith harrier Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 13:06

I would say that was significant progress when we weren't getting those results last year, the past five games have hampered us a lot but before that we were showing definite signs of progress. De Gea was pulling off those saves last year and fortunately he's part of our team and contributes to the progress we make.

De Gea helped against Liverpool but the biggest difference was our finishing, a keeper only pulls off a top save if it's there to save in the first place.

by Ent Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 13:09

Actually been good to watch due to the vulnerability we display.

Stoke, everton etc we played reasonably well and they had a late rally and de gea made big saves. We battered Spurs away missing chance after chance and they smashed chelsea in their next game.

Progress being made, lvg needs his signings fit for a run of games so he can integrate and assess them.

4 bad results and people are after him, desperate to see him fail.

by mystiroakey Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 13:32

He is doing ok. Still good for 4th IMO.

Unless southampton keep this form up Man U should get 4th..Man U are improving, but slowly. But it's still an improvement. You shouldn't go ott over a lose to Southampton.

I know palace are only palace. But out of every team we have played 3 times since coming up. They have been the only team to outclass us 3 times.

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 13:32

compelling and rich wrote:
Dolphin Ziggler wrote:Except Rooney has looked fantastic in midfield lately and Di Maria probably has found his best form of his career centrally able to drift out wide rather than as a winger

keep hearing this nonsense, he played well against newcastle and has been totally missing in every game since. he's been in awful form recently yet people ignore it untill he has that one good game again

You probably keep reading it cos its right. The fact of the matter is that nearly everyone watching has said Rooney has improved your midfield. But you have that Rooney problem in your head...

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 13:33

10 games unbeaten before yesterday wasnt it?

I find the points comparison rather funny. The league is quite different every year, context is important with a stat like that

by Hammersmith harrier Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 13:43

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:10 games unbeaten before yesterday wasnt it?

I find the points comparison rather funny. The league is quite different every year, context is important with a stat like that

A number of teams have improved a lot this year, your lot being one of the most notable alongside Southampton, Tottenham, Stoke, Swansea and Newcastle until recently.

Van Gaal also lost over 1000 games of premier league experience from the defence alone, much of that beyond his control. The problem with the comparisons is that Moyes had no mitigating circumstances for doing so badly whereas this season there are a few.

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 14:03

To be fair, as much as I think that stat is pointless, I do think Moyes would have done better had he had that money at his disposal. also, at least LVG knew he was losing such experience from his backline, Moyes came in thinking he might have those players to work with but both of them were done PL wise

by Ent Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 14:05

I don't know if we are doing "so badly."

We aren't challenging for the league, we weren't going to.

3rd us realistic and still very much on.

The players are happier and working harder, the performances in general better, results generally better (not getting hammered by every decent side). There is a pattern of play and a method to the madness (even if many disagree with the system).

It's not perfect and we need to do better, be more consistent rtc but it's not disasterous like last year.

by Ent Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 14:07

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:To be fair, as much as I think that stat is pointless, I do think Moyes would have done better had he had that money at his disposal. also, at least LVG knew he was losing such experience from his backline, Moyes came in thinking he might have those players to work with but both of them were done PL wise

He'd have signed Poopie or players we didn't need.

Moyes reign last year was the worst ever in the history of football, he did nothing right from the day he walked in the door.

I don't know why he has so any apologists on here, he was terrible - he destroyed a pl winning side and ruined players who whilst not amazing made good contributions to the title winning campaign.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 15:47

"Worst in the history of football" - just a slight exaggeration there, but it wasn't good

by Lowlandbrit Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 17:01

Crimey wrote:I think the big difference between Moyes and Van Gaal at this point, and it is a really crucial point is that Moyes had lost the fans and players whilst Van Gaal's more natural charisma has managed to keep most of them on his side.

I think it's more that van Gaal always gives off the sense that he has a plan while Moyes seemed to be trying to figure it out on the job. Bumps in the road are a bigger issue if you're not sure the driver knows where he's going.

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 17:55

Shame for English football that we only have one Premier League player in the team of the year we've just seen announced at the Ballon D'Or ceremony. We lost one of the world's best centre backs too as David Luiz makes the XI. Yup. That.

by compelling and rich Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 18:36

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:
compelling and rich wrote:
Dolphin Ziggler wrote:Except Rooney has looked fantastic in midfield lately and Di Maria probably has found his best form of his career centrally able to drift out wide rather than as a winger

keep hearing this nonsense, he played well against newcastle and has been totally missing in every game since. he's been in awful form recently yet people ignore it untill he has that one good game again

You probably keep reading it cos its right. The fact of the matter is that nearly everyone watching has said Rooney has improved your midfield. But you have that Rooney problem in your head...

midfield is one of the most important positions in the team, you have to influence the game, if you can show me what rooney did so fantastically when we were awful against stoke, spurs, yeovil and southampton. he was in the most crucial position and was non existent.

i may not bow down to the opinion of rooney being so fantastic as everybody makes out, people seem to forget his bad games so quickly. he'll have a good game against qpr next and everybody will be raving about him again. i never miss a united game and people saying he's in the form of his life is nonsense, when he was a young lad he would always influence the game even when playing poorly, his best form was his 09/10 season. he's been nowhere near that this season

he's clearly a striker, never been a midfielder. his best talent is getting goals, something he's failing to do in his current postion. it is of course not all rooney fault our form, our team has no shape, rooney in midfiled, wingers as wing backs, one cm playing recently in carrick, poor defence and too many players trying to take up the same postions but anybody who's watched our last four games properly surely cant say rooneys in his best form he's done nothing

by mystiroakey Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 18:57

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:Shame for English football that we only have one Premier League player in the team of the year we've just seen announced at the Ballon D'Or ceremony. We lost one of the world's best centre backs too as David Luiz makes the XI. Yup. That.

i was just staring at that hot manc presenter, then i turned over..

Did david luiz get in laughing

Over kompany and heck even cahill..

was he ever used by Mourinhio as a defender? and then his performance against Germany-

its all a joke.

by Hammersmith harrier Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 19:01

The worlds worst defender and almost the exclusive reason Brazil lost 7-1 gets into the team of the year, not at all biased towards the usual nations or teams then.

by Guest Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 19:14

World XI

Neuer
Lahm
Luiz
Silva
Ramos
Kroos
Di Maria
Iniesta
Messi
Ronaldo
Robben

Cristiano Ronaldo wins Ballon d'Or for 2014

Luiz - What an embarrassment picard

by Hammersmith harrier Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 19:20

Don't understand Iniesta, Kroos, Luiz or Ramos either, the whole Ballon d'Or has become a joke recently, the same clubs players included irrespective of form.

by Guest Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 19:23

Iniesta hasn't done anything for about two years, Ramos basically got in because he scored that injury time equaliser in the Champs final. How Luiz got in is beyond me, whoever voted for him should be ashamed, but I guess they were paid off. Whole event is a shambles.

by mystiroakey Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 19:32

even silva had a pretty poor year as well.

strange. oh well. another joke to add to the rest of FIFA.

by Fernando Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 19:40

Woy's Votes

1 - Javier Mascherano
2 - Phillip Lahm
3 - Manuel Neuer

by mystiroakey Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 19:43

Why did woy do that?

Ok I am not to bothered about his 2 and 3 picks- but Mascherano?

Wtf!

I suppose thinking about it- He probably based everything on the International game.. so in a way its not to bad.

by Guest Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 19:58

To be fair, Mascherano was a beast in the WC. Typical Roy vote though, he creams his pants at the sight of a fantastic defensive, hard working, disciplined performance from a player.

by mystiroakey Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 20:00

Yeah it must have been based on the WC. So I can understand his reasoning.

by Fernando Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 20:13

Someone might want to tell him it's a year long competition not 7 games....

by Duty281 Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 20:18

Luiz?

That just undermines the whole award system...again!

by westisbest Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 20:27

Duty281 wrote:That yellow card for taking your shirt off rule is ridiculous. The most idiotic rule in the game.

Anyway...um...Southampton's hopes of top four back on? After starting to fade away, seemingly, they have now beaten Manchester United and Arsenal whilst keeping a clean sheet, gained a more than credible draw versus Chelsea, and stuck three past Everton and Palace.

Up to third now, three points clear. Two very tough games (trips to Chelsea and Citeh) remain, but there are fifteen winnable games that exist for them between now and the end.

100% agree re taking off the shirt for a yellow card.

I mean if your going to get booked for a celebration, than surely it should be for something like that silly dance thing Austin does. Thats just embarrassing.

Yellow for taking your shirt off. Please. Get a grip.

by kingraf Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 20:36

Okay enough team. Ramos is a marmalade player. Some get the draw others don't. If he's never represented your squad I can see why you won't. Luiz is a shocker though. Lahm hasn't played RB much, but he's still the best in the game, and probably couldn't be left out. To be fair to Iniesta he had been having a pretty good season until the el Clásico, and has been alright since. Kroos picks himself really. James a little unlucky, but I do think everyone in the attacking positions have since outshone him post world cup.

by kingraf Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 20:44

Thing is, a few belief systems would rather not see a man's torso when watching a game. FIFA doesn't mind taking their money (neither does the FA) so he who has the gold makes the rules. Real Madrid no longer play with a cross on our crest when playing in an Arab county

by Gerry SA Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 21:15

And Fifa claim they aren't corrupt?

Thiago Silva is the best CB around, but David Luiz? Are they drunk? What about Vincent Kompany? Mats Hummels? Jerome Boateng?

As for Sergio Ramos, that's almost as ridiculous. Best RB around is Pablo Zabaleta.

by Ent Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 22:04

The voting is done by international managers and captains and journalists.

Don't know how FIFA can be blamed for some dodgy picks.

Good to see sense and James goal winning goal of the year.

by mystiroakey Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 22:37

How could so many football 'experts' pick Luiz enough to get him in the team though ent.

I wouldn't expect one vote.. Not one , apart from maybe his team mates.

by Mad for Chelsea Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 22:46

David Luiz in the team of the year?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n5E7feJHw0

Let's be honest, for the last few years the team of the year has been picked from, basically, Real and Barcelona, with the odd Bayern player thrown in. Obviously PSG are the new addition (QF in the CL, knocked out by Chelsea, who of course have no one...). Atletico win La Liga and are seconds away from winning the CL, yet not one of their players in sight?

Neither Lahm nor Luiz played much in defense last year anyway. Ramos is not even in the top 5 RBs but seems to make the team every year. Thiago Silva is the least silly pick in that defense. Iniesta?! I mean, come on! And as usual it's a team which doesn't seem to include defending...

Anyway, it did make me laugh for a bit, so at least it has that going for it.

by Ent Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 23:05

Ronaldo messi and neuer polled 70 percent of the votes combined.

I imagine it only took a few points to make the side.

Now the panel that put him in the 23 need medicated.

by Hammersmith harrier Mon 12 Jan 2015 - 23:28

It's no exaggeration to say i'd rather have McNair starting every single game rather than Luiz.

by socal1976 Tue 13 Jan 2015 - 7:10

Hammersmith harrier wrote:The worlds worst defender and almost the exclusive reason Brazil lost 7-1 gets into the team of the year, not at all biased towards the usual nations or teams then.

I have to agree with this post, David Luiz is probably the most overrated defender well since Sergio Ramos. The guy is just not very good and prone to a lot of errors. In his prime Jose kept him on the bench and played Terry. How is he the best defender in the world when he couldn't even regularly start for Chelsea that must make Terry and Cahill the best defenders in the milky way galaxy.

by socal1976 Tue 13 Jan 2015 - 7:11

Has a goalie ever won the award?

by super_realist Tue 13 Jan 2015 - 7:58

kingraf wrote:Thing is, a few belief systems would rather not see a man's torso when watching a game. FIFA doesn't mind taking their money (neither does the FA) so he who has the gold makes the rules. Real Madrid no longer play with a cross on our crest when playing in an Arab county

As for Roy Hodgon's choices, who gives a toss what the manager of one of the games minor countries thinks about the Ballon D'Or, none of his players are remotely close to being considered, so his opinions are no more valid than any other armchair critic.

by Derbymanc Tue 13 Jan 2015 - 8:27

I do, as our international manager it's nice to see if he's got his finger on the pulse and if there's any different/out their picks.

Also SR you can keep saying we're a minor country but unfortunately for you that won't make it true.

by super_realist Tue 13 Jan 2015 - 8:39

Derbymanc wrote:I do, as our international manager it's nice to see if he's got his finger on the pulse and if there's any different/out their picks.

Also SR you can keep saying we're a minor country but unfortunately for you that won't make it true.

Really, in what way are you anything BUT a minor country?

You don't have any top players and NONE that ever perform internationally, you don't contend at tournaments, what could be more minor than that? Perhaps minor might be a bit harsh, but down right average would be a very apt description.

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