The association football 2009/10 thread...

[MickeyG]

That was an owning of uptheass' proportions at Goodison Park.

[coatsy]

That was an owning of uptheass' proportions at Goodison Park.

hopefully the gunners maintain this form for tuesday nights champions league qualifier.

[MickeyG]

I think Robbie Keane is still on the Liverpool payroll, 2 sitters he's missed.

[MickeyG]

Well done, Spurs!!

[BD888]

No way Arsenal get in the top 2 this season. If I had to give my prediction of the end of season, I would say the top 5 in order will be:

ManU
Chelsea
Liverpool
Arsenal
Man City

[Hellsinkey]

As much as I'd like ManU to win again, I have a feeling this will be Chelsea's season.

[BD888]

As much as I'd like ManU to win again, I have a feeling this will be Chelsea's season.

They are favorites to win now. It'll be interesting to see how ManU get on without Ronaldo as their playmaker.

[Supersonic]

I predict the top 6 to finish in this order:

1. Chelsea
Strong towards the end of last season and I expect them to continue in the same vein. No loss of personnel and Zhirkov and been added.

2. Man Utd
Lost Ronaldo & Tevez up front but still a very strong unit

3. Arsenal
I don't think the 6 goal drubbing of Everton is any indicator but they have plenty of quality options up front and that new centre back had a tasty debut

4. Liverpool
Alonso was a huge loss IMO as Stevie GBH has now lost his quality supply line. They're dependent on Torres up front to be on top form and from what I hear, Benitez has a transfer budget of £1.5m for the rest of the window

5. Man City
New signings since the sheik arrived:
Summer 2008: Robinho, Wright Phillips, Kompany
Winter 2008: Given, Bridge, De Jong, Bellamy
Summer 2009: Adebayor, Tevez, Barry, Santa Cruz, Toure

Aston Villa are weaker in midfield and defence this season and Everton have injury troubles in a small squad. I reckon City will still be too inconsistent to get near the top 4.

6. Spurs
Impressive over the 2nd half of last season and the win vs Liverpool showed they have a tidy team that's working together.

[MickeyG]

My fear for United is the obvious lack of goals and a central midfield that's not tough enough, IMO.

I'm also not sure if I like Fergies tinkering. Last season, United hardly went 2 games without the team changing. It keeps the opposition guessing, but the replacements, like Park, are not good enough.

[pieceofme]

I predict the top 6 to finish in this order:

1. Chelsea
Strong towards the end of last season and I expect them to continue in the same vein. No loss of personnel and Zhirkov and been added.

2. Man Utd
Lost Ronaldo & Tevez up front but still a very strong unit

3. Arsenal
I don't think the 6 goal drubbing of Everton is any indicator but they have plenty of quality options up front and that new centre back had a tasty debut

4. Liverpool
Alonso was a huge loss IMO as Stevie GBH has now lost his quality supply line. They're dependent on Torres up front to be on top form and from what I hear, Benitez has a transfer budget of £1.5m for the rest of the window

5. Man City
New signings since the sheik arrived:
Summer 2008: Robinho, Wright Phillips, Kompany
Winter 2008: Given, Bridge, De Jong, Bellamy
Summer 2009: Adebayor, Tevez, Barry, Santa Cruz, Toure

Aston Villa are weaker in midfield and defence this season and Everton have injury troubles in a small squad. I reckon City will still be too inconsistent to get near the top 4.

6. Spurs
Impressive over the 2nd half of last season and the win vs Liverpool showed they have a tidy team that's working together.

Would swap Arsenal and Liverpool around even after the first day results, but overall I would agree.

[MickeyG]

Very poor tonight, Ferguson!!

[Hellsinkey]

Very poor tonight, Ferguson!!

That was just...

[pieceofme]

Very poor tonight, Ferguson!!

That was just...

Agreed. With this squad I really can't see us retaining the league. Really need someone creative in midfield. Hopefully sign someone before the window shuts.

[MickeyG]

Fergie says there's no need to panic.....

The faithful disagree!

[Hellsinkey]

That was more like it. Good that Owen and Berbatov finally scored.

[shocked_the_monkey]

One good thing about supporting Watford is that it takes millions of pounds worth of debt and a 25 game losing streak before it becomes a crisis!

Man Utd panic after losing one game. I'd tend to trust arguably the best manager in British football as opposed to people who call in to 606.

[MickeyG]

That's because the level of expectation at the big 4 is different than anywhere else. It's not just in England, it's in Spain and Italy too. Look at how Madrid reacted to "only" winning the league a few years back and not the CL. And the media doesn't help either jumping on bandwagons.

As far as Fergie goes, he's been forced to change tactics because of the loss of Ronaldo. A possible lack of goals, especially against decent opposition, has been highlighted as the main weakness in the squad. And it came to the fore in the first 2 games. So to be concerned when the difference between being successful and a failure is so small is typical of big club myopia.

[Hellsinkey]

The difference is so small at the top, like last spring when that kid Macheda helped win two games after two bad losses. It made a crucial difference in the end.

[MickeyG]

Villa 2 zip up at Anfield at half time. Hopefully they can hold out and win. That would be 2 defeats against teams trying to break into the top 4 from Benitez' side this season already.

[pieceofme]

Villa 2 zip up at Anfield at half time. Hopefully they can hold out and win. That would be 2 defeats against teams trying to break into the top 4 from Benitez' side this season already.

THey lost 3-1.

Two losses out of three already, they only lost two games in the league last season.

[MickeyG]

Yep, I saw the second half on ESPN2. I'm glad ESPN is showing the Prem for no extra money.

Very poor from Pool. Poor tackle from Stevie Me for the pen. Davies was a colossus at the back for Villa. That said, Friedel didn't have that many saves to make second half. A couple of efforts straight at him really. But the Villa defenders did a great job. Man mark Gerro and Torres and Pool struggle. Midfield is definitely missing Alonso. Lucas is pants!

[Sleazyjack]

Yeah my Villa boys hopefully proved a lot of people wrong yesterday, Cuellar and Davies were both immense and even when the Scousers got frustrated and started kicking people (Carragher) we still kept our cool and won the game .

That is the best pay back for the 5 we conceded last season, now if we can keep on going , we will be in with a shout this season of doing something.

[Hellsinkey]

Arjen Robben is considered from Real to ManU and Anderson is on his way out.

[MickeyG]

Anderson says he wants to stay and fight for his position. Fergie played him out wide against Burnley, which was retarded.

When you play players that are in and out of the team, or whose form is up and down you at least should play them in their proper position when you do give them a chance. And they need a run of games.

Looks like Fergie is trying to give Nani a run of games and he's already shown more than he did in all of last season.

But he keeps picking Scholes in center midfield when he and Giggs should be used in cameo roles this season. Who knows if Hargreaves will make it back, and with Scholes getting older and with Giggs now as a CM getting older United need the rest of the center midfielders stepping up.

I heard rumours earlier this week that Carrick might be on his way because he was left out of the squad completely at the weekend. Every one of United center mids has a major weakness to their game, and this why I think its a weak spot in the squad. When United had Bryan Robson they had one of the best cm's in the country. Then they had Paul Ince who became the same. Then Roy Keane took the mantle over. Scholes in his pomp was another. You can't say that about any of this lot now. Hargreaves could be, but he's hardly played.

[Hellsinkey]

I heard rumours earlier this week that Carrick might be on his way because he was left out of the squad completely at the weekend.

I heard there might be a swap with Luka Modric plus money.

[MickeyG]

Modric is a bit lightweight for me.

Although against Liverpool there were a couple of times where he rode a tackle or 2.

[MickeyG]

Very poor from United again so far today. A trophyless season beckons.

[SLASH1976]

Arjen Robben is considered from Real to ManU and Anderson is on his way out.

Hasn't Robben gone to Bayern München for 25 million euros ?

[coatsy]

Arjen Robben is considered from Real to ManU and Anderson is on his way out.

Hasn't Robben gone to Bayern München for 25 million euros ?

he has indeed.

[MickeyG]

Very lucky win for United today. Arsenal were easily the better team. I don't really blame any poor performance on the defence as VDS and Rio are missing. I also think Rafael is our best right back. And United weren't horribly overrun in defence.

Rooney was fighting a lone furrow upfront, and playing 5 in midfield at home shows fear. Fletcher did ok, as did Nani but I was disappointed in Carrick, Giggs (past it) and Valencia. I think Almunia was at fault for the pen even though Rooney was not going to get to the ball. The second goal was just one of those bad moments that sometimes happen for a player. Diaby was good otherwise. The goal at the end was rightly disallowed, but I was shouting at the tv at Rooney for giving up on the ball that led to that Arsenal move.