The English Football Thread

[Jase 43,479]

Might just impose a football blackout on myself if Arsenal win the league. We'll never hear the end of it.

[iseah100 5,612]

Arsenal will finish 2nd.

[stroey 2,525]

[Laylabelle 9,535]

Might just impose a football blackout on myself if Arsenal win the league. We'll never hear the end of it.

all started with the fa cup wins breaking it..they probably deserve to but nahhhhhhh.don't sew who else though city are dodgy..be amazing for Leicester to but won't happen

Thing is this is them with injuries.

Didn't Fabregas nearly break Henry's record then missed the chance for kicking the ball at West brom bloke..times change quick!

5 off..no reason why he wont

[Rmpr 8,977]

Arsenal will not win the League with this squad. Its too thin, many positions where if one player has a serious injury the whole system falls appart. They would have to be extremely lucky and not lose anyone important. Every season you will have injuries somewhere and when you dont have replacements it gets almost impossible to win a long and competitive league like the Premier. Lets say Arsenal loses Giroud, Ozil, Metesaker/Koscielny or Cech for like, 3-4 games. Boom, they will easily drop points in 2 of those or w/e and then ManCity will be right at their tail again. Plus the fact 80% of their players have won fuck all so no experience in the very tense decisive moments.

In my opinion, Arsenal will only win the League if they sign a proper ST and a DM. They dont even need to be world class players, they just have to be good enough to be able to produce at the EPL level and stir competition so the Girouds and Flaminis of the world dont feel like they have their starting position granted to them even if they suck balls every other match.

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

Arsenal was lucky IMHO, scored with their first shot on target and then Titus Mangala gifted them the second. Had De Bruyne burried that big chance just before Arsenal scored probably the outcome would have been different.

I like Pellegrini's approach to matches - no matter the opponent, City play their natural game, keep a highline, their full-backs bomb forward, possession is always supperior and players are not restricted to express themselves on the pitch.

As I said the other day - can't see any world-class mananger available next summer worth breaking the bank for him, bar Diego Simeone. But we have to have a plan B in case he stays in Madrid and IMHO Pellegrini should be on that list.

Assuming City win the title come May, which I truly believe they will, we'd be fools not to even consider a proven manager with two EPL titles in his three season in England.

[MefiX19 1,092]

Imagine all those Arsenal fans of they win the league....

[DYC. 7,542]

Arsenal will not win the League with this squad. Its too thin, many positions where if one player has a serious injury the whole system falls appart. They would have to be extremely lucky and not lose anyone important. Every season you will have injuries somewhere and when you dont have replacements it gets almost impossible to win a long and competitive league like the Premier. Lets say Arsenal loses Giroud, Ozil, Metesaker/Koscielny or Cech for like, 3-4 games. Boom, they will easily drop points in 2 of those or w/e and then ManCity will be right at their tail again. Plus the fact 80% of their players have won fuck all so no experience in the very tense decisive moments.

In my opinion, Arsenal will only win the League if they sign a proper ST and a DM. They dont even need to be world class players, they just have to be good enough to be able to produce at the EPL level and stir competition so the Girouds and Flaminis of the world dont feel like they have their starting position granted to them even if they suck balls every other match.

They've lost Sanchez and their first-choice midfield pairing though and they're getting results. They also lost other players at some points. I'm not saying they'll win the league but I think you're painting them as a more fragile side than they are.

This is the first time the 'everyone can beat everyone' phrase has actually been true. You can't predict the title winner this year. You can't even predict the top 4, top 6 and teams going down.

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

Why is Touré always refered to as a powerhouse? He's just a very big technician. Gorgeous goal.

erm because of his powerful driving runs through midfield, bulldozing players out of the way? Being a powerhouse doesn't mean you are not technically gifted.

NOt sure what to make of it. City vs Arsenal for the title is like pest vs cholera. I would hate for Arsenal to break their duck, cos this is what they are all about. eternal chokers. HOwever City would mean 3 titles in 5 years, most dominant english side despite having won every of those title by default and sheer luck/incompetence of rivals.

If only Leicester could go the distance. But my bet for them is still 6th, 5th if they bring in some decent players. But they could only win the title if they would somehow manage to sign an international class goalkeeper like Sirigu, Keylor Navas, Zieler or Leno, 2 proven defenders and a playmaker and incorporate them all seamlessly into their team.

[Spike 12,049]

Took my boy to Sunderland v Watford as Ighalo was playing and we are friends with his wife. Got to the game and the weather was nothing short of awful. Rain was sideways, then sleet started then full on snow, never been so cold in all my life. My boy ended up getting really upset because it was that cold. We got took in reception and all the security at Sunderland took real good care of us. Our tickets arrived from Ighalo and we watched the first half but he couldn't handle how cold it was, so we went off home.

Late last night I got a message off Ighalo saying he had left his shirt for us at reception, what a gesture. Collected it this morning, as you can imagine my boy is buzzing being given a match worn shirt.

We've got a Watford fan in the making.

[Spike 12,049]

It hurts me to my soul when people call Yaya a defensive midfielder.

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,920]

How the fuck has he got 15 assists before Christmas? He'd literally have to stop playing( a la Fabregas) not to break it now. Insane numbers.

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

How the fuck has he got 15 assists before Christmas? He'd literally have to stop playing( a la Fabregas) not to break it now. Insane numbers.

If there is one guy in the world who is as much of a choker as Fabregas, it is Özil.

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,920]

If there is one guy in the world who is as much of a choker as Fabregas, it is Özil.

We can only hope.

Stat going around tonight saying he has as many premier league assists as Hazard now, and that is with 50-60 less matches in this league. I didnt know he was playing so well for them. I remember him being slated pretty hard by the media for not delivering when he went there.

[Reddish-Blue 2,506]

We can only hope.

Stat going around tonight saying he has as many premier league assists as Hazard now, and that is with 50-60 less matches in this league. I didnt know he was playing so well for them. I remember him being slated pretty hard by the media for not delivering when he went there.

I just think Walcott & Giroud's improvement combined with Alexis Sanchez workrate off the ball has given Ozil the time and space to 'thread the needle' and produce some quality assists this season.

If you put Ozil into Chelsea, he wouldn't have so many assists because we don't have players willing to run off the ball

[DYC. 7,542]

erm because of his powerful driving runs through midfield, bulldozing players out of the way? Being a powerhouse doesn't mean you are not technically gifted.

NOt sure what to make of it. City vs Arsenal for the title is like pest vs cholera. I would hate for Arsenal to break their duck, cos this is what they are all about. eternal chokers. HOwever City would mean 3 titles in 5 years, most dominant english side despite having won every of those title by default and sheer luck/incompetence of rivals.

If only Leicester could go the distance. But my bet for them is still 6th, 5th if they bring in some decent players. But they could only win the title if they would somehow manage to sign an international class goalkeeper like Sirigu, Keylor Navas, Zieler or Leno, 2 proven defenders and a playmaker and incorporate them all seamlessly into their team.

Ahh his powerful runs. He barely does those. Most of the time he's just strolling about the pitch like an 80s playmaker.

He's a big lazy bum. A liability when the ball is lost. A poor man marker, positionally he's all over the place and he can't be arsed to track back. He's even lost his desire to stick a foot out and tackle. A big version of Fabregas. Yaya's better though. Perception and reputation are powerful things. Essien is/was a powerhouse, not this guy.

My point was he's always revered for his power. Never for his technique. Even though his technique is far more impressive. Whether it's a lovely pinpoint long pass, a clever defence splitting through ball, crisp interchanges, a beautiful curling effort from range, a powerful clean struck drive flying into the top corner or a sublime finish, he does it all and he does it frequently. This latest beauty of a goal is just one more added to a stunning collection. But it's always about the few times he produces one of those power runs. Something he obviously only does when he feels there's no other way. He'd rather let the ball do the work than use his body.

It's almost like big + black = powerhouse. Pogba is also always refered to as powerful rather than skilled, even though he's more about skill than power.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

I just think Walcott & Giroud's improvement combined with Alexis Sanchez workrate off the ball has given Ozil the time and space to 'thread the needle' and produce some quality assists this season.

If you put Ozil into Chelsea, he wouldn't have so many assists because we don't have players willing to run off the ball

Ozil won't have as much assists as in arsenal, but he'll have far more than hazard. Fabregas proved last season to beat hazard in assists from deep in midfield too. Hazard just creates problems for defences with his dribbles, but he doesn't actually have huge number of assists with creative passing.

[DYC. 7,542]

We can only hope.

Stat going around tonight saying he has as many premier league assists as Hazard now, and that is with 50-60 less matches in this league. I didnt know he was playing so well for them. I remember him being slated pretty hard by the media for not delivering when he went there.

The criticism was exaggerated. A very poor 2014 for his standards but it's not like he was playing like WBA player. He was very good in the first half of 13/14, his debut season and great in the second half of 14/15.

Not that assists say so much though. It's his specialty. He has that eye for the final ball, it's incredible. And like he said himself, he's always been producing those balls but the off the ball runs are increased and the finishing has improved a lot.

[DYC. 7,542]

Ozil won't have as much assists as in arsenal, but he'll have far more than hazard. Fabregas proved last season to beat hazard in assists from deep in midfield too. Hazard just creates problems for defences with his dribbles, but he doesn't actually have huge number of assists with creative passing.

True. But on the other hand, he creates a lot of chances. Even in his terrible form, he's up there with the best creators in the league.

Hazard needs to add more vertical passes and through balls to his game though.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

True. But on the other hand, he creates a lot of chances. Even in his terrible form, he's up there with the best creators in the league.

Hazard needs to add more vertical passes and through balls to his game though.

Hazard is how we start our attacks. But the final pass is where ozil and many others beat him. Those vertical passes are crucial to this play.

I remember sometime on Hazard thread where I showed a lot of clips of how messi combined his dribbling with vertical passes to Neymar and hoped hazard does it, and people told me only messi can do it, but we can see mahrez this season doing exactly what I said. Supplying vardy with goals with Messi style of passing has made mahrez the best player in the league currently.