Premier League Football (Soccer) Thread

[Nagflar]

I think it's safe to assume no one from outside Manchester will get past 3rd place next season. Mancini won an FA Cup and a league title thanks to his players doing magic while he pretty much expectated from the sideline. Now that they'll (probably) get a good manager, they're bound to play better and actually qualify to the UCL's knock-out stage.

 

On other news, Wigan sadly becomes the first team to win the FA Cup and be relegated in the same season. At least Arsenal's chances of classifying to the UCl are higher now lol.

[Trystlions]

Despite their FA cup win, Wigan deserved to get relegated as they have been poor throughout the season. No great escape for them this year sadly.

 

Even though they will now how to sell off their best players, I fancy them to bounce straight back up next year.

[Ebbwvalerule]

I hate it when big clubs are so greedy they feel the need to sack their managers,

eg City, I know they lost their title to Man Utd, but they're still 2nd, there are about 70 other teams in the football league that would kill for that place, also I know they lost the FA Cup to Wigan, but they still made the final. I wouldn't exactly call that a bad season. Would you?

Edited May 16, 2013 by Ebbwvalerule

[LeeMcD-]

Some interesting little bits of information:

 

Mata and Torres are now currently champions of Europe, World Cup, Europa League and Champions League.

Torres has scored more goals than Aguero, Teves, Rooney, Villa, and Balotelli - 22 goals this season

Since the last time Arsene Wenger won a trophy with Arsenal every other club in the english leagues has changed their managers - 8 years

 

Torres Goal

 

 

Game winning goal from last night from Ivonovic 92"

 

 

And again

 

Edited May 16, 2013 by Lee

[IntenseFATE98]

Branislav Ivanovic FTW!!!!!!!!!!

[Nagflar]

One thing Torres has over Mata is that he's played in all those finals. Mata didn't play in the World Cup one. I like the dudes (especially Torres and Mata), but Chelsea got really lucky on that match lol.

 

Regarding whoever said Manchester City had a good season despite not winning crap: Yes, they had a good season, but for a team that has so much money invested and that has such a great squad, that's a bad season and therefore, a failure. Mancini is mediocre, and this was long overdue.

[Ebbwvalerule]

Finally Beckham retires

[freddie1989]

Chelsea were incredibly lucky to win, they were outgunned for most of the game. Benfica should have scored 3 or 4 at least! Irritating to hear about this historic achievement they have completed - no you just couldn't get through the group stage of the CL!

 

I have to agree with both sides on the managerial issue, City should have more success with the money invested into their squad but on the flip side teams don't give managers long enough nowadays.

 

Good luck to Becks in whatever he does next, true servant and icon to the game for many years!!!!

[Greenguy81]

Beckham was great for the game, he was always proud to wear those 3 lions.  Who can forget the memorable strikes against Wimbledon from the half way line and THAT free kick Vs Greece.

 

A true ambassador for the beautiful game I hope he enjoys his retirement he deserves it.

 

RE: Mancini TBH this season City have seemed to lack the same motivation that they had last season and lets be fair a club that size and with the volume of cash spent should not go through the Champions League group stage without winning a SINGLE game.  Don't get me wrong he has done OK for the 3 and a half years he has been there but som many other managers I think could have done MUCH better

[Skippy]

Bale walks away with both Player and Young Player of the year.. I'm glad he won it. He deserved it in my book. RVP was solid this year, Suarez was immense for liverpool. But Bale carried Spurs this season and they have the chance for a C.L. spot. Carrick was another that deserved it. Glad it went to Bale though!

 

On another note, I was ecstatic with the way Liverpool destroyed Newcastle at St. James'! Putting up 6 without Suarez was a big statement for our young guys. But too little too late for us. 

I nearly liked this post until I read the last bit lol

Some interesting little bits of information:

 

Mata and Torres are now currently champions of Europe, World Cup, Europa League and Champions League.

Torres has scored more goals than Aguero, Teves, Rooney, Villa, and Balotelli - 22 goals this season

Since the last time Arsene Wenger won a trophy with Arsenal every other club in the english leagues has changed their managers - 8 years

 

Torres Goal

 

 

Game winning goal from last night from Ivonovic 92"

 

 

And again

 

Don't care how many goals Torres has scored, he's a 50 million pound flop and that's a well known fact.

Edited May 17, 2013 by Skippy

[Nagflar]

A 50 million pound flop with 2 Euro cups, one World Cup, a Champions and an Europa League. Has more titles alone than quite a few well-known English teams in the last 10 years lol. He's far from being the Torres he was with Liverpool, but he's doing better than two years ago, not to mention I still like the dude .

[LeeMcD-]

First Sir Alex, then Paul Scholes, and now David Beckham. The three of them all ended up retiring on the same weekend

 

 

Edited May 19, 2013 by Lee

[Gotakibono]

I nearly liked this post until I read the last bit lol

Don't care how many goals Torres has scored, he's a 50 million pound flop and that's a well known fact.

 

Torres pretty much paid his transfer fee back whenever he scored in last season's Champions League semi-final, and Chelsea would get a nice little nest-egg for winning the Europa League, too. If you've actually been watching him play - as opposed to hopping on the 'Torres is shite' bandwagon - then you'd realise that he's played very well this season; he's been tireless with his running; he's been tracking back; has had a good few assists; and he's managed 20+ goals this season. Not bad at all. 

 

On another note, this is the most melancholic weekend of football ever; if another legend of the game retires I think I may just fall into a heap and cry my manly heart out.

[Nagflar]

Torres pretty much paid his transfer fee back whenever he scored in last season's Champions League semi-final, and Chelsea would get a nice little nest-egg for winning the Europa League, too. If you've actually been watching him play - as opposed to hopping on the 'Torres is shite' bandwagon - then you'd realise that he's played very well this season; he's been tireless with his running; he's been tracking back; has had a good few assists; and he's managed 20+ goals this season. Not bad at all. 

 

On another note, this is the most melancholic weekend of football ever; if another legend of the game retires I think I may just fall into a heap and cry my manly heart out.

 

Don't forget he's one of the few players that's always giving his all. Only other player I can think of that's always trying and trying (and failing horribly) is Alexis Sanchez.

 

Word. Just wait and see Gigs announce his retirement in the following days ;___;

[LeeMcD-]

Anfield's goodbye to Jamie Carragher. Simply amazing.

[Greenguy81]

Absolutely gutted how yesterday turned out with Arsenal doing enough and denying Spurs 4th place  Now all the speculation over the summer will be where Bale is off to, The best piece of business Daniel Levy and AVB can do this summer is do EVERYTHING to keep hold of Bale, hopefully he will start next season in the White of Spurs.

[Skippy]

A 50 million pound flop with 2 Euro cups, one World Cup, a Champions and an Europa League. Has more titles alone than quite a few well-known English teams in the last 10 years lol. He's far from being the Torres he was with Liverpool, but he's doing better than two years ago, not to mention I still like the dude .

I don't get care what medals he has, he's still considered a 50 million pound flop. Just because you're in a team that has won trophies, doesn't mean you as an individual has done well. Take Anderson for example who has won league titles, a champions league etc.....Still a flop!!

 

Robin Van Persie - A success 

Juan Mata - A Success 

Torres - Flop

Anderson - Flop

 

Maybe you just don't get it.

Absolutely gutted how yesterday turned out with Arsenal doing enough and denying Spurs 4th place  Now all the speculation over the summer will be where Bale is off to, The best piece of business Daniel Levy and AVB can do this summer is do EVERYTHING to keep hold of Bale, hopefully he will start next season in the White of Spurs.

He should move on, a player like Bale needs to be winning trophies and playing in the champions league. AVB has already come out and said that Tottenham need to keep hold of Bale so they can push for a top four finish and if that's the best they can aim for then I think it's probably in Bale's best interest to move on.

[freddie1989]

There is no doubt that Torres has ability, he proved it during his time at Liverpool and Atletico.

 

He has however been a massive flop at Chelsea, he did nothing during either Euro or the World Cup and his goal return for £50M is way way short!

[Skippy]

Torres pretty much paid his transfer fee back whenever he scored in last season's Champions League semi-final, and Chelsea would get a nice little nest-egg for winning the Europa League, too. If you've actually been watching him play - as opposed to hopping on the 'Torres is shite' bandwagon - then you'd realise that he's played very well this season; he's been tireless with his running; he's been tracking back; has had a good few assists; and he's managed 20+ goals this season. Not bad at all. 

 

On another note, this is the most melancholic weekend of football ever; if another legend of the game retires I think I may just fall into a heap and cry my manly heart out.

Paid his transfer fee back because he scored a goal is the funniest thing I've ever read no matter what game it's in. Face it in the premier league he hasn't done the business. 82 games with a return of 15 goals for a striker that cost 50 million isn't good enough and if you think it is then you're delusional. I liked him when he was at AM and was gutted when he went to Liverpool. When he was at Liverpool he was probably the best striker in the league but since he's gone to Chelsea he's lost something.....maybe confidence, a yard of pace??? Who knows? I've watched him play a lot and that's why I can give an informed opinion because of the amount of chances he's missed while in a Chelsea shirt is incredible for a player that costs that much. Maybe you don't understand that if he was scoring goals and was in good form, Chelsea wouldn't have finished 3rd in the league and got dumped out of the champions league group stages. Chelsea are an excellent team, with a strong midfield but the strikers have let them down this season for sure.

Don't forget he's one of the few players that's always giving his all. Only other player I can think of that's always trying and trying (and failing horribly) is Alexis Sanchez.

 

Word. Just wait and see Gigs announce his retirement in the following days ;___;

Giggs has signed a one year contract extension so I doubt that's going to happen.

[freddie1989]

Paid his transfer fee back because he scored a goal is the funniest thing I've ever read no matter what game it's in. Face it in the premier league he hasn't done the business. 82 games with a return of 15 goals for a striker that cost 50 million isn't good enough and if you think it is then you're delusional. I liked him when he was at AM and was gutted when he went to Liverpool. When he was at Liverpool he was probably the best striker in the league but since he's gone to Chelsea he's lost something.....maybe confidence, a yard of pace??? Who knows? I've watched him play a lot and that's why I can give an informed opinion because of the amount of chances he's missed while in a Chelsea shirt is incredible for a player that costs that much. Maybe you don't understand that if he was scoring goals and was in good form, Chelsea wouldn't have finished 3rd in the league and got dumped out of the champions league group stages. Chelsea are an excellent team, with a strong midfield but the strikers have let them down this season for sure.

Giggs has signed a one year contract extension so I doubt that's going to happen.

Now he is a guy that every player should model themselves on, legend of the game!!!

[Gotakibono]

Paid his transfer fee back because he scored a goal is the funniest thing I've ever read no matter what game it's in. Face it in the premier league he hasn't done the business. 82 games with a return of 15 goals for a striker that cost 50 million isn't good enough and if you think it is then you're delusional. I liked him when he was at AM and was gutted when he went to Liverpool. When he was at Liverpool he was probably the best striker in the league but since he's gone to Chelsea he's lost something.....maybe confidence, a yard of pace??? Who knows? I've watched him play a lot and that's why I can give an informed opinion because of the amount of chances he's missed while in a Chelsea shirt is incredible for a player that costs that much. Maybe you don't understand that if he was scoring goals and was in good form, Chelsea wouldn't have finished 3rd in the league and got dumped out of the champions league group stages. Chelsea are an excellent team, with a strong midfield but the strikers have let them down this season for sure.

 

Okay - take a step back there a second. Again, stop merely looking at his goals tally; Torres has been obviously lacklustre in that department. But a goal is the culmination of many different things in football, not just one man's action. It's his running, tracking back and willingness to chase down shadows that has created a multitude of goals, space and chances for his team-mates. It is a team game, and Torres has been exemplary in putting the team first in spite of himself. And yes, his pace has somewhat diminished since his pomp at Liverpool, but I think it's unfair to label him a flop; the true flop would be the guy who decided to pay €50 million for him. 

 

I was talking in the economical sense when I said that Torres has paid back his transfer fee. Between shirt sales and his important goals - he netted Chelsea €4,900,000 for his goal in the CL semi-final last year, €10,500,000 for them winning the CL and €5,000,000 for the Europa League last week; that's just the tip of the iceberg really - he has duly paid back his inflated transfer fee. 

 

And Chelsea's inconsistencies, in-fighting, defence, managerial hoopla and oftentimes impotent attack are the reason they're 3rd; not every team can win the league, though. 

[Skippy]

I think we are going to have to agree to disagree.

 

 

Where I'm from you buy strikers to score goals, not run back.

 

The money Chelsea have made in CL and Europa cup is just silly talk in my opinion. It's like you're saying Torres is the only reason Chelsea won anything and had nothing to do with the other members of the Chelsea squad.

Also by you saying that "Torres has obviously been lackluster in that department" you've basically admitted that Torres hasn't done his job probably as a striker, which is to score goals. On that note I'll leave it at that.

[Connie]

Hasn't Torres scored more goals than anyone at Chelsea this season?

[Ebbwvalerule]

That shows how few goals Chelsea have scored

[Nagflar]

Hasn't Torres scored more goals than anyone at Chelsea this season?

 

He has scored more goals than a shitton of people. Examples: Agüero, Rooney, Hernández, Demba Ba, Villa, Sánchez, Higuain, Benzema (last two I'm not 100% sure about). That just goes to show this dude is exaggerating, or that most strikers nowadays are useless  .

 

I think we are going to have to agree to disagree.

 

 

Where I'm from you buy strikers to score goals, not run back.

 

The money Chelsea have made in CL and Europa cup is just silly talk in my opinion. It's like you're saying Torres is the only reason Chelsea won anything and had nothing to do with the other members of the Chelsea squad.

 

 

Also by you saying that "Torres has obviously been lackluster in that department" you've basically admitted that Torres hasn't done his job probably as a striker, which is to score goals. On that note I'll leave it at that.

 

I wholeheartedly agree that a striker should score. However, let's take a look at Chelsea's history with high-profile strikers since the Russian bought 'em. Only one of them has performed well, and he's the super overrated dude known as Drogba. The rest? They all flop goal-wise. Perfect examples right now are both Torres and Demba Ba (who scored more goals this season with Newcastle).

 

However, that said, Torres has kind of made up for it with: enthusiasm, energy, assists, starting plays, creating spaces, etc. He might not finish a play by scoring, but he's usually doing something that helps the team either score or create dangerous situations. He's not useless like Alexis Sánchez, who never scores nor helps nor anything and is just a cancer with a lot of heart and enthusiasm. No, he's actually helpful to the team as a whole.

 

But whatever, like you said to Gota, we'll have to agree to disagree. I don't think you'll change your viewpoint, and I'm sure as hell not changing mine .

Edited May 20, 2013 by Nagflar