Official Football Discussion Thread 2011/12

[AZUCAR!]

Fabrice Muamba has been released from hospital, which is great news. Hopefully he's able to make a complete recovery and return to football.

Some sad news from the weekend, was that an Italian football player died in a Serie B game on Saturday. The player was on loan at the club (i've forgotten the name) from Udinese and much like Fabrice Muamba, collapsed. Efforts were made to massage his heart to get it going again but it didn't happen and the Italian FA ended up canceling all the scheduled Italian football matches that were due to kick-off, which was the right move.

 

[Aniking]

Great news about Muamba, but very sad news regarding the Italian player. Apparently the only family member he had was his disabled sister, which makes the story much more sad now her brother has passed.

From a report I read, there was a police car blocking the entrance for the Ambulance to come through and it took a few minutes to smash the glass window and move the car. Considering the player died on the way to the hospital, who knows what chance he may have had of surviving if that car wasn't there.

 

[The Cork]

Di Natale, the Udinese striker, said he will look after the players heavily disabled sister now.

What a guy.

 

[Dale]

Arsenal/Wigan tonight. Would imagine a relatively comfortable victory for Arsenal despite the upturn in Wigan's performance however given the chance to go 8 points clear of Spurs and put some real daylight between them, there's a very real possibility of a banana skin moment here like the QPR game.

 

[AZUCAR!]

Want Wigan to go down, so i'd expect Arsenal to win. Was trying to get tickets for this game, but the Arsenal site said the match was Sold Out the bastards.

 

[Dale]

What did I say lol

0-2 after 8mins.

 

[AZUCAR!]

Vermalen has got a goal back for Arsenal. 2-1 to Wigan at Half-Time.

 

[AZUCAR!]

Well Wigan look to have avoided relegation again.

 

[Dale]

Knew it would happen, typical Arsenal. A win would have all but sealed a champions league place and really taken the pressure off them when they come to play Chelsea.

 

[Keith]

Bloody hell didn't see that result coming, even with Wigan's win over Man Utd last week. Roberto's stock has go up even more now. Still expect Arsenal to finish top three, but it just shows you the inconsistancies they need to lose.

 

[Aniking]

Mannnnnn oh mannnnnnn. I was expecting an interesting game considering Wigan have beaten Liverpool and Man Utd recently, but I didn't expect us to concede 2 goals in 8 minutes. Ridiculous really, although I do wonder how differently things may have been if Koscielny and Gibbs were playing. Both, alongside Sagna and Vermaelen, give us defensive stability. Santos is always caught out of position and Djourou's presence always seems to cause us to be shaky. Anyway, no excuses, we simply couldn't get through and Wigan were fantastic on the counter. Awesome run of form for them.

Unfortunately we've lost Arteta to what's being labelled a serious ankle injury. Combined with the fact Wilshere was ruled out for the rest of the season and the Euros, leaving us with not a very good day. Hopefully we turn things around when we face Chelsea. We better considering Koscielny will be back from suspension and Gibbs from injury as he was on the bench tonight.

 

[Keith]

That Chelsea game is one of the biggest of the season without question.

I am going to Villa Park tomorrow to see us face Sunderland. This is a special match for two reasons, one because it is the return of Martin O'Neill to VP and two because it is the first Villa match me and my mum have been together in years. I hope O'Neill gets the good reception he deserves, sure there will be a few boos because of the manor and timing of his exit, but that cannot undo all the great work he did for us, so I expect mostly a positive response. It is a match we need to win, three more points should see us safe, and this is a good chance to get them as Sunderland have gone off the boil lately and have nothing, but pride to play for. My head says 1-1, but my heart says 2-1 Villa, we'll see!

 

[The Cork]

What a shit match.

 

[Aniking]

What a shit match.

It wasn't really. I hate the perception that because there are no goals that it's a shit match. That's what I'm assuming is the case here because we're both Arsenal fans and I don't think it was a shit match at all. We should've won. Not too much else to say other than that.

Newcastle lead 2-0 over Stoke in the middle of the 1st half, so if they win that and their next game then they'll be level with us. Same applies for Tottenham. What looked to be a casual stroll to the finish line could turn rough. I hoped this wouldn't happen, but it might.

 

[Dale]

I only saw the first half, but Aaron Ramsey is in fucking shocking form. It's gonna be a long season for him on the bench when it starts I think, what with the resurgance of Rosicky and the return of Jack Wilshere.

Sure an Arsenal win would have all but guaranteed them CL football next season but I think it's still a valuable point although it was severely weakened Chelsea team and would have been hoping for better. A tough game next week away at Stoke but if they can pick up a hard fought victory then they should be home and dry then with Noriwch and West Brom to come.

Newcastle are 3 behind with a game in hand but have some extremely tough fixtures coming up where I expect them to drop points, likewise Chelsea although I'd say they may just be a tad too far away.

Chelsea V Newcastle Wed 2 May

Newcastle V Man City Sun 6 May

Liverpool V Chelsea Tue 8 May

Everton V Newcastle Sun 13 May