Official Football Discussion Thread 2012/13

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Keith

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Indeed. One of the best midfielders in the championship. A lot better than a lot of the lower Prem league midfielders for certain, just loyal to the cause!I'm devastated about Neil Taylor. On a Wales standpoint... Not Swansea, obviously lol.

More importantly he used to play for Villa!

Speaking of which I am happy with our point at Newcastle yesterday. Would have taken a draw before the match and we played much better as a team this week and out played them for large spells, also the managers gamble to drop Given and bring in Guzen paid off.
 

Aniking

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Got bored so I looked through the squads for the "Big 7" and came up with my starting line ups for each club. The formations are based off either what I've seen them play with or what I think they should play with, and those in each position are who I think would be best suited there. This doesn't factor in each team's style of play because I'm obviously not the manager for any of these teams. The subs are in brackets.


GK: Wojciech Szczęsny (Łukasz Fabiański, Vito Mannone)

RB: Bacary Sagna (Carl Jenkinson)
CB: Laurent Koscielny (Per Mertesacker, Sébastien Squillaci)
CB: Thomas Vermaelen (Johan Djourou)
LB: Kieran Gibbs (André Santos)

DM: Abou Diaby (Francis Coquelin, Emmanuel Frimpong)
CM: Jack Wilshere (Mikel Arteta)
AM: Santi Cazorla (Tomáš Rosický, Aaron Ramsey)

RW: Theo Walcott (Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain)
ST: Olivier Giroud (Marouane Chamakh)
LW: Lukas Podolski (Gervinho, Andrei Arshavin)

GK: Petr Cech (Ross Turnbull, Henrique Hilário)

RB: Branislav Ivanović (César Azpilicueta, Paulo Ferreira)
CB: Gary Cahill (David Luiz)
CB: John Terry
LB: Ashley Cole (Ryan Bertrand)

DM: John Obi Mikel (Oriol Romeu)
DM: Frank Lampard

RAM: Ramires (Victor Moses)
CAM: Juan Mata (Oscar)
LAM: Eden Hazard (Florent Malouda, Marko Marin)

ST: Fernando Torres (Daniel Sturridge)

GK: Pepe Reina (Brad Jones, Doni)

RB: Glen Johnson (Martin Kelly, Jon Flanagan)
CB: Daniel Agger (Jamie Carragher)
CB: Martin Škrtel (Sebastián Coates)
LB: José Enrique (Jack Robinson)

RCM: Nuri Şahin (Jordan Henderson)
CM: Steven Gerrard (Lucas Leiva)
LCM: Joe Allen (Jonjo Shelvey)

RW: Joe Cole (Oussama Assaidi)
ST: Luis Suárez (Fabio Borini)
LW: Raheem Sterling (Stewart Downing)

GK: Joe Hart (Costel Pantilimon, Richard Wright)

RWB: Pablo Zabaleta (Maicon)
CB: Micah Richards (Kolo Touré)
CB: Vincent Kompany (Matija Nastasić)
CB: Joleon Lescott
LWB: Gaël Clichy (Aleksandar Kolarov)

DM: Javi García (Jack Rodwell)
DM: Yaya Touré (Gareth Barry)

RAM: Samir Nasri (James Milner)
LAM: David Silva (Scott Sinclair)

CF: Sergio Agüero
ST: Carlos Tévez (Edin Džeko, Mario Balotelli)

GK: David de Gea (Anders Lindegaard)

RB: Rafael
CB: Rio Ferdinand (Phil Jones)
CB: Nemanja Vidić (Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling)
LB: Patrice Evra (Alexander Büttner)

RM: Antonio Valencia (Ashley Young)
CM: Michael Carrick (Darren Fletcher, Anderson)
CM: Tom Cleverley (Paul Scholes)
LM: Nani (Ryan Giggs)

AM/CF: Shinji Kagawa (Wayne Rooney)

ST: Robin van Persie (Danny Welbeck, Javier Hernández)

GK: Tim Krul (Steve Harper, Rob Elliot)

RB: Ryan Taylor (Danny Simpson)
CB: Steven Taylor (James Perch)
CB: Fabricio Coloccini (Mike Williamson)
LB: Davide Santon (Shane Ferguson)

RM: Hatem Ben Arfa (Gabriel Obertan)
CM: Cheick Tioté (Vurnon Anita, Gaël Bigirimana)
CM: Yohan Cabaye (Dan Gosling, Romain Amalfitano)
LM: Jonás Gutiérrez (Sylvain Marveaux)

ST: Papiss Cissé (Shola Ameobi)
ST: Demba Ba (Sammy Ameobi)

GK: Brad Friedel (Hugo Lloris, Heurelho Gomes, Carlo Cudicini)

RB: Kyle Walker (Kyle Naughton)
CB: Younès Kaboul (Michael Dawson, Steven Caulker)
CB: Jan Vertonghen (William Gallas)
LB: Benoît Assou-Ekotto

RM: Aaron Lennon (Clint Dempsey, David Bentley)
CM: Scott Parker (Jake Livermore)
CM: Sandro (Tom Huddlestone)
LM: Gareth Bale (Jermaine Jenas)

AM: Moussa Dembélé (Gylfi Sigurðsson)

ST: Emmanuel Adebayor (Jermain Defoe)


Thoughts?​
 

Lewb

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More importantly he used to play for Villa!

Heheh, dropped the ball on that one eh? :p

In all fairness I think the strain of playing in the Europa League showed for Newcastle but Villa did make vast improvements.

That goal by Ben Arfa mind.... Fook me what a strike.
 

Keith

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Heheh, dropped the ball on that one eh? :p
In all fairness I think the strain of playing in the Europa League showed for Newcastle but Villa did make vast improvements.

That goal by Ben Arfa mind.... Fook me what a strike.

Maybe but I think its debateable weather he is PL class. Still he is a very good player and I am pleased to see him doing well forv Cardiff.

Yeah won't see many goals better Ben Arfa's this season and if you are going to drop two points you would rather it be as result of a strike like that their a mistake by your back four or something.
 

Pete

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Benching Giggs and Rooney? Are you insane?! Nani needs to be where you put Valencia, with Giggs as LM.
 

The Cork

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Got bored so I looked through the squads for the "Big 7" and came up with my starting line ups for each club. The formations are based off either what I've seen them play with or what I think they should play with, and those in each position are who I think would be best suited there. This doesn't factor in each team's style of play because I'm obviously not the manager for any of these teams. The subs are in brackets.


GK: Wojciech Szczęsny (Łukasz Fabiański, Vito Mannone)

RB: Bacary Sagna (Carl Jenkinson)
CB: Laurent Koscielny (Per Mertesacker, Sébastien Squillaci)
CB: Thomas Vermaelen (Johan Djourou)
LB: Kieran Gibbs (André Santos)

DM: Abou Diaby (Francis Coquelin, Emmanuel Frimpong)
CM: Jack Wilshere (Mikel Arteta)
AM: Santi Cazorla (Tomáš Rosický, Aaron Ramsey)

RW: Theo Walcott (Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain)
ST: Olivier Giroud (Marouane Chamakh)
LW: Lukas Podolski (Gervinho, Andrei Arshavin)

GK: Petr Cech (Ross Turnbull, Henrique Hilário)

RB: Branislav Ivanović (César Azpilicueta, Paulo Ferreira)
CB: Gary Cahill (David Luiz)
CB: John Terry
LB: Ashley Cole (Ryan Bertrand)

DM: John Obi Mikel (Oriol Romeu)
DM: Frank Lampard

RAM: Ramires (Victor Moses)
CAM: Juan Mata (Oscar)
LAM: Eden Hazard (Florent Malouda, Marko Marin)

ST: Fernando Torres (Daniel Sturridge)

GK: Pepe Reina (Brad Jones, Doni)

RB: Glen Johnson (Martin Kelly, Jon Flanagan)
CB: Daniel Agger (Jamie Carragher)
CB: Martin Škrtel (Sebastián Coates)
LB: José Enrique (Jack Robinson)

RCM: Nuri Şahin (Jordan Henderson)
CM: Steven Gerrard (Lucas Leiva)
LCM: Joe Allen (Jonjo Shelvey)

RW: Joe Cole (Oussama Assaidi)
ST: Luis Suárez (Fabio Borini)
LW: Raheem Sterling (Stewart Downing)

GK: Joe Hart (Costel Pantilimon, Richard Wright)

RWB: Pablo Zabaleta (Maicon)
CB: Micah Richards (Kolo Touré)
CB: Vincent Kompany (Matija Nastasić)
CB: Joleon Lescott
LWB: Gaël Clichy (Aleksandar Kolarov)

DM: Javi García (Jack Rodwell)
DM: Yaya Touré (Gareth Barry)

RAM: Samir Nasri (James Milner)
LAM: David Silva (Scott Sinclair)

CF: Sergio Agüero
ST: Carlos Tévez (Edin Džeko, Mario Balotelli)

GK: David de Gea (Anders Lindegaard)

RB: Rafael
CB: Rio Ferdinand (Phil Jones)
CB: Nemanja Vidić (Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling)
LB: Patrice Evra (Alexander Büttner)

RM: Antonio Valencia (Ashley Young)
CM: Michael Carrick (Darren Fletcher, Anderson)
CM: Tom Cleverley (Paul Scholes)
LM: Nani (Ryan Giggs)

AM/CF: Shinji Kagawa (Wayne Rooney)

ST: Robin van Persie (Danny Welbeck, Javier Hernández)

GK: Tim Krul (Steve Harper, Rob Elliot)

RB: Ryan Taylor (Danny Simpson)
CB: Steven Taylor (James Perch)
CB: Fabricio Coloccini (Mike Williamson)
LB: Davide Santon (Shane Ferguson)

RM: Hatem Ben Arfa (Gabriel Obertan)
CM: Cheick Tioté (Vurnon Anita, Gaël Bigirimana)
CM: Yohan Cabaye (Dan Gosling, Romain Amalfitano)
LM: Jonás Gutiérrez (Sylvain Marveaux)

ST: Papiss Cissé (Shola Ameobi)
ST: Demba Ba (Sammy Ameobi)

GK: Brad Friedel (Hugo Lloris, Heurelho Gomes, Carlo Cudicini)

RB: Kyle Walker (Kyle Naughton)
CB: Younès Kaboul (Michael Dawson, Steven Caulker)
CB: Jan Vertonghen (William Gallas)
LB: Benoît Assou-Ekotto

RM: Aaron Lennon (Clint Dempsey, David Bentley)
CM: Scott Parker (Jake Livermore)
CM: Sandro (Tom Huddlestone)
LM: Gareth Bale (Jermaine Jenas)

AM: Moussa Dembélé (Gylfi Sigurðsson)

ST: Emmanuel Adebayor (Jermain Defoe)


Thoughts?​




There is no 'big 7'.

Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City.

Spurs are contenders for relegation, Newcastle were in the Championship 3/4 years ago and Liverpool are a mid table side.
 

Pete

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I'd put Liverpool in with the Big 4, make it Big 5. Because of their history if nothing else.
 

Aniking

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Benching Giggs and Rooney? Are you insane?! Nani needs to be where you put Valencia, with Giggs as LM.

Not insane at all. Giggs has one final season in him and hasn't been a regular starter for years. As Keith said, he's a player you use here and there, so sometimes he will start but the majority of the time he'll come off the bench. I rate Valencia over Nani, so if I were to put Giggs in the starting line up (which I wouldn't) then Nani would make way.

As for Rooney, that was the big call, but I felt Kagawa is an important player to Man Utd and needed somebody to sacrifice to put him in. It came down to Van Persie or Rooney, and on current form Van Persie would be my pick up front.


Nani needs to be sold. Rooney is injured lol.

I didn't account for injuries, which is why Szczesny, Sagna, Wilshere are in Arsenal's starting 11, etc.


There is no 'big 7'.

Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City.

Spurs are contenders for relegation, Newcastle were in the Championship 3/4 years ago and Liverpool are a mid table side.

Sometimes I can't take you seriously.

Tottenham are contenders for relegation is a ridiculous statement to make and you're just saying it because you're English and an Arsenal fan. Basing the whole season off 3 results is short sighted, as well as basically classing Newcastle as shit because they were in the Championship a few seasons ago. So what? That doesn't mean they're not a big club by any stretch of the imagination. As for Liverpool, they may have dropped out of the Top 4 these past few seasons, but guess what bracket they'd be considered among? That's right, the Big 7!
 

Prodigy

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Facepalm at The Cork.... Just ignored him AK, you might be from Aus but you know a hell of a lot more about Football than him, even if the sport is less popular where you are.
 

Lewb

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It's like saying Swansea are going to win the league, fucking pathetic statement. I will be making a note of that. Don't take anything Cork says about football seriously. lol.

If we're looking at it properly I'd say there's a massive 3 (utd/city/chelsea) a European place fighting big 4 behind it, and the rest.

How Liverpool can let Carroll go and then the board squabble over a million pound after the money they've wasted in past seasons is beyond me, they've left themselves with no options up-front and I think they could find themselves an unassailable task to reach Europe with no more signings until January.
 

Aniking

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If we're looking at it properly I'd say there's a massive 3 (utd/city/chelsea) a European place fighting big 4 behind it, and the rest.

I definitely agree with that, in fact it's how I see it too. Utd/City/Chelsea are a cut above Arsenal/Tottenham/Liverpool/Newcastle at the moment. Who knows if that's the same at the end of the season considering at the start of last season I wouldn't have considered Newcastle to be on par.
 

Pete

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But in the pre-Mourinho era, you would arguably not include Chelsea in the top tier either. IIRC they were nobody back then. Same with Man City, who only became relevant when the crazy Arab guy took over as owner. Back around the turn of the millenium, the Big Three in English football were Arsenal/Man U and then either Newcastle (remember Shearer, Cork? You know, the top English goalscorer OF ALL TIME? That wasn't that long ago!) or Liverpool in the third slot.
 

Lewb

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I'm pretty sure the recent talk has been on the basis of this season. The way Chelsea have built their squad this year they cannot be counted out from a shout at the title. But they are the only three to be honest. If you were talking all time Big 3 I don't know if I could really separate four teams in third place.

1. United.
2. Liverpool
3. Newcastle/Leeds/Arsenal/Chelsea

Maybe take Leeds out because they did go all the way to League one and have been missing from the prem for a while.
 
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