OFFICIAL: Barclays Premier League 2011-12 Season

[evosky]

Amazing that there is no EPL thread at all, so I'd like to start it off in the middle of this season and hopefully continue future seasons for all the soccer/football fans out there. We're about halfway through the 2011-12 season already, and there have been lots of talking points so far.





FA Cup and Prem action this weekend, any thoughts?

Manchester derby between ManCity and ManUtd, who do you think is going to come out on top?

[Yugoslavia!]

Come on City!

[evosky]

boooo city (united fan here haha), let's go UNITED

i'm really curious to see how the withdrawl of the african players for the african nations cup will affect the form of city and newcastle. i dont think chelsea will be affected too much.

[Mr. Roloff]

Every soccer thread gets pushed to the bottom before too long. Sadly that seems to be how it goes.

But I think United needs to figure something out. They lack creativity in the midfield and their crosses are hardly getting past the first defender. Plus these line ups SAF has been putting on the field are iffy.

[Yugoslavia!]

Every soccer thread gets pushed to the bottom before too long. Sadly that seems to be how it goes.

But I think United needs to figure something out. They lack creativity in the midfield and their crosses are hardly getting past the first defender. Plus these line ups SAF has been putting on the field are iffy.

I don't say this simply as a City fan but I think we're beginning to see the end of United's glory days. No, it's not because of their 2-3 lost against Blackburn at Trafford or even the fact they got knocked out of CL. IMO, the reason is the way SAF has replaced the steady old timers as VDS, Scholes and Neville and to be honest, I'm having a hard time seeing today's United, with wimpy players as Nani, Fabio and Chicarito, keeping up with what they've had. Giggs will leave anytime soon with Rio leaving in a few years together with SAF himself retiring soon, where's the foundation on which they'll build their team on?

Surely, City will miss Yaya and Kolo but the latter isn't that much of a problem as there's always Lescott and Savic has proven to be a decent backup. Yaya, on the other hand is what's really worrying me..

Anyhow, I'm really looking forward to Sunday's cup game!

[evosky]

i actually agree with you that United is kind of past its prime and is going into a rebuilding phase. giggs and ferdinand are done basically, park hasn't improved in the past 2 years, ando is finally coming back into it, carrick has always been a question for me, vidic will have to recover and come back really strong, and fletcher is basically out with longterm illness. the other youngsters need time to mature their game finesse to make a lasting impact and mold the team to their playing style. lawro and keane said it really, that this is probably one of the weakest teams United has had for a while. the golden age of 5 years ago are gone. city has really come from nowhere these past 2-3 years, and i tip them to take the title.

how about that crazy tim howard goal against bolton the other night? incredible. proud that he's an american keeper haha

[Yugoslavia!]

Funny thing is that Brad Friedel, also an american, is another of the 4 goalkeepers who has scored in the PL.

What do you guys think about this year's winter transfer window? Will Chelsea spend some big dough on Hulk or will City try to lure over De Rossi or Lavezzi?

[jonboy72]

Tottenham...best team in London...that is all

[evosky]

hah, didnt know friedel has also scored in the PL. great to see the americans having a great run of form lately. dempsey is definitely going to be on the radar of big clubs now.

im not sure what AVB will try to do in terms of buying, but there is that heavy speculation regarding selling drogba. torres is staying im pretty sure.

i was actually surprised to see today that fergie resigned scholes out of retirement until the end of this season. just shows how much we are hurting in the midfield and in terms of injured experienced players. but the win vs city today was a huge boost, though it was apparent that we still made too many mistakes resulting in lost possession

also big drama to see warnock sacked by QPR today, though it is kind of not surprising given QPR's poor run of form lately. they're expected to buy a player or two i think.

i'm thinking arsenal is going to try and pick up a midfielder to fill the gap

i can definitely see mancini trying to pick up an italian player

[sjpassat]

Tottenham...best team in London...that is all

Come on you Spurs!

[Mr. Roloff]

I don't say this simply as a City fan but I think we're beginning to see the end of United's glory days. No, it's not because of their 2-3 lost against Blackburn at Trafford or even the fact they got knocked out of CL. IMO, the reason is the way SAF has replaced the steady old timers as VDS, Scholes and Neville and to be honest, I'm having a hard time seeing today's United, with wimpy players as Nani, Fabio and Chicarito, keeping up with what they've had. Giggs will leave anytime soon with Rio leaving in a few years together with SAF himself retiring soon, where's the foundation on which they'll build their team on?

Surely, City will miss Yaya and Kolo but the latter isn't that much of a problem as there's always Lescott and Savic has proven to be a decent backup. Yaya, on the other hand is what's really worrying me..

Anyhow, I'm really looking forward to Sunday's cup game!

I definitely agree about Nani, Fabio, and Chicharito. Nani is a great winger, but Chicharito is horrible at holding up play and getting involved like Berbs. Why they would ever think about getting rid of a guy that can link up play so well is a mystery to me. I think their biggest changes need to be made in the midfield. That is where a game is controlled and developed. Carrick is hit and miss, Ando is actually showing a lot, but whatever happened to Cleverly? Ashley Young needs to take guys on and have that kind of role like Malouda had with Chelsea a couple seasons ago. Park is a less hostile version of Keane IMO. Lastly, WTF is Scholes doing back? His inch perfect switches aren't so inch perfect anymore.

[evosky]

berbs should definitely stay imo. chicha should stay as a niche cherry-picker-style striker. cleverly has been/is out with an ankle injury, still recuperating, and i think ash is the same way. ash definitely has great pace and creativity on the ball and has good accuracy with his crosses, one of the better summer signings in my opinion.

anyone else tracking arsenal vs leeds right now FA Cup ? henry back on the bench is great for the arsenal crowd

[evosky]

wow, Henry taking it for Arsenal yesterday with a trademark goal - he's back.

QPR just signed Mark Hughes as their manager for 2.5 years - i hope he gets more time to do his thing than the Man City owners did ...

[Mr. Roloff]

Come on City!

Hang onto that all you want. United wins when it counts the most. And now the FA Cup.

[evosky]

today might shape up to be a big transfer day!

from the BBC feed:

Chelsea are ready to pull the plug on the deal to sign Bolton defender Gary Cahill unless he agrees to join them on Thursday.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Newcastle could be forced to wait to sign Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha because of the Eagles' continued involvement in the Carling Cup. They lead Cardiff 1-0 after the semi-final first leg so the Magpies could be forced to move in the summer.
Full story: Evening Chronicle

Liverpool are also eyeing a move for the England youth international but he's been warned against leaving the club before a potential Wembley trip by his Palace team-mate Paddy McCarthy.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Manchester United have told midfielder Darron Gibson he can leave Old Trafford and he has already held talks with Everton over a £2.5m move.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Norwich City and Swansea are set to battle it out for the signature of Brighton midfielder Liam Bridcutt. The 22-year-old is expected to cost around £1m.
Full story: talkSPORT

QPR boss Mark Hughes has made his first moves into the transfer market, making a bid for Chelsea defender Alex after having a £5m offer for Blackburn's Chris Samba rejected.
Full story: Metro

Tottenham are also interested in signing the Blackburn defender and have made a £7.5m offer.
Full story: Daily Mail

Chelsea are chasing £8m-rated Argentine winger Lucas Ocampos, 17, in the hope they can head off Manchester United's interest.
Full story: the Sun

Aston Villa are set to miss out on the signing of Slovenian midfielder Armin Bacinovic as Chievo Verona are the favourites to sign him.
Full story: talkSPORT

Bayern Munich are set to step up their interest in Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov.
Full story: Inside Futbol

Arsenal are set to make a £4.1m bid to bring Barcelona defender Eric Abidal to Emirates Stadium.
Full story: Caught Offside

[Yugoslavia!]

Hang onto that all you want. United wins when it counts the most. And now the FA Cup.

Sure, they won, can't argue about that but come on, playing with 1 (or should we make it 2?) more players for pretty much the whole game and you were just a bad decision from the refeere from losing a 3-0 advantage to 3-3 when Phil Jones clearly touched the ball with his hand in the box after Kolarov's cross.
If I were a United supported I wouldn't be as satisfied with their performance, despite their win.

Oh, and Kompany's red card was a complete joke as if that's a red card, murderers like Scholes, Cantona and Keane wouldn't last a single 90 min game...

[evosky]

surprise win from Swansea vs Arsenal today - the swans definitely are a good team

glad to see man utd won with a scholes opening goal!

[Mr. Roloff]

Sure, they won, can't argue about that but come on, playing with 1 (or should we make it 2?) more players for pretty much the whole game and you were just a bad decision from the refeere from losing a 3-0 advantage to 3-3 when Phil Jones clearly touched the ball with his hand in the box after Kolarov's cross.
If I were a United supported I wouldn't be as satisfied with their performance, despite their win.

Oh, and Kompany's red card was a complete joke as if that's a red card, murderers like Scholes, Cantona and Keane wouldn't last a single 90 min game...

The video I posted was from the Community Shield. United came back from 2-0 to win that one. What's the excuse there?

[evosky]

Transfer deadline day! Any big trades going on?

[Mr. Roloff]

Not that I'm aware of. But Chelsea about to lose to Swansea, however.

[evosky]

chelsea just aren't doing it this season. lacking imagination and pace. bosingwa was lucky to get that late equalizer.

huge win for everton against city today. loved it.

big news in my opinion was saha transferring to tottenham and pavlyuchenko finally moving on from spurs.

oh and manchester united win and back on level points with city

[Yugoslavia!]

The video I posted was from the Community Shield. United came back from 2-0 to win that one. What's the excuse there?

You said; "And now the FA Cup" so I don't see the problem?

But why should I be surprised that you're as arrogant as a majority of the glory hunting Rag supporters?


I was really expecting more action during the transfer window. QPR has gotten a bargain in Cissé. Can't understand how Lazio could release him after only 6 months, though...

[usgazza]

Cisse never seems to stay anywhere very long. I assume it is his lovely personality.

When will Torres break his dry spell? Or Carroll for that matter?

[Mr. Roloff]

Torres can keep that dry streak going for another game.

[evosky]

watched the arsenal v blackburn game today ... good to see arsenal get some confidence back with a big 7-1 win. great to see henry get that late goal and to see RVP get 3 and AOC get 2.

funny to hear that cisse got sent off in his debut. not unlike gervinho's debut haha

anyway, tomorrow's the big matchup Manchester United vs Chelsea ... GGMU

[dief]

watched the arsenal v blackburn game today ... good to see arsenal get some confidence back with a big 7-1 win. great to see henry get that late goal and to see RVP get 3 and AOC get 2.

AOC played so well. He's got a whole lot of talent.

[Mr. Roloff]

Liverpool and Tottenham today. Unlike the other big teams, I hope Spurs can take some steam out of Liverpool. The more I see them out of the Champions League the happier I am.

[evosky]

just checked in, spurs v lpool is 0-0 @ HT right now

[evosky]

wow, Capello resigns as England manager. not surprised and probably warranted, but didn't think he would go out today.

[evosky]

Mick McCarthy sacked as Wolves manager a couple days ago, sad to see him leave. I always thought he was a good driving force for the club.

and what about that Manchester United vs Liverpool match over the weekend? i'm glad that Daglish finally came out and admitted he was wrong and apologized. Suarez needs to grow up. Evra wasn't much better with his end of match celebrations either.

[dief]

and what about that Manchester United vs Liverpool match over the weekend? i'm glad that Daglish finally came out and admitted he was wrong and apologized. Suarez needs to grow up. Evra wasn't much better with his end of match celebrations either.

I just find it interesting how seriously they take racial stuff over there. I'm not saying that it isn't important, but our athletes over here use racial slurs and say awful things to and about each other all the time both on the field and on twitter, etc...and nothing happens. Over in europe players get pressed with charges and stuff...crazy

[evosky]

down to the last stretch of matches!

hoping that Fabrice Muamba recovers alright after this weekend's cardiac arrest scare.

United looking top against Wolves on Sunday and keeping that edge over ManCity!

Chelsea is in form with RDM as interim manager, and they're on to do well in their CL run. I'm really thinking the Blues should transfer Torres (hmm maybe a switch with Berbatov at United??)...

and not EPL but SPL: I'm really hoping for Rangers to be backed and bought by a group soon. I think I've taken to them as the Scottish club I support

[gnavs]

**** day for Chelsea yesterday. City is just so damn dangerous offensively, it's scary.
Being a Chelsea fan I've gotta hope for a place in Europe next year, and while I'm at it I may as well hope for Torres to start paying back his transfer fee in goals....

[evosky]

Manchester United still on top and 5 points clear! Lots of our injured players coming back into full fitness soon (Owen, Nani, etc ...), and De Gea is looking more confident.
City's mind games won't work against SAF ....
I'm wondering where Berbatov was sent to? Not even on benches anymore ... they should just sell him if they're not going to use him.

Torres breaks his goal drought finally with a late one against Villa

Everton are now sitting above Liverpool at 7 & 8, respectively - maybe some questions floating around at Anfield, but i think the team just have had a poor year and need a bit more time to fully rebuild and get the most out of their players. Definitely can see some big trades/signings happening over the summer.

[Yuan]

Interesting to see this thread.

I am a Manchester United fan.