The Official English Premier League 2012-2103 Thread

[Butcher of Birth]

Wolves are a much better side this year, and since promotion have proved themselves to be strong. I won't peg them for top ten just yet, but they will be in the fight for it.

Relegation, my picks, will be Swansea, Blackburn, and Norwich.

[Blitzkrieg Witchcraft]

Originally Posted by ravenheart

Yeah, Stoke are a difficult team to beat, but a team looking to win trophies should be beating them. They're not technically a very good side, they're just big and strong. Not playing the strikers you have who can match them for physicality and height was the mistake there. Kalou and Torres aren't going to get anything out of that defence.

I'm less optimistic about the results across the board. That was a weekend of pretty shitty results for everyone except Wolves and Bolton.

Chelsea, Arsenal, Fulham, Wigan and Liverpool should all be winning those games. And Man U should be winning at West Brom more comfortably than scraping a one-goal win with an own goal.

I don't disagree, but Torres is going to be the first-choice striker whether anyone likes it or not. Roman has too much money invested in him for Nando to sit on the bench. Our midfield has been a problem since last season and we barely scraped by yesterday. Things are looking up, though. We picked up Juan Mata today and Sturridge will be back after saturday, so there's a huge boost at winger. Modric still might be coming. He's out of the ManU match tomorrow, so speculation is rampant. Kalou has been awful this season and looks like he'll be the odd man out.


The whole league is down. The lower teams are better at defending and scoring on the counter-attack. Even last season, ManU only won the league with 80 points. There's not as many gimme wins as in past seasons. Man City's better, Liverpool is much improved. ManU looks as powerful as always and I hope the new additions and youngsters breathe some new life into Chelsea. It's going to be a battle all season long. No more running away with the title.

Should be a fun ride.

[Butcher of Birth]

Well with Juan Mata and STILL Modric, Chelsea's midfield for the next 5 years is looking strong. Having watching Mata in the U-21 Eurocup I am more than excited in his signing! He was a key man in assisting and scoring, and lord knows that's what we need for the elephant in the room that is Torres.

Concerning Modric, I am wary. Whilst he is superb on the ball and key to the Spurs (3-0 at Man Utd? come now.., ), he is more prone to injury than a rough school boy. With age being the talking points of pundits these days at Chelsea, I can't see Modric doing much good if Lamps, Essien, Terry, Drogs, get injuried...

My, realistic, top 5.

1. Chelsea
2. Manchester United
3. Manchester City
4. Liverpool
5. Arsenal

Man City will be hard to beat for the mid table and under teams, but against the experience and quality of Chelsea and United, they will break. And I rank United second due in part to their back-line suffering from such bad injuries, and De Gea not yet showing his ability to keep balls out comfortably.

When De Gea faces the likes of Drogba, Van Persie, Malouda, Carroll, Saruez, and others in the top tier, he will buckle.

[ravenheart]

Originally Posted by Butcher of Birth

When De Gea faces the likes of Drogba, Van Persie, Malouda, Carroll, Saruez, and others in the top tier, he will buckle.

So, we drew FC Twente, Odense BK and Krakow in the Europa League group stages.

Very annoyed that all six games are the week of a home game in the Premier League, so that's another six games moves to shit kick-off times on a Sunday

[ravenheart]

Originally Posted by Butcher of Birth

Wolves are a much better side this year, and since promotion have proved themselves to be strong. I won't peg them for top ten just yet, but they will be in the fight for it.

Indeed. It's about time Wolves went back to playing the way they played when they first came up.

McCarthy can deny it all he wants, and he will, but it was plain for all to see. The season they came up they played good football and found themselves getting out-muscled by the big teams and ended up fighting against relegation.

McCarthy saw how teams like Bolton and Stoke had become stable in the Premier League by playing "tough" and decided to make his team play like that so they stood a better chance of survival. Only his players sucked at playing tough and just ended up being dirty.

They got so much grief for playing that way last year that he's got them back to playing properly. Which is why, lo and behold, Kevin Doyle, their best striker who kept getting left out last season because he wasn't tough enough and didn't play that way, is now starting every week again.

[Butcher of Birth]

Originally Posted by ravenheart

McCarthy saw how teams like Bolton and Stoke had become stable in the Premier League by playing "tough"...

And I feel this is the main problem Chelsea has against mid-table teams. They have the skill, speed, etc. but lack the physical side to confront these teams. Best example is this past weekend when Alex (6'3) was muscled off the ball by Shane Long (5'11). Alex is massive compared to Long, but Chelsea doesn't teach "rough" or "tough", we teach the beauty of the game, as Bolton will show you week in and week out, that's half the game.

[ravenheart]

Originally Posted by Butcher of Birth

And I feel this is the main problem Chelsea has against mid-table teams. They have the skill, speed, etc. but lack the physical side to confront these teams. Best example is this past weekend when Alex (6'3) was muscled off the ball by Shane Long (5'11). Alex is massive compared to Long, but Chelsea doesn't teach "rough" or "tough", we teach the beauty of the game, as Bolton will show you week in and week out, that's half the game.

You can be big and still be a wuss though... look at Anelka

[ravenheart]

And after praising Wolves' return to playing proper football... they were shit against Villa today. Not that Villa were much better, and as the home team probably should have been the ones to press harder for goals.

[LAXdef16]

I think that the Wolves can rebound after this week and get right back to playing at that high level.

[Blitzkrieg Witchcraft]

Mata is the real deal and Lukaku looks quite promising. Looks like we're getting van der Wiel as well. Still not sure if Modric is coming, but I think we'll be ok if he doesn't. The 4-4-2 didn't work again today. Seems like Drogs and Torres just can't make it work. Five matches and no goals when they play together. I'd like to see 4-3-3 with Mata-Torres-Strurridge. Looks like Drogba will be out for a match or two. Should be ok with Lukaku and Sturridge, now that his 3 match ban is over.