Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Wed Jan 30, 2013 1:55 pm  

John_D wrote:

Villa. They're screwed aren't they

And yet, when they won at Anfield they looked virtually unplayable - particularly the pairing of Weimann and Benteke.

Might say more about Liverpool than Villa mind...

Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Wed Jan 30, 2013 2:07 pm  

carl_spackler wrote:

He's been a top quality player averaging almost a goal every other game since about 2006/07ish. The only difference between the last couple of years and the previous 4 is the amount of games he has played allowing him to maintain form.

He did average a goal every other game earlier in his career. He's now getting 3 in 4 games.

The two seasons before 2006/07 he appeared around 40 times each season. He averaged around 1 in 4.

There has been a huge leap in productivity in the last few years from him. It's not all down him staying injury free and maintaining form. He's clearly grown and matured as a player.

Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Wed Jan 30, 2013 3:06 pm  

Andy Gilder wrote:

John_D wrote:

Villa. They're screwed aren't they

And yet, when they won at Anfield they looked virtually unplayable - particularly the pairing of Weimann and Benteke.

Might say more about Liverpool than Villa mind...

It says everything about Liverpool that they lost at a League One side that had taken one point in 8 previous games and noone's really all that surprised about it. The disastrous aftermath of Dalglish and hanging on to Benitez for far, far too long are going to haunt them for many, many years to come yet.

Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Wed Jan 30, 2013 4:11 pm  

Utd vs Reading 8pm Monday night in the FA Cup. Live on ESPN. Glorious news. 39 and counting....

Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Wed Jan 30, 2013 4:53 pm  

Lord God Jose Mourinho wrote:

He did average a goal every other game earlier in his career. He's now getting 3 in 4 games.

The two seasons before 2006/07 he appeared around 40 times each season. He averaged around 1 in 4.

There has been a huge leap in productivity in the last few years from him. It's not all down him staying injury free and maintaining form. He's clearly grown and matured as a player.

'Only difference' was probably the wrong thing to say, I should have said main difference. The main disagreement I had with your post was the claim that he was an 'okay' player for most of his time at Arsenal and has suddenly exploded into a top-quality striker. That's not the case, he was clearly a very good player after his first couple of seasons and from the point Henry left completely looked the part when he could get fully fit. The last 2 seasons have just seen him playing regularly whilst fully fit and brimming with confidence.

Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Wed Jan 30, 2013 6:29 pm  

Saint Viper wrote:

To be honest, this im afraid is the 1st thing i thought, they may surprise you though.

I don't think the board can risk this sort of strategy, because otherwise Moyes will be gone by the end of May.

With his contract up at the end of the season, its obvious he wants a bit of backing, so it would be crazy for Kenwright & co to try and pull off a tactic like that, if they seriously want Moyes to stay.

Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Wed Jan 30, 2013 8:26 pm  

Northampton_Saint wrote:

Andy Gilder wrote:

John_D wrote:

Villa. They're screwed aren't they

And yet, when they won at Anfield they looked virtually unplayable - particularly the pairing of Weimann and Benteke.

Might say more about Liverpool than Villa mind...

It says everything about Liverpool that they lost at a League One side that had taken one point in 8 previous games and noone's really all that surprised about it. The disastrous aftermath of Dalglish and hanging on to Benitez for far, far too long are going to haunt them for many, many years to come yet.

I don't believe we held onto Benitez too long - I still think we sacked him too soon. We didn't make the CL since his departure. The one bad season, I believe could have been overturned. He could still get us going, especially for those big European nights.

Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Wed Jan 30, 2013 8:57 pm  

JonB95 wrote:

I don't believe we held onto Benitez too long - I still think we sacked him too soon. We didn't make the CL since his departure. The one bad season, I believe could have been overturned. He could still get us going, especially for those big European nights.

Inter and Chelsea held onto Benitez too long.

LFC languishing since Rafa's gone has been in part because he spunked too much cash on too poor players and you haven't been able to recover from that.

Your managerial appointments since then have been so-so, but so-so appointments aren't going to be able to turn water into wine.

The only good thing about Benitez being Chelsea boss is the fact he's probably ruling himself out of contention for any decent job. I think he'll have to go back to Spain and start again.

Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:03 pm  

JonB95 wrote:

I don't believe we held onto Benitez too long - I still think we sacked him too soon. We didn't make the CL since his departure. The one bad season, I believe could have been overturned. He could still get us going, especially for those big European nights.

Liverpool haven't made the top 4 since Benitez because of the rise of Citeh and Spurs (and the garbage management they've mainly had since), not because of the absence of the magic of Benitez... He had the league for the taking and threw it away by being bafflingly over-defensive against garbage teams and then ultimately finally fell victim to his legions of terrible signings. He should have been replaced by Moyes (and bugger to the internecine consequences) or O'Neill at least a year earlier than he was eventually kicked out - the Alonso/Barry transfer fiasco should have been more than enough to convince everyone at the time that he'd lost his marbles...

Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:36 pm  

Northampton_Saint wrote:

He should have been replaced by Moyes (and bugger to the internecine consequences) or O'Neill at least a year earlier than he was eventually kicked out