English Premier League 09/10

[DAF86]

Damn I agree with this artcle; the EPL is overrated


When Nadir Belhadj sweetly struck a thunderous volley to open the scoring for Portsmouth against Liverpool at the start of the Christmas football programme it was the 500th in the Premier League this season.
This resulted in the 2009/10 season, beating the 1994/95 season for the record of the fewest games in the Premier League to achieve the feat of hitting this target in the fewest games.
For the statistic nerds amongst you, it was 17 games quicker than the previous record, or almost two weeks of fixtures.
This averages out to almost three goals per game, which begs the question; Where have all the good defenders gone?
Many say the Premier League is the best league in the world, I slightly disagree with this statement and feel it should be rephrased to; the most entertaining league in the world.
When you look through the defensive options available to all teams in the top flight of English football there aren’t many outstanding defenders, very few outstanding goalkeepers and a void of world-class defensive midfielders.
As it stands, Fulham and Birmingham City are currently amongst the tightest defences in the Premier League. The reasons for this, settled, uncompromising defences with players who are picked to simply defend.
Many teams tend to opt for defenders who can play football rather than select a Roger Johnson or a Brede Hangeland, who are selected to defend and defending properly is what they have prided themselves on.
Another concern in the ’defenders union’ will be the worrying form of so-called top performers of the past few years.
Rio Ferdinand with many an injury concern, has obviously lost his ‘mo-jo’ as has John Terry and this leads to worrying times ahead of the upcoming World Cup this summer, especially for England fans.
It is often said that the Premier League is blessed with the best in the business, but seriously do we have the best defenders, goalkeepers and defensive midfielders in the World?
I think not.
It is worrying that Manchester City were prepared to pay over £20 million for an average defender in Joleon Lescott. This to me shows a drastic void of top quality defenders in World football let alone the English game.
The game desperately needs to find some old-fashioned defenders in the mould of Franco Baresi, Tony Adams and Paolo Maldini or risk becoming a goal fest and not a balanced game of defence versus attack.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not wanting every fixture to be 0-0 but a more balanced, even contest, in which, it would be difficult to score against opposing teams isn’t too much to ask? Is it?

http://www.footballfancast.com/footb...ague-defenders

I agree with the thought that the EPL is overrated but I disagree with the rest of the article. Who the F wants to see a match where teams struggle to score? I want to see goals and offensive plays and I'm sure 99% of the football fans feel the same.

It is often said that the Premier League is blessed with the best in the business

Who says that? Messi, Ronaldo, Kaka, Xavi, Iniesta, Ibrahimovic, Henry, etc were all playing in Spain last time I checked.

[Libri]

It's official, Donovan was signed on loan by Everton. Let's see if he gets significant minutes and if he's good enough for the EPL.

http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archiv...mber-nine.html

[TDMVPDPOY]

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news...cle282361.html

Dimitar Berbatov will head a sensational clear-out of £80m of Manchester United talent at the end of the season.

Sir Alex Ferguson has run out of patience with the £30.75m striker after 18 months of inconsistent performances.

And the United boss is also looking to offload underachieving trio Anderson, Nani and Zoran Tosic as well as unsettled central defender Nemanja Vidic.

clear it out fergie and rebuild

[DAF86]

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news...cle282361.html



clear it out fergie and rebuild

He should have kept Tevez.

[sonic21]

Ferguson wants Mahamadou Diarra from Real Madrid. He's one of his priority.

[TDMVPDPOY]

its fkn bs how that ronaldo transfer is paid in installments...

[SAtown]

Donovan looked great against Man City. He was solid offensively; crosses on target, good 1-2 passes, etc. But when marking someone at the midfield though, he's often found chasing the ball aimlessly but that's to be expected for a player who's not yet 100% fit for the EPL pace

[quentin_compson]

Important win for Arsenal. Thank God Cesc is back.

[Libri]

Donovan looked great against Man City. He was solid offensively; crosses on target, good 1-2 passes, etc. But when marking someone at the midfield though, he's often found chasing the ball aimlessly but that's to be expected for a player who's not yet 100% fit for the EPL pace

It looks like he's fitting in nicely and the Everton fans applauded his effort. If he does well, he could extend the loan.

[Libri]

Clint Dempsey's goal against Stoke City, 1/5/10

[Libri]

Not good for Dempsey. He injured himself today against Blackburn. He may be out a long time.

The initial prognosis for Dempsey is not that good because we fear it could be cruciate ligament damage, which of course if it is keeps him out for a while.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,195...867540,00.html

[makedamnsure]

Important win for Arsenal. Thank God Cesc is back.

yeah. If we win by 2 goals on Wednesday, we're top of the league.

Come on you gunners!!

[velik_m]

ManUtd fans show appreciation for their owners:

[lefty]

Well, Chelsea fans must be thrilled.

Drogba and Kalou are back sooner than expected

[Spurologist]

I support whatever team my Cameroon players are at.....was supporting Barca but now with INTER because of Eto'o

[Libri]

Donovan scored his first goal for Everton. Well done.

[quentin_compson]

Arsenal with a goalless draw against Villa. An entertaining game and an adequate result. Vermaelen could be out for some weeks, though.

[Libri]

Big game this Sunday.

vs

[lefty]

Big game this Sunday.

vs

Oh yeah

[sonic21]

Song is back now

[resistanze]

Soft Baby Gunners getting reamed again by one of the big boys.

[velik_m]

Well, Arsenal drops out of the race...

[SAtown]

Anyone in USA or Canada actually getting Fox Soccer Channel HD, or are you guys also getting the standard def broadcast with the HD logo on the top right corner?

WTF is taking FSC so long to have HD

[lefty]

Fergie owning Wenger as usual

No surprise here

[quentin_compson]

Too many mistakes on Arsenal's side. This first goal should never happen the way it did, and it pretty much went downhill from there. Man Utd. just scored when they had the possibility to, while Arsenal struggled to even get a shot on target.

Another brutal defeat at home, wonder if and how they'll respond next weekend against Chelsea.