The Official 2013-14 EPL Season Thread

gotta love a derby result like that!
and dicanio gets sacked. not too suprising.

sgt_pepper said:

gotta love a derby result like that!
and dicanio gets sacked. not too suprising.

Click to expand...

Have you seen the post game footage where he walked onto the pitch and over to the fans and just stared at them, then made a few sign language-esque gestures for the fans to keep their chins up? bizarre footage.
It was only last week on the radio an epl correspondant said that if there was a market for the first manager to be sacked this year he would be an unbackable favourite.

yeah, that was weird. and ambiguous. there was stuff after the chin up gestures that looked to me like a kinda shrug as if to say 'its not my fault/problem.'
regardless of his lack of managerial prowess or his political views, he'll still go down as one of my fave. players. cant take your eyes off him when hes in possession or youll miss something brilliant.

Cracking result for City - they were superb. Only Rooney showed up for Utd...
Great games from Nasri and Yaya. Negredo is a powerful unit, Aguero as good as ever and Kompany...... well I think this sums it up...

What's with the Henrying:

http://cheezburger.com/7813256192

Mourinho on Oscar, Mata & Jamie Redknapp.

nice to have the special one back. hope mata adapts soon tho...
'but chelsea manager is jose mourinho, not jamie redknapp' - jose mourinho.

Another good away win for the Arsenal, another goal for Ramsey.

Arsenal
* Aaron Ramsey has made the most tackles in the PL this season with 33. He made seven v Swansea on Saturday evening.
* The last time Arsenal were eight or more points ahead of United (with equal games played) was May 2005 when the Gunners finished second to United's third.
* Arsenal have equalled a club record by recording eight straight away wins in the PL.


Aston Villa
* Aston Villa have averaged just 39.7% possession so far this season - the lowest in the Premier League by some margin.
* They have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 14 PL games at home.


Cardiff City
* Cardiff average the least number of fouls per game (8.3) in the Premier League. No team is fouled less (7 per game) either.
* Fraizer Campbell is second only to Daniel Sturridge in the PL when it comes to losing the ball with a poor first touch (2.8 times per game).
* Gary Medel recorded a phenomenal 99% pass completion rate v Fulham.

Chelsea
* Only two of Chelsea's seven goals this season have come from open play.
* No PL player has been dribbled around more times than Ramires (16) this season.
* Attacking midfield trio Eden Hazard, Oscar and Ramires created only one chance for Chelsea at Spurs on Saturday.


Crystal Palace
* Crystal Palace are the most prolific tacklers in the PL with an average 24.3 per game.
* They have managed just one shot on target in their last two PL games v Swansea and Southampton.
* Only one Palace player (Damien Delaney) has been credited with a PL assist this season.


Everton
* Everton's impressive 12 points from six games is still a worse start than last season, when they picked up 13 points from their first six games.
* Romelu Lukaku has now scored 14 PL goals in 2013; only Christian Benteke (18), Daniel Sturridge (15) and Robin van Persie (15) have scored more.
* Seamus Coleman completed five dribbles without being dispossessed once by Newcastle. He also made seven tackles.


Fulham
* Fulham are allowing opponents an average 20.3 shots per game - the highest in the PL by some margin.
* They make the fewest tackles per game at 14. They made just ten v Cardiff on Saturday.
* Right-back Sascha Riether made four chances v Cardiff - the same number as all his teammates in total.


Hull City
* Robbie Brady has scored exactly half Hull's PL goals (3 of 6) so far this season.
* Danny Graham has not scored in his last 1391 Premier League minutes of football.
* Hull out-tackled the Hammers 18-16 on Saturday with Tom Huddlestone contributing five challenges.


Liverpool
* Daniel Sturridge has contributed to the most PL goals this season with five goals and two assists.
* But Sturridge was dispossessed five times v Sunderland - more than the rest of his Liverpool teammates in total.
* Steven Gerrard has created 2.3 chances per game this season. That puts him on a par with Eden Hazard.


Manchester City
* Vincent Kompany has the highest pass completion rate of any PL regular this season at 94.6%.
* City have won only one of their last six away games in the Premier League.
* Samir Nasri made more chances in 66 minutes (3) v Villa than any other player in the whole game.


Manchester United
* Manchester United have been caught offside more times (21) than any other PL side this season. For comparison, Spurs have been caught offside just four times.
* United attempt more crosses than any other side in the PL with an average of 28 per game. They attempted 30 v West Brom but only five reached a teammate.
* Wayne Rooney is 28th on a list of average key passes per game in the PL - he is the highest Manchester United player.


*Newcastle United
* All Newcastle's seven PL goals this season have been scored by Frenchmen.
* Newcastle recorded a better pass completion rate (86%) than Everton (83%) on Monday night.
* Newcastle played an average of 69 long balls per game last season; this season it's been reduced to 53.


Norwich City
* Ricky van Wolfswinkel did not have a shot of any description v Stoke. He has managed one shot on target in his last five PL games.
* Anthony Pilkington lost the ball six times v Stoke due to a poor touch.
* Only three players - John Ruddy, Van Wolfswinkel and Michael Turner - have started all six PL games for Norwich this season.


Southampton
* Only one of Southampton's five goals this season has come from open play - Pablo Osvaldo's opener on Saturday.
* None of Southampton's last nine PL games have featured more than two goals.
* Adam Lallana attempted a massive 13 crosses v Palace but only one reached a teammate.


Stoke City
* Stoke have hit the woodwork four times this season - more than any other PL side.
* No Potters' striker has scored in their opening six PL matches.
* They have won two of their last nine PL games at Britannia Stadium.


Sunderland
* Sunderland had a massive 23 shots to Liverpool's 15 on Sunday.
* The returning Carlos Cuéllar made six tackles and nine clearances v Liverpool.
* Sunderland have won one of their last 11 Premier League games at the Stadium of Light.


Swansea City
* Swansea have not won any of their last eight PL games at the Liberty Stadium.
* Starting wingers Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge failed to create a single chance v Arsenal on Saturday.
* Swansea have the best average pass completion rate (87.1%) in the PL this season.


Tottenham Hotspur
* Michael Dawson has been credited with catching 16 opposition players offside this season. That's twice as many as West Brom's Gareth McAuley - second on the list.
* Tottenham out-dribbled Chelsea 28-3 on Saturday with Mousa Dembélé skipping past eight Chelsea players.
* Roberto Soldado completed just four passes in 77 minutes v Chelsea - one of those four set up Tottenham's goal.


West Brom
* Morgan Amalfitano is a champion crosser - 4.3 accurate crosses per game makes him the most prolific in the PL.
* Amalfitano put in more accurate crossers v United (6) than all United players managed in total on Saturday.
* Seven of West Brom's last 11 PL goals have come against United.


West Ham
* Mohamed Diamé has failed to score with 17 shots this season - he had three v Hull on Saturday.
* They have not scored a single goal in three away games this season.
* Jussi Jääskeläinen attempted only six passes in 90 minutes v Hull. Only two reached a teammate.

Bayern made City look like chumps yesterday - men and boys for most of it. Was amazing to watch how effortlessly they moved the ball out oftrouble and into space. Showed just how far off the pace we are in Europe at the moment. Silva and Milner made a difference when they came on but to be fair, Bayern had removed a couple of their stars by then.
Good to have Silva back anyway. We need his creation.

ljandkg said:

Bayern made City look like chumps yesterday - men and boys for most of it. Was amazing to watch how effortlessly they moved the ball out oftrouble and into space. Showed just how far off the pace we are in Europe at the moment. Silva and Milner made a difference when they came on but to be fair, Bayern had removed a couple of their stars by then.
Good to have Silva back anyway. We need his creation.

Click to expand...

joe hart had a shocker as well. negredo's goal was all class. but damage was done by the time that happened. who was the defender that let muller go for his goal, he should be shot.

GiRDS- said:

joe hart had a shocker as well. negredo's goal was all class. but damage was done by the time that happened. who was the defender that let muller go for his goal, he should be shot.

Click to expand...

That would be Clichy - looking like he hadn't played in a month - which he hadn't!! Still was preferrable him marking Robben than Kolarov trying to!

few good stories over the international break:
the wilshere comment on being english. agreed...and let the lad have a smoke if he wants.
the barton comment on english football. agreed...but still think its not his place to say.
the brooking comment on grassroots. agreed...and have been saying the same thing for 15 years. how is this donkey still in charge?!
the bosingwa comment on redknapp. agreed...but maybe not so harsh on 'arry.
goal line tech being used at 2014 WC...as long as they dont go too much further with it, im happy.
and a 'nations league' being discussed by UEFA to replace international friendlies. fantastic idea. nothing more pointless than an international friendly...

EDIT: my mistake. my dutch is a little rusty. the story is actually about how the current squad looked the last time belgium made a WC...

sgt_pepper said:

few good stories over the international break:
the wilshere comment on being english. agreed...and let the lad have a smoke if he wants.
the barton comment on english football. agreed...but still think its not his place to say.
the brooking comment on grassroots. agreed...and have been saying the same thing for 15 years. how is this donkey still in charge?!
the bosingwa comment on redknapp. agreed...but maybe not so harsh on 'arry.
goal line tech being used at 2014 WC...as long as they dont go too much further with it, im happy.
and a 'nations league' being discussed by UEFA to replace international friendlies. fantastic idea. nothing more pointless than an international friendly...

Click to expand...

I didn't agree with wilshere's comments. not having a go at you. I agree with barton's though. for years England have not picked players worthy of a spot. kevin Nolan springs to mind, he's never played for England. matt le tissier played 8 times. fowler 26 times for 7 goals. andy cole played 15 times. yes he only scored 1 international goal but he was a prolific goal scorer for club scoring 229 career goals from 509 appearances. shearer's record was 283 goals from 559 appearances. glad to see England qualify for the WC. hopefully we draw Australia. England are unseeded.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24562306

yeah, england are not only not that good, but to top it off they make ridiculous choices. last WC defoe (who went but couldve played more) and bent were both in good form (especially bent), but they took an injured rooney, heskey and peter crouch.
another thing is that for some reason alot of england players dont seem to 'turn up' for internationals. scholes was a prime example.
RE: the wilshere comment. i just think its a little ridiculous for a player to 'adopt' another country through residency after theyve already grown up elsewhere. arteta is another example. cuducini was on the cards years ago aswell. we dont have to agree tho. thats what makes it interesting...

we have some great players but as you said we don't turn up. its very frustrating, I have no idea why? the last time I enjoyed watching England was euro 96. for me scholesy was very good for England. 14 goals from 66 caps is a good return from a midfielder. the thing with scholesy is he felt frustrated when representing England resulting in a early international retirement. scholes has been a scapegoat to a lot of people. he is one player that can hold his head high. i do think a british manager should manage the international side the same way a Brazilian should manage brazil and so forth.

another thing with scholesy is during eriksens tenure he was used out wide instaed of his best position in the middle of the ground.

/\/\ the fact that scholes only got 66 caps says quite a bit i think...

sgt_pepper said:

/\/\ the fact that scholes only got 66 caps says quite a bit i think...

Click to expand...

he only got 66 caps because he wanted to spend more time with his family. he retired in 2004 because of that. capello tried to lure him out of retirement for the 2010 world cup qualifiers. had nothing to do with performance