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English Football Thread 2009/10


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The Premier League kicked off today

Aston Villa 0-2 Wigan

Blackburn 0-2 Man City

Bolton 0-1 Sunderland

Chelsea 2-1 Hull

Everton 1-6 Arsenal

Portsmouth 0-1 Fulham

Stoke 2-0 Burnley

Wolverhampton 0-2 West Ham

Villa apparantly never really turned up and got beaten by Wigan (who I tipped to get relegated a few weeks ago). The "richest club in the world", Manchester City started out with a decent win. Chelsea beat Hull, but the scoreline doesn't show just how dominant the Londoners were; how they only won by one goal is beyond me!

And the result of the day, Everton losing 1-6 to Arsenal. the Gunners were superb but Everton gave them so much room an elephant could have waltzed through their defence.

Spurs play Liverpool tomorrow and the Champions Man Utd kick off their season against newly promoted Birmingham.

Football's back (!) and it's looking like it could be a really interesting season...

Oh, and I'm £40 up on the day, so thank you very much Arsenal, Manchester City, and Stoke! :DB)

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I do hate Arsenal, and I like to see them fail (unless I've got a bet riding on them winning). But they played brilliantly yesterday, that's just a fact.

While not taking anything away from Arsenal's amazing performance though, it'll be games against the likes of Stoke and Bolton which determine whether this side is different to ones of previous years. They won't give Arsenal anything like the space Everton gave them yesterday, but Arsenal need to learn how to win those kind of games if they're going to challenge.

All we learnt yesterday is that Arsenal play amazing football when given a lot of room; that's something we've always known about the Gooners though and that ability hasn't always translated into winning trophies.

So the jury's still very much out on whether Arsenal will still be challenging come May. I'm not saying they won't be, but nor am I certain they will be.

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I do hate Arsenal, and I like to see them fail (unless I've got a bet riding on them winning). But they played brilliantly yesterday, that's just a fact.

While not taking anything away from Arsenal's amazing performance though, it'll be games against the likes of Stoke and Bolton which determine whether this side is different to ones of previous years. They won't give Arsenal anything like the space Everton gave them yesterday, but Arsenal need to learn how to win those kind of games if they're going to challenge.

All we learnt yesterday is that Arsenal play amazing football when given a lot of room; that's something we've always known about the Gooners though and that ability hasn't always translated into winning trophies.

So the jury's still very much out on whether Arsenal will still be challenging come May. I'm not saying they won't be, but nor am I certain they will be.

I have to agree with that. The fact that Arsenal has been losing points from those kind of games is the reason why we haven't a dominant Arsenal like we did back in 2003-2005.

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As far as I'm concerned, the Premier League this year is a two horse race between Manchester United and Chelsea. Liverpool have too much not to be in the top four, but not enough to challenge for the title in my mind, while Arsenal's main priority has to be holding off the likes of Manchester City for fourth place.

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Alonso may be a huge loss, but they haven't addressed the issue of what they do if Gerrard or Torres are injured for any length of time. At the same time, Arsenal may have recouped £40+ million for Adebayor and Toure, but they need to strengthen quickly, 6-1 win or not.

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I've been following EPL since a young age along with my dad and his dad.

Most non-black football followers follow the EPL religiously, hence the big crowds when Man U and others tour.

Support is split between Man U and Liverpool

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What's the difference between Dietmar Hopp buying Hoffenheim and spending so much more money than would normally sustainable for a club of that size, and what Man City are doing? As far as I can tell, the only difference is the starting point.

I agree about the top 4 being boring though, and I agree that City, whilst they could make things interesting, have really distorted the market.

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As far as I can tell, the only difference is the starting point.
I think that makes all the difference Rob.

Imagine the Sheikh's instead of buying Man City buying Luton Town and building them up over 8 years to be near the top of the premier league. I think people would warm to that story far more than the "buy it and do it quick" CHelsea/Man City option.

You are right there is not a huge differnce - only the starting point, but that starting point makes a huge difference in terms of perception.

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Unless you're a fan of a Conference Club, in which case you'd view your hypothetical Luton team in the same way people are now viewing City. Percpetion depends on where you're standing. Hoffenheim is more of a fairy-tale, but I know plenty of Germans see them in exactly the same way as we'd see City.

Hoffenheim's transformation is surely more extreme than the one City, a side with a decent enough pedigree in England, is currently undergoing.

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I think that makes all the difference Rob.

Imagine the Sheikh's instead of buying Man City buying Luton Town and building them up over 8 years to be near the top of the premier league. I think people would warm to that story far more than the "buy it and do it quick" CHelsea/Man City option.

You are right there is not a huge differnce - only the starting point, but that starting point makes a huge difference in terms of perception.

If I were advising a Sheikh, I'd be telling him to avoid that bunch of whinging, kicking cheats like the plague.

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Liverpool's defeat to Aston Villa means they've already lost as many league games in the first two weeks of this season as they did in the whole of last season. But Man Utd lost to minnows Burnley in mid-week last week, so Liverpool aren't the only title challengers getting off to a rocky start.

And the Spurs go marching on....three wins from three and top of the league. We had to wait a further 68 days to reach that points total last season.

Jermain-Defoe-001.jpg

(sorry Lee)

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Liverpool's defeat to Aston Villa means they've already lost as many league games in the first two weeks of this season as they did in the whole of last season. But Man Utd lost to minnows Burnley in mid-week last week, so Liverpool aren't the only title challengers getting off to a rocky start.

And the Spurs go marching on....three wins from three and top of the league. We had to wait a further 68 days to reach that points total last season.

Jermain-Defoe-001.jpg

(sorry Lee)

That only because Arsenal has a game to spare. We would wacked Tootemham's arse to 2nd if we played :lol:

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You say that, but your next game is against away at Man Utd, ours is at home against Birmingham. I'm confidently predicting we'll be 6 points clear of you lot by the end of this weekend and your game in hand won't make a jot of difference. I'm sure you'll overtake us at some point, but it won't be for at least a couple of weeks in my opinion.

Just out of interest, how much do local rivalries matter to an Arsenal fan from Singapore? :mellow:

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Lets see, I always faced with the fact that I am always outnumbered by Manchester United fans everywhere. Then, there are the oldies, who mostly support Liverpool including my dad. It always between Man United & Liverpool with Arsenal/Chelsea poping out once in a while as well as the occasional Tootenham and Everton fan.

The local tabloid always has this column with divide supporters into ABU(Anything but United) and NBU (Nothing but United) , Manchester, of course. :lol:

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Wow, the Tottenham-Birmingham game was awesome! The Lennon goal at the end was quite dramatic... Go Spurs (4-0 so far ^^)!

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I should be happier than I am now, but Modric broke his leg in yesterday's win.

Horrible timing for an injury to arguably our best player considering our next two league fixtures are against Man Utd and Chelsea. :(

The only silver lining, and it's not a big one, is that it'll make England's task of beating Croatia in our World Cup qualifier next month a little easier. But, as I said, that's hardly much consolation.

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