Premiership (EPL) Weekend 2/11

[Dunleavy]

SHOCK!!! struggling Middlesbrough run over run away leaders Chelsea 3-0! Goal in the 2nd minute, and a second just before the half.

Newcastle 2nd win in a row under new manager despite having a man sent off in the box on 61 minutes with the score 2-1, Villa missed the PK and Newcastle hung on at Villa

Fulman put 6 on West Brom

Man Utd in good form 3-1 over soon to be dropped Portsmouth

Everton have the keeper sent off on the 9th minute yet win 1-0 over Blackburn

Liverpool end 4 game 1 point slump with solid road win over Wigan 1-0

Game of the day has to Arsenal v Bolton, if you get a chance tune into the Fox Soccer Channel for the replay. great game through with the action really picking up mid way through the 2nd half and continuing for the rest of the game. BTW, Reyes had to taken off after a nasty two foot challenge, it looks like he might have broke his foot


Sunday games:

Tottenham travel to bottom Sunderland looking to strengthing 4th place postion.

City host Charlton in mid-table batle

Monday West Ham host Birmingham

Tuesday ***Big Game*** Arsenal (5th) and their road woes travel to Liverpool (3rd), this is a game Arsenal can't afford to drop as they try and chase down Tottenham



the Table (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/tables?league=eng.1&cc=5901)

despite Man Utd and Liverpool gaining 3pts on Chelsea, no need to panic as the Blues are still 12 points clear.

Middlesbrough are out of 16th as West Brom are now the team the regulators are chasing, Birmingham are the only team with a chance sitting 6 pts back but with two games in hand

[Crapshoot]

If you had put money on Boro winning 3-0 this game, I would have asked what you were smoking - and then requested that you share. What an upset.

[TazFTW]

Heh, Tim Howard actually got to play.

[SirFozzie]

/grumbles the first time I want Chelski to win, they go down in flames.

[Katon]

No idea what happened there. I hope everyone gets it out of their systems before the Barca tie.

[SirFozzie]

hey, I'm rooting for Barca tommorrow, they win me $31 (parlay with Real) if they win :)

[Crapshoot]

Hell, I'm rooting for Barca on principle - a team playing good, attacking football as opposed to a team that spent $350 million to re-invent cattenacio.

[AlexB]

And in the Championship Leicester City, previously just one place off the relegation spots, beat Brighton, in the upper relegation spot, 2-1 away to record three wins in a row for the 1st time in years!

Woot! :cool: :p :)

[Dunleavy]

tipical dramatic Mourinho "My worst defeat yet" (http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/5324432)

Arsene Wenger took a parting shot at Bolton and manager Sam Allardyce tacitcs with Big Sam having some of his own words for Wenger. http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/5324452

[Dunleavy]

And in the Championship Leicester City, previously just one place off the relegation spots, beat Brighton, in the upper relegation spot, 2-1 away to record three wins in a row for the 1st time in years!

Woot! :cool: :p :)


how the hell did Spurs lose to Leicester City (great game though)

[Desnudo]

tipical dramatic Mourinho "My worst defeat yet" (http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/5324432)

Arsene Wenger took a parting shot at Bolton and manager Sam Allardyce tacitcs with Big Sam having some of his own words for Wenger. http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/5324452

That Faye tackle was awful. Arsenal have a legimate gripe. He should go out for as long as Reyes is.

[Chief Rum]

Woot! Yay Boro!

This has been an awful season, between the underachieving and the ton of injuries (again :( ). We even had a guy suspended for drug use. This certainly helps.

Plus, we're still in the running for a cup and the UEFA. Hopefully we can take this and build on it.

[Critch]

Middlesbrough game was a good one, they were good value for the win. Not sure what was wrong with Chelsea but the defense was a mess, something you can't normally say about them. Cech was at fault for the first, they were all at fault for the second, then Terry got skinned with great ease for the third.

Hopefully it's not a one off, hopefully Chelsea will crumble enough to make the championship interesting again. It's not going to happen, but it's a nice thought.

[Katon]

tipical dramatic Mourinho "My worst defeat yet" (http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/5324432)


Well, it was. By a mile. What's wrong with saying so?

And Crapshoot, watch the hyperbole. Barca are certainly more entertaining than Chelsea, partly because they've got more attacking talent than anyone else on the planet and partly because their defense really isn't verygood, but compared to most teams we're hardly boring. There's a reason we're top scorers by a mile (well, joint top with Man U), and it's not all set pieces. You want catenaccio reinvented, go look at Hector Cuper's Inter teams.

[daedalus]

/grumbles the first time I want Chelski to win, they go down in flames.Can you want Chelsea to win a few more times before the season ends, please? :D

[SirFozzie]

Sure, pay me money to bet on em and I will :D

[Critch]

Can you want Chelsea to win a few more times before the season ends, please? :D

He's going to have to want more than just Chelsea to win before Arsenal have a chance :)

[daedalus]

He's going to have to want more than just Chelsea to win before Arsenal have a chance :)Chance at Arsenal winning the Premiership? I think it'd require a serious cooperation by most of the world's major religion's deities to get THAT to happen. I'm just hoping we come back to snag the 4th CL slot.

I just don't like Mourinho. I rarely ever wish for opposing/rival teams to lose, I'd rather the team I root for win instead [if that makes sense]. On the other hand, I just can't stand the asshole. He's a darn good tactician and manager and now he has the financial backings to do whatever he wants [as oppose to when he was at Porto]. Yet, he insist on trying to play mind-games and talking instead of just letting his team's great performance earn him the accolades he deserves. I hate assholes like that. Zero class.

[Coffee Warlord]

Go Newcastle!

...although I know the good old Magpies will continue to be utterly mediocre.

[Dunleavy]

Spurs really let 2 points get away from them at lowly Sunderland

who's pumped for the Arsenal Liverpool game !!! (tuesday 3pm est)

[Critch]

who's pumped for the Arsenal Liverpool game !!! (tuesday 3pm est)

Looking forward to it, considering leaving early from work tomorrow to get home for it. I know there's no way I'll get through the afternoon without stumbling across the result if I TiVo it.

FSC also has West Ham v Birmingham City this afternoon, for some reason I've built up a severe hatred of Birmingham City so fingers crossed for a home win.

Yesterday was a real treat for soccer fans, Valencia v Barcelona (2nd v 1st in Spain) followed by Inter v Juventus (2nd v 1st in Italy) on GolTV kept me in front of the tv all afternoon. Add in Panionios v Panathinaikos and Bayern Munich v Nurnberg on Setanta and I had a great day watching soccer instead of going out in the snow.

[Crapshoot]

I'm going to try and TIVO it and ignore it - go Liverpool!

[Huckleberry]

Hell, I'm rooting for Barca on principle - a team playing good, attacking football as opposed to a team that spent $350 million to re-invent cattenacio.
3rd in La Liga in goals per match, right?

[daedalus]

Our midfield have been mediocre while Liverpool features Gerrard and Xabi Alonso. We're trotting 2 midfielders out in the backline. JAR, who is finally showing his talent and been one of our biggest threat on the left wing, is out.

I sort of am and sort of . . . not so much. :D

[BreizhManu]

Since I live in Barcelona I'm always rooting AGAINST the Barca.

I'm fed up with the Barca here, Barca there every time I'm put the TV on (plus Eto'o is really a dumbass).

[Crapshoot]

Well, it was. By a mile. What's wrong with saying so?

And Crapshoot, watch the hyperbole. Barca are certainly more entertaining than Chelsea, partly because they've got more attacking talent than anyone else on the planet and partly because their defense really isn't verygood, but compared to most teams we're hardly boring. There's a reason we're top scorers by a mile (well, joint top with Man U), and it's not all set pieces. You want catenaccio reinvented, go look at Hector Cuper's Inter teams.

While I concede you aren't exactly reinventing Cuper's style (my god, the man took a team with Adriano/Martins/Vieri/Recoba and made them play 10 men behind the ball), Chelsea's football is hardly attractive - set pieces do make up a fair chunk of their goals, and they are killer on the counter. On principle, Abrahamovic's money has so overwhelmed prices that its ridiculous now - this is a team that spent 21 million on SWP primarily because they didn't want Arsenal to get him. I don't object to money in football, but Chelsea has spent more than last 2 years than all the other clubs in the premiership combined.

[Crapshoot]

Our midfield have been mediocre while Liverpool features Gerrard and Xabi Alonso. We're trotting 2 midfielders out in the backline. JAR, who is finally showing his talent and been one of our biggest threat on the left wing, is out.

I sort of am and sort of . . . not so much. :D

Eh - our strikers couldn't hit the side of a barn - what the hell happened to Morientes ? The man used to be one of the best poachers in Europe (a poor man's Inzaghi, as it were), and he can't even seem to do that anymore. Cisse is gone at the end of the season, but the net effect is that Gerrard keeps getting pushed forward in midfield, as opposed to the central role he's best suited for.

[Crapshoot]

Presented without comment.. from Football365.com :D



Barca blast for Bridge pitch
Tuesday February 14 2006



Barcelona star Silvinho has slammed Chelsea over the state of the Stamford Bridge pitch as the sides prepare to face each other in the last 16 of the Champions League next Wednesday.

The Barclays Premiership champions will take on the Spanish giants in the first leg of their showdown amid growing criticism of their mud-heap surface.

Barca stars claim that Chelsea have deliberately delayed replacing the pitch until after next week's European encounter as part of Jose Mourinho's latest 'dirty tricks' campaign. Former Arsenal full-back Silvinho said: "I cannot believe it. I have heard they are making the condition of their pitch worse."

He added: "I played in England for two years and I've heard many complaints about the pitch."

The Spaniards believe that Mourinho is hoping the uneven turf will affect Barcelona's passing game and help Chelsea to gain a first-leg advantage before the return match on March 7.

Chelsea have ruled out replacing the pitch for the second time in as many seasons and will re-seed the surface in the summer in the hope that it will settle down.

[SirFozzie]

Also Presented without comment...

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[Katon]

While I concede you aren't exactly reinventing Cuper's style (my god, the man took a team with Adriano/Martins/Vieri/Recoba and made them play 10 men behind the ball), Chelsea's football is hardly attractive - set pieces do make up a fair chunk of their goals, and they are killer on the counter.

Well, part of the reason we have to depend on set pieces is that often other teams are playing nine or ten men behind the ball against us, and it's kind of difficult to produce an entertaining game under those circumstances. I'd also argue that counterattacking isn't necessarily dull as long as the other team is coming forward - look at Barca's trip to Stamford Bridge last year which was the game of the tournament, or at our shredding Man U at Old Trafford last year.

The problem is if the other team's either also counterattacking or holding out for a goalless draw, which is why Chelsea-Liverpool games always get so much more interesting after the first goal. We're towards the defensive end of the spectrum, sure, but I don't think we're all that extreme.

Regarding Silvinho's quote . . . the Stamford Bridge pitch always sucks this time of year. Remember the beach football game a few years back against Charlton? I don't know whether it's worse than usual, but there's no way they were going to see an attractive pitch in the middle of February.

On principle, Abrahamovic's money has so overwhelmed prices that its ridiculous now - this is a team that spent 21 million on SWP primarily because they didn't want Arsenal to get him.

Arrgh. This is a really aggravating common misconception. We play a 4-3-3. Most of our offence runs through our wingers. For the first leg of last year's CL semifinal, we deployed the lethal wide pairing of Joe Cole and . . . Eidur Gudjohnsen. For the second leg, Eidur was dropped and Arjen Robben got to hop around on one leg pretending he was fit.

Damien Duff was out injured for the full tie, but even if he'd been healthy he probably wouldn't have been much help since he was essentially comatose from overuse. He played 48 games last year, which was more than he'd ever played before and more than he could really handle. Three wingers into two starting spots doesn't work over as many games as Chelsea play in a season, especially when two of them are as fragile as Duff and Robben. We needed another winger; for balance reasons, he clearly ought to be right-sided; SWP was the obvious candidate. Nothing to do with Arsenal's interest in him.

[Desnudo]

Barcelona plays attractive football. Chelsea plays high quality fooball.

[Critch]

Also Presented without comment...

Brum promise internal Butt probe

Birmingham boss Steve Bruce has to decide whether or not to punish midfielder Nicky Butt after the player stormed out of the team hotel before Monday's game at West Ham after finding out he was dropped.

(from the setanta website - the link's too long for here)