2012/13 Premier League discussion thread

[Guest]

First topic message reminder :

The big one is about to begin once again lads. Hopefully week 1 will bring a lot of goals, controversy and maybe even a shock!

God I've missed Jeff Stelling and the boys!

Game on.

[Guest]

Chelsea are an interesting one. I've tipped them to win the title and put a few quid on em doing so at 11/2.

If Torres can replicate his Liverpool form he's easily got 20+ goals in him. It's their defence that worries me. Age, pace and suspensions may be their undoing.

[Guest]

Both of them West Brom pens were soft.

[GSC]

Soft but undoubtedly pens

Suarez really is an awful finisher

[Guest]

Yeah they could have gone either way. West Brom thoroughly deserved the win.

[JamesLincs]

Whilst it will be exciting does anyone think this season is shaping up to be a poor one?

Spurs, arsenal, Liverpool look to be facing a difficult season and well organised sides will get plenty of points from them IMO.

Any from 10 clubs could go down, think the winners will get into the 90s too.

not sure why you have spurs to have a difficult season. despite the loss of adebayor we still have a scorer in defoe. and modric might aswell have not been here last season anyway, we also have the signings of sigurdson and vertonghen. liverpool failed last season and lost 3-0 to a mid table side and arsenal have lost their best player and are about to lose there best midfielder. so why are spurs in that group of 3??

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

James Spurs have literally one striker in Defoe. You need to bring in at least one probably two more up front to make it through the season. And Modric is a huge loss he is a brilliant player

[JamesLincs]

he is a brilliant player, but he was far from at his best last season and we got 4th. i agree we have a dangerous shortage of strikers, something that im certain will be sorted before the end of the month.

[Kay Fabe]

I'm in the "Spurs will struggle camp" too, you obviously know more about your team than me but for me Modric had a good season last season, I thought he was excellent from September-March and Adebayor for me will be a massive loss, add to that the change in manager which I'm not sure is for the actual betterment of the club then for me its easy to believe that Spurs may struggle, now I don't think they'll be in any trouble and top half of the table is a given but right now I can't see the club mounting a realistic challenge for the top 4

Before the window closes I think Spurs need a playmaker and a striker if they have any serious ambitions of matching last seasons feat

[Guest]

Straight forward win there for Chelsea. Hazard looked good in the first half and Oscar looks like he has some serious pace.

[Guest]

come on the hammers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest]

What an awful penalty by Silva.

[Mad for Chelsea]

pretty happy with what I saw from Chelsea. Hazard already looking threatening and overall solid at the back. Oscar looks a real prospect too. Torres played pretty well and was unlucky not to score a goal.

Decent first day

[JamesLincs]

ive gone for chelsea to win the title. cant believe so few have

[Guest]

I've gone with Chelsea. Too much is being read into last season's bomb. They're undoubtedly a lot stronger this time around and they have a manager they wanna play for.

[Guest]

Chelsea have made significant improvement to their squad but players like Hazard & Oscar will not be used to the physical and lengthy demands upon them and will still take time to adjust. Yes, they beat a poor Wigan but that does not make them favourites ahead of Man City or United. It only takes one injury to Torres and they are left with Sturridge whereas United have Rooney, RVP, Hernandez & Welbeck and City have Aguero, Tevez, Balotelli & Dzeko. I would say Chelsea will finish no lower that 3rd. As for Liverpool, I see no real improvement to that side from last year. Allen, Borini & Assaidi are not the players that will transform Liverpool into a top 4 club. BR has got a tough job on his hands.

As for my team Newcastle, I was very impressed that we got a result against a top side like Spurs having played rather poorly. Ben Arfa was sensational and to see Demba back among the goals is very encouraging. I think if we can add another defender and possibly a winger then I can see us finishing possibly in the 6th-8th range once again.

[Guest]

Yes, they beat a poor Wigan but that does not make them favourites ahead of Man City or United.

Nobody has or is making them favourites John but they are certainly better than their price suggests. Be interesting to see how Utd fare tonight against a lively Everton side at Goodison.

I can see Utd partying like it's 1999 and scoring shed loads of goals this season. I think the major concern for Fergie is trying to get a settled back four but what can you do about injuries?

[Ent]

Whilst it will be exciting does anyone think this season is shaping up to be a poor one?

Spurs, arsenal, Liverpool look to be facing a difficult season and well organised sides will get plenty of points from them IMO.

Any from 10 clubs could go down, think the winners will get into the 90s too.

not sure why you have spurs to have a difficult season. despite the loss of adebayor we still have a scorer in defoe. and modric might aswell have not been here last season anyway, we also have the signings of sigurdson and vertonghen. liverpool failed last season and lost 3-0 to a mid table side and arsenal have lost their best player and are about to lose there best midfielder. so why are spurs in that group of 3??

No strikers, losing your best player, not signed your best performer of last year, sacked your best manager in decades.

Even with vertongen and sigurdsson you've gone backeaeds and were always over rated.

[Duty281]

RVP on the bench tonight. Still think it's gonna be a comfortable and routine 2-0 win for United.

[Kay Fabe]

I fancy United to win 2-0 tonight but I'd like to see Everton sneak a 2-1 or a 2-2, great club and have actually got an attack now, notoriously slow starters though, would be interesting to see them get off to a flyer

[Ent]

Add united to my list of teams to struggle - awful except for the keeper against an organised but limited everton side.

Expect us to come 3rd this season 20 points behind a decent but not great city side.

[Guest]

Think you'll be great at home Ent winning at least 15 games but you may struggle away. You were second best all over the park tonight.

Saying that not many teams will come away from Goodison with anything this season.

[Ent]

Plenty will, hard work only gets you so far. We made them look spectacular with 2 midfielder in defense, an ailing left back and a wet tissue paper like centre midfield.


15/19 won't cut it, 90 points minimum for the league

Another 10 months depression to follow.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

How are you in worse spirits than me Ent after the 1st game lol

[Duty281]

Quite shocking how much better Everton were last night. I know United were struggling with injuries but Everton played them off the park for virtually an hour - a scoreline of 4-0 wouldn't have been unjust.

[Guest]

All I keep hearing is 'Cleverley this, Cleverley that' and in my opinion he is no way good enough for United's first team. SAF is pinning his hopes on him developing into a key player and G. Neville was saying what a talent this lad is but everytime I've seen him he's disappointed. There trying to rank him alongside all the young foreign technically gifted creative midfield players but he's no way near that standard. Welbeck is another. What Man Utd needed last night and Liverpool to a large extent need on the pitch is a finisher or a 'tap in' player that can play off Rooney and Suarez respectively. How Welbeck gets in front of Hernandez is astonishing.

Ent it's only one game and a difficult away game at Everton where many teams drop points. The central midfield is an area of concern, especially defensively, however Kagawa looked fantastic and the return of Vidic will be crucial. De Gea is showcasing his talent and looks to be adjusted to the english game. Give it time for the team to gel and you will certainly be a force to take on City.

[Mad for Chelsea]

If I were a United fan I'd be a bit worried TBH. De Gea had a fine game, while Kagawa looks like he has plenty of potential. The trouble is, they're not going to keep many clean sheets this season if they defend like that. Their back four was bullied into submission by Fellaini, admittedly they had Carrick and Valencia playing there, but they're going to have injuries at some point and the lack of depth is worrying. The central midfield looked out of sorts (Scholes was completely off the pace). Welbeck did nothing either.

[Duty281]

Chelsea beat Reading 4-2 tonight. Decent game, with plenty of goals.

[Mad for Chelsea]

again, pretty pleased with what I saw from Chelsea. They created loads of chances and with better finishing could have been out of sight before Reading scored their equaliser. Hazard looks like a great signing already. Two main concerns are:

1) our reaction to conceding. We didn't react well to conceding, and even less well to going behind (though once we equalised we were much better again).

2) Mikel. Simply isn't a good enough passer of the ball for me, nearly always passes sideways or backwards. Given he's one of the only players in our side who's likely to get time on the ball this year we're going to need better. Time to give Romeu another crack?

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

MFC I would be seriously worried about Cech. I genuinely believed at the start of pre season, that Courtois would be your number 1 come the end of the season, unfortunately he has been shipped out on loan again

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Right are we ready for another day of Premier League football!!!!

[Guest]

Hopefully it doesn't happen but I can see Newcastle getting blown away today. No Tiote aswell is a big blow. Fully expect Man Utd to have some kind of big score and RVP to mark his debut in fashion. Villa/Everton looks a predictable 1-1 draw, Spurs will find it difficult against West Brom but should just come through as should Sunderland. Imperative that Southampton win against Wigan, even at this early stage and get off the mark.

[Kay Fabe]

I'm looking forward to the Chelsea vs Newcastle game tonight, said it for a while now, Chelsea are going to be the team to watch this year for entertainment, don't think they'll come close to winning the league though, fancy they'll score a lot and concede a lot, high scoring draws, bottle crashing defeats, blowing teams away

Newcastle I feel might just take a point tonight

[JamesLincs]

football!

united to win 1-0
spurs 2-1
cant call chelsea newcastle but ill say 0-0
villa to lose again
west ham could possibly sneak some sort of positive result from swansea
the losers of norwich qpr will go down although tbh both are my pre season preds to drop along with villa
sunderland to sneak a win and saints wigan, 1-1

[Guest]

Not sure why people are finding the Newcastle/Chelsea game a hard decision to call at the Bridge. Last season's 2-0 where Cisse scored the wondergoal was Chelsea at basically half strength and we capitalised. Without Tiote it's a major blow. Anita & Bigiramana don't give me great confidence, however i'm expecting Perch to push up into midfield and Coloccini alongside S Taylor. Hope I'm wrong but I can see Chelsea winning say 3-0 or 3-1

[Guest]

Right are we ready for another day of Premier League football!!!!

Oh yes Olly me old china!! You confident of winning your six-pointer today?

[Kay Fabe]

Olly just absolutely loves it doesn't he, brilliant enthusiasm

[Guest]

Top Lad is our Olly. Proper fan.

[Guest]

I suggest people watch RVP's goal tonight on MOTD, sweet little volley and his first effort too. Need to turn the dominance into another goal now.

[Kay Fabe]

Absolutely delighted for Everton, they're my dark horses to sneak into the Champions League spots this season, great first half performance, the difference having a proper striker in the tean is there for all to see, great club

[Guest]

Good stuff from Everton. This season is going to be one long hard slog for Villa by the look of things. 3-0 down at home at half time against any side is pretty grim. Paul Lambert has a real job on his hands there.

[Guest]

I suggest people watch RVP's goal tonight on MOTD, sweet little volley and his first effort too. Need to turn the dominance into another goal now.

Really took it well, been a few good goals scored in the Everton game as well. Pienaars was a nice little strike and Jelavic doing what he does best

Kagawa has really impressed me so far, he knows were he's putting the ball before he's received it.

[Guest]

Dembele playing well for Fulham as well, surprised nobody has gone in for him

[Kay Fabe]

I've no idea why he went to Villa, Norwich were better than Villa, Villa look like they're going to need a year or two transition, just felt it was a job he didn't need the hassle of having

Totally agree with you on the hard slog, Lambert will see them safe but it's not going to be a very exciting season for the Villa fans

[Kay Fabe]

Jelavic is a cracking striker, Everton really got a bargain there

[Guest]

I do wonder what his briefing was in terms of expectation? A mid table finish looks pretty adequate from the outside looking in.

[Mad for Chelsea]

seems the Chelsea-Newcastle game is in danger of being called off

[Guest]

seems the Chelsea-Newcastle game is in danger of being called off

Waterlogged pitch?

[Mad for Chelsea]

seems the Chelsea-Newcastle game is in danger of being called off

Waterlogged pitch?

yep, raining really heavily according to the beeb and the ref's out there inspecting already. Not good signs...

[Guest]

Games being called off in August, madness!!

[Guest]

Raining pretty heavily but the referee was out on the pitch and hadn't made a decision

Awful defending from United there

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