Gunner 44 - I think what we should learn from this is the EPL is a marathon not a sprint. But even in a marathon you don't want to be last for a long time you have to keep moving up as the race goes on. But anyways on Friday I heard you say that you don't see Arsenal winning the title and I just have to ask why? Because I think they have as much chance of winning it as Man U and Chelsea.
Bobby – My reasoning is that as the weather deteriorates Arsenal will drop points. I am also not convinced that they have got their wide midfield and full back players sorted out and in particular the left hand side where have been playing without a naturally left footed player. With Clichy back it will help but he will need time to get back to full match fitness.
Manchesterboy4life - I am just wondering what you think of Man U having a strong start to both the premiership and Champions league and if you think they have the depth to go deep in Europe and still hold off the Blues on the home front? Also do you hear of maybe some transfer news that we who are not in the know may be oblivious to?
Bobby – I cannot see United succeeding on two fronts. If they get passed the last 8 in the Champions league I will be surprised. They look to me to be a side that looks better equipped to have a run at the league title. They have surprised me by scoring the number of goals they have this season so far.
USAEnglandfan - Bad to worse at West Ham... really breaks my heart because they were one of my favorite teams to watch last season, they have some of my favorite players, and Pardew has that easy-going air that I really like. I have only been able to watch a select few EPL games this season so I'm a bit out of the loop, but how are NRC and Benayoun doing? What can this slide be attributed to? It has to be something more than the Argies signings.
Speaking of which, I don't fully buy the Argentina-England incompatibilitytheory. Heinze has done fine, Arca was Sunderland's only bright spot and was pretty highly sought after in the EPL this summer, and am I wrong that D'Alessandro had a solid run at Portsmouth? Personally I think the issue is that most of the talented Argentinians are snapped up by Spain before the EPL cares to look.
Last question: West Ham has a decent amount of stars. If West Ham goes down, what big name guys do you guys think would sink with them?
Bobby – I have only seen a limited amount of West Ham games this season so I am probably not in a great position to comment…but. It appears to me that there is just a general malaise about their play. Zamora was on a good run early on but nobody else is picking up goals. I know Dean Ashton only played the second half of the season but I think he was a big reason why WHU finished strongly last season. I expected better this season…a lot better but we might be seeing that a number of the players just played over their heads last season.
Your comments about Argentine players are well stated. Just with any nationality – some will work out and some will struggle. Back in the late 70’s when Villa and Ardiles signed for Spurs was a fantastic success while Villa – despite his fantastic goal to beat Man City in the FA Cup – was a disappointment.
Djnima - Very interesting article on Rosicky. I agree with the article in that Wenger is playing Rosicky out of his natural position. However, the professor has no alternative. I don't think he can play Rosicky and Cesc in the middle of the pitch without being soft at the back. Gilberto has to come into the equation to help out in defense. I think playing Rosicky on the wing to adapt him to the EPL will smooth out his transition.
I am not an arsenal fan but it has been such a pleasure to watch them play football!
Bobby – I agree that Rosicky is being played in a wide position to allow him to accustom himself to the Premiership. I still believe that Rosicky has been signed to replace Bergkamp and you will see him paired with Henry but just a little deeper.
neophyte - Since we are on the subject of Keepers (I enjoyed that article about it being the safest spot on the field) who are your top three EPL Keepers? May I taint your opinion a bit--Is there anyone out there with as good of technique as Van Der Sar?
Bobby – The good ones to choose from: Van der Sar, Cech, Lehmann (didn’t think I would ever say that), Friedel, Reina (last season), Robinson, Given and ….David James.
I will discount age. I would place Cech first, Van der Sar second and then I have trouble splitting Lehmann, Freidel and Given for third place.
bigdavedisaster - All this talk about the EPL lacking teams with skills is simply wrong in my opinion. I’ll put up the skills of Arsenal Man U and Chelsea (all of which I hate) up against the top three teams in any other league. As in most league the teams at the top with the players tend to play a more skilled "pretty" game while the lesser teams have to scrap and hustle for the few chances that they get. Comparing leagues is simply a matter of taste. It’s comparing apples to apples and the champions league helps do that.
Bobby – I have never understood the argument of which league is “the best” and fans dismissing leagues because the quality is poor. The beauty of the game is that it can be played in many different ways that emphasize different qualities and attributes. It is also a game that can be played at any skill level. To me the issue is not which is the best league, it is whether or not what you are watching entertains and engages you.
gooner17 - Maybe Hunt did or didn’t mean to hit Cech but how come no one is saying anything about Ferreira? iI was taught as a defender to shield off attackers to protect your keeper in those situations and to make sure the keeper wins the ball first. Instead he just points to where the ball is (like Cech couldn't see it) and lets his keeper get nailed. Ferreira should feel just as bad as Hunt.
Bobby – Excellent point on Ferreira. I saw another example today in the Chelsea game of something that shocked me. It was the second half and Shevchenko was in a central position and passed the ball to Lampard(?) in the inside left position. Shevchenko then made to go beyond Lampard and to move into a position around about the edge of the penalty box on the left. I was taught never to run in front of a teammate who has the ball…..which is exactly what Shevchenko did. Shevchenko should have side stepped Lampard and made a run behind him which would have allowed Lampard to thread a ball through to Shevchenko who would have then been moving at full throttle. As it was Lampard had to hesitate because he could not pass the ball till Shevchenko was out of his way and by the time he could pass the ball Shevchenko had run into an offside position.
buffytvs- 1) Today Charlton reaffirmed their faith in Ian Dowie. Isn't such an announcement usually the immediate prelude to a firing?
2) Seems to me a disproportionate number of 'Goals of the Week' emanate from the MSL. Who picks these things?
Bobby – Aaah – the dreaded vote of confidence. Time for Ian Dowie to update his CV. As for who picks the “Goals of the Week” – I have to say I don’t know.
henry14 - l have to say first congratulation to Liverpool and Chelsea, but when l look at their game it was one of the worst attitudes to football by Jose Mourinho, what was a back four quickly became a back seven, it was boring , similarily to the game arsenal played against CSKA Moscow, it was a miserable game , they had 8 men in the box which is a very poor approach, the performance does not give me much to think they can go all the way, what did you think watching the game
Bobby – I didn’t see the Arsenal game but I did watch Chelsea and Barcelona. It was a disappointing affair. Chelsea forced Barcelona to play into congested areas of the park and their tactics worked almost to perfection. Without Eto’o Barcelona is missing speed through the centre and that allowed the Chelsea defense to play tight on the forwards. If anyone was likely to score for Barcelona it looked to be Messi.
And finally there was a lot of discussion on the Cech injury and the role played by Stephen Hunt. My take is that there was no intention on the part of Hunt to injure Cech. Quite simply if you are going to go after someone you would put the boot in; you would not use your knee. You have to be an absolute #### to try to inflict injury by the use of a knee given that the odds are that you will come out the worst of it. Hunt was going full speed, Cech slid into his path and Hunt when to go to ground. Gravity takes over at that point and there is no way to avoid the collision.
Mourinho’s comments about the ambulance taking 30 minutes to get to the ground were another example of the Chelsea manager’s unfortunate tendency towards exaggeration in times of stress. Two seasons ago he said he saw Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard enter the dressing room of referee Anders Frisk at half-time only to have to back down and admit that he had never seen anything of the sort. Now he claims 30 minutes when the records apparently show the actual time taken was only 7 minutes. It is not an endearing trait of Jose’s.
I'm with you on the David James assessment. In fact, I'm stunned at how well he's been playing.
It almost seems like he's the calm veteran that's seen everything and reassures his teammates that everything is ok. It's just bizarre.
I wonder if this means he's about to go on a 5 week bender of screw-ups.
Also, I don't know if the EPL's Actim stats are worth a damn, but they have James as the #1 keeper in the EPL, according to their formula.
1 david james - Portsmouth
2 jussi jaaskelainen - Bolton Wanderers
3 edwin van der sar - Manchester United
4 marcus hahnemann - Reading
5 jens lehmann - Arsenal
http://www.premierleague.com/fapl.r
ac?command=forwardOnly&nextPage=act
imTop5&type=Goal%20Keeper
Last edited by MrRedDevil on October 18th at 10:12 PM.
For me, Van der Sar is the best keeper all around. Others are perhaps more dominant in some attributes, like James's athleticism and Given's frantic brilliance, but VDS delivers the whole package. He's consistent, tall, experienced, and has far superior kicking technique, and even a bit of dribbling in him (but not stupidly like Barthez). Cech sometimes seems to lack confidence in playing balls put back to him and slices them out of play. He's still very young though, so it's clear he'll be the best keeper for years to come.
Bobby,
There is talk that the dutch striker huntelaar will be playing in the EPL next season with the top premiership teams duking it out for his signature. Surely you've seen his highlights as he won the European Golden boot last season. Do you think his style of play and skill would suit the EPL? If so, if you were Man Utd would you want to sign torress for at least over 20 mil or huntelaar for 10 mil?? He sounds like a bargain
Thanks for adding some sense to the debate over Hunt/Cech. It was a 50/50 ball, Hunt had less than 0.25 seconds to react to Cech's head suddenly being in his path. Drogba's assertion that he had 2 or 3 seconds is completely ridiculous.
It was an unfortunate incident that Cech's head happened to be in Hunt's path, there is just no evidence (unless you slow it to super slow motion and then divine intentions that Hunt didn't have) that Hunt was being reckless or intentionally hurting anyone.
Again I ask the question that nobody wants to definitively answer: Has Didier Drogba come of age? Of course there are the cynics' arguments that defenders are paying more attention to Shevchenko and that Drogba doesn't give you 20 goals a season. But my word he is playing top class football. My assessment is that given the style that Chelsea play he might not give you the 20 goals a season that has become the "benchmark" magic number of a "good" striker, but his leadership and ability to do the spectacular when Chelsea need him is unquestionable: That is what makes him the best
striker in the world at the moment. It's not too early to make that judgement; he proves it every time he steps out on the paddock for the Blues.
Last edited by simba9 on October 19th at 12:03 PM.
LOL @ RedDevil. "5 week bender"
Drogba is teriffic this year, and though I'm no diehard Chelsea fan, I hope he keeps it up. Impossible to wrestle off the ball, great control, and he's a sniper this year. And no dives!
For what it's worth, I stand by my Hunt/Cech comments 100%. The ball was Cech's. It was his for a long time. Hunt endangered Cech when there was 0 chance that he could have reached that ball. Carl Lewis in his prime MIGHT have reached that ball and smacked it out for a goal kick. Shameful, and the results were catastrophic.
Completely off topic: Though I've seen them less on the foxsoccerchannel page as of late, what in Gods name is with these mortgage/refinancing ads?! Forgive me, but for a dubious website that helps you refinance your home, I don't see how the following will inspire one to visit it:
(a) completely shadowed figures dancing in a 3 second loop pattern on a rooftop as they slide across it as if on a conveyor belt
(b) a completely shadowed man tip-toeing carefully along the peak of a rooftop
(c) a quivering chihuahua wearing swimming goggles struggling to stand on a slippery floor
(d) a woman riding an angry golden bull
(e) a man getting a large house tattooed on his biceps
This is not a shot at FSC or the website; CNN has the same #### on theirs! I just find them absolutely hysterical and wondered if any of you noticed them too. If you haven't, just keep refreshing the FSC home page. Theyre randomized.
Last edited by USAenglandfan on October 19th at 8:29 AM.
I do agree with you Bobby that the Barcelona vs. Chelsea game was very disappointing.Barcelona was flat and unimpressive and for the most part was outplayed by Chelsea.Ronaldinho's performance was reminicent of his disappointing display at the WC in Germany.It was as though they were playing without a striker with eto out injured.And why in the world was Saviola left to die on the bench.Surely he could have filled eto's shoe somewhat.
I like Friedel and Cech. I'm not really a fan of Calamity James, even when he was at City, though I hafta admit, he's having a good run right now. Nor am I a Lehman fan, I don't perceive good sportsmanship there, but admittedly is one of the top few. I used to like Reina.
I don't think the weather will be an issue this season. The CSKA game showed Arsenal can still play their game even in terrible weather and field. And with the left side, Gallas and Clichy can hold it for a while until January, also you never no whether Wenger has a player in the reserve who can play there. The left wing has RVP, Theo, Freddie, Rosisky and Baptista if forced to.
Onto Chealse, they did what they had to do to win. They know they can't come out and play an attacking game with Barca so they went to there strongest point their defense. Arsenal should watch that game very closely because Mourinho will probably use the same style against Arsenal. And as for Ronnie, as a superstar he has to do better he better be at his best against Real on Sunday, Messi was amazing though. I wrote an article on Ronaldhinho and Kaka and I ask would Kaka have done better because of his ability to be effective on both sides of he field and the center also?
Simba9, I will give you my definitive answer on Drogba: The guy is absolutley incredible! If he can put two or three seasons together where he can continue to showcase his talent he will get the respect he deserves. I am not a Chelsea fan but have always coveted Drogba for my team.
Here is a question to consider. Who was Drogba's best partner up front and who would be his best in the future?
re gregz:
Sure Ronaldinho may be somewhat off form lately, and his impact against Chelsea was minimal, but to me the credit there has to go to Khalid the Cannibal. He was all over Ronnie like a dirty shirt; sometimes fouling him invisibly and other times just bumping him with his shoulders. And when Messi tried going down the left once or twice Boulahrouz was up to that challenge too--better than Ashley Cole was in my opinion. The tv commentators kept wondering why he was picked ahead of Ferreira, but it seemed pretty obvious to me from how he's been playing in the premiership so far.
As for not bringing Saviola on, that seemed strange to me too. Rijkaard overloaded his midfield with attacking players when Chelsea already had 4 tough centre-mids, so it might have been expected he'd bypass them with a deep striker. Giuly started having some effect down the right I thought, but Messi isn't strong enough to be a striker up against Terry/Carvalho.
Last edited by AlexMorph on October 19th at 11:57 AM.
Neophyte: Drogba formed a telling partnership with his good friend Florent Malouda of Lyon when the 2 played together in Guingamp. In Marseille he often played with Marlet or Mido but shouldered most of the responsibility. The Drogba/Crespo partnership when used showed promise but we all know what became of that. If the Shevchenko project does not work I say Chelsea buy Malouda and convert him back into a striker, the way Arsene Wenger did with Henry (Just a thought). Maybe Kalou should be given his chance sooner rather than later. But I still have faith in Sheva...I hope he pulls through.
Bobby - I don't want to second guess Frank Rijkaard, but it would seem that he was really outmaneuvered in this one. I saw him try to attack Boulorouz (sp?) by sending both Messi and Ronaldinho down the left but then quickly abandoned it - with Cole and Lampard locking down the right, I would have loved to see him try this more especially when Giuly came on.
Hey Bobby after watching arsenal dismatle a team that both Man U and Chealse had serious problems with are you starting to see why I think this Arsenal team can win the title. Actually the only problem I see is what happens if Gilberto Silva goes down? He is a very key player to this side.
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