Kenny Dalglish Won't Be Delivering the Module: English Premiership 2011-12

carroll can stand there and do nothing and still be more effective than crouch, whose only useful characteristic that i can recall is his ability to stand behind the goal and have air shot up his arse whenever there's a goal

besides, carroll/rooney the 100m strikeforce is too lol of a concept not to cherish

crouchie's diving game is light years ahead of big andy's in fairness

racism/cuntness aside is there really no better defender to play than Terry?

crouch, tbfttl, is probably the most-fouled, least-rewarded footballer in england.

cuntiness aside, i'd say not

think Lescott may've shot himself in the foot a wee bit in that last match.

guardian commenter did a bit on what each club was best at in the league statistically:

Manchester City – most goals (93), most shots (666), most shots on target (399), most shots and shots on target in a single game (35, 24 – v QPR), fewest goals conceded (20), most home points (55), most home wins (18) and at that point I stopped writing down any more things. There were lots of others.

Manchester United – most first half goals (40), most away points (42), most away wins (13) and again, stopped writing them down, and again, there were lots of others.

Arsenal – highest 2011 away accuracy (64.18%), most goals in February (14)

Tottenham Hotspur – highest number of corners in a game (19 v Villa – joint with MCFC v QPR and NUFC v SAFC), most points in September (9) November (9) January (10) and May (7), most goals in November (8) January (9) and May (7)

Newcastle United – highest 2012 away efficiency (28.89%)

Chelsea – most shots in 2011 (314)

Everton – highest 2012 home save rate (92.31%) and efficiency (27.54%), most goals in April (14)

Liverpool – most corners (308)

Fulham – the only team with no red cards this season. Good lads, they are. Also, recovered two half time deficits to win, so highest turnarounds.

West Bromwich Albion – most away goals in February (6)

Swansea – fewest fouls (309) and yellow cards (40), highest home save rate (87%)

Norwich – most away goals in January (4 – joint with Liverpool and Sunderland)

Sunderland – highest 2012 efficiency (24.47%) and save rate (86.36%)

Stoke – highest home efficiency (26.6%)

Wigan Athletic – most points in April (9)

Aston Villa – I swear I am not doing this on purpose but I genuinely can’t find a thing...

Queens Park Rangers – highest percentage of points at home (70.27% - rising to 95% in 2012)

Bolton – highest home accuracy (64.96%) and 2011 accuracy (67.45%)

Blackburn Rovers – highest 2011 away efficiency (31.37%) and conversion rate (18.6%)

Wolverhampton Wanderers – highest percentage of points away in 2012 (87.5%)

Lescott's leap into the net on Mackie's goal was a joy to behold

The problem is that Terry will likely prove a poisonous presence in the dressing room in general, it's not just Ferdinand, it's potentially an issue with all black players who don't play for Chelsea.

Not taking Richards...

Well that's one of those tricky Terry issues avoided - along with Rio conflicts avoided by dropping him.

Let's hope "diffusing race row" doesn't end up = "dropping black players to appease a cunt"

hardly linked, tbph

yes they are, I just did it right there

hardly

I wouldn't advocate taking Holt either but he's been a better lumpen big man than Carroll this season.

On the assumption that Woy won't even consider deviating from 4-4-2 would probably start with Welbeck and Defoe rather than bothering with lumpen big men at all.

welbeck's reasonable in the air

keep forgetting rooney's suspended for the first two and last two of yr games

Welbeck's movement and awareness and approach play are much better than most of this lot as well, which makes me wonder how he'd click with Defoe.

that's an overlapping set xp

might rather sturridge ahead of defoe now personally

am rly tempted to draft wite vs non-wite english national teams

Carroll played so badly for the majority of the season that Liverpool's then director of football, Damien Comolli, was trying to move him out in January but by early evening the former Newcastle United striker, on his way to a Westlife concert, had not been among the list of thanks-but-no-thanks calls Hodgson was making.

This seems sufficent justification not to pick him.

Big clubbism will probably put Studge in there but hasn't he been pony for most of the second half of the season?

aoc sturridge wellbeck lennon young lennon walcott defoe

These are not terrible front three/two options, ppl

There's an early photo of him & Kenny at a Boyzone gig. I'd assumed it was Dalglish's choice tbh, but if he's still incarcerated in Boston I'm not so sure.

Sturridge has been terrible I believe, he was certainly hopeless when I saw him at Arsenal.

still sulking over being played out wide?

aoc sturridge wellbeck lennon young lennon walcott defoe

Yeah but will they get the best out of John Terry?

I would *love* to see those with Terry and Gerrard in a 1-1-8

i mean for non-wite eng xi obv

wite eng front pairing has already been discussed, ireland's is better tbph

A midfield 4 that comprises 3 of Lampard, Gerrard, Milner would be almost as slow as Inter Milan's. I mean I can remember Gerrard being fast back when he was fit I guess but not recently. Also expecting him to play a game every 4 days (which seems to be the thinking behind Rio's omission) is the height of wishful thinking imo

just realized that the alleged racial tension / aggro divided camp thing is the closest England have come to being like Holland

I like Stevie G and am still happy for him to be captain. But surely not with Lampard.

Lampard has been better than Gerrard this season

I really hope Paul Scholes' wife or kids aren't on the phone or the internet, he might miss his call from Roy. I'm assuming he only has a landline.

should recall shearer also, and gazza?

gerrard used to be slated here even when he was good, but he hasn't had a good season since 08/09 at this point, i can't comprehend how he is near the national team, he is a shadow of the player he once was.

Should we take this onto the Hodgson thread once the squad is announced?

have we beaten the all time longest ILE thread yet?

still about 250 to go

249 now

no, wait

Is there any way Roy could select an entirely black 22-man squad, plus John Terry?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYJzcUvS_NU

would need Rio to take a turn in goal

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/2333main_MM_Image_Feature_19_rs4.jpg

gerrard acknowledged as a good but wasteful/tactically disruptive player for england ever since i've ilx'd

In the same manner that lampard is acknowledged as effective but anonymous/shite and tactically disruptive for england

That they are fine individual players when a midfield of excellent players is based solely around them is not in question.

That either should be welcomed with joy into an england team is entirely another.

england have very few players that don't have major drawbacks, essentially, even the guys that are world-class at what they do at their clubs.

I laughed at Sacchi's quote on Gerrard about how 'some players have all the skills in world, but cannot play football'

That they are fine individual players when a midfield of excellent players is based solely around them is not in question.

That either should be welcomed with joy into an england team is entirely another.

gerrard isn't a fine player anymore.

saachi's just picking on him cos he h8s liverpool, probly lurks tbh

what's the current longest

ilx