Moneyball won't win the Premiership 2012-13

eh OK but "useful" strikers are for midtable clubs, Bendtner was useful but not good enough for a side that's supposed to want to finish top-2 or make CL semis. It's very strange to me how many generally fine members of the commentariat think that what Arsenal lack are unshowy because mediocre players like Kevin Nolan or Joey Barton.

Looks count imo - tbh I'm not confident that my positivity isn't solely down to him having a little of the air of Davor Suker

mark noble tbh

Giroud, I served with Davor Suker, I knew Davor Suker, Davor Suker was a friend of mine. Giroud, you're no Davor Suker

The candidates mentioned to give Arsenal "spine" are usually worse players than the ones that are roundly seen as not good enough for Liverpool - you'd take Jordan Henderson and Joe Allen ahead of those others without question. I know their transfer fees are part of it but if a player's not good enough buying him for 2m is as bad as 12m.

fuvk's sake what doe this arsehole of a ref call a penalty in the everton game

Utd should have broken the bank for Baines :(

giroud looks nothing like sean penn ergo no suker

h8 u Patrice

oh hey shall i watch this again

http://www.berthold.k12.nd.us/index/helpdesk/headbang.gif

that's as good as cross you'll see tbfttl

topical reference there Pearce

Long is playing himself out of the Ireland squad here

somewhere in Madrid, Ronaldo weeps

v classy granero. how'd he end up with this sorry shower.

now pearce mentions it that yacob lad for wba was indeed v good today, keep an eye on him

xp research gig for granero's psychology degree i can only assume

young carroll's gonna make a belting centre back, mark my words

yes, they've "unearthed" the 27 year old Cazorla

is it churlish to say it feels like everyone in the media got sent a script from the epl writers saying all this stuff about cazorla

i dont deny he's the business but

You'd like a dissenting view?

doesn't track back enough

you never get the sense he's playing for the jersey

Cazorla will have his slump but when you see him do things like that reverse pass to Giroud, what's the point in complaining?

no alright idk what i'm saying really

cazorla is a straightforward case for pundits, a paradigm case of wengerism (except his age ofc)

They like the chance to show off by pronouncing it Cathorla. If he'd come over in 2008 it'd have been too soon, they wouldn't have been ready to make that leap.

i actually know what you mean though rtc

it's just like... prepacked or something

motson still heroically turns his nose up at cosmopolitan pronounciation

girood, dem'l, cazzorla

D.D.A. Drog-bar is still my favourite

kinda favour cazzorla over cathorla tbqh

funniest thing about cazorla imo is the amount of times you hear he's "a find", when he has 40-odd caps for the best international team ever.

dude's 28 in december, gettin' on is our santi.

newcastle as favourites today? newcastle are better than spurs in the same way as spurs are better than man u eg mfield and in this tiki-taka world he who controls the mfield controls the game.

I'd thought the same before last week, but even though Spurs did win the manner of that second half means I can't see Utd losing that way twice in a row. Unless maybe Cisse and Ba are totally clinical, which isn't unknown.

The Observer's leader going in hard today, calling for Chelsea to sack Terry (and implicitly Cole and Bertrand). It's hard to argue for Terry and Bertrand at least - I remember one of Peter W's last posts saying the same thing.

Thought that leader was incredibly sanctimonious.

it is a bit. eg calling someone a fucking knobhead would indeed get you fired at work, but so would sliding at them along the ground to win a football from their feet.

not condoning the racism just questioning the analogy, and the decision to lump in the non-racist insult with the slur.

Lloris in Friedel out. streak comes to an end.

Screen at White Hart Lane is showing highlights of the QPR line with the caption 'Friedel justifies his position as number 1'. Oh dear.

Huth just stamped on Suarez. Got away with it

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8454/8062824317_c85bab7e63_o.gif

Huth gets away with a lot of shit

he rugby tackled Suarez a few minutes ago as well. All part of the plan i'd imagine

finally gets his yellow for a cynical foul...on Suarez

i like big huthy

hope he grows back that ace pencil tache for movemeber

Looks a fair challenge to me.

I like the way he puts his hands up in a "I didn't touch him ref, honest" kind of way shortly BEFORE jumping on him with one foot

Is this wingless 4-3-3 again?