Moneyball won't win the Premiership 2012-13

Henerson misses a good chance

Lucas due back this week? I thought he had a couple of months still to go?

I thought he was 3 weeks away? Good news :)

Shame we don't have a West Brom fan on ILF, they've been amazing this season.

I decided to be an armchair Baggie at some point last season, then forgot.

I changed buses in West Bromwich once, surely someone can do better than that?

I'm West Brom or QPR depending on whether or not I want a rich owner. I think I'll go with the Albion. I will attempt to give a shit about them for a wee while.

― once a weak eye sample (onimo), Saturday, 11 February 2012 11:44 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

They've really come onto a game since I've been behind them.

Sorry QPR, so close.

damn, Sturridge has had his chances

QPR shambolic at the back

should maybe get that added to the thread title

xposts. I went to West Bromwich for the weekend a few years ago, stayed in a lovely hotel down the road from The Hawthorns.

"Banner just held up at Loftus Road - "Harry Come And Save Us" - on this evidence they will need some saving."

Carrick and Giggs midfield. No de Gea. Nice one

READING :D Maybe they can have a relegation fight instead of just going straight down.

Nando needs to come home

― Ismael Klata, Saturday, 17 November 2012 16:25 (31 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah 20m + nando for falcao seems like the most natural outcome

Is RVP recovered from his injury and starting Number None? My fantasy team needs him.

Why would Atletico do that? RM want him so maybe they could get Higuin plus 20m.

i don't think RVP was actually injured. He starts

Beginning to wonder if Fernades will still be tweeting "stability" all the way thru relegation .

Some fool on the BBC mbm saying the same about nando (to lfc, not Atletico), only for £20m

dwarf selling

puncheon judy show
Doffs cap.

Congratulations to the ILX Soton contingent (and any Reading lurkers).

A hoy hoy recently claimed to be a Reading fan from childhood iirc (but then Arsenal came back & won in injury time)

ESPN pundits in pre-match ramble saying it was 20 years since Cantona signed for United and had a transformative effect on "that young team". Giggs and Sharpe aside, that team was pretty old: Irwin, Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Robson, Ince, McClair, Hughes...

great, I've got Come On You Reds lodged in my head now

oh dear lord so have i

Adam Blackmore ‏@bigadamsport
#QPR fans outside reception at Loftus Rd singing "you're only here for the money" to their players

Jamie ‏@JamieQPR
So SWP just told me we keep losing cos the fans don't support the club WANKER #QPR

Jacqui Oatley ‏@JacquiOatley
Mark Hughes "The club needs stability. Maybe this is watershed moment as we can't get much lower. It's my intention to see it through" #qpr

please tell me that's jamie mackie

That was drifting into a 0-0 in which absolutely nothing happened. Fortunately we've gone behind now, which usually means we'll start playing.

Or it might just drift into a 1-0 in which one thing happens.

I see what you're up to

A hoy hoy recently claimed to be a Reading fan from childhood iirc (but then Arsenal came back & won in injury time)

― Ismael Klata, Saturday, 17 November 2012 17:28 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i know this was just a joke but i wasn't on ilx during that match!

It's quite odd to watch. The Norwich fans are totally subdued, you wouldn't guess there a few minutes away from winning. United have 75% possession but never look remotely like scoring, just endlessly pumping balls into the box then heading it wide or softly to the keeper.

There = they're

wide! fuck

one of the commentators on my stream just used the term 'fergie time' - good luck getting any interviews with siralex, fox soccer.

And there we go. A good day for City.

ruddy murked these fools

merked blud....

there was a six of seven second shot of charles clarke in the crowd during that game, who was not recognized by the russian commentators

1914:
GET INVOLVED

Hussain Federer on Twitter: "This is great football from Norwich."

eh, game was lost as soon as Giggs and Carrick started together. Valencia needs a kick up the arse, Young is a lost cause

eh, game was lost as soon as Giggs and Carrick started together. Valencia needs a kick up the arse, Young is a lost cause

― Number None, Saturday, 17 November 2012 19:29 (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

is there something to be said about how fergie, unlike maybe any other obvious modern manager, can keep around players and keep playing them, that aren't up to snuff and yet still seem to result in goals & points? like sure there are the obv beckham examples but he always seems to wait a season or two too long with players who could have easy non-sunderland buyers but they stay, pick up a half rubbish reputation and up playing for steve bruce and it doesnt matter because fergie still maybe wins the league with them? other clubs go to crazy lengths to get rid of these types (look at fiorentina and the milan clubs this summer) or hold on to them for too long and sink under their weight (chelsea last season kinda? arsenal too. im sure we can all think of plenty other examples for each). fergie just carries on playing evra, valencia, giggs, young etc. and picking up decent results out of seemingly rubbish performances* like it doesn't matter who plays and its p amazing.

*ive not watched them in a while but this seems like concensus

yeah, i agree with that. I despair at his team selections/substitutions on a weekly basis but by god he gets results

his legacy wont be crafted this way but in my eyes its totally built around how i just never saw idk ji sung park do much more than run a lot and like in one game he was there when someone slipped over so he got the ball and utd scored but really he didnt do much except win the league and cl.

evra = former best lb in the league, still talented
valencia = best winger in the league for 2nd half of last season
giggs = seldom starts now, squad filler
young = as a reserve winger, better than sinclair or moses

Wenger getting third place last year was of a similar ilk imo. I wonder to what extent those two have crippled themselves by letting their boards grow complacent? (and lord knows how their successors will be able to cope!)

doesn't matter that Giggs starts rarely, the fact that starts at all is damning. When we needed some dynamism in midfield he brought Scholes on and switched Giggs to the wing. Anderson got five minutes. It's baffling

Ahead of Saturday's trip to Norfolk, Ferguson is worried Norwich's physical tactics could lead to another difficult afternoon for United.

"They kept whacking in crosses to the big man up front for Norwich, Grant Holt," Ferguson said.

"Anthony Pilkington was wide left that day - he was here as a kid, as was David Fox of course. I remember David well but I don't remember Pilkington, he was in the academy.

ok nakh but that was obv aimed at the years of quinton fortunes and john o sheas etc. as much as at former best lb in the world patrice evra

there isn't really any mystery, when they have been good they have had areas of strength like vds/vidic/rio/evra of ronaldo/tevez/twp as well as seemingly limited players

it helps that ferguson provides continuity, so there isn't the same carousel of squad players there is at chelsea or man city -- remember ben haim/sidwell/belletti etc

and he is exceptionally good at all aspects of managing a squad of 20/25 players, giving each just enough playing time while preventing any from becoming too complacent

There's also a dynamic where a core of five or six great players can carry passengers to little negative effect. Liverpool broke theirs up by selling Xabi Alonso and not replacing him.

capello won the league with madrid in 2007 playing a central midfield of emerson and mahamadou diarra most of the time

something of a myth that successful teams need an entire first xi of top level players, irl maybe 5 or 6 is usually enough

ji-sung park and john o'shea might not look particularly driven playing for shit teams at the age of 31 after they have had long careers at united, but they would have been standout players for upper-midtable teams if they had played there during their primes