Moneyball won't win the Premiership 2012-13

Strange thing for a grown man to do nonetheless

the success of his kissing wrist meme got to his head and he thought he'd push the boundaries

He loves his little daughter so much he's moved on from kissing his name on her wrist to acting like a toddler - that's what I call empathy

that and still waiting for a news story about some kid biting another one in a playground kickabout

already happened! i'll dig the article out.

hooray!

backup for spitting being worse from everyone's favorite red head dumbass http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/04/22/biting-still-not-worse-spitting-says-espn-analyst-alexi-lalas

"everyone's favorite red head dumbass"

Neil Lennon and John Hartson both got something to say about this tbh. Tho of course in a purely descriptive sense this moniker could only ever belong to Scholes.

What? No talk here of Mourinho's return to Chelsea? So much awesomeness ahead!

I know it's Bild, but they have been pretty accurate lately w/r/t football. Bild also says Falcao will join Chelsea.

He was pretty classy in his interrogation afterwards tonight. Is it reported as a done deal? Because leaving Real after such a comprehensive failure (assuming they can't turn it round) is a bit unJose

Not a done deal, but it's Bild Fussball, and it is quite clear that Mourinho's project at Madrid has failed. He will most likely not win a prize this season now, he's been wrecking havoc all season (Cassilass-Gate etc). Leaving seems to be the only option, so it makes sense.

I dunno, after tonight the epl is so clearly not where the action is. Not that I expect him to pitch up at Schalke, but England seems like a total backwater suddenly (not suddenly, it's been a dreadful season). Going back to one of its also-rans seems like a humiliating step down.

The EPL is total backwater (and not suddenly, no), but that is exactly where the adventure lies, no? Let's not forget Chelsea won the Champions League just last season. After that it fell back badly, they are stuck with LOL-Rafa now. So it's not that there aren't any prospects, especially for Chelsea/Abramovich. I don't have any high hopes for the EPL in the short to mid term (it won't be good), but I don't think Mourinho will see going to Chelsea as a step down. Phenomenal pay, and even though it's not THE BEST LEAGUE IN THE WORLD anymore (which it hasn't been for years anyway), for a vain person like Mourinho it still is the Mekka of football: full stadiums, the tabloids... football still oozes through Britain's veins. The lack of quality/succes doesn't matter, not in the short term.

but the PL has all the Belgians. Thought they were the future of football

epl backwater talk is piss, the new tv contracts totally outstrip anything else in europe and there will be another influx of talent in the summer

germany is two teams, one of which is going to be eviscerated in the offseason largely to the benefit of the other one

"New tv contracts" don't equal the quality of football though, do they? Curious about this "influx of talent in the summer" lol. That's the thing: all stars move to England, it pays the most and it is football heaven. But is the *best* football played in England? I don't think so.

If Germany is "two teams", England is even worse: it is one team. ManU leading by 13 or so points? Spain is two teams, France is two teams, Italy is three teams. Holland and Belgium are four teams because they are lol Mickey Mouse leagues. But you can't deny the quality of play in the EPL is in decline, compared to the best (!) teams in Spain and Germany. Has been so for a long time. And it doesn't really matter, the EPL is still the most enjoyable league. But the best, it is not.

Plus, you can leave it up to Dortmund to invest that 37 million wisely. Instead of, say, spend it all on a German Andy Carroll.

the epl has never had 'the best football', it has always been about money and depth of 'name' sides (at least half a dozen, even without the lustre of the seven sisters of 90s serie a) all of whom provide media intrigue even if the title is always been united and one other

now it is going to have even more money, hence norwich who were in league one a couple of years ago are now spenging £8m on another

spain has never been two teams, this year malaga almost beat dortmund, atleti would give them a game too

for quality of fitba and for having the very best players, spain has been the best league for years and will continue thusly, but there will be no hegemony for any given nation

We're in agreement about the EPL then.

"Spain has never been two teams" though... Sorry, but it has. "Almost" doesn't count. Domestically it has been Real and Barca for donkeys years. Every year there was a surprise third team doing remarkably well (Valencia, Sevilla, Bilbao, Atletico, Malaga), but the leaque in Spain essentially is a two team affair. Real and Barca are far above the others.

"Best football" or "best league" will always be up for debate. But I do think the two best teams of both Spain and Germany play better football than in the EPL (ManU being the only exception). The "influx of talent" of "television" cash will not change that. Neither will it change te EPL being the *biggest* league in the world for it is just so darn attractive.

I cant believe ye woke me to not talk about suarez

I was pleased with the (usually useless) Gauradian related content this morning:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8519/8680421334_ddec7058e2_n.jpg

EPL doesn't have best football in the world surely does not equate to EPL = footballing backwater. Dunno how/why that point got made.

Regardless of where you stand on the quality of the EPL, you're having a laugh if you think mourinho to chelsea represents a big step backwards for him.

jose return would put the epl way way out in front in terms of box office ratings, it's like dirty den coming back to eastenders

You mean mad initial fanfare leading to inevitable disappointment?

God I've got this image of Mourinho doing the Leslie Grantham webcam finger-sucking gesture to opposing fans now.

Really though the chances of Abraovich spending £60m on Falcao and only countenancing £15m of spending for the rest of the team seem really quite high.

You mean mad initial fanfare leading to inevitable disappointment?

― Matt DC, Thursday, 25 April 2013 12:04 (21 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah p much

there's another 20m already on the table for schurrle by most accounts but yeah whether roman will be persuaded to spend similar on defensive midfield is the question. probably won't be jose having much say in who he gets either

even with this year's squad i don't think it's too absurd to imagine jose might have at least had 2nd place cemented within 6-7 points of united

Like finishing 6-7 points behind this current Man Utd represents any sort of success?

Given they could beat Chelsea's 95-point record, yes.

yeah not so long ago people were talking about what a good squad Chelsea had, i think that's probly still true, no surprise if Rafa perhaps didn't get the best from them.

there's probly half a dozen viable squad players down the back of the couch/on loan somewhere too

But I do think the two best teams of both Spain and Germany play better football than in the EPL (ManU being the only exception). The "influx of talent" of "television" cash will not change that.

seems reasonable to me to think that more talented players might make teams more talented

Not sure. The epl isn't suffering from a lack of talent, except maybe from the very elite players who rarely pitch up here.

ManU do not play good football a lot of the time, swansea, to pick an obv, play better stuff, chelsea under rafa play better stuff,

add Falcao and Lukaku (and a midfielder to replace Lampard maybe) to that Chelsea team and they're going places. Not sure where Torres is going though

Chelsea's squad player for player is good, but not anywhere near title-winning. The midfield in particular is an incoherent jumble of different eras and footballing styles and managerial approaches and is a monument to several years of bad/short sighted squad building. One world-class marquee signing a year doesn't change that.

They also need two more central defenders and a better defensive midfielder and players who can play out wide when Hazard and/or Mata are injured or need a rest.

they've got Moses, Marin, and De Bruyne who can all play wide. Should be good enough as backup at least. There's also Bruma, Piazon and maybe McEachran (not sure what's happened to him), who you'd think would be capable squad players too

Oscar ffs

yeah he's good

Oscar is an attacking central midfielder, have they ever tried to play him out wide?

I keep forgetting Marin is even there. He's not even out on loan is he?

Ive not seen enough of him to declare him as impressive as i think, if that makes any sense at all

xp ive seen oscar play on the right im sure

as we all know, Southampton play the best football in the EPL

Liverpool you mean. I'd been starting to look forward to next season finally being a normal season - squad in place, something to build on, hit the ground running, all that. Looks like that won't be happening after all.

They also need two more central defenders and a better defensive midfielder and players who can play out wide when Hazard and/or Mata are injured or need a rest.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 25 April 2013 15:22 (1 hour ago) Bookmark

bit harsh. mourinho's won leagues with albiols, arbeloas, del hornos, he can can probably hype gary cahill up into doing a job too. think they've got a good czech lad out on loan in holland to return as well

marin is waste and de bruyne will be out on loan again but schurrle can cover wings as well as not very secretly replace torres. ramires is a right sided midfielder at heart too

screen in front of the defence is the most glaring weakness for a jose side, someone dominant there over/alongside mikel and they ought to be contenders

forgot they've also got nathan ake and nathaniel chalobah for dm, not that jose's likely to use them but still

so many players ffs

imo probably the most burning question in football today is: hey florent malouda and paolo ferreira, whatcha been up to this year

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ly6hv6BgSP1r72wi0o1_500.gif

forgot they've also got nathan ake

Didn't he do 'the sky was ink'?

What are the big rumours going around?

Lewi to Utd
Schurrle and Falcao to Chelsea
Jovetic to Arsenal
Hummels to Barca
Cavani to Real or City
Bale to Real
Rooney to PSG

Any more? This summer looks like fun.

Does anyone seriously get any enjoyment out of these gigantic summer transfer sagas? Was so fucking sick of Hazard and Modric by the end of last summer.

I feel like I missed a season, so I'd kinda like the reset. Also the lols of bumper tv deals at cardiff etc.