EPL 2013/14 Mega Thread - Previews, Reviews and General Discussion/Banter

[Jackross10]

 :o

[My Chumps]

Simply amazing team goal from Arsenal last night.

[timmyparso]

Simply amazing team goal from Arsenal last night.

Arsenal were the Harlem Globetrotters of soccer

[Tominator]

my oh my were Arsenal good.



Boys I'm gonna be very very busy with school over the next couple of weeks. I'll do what I can but I don't have the time right now to do in-depth match analysis'

If anybody else would like to then you are more than welcome  :)

[Cicjose]

i had people tell me that Ozil wasnt a world class player at Real Madrid and was overrated

stats accurate prior to 2013/14 season

[CrowsFan]

Yeah Ozil was a gun at Madrid. Love how that pic also shows how unselfish Ronaldo is. Fourth on the list for most assists when everyone says he never passes!
Also amazing that 3 of the top 5 all play(ed) for Madrid!

[Tominator]

isn't Dani Alves a right-back??

[Tominator]

GAMEWEEK EIGHT REVIEW... of sorts


FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED THIS WEEK


Arsenal can win the title
Where have the #WengerOut haters gone??? Arsenal are playing sublime football and are getting sublime results. Their first goal was absolutely scintillating - it's been described as football porn - while the other three were also far from easy. Their defence seems to be their weakest link, as they fail to keep many clean sheets, but attackingly they are playing the best - and most consistent - football of any side this season. They fully deserve top spot, and with Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lukas Podolski still yet to return, and Santi Cazorla yet to reach full fitness, the signs are promising. Wenger once said if Aaron Ramsey starts scoring he won't stop - and hasn't that proven right. The Welshman has scored 9 goals and provided 4 assists in all competitions this season. Jack Wilshere has also scored 2 goals in his last 2 games, after not scoring any for 3 years. Who knows, maybe their trophy drought might come to an end this season? Arsenal fans sure have plenty of reason for excitement

Swansea are not to be underestimated
They may be in the bottom half of the table all season but don't underestimate them. Despite a mixed start to the season, the Swans put in a great display against woeful Sunderland. Swansea may have had a bit of luck, with 2 own goals and a penalty contributing to the 4-0 thrashing, but it was the way they did it that was so impressive. The game was evenly poised at half-time at 0-0, but Swansea went into another level in the second half to completely overrun the Black Cats. Four goals in the space of 23 minutes in the second half turned it into a rout. Jonathon de Guzman's goal was a screamer, with a scintillating curler into the top corner. It could have been worse if not for some fine saves by Sunderland goalkeeper Kieran Westwood. Main man Michu did not score or assist any of them, so Swansea showed they can play scintillating football without relying on him. Ashley Williams and Pablo Hernandez are set to return as well which should bolster them and cover the loss of Ben Davies to injury.

Manchester United are not the same without SAF - yet
Perhaps we already knew this, but they have now only won once in four games at Old Trafford this season. The alarm bells are ringing. The cracks that the managerial brilliance of SAF was able to patch over are now becoming clear once again. Though United fans might find it hard to accept, United's squad lacks quality, in defence and midfield. In my opinion, players like Ashley Young, Tom Cleverley and Chris Smalling aren't up to the top standard required, yet are still getting regular games. It isn't all doom and gloom - the emergence of Adnan Januzaj has been a massive coup for United. However, Moyes could do worse than to use Shinji Kagawa, Wilfried Zaha and Javier Hernandez a bit more. It's still early days but Moyes will need to turn things around - fast. Some signings in January are required to bolster their defence, while they still lack the killer edge required in front of goal. But with Robin van Persie coming back from injury and beginning to find form, hopefully for United fans a change in fortune is just around the corner.

Southampton are on the rise
They are playing like they fear nobody at all. The club from down south are deservedly in the top four after their start to this season. An extremely solid back four - Nathaniel Clyne, Jose Fonte, Dejan Lovren and Luke Shaw - coupled with shot-stopper Artur Boruc has proven to be the backbone of their springboard up the table. Adam Lallana is in amazing form in the midfield, and has been another catalyst for their successes over the last few weeks. He scored the equaliser for the Saints, who could easily have dropped their head after going down 1-0, but kept on fighting and eventually drew level. Their manager has also come out and said that they are aiming for Champions League place. That may not happen, due to the likes of Tottenham and Liverpool performing so strongly, but you get the feeling that if they continue to grow at this rate, a Cup win or Top 7 PL finish may not be out of the question

Crystal Palace need a miracle to survive
Unfortunately for the Mile Jedinak-led Blue Eagles, the task of staying in the PL beyond this season is already looking like too big a task. Having only 1 win from 8 games - no draws, the other 7 are losses - Palace crashed to another defeat, this time to Fulham. They took an early lead through Adrian Mariappa, giving them a great chance to at least get a point on their home ground (where they defeated bottom-ranked Sunderland a few weeks ago). However, Fulham - a side who have struggled for goals this season - managed to put four goals past a woeful Palace defence, which was broken down with ease way too many times, especially from set pieces. Two goals came from corners while another came off a rebound from a free kick. A majority of the Palace players do not seem like they are up to the Premier League standard, as is often the case with newly-promoted clubs. Because of this, they seem destined to go back down to the Championship, unless a major turnaround in form is found.

EDIT: PATJIM KASAMI WHAT A GOAL !!!  Better solo goal than Wilshere, but Arsenal had the better team goal

[stew42]

Kasami for goal of the season!!!  ;D

[PowerBug]

You are not wrong about that football porn. That is a goal that a manager dreama bout his team scoring, seeing something like that is why this is a great sport, and it feels good being an Arsenal supporter now. :D however, need to beat Dortmund tomorrow, 5:15am, will make every attempt possible to wake up.

Crystal Palace unfortunately haven't quite settled into the big league yet. Hull have done well understandably as they were in the top flight not too long ago, and Cardiff have done decently, beating City at home was big for them. Hopefully they can find something, I thought they were a chance against Fulham, but those were two freaky pingers this morning aswell.

[T Dog]

Nice Big Tom...Southampton top 7...wow... :o

[Tominator]

Nice Big Tom...Southampton top 7...wow... :o

It's possible  :o

Look at Newcastle a couple of years ago!

[PowerBug]

All it takes is one season, that can change a club forever. For better or for worse. Southampton have a serious shot at getting back to the top end of the EPL. I hope they can qualify for Europe at the expense of Man United. ;)

[Nige]

Football porn... oh my.  :o

[Cicjose]

theres plenty of it.... the last i checked the arsenal game was uploaded to such websites