2012/2013 English Premier League thread

[Bagor]

I believe the fine is related to salary.

As for the suspension length, I guess that will be explained in the report. However every man and his dog knows that SAF will have informed the panel that 4 games means he misses up to the Man U PL game, so it makes no sense whatsoever to have him miss any more games after that.

Seriously though, I'm guessing that, that (a) he didn't repeat the words and (b) didn't lie to the committee probably explains in part the lesser punishment.

[Locke]

Just saw a picture an quote showing Torres and Giroud and saying;

"For Arsenal vs Chelsea, the most dangerous seats in the house might be directly behind the goals."

[Stay Golden]

I realize this is not a Premiership story, its soccer related but I didn't want to start a thread for it.
I find it hilarious that they actually made this Zidane statue.

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soc...3500--sow.html

[Bagor]

Another season, a new manager and the same old story. Everyones fault but their own.

Decisions go against us says Brendan Rodgers as Liverpool boss speaks to referees' chief.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has spoken to referees' chief Mike Riley about decisions going against his team.
The Reds boss feels his side, who are yet to win in the Premier League this season, have been on the end of a number of unfair decisions over the opening weeks of the campaign. .......

Starting to beg for decisions.

you'd hope we get better decisions in the next coming weeks. "That's the thing I'll certainly be looking for over the next number of weeks, is a wee bit of good fortune in terms of some of the decisions that we've got."

Poor Liverpool. Always the ........... nevermind.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/n...referees-chief

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by Barnet Flame

In other news, John Terry has retired from International football. Apparently it is all the FA's fault for making his position untenable.

JT's word is gold.

But Terry said: “I’m not going to throw away my international career for anyone, I am proud to represent my country, I will never turn my back on England.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...y-country.html

[Bagor]

Uh-oh. Suarez denied a clear penalty.

That's what happens when your manager blabs about starting to dive.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...?newsfeed=true

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by Bagor

Uh-oh. Suarez denied a clear penalty.

That's what happens when your manager blabs about starting to dive.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...?newsfeed=true

Crafty journalism. He doesn't say his players are going to start diving, he says he tells his players to stay on their feet and it hasn't been paying off.

[Bagor]

"It is not something we want to encourage but if you're not going to get decisions because of it players may do that."

Nice finish albeit from defensive bufoonory after a brutal miss.

[The Big Chill]

Fair enough, I missed that part.

Anyways, I'd be more then happy if refs decided to stamp out diving by not giving penalties away easily. They do have to be careful though to avoid allowing defenders to much freedom like we saw with that elbow drop.

[moon]

I didn't realize that Norwich were this pathetic. I thought they were actually decent this year.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by moon

I didn't realize that Norwich were this pathetic. I thought they were actually decent this year.

Time will tell. Considering their poor form this season it asks the question of whether they overperformed last year.

They certainly didnt come to play today though.

[Magnum PEI]

Tottenham get the job done at Old Trafford. Kinda wish I had got up for that.

[rubecube]

Fantastic morning. United's defending was awful.

[d_phaneuf]

[d_phaneuf]

[vennegoor of hesselink]

[devo22]

Well, we paid the price for that horrible first half. Second half was brilliant though. A bit unlucky when both Rooney and Carrick hit woodwork, RvP was slightly offside and couple good opportunities were shot wide or saved by Friedel. Should have been at least a point, but it wasn't meant to be today. Forget the game and carry on.

After today's game, there can't be the usual "United have a ref advantage"-whining for a while. Denied one crystal-clear penalty (Vertonghen nearly took off Nanis shirt) and there were one or two other situations where I have seen penalties for less (Sandro clearly handled the ball in the box; and while Gallas caught a piece of the ball, his tackle on RvP was reckless).

[d_phaneuf]

"nearly took off his shirt", even the announcers who were basically cheering for a United win in the second half said that was a dive

The Sandro one is never a penalty, happens 2-3 times a game and there's no way to avoid it, it's rarely given

Gallas was tough, it's a harsh penalty to give but I have seen it happen


Can the United fans agree now that Rio just isn't good anymore? they are going to struggle until someone competent can come back to play with Evans

[d_phaneuf]

Also if it wasn't clear before why SAF sits Nani against teams with decent wide play it was made crystal clear on the Verts goal

he basically stopped tracking back

Rooney looks like he's lost about 15 pounds since the leg injury too, much more lively today than early in the season

[devo22]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

"nearly took off his shirt", even the announcers who were basically cheering for a United win in the second half said that was a dive

it's basically the same situation with Suarez - you get that reputation of being a diver, and you probably won't get the ones you really deserve. Today, it was a penalty, no doubt about that. Virtually every live commentary I found agreed with that - ESPN, Eurosport, you name it. But yeah, probably denied because of his antics.

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

Can the United fans agree now that Rio just isn't good anymore? they are going to struggle until someone competent can come back to play with Evans

he's getting old. He's just too slow to cope with quick forwards nowadays ... it's just too bad that beside Vidic there are also Jones and Smalling on the sidelines. Now Rio has to play, no matter what ... unless they want to try a youngster like Wootton or Keane.

I was more ticked with Giggs today. I can understand that United want to give him the opportunity to build on his records, he deserves it. Just don't do it against quality teams ... he's just too slow. Do it against Norwich or Wigan, but not against Tottenham, for god's sake ...