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The 2014/2015 Football (Soccer) Thread


markyosullivan

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Man City seriously lucky. The ref had a shocker with that penalty. And the two Cantona-esque kung fu challenges.

 

Also I heard mourinho complaining that the ball boys were delaying things in the Newcastle Chelsea game, what an asshole, that's how they beat Liverpool last season! I love him as a coach but he is a bit of a knob too.

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0-0 bore draw for Spurs against Palace at home. I think Pouche totally screwed up in this match. First he played Lamela on the right, that was last years experiment which failed badly because he always cuts inside and everyone knows that. Secondly he played 2 in attack and stuck with the inverted wings, i mean that does not make any sense because the strikers will be lacking distribution (which they did). Third was the substitutions, Paulinho in for Mason? What will that give us? We lacked creativity and Paulinho is a donkey in that department. Delaying the Lennon substitution simply because the fans were signing "there is only one Arron Lennon" was not what we needed at this point in the year either. We desperately needed the win to close in on the top which also screwed up over the weekend.

 

The good news is that i hear we will be going through an overhaul in January. The focus will be a playmaker and a proper striker with Paulinho, Dembele, Naughton and Adebayor likely to be leaving sooner rather than later.

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This is the best season we have had at Upton Park in many years, not in terms of how many points we get on the board, but in terms of how much I want to watch every week.

 

Since around the 08/09 season, we haven't really enjoyed many seasons, we would either be battling relegation or in mid table anonymity, all while playing mediocre football. Personally, I was a fan of Sam Allarydyce's approach of defensive minded football, because that is where we were lacking. He couldn't do anything about last season, too many injuries to key areas left us stranded, with pretty much no Centre Backs or Strikers from early November until nearly February.

 

Great signings in the summer, but I have to say that the best thing is our options up front. We have Carlton Cole, who while he may not be an out and out striker, he works hard for the team, and holds the ball up very well. Ricardo Vaz Te is another option, although he is very much a fringe player who is most definitely the last name for a striking role, so he is more of a winger option. Enner Valencia can play up front or on the wings, and he has brought a work rate which we haven't had since Carlos Tevez up front. His speed provides another option for us, as well as his ability to hit the target from any distance. Mauro Zarate is actually another option, although Allardyce seems to prefer him in a more midfield position behind the strikers, acting in the #10 role. I am impressed with him, and I hope he gets more chances to show his ability. Diafra Sakho is definitely our signing of the season. He is strong and fast, and his movement off the ball makes him a menace for the opposition. Like Valencia, he has given us an amazing work rate so we can play more, knowing that regardless of whether the ball is playing out wide, through the middle, on the floor or over the top, he will run onto the ball.

 

Lastly, Andy Carroll has got an amazing chance to prove himself. Over the last 2 seasons, he has been played up front by himself, and while he has done okay in that role, having another player up top with him means there is less pressure. He got 2 goals yesterday, and while a lot of people are saying he is back, I think we need to give him more time. In his first game, people weren't expecting much, and that meant we had the opportunity to use him well. His flick on for Sakho showed why he needed another striker with him.

 

I think West Ham can do well this season, and I would be delighted with a European Spot come May.

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Eriksen plays in the hole (ideally) what we need is a Modric style guy, maybe Pjanic from Roma could be enticed....

 

I think that is more what they are looking for (Modric). I think Lamela could play that role. I heard that in Roma they envisioned Lamela to take on the creative role of Totti long term, not sure if he can play that role but at this point in time with the lack of options, it does not hurt testing him out in the next 3-4 weeks. One thing is certain, he should be banned from playing on the right. I would not mind him on the left though. The one time they did play him there he scored that wonder goal in Europe and was much more danegerous with his passing.

 

West Ham is actually very entertaining this year and as much as it hurts to say it, they are much better than Spurs in that regards. Not sure if they can keep this going though.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

Both the West Ham strikers are good, think the other one is Valencia iirc?

Valencia hasn't done well in terms of points scoring (3 goals so far this season) but overall, his work ethic frees up our other players so even when he plays bad, he assists in allowing others room to play.

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Best game of the season for Spurs against Newcastle in the cup. I am happy Mason, Lamela and Soldado were out. I think Stambouli gave us more muscle in the middle than Mason does, Townsend gave us more width than Lamela does and Chadli gave us what Soldado does not give us......................in other words a goal, lol.

 

I also think Erickson is much better when Lamela is out as he dwells on the ball and tries to dicate the pace (without much luck that is).

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Yeah, i have no idea how we got past the 1st half, much better 2nd half by us.

 

I liked the changes that Pouche made today rotating Walker, Rose, Bentaleb and Lamela. I think our coach does have a good brain on him, he just needs to stop playing Lamela on the right because he sucks (actually he needs to stop playing Townsend on the right as well, he is much better as a distributor/crosser and he can do that better on the left). I also think Davies is much better than Rose defensively and he proved that in this game. Also dropping Adebayor/Soldado, Kaboul and Capoue were all great moves

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Spurs 5-3 Chelsea. 8 goals in one match, so unless you are a Chelsea fan, it was a pleasure to watch. Kane had the best game of his career so far, 2 goals, 1 assist and a penalty! Apparently this was the first time ever that Mourinho conceeded 5 goals in one game!

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Nah, it was the second time... but the first was against Barca (5-0 in 2010) in Mourinho's first Classico in charge of Madrid. So Spurs are in good company there!

 

Good performance by Spurs. Obviously I can't like the fact you lot won too much (Gunners fan), but I'd prefer you lot over Mourinho any day. Our performance yesterday was horrific. Can't believe I stayed up until 4am to watch that kind of defending.

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If you want a heart attack every week, support Spurs. It is the only sports club in the world which can beat and lose to everyone on the planet but will never win anything which matters. One week you go out and put on a clinic, beating Chelsea 5-3 and next week we get humbled against the bottom 3 team, I support this team for all my life and it pretty much has been this way for ever.

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