EPL 08/09 thread

[psychlaw]

lol but its not good enough to save them
they already lost 2-0 (or 2-1, cant remember) to Bolognia

I think Milans shining days are over for the next few years to come, they should hope for a top 7 finish

There general attack is pretty good with playmakers like Ronaldinho and Kaka
but there finishers (strikers) are pretty poor, with the loss of Ronaldo and Gilardino, there only two wellknown strikers are Inzaghi (too old/slow) and Shevchenko (his time at chelsea speaks for itself)

but if Shevchenko can find the form which made him famous (and won him european player of the year), then yea, he will score a lot of goals with assists from kaka and ronaldinho

 you forgot someone

who Pato? I excluded him on purpose, his way too young to hit his prime... you can't expect too much from him, despite a promising season lsat year.....

[bubble sunglasses]

 "I'd be suprised if they had a top 8 finish"

  C'mon man their position now hardly matters
  their midfield is *quality* [although they do need a holding player, like Carrick was]
    <3 Huddlestone, his technique is *2nd to none* :coolsmiley:
    They'll battle it out for 5th, with Villa, City, Pompey, and possibly Newcastle and West Ham

[midas_touch]

Milan will finish top 4 this year imo, the signing of Flamini will also add something to the defensive side of the ground plus Shevchenko will feel at home back at his stomping ground after a disastrous two seasons at Chelsea.

[bubble sunglasses]

lol but its not good enough to save them
they already lost 2-0 (or 2-1, cant remember) to Bolognia

I think Milans shining days are over for the next few years to come, they should hope for a top 7 finish

There general attack is pretty good with playmakers like Ronaldinho and Kaka
but there finishers (strikers) are pretty poor, with the loss of Ronaldo and Gilardino, there only two wellknown strikers are Inzaghi (too old/slow) and Shevchenko (his time at chelsea speaks for itself)

but if Shevchenko can find the form which made him famous (and won him european player of the year), then yea, he will score a lot of goals with assists from kaka and ronaldinho

 you forgot someone

who Pato? I excluded him on purpose, his way too young to hit his prime... you can't expect too much from him, despite a promising season lsat year.....

 he's already a gun, who knows what he'll be like when he hits his prime

[psychlaw]

"I'd be suprised if they had a top 8 finish"

  C'mon man their position now hardly matters
  their midfield is *quality* [although they do need a holding player, like Carrick was]
    <3 Huddlestone, his technique is *2nd to none* :coolsmiley:
    They'll battle it out for 5th, with Villa, City, Pompey, and possibly Newcastle and West Ham

tottenham have suprised me in the last few years, but there position last year (not a top 10 finish) is a metaphor for what is to come in future years.... they too are past there prime

and lack SEVERLY in attack. I admit the first 3 games aren't a great depiction of the rest of the season, but surely 2 goals in 3 games for the whole team gives you some idea of how there going

[psychlaw]

lol but its not good enough to save them
they already lost 2-0 (or 2-1, cant remember) to Bolognia

I think Milans shining days are over for the next few years to come, they should hope for a top 7 finish

There general attack is pretty good with playmakers like Ronaldinho and Kaka
but there finishers (strikers) are pretty poor, with the loss of Ronaldo and Gilardino, there only two wellknown strikers are Inzaghi (too old/slow) and Shevchenko (his time at chelsea speaks for itself)

but if Shevchenko can find the form which made him famous (and won him european player of the year), then yea, he will score a lot of goals with assists from kaka and ronaldinho

 you forgot someone

who Pato? I excluded him on purpose, his way too young to hit his prime... you can't expect too much from him, despite a promising season lsat year.....

 he's already a gun, who knows what he'll be like when he hits his prime

yea his talented, but his no rooney or ronaldo (they were driving the team when they were 19 and 20)

Pato cannot lead his teams attack at that age, and expecting him to do so would be very optimistic. He will be a freak when he hits his prime, but this season won't be his prime. He should play a second striker roll, and should be happy to get double figures for his goal count.

[phagist_]

lol but its not good enough to save them
they already lost 2-0 (or 2-1, cant remember) to Bolognia

I think Milans shining days are over for the next few years to come, they should hope for a top 7 finish

There general attack is pretty good with playmakers like Ronaldinho and Kaka
but there finishers (strikers) are pretty poor, with the loss of Ronaldo and Gilardino, there only two wellknown strikers are Inzaghi (too old/slow) and Shevchenko (his time at chelsea speaks for itself)

but if Shevchenko can find the form which made him famous (and won him european player of the year), then yea, he will score a lot of goals with assists from kaka and ronaldinho

Yep 2-1 loss.
Match was really disappointing Milan had no cohesion, the gameplan was pretty much give it to R80 and hope that he does some magic and sets up a goal/scores himself.
It was evident that during the olympics he still did not have his old form (barely even glimpse of it). He needs to be better integrated into the team - learn where our strikers (in the case against Bologna, Inzaghi) want the ball and when.

Of course he can't just come back into the team and learn everyone's gameplan/the way they play.. but hopefully this improves over the season.

+ Kaka hasn't come back from injury, so it would be interesting to see him and Ronni working together at club level.. still not sure how well it will work considering our gameplan the last couple of years (i.e pass to Kaka) but they've done it for their national team, so I don't see why it can't work at Milan.

Flamini was one of our better signings.. he can play as DM and essentially free up Pirlo so he can be more attacking/creative in providing for our forwards.

Gilardino was not a loss, he was pretty much a burden..and yes forgot Pato, despite his age he has the potential to become one of the best players in the world and will (hopefully) be our number one.
If Sheva can find again his form that he had in the glory days, it would be awesome, as unlikely as it is I'm quietly hoping.

my two cents.

[bubble sunglasses]

"I'd be suprised if they had a top 8 finish"

  C'mon man their position now hardly matters
  their midfield is *quality* [although they do need a holding player, like Carrick was]
    <3 Huddlestone, his technique is *2nd to none* :coolsmiley:
    They'll battle it out for 5th, with Villa, City, Pompey, and possibly Newcastle and West Ham

tottenham have suprised me in the last few years, but there position last year (not a top 10 finish) is a metaphor for what is to come in future years.... they too are past there prime

and lack SEVERLY in attack. I admit the first 3 games aren't a great depiction of the rest of the season, but surely 2 goals in 3 games for the whole team gives you some idea of how there going

  yeah they are one of these clubs with a case of Willy Loman Sydrome/delusions of grandeur. They should feel privileged to have had a player of Berbatov's quality condescend to come and play for them

[midas_touch]

lol but its not good enough to save them
they already lost 2-0 (or 2-1, cant remember) to Bolognia

I think Milans shining days are over for the next few years to come, they should hope for a top 7 finish

There general attack is pretty good with playmakers like Ronaldinho and Kaka
but there finishers (strikers) are pretty poor, with the loss of Ronaldo and Gilardino, there only two wellknown strikers are Inzaghi (too old/slow) and Shevchenko (his time at chelsea speaks for itself)

but if Shevchenko can find the form which made him famous (and won him european player of the year), then yea, he will score a lot of goals with assists from kaka and ronaldinho

Yep 2-1 loss.
Match was really disappointing Milan had no cohesion, the gameplan was pretty much give it to R80 and hope that he does some magic and sets up a goal/scores himself.
It was evident that during the olympics he still did not have his old form (barely even glimpse of it). He needs to be better integrated into the team - learn where our strikers (in the case against Bologna, Inzaghi) want the ball and when.

Of course he can't just come back into the team and learn everyone's gameplan/the way they play.. but hopefully this improves over the season.

+ Kaka hasn't come back from injury, so it would be interesting to see him and Ronni working together at club level.. still not sure how well it will work considering our gameplan the last couple of years (i.e pass to Kaka) but they've done it for their national team, so I don't see why it can't work at Milan.

Flamini was one of our better signings.. he can play as DM and essentially free up Pirlo so he can be more attacking/creative in providing for our forwards.

Gilardino was not a loss, he was pretty much a burden..and yes forgot Pato, despite his age he has the potential to become one of the best players in the world and will (hopefully) be our number one.
If Sheva can find again his form that he had in the glory days, it would be awesome, as unlikely as it is I'm quietly hoping.

my two cents.

Sound like quite the Milan fan there eh. I still have reservations about whether I should follow a team in serie A given that Italian football is known for dour, defensive play. In saying that, I hope Milan goes well and gets back into CL action next season, which I'm sure they will.

[phagist_]

Yeh, I've grown to love the Italian game.. but some games just shit me.

The best football to watch is the Italian game when it is at its best (see Milan vs Man U 3-0 win in CL).. probably my favourite game, EVER.

[Golfa]

"I'd be suprised if they had a top 8 finish"

  C'mon man their position now hardly matters
  their midfield is *quality* [although they do need a holding player, like Carrick was]
    <3 Huddlestone, his technique is *2nd to none* :coolsmiley:
    They'll battle it out for 5th, with Villa, City, Pompey, and possibly Newcastle and West Ham

tottenham have suprised me in the last few years, but there position last year (not a top 10 finish) is a metaphor for what is to come in future years.... they too are past there prime

and lack SEVERLY in attack. I admit the first 3 games aren't a great depiction of the rest of the season, but surely 2 goals in 3 games for the whole team gives you some idea of how there going

youve got to be joking! ok keane and berbatov are out but frankly they were not needed...Bentley, Dos Santos, Pavlyuchenko and Modric are HUGE in's and once they learn each others games will begin to dominate against all teams..their 5-0 smashing of roma pre-season is the spurs outfit you will be seeing very shortly whilst their defence has been strengthened with the buys of sanchez, gomes and corluka. It should be noted half these guys havn't even played yet, so a 1-1 draw with a full strength chelsea is dam good. When they all come back in you should see these boys DESTROYING most teams....

[bubble sunglasses]

  What does enwiabe [the fan] think about recent developments at Man City?

[midas_touch]

Another slow start to the season by ManU, but at least we're still in a better position than this time last year where I believe we drew 1, and lost 2 games. However, it doesn't get any easier with an intimidating trip to stanford bridge next week to take on the ladder leaders Chelsea. Also good to see Hull City having a good start to the season.

[bubble sunglasses]

  I don't think saturday's was *such* an inspiring performance from Liverpool. They lacked guile in attack [see how they got their goals.] They need somone like Riqueleme to knit the team together and play the killer ball.

[bubble sunglasses]

 "Also good to see Hull City having a good start to the season."

  yeah, <3 the underdogs. They were in League 2 [3 leagues below] only 5 seasons ago