The Football Thread - Season 2014/2015

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Blind will play left side of the 3 cb, like him, a very good player.
 
Blind 'could' be our best signing. Defensive / defensive mid. Modest but much needed.
 
Maybe Wellbeck won't happen if Falcao does not - let's see/
 
I think Wellbeck is a great signing for Arsenal. He will score goals for arsenal. He certainly will get behind defences more than Giroud.

Solves their injury problem too.

Happy with palace signings. Not sure about Doyle but happy to be proved wrong!
 
At the ritual unveiling of new players, Real welcome their new signing, and give him an indication of his place in the squad. ;)

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Utd have spent a lot of money without buying what the really needed. That being said, thats a ferocious attack, and liverpool showed last year that a great attack can carry a weak defence.
 
decigallen said:
Utd have spent a lot of money without buying what the really needed. That being said, thats a ferocious attack, and liverpool showed last year that a great attack can carry a weak defence.
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Defensively - they've added Rojo, Shaw, Blind and brought Blackett through.

Midfield they've added Herrera, Di Maria and Blind

Up front they've added Falcao

What they have added is quality however it will take some time for them to click.

I think Strootman would have been the big midfield signing but with him injured (plus Herrera and Blind in) that could be January
 
dinners said:
Defensively - they've added Rojo, Shaw, Blind and brought Blackett through.

Midfield they've added Herrera, Di Maria and Blind

Up front they've added Falcao

What they have added is quality however it will take some time for them to click.

I think Strootman would have been the big midfield signing but with him injured (plus Herrera and Blind in) that could be January
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Enough to get in the top 4?
 
Sir SR said:
Enough to get in the top 4?
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It depends how long it takes the squad to settle I guess.

With the exception of Di Maria on Saturday - the new players have been ineligible or injured. Given they're already playing catch up I'd say top 4 this year is unlikely. Longer term I'm confident though.

That said - if they suddenly put a run of wins together you never know.
 
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dinners said:
It depends how long it takes the squad to settle I guess.

With the exception of Di Maria on Saturday - the new players have been ineligible or injured. Given they're already playing catch up I'd say top 4 this year is unlikely. Longer term I'm confident though.

That said - if they suddenly put a run of wins together you never know.
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I think letting Wellbeck go to arsenal is a mistake. I think he is like a Sturridge - light. He will benefit from playing centrally in front of that creative midfield.

Will Falcao stay if they don't get top 4?
 
Sir SR said:
I think letting Wellbeck go to arsenal is a mistake. I think he is like a Sturridge - light. He will benefit from playing centrally in front of that creative midfield.

Will Falcao stay if they don't get top 4?
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Welbeck - I think I posted earlier that whilst he's not the most prolific goal scorer he always contributes. Great at holding balls up down the channels whilst waiting for the play to catch and he offers pace. I watched him a lot in the reserves and under 21s and there's definately a goal scorer in there if he's given that chance.

Falcao - I've not really read much about the deal or what's involved. With Welbeck and Hernandez out the door then he'll certainly get the game time to prove himself again.

Whether that's to put himself back in the shop window or whether he wants a longer stint at United I don't know. As for top 4 - I'm sure I read that if they're not back in the Champions League by the end of next season (2015-2016) then there will be a reduction in the £75m per annum Adidas deal. Who knows - he could be a flop and be the reason we fail to get back into the top 4. It's too early to even speculate I guess.

On a different note - James Wilson is the one I'd like to see pushed on. 2 forwards out and 1 in might give him the opportunity as he's certainly a bright star for the future.
 
cambsno said:
Hmmm, £16m for Balotellli, or £16m for Wellbeck - why can't we sign a goalscorer!!!
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I'm not sure the stats back you up. What Balotelli is is a prolific shot taker. He scored 26 goals for AC Milan - 17 from open play and 9 from the penalty spot. His shot conversion, due to the huge number of shots he takes, is less than 8%. That's not just down to poor shot selection either. Even shots within the penalty area, of which there were 50 last season, he only scored 5 times at a 10% conversion rate.

Compare that to Welbeck who last season converted 25% of his chances, which is on par with Sturridge, and you get a pretty different picture of the two players in front of goal.

Now there's more to a striker's game than pure goal output so I'm by no means saying that Welbeck will outshine Balotelli, but to write him off because he can't score is unfounded.
 
TriggerHappy said:
but to write him off because he can't score is unfounded.
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A couple of seasons ago Welbeck played 40 games for Utd and scored 2 goals. :eek: And somehow got into the England team. Yes, he has done well for England, but they don't pay his wages.

For all the talk of conversion rates, Balotelli averages approx a goal every 2.4 games. Welbeck averages approx a goal every 4.4 games. Now Welbeck doesn't seem to be any trouble, but Balotelli... :rolleyes:

Maybe it all balances out. ;) :LOL:

It will be interesting to see where they play Welbeck.
 
Goals per game is a completely disingenuous stat because it fails to take into account how long a player was on the pitch for. If you want a fairer reflection of the number of goals a player scores you at least need to look at minutes per goal, or better yet is the non-penalty goals per 90 minutes (NPG90).

None of these stats are position adjusted, and Welbeck has often been utilised as a wide man, but last season Welbeck had the fourth highest NPG90 output of all players in the premier league at 0.64. Beaten only by Aguero (1.06), Suarez (1.00) and Sturridge (0.87).

Then we could discuss the fact he's 23 and the trend for strikers statistically developing their best scoring years at 24+.

Now he's not the second coming and he's not going to set the league alight, but he is a decent player with the best yet to come. I for one am happy and will back the team and the players we have!
 
redhed17 said:
A couple of seasons ago Welbeck played 40 games for Utd and scored 2 goals. :eek: And somehow got into the England team. Yes, he has done well for England, but .......
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TriggerHappy said:
Goals per game is a completely disingenuous stat because it fails to take into account how long a player was on the pitch for. If you want a fairer reflection of the number of goals a player scores you at least need to look at minutes per goal, or better yet ...........
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All a bit opta stats ish for me.

Football is a team game.

Some players have amazing stats to the detriment of others.

Some players have poor stats so others thrive.

I'm not going to predict Welbeck will be a big hit or anything but given his time at United I certainly wouldn't judge him on goals alone..
 
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Ooh goody - and England friendly.

Better go and do my duty :)
 
Same old England huffing and puffing, just different names on the shirt numbers...
 
wibbly said:
Same old England huffing and puffing, just different names on the shirt numbers...
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It was more positive than that. It is a new era, and the hope is that the younger players come though and gel together. Obviously it was not the best opposition, and it was a friendly, so let's see what they do in a real game next week.
 
redhed17 said:
It was more positive than that. It is a new era, and the hope is that the younger players come though and gel together. Obviously it was not the best opposition, and it was a friendly, so let's see what they do in a real game next week.
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I'm less enthusiastic... I didn't see much more positives, the ball still seemed like a hot potato, too much hurried passing, still too much long ball rather than trying to keep possession and working an opening... I really hope you're right, I just worry that in a real game our weaknesses will get exploited even more! :)
 
I looked at some stats for Welbeck the other day (The PL stats for last year). Giroud played 35, and had a ration of .44 goals per game. He started all 35 games. Welbeck played 25, with 0.36 goals per game, but he only started 15. Given his time on the pitch and how poor Manure were last season, I don't think those figures are too bad.
 
Looks like the writing is on the wall for Pardew now.
 
Have to agree with that. Costa looks like he is worth every penny, and more !
 
Jelster said:
Have to agree with that. Costa looks like he is worth every penny, and more !
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He does

Prior to the World Cup I think he was on everybody's list but come the tournament it just didn't happen for him. That said Spain kind of flopped and I'm not sure he's been that well accepted by Spain.

Chelsea took a punt and so far so good - just what they needed.
 
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Still waiting on United's team news for today's match.

Certainly hoping some of the new players finally get their debuts.

Really feels like a step into the unknown.
 
De Gea

Rafael, Evans, Blackett, Rojo
Blind
Herrera, Di Maria
Mata
Van Persie, Rooney

Bench - Falcao, Januzaj, Shaw, Valencia, Pereira, Lindegaard, Fletcher​

Happy with that - has the makings of a decent team!
 
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Only our first game so early days but so much better from United.
 
fabs said:
:help:
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Not looking good for QPR

I can't say I was excited by any of the goals today, because there was barely any resistance. Great seeing them coming from different players, but with no pressure put on the defence of United, the midfield and strikers would have to be complete imbeciles to have not taken advantage. Saying that, how many shots on target before that first goal? Good result, but not winking over it.
 
Like I said, early days, 3 points, we're just setting off.
 
For me the season started today and I'm as cautious as I was after beating Swansea 4-1 last year. It's one game, but this time it wasn't one player banging them in ... but it was at home and the opposition didn't do themselves proud.
Saying that, as we discussed during the game, when do you say the victors were that bloody goody it made the opposition look poor, or the the opposition were that bloody poor it made the victors look good? I have to feel more confident about this squad and what it can achieve this season and hope that we have Angel that can float around the field and inspire more movement from his team mates.
 
A bit of both.

Regardless of our target this year - that's three points.

Beyond that - signs of life at last.
 
I remember watching Man Utd beat us 3-0 at Loftus Road a few seasons ago. I think it was out first season back. That day I felt Utd were just too good for us and there was not much else we could have done. Utd were just tactically better and had better players.

Now you could argue both those things today, but I didn't feel it. Certainly Man Utd had more quality, but first goal was fortunate (a great delivery) but I didn't feel massively torn apart before then. We then of course should have equalised. After the second goal we fell apart somewhat -we are a team in transition (again) and I expect us to get better as players get to know each other more. That said I felt more confident today that we could score than I did those few seasons ago.

So, as I wrote post the Spurs game, I would not get your hopes up based on beating us. Most fans expected a defeat, and a heavy one at that. That said you can only beat what is put in front of you and you certainly look better than last year. I'd be concerned defensively still though, and playing better teams that will close down more and / or foul to break up play more will be interesting to see how Di Maria responds.
 
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