It was funnier when some spuds were posting that on their board, that we haven't played any big teams yet.
of course , its "de rigeur " for pundits , but soon they will run out of big teams , and then , and only then , will Hanson actually disappear up his own arse . cant wait .
Can't remember when Liverpool were classed as a big team but you didn't fare so well against Chelsea & the Germans
They don't need to so long as they keep picking up points in the games they should win. They might have had an easier start with both their toughest games on paper coming at home but, as every other side has shown in the league this season, it is still easy to drop points in the more winnable games and Arsenal have been remarkably consistent up until now. Momentum's a very powerful thing and right now Arsenal are sailing through their games. But they're still **** and full of ****s
Walker and Vertonghen diving all over the gaffe. Only a matter of time before Spurs score at this rate.
Wonder if Pulis will take the Palace job? Second favourite. I can't stand Pulis or his style of football but he'd have kept them up if he'd been there from July. Think he got a bit too much stick given his record as a manager. Tony Pulis' Stoke after 10 games last season = 8 goals AVB's Spurs after 10 games last season = 9 goals Did Pulis get too much stick for his style or does AVB just not get enough criticism? From what I've seen Allardyce/Pulis and AVB are cut from the same cloth. OptaStats reveal Spurs have played more long balls than any other side, probably what you'd expect with Michael Dawson in the side.
As I've shown you, Mourinho had a similar start. It's the way it goes sometimes, especially when you're settling in a lot of new attacking players but believe what you want. As for the "long ball" stat, am I right to assume you're referring to the Opta stat for long passes? If that's what you're relying on, they have the least down as averaging 53 long balls per game, whilst we're down as playing 70. It's very obvious that when people talk about "long ball sides" they're not referring to the difference between a side playing a long ball every 1.7 minutes and every 1.3 minutes. It's defined rigidly, for statistical purpose and so that's it's flaw if you're trying to extract meaning from it. If any side hoofed it every 78 seconds, their midfielders would never touch the ball so you're applying the numbers to your incorrect interpretation. Given the fact that these long passes are such a common feature of every side's play, it's clear that you're not isolating any kind of proof that we're a long ball or hoof it team. You could just as easily claim we're the most attacking team because we have the highest percentage of possession in the opponents half and the most shots. Neither conclusion is true, that's why you're best judging sides by what you see, if you genuinly see a long ball side when you see us play then you're weird
Thats kinda the point , seems like they are all big teams until we beat them , then its ...ohhh they havent played anyone yet . well one of your colleagues was insisting upon it before the pool game , said we were going to bottle it as we hadnt played anyone decent yet . To say they are not decent is a bit silly as they were above you lot at that time .. and as for the germans . the ONLY english team to beat them at their gaff . Now TOP of our group so we did " fare " not too bad at all thanks .
Would classify the big games for Chelsea: City, United next Arsenal and Spurs; these days not Liverpool. Dortmund is a big game undoubtedly. Well done "beating" them (Mourinho style), but I would not gloat too early. They beat you over two legs head to head and if you end up on the same points they will go through or win the group. A bit like your "win" in Munich last year. I think most sides would still rather play Arsenal than Dortmund or Bayern, who are obviously much better sides. Well done Ramsey overcoming the haters. Now please beat United for us, as we still see them as a bigger threat than Arsenal. Be interesting to see how well Arsenal do in knockout ties against big clubs at the business end of the season when the pressure is really on.
I'm a bit stuck on Arsenal tbh.... They've surprised me by doing so well and I think they'll top their Champions League group which would be some achievement. They've done well in the league but the only 'big teams' they've faced have been Liverpool and Spurs both at home. Apart from that they've played pretty much the bottom five and other mid table sides. We meanwhile have had Everton, United, Spurs all away plus City at home... Will be an interesting month this. We normally melt down in November and statistically we win 26% of our games in this month! I'm sure that'll change! All that said and done, I still think the title will end up with City. Can't see them being stopped tbh
City and Chelsea probably won't lose at home all season. Whoever does better on the road will win it IMO.
