Rival Watch™ 2013/2014

Torres... back to Atletico.

Eto'o... money move to Russia or the States in the twilight of his career

Ba... good luck to him and in one way poor guy, feel bad for him, in another he was foolish moving to Chelsea to become a bit part player as it was only going to ruin his career (temporarily - maybe he can get back on track at another Newcastle type club?)

Expect all will go in summer. Not good for Everton if Lukaku is recalled but they're the breaks if you plan around short termism and loan signings.

 

The comments are funny. Barton if justified his reasoning but the general response is to attack Joey

 

TBF to Ba, when he moved there they only had Torres. Lukaku was on loan at West Brom and Eto'l was creaming him self over his Russian pay slip!

 

True and Mo's return didn't help but there was no way he was ever going to be a regular starter I think, especially since the 'special' one came back... just another case of a monied club hoovering up talent lower in the league because they fancy it. We've seen this with Citeh, these clubs are ruiners, tempting players who are succeeding at smaller clubs with fat wages, glamour and success that they will potentially play very little part in. The players are also to blame because they are susceptible to the clubs' negotiations or tactics, either because they want the lifestyle or truly believe they can make it there (perhaps due to things said to them buy the club pre-transfer).

 

Ba played at first but yeah, he was never going to be a long term option. He like Cisse and many others before him has cashed in on a superb purple patch of goalscoring form.

 

I think there is more to it. Saying he just cashed in seems harsh. Strikers rely on momentum and confidence. At Newcastle he was their go-to superstar guy. At Chelsea he was perhaps seen as a chancer, that is not of the top calibre they would normally recruit, they took a chance on him, he took a chance on them, it obviously hasn't worked. But the point I'm driving at is players seeing the big move as beneficial to their careers when actually it just destroys them, it's all what ifs but if he stayed at Newcastle and carried on in the form he was in what might he have done? Not much at Newcastle since they sell their best stars but if he'd shown that he could cut it and perform longer term, keep his stats up there, then perhaps that would have afforded him more of a chance at another big club that didn't just want to suck the form out of him and wanted to actually use him properly and develop his ability. Of course there is the argument that maybe his stay at Chelsea has proven he just ain't that good and not cut from the same cloth as the major, top strikers.

 

I'm stunned, not only do I actually agree with everything Barton has said but I actually think he's talking total sense and spot on.

 

Until Cisse arrived, the started to play Ba as the supporting forward instead then.

I think all players have ambition above their means. They all believe they are better than they are and that's what drives them on too. Its not a bad thing but I believe it can result in ruined careers such as Rodwell and Sinclair at Man City; they both believed they were good enough to break into the team but everyone else looking on thought they were crazy.

I can understand Chelsea's angle too; they needed someone, Ba was available and cheap (because of uninsurable knee).

 

Common place with a number of strikers. No names of course .

 

Breaking News - Joey Barton in 'opens his mouth shocker'

 

You can't be referring to Rooney, he's not had a purple patch for about three years!!!

 

Fixed

 

no not rooney, someone else. But who?

Which possible Premier League striker is currently on a brilliant run of goals who looks a little odd in the top scorers list.

 

Oh, you mean the eighteen month run of purple form for Suarez, gotchya

PS...although it recently dipped prior to his hat-trick but his assist rate remained high

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/top-scorers

Jay Rodriguez?

 

No I think this guys purple patch has him scoring against the top 4 so Suarez wouldnt fit that criteria.

 

Suarez has two against Everton or are you expecting him to score OGs too?

 

Which team voluntarily left the top 4 to allow evertone in?

Liverpool? Nice of you, helping your older brothers out like that.

 

Man Utd results against top teams:

Man Utd 0-3 Man City
Man Utd 0-3 Liverpool
Arsenal 0-0 Man Utd
Chelsea 3-1 Man Utd (no Rooney)
Man Utd 0-1 Everton
Man Utd 1-0 Arsenal
Man City 4-1 Man Utd (Rooney scores 87th minute)
Liverpool 1-0 Man Utd
Man Utd 0-0 Chelsea

For: 3
Against: 15

Rooney has scored 1 goal against top teams
Rooney goals per game = 1/8 = 0.125
Team goals per game with Rooney = 2/8 = 0.25
Team goals per game without Rooney = 1/1 = 1.0

Number of Rooney's goals that have made a difference in games against top teams = 0/1 = 0

#biggamebottler

 

How do you know who the top four are when the season hasn't finished? Would he be expected to score against Liverpool? Or are you saying top four knowing full well there are only three teams therefore attempting to strengthen your argument? I also assume you are ignoring previous seasons again too?