Speaking from a position of relative ignorance I still think the real strength of the PL is depth. There are no easy games. Chelsea did not have a relaxed, training run out against QPR. We may feel we should beat Leicester but as they demonstrated against Man U mugs they 'aint. I don't follow other countries leagues that closely, so may be very wrong about this. Fancy a laugh? Try - http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=315567.200 Let's never end up this deluded.
Not sure it is deluded...just another way to monitor the league. Funny how they keep hoping for results that we know didn't happen...though we would do the same (but then actually achieve it) One lone soul suggested Southampton should be on it, but apparently we are not worth adding till after 13-14 games. On the initial explanatory page...to win the league you need to win all your home games and beat the lower 14 teams and at least draw the rest...so far, so good. We're going to win the league, we're going to win the league. #jokealert
it's an interesting alternative measure to comparing like for like results last season though. manchester united doing the worst by that measure.
We are doing only slightly better.....having had a good start under Poch as well. The real difference will be when we hit the December/January games. This means that the other teams must be sharing the points out differently or we would be a few places lower.
[wrong]by my reckoning we've got 9 points above par on liverpool's alternative table, 4 points ahead of Chelsea.[/wrong] going to work out chelsea on the same basis to make sure i'm doing it rite. no, i'd forgot home matches are expected wins and i'd just ****ed up completely. we're on 0. bastards. unless i've still ****ed up.
I don't think EPL has an edge here compared to La Liga. There are no easy games in La Liga either. Why, Barcelona lost to Celta yesterday. Sometimes they seem easy games, but that's just because Real and Barca are usually on another planet. Real walked over Liverpool on Anfield without really breaking sweat. I somehow doubt they would struggle against QPR.
Exactly, it's easy to say that there are no easy games in the PL if that's the only league you check up on. Look at Dortmund this year, can't buy a win in the Bundesliga but have won every game in the Champions League, beating Arsenal, Anderlecht & Galatasaray. I guess it would help if the media didn't constantly try and sell the PL as the most competitive/best division in the world.
Good point, well made. Not sure how the later Champ League stuff is drawn but it will be interesting to see how Chelsea fare if put up against Real this season.
Players love the CL, but for the average fan, it is the PL that counts. The only reason I'm interested in the CL is that it means we would have finished in the top 4. Getting into the CL would only leave us open to humiliation anyway.
Dear, oh dear, There are times when you can be so innocently but sweepingly negative Fran. Are we to give up and go home then..? Or worse, to know our place..? No thanks. I'll take potential humiliation over not trying any day of the week.
Injuries will define the rest of our season. Keep most of our players fit and I can see us top 6, get a pile of injuries and suspensions and we will slip down. Whatever happens this has been and will be a great season.
Tbf, that can happen to any team. It just depends on how big the pile is. Man U could be said to be suffering from it at the moment. That's me being immensely charitable towards them.
Let's face it, we are playing better and picking up more points than the 18 teams below us. That means the likes of Arsenal, United and Liverpool are not doing as well against other teams in the league. We've played 10 games now, this is no flash in the pan and gives us enough of a sample to describe as fairly representative of the quality in the Premier League. These big team will have history on their side sure, but when has that ever given them anything? We've got 11 players who can match theirs. We'll go into these games fully confident and rightly so.
Tbf, I have been looking at other teams recently, in order to see the validity of Steve Claridge's observation that Saints are playing better football than most of the teams around them. Now, although I'm only looking at highlights, they will be the best that the teams around us can offer, yes..? That's why they are highlights after all. Pundits like Claridge see whole matches. So it came as a bit of a surprise to find that the other teams aren't playing any better. In fact many of them seem to be playing significantly and visibly worse.
To be honest Chelsea aren't playing that great football. Remind me of the Arsenal sides a while back that scored great goals, racked up large wins but other than the goals were pretty boring to watch.
