Fickle media, Fickle fans, Fickle Pundits..... Jesus Christ! Before a ball had been kicked it was "Oh Chelsea are gonna win the league", now one game in, ONE GAME IN, on Sunday it was all "United were great against Swansea, maybe they will retain the title", then City batter Newcastle last night and we get prats like Lineker saying "If anyone finishes above City they will win the title, outstanding performance". While I dont necessarily disagree with him, why make statements like this after ONE GAME!!! Are people all nuts?! We had a few United WUMS on here trying to tell us they would batter us at OT because we only beat Hull 2-0 and they beat Swansea 4-1.......Did these people just start watching football this season or what? Our performance against Hull was a typical season opener under Jose.....Come out the blocks at a sprint, sting the opponent early, then shift down into first gear and coast the game out to prevent exhaustion and injuries, especially since we have another game Wednesday and didnt even field arguably our best player (Mata). Wonder which bandwagon people will jump on after week 2 of the league?
You've got it right Bodanki, absolute ,utter morons. Someone like Lineker should maybe stop eating all those crisps, he's got a sugar rush and is hyperactive in his little brain. The words come out before his thoughts are formed. Typical of too many in the media. The plonkers talking up their teams are just that, plonkers. All 4 expected to show the way did just that, nothing more or less.
The start meaning nothing. Chelsea had the league won at the start of last season until they come up against United, then you just fell to pieces. Chelsea fans were the ones saying pre season means everything, Man united are in decline Swansea are going to smash United to pieces. So going by Chelsea fans own little ways how they work things out then they should have beat new team hull 10-0 at home as United won 4-1 away.. We all know football its not as simple as that
I didnt see any Chelsea fan on here predicting that to be honest. But you are right, football doesnt work like that. Arsenal could now go on a 12 game unbeaten run and be top of the league by Christmas....unlikely but possible. At the weekend, if Chelsea or United lose, I can guarantee that the losing team will be written off for the title, after game three. It is getting ridiculous.
It's not that they're fickle, we've all been starved of the Premiership for too long and there is definitely something about this season which is building up to be special. United without SAF, the most difficult start ever for them, and with basically the same team. City without the shackles of Mancini and buying some seriously brilliant players above the mark of Milner,Barry, Sinclair. Chelsea with what can only be considered as at a slash transformed your side from over aged and lacking impetus to youthful excellence - Couple that with Mourinho's return. Liverpool and Spurs significantly strengthening and Arsenal having the worst transfer window ever, by anyone!! I will stand by my own predictions and the first game has only strengthened that view. City and Chelsea have far too much depth in quality in their squads, I believe City will win by 2/3 points due to this and their pitch, The Bridge is atrocious and ready to cut up as we speak. This hasn't mattered before but you have a true ball playing team now. Anuy coincidence your away form was so much beeter last year or do you just put it down to the hating Rafa effect? I believe 3rd and 4th will be fought out by any 2 from Spurs, Liverpool and United - And Arsenal, well, no amount of transfer wheeling and dealing now can bring them to where they need to be.
I agree, and everyone had predictions in pre season. I just fail to see how one round of games can prove or disprove peoples predictions. People predicted Utd will struggle, does one win against Swansea now mean they wont? People predicted Chelsea to win the league, does the fact that they didnt get in to double figures against Hull mean they wont? People predicted Man City to win the league, does one good win against Newcastle mean they will romp the next 37 games and claim the title? People predicted Arsenal would struggle, does one loss to Aston Villa mean they are definately out of the top 4 now? I just fail to see how one round of games can change everyones opinions or how people can use one round of game to reinforce what their predictions were. Its far too early to tell anything.
Clattenburg turned the title race on it's head. We were about to go 7 clear with a far more favourable run in, but the authorities couldn't allow that to happen hence intervention.
If United fans were this paranoid about one refereeing (and linesman) performance so many months after the event some of you would be all over it. The match was in October and they ended up 14 points ahead despite taking the foot off the gas towards the end.
It's definitely our fault. But that was a huge turning point and gave them the impetus to push on whilst it was a hammer blow for us. We never really had the squad but we wouldn't have finished as far off, IMO.
Contributed to RDM,s departure and for me, if you lose a manager halfway through a season, you can pretty much write the title off. Out of interest, has any club ever ditched a manager halfway through a season and gone on to win the title? Pretty sure its never happened in England, but elsewhere?
pure speculation. The reality is that you finished well off the pace and that match wouldnt have made that much difference at the end. The final league table showed that Chelsea had a much inferior team to United and to blame it on one match and the referee is simply very one eyed and very biased.
Ignoring the psychological impact is equally so. That game was the turning point in our season, much like the QPR game the season before.
Fixed that for you. You were beaten by us in three separate competitions. Our first XI was evidently better than yours, but football is a squad game and your depth was far superior to ours hence why you walked out comfy winners.
It is speculation, but so is saying that we would have still finished far off the pace if we had won that game. Who knows what we would have gone on to achieve results wise if we had won that game, or if RDM had stayed, we will never know. Thats why I have never agreed with those leagues that adjust the scores for wrong referees decisions, because if a goal is wrongly disallowed, you cannot just add it to the score line retoactively and expect the rest of the game to have played out exactly the same. Teams change tactics depending on the games scoreline or their league position and what they need out of a game.
no single match can have that kind of impact. Even a psychological one. players are professionals and to let one match affect them that much would imply that they are are mentally very fragile. as for the OP points, the press and fans tend to go with the latest results. and the latest results are just those of the first round !! At the risk of being one of those being castigated on this thread, the first round hasn't disproved what i originally thought. City have the strongest squad. Chelsea and United will be the main challengers. for me, Chelsea will not do as well as the pundits predict and United not as badly. The match at OT may not be a decider but could indicate whether Chelsea is that much better than United. I doubt it.
this all we have are facts and there is no point saying if we had done this or the ref had done that we would have been this and that.
Agreed. What is worrying is how we let those 2 games practically ruin our title chances but there can be no doubt that those respective fixtures were the main reason for weeks of bad form afterwards (including all the negativity surrounding the Terry/Anton and Clattenburg events).
