Futebol

favourite recent Big Sam story was the one Nolan spilled about how he used to fine them at Bolton for shooting from outside the box because of the statistical improbability of scoring from range, according to Prozone.

true to form, he didn't make an exception if they scored.

it was amazing how high West Ham were in the table last year. the squad is simply not very good or well constructed.

they'll stay up this year and it won't be pretty, but i don't think there's really anything wrong with them this season. just natural regression.

Bruegel wrote: the statistical improbability

lol Can we fine Big Sam for crossing into the box 50+ times every weekend hoping for the imaginary Andy Carroll to head it in?

To be honest, we are not that terrible to watch. At least not always (last weekend was dreadful). Very unlucky with injuries. Didn't get a healthy striker. What are you gonna do? The board want to save every penny until they move us to the Olympic Stadium and then probably nothing will happen (and I'd rather we stayed where we are). Anyway, I fully expect Norwich to stuff us tomorrow. And then we'll probably manage to somehow beat Chelsea. Which I'd be happy with.

The return of Zanetti!!!

I was watching some matches at a local suburban soccer bar this morning. Whenever someone made an errant pass I'd say "that is MLS!"

Nearly got into 3 fights and my brother had to buy a dude a beer before leaving.

 

 

Off to sing the Fat Frank Lampard song. Maybe Big Sam will fight Mourinho. Chelsea will probably win at the football though.

i don't think Chelsea can win the title playing the way they continue to play (like shit)

Mourinho has been unbelievably cynical with his selections this season and is basically strangling his squad into lifeless submission

I hope they don't win the title, as much as I hope Tottenham don't make it to the Champions League, but as far as we're concerned, we're fucked. We were shit today, Allardyce got every fucking thing wrong, the Chelsea mugs danced and sang for 90 minutes, our crowd cleared early, Lampard had the biggest smile on his fucking face. Oh well, bring on Fulham next week. Let the cup season begin.

On the other hand, I've convinced somebody at work it would be a great idea to go support Arsenal at West Ham this Boxing Day. He's going to wear his shirt and everything. Good luck with that.

Dave Mustaine wrote:We were shit today, Allardyce got every fucking thing wrong

i only watched the second half but how do you figure?

not really his fault the club doesn't have a single player who can put away a chance. plus, all of Chelsea's goals were the result of breaks or dead balls, they really didn't build anything cohesive in attack. hard for Allardyce to setup against what Chelsea is offering in attack when they offer nothing.

Idk, we played to lose. The team had no passion, there was no pride. The 4-6-0 formation worked against Tottenham, but hasn't worked since. Diame didn't start, Joey Cole was made a scapegoat, Maiga can't play our football and probably any football at all, Morrison played too deep... No heart today. I don't care if we lose as long as we fight. I'm not asking for his head, nor do I think we'll go down, but our club is in a deep deep shit and our manager seems to have lost the plot. It is his fault after all we have Downing instead of a striker. He wanted him. I'm just sick of how stubborn he is. I've no complaints about Downing's effort, but neither him not Jarvis can do shit without Carroll. Rant over, next week we're playing the other team from Fulham.

Never mind, the Spurs have made my weekend.

Dave Mustaine wrote:Idk, we played to lose.  The team had no passion, there was no pride.  The 4-6-0 formation worked against Tottenham, but hasn't worked since.  Diame didn't start, Joey Cole was made a scapegoat, Maiga can't play our football and probably any football at all, Morrison played too deep...  No heart today.  I don't care if we lose as long as we fight.  I'm not asking for his head, nor do I think we'll go down, but our club is in a deep deep shit and our manager seems to have lost the plot.  It is his fault after all we have Downing instead of a striker.  He wanted him.  I'm just sick of how stubborn he is.  I've no complaints about Downing's effort, but neither him not Jarvis can do shit without Carroll. Rant over, next week we're playing the other team from Fulham.

meh, comes down to basically what you said for me. you don't have the right players. there seems to be a lot of versatility in the side but not a lot of quality. there aren't players in the West Ham side that have a defined role and simply do a job, you just have eight midfield players (including the two fullbacks) running around trying to keep the ball and failing.

i don't follow the team behind the scenes enough to know what part Sam played in this squad construction. you're claiming he pushed to sign Downing over another striker, which, if true, does make him pretty culpable. with the finishing quality lacking in the side, i think Sam might just be over complicating the football right now. there's too much trying to play neat passing combinations and switching the play when you don't have the overall quality to score goals that way. even without Carroll, i think West Ham need to not be afraid to sit behind the ball, hoof long balls and try and play on the break.

Nick, you must be loving Mourinho's new buzz cut.

dude looks like he just had a colonoscopy after every game these days. so disheveled.

It reminds me of when he went with the same look during his first time with Chelsea and someone asked about his buzz cut. He said something like, "Look at my hair. I am ready for war."

His descent from fashion icon to this disheveled, Jack Torrence type of exhaustion is strange. I think the Madrid years took a lot out of him.

our journalists in the English-speaking world are giant sacks of shit, but the pressure and scrutiny must be immense in a country like Spain where football is literally the only thing that plebs care about.

i think Mourinho is deeply disappointed that he wasn't able to improve upon his legacy at Madrid. no tenth CL title, never won a double in three years (just got the one cup and the one league title). the perception of his immortality faded. i still think he was pretty wildly successful in his stint there, but i don't think the general public will remember it that way. to me, Mourinho's pragmatic/cynical style doesn't really suit Spanish football well at all (especially during this era) and is much more accepted in England. i think he feels much more at peace with himself and the work he does and the support of the team and fans in England. i still hate the kind of football he's been playing at Chelsea, but that's his prerogative.

the puff coat he was wearing while strolling the touchline at Upton Park did look warm, though.

The way the season is going it isn't crazy to think Chelsea could win the league. I think Mourinho would have an indifferent reaction. In fact, I think he could lead Portugal to a World Cup and in his bio he would still feel his career was a failure because of no CL title in Madrid.

As great a spectacle as the World Cup is the Champions League is the pinnacle of professional football and he expected to win one at Madrid where it is held in higher regard than anywhere else in Europe.

And I'm loving this EPL season. Not just because Liverpool look like they could be competitive and fight for a top 5-6 spot but each week there have been fun games and dudes just fighting to earn a WC spot.

Nick wrote:The way the season is going it isn't crazy to think Chelsea could win the league.

i don't think its crazy at all, i just wouldn't project it. i think Chelsea is going to struggle in the second half as other teams have their style of play pretty much figured out and Mourinho is continuing to rotate players and tactics on a weekly basis.

i still tip Manchester City to win the league because they have been the only side that has been convincing in terms of scoring goals. even though certain players like Jovetic, Navas, Dzeko, Toure, etc really haven't had the hottest start so far, they're still far above every other team in the league on attack. they can do what Manchester United did last season and just bang home goals all day and it should even out for them by the end of 38 games.

Nick wrote:In fact, I think he could lead Portugal to a World Cup and in his bio he would still feel his career was a failure because of no CL title in Madrid.

As great a spectacle as the World Cup is the Champions League is the pinnacle of professional football and he expected to win one at Madrid where it is held in higher regard than anywhere else in Europe.

totally agree with this. it would have been by far his biggest achievement yet and now he can never get it. that permanence hurts. he can never really go back to Madrid.

Nick wrote:And I'm loving this EPL season. Not just because Liverpool look like they could be competitive and fight for a top 5-6 spot but each week there have been fun games and dudes just fighting to earn a WC spot.

me too. Match of the Day yesterday was basically a highlight of my week. similarly, Arsenal cruising right now has me feeling great, but there are just a lot of interesting teams to watch. pretty much every single team in the league has at least one or two levels of intrigue. Palace and Hull are the only two teams that stick out in my mind as completely lacking in anything noteworthy, and they just played an interesting game this weekend!

Haven't really been doing anything other than watch soccer in the past few days. Currently watching West Ham @ Crystal Palace.

I don't really know much about either of these squads but this is the second Crystal Palace home match I've watched this year and I really enjoy watching their fans erupt whenever a home goal is scored.

I am quite excited for the World Cup draw.

Oh definitely. I take back what I said about my disinterest in that event. It's going to be fucking awesome.

Also, the round of 16 in the UCL is probably gonna showcase so unbelievable match-ups this year.