Football: 4 is Kompany

[Mexal]

8 minutes ago, MercifulChief said:

Totally loved my tour of Emirates by the way.  What a beautiful stadium. 

It really is. I love the whole area. Lived there for over 3 years and it was wonderful. Only issue with the stadium is the size and prices which contributes to a somewhat lackluster atmosphere most games.

[polishgenius]

16 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

UEFA has decided not to take any action.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/35803259

I do find it quite funny that UEFA/the FA can't take action on an incident if the referee doesn't mention it in his match report. I mean, isn't the whole point that he's missed it? It's like, they also can't do anything if he saw it but got the decision wrong or whatever, so there's really quite a narrow scope they've got in which the referee is aware, and willing to admit, that something happened but that he didn't see what it was.

[Spockydog]

Come on Leicester! 

[MisterOJ]

That was a nice finish.

 

ETA: I know back a couple months ago, the talk was that Leicester would have a hard time holding on to the likes of Vardy and Mahrez. If they actually win the league though... is that still the case? Or does that give them a better chance at keeping the team together?

[Mexal]

Great goal but Vardy was offsides. Rather they win than Tottenham so whatever.

[MercenaryChef]

1 hour ago, Spockydog said:

Come on Leicester! 

shut up, you.

[polishgenius]

36 minutes ago, MisterOJ said:

ETA: I know back a couple months ago, the talk was that Leicester would have a hard time holding on to the likes of Vardy and Mahrez. If they actually win the league though... is that still the case? Or does that give them a better chance at keeping the team together?

 

 

You'd think so - the longer this goes on, the more chance you'd think that players decide to give it at least one season of a go in the party that is going to be Leicester in the CL next year.

To be honest, it might be more on Leicester than the players. If Madrid come in with a £40mil bid for Riyad Mahrez, or Liverpool with 30mil+ for Vardy, they may well feel they'll be better off long-term re-investing that in three or four players each and putting together a squad with depth than hanging on to them in the hope that they'll get the same money next year, when they'll almost certainly struggle to reach the CL again and might crash and burn entirely.

Of course, as Spurs discovered with the Bale money there's very little guarantee of a return on that and if it's not it might not be instant, but Leicester's squad is far shallower than Spurs was then so any depth could prove benifitial in trying to compete on the CL and League fronts.

It's the thing really though- we as longtime fans are almost in no better position to speculate than you are, because I think it's fair to say that this event is entirely unique in football, and probably sport altogether. There have been unlikely league wins before, yes, but nothing like this. So we just can't know how people in and out of the club are going to react.

The closest might be when Watford in 1982-83 when they came second immediately after getting promoted, but (1) they didn't win, and (2) the money was obviously vastly different in the game then. For what it's worth though, they did lose Luther Blissett immediately after, though only for a season as he failed at Milan, and they did keep John Barnes for a few more seasons (rumour has it that Milan actually meant to buy Barnes in the first place, but, you know...).

[MercenaryChef]

we look good actually. i like what rafa has already instilled into the team. i worry greatly he was appointed too late. 

[ljkeane]

13 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

It's the thing really though- we as longtime fans are almost in no better position to speculate than you are, because I think it's fair to say that this event is entirely unique in football, and probably sport altogether. There have been unlikely league wins before, yes, but nothing like this. So we just can't know how people in and out of the club are going to react.

The closest might be when Watford in 1982-83 when they came second immediately after getting promoted, but (1) they didn't win, and (2) the money was obviously vastly different in the game then. For what it's worth though, they did lose Luther Blissett immediately after, though only for a season as he failed at Milan, and they did keep John Barnes for a few more seasons (rumour has it that Milan actually meant to buy Barnes in the first place, but, you know...).

Forest under Clough won the league the year after being promoted and followed it up with a European Cup, then retained it. That's a bit more impressive to be fair. Especially considering they were competing with a great Liverpool side whereas all the big clubs have been a bit underwhelming this year.

[polishgenius]

True (I'd forgotten that Forest won the league immediately), but the financial gap wasn't nearly so big then afaik (they  made Trevor Francis the first million-pound man shortly after, so they had money by the standards of the time), plus they had Clough, who was despite the Leeds fiasco already regarded as a great manager thanks to his achievements with Derby.

[Mexal]

Arsenal was 2 pts clear on Jan 2nd. A little over 2 months later, they're 11 pts back. Talk about an epic collapse.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Also Kaiserslautern managed to win the Bundesliga after they won the promotion in the season of 1997/98. And the league wasn't exactly weak that year.

Dortmund managed to advance to the CL semi-final. And Stuttgart (under Löw) even reached the final in the Cup Winners Cup (yes, that competition still existed back then).

So Leicster winning the EPL is a rare occasion of a total underdog winning a league, but it's not unique.

As for Leicester, they are a well built team. Somebody has done an excellent job to put that squad together. Whether those players would work equally well in a different team, with a different style is another question. Kudos to Ranieri and the scouting staff.

Edit:

It's not like Arsenal is playing a horrible Season.
 

This year they have played 29 games and and have 52 points. Last year they collected 57 points in 29 games. So basically they are basically 1 or 2 wins short in the league. Oh, and an FA cup. 

 

Leicester is simply playing a very good season. With 63 points out of 30 games. Last season Chelsea was collecting slightly more, but they are roughly on pace with what Man City played last season (pointwise). And they have the luxury to be in only one competition (the Premier League).

[Mexal]

42 minutes ago, Notone said:

Edit:

It's not like Arsenal is playing a horrible Season.
 

This year they have played 29 games and and have 52 points. Last year they collected 57 points in 29 games. So basically they are basically 1 or 2 wins short in the league. Oh, and an FA cup. 

 

Leicester is simply playing a very good season. With 63 points out of 30 games. Last season Chelsea was collecting slightly more, but they are roughly on pace with what Man City played last season (pointwise). And they have the luxury to be in only one competition (the Premier League).

Arsenal finished 12 pts behind Chelsea and 4 pts back from City last year. Not sure last year is a good barometer.

They've won 4 games in their last 14, lost 3 straight at home for first time since 2002 and have had a 13 or swing in the last two months in the table. I think all of those qualify as horrible.

Leicester has played great but have had some great luck, exactly what you need to win the title. 12 of their wins have come in one goal games and they've been incredibly lucky injury wise. Perfect storm of great play, injury luck and every other team underperforming.

[Iskaral Pust]

29 minutes ago, Mexal said:

Leicester has played great but have had some great luck, exactly what you need to win the title. 12 of their wins have come in one goal games and they've been incredibly lucky injury wise. Perfect storm of great play, injury luck and every other team underperforming.

That's my thought too.  They've had a lot of narrow wins* and very few injuries.  Their luck might hold but it looks like a perfect storm of good fortune and probably hard to build upon.

*But, in fairness, they do have the second best goal difference in the league, so it's not like Utd's last title.

[baxus]

16 hours ago, Spockydog said:

Yeah, right. In the time since Bony signed for City, Giroud has scored 38 goals, while Bony has managed 10. He looks a pale shadow of the player they signed two seasons ago, and Aguero is the only one guaranteed to get them goals. 

As I stated earlier, Bony is in a slump. There is no denying that.

Even so, he has 10 goals in 35 matches, most of which he came on as a sub. If we agree that confidence is very important for strikers, which I hope we will, it's easy to see how his goal tally would increase with more time on the pitch.

Giroud, on the other hand, has scored 39 in 78 matches last season (whole last season, compared to the part after African Nations Cup for Bony, since he did join City in January) and this one so far. That's a great ratio, but it's about the same as Bony's for Swansea (34 goals in 70 appearances) and, once again, note the difference in teammates' quality.

Bony is not performing to that standard in City that's for sure, but there is nothing to indicate he wouldn't if given an opportunity.

[baxus]

You're entitled to your opinion, but I'm not sure that a striker that takes 25 shots to score a goal (someone stated that upthread) is a 10x better player than anyone.

Giroud is definitely in better form than Bony, but if we compare their respective peaks in form, there's not that much difference.

Plus, Bony would hardly be the first player to drop significantly in form after signing for a bigger club. He'd hardly be the first one even for City.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

17 hours ago, Mexal said:

Arsenal finished 12 pts behind Chelsea and 4 pts back from City last year. Not sure last year is a good barometer.

They've won 4 games in their last 14, lost 3 straight at home for first time since 2002 and have had a 13 or swing in the last two months in the table. I think all of those qualify as horrible.

Leicester has played great but have had some great luck, exactly what you need to win the title. 12 of their wins have come in one goal games and they've been incredibly lucky injury wise. Perfect storm of great play, injury luck and every other team underperforming.

 

Injuries are parts of professional sports. An unpleasent part, but a part nonetheless.

As a gooner you should know that. And Arsenal and Wenger have enough cash lying around to make sure the squad does not lack depth. As for Leicester less games means more time for regeneration and staying fully fit, which reduces the chances of getting injured. If Leicester was seriously involved in more competitions, they would have collected more injuries. Anyway, what I initially wanted to say was this: just look at how the other supposed top teams are doing this year. 

You can now lament, that the league was easy to win this year, or you can count yourself lucky, that you are still on pace to a more or less okayish season (with CL qualifier)  and that you do not struggle as badly as United or Chelsea.  

Winning the tight one goal games is also a quality, and I would not write it off as mere luck. Same with the ability to score last minute equalizers/winners. Which Liverpool has done quite a bit this season, and which United quite often did in Fergie time.

[baxus]

I was switching between City vs Dynamo and Atletico vs PSV matches last night and either those matches were terribly boring or I managed to skip all the good parts in both of them.

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

21 hours ago, Notone said:

 

Injuries are parts of professional sports. An unpleasent part, but a part nonetheless.

As a gooner you should know that. And Arsenal and Wenger have enough cash lying around to make sure the squad does not lack depth. As for Leicester less games means more time for regeneration and staying fully fit, which reduces the chances of getting injured. If Leicester was seriously involved in more competitions, they would have collected more injuries. Anyway, what I initially wanted to say was this: just look at how the other supposed top teams are doing this year. 

You can now lament, that the league was easy to win this year, or you can count yourself lucky, that you are still on pace to a more or less okayish season (with CL qualifier)  and that you do not struggle as badly as United or Chelsea.  

Winning the tight one goal games is also a quality, and I would not write it off as mere luck. Same with the ability to score last minute equalizers/winners. Which Liverpool has done quite a bit this season, and which United quite often did in Fergie time.

Partly they win tight games not due to luck but because that is how they are set up to play. Ranieri has created a side which are very hard to break down and manage to keep a very well organised shape, which means they don't concede many these days. They also have a couple of outlets in Vardy and Mahrez which mean they will be likely to nick a goal here and there against the run of play. 

You can also point to injuries or a lack of them, but really its been a team effort that has got them this far

[Guest]

Isn't it time for Wenger to move himself upstairs and bring ina big name coach?  Rafa would have been great for Arsenal, IMHO.