If the top teams are worse it doesn't make harder to win, it's easier to win if anything.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
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If the top teams are worse it doesn't make harder to win, it's easier to win if anything.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
Yes, it easier to debate by just saying stuff rather than attempting to back it up with reasoning or facts.
I would have thought it was pretty obvious, the top teams have performed poorly, their top players have been under par and they are dropping points all the time, it doesn't take a genius to work out they are weaker or less potent this season for some reason or other.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
Chelsea have been nowhere, Man City have been struggling and Man U are very average, these are the 3 best teams of the last 10 years.
So it remains relative. In a declining league, ALL the teams will be average, including ourselves. Which has created this level playing field we now see, so when everyone is relatively average, it becomes no easier than years past. Leicester are proving that point but bridging any gap in quality through organisation and total commitement in every game. Doing it for 22 games isn't a freak effort. Our memories also distort the past when it comes to title winners. There have been a few instances in the 'prime years' of the Premier League where the winning team have been piss poor until Jan/Feb, then go on a 10/12 game winning streak to win the title. Many would look back now and say these are classic teams but when you analyse the performance in real teams like that, you can spin a different picture.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
It's easier in a sense that you don't need to be as strong to win it, so that is to say if a top team came in they would walk it. As for previous years, there is the odd year where it has been poor, but by in large one or two teams have been head and shoulders above everyone else and have had several good runs of form during the season, I don't think we've seen any of that this season. I agree on the 2nd half of the season there's usually one team that find forms, but so far we've seen none of that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kano
Have the top teams all performed poorly? All at the same time?
There is no outstanding team we have to finish above this year but that's mostly because of very poor management at Chelsea
The other big sides aren't hugely different from where they were at this stage last year.
The difference between where teams are right now and at this stage last season is:
Chelsea -27 :haha:
Arsenal +5
City -4
Utd +3
Spurs +2
Liverpool -4
So we're doing a bit better and City are doing a bit worse, the combination of those two things means we're ahead of them rather than well behind but there hasn't been a huge shift at either club. With all their money City can't point to injuries, and early season they got off to a flier and people were declaring them Champions elect and us also-rans. We're a bit better with Cech in goal, that's clearly made a difference. Great signing by Wenger.
Winning the league would still be an achievement, you still have to be better than everyone else over 38 games.
I know you're panicing about the prospect of us winning is and so trying to diminish it ahead of time just in case but actually only Chelsea out of last year's top 6 are in a wildly different position than they were at this stage last year, and we all know who's fault that is...
Which doesn’t take into account the reality of now. No one is going to come in and take the league by storm because we are 22 games in and pattern is already set. So it remains relative that every team – including ourselves – will only be good, rather than outstanding. This is also not an odd year. Fergie won the league with a below-average Utd team because the quality in the league has been declining for 4/5 seasons to the point now where the ‘big teams’ have really lost any real sense of consistent quality. We’ve been caught under this spell that the big teams are the best and will always rise to the top, all the while importing more and more crappy, overpaid players into the league, watering down the quality. Next season we’ll see the same thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
One thing i learnt from sunday is that i won't go to stoke away again. The place is a shithole and their fans are wankers.
Thought we played ok, its a tough place for us to go and i think it was important not to lose and I was quite glad we didn't go all out for the win. losing there would have invited the doubts and the old comments of they can't hack it on a cold afternoon in stoke.
Its a horrible pitch, you could see the bumps clearly from the stands so its tricky to get a free flowing game there and without ozil too. Cech was outstanding, Iwobi was good too when he came on and Giroud unlucky with his header (but it was one hell of a save). I think a point was a fair result but i really do question how Theo wasn't given a penalty when he was hauled down to the ground. It was so obviously a foul and no attempt made to play the ball. The only doubt i have was whether initial contact was outside the box but its a free kick or a penalty.
Theo dived. But Bif had at least 3 legit claims when Shawcrap literally wrapped his arms around him and held him down when the ball was coming into the box. Astonishingly bad performance by that ref,
Really? You only learnt that on Sunday?Quote:
Originally Posted by Ollie the Optimist