raumdeuter:


Who are the top teams that can win the league in EPL? Arsenal Chelsea or is it Tottenham? Arsenal last won when Shevchenko was world footballer of the year and then Werder Bremen won the Buli

Since Arsenal won we have had Wolfsburg, Stuttgart and Dortmund win the Buli

The worrying part should be the constant top 4 in the EPL

Between 2005-2010 It was Man Utd, Chelsea Arsenal and Liverpool. In the last 5 yrs it was Man utd Chelsea, City and Arsenal with little changes once every blue moon


I can make a bet that at least 3 of those 4 would make top 4. Can you tell me the teams that would make top 4 in the Buli and put a bet on it?

If you can predict top 4 in a league of 20 then that league is useless

raumdeuter:


Bayern doesnt make the entire league. There are 17 other teams who are battling tooth and nail for points every week and their position are not guaranteed like Dortmund found out when they were glued to the bottom of the table or Stuttgart who are in relegation places

In EPL when would we have such stories where Man City/Arsenal would be glued to the bottom of the table after midway

Last season bayern lost more games than Chelsea who won the EPL did

Bayern lost to All top 6 teams in the Bundesliga 2-0 to Leverkusen, 4-1 to Wolfsburg, 2-0 to Mochengladbach 1-0 to Augsburg

I am saying the top 4 in EPL have no competition at all for their spots, Its almost guaranteed even before the season starts Thats as uncompetitive as it gets

raumdeuter:


I cant help you if you cant see that having a static top 4 is the exact opposite of the competitive mantra you have been shouting of

raumdeuter:

This 29yr old was the best player of your rivals, their captain and top scorer in the league.How come this your explanation doesnt cut it for those who moved from Dortmund to bayern

raumdeuter:

Who are these rival clubs?
Mumomola: Schalke, or Leverkusen are bayern rivals but Tottenham and Everton are not Manure rival?.

raumdeuter:

Anyone can see that you are just clutching at straws and not making much sense. Rio joined from leed who was a top 3 PL side, RVP joined from Arsenal, Mata joined from Chelsea, Carrick and Bernatov joined from SPurs

raumdeuter:

These are not rivals but Leverkusen who have never won the league are our rivals

pamcode:
no it isnt. Wat it means is that those four are d strongest and more consistent. Teams in buli are inconsistent that y it hard to get the top four. Besides in EPL it only the the top four you can predict. The other positions are debatable.

pamcode:
no it isnt. Wat it means is that those four are d strongest and more consistent. Teams in buli are inconsistent that y it hard to get the top four. Besides in EPL it only the the top four you can predict. The other positions are debatable.

raumdeuter:


How convenient. How come you arent using the strongest and more consistent argument in Bayerns case

Whether they are the strongest or not, The point is that the top 4 is faily constant and is against the competitive you guys always claim

If it was competitive. the top 4 should be changing every season

tess1:


In England: Top 4 in EPL is constant and always compete for the League title. They are the traditional team competing for the title. The others teams also make it more competitive by creating some kind of upsets for these top 4 teams. You can not actually predict which of the top 4 teams will win it until around late April and May when the league ends. That is real competition.

I Germany: There is no such top 4. They only have one team that people already knew will win the league which is Bayern Munich. Other teams only compete for the remaining spot for the champions league and Europe league. They don't compete with Bayern for the title.

Which is more competitive in a situation whereby four teams compete for a title and you can't predict which one will win and a situation whereby you have one big team that you already know will win the title?

Player Focus: Is Rooney Holding Manchester United Back?

There was a moment in the first half of Sunday’s drab Manchester Derby when Wayne Rooney picked up the ball on the left and drove towards the Manchester City penalty area. At the same time, Anthony Martial drifted to the flank, looking to exploit Bacary Sagna’s poor discipline after the right-back was drawn out of position to counter Rooney. In his pomp, the Manchester United would have spotted the run of his teammate early and played him in to put a cross into the box. Instead, though, Rooney delayed his pass and, as such, an opportunity was lost.



Later on as the game thankfully neared its climax - and United resorted to thumping the ball long to Marouane Fellaini to upset the City defence - the powerful Belgian was tasked with bringing others into play, maximising his aerial strength. For that to work, though, he needs a player alongside him to feed off the scraps, which should have been Rooney. However, on this such occasion, the United captain was merely trudging towards the City penalty box, 30 yards from goal.

If any match summed just how far Rooney has fallen this season, Sunday’s derby was arguably it. His WhoScored rating against City (6.18) was his lowest in a league match this season. It was a performance to forget, of that there is no doubt. Rooney mustered just one shot over the 90 minutes, played zero key passes, completed zero successful dribbles and ended the fixture with a pass success rate of just 56.7%, the second worst of all starting outfielders.

Martial’s arrival on deadline day should have provided Rooney with the necessary shot in the arm to up his performances, but instead the latter's form has remained worryingly poor. Even after Martial's superb start to life in Manchester, he has since been moved to the left to accomodate his striking teammate in attack. While this allows Ander Herrera to feature behind the striker, it’s a detriment to United’s attack to allow Rooney to lead the line at present. Of the 478 times the 30-year-old has touched the ball this season, he has done so just 33 times in the opposition penalty area, an incredibly poor return for a striker.

However, no matter how poorly Rooney has performed, Louis van Gaal is reluctant to withdraw the frontman from action. “Sir, I have to talk every week about Rooney. Why? I don’t give an opinion. You have your opinion, write it,” the United boss said in defence of his captain in Sunday's post-match press conference. It's true that Van Gaal has been forced to answer numerous questions about his captain in recent weeks, though the press are justified in their criticism given his poor form. The United boss has perhaps shot himself in the foot a little by handing the England international the armband, which has seemingly made him immune from being hauled off, despite a number of thoroughly underwhelming displays.

His WhoScored rating this term (6.87) is his worst in England’s top tier in the last seven Premier League seasons, yet it wasn’t supposed to be like this for Rooney. With Robin van Persie and Falcao exiting Old Trafford, Rooney was tasked with spearheading the United attack once more, having flirted with a central midfield role last term. It was another chance to reestablish himself as the lead striker, having done so in the 2009/10 and the 2011/12 seasons, netting a combined 53 league goals. However, a return of two league goals from the opening nine games is one that leaves a lot to be desired.

For a player returning to his preferred role, Rooney isn’t doing his utmost to turn his fortunes in front of goal around. An average of 2.1 shots per game is his lowest in the Premier League in the last seven campaigns, while he is struggling to bring others into play, averaging a lowly 1.1 key passes per game, once again his worst return. Furthermore, an average of 39.7 passes ranks bottom for him in England’s top tier as Rooney continues to flounder on the frontline.

Without scoring goals or bringing teammates into play, Rooney offers very little for United at present. His continued selection is hindering Martial and Memphis Depay’s development, with the former shunted out wide and the latter forced to contend with a place on the bench of late, albeit after an underwhelming start. Of course, the positive comes in Herrera’s deployment in a more advanced role, but the logical selection would be to have the Spaniard start behind Martial, not a laborious Rooney struggling for form.

One of United’s better showings of the season, if only after the interval - the 3-1 home win over Liverpool - came without Rooney in the team. The Manchester giants rightly harbour title aspirations and despite drawing at home this weekend, are just two points behind City. However, while Van Gaal has publicly backed Rooney this campaign, privately he must be contemplating whether to persist with his captain or not. Judging by this season’s performances though, surely it’s only a matter of time before the Dutchman’s patience wears out and he elects to drop the striker.

raumdeuter:

A league where you have a constant top 4 has already defeated the purpose of competition

If you are in a class and the first 4 position is constant then how can you say its still competitive

At least in Bundesliga only 1 spot out of 18 can be said to be constant. In EPL its 4 out of 20 thats 1/5 of the entire league

ElFenomeno1:
Depay is a Gervinho without forehead

unix4real1:
I have been a member of the this great forum since 2007 but along the line i forgot my password and and the password of the email i address i used to create the account, due to the Group Intimacy going on with Arsenal, i decided to try for the last time to see if i could get it right and say something about it, fortunately for me,it worked eventually. I`m a Man UTD fan and glad to be back here. been a guest to read comments here all these while finally comes to an end tonight. All my co Man Utd Fans, i hail una. Man UTD for life

Dadehmola:


Welcome back sah!

unix4real1:
I have been a member of the this great forum since 2007 but along the line i forgot my password and the password of the email address i used to create the account, due to the Group Intimacy going on with Arsenal, i decided to try for the last time to see if i could get it right and say something about the rape going on there, fortunately for me,it worked out eventually. I`m a Man UTD fan and glad to be back here. been here as a guest to read comments all these while finally comes to an end tonight. All my co Man Utd Fans, i hail una. Man UTD for life

tess1:


Welcome back! Welcome back!! Welcome back!!! in the voice of Mason Betha (Ma$e)

unix4real1:
I have been a member of the this great forum since 2007 but along the line i forgot my password and the password of the email address i used to create the account, due to the Group Intimacy going on with Arsenal, i decided to try for the last time to see if i could get it right and say something about the rape going on there, fortunately for me,it worked out eventually. I`m a Man UTD fan and glad to be back here. been here as a guest to read comments all these while finally comes to an end tonight. All my co Man Utd Fans, i hail una. Man UTD for life

tess1:


What are they then competing for when it is certain that a particular team will win the title then? What is the purpose of creating such league when first spot is already guaranteed?

You can't compare that to an EPL where four regular teams compete for the title. The four teams will take their chances of winning it. That means there is hope for the four teams to win the title whereas there is no hope for the other teams in Bundesliga to win the title except Bayern.

MrTA:


Welcome back. May your return bring back a return to titles wins for Man utd.

raumdeuter:


You should ask what the EPL teams are competing for when they cant even make top 4 they cant even make CL qualification because its fixed

Which top 4 compete for title? Arsenal sef dey among or which teams dey compete for this title


There is even no hope for 16 teams to make top 4 because of the league lack of competition

unix4real1:
I have been a member of the this great forum since 2007 but along the line i forgot my password and the password of the email address i used to create the account, due to the Group Intimacy going on with Arsenal, i decided to try for the last time to see if i could get it right and say something about the rape going on there, fortunately for me,it worked out eventually. I`m a Man UTD fan and glad to be back here. been here as a guest to read comments all these while finally comes to an end tonight. All my co Man Utd Fans, i hail una. Man UTD for life

parrotibaba:
A punch in the face for elf, Pataki and their cohorts