Football The 2012 / 2013 Season Thread

[eksdee]

He's done a decent job, but he'll never be liked by the fans. Football fans are so often crticised for being fickle, at least we followed through with hating Benitez.

 

[Scouse]

He's done an amazing job in horrid circumstances, but he'll never be liked by fanatics. Football fans are so often crticised for being idiots - and we contributed to the empirical evidence of this by hating a winning Benitez who took us to 3rd, two semi's and won the Europa League.

Fixed

 

[Scouse]

Torres was brilliant today. Why can't he do that every game?

He doesn't really give a shit about the club, so he's got no emotional involvement. Hard to motivate yourself - but he still personally wants to win finals - so he works hard in them...

 

[CorNokZ]

I bet he wants to win the EPL too, which is probably why he switched from Liverpool to Chelsea, but you don't see him working hard in the league matches as he did in last night's final

 

[Raven]

He is working hard for a few weeks so they don't bin him. He will go back to earning 150k (or whatever) a week for punting a ball towards the corner flag in no time.

 

[Scouse]

I bet he wants to win the EPL too, which is probably why he switched from Liverpool to Chelsea, but you don't see him working hard in the league matches as he did in last night's final

Liverpool fans egged him on and he felt loved. Chelski fans barely sing for their own team. As a footballer how do you love anything other than your 200k/week there?

One-off games and Torres looks like he did at Liverpool. Over the whole season he looks disinterested. Even when he scored last night he didn't look overwhelmed by emotion. It was more "job done".

 

[Embattle]

Liverpool fans egged him on and he felt loved.

Again the typical delusion that Torres suddenly played worse by coming to Chelsea, he had been on the downward slide for a while before coming to Chelsea which is one reasons I said he was in no way worth the money they paid for him...the only relief being that with the money Liverpool got they went slightly cheaper but equally as stupid and bought Carol.

 

[eksdee]

Fixed

Don't be so willfully stupid. We were seven points behind Man Utd when he joined and that's all that needs to be said.

 

[DaGaffer]

Don't be so willfully stupid. We were seven points behind Man Utd when he joined and that's all that needs to be said.

As with everything in life, its a bit more complicated than that, but, the big question is, would Di Matteo have done a better or worse job?

 

[eksdee]

As with everything in life, its a bit more complicated than that, but, the big question is, would Di Matteo have done a better or worse job?

Most certainly true, I was just being as facetious as he was.

I don't necessarily think RDM would have done any better (or worse for that matter) but praising him as having done a "fantastic" job when we scraped to 3rd/4th place with the squad we have is idiotic. He did a decent job, and I have a lot more respect for him now than I did before he came to Chelsea.

 

[Aoami]

Beckham retires.

 

[Moriath]

About time

 

[Aoami]

Yup. Getting another contract offer from PSG... shows he is definitely past it.

 

[Aoami]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22552344

Always fucking problems with our board.

 

[eksdee]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/may/16/frank-lampard-new-chelsea-contract

 

[Scouse]

Don't be so willfully stupid. We were seven points behind Man Utd when he joined and that's all that needs to be said.

Rubbish.

Seven points when Di Matteo was sacked less than half way through the season to a little over double that with most of the season under Benitez.

So, league form was identical under Benitez (57% win percentage - which will be bettered if Chelski beat Everton this weekend (though I think Rafa's done now and Moyes'll get off on a win)).

You had a single striker - the "dysfunctional" Torres, who's scored 20+ goals for the first season since coming to Chelski, for the entire Europa League stint. He's broken up the "old boys" clique of Terry and Lampard - which no other manager has managed to do.

On top of that, two semi-finals, two finals and your first Europa League trophy in your cabinet.


All this in an atmosphere where fans were booing and bringing banners against the manager into the ground. That's not a good performance - that's an exceptional performance by anyone's standards.

 

[Raven]

Have to agree with Scouse there. He did pretty damn well in the face of fans who didn't support him or the team throughout and a dressing room run by John Terry. Plus being forced to play Torres all the time when he plainly wasn't up to it.

 

[Bodhi]

After this season I think Rafa is a good manager, sadly I don't think he's a great manager, up there with the Mourinho and Ancelottis of this world. Sure he won the Europa League, but meek surrenders in the Carling Cup and World Club cup, along with shocking results against the likes of Reading, Southampton, Qpr etc balance things out for me.

And suggestions he should give Chelsea the finger after this are plainly daft, he'd been out of work.for 2 years until we came calling, we gave him a chance to prove his skills after the debacle at Inter. He should have as much to thank us for as we have to thank him for.

 

[eksdee]

Rubbish.

Seven points when Di Matteo was sacked less than half way through the season to a little over double that with most of the season under Benitez.

So, league form was identical under Benitez (57% win percentage - which will be bettered if Chelski beat Everton this weekend (though I think Rafa's done now and Moyes'll get off on a win)).

You had a single striker - the "dysfunctional" Torres, who's scored 20+ goals for the first season since coming to Chelski, for the entire Europa League stint. He's broken up the "old boys" clique of Terry and Lampard - which no other manager has managed to do.

On top of that, two semi-finals, two finals and your first Europa League trophy in your cabinet.


All this in an atmosphere where fans were booing and bringing banners against the manager into the ground. That's not a good performance - that's an exceptional performance by anyone's standards.

As I said, Benitez has done well. By your summation of him though, you'd think he got us top four from being in a relegation position and won us the CL.

 

[Scouse]

As I said, Benitez has done well. By your summation of him though, you'd think he got us top four from being in a relegation position and won us the CL.

Excuse the pun, but each point in my summation is a verifiable FACT.


Chelski have had a great season tbfh. With very little spend you've qualified for the CL, won the EL and been on the verge of the FA & Carling cups & World Club Champs. If a handful of results had gone the other way (which may have been helped by having real quality backup and depth of squad) then you could have walked away with a clutch of trophies this season...

 

[Embattle]

I don't like the boo boys but then I don't like the Liverpool Benitez love group either.

 

[Vladamir]

Frank \o/

 

[Ch3tan]

"@evilkagawa: Torres great of striker-22 goal!
(SARCASM)
Torres 35 league game 7 goal!
Kagawa 19 league game 5 goal!

I no even striker...I play-a-maker!"

 

[Raven]

Poyet setting himself up to get fired by Chelsea I see.

 

[eksdee]

BBC deliver with the pics as ever.

 

[Billargh]

"@evilkagawa: Torres great of striker-22 goal!
(SARCASM)
Torres 35 league game 7 goal!
Kagawa 19 league game 5 goal!

I no even striker...I play-a-maker!"

That account is gold!

 

[Ch3tan]

Aye, it's been keeping me entertained on Twitter for months.

 

[Embattle]

Beckham retires.

Personally to me he semi retired when he left Man U.

 

[J s p]

Ronaldo to Chelsea. Chelsea will walk league next year.

 

[Raven]

Maureen and Ronaldo to City.

City finish second after more training ground bust ups. Fucking mercs.