EPL Week 8 Thread. | Syracusefan.com

EPL Week 8 Thread.

SUfaninAZ

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Newcastle vs. Liverpool
Arsenal vs. Norwich
Chelsea vs. Cardiff City
Everton vs. Hull City
Man Utd. vs. Southampton
Stoke City vs. West Brom
Swansea vs. Sunderland
West Ham vs. Man City

Aston Villa vs. Tottenham

Crystal Palace vs. Fulham

Games start the 19th... commence discussion.
 
Gus Poyet named Sunderland manager. Plays a 4-3-3. Our Yank Jozy Altidore will compete with Fletcher for the lone striker spot. JA needs to win that battle. Hope his experience in the Dutch league benefits him.

Kind of a blah week of fixtures.
 
Starting OT but how stacked is the Belgian roster? Imagine when they get Benteke back as well.

Newcastle game feels like one Liverpool should win, but on the road this is a big one to get all 3 points. Also curious to see what Southampton can do @ Trashford vs a mid table squad, if West Ham can hold up at home and frusterate City once again, and if that Villa/Tottenham match is the one that gets the Spurs rolling or if Villa will show to be the real deal and give them serious issues.
 
Starting OT but how stacked is the Belgian roster? Imagine when they get Benteke back as well.

Newcastle game feels like one Liverpool should win, but on the road this is a big one to get all 3 points. Also curious to see what Southampton can do @ Trashford vs a mid table squad, if West Ham can hold up at home and frusterate City once again, and if that Villa/Tottenham match is the one that gets the Spurs rolling or if Villa will show to be the real deal and give them serious issues.

just looking straight up and down on talent- the only other countries that can match the belgians are Spain/Germany from my angle. Clearly both of those national teams are more seasoned with better chemistry. Argentina and Brazil have talent as well. Next year's WC should be fun with a stout US team and some other squads like the Belgians who can make things interesting.


Back to the BPL-

Newcastle is a tough call. Remy is playing really well for them though and Mignolet is probably going to have to be superman once again.

Southhampton has been solid so far- could see them getting at least the point - but Man U is hard to gauge yet...

Both spurs/villa have been underwhelming so far so that one will definitely be interesting.

Also - should be a good day for any Arsenal fantasy players against Norwich.
 
Gus Poyet named Sunderland manager. Plays a 4-3-3. Our Yank Jozy Altidore will compete with Fletcher for the lone striker spot. JA needs to win that battle. Hope his experience in the Dutch league benefits him.

Kind of a blah week of fixtures.

He def should win it. Fletcher has been around and is a hard worker and thus makes things happen by scrapping up top. Given the team's lack of chemistry - Fletcher being the familiar face and the scrappy underdog migh work against JA.
 
Newcastle is a tough call. Remy is playing really well for them though and Mignolet is probably going to have to be superman once again.

Southhampton has been solid so far- could see them getting at least the point - but Man U is hard to gauge yet...

Both spurs/villa have been underwhelming so far so that one will definitely be interesting.

Also - should be a good day for any Arsenal fantasy players against Norwich.

St James park is never a fun road venue but I think our midfield will be strong enough to deny Remy much to work with.

Spurs have been underwhelming vs projections but still have played reasonably well sans scoring. I wouldn't say Villa have underperformed given the F you schedule they opened with and now their top striker being injured. I think Lambert is doing quite a job given what he walked into there and the current circumstances.
 
St James park is never a fun road venue but I think our midfield will be strong enough to deny Remy much to work with.

Spurs have been underwhelming vs projections but still have played reasonably well sans scoring. I wouldn't say Villa have underperformed given the F you schedule they opened with and now their top striker being injured. I think Lambert is doing quite a job given what he walked into there and the current circumstances.

spoken like a true biased fan:p.. I don't disagree though it will not be easy for them to get good service to him in the box.
 
spoken like a true biased fan:p.. I don't disagree though it will not be easy for them to get good service to him in the box.

Will be interesting to see what he does vs our backline of 3 central defenders. Typicallly Newcastle gives us issue when building through their midfield but Ben Arfa and Cabaye have yet to look too terribly interested this season. If they come out ready to play, we'll have plenty more to worry about.
 
Starting OT but how stacked is the Belgian roster? Imagine when they get Benteke back as well.

Newcastle game feels like one Liverpool should win, but on the road this is a big one to get all 3 points. Also curious to see what Southampton can do @ Trashford vs a mid table squad, if West Ham can hold up at home and frusterate City once again, and if that Villa/Tottenham match is the one that gets the Spurs rolling or if Villa will show to be the real deal and give them serious issues.

I realized their talent in the middle of last year when Benteke, Hazard, Vertonghen, Lukaku, etc burst into the EPL. Love their offense but defense and tournament experience will be the questions. Kompany is great but tends to get nicked up often. Verto usually has to play at LB. Lack of good fullbacks hurt their width sometimes.

Personally I see them going to the quarterfinals but I could definitely see some issues sprout up for them.
 
Newcastle vs. Liverpool
Arsenal vs. Norwich
Chelsea vs. Cardiff City
Everton vs. Hull City
Man Utd. vs. Southampton
Stoke City vs. West Brom
Swansea vs. Sunderland
West Ham vs. Man City

Aston Villa vs. Tottenham

Crystal Palace vs. Fulham

Games start the 19th... commence discussion.


United with probably the toughest game among the challengers. I look at the goal leaders and I ask myself, "What if Chelsea had kept Lukaku and Sturridge?" Ten more goals and we wouldn't be talking about unsuccessful retreads up front. Chelsea needs to risk playing more of the younger players. DeBruyne is an outstanding player and can't taste a game right now. Mourinho needs to rotate these guys more, or else Lampard or Terry or Cole is going to break down. Cole already injured, of course, but you have to use the whole squad. I understand that Mourinho wants to instill winning character early on, but you have to make these guys all feel part of it.

Big match on Tuesday in Champions League, away to Schalke. They really need the road win if they are to have any hope of winning the group. Schalke has some real talent on the roster, but are having a terrible start to their domestic season. Must win, in my mind, and would bring Chelsea even at the top of the group.
 
Gus Poyet named Sunderland manager. Plays a 4-3-3. Our Yank Jozy Altidore will compete with Fletcher for the lone striker spot. JA needs to win that battle. Hope his experience in the Dutch league benefits him.

Kind of a blah week of fixtures.

Looking forward to seeing Gus' impact on Sunderland. He took a long ball hoofing team in League One Brighton and in his first full season got them in the Championship playing a possession based game the League hadn't seen since Roberto Martinez's Swansea.

Too bad for Altidore that Fletcher appears to be healthy for this weekend but will probably only make a sub appearance. Do you see him using a 4-4-2 to accommodate when both are fit?
 
Looking forward to seeing Gus' impact on Sunderland. He took a long ball hoofing team in League One Brighton and in his first full season got them in the Championship playing a possession based game the League hadn't seen since Roberto Martinez's Swansea.

Too bad for Altidore that Fletcher appears to be healthy for this weekend but will probably only make a sub appearance. Do you see him using a 4-4-2 to accommodate when both are fit?

I don't know how rigid Poyet's tactics are. But lets be serious, if Jozy Altidore is truly an EPL quality CF he can beat out Fletcher in training for the position. Klinsmann gave him the captains armband for the Panama match and I see it as a signal of his maturity. He's got the physique to match the center backs, I just think he's been frustrated with combination play and support. Hopefully Poyet can get these guys going. Tyne-Wear Derby coming up soon.
 
I don't know how rigid Poyet's tactics are. But lets be serious, if Jozy Altidore is truly an EPL quality CF he can beat out Fletcher in training for the position. Klinsmann gave him the captains armband for the Panama match and I see it as a signal of his maturity. He's got the physique to match the center backs, I just think he's been frustrated with combination play and support. Hopefully Poyet can get these guys going. Tyne-Wear Derby coming up soon.

Can y'all fill me in on the strengths and weaknesses of Altidore's game? Maybe a player to compare him to? I don't follow the US Nationals much aside from catching the games when they are not on BeIn. I rate Fletcher pretty highly in terms of Center Forwards although he always seems to be injured. He has an incredible first touch for a CF and had an unreal conversion rate last season before his injury, though he does seem to rely on service from outside the box, which might not be too forthcoming from a possession based team. Due to his first touch he's also a solid hold up player.
 
Can y'all fill me in on the strengths and weaknesses of Altidore's game? Maybe a player to compare him to? I don't follow the US Nationals much aside from catching the games when they are not on BeIn. I rate Fletcher pretty highly in terms of Center Forwards although he always seems to be injured. He has an incredible first touch for a CF and had an unreal conversion rate last season before his injury, though he does seem to rely on service from outside the box, which might not be too forthcoming from a possession based team. Due to his first touch he's also a solid hold up player.


You might say he has a Kenwyne Jones kind of game.
 
Curious what our squad will look like tomorrow. Johnson, Cissokho, and Allen back gives us a plethora of options at the back, Coutinho not quite back and Aspas now out injured makes us equally as thin up front. Curious if Moses, Alberto, or Sterling can slot in up front if needed. Presume Moses will be starting and Sterling will be on the bench.
 
Noticing opposing teams prefer to shoot at Mignolet from distance with some success. Curious if anyone is watching, specifically thoughts on the Red card.
 
Didn't think you would get another/better chance than when Suarez hit the bar. But his free kick was quality, just a good save.

I'm at work so following the games via sky, espn, gettyfooty, etc. Same result as last game after international break where we had to travel to Swansea with an identical result.
 

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