Martial law - armchair weekend football

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

First time the defending champions have lost 3 of their first 5 games since Blackburn in 1995, I think.

[shackleford]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

Jah Womble wrote: Hat-trick for Naismith. Costing me fantasy league points, but, frankly, who cares?

Great goals too. Can we get him back in the Scotland team now, please?

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

Dann appears to have broken sergio Aguero. Yaya Toure just tried to kill someone, and as it was his fifth or sixth foul he got booked, leading to a hilarious Silver hair off between the two managers on the sideline. Pardew has to know that he's not going to beat Manuel's Magnificent Mane.

[Borracho]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

Rogin the Armchair Fan wrote: First time the defending champions have lost 3 of their first games since Blackburn in 1995, I think.

To put it in some more context, it's worse than the start Moyes made at Man Utd.

Chelsea have now conceded more goals than anyone in the division.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

That should have read "lost 3 of their first 5 games", d'oh.

Has Mourinho forgotten where the bus is parked?

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

News from the Emirates good so far for Chelsea: their relegation rivals Stoke are losing.

[dalliance]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

I feel as if I'm the only one not to be going too overboard on Man City at the moment. Sure, they are playing very well with place, flair and intensity but their problem over the past few seasons has been the troughs rather than the peaks.

When they have had those days when they can't find their fluency the drop off in standards has been enormous - horrible, feeble defeats in the sort of games mentally stronger teams might grind out a draw from. Of course that might have changed this season but let's reserve judgement until we see how they react to setbacks.

It's a shame they have started so well though otherwise we would have a full house of what we would term the big six clubs all looking decidedly modest so far. It's certainly looking a more egalitarian division this year and will be all the better for it.

[dalliance]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

Chelsea's start has been an eye-opener though hasn't it. Mourinho has been typical of managers at that sort of level in bemoaning the lack of new players coming in, players who are seen as essential for improvement, whether in outright quality of overall squad depth, to match the attempts at improvement made elsewhere.

But the perpetual desire for improvement imagines you are starting from a fixed base where your existing players perform at a similar level to the season before. There's no other top flight club at the moment who have mysteriously seen the form of so many players fall off a cliff. Terry might have been predicted because of his age but the rest are a surprise.

So the absence of new players would have been welcome, if only to offset the regression rather than necessarily effect an overall improvement.

To paraphrase: good football teams are like sharks that need to constantly move forward or they'll die. Chelsea currently resemble a dead shark.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

rooney out with a hamstring injury, so Fellaini at no. 9 and herrera at no.10. This should be interesting to say the least.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

Who's in goal?

[dalliance]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

With Fellaini at centre forward the DJ will be broadcasting an air raid siren on the PA rather than music. Hatches will also need battening.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

who do you think Rogin?

[Calvert]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

It's a legitimate question.
What with Van Gaal being a mad old fuck and whatnot

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

what a miss by Navas. it takes genius to miss from there.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

Calvert wrote: It's a legitimate question.
What with Van Gaal being a mad old fuck and whatnot

van gaal is nowhere near as mad as people make out. His falling out with De Gea probably went something along the lines of

LVG: "You're off to Real Madrid, so lets not get you injured, or have every cunt in the media making a mountain out of every molehill if you're playing."
DDG: "Thanks boss."

[Calvert]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

Yes, that's probably why De Gea declared himself 'bewildered' at LVG's decision to drop him.

[Jah Womble]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

van gaal is nowhere near as mad as people make out.

I agree, he's way madder.

My fantasy team suffering big-time today. How long will Aguero be out, I wonder..?

[Jah Womble]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

So much for Ronaldo's 'goal crisis' - he's so far bagged five today at Espanyol.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

Regardless of the result of the Sunderland - Spurs fixture tomorrow, one or the other of them has to leapfrog Chelsea in the table, leaving Chelsea in 17th. Then, if Newcastle can get an away win against West Ham on Monday (admittedly pretty unlikely) Mourinho will be in the RELEGATION ZONE.

Best start to a Premier League season ever! Even better than 2 years ago, because the schadenfreude we could enjoy at Man U that year was a little spoilt by the struggling manager being that nice Mr Moyes rather than Fergie.

[garcia]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

liverpool laughable so far at old trafford - the chief element of the game plan appears to be to keep giving the ball away just outside their own box. i can tolerate them being shit but they are being shit in a particularly stupid way today, playing in a way that maximises their vulnerabilities.

[ale]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

Evariste Euler Gauss wrote: Regardless of the result of the Sunderland - Spurs fixture tomorrow, one or the other of them has to leapfrog Chelsea in the table, leaving Chelsea in 17th. Then, if Newcastle can get an away win against West Ham on Monday (admittedly pretty unlikely) Mourinho will be in the RELEGATION ZONE.

Best start to a Premier League season ever! Even better than 2 years ago, because the schadenfreude we could enjoy at Man U that year was a little spoilt by the struggling manager being that nice Mr Moyes rather than Fergie.

Given West Ham have lost both home games to Bournemouth & Leicester & we have got a point from trips to Swansea & Man Utd why is an away win so unlikely?

[Jah Womble]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

Neither of these sides is even close to living up to the perpetual hype they receive on OTF...

[Toby Gymshorts]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

Fucking hell that was dismal. Might just sack it off and look for excitement* in Greenwich Co-Op.

*Salad

[dalliance]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

A half with enough sterile Man United possession to give Berbaslug a semi and render the rest of us semi conscious. Liverpool have enough attacking pace to theoretically give this suspect United defence problems, but they are meekly allowing themselves to be ushered down blind corridors.

Poor fayre.

[Mr Beast]

Martial law - armchair weekend football

garcia wrote: liverpool laughable so far at old trafford - the chief element of the game plan appears to be to keep giving the ball away just outside their own box. i can tolerate them being shit but they are being shit in a particularly stupid way today, playing in a way that maximises their vulnerabilities.

Lucky for Liverpool that the opposition are still driving to the promised land. In reverse.