2011/2012 English Premier League

[numbskull]

Crouch is at Stoke now. Tottenham replaced him with Adebayor.

Tottenham started well last season but faded badly.
Their problem is depth. They are OK in the midfield (although Bale is irreplaceable) but thin at attack and both Van da Vart and Defoe are injury prone.

Liverpool looks like their main competition for that fourth CL qualifying spot (with Arsenal looking a dark horse at this point). At the end of last season Liverpool was playing the best soccer in the EPL, but Carroll changes how they play (more direct and predictable) and I think it will hurt them.

The upcoming game between ManU and Liverpool (2 weeks) should be telling.

[luds]

Originally Posted by numbskull

Crouch is at Stoke now. Tottenham replaced him with Adebayor.

Tottenham started well last season but faded badly.
Their problem is depth. They are OK in the midfield (although Bale is irreplaceable) but thin at attack and both Van da Vart and Defoe are injury prone.

Liverpool looks like their main competition for that fourth CL qualifying spot (with Arsenal looking a dark horse at this point). At the end of last season Liverpool was playing the best soccer in the EPL, but Carroll changes how they play (more direct and predictable) and I think it will hurt them.

The upcoming game between ManU and Liverpool (2 weeks) should be telling.

You hit it on Spurs. I think depth was an issue last year because of the addition of all the champions leage games. Andy Carrol has spent alot of time on the bench for Liverpool and I think we will continue to see that though I do think they've put him out for some of their bigger fixtures so far.

My fantasy EPL team is in the top 1% on ESPN.com out of about 100,000 entries. That information is not useful to anyone but I enjoy bragging about it.

[mosholu]

As an Arsenal supporter I can not really see them getting into the top four this year with the shape and injuries to the current squad. Our manager has dug himself a hole that will be hard to get out of. It is early days but I would give the nod to Spurs (oh how I hated writing that) over Liverpool as they seem to be playing better and Liverpool are just not firing on all cylinders yet.

Crazy thing about this season is that the top two goal scorers from last year, Tevez and Berbatov, are uninjured and unable to find a place in their squads!

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by mosholu

As an Arsenal supporter I can not really see them getting into the top four this year with the shape and injuries to the current squad. Our manager has dug himself a hole that will be hard to get out of. It is early days but I would give the nod to Spurs (oh how I hated writing that) over Liverpool as they seem to be playing better and Liverpool are just not firing on all cylinders yet.
!

Losing Wilshere and now Sagna are big blows, but I expect Arsenal to come on strong at the end of the season and I wouldn't be surprised to see them nip Liverpool and Tottenham. I don't see Liverpool or Tottenham getting much better, but I can see Arsenal improving a lot.

[mosholu]

Originally Posted by numbskull

Losing Wilshere and now Sagna are big blows, but I expect Arsenal to come on strong at the end of the season and I wouldn't be surprised to see them nip Liverpool and Tottenham. I don't see Liverpool or Tottenham getting much better, but I can see Arsenal improving a lot.

Thanks Mr. Skull for offering some hope. You are right losing Sagna is a massive blow however hopefully Santos will be able to fill the gap.

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by luds

My fantasy EPL team is in the top 1% on ESPN.com out of about 100,000 entries. That information is not useful to anyone but I enjoy bragging about it.

Who is on it?

[luds]

Originally Posted by numbskull

Who is on it?

Friedel -Net

Smalling, Micah Richards, Lescott, Bosingwa -Defenders

Lampard, Silva, Ashley Young, Dempsey -Midfield

Rooney, Suarez- Strikers

Bench
Fabianski, Bale, Adebayor, Robert Huth

I've been a little transfer happy and have already swapped out Saha, David Luiz, and a few other players I can't think of.

Richards, Smalling, and Adebayor were really my key pickups as they were dirt cheap and allowed me to stack the rest of the line up.

We should do an s-b group for next season if there is enough interest.