A Beautiful Thread for the Beautiful Game

Look, I mean it about wishing physical harm on someone. That crosses a line.

Fine. We'll see what happens on Sunday. I certainly hope no Rangers or Celtic players come to grief. That would be awful. How terrible for Hearts if we were to win the Championship due to such an event. Our victory would be so poisoned.

Seriously though, I predict 4-0 Celtic and crowd trouble. Doubt we'll see a cricket score though because I think the police will have told Celtic not to go there. It's been done before.

In the Premier League,

Manchester United 3-1 Leicester City

West Bromwich Albion 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur

Good day today, with United up 3-0 by halftime by goals from van Persie, Falcao and an own goal by Wes Morgan, and Eriksen scoring one from a free kick (again) and Kane scoring a brace (including, I believe, his first penalty, which is always nice to hear). This brings United and Spurs, at least temporarily, to third and fifth positions respectively, where they will stay if Southampton and Arsenal lose against Aston Villa and Swansea respectively (even draws will get them level on points and up with a higher goal difference).

Also, in the Bundesliga, unbelievably,

VfL Wolfsburg 4-1 FC Bayern München

Yeah, the team unbeaten in the entire first half of the Bundesliga, scoring 45 goals, and conceding 4, lost at the Volkswagen Arena by two goals each from Bas Dost and Kevin de Bruyne. Remember, Schürrle hasn't played in Wolfsburg colours yet, and Ivica Olic has left for Hamburg (good luck).

(As an aside, I hate World Class on FIFA 14 with a passion)

Dundee United came back from behind to bear Aberdeen 2-1 in SLC semi.

On the very unlikely possibility that Rangers beat Celtic, does that pretty much guarantee Ronny Deila is given the boot before the season is out?

Mibbies aye, mibbies naw, as Kenny Dalglish used to say. Celtic managers have stayed in post with shittier records.

West Brom 0 - Spurs 3

Poch said it was one of the best games we played in the season and I concur. Arcane already described the goals scored, but I have to say it's been a while since I last saw Spurs dominate their opponent so thoroughly. Unlike the last two matches, our guys did not wither away, largely thanks to some overhauled tactics for the midfield and defense. Lamela, Dembele, and Eriksen seemed much more fluid and comfortable with their passing today. Their ability to move around and work with guys like Kane and Walker helped us crack West Brom's defense wide open and I hope we can do this far more often. It's even more satisfying if you know the Baggies are now being coached by Tony Pulis, who is traditionally known for having his teams maintain a stone-cold, disciplined defense.

Granted, there were some scares from West Brom's offense thanks to Fazio's continued incompetence. Fortunately, Lloris and the rest of the defense were more than willing to step up and save our bacon with some top-shelf saves to shut out the Baggies.

It's been a while since the last Old Firm. I know most Scots outside of Glasgow must be getting tired of the league being all Celtic or Rangers, but I think that this game will make or break both of the teams. Perhaps moreso for the latter, given their recent run of financial trouble. Personally, I'll be rooting for Celtic in the Old Firm but I can understand why some might not want either team to have any more success for the time being...

edited 31st Jan '15 3:14:05 PM by sanfranman91

And after three years, the Old Firm has kicked off once again. There's no doubt that the Green and White are considered to be the favorites and the Bhoys waste no time at all by scoring in the 10th minute. Right now 1-0 Celtic.

Rangers look woeful. This could be carnage on and off the pitch.

EDIT: Commons scores. Celtic will win today, only question is by how much. Would not be surprised if we get a third goal by half time, followed by a goalless second half after police warn Celtic not to score any more, like at the 15th September 1990 derby between Hearts and Hibs.

edited 1st Feb '15 6:10:25 AM by Achaemenid

And exactly 20 minutes after the first Celtic goal, Kris Commons knocks in another one. Those Gers fans are going to be pissed with their team's terrible performance, aren't they Achaemenid?

A sidenote: The pitch in Hampden Park looks pathetic. Hard to believe Real and Leverkusen played their Champions League final there some 13 years ago given how the two teams are ripping the grass to shreds...

edited 1st Feb '15 6:07:16 AM by sanfranman91

I'm more concerned about off-field conditions than what's going on on the pitch. Domestic violence incidents in Glasgow jump 139% on OF derby day. Hope some of those wives have the good sense to go to a shelter or otherwise make themselves scarce when Billy gets home full of beer and aggression.

Dear lord, domestic abuse spikes by that much?! If you're not jesting, then I hope those who could be potential victims spend some time away from Glasgow...

Those poor Blue bastards have yet to get a single shot at goal and Celtic's running wild on them. Frankly, I'm not sure which of the three would be worst for them at this rate: going broke again, being humiliated by Celtic in the League Cup, or losing out on promotion to Hearts.

Source.

Hopefully all three! With their bigoted brothers at Celtic entering a long and painful decline without them and a new "big four" of Dundee Utd, Aberdeen, Hearts, and Motherwell emerging to contest the the SPFL.

EDIT: And less weegie wives getting battered.

edited 1st Feb '15 6:23:12 AM by Achaemenid

Arsenal 1 - 0 Aston Villa at half-time.

Giroud scored after almost losing the ball to his own poor touch after a fantastic flick-on pass from Özil. Fortunately Giroud was able to get some sort of control of the ball and flick it over Guzan. Speaking of Guzan, he's played very well so far. Villa's defenders have given Arsenal too much space to build up their attacks around the box but generally Villa's tackling in and around the box has been superb and they've managed to save Guzan a couple of times by tackling the ball away from Walcott and Özil.

Özil had a goal disallowed for an alleged offside by Cazorla; the replay clearly showed that Cazorla was well on-side. A glaring refereeing error seems to be a requirement for a referee in an Arsenal game, though, so it would've been more surprising not to have that goal disallowed.

It's nice to see Özil, Cazorla, Walcott, and Ramsey creating some build-up magic. I've waited for so long to see Özil and Walcott properly fit and playing together and now seems to be the moment. It looks like it's just a matter of time before Walcott starts scoring from those opportunities Özil creates with his through-balls.

So many appalling challenges from Rangers. They don't know how to play a clean game.

EDIT: And there's "The Billy Boys". Typical.

edited 1st Feb '15 6:46:55 AM by Achaemenid

Arsenal 2 - 0 Villa: Özil scores from a counter-attack. Assist by Giroud. The attack started from a pass intercepted by Walcott and passed immediately to the advancing Giroud.

Villa had been dominating the first 10 minutes of the second half, with Arsenal apparently willing to soak up pressure and rely on counter-attacks. This goal might kill the game or it might send Arsenal into a frenzy. Of course it could also make Arsenal complacent enough to throw it all away but currently Arsenal don't seem to have that mental frailty that plagued them for so many seasons.

Right? The game's descending into the fist-fight many Scots seemed to have missed over the last three years. And both sides clearly want their respective adversaries bleeding out on the pitch...

As for "The Billy Boys," well, it's rather shocking fans still sing that song. And as if that's not enough, quite a few English clubs have adapted that sectarian chant to suit their own clubs. Then again, Rangers fans often confuse their team as English.

edited 1st Feb '15 6:55:13 AM by sanfranman91

Walcott starts his own attack, taking the ball forward a bit before passing it to Cazorla. Walcott then goes on a run and gets the ball back from Cazorla. Simple enough to finish from the edge of the box, and Walcott doesn't fail this time as his confidence seems to have returned.

Arsenal 3 - 0 Aston Villa, with about 25 minutes to go.

Famine Song now.

EDIT: Rangers have been much better this half, in fairness to him. Griffiths off for Guidetti now. Deila's noticed the game bogging down and wants to try and break the deadlock.

edited 1st Feb '15 7:03:21 AM by Achaemenid

Why would you sing a song about starving and famine?

Can I detect the strains of "No Pope of Rome" now?

Rangers need to make substitutions if they have any interest in winning. No interest from Celtic in running up a cricket score either. What a dull-as-ditchwater second half. Almost get the sense that Rangers are happy to lose 2-0 and don't have any interest in taking risks by putting a proper attack together. Pa-the-tic. Templeton, Boyd all sitting on the bench.

Because your club died in 2012, you have no silverware or history, and its all you've got?

edited 1st Feb '15 7:15:15 AM by Achaemenid

Ah.

The final whistle blows and Celtic have comfortably won the Old Firm 2-0. It wasn't a total annihilation, but I can see that the worst is yet to come for Rangers if that's the best they could play.

Embarrassing game in more ways than one. Still hope Dundee Utd wins it.

edited 1st Feb '15 7:30:37 AM by Achaemenid

Full time: Arsenal 5 - 0 Aston Villa.

Villa haven't scored for 6 league games now, making this the worst goal drought in the club's illustrious history. Next week they'll seek to end that barren run at home - against Chelsea. I hope they succeed.

Fantastic performance from Arsenal, with 5 different goalscorers. The first goal was scored by Giroud after a fantastic flick-on by Özil. A goal by Özil from a Cazorla assist was wrongly ruled offside, so Arsenal had to wait until the second half to score again.

Özil got a grateful assist from Giroud and made it two goals in two games after his return to the starting line-up. Walcott scored next, assisted by Cazorla. Walcott also has two goals from two starts now.

The fourth goal was a penalty won by 19-year-old England under-20 international Chuba Akpom. The penalty was taken by Cazorla, who is Arsenal's primary penalty-taker now that Arteta is injured. Guzan did get his hand on the ball but only managed to deflect it into the goal: close but not close enough.

The fifth goal came in extra time, thumped into the far corner from distance by none other than Hector Bellerin, who is making a very strong claim for a regular starting spot ahead of Chambers. Akpom failed to score from a number of opportunities but it was always close so you get the feeling he'll score his first first-team goal any day now - well, assuming he gets to play, which will only be in games that are already won. Instead of Akpom it was Bellerin scoring a first Arsenal goal.

After Spurs won their game 3-0 you might think that Arsenal should be anxious about that trip to White Heart Lane but Arsenal's 5-0 has to also send a message.

Throughout the season Arsenal have been accused of being a one-man team, with Sanchez scoring 18 goals in all competitions and probably assisting about as many. These past two games prove that claim wrong: Arsenal have plenty of quality and depth in attack.

For me the biggest positive from this game was Theo Walcott. Even since he returned he's looked like he needs a bit of success to get his confidence back and now he's scored twice from two starts and he's on fire.

Walcott even participates in defence, which is something Arsenal's wide attacking midfielders have been slacking on throughout the time I've been a fan of the club. It is widely believed this change in the role of Arsenal's wide midfielders is the reason Podolski faded out of the squad: he wouldn't defend the way the likes of Alexis and Oxlade-Chamberlain do, so it was safer to leave him on the bench as an impact substitute. Walcott seems to have learned from this, as he did defend. Özil was a bit less willing to tack back but at least he did it most of the time so he seems to be expanding his role, as well.

Speaking of Özil, he was brilliant. The same could be said of Cazorla. Ramsey, unfortunately, isn't yet back to his form from last season but he's getting there. His passing was generally good and the few shots he took were from promising areas and probably would've gone in if his aim had been just a little bit better.

Koscielny and Bellerin defended brilliantly, with the latter also contributing greatly to Arsenal's attack. Monreal mirrored Bellerin's participation in attack on the other flank, but generally with short passes rather than incisive runs or crosses. This is because Bellerin was partnering with Walcott and Giroud, while Monreal had Özil and Cazorla around him. Mertesacker didn't have to do a whole lot but I don't think he made a single mistake all game so he was solid. Ospina was also very good; he wasn't called upon often but he maintained his focus and came out of the goal when it was necessary. His only mistake was touching one ball that was going wide, conceding a corner. If that's your only mistake over 90 minutes you're a reliable goalkeeper.

Giroud seems to be still improving in his target man role. His passing was spot-on and he worked very hard all game. He could easily have had more than one assist with the way the game was going by the time he was substituted.

Beautiful game.

edited 1st Feb '15 7:48:23 AM by BestOf

Another day, another post!

It's transfer deadline day. In Germany and Spain the deadline has already passed but now without event: Adre Schürrle is not a Wolfsburg player, having been sold by Chelsea for £22 million. Chelsea are rumoured to be prepared to spend more to bring in Fiorentina's Colombian winger Juan Cuadrado. Salah is set to be loaned to Fiorentina for the rest of the season as part of this transfer.

This is so Chelsea: buy a young player with loads of quality and even more potential, don't give him the playing time he deserves, loan him a couple of times and sell him. Usually they'd sell at a loss but this time they've made a small profit, assuming that Fiorentina will pay Salah's wages.

Another club did a more surprising version of this: Manchester United bought Wilfried Zaha two years ago but loaned him back to Crystal Palace as soon as the deal was done. Then he was loaned again. Now he's been sold back to Palace, presumably at a loss. This seems very short-sighted to me, and the only way this could be a good piece of business in the long run would be if United are set to buy someone even more promising for a smaller fee.

Nothing yet from Arsenal on deadline day, and frankly I don't expect there to be any news from them today. I would prefer that Arsenal buy a world-class defensive midfielder but with Coquelin's current form it won't surprise me if Wenger opts to wait until summer to get a better deal. Flamini's contract runs out after this season, as well, so there'd be a spot in the squad for a defensive midfielder then. If I was in charge of Arsenal I'd do everything in my power to secure a long-term solution for the defensive midfield position now, and simply give Flamini fewer games. Rotating the new player with Coquelin would enable both to establish a spot in the squad, so you'd have an option when one is injured or in need of a rest.

EDIT: Stoke's Robert Huth moves on loan to Leicester for the rest of the season. For me Huth is a quality centre-back and I'm surprised that Stoke think they can afford to loan him out.

edited 2nd Feb '15 10:05:17 AM by BestOf