Beren Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 As someone who has always placed a lot of emphasis on performance and style rather than merely just results, I was very pleased with not just our victory yesterday but our whole season. I'm a very happy fan when I see us knocking the ball about as we did after the first goal and looking like a side worthy to be competing for a European spot - and a team which other fans (perhaps somewhat begrudgingly) acknowledge to be worthy of representing some of the best footballing play in the league. In parts of the season we've relied on a lot of diagonal balls to Carroll for goals, but even then we've still played some nice triangles and been able to advance up the pitch in that way - with Barton, Nolan, Enrique and Tiote being particularly influential in some of that link-up play. We can definitely implement a healthy mix of short and long balls, basically. When Hughton left, I was worried Pardew would dismantle the style of play we had and place a greater stress on results - but to his credit we still pass the ball around quite nicely at times. It's difficult to be impartial, but where would you place us in the league for footballing style? I've been mightily unimpressed by a lot of the sides I've watched this season, but here is my prototype table for most attractive footballing sides this season ( - judging each side in their pomp, I suppose, but can't be one game like!). 1. Arsenal 2. Blackpool ... 17. Liverpool (duller than ditchwater IMO - actually one of the most boring teams to watch, I don't know what it is about them, but for me personally... ) 18. Birmingham 19. Blackburn 20. Stoke Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ketsbaia Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Not many stand out as playing attractive football, unfortunately. Bolton and West Brom have had their moments though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginola Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 1. Arsenal 2. Chelsea 3. Man Utd 4. Blackpool 5. WBA 6. Spurs 7. Newcastle 8. Man City 9. Bolton 10. Everton 11. Villa 12. Sunderland 13. Wigan 14. West Ham 15. Liverpool 16. Fulham 17. Wolves 18. Birmingham 19. Blackburn 20. Stoke Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punk77 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Totally disagree with Chelsea, Ginola14. They're entertaining when they meet the inferior physical teams that are not able to cope with brutes like Drogba. But look at their midfield, they have no one with pace or able to hit that magical pass. When they up against teams that match their defensive and physical qualities, you see the real Chelsea: no movement at all, everybody is standing a couple of feet from each other not interested in taking a run at all.. The two games against L.Pool and Fulham are good examples of this, and that's why they''re not getting the results. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beren Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 1. Arsenal 2. Chelsea 3. Man Utd 4. Blackpool 5. WBA 6. Spurs 7. Newcastle 8. Man City 9. Bolton 10. Everton 11. Villa 12. Sunderland 13. Wigan 14. West Ham 15. Liverpool 16. Fulham 17. Wolves 18. Birmingham 19. Blackburn 20. Stoke Good on you for having a go Lots I agree with in there. Gonna have a crack at a full one myself now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginola Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 If it was based over the course of the whole season then I wouldn't have had them up there, but the OP said judging each side in their pomp. At the start of the season they were incredible to watch. I can see where you're coming from though, at the moment they are pretty dull and lifeless. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LRD Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I love the Newcastle of this season. Never seems to give up despite falling behind (well, almost always). And plenty of unpredictably crazy scorelines to go with the performances. Agree with Liverpool being down there. Watched them on a couple of occasions when Newcastle was not playing and they made a good sedative then. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPERTOON Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 In terms of most entertaining matches we would be right up there. Style wise Arsenal and Spurs are the top two. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beren Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 1. Arsenal 2. Blackpool 3. Man Utd 4. Tottenham 5. Newcastle 6. Sunderland 7. Bolton (for early season form) 8. Chelsea (very effective earlier in the season without ever being pleasing on the eye, personally) 9. West Brom 10. Man City (as low as this for Milner, Barry... as high as this for Tevez, Silva) 11. Aston Villa 12. Everton (should perhaps be higher with Coleman and Baines, but it's difficult to fully appreciate their football with so little end product) 13. Wolves (as high as this for the way they've played against the big sides, otherwise much lower) 14. Fulham 15. West Ham 16. Wigan 17. Liverpool 18. Birmingham 19. Blackburn 20. Stoke Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ObiChrisKenobi Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 1. Arsenal 2. Blackpool 3. WBA 4. Spurs 5. Bolton 6. Sunderland 7. Newcastle 8. Man U 9. Chelsea 10. Wigan 11. Everton 12. Villa 13. West Ham 14. Man City 15. Liverpool 16. Fulham 17. Wolves 18. Birmingham 19. Blackburn 20. Stoke Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I'm not sure we're really that stylish. At times we play nice stuff but we've also been guilty of some long-ball football, especially when Carroll was playing. I like the way our style is heading, and the league isn't exactly full of great sides, but difficult to rate us very high up the style table right now IMO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ObiChrisKenobi Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I think we're utter shite at times, but we've had some exciting games (though even those didn't really divert from the 20-30 yard hoof ball strategy). I was just being biased. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 blackpool placed far too high. entertaining, certainly by throwing blokes forward wildly, but hardly stylish. football wise they aren't particularly good to watch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
summerof69 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 1. Arsenal 2. Blackpool 3. Tottenham 4. Man U 5 West Brom 6. Bolton 7. Newcastle 8. Chelsea 9. Sunderland 10. Wigan 11. West Ham 12. Aston Villa 13. Everton 14. Man City 15. Liverpool 16. Fulham 17. Wolves 18. Birmingham 19. Stoke 20. Blackburn Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginola Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 If nothing else, we've established Birmingham, Blackburn and Stoke are all terrible to watch Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cronky Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 We've had some exciting games, but I wouldn't say we're one of the more entertaining sides. We've relied a lot on long balls, crosses and set pieces. I haven't seen much sign of Arsenal-style creativity in playing the ball through the midfield. We've not been lucky with injuries, particularly now, when our style of play is dictated by the players available. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 We've had some exciting games, but I wouldn't say we're one of the more entertaining sides. We've relied a lot on long balls, crosses and set pieces. I haven't seen much sign of Arsenal-style creativity in playing the ball through the midfield. We've not been lucky with injuries, particularly now, when our style of play is dictated by the players available. we did, especially in the spell after halloween. however we have since gone on to dominate games in the way we did at everton. not that i put much store by opta stats and such but i'd like to see if many teams have a higher pass ammount and completion rate compared to ours. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinmk Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Quite difficult. 1. Spurs 2. Manu 3. Blackpool 4. Arsenal 5. Bolton 6. Chelsea 7. Newcastle United 8. Wigan 9. West Brom 10. Sunderland 11. Liverpool 12. Fulham 13. Villa 14. West Ham 15. Man City 16. Everton 17. Wolves 18. Birmingham 19. Blackburn 20. Stoke Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David28 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Love the way Arsenal, Spurs and Man U play. Haven't seen too much of Blackpool tbh to quite rate their style. Hate to see Stoke, Blackburn, Birmingham and also City. Liverpool are quite shit to watch as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Enjoying Bolton's progress in style, nice to see how you can improve when Big Sam is no more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Idiot Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I'll do a La Liga one, just because I haven't watched enough of a lot of teams to judge, particularly I have yet to see Blackpool play for example and I'll gouge my eyeballs before watching more than 20 minutes of a game involving Stoke. 1. FC Barcelona 2. Real Madrid (not flowing football, but just too many great players) 3. Villarreal (spells of utter brilliance, but unconsistant) 4. Getafe (Míchel will manage Real Madrid when Mou leaves, written on the stars) 5. Valencia (still think they could do much better with what they have) 6. Real Sociedad 7. Sevilla (bad version of a counterattacking side, but still have some players worth to watch) 8. Athletic (most direct side in Spain, which makes for a nice change) 9. Almería (too gung-ho for their own good, but when it works it works) 10. Málaga 11. Atlético 12. Sporting 13. Mallorca 14. Zaragoza 15. Hércules 16. Espanyol (dour but effective) 17. Levante 18. Racing 19. Deportivo (f***ing s***) 20. Osasuna (criminal given they have some decent players there) EDIT: Re-added Bilbao Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I'll do a La Liga one, just because I haven't watched enough of a lot of teams to judge, particularly I have yet to see Blackpool play for example and I'll gouge my eyeballs before watching more than 20 minutes of a game involving Stoke. 1. FC Barcelona 2. Real Madrid (not flowing football, but just too many great players) 3. Villarreal (spells of utter brilliance, but unconsistant) 4. Getafe (Míchel will manage Real Madrid when Mou leaves, written on the stars) 5. Valencia (still think they could do much better with what they have) 6. Real Sociedad 7. Sevilla (bad version of a counterattacking side, but still have some players worth to watch) 8. Almería (too gung-ho for their own good, but when it works it works) 9. Málaga 10. Atlético 11. Sporting 12. Mallorca 13. Zaragoza 14. Hércules 15. Espanyol (dour but effective) 16. Levante 17. Zaragoza 18. Racing 19. Deportivo 20. Osasuna No Bilbao? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdckelly Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 1 Arsenal 2 Blackpool 3 Spurs 4 WBA 5 Bolton 6 Man U 7 Chelsea 8 Wigan 9 Villa 10 Newcastle 11 Sunderland 12 West Ham 13 Everton 14 Man City 15 Fulham 16 Wolves 17 Liverpool 18 Blackburn 19 Birmingham 20 Stoke Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginola Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I'll do a La Liga one, just because I haven't watched enough of a lot of teams to judge, particularly I have yet to see Blackpool play for example and I'll gouge my eyeballs before watching more than 20 minutes of a game involving Stoke. 1. FC Barcelona 2. Real Madrid (not flowing football, but just too many great players) 3. Villarreal (spells of utter brilliance, but unconsistant) 4. Getafe (Míchel will manage Real Madrid when Mou leaves, written on the stars) 5. Valencia (still think they could do much better with what they have) 6. Real Sociedad 7. Sevilla (bad version of a counterattacking side, but still have some players worth to watch) 8. Almería (too gung-ho for their own good, but when it works it works) 9. Málaga 10. Atlético 11. Sporting 12. Mallorca 13. Zaragoza 14. Hércules 15. Espanyol (dour but effective) 16. Levante 17. Zaragoza 18. Racing 19. Deportivo 20. Osasuna No Bilbao? Zaragoza in at 13 and 17. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Idiot Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I'll do a La Liga one, just because I haven't watched enough of a lot of teams to judge, particularly I have yet to see Blackpool play for example and I'll gouge my eyeballs before watching more than 20 minutes of a game involving Stoke. 1. FC Barcelona 2. Real Madrid (not flowing football, but just too many great players) 3. Villarreal (spells of utter brilliance, but unconsistant) 4. Getafe (Míchel will manage Real Madrid when Mou leaves, written on the stars) 5. Valencia (still think they could do much better with what they have) 6. Real Sociedad 7. Sevilla (bad version of a counterattacking side, but still have some players worth to watch) 8. Almería (too gung-ho for their own good, but when it works it works) 9. Málaga 10. Atlético 11. Sporting 12. Mallorca 13. Zaragoza 14. Hércules 15. Espanyol (dour but effective) 16. Levante 17. Zaragoza 18. Racing 19. Deportivo 20. Osasuna No Bilbao? D'uh I had them but lost them when shuffled some teams around. I'd put them 8th. Most direct side in Spain, which makes for a nice change of pace, particularly since they have great players to put that style to work (Llorente is the best target man we have produced since Isma Urzáiz, and is probably three times the footballer). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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