Thursday, 14 September 2017

S7M5: The game's gone forwards

The attacking greats tend to take more of the plaudits - Pele, Maradonna, Cruijff et al certainly gain widespread plaudits - Maldini, Beckenbauer etc less so. (Plug here for Daniel Storey's Portrait of an Icon book with beautiful essays about loads of legends...£10 from each book goes to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation - available here )

It's obvious why - goals are the currency of the game. They're emotive in a way that a great tackle or big defensive header aren't. As Maldini said, the best defenders don't even do things that get noticed. Defensive skillsets are a connoisseur's pleasure - whilst brilliant attacking play is a much more visceral thrill.

Recently, we've had MSN, BBC and now we've got NCM a Paris and the joy of whatever you want to call Man City's attacking unit. Jesus - both exclamatory and descriptive - Aguero, Silva, de Bruyne,  Sane, Sterling...it's a multi-talented multipronged approach to unpicking any team's defensive lock.

Liverpool, in fairness, were the perfect houseguests and decided not to even close their bedroom door. I think this metaphor is done. Like Liverpool were when Mane got revenge for Patrick Battiston


If you don't think that was a straight red, no questions asked, then you need you head examined. Was Mane entitled to go for the ball - yep. Was it reckless and dangerous - yep. Not mutually exclusive. 

Brighton, Newcastle and West Ham will be happy with their first wins. Watford's good form continued, whilst Chelsea & Spurs did as expected. Man Utd weren't quite there against Stoke whilst Palace & Bournemouth's struggles continued - Frank de Boer paying with his job already, which is frankly ridiculous. Surely after only 4 games where you've hardly backed the man's methods, you have to go all in and give the guy a chance?

Anyway, that's enough chat for 1 blog...let's get statty:

This week, 24 people played
Most popular predicted result: Arsenal WIN (23/24)
Most disputed result: Brighton vs WBA (5-8-11 respectively)

Highest odds: Doron Salomon (6563/1) 
Lowest odds: Steven Daniels (2273/1)
Average odds: 4343/1
 
Best predictor: Fink Tank (8/10)
Worst predictors: Loads of you (3/10)
Average score: 4.63/10

Best predicted result: Arsenal WIN (23/24)
Worst predicted result: Stoke vs Man UTD DRAW (1/24) - well done WSC

Everyone's results:

 


To the leaderboard (>2/3 games played; this week: 3/4)


To this week's predos:

Bournemouth vs Brighton - BRIGHTON
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - CRYSTAL PALACE
Huddersfield vs Leicester - DRAW
Liverpool vs Burnley - LIVERPOOL
Newcastle vs Stoke - NEWCASTLE
Watford vs Man City - MAN CITY
WBA vs West Ham - WEST HAM
Spurs vs Swansea - SPURS
Chelsea vs Arsenal - DRAW*
Man Utd vs Everton - MAN UTD

Good luck guys

19 comments:

Steven said...

Bournemouth vs Brighton - BRIGHTON
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - DRAW
Huddersfield vs Leicester - HUDDERSFIELD
Liverpool vs Burnley - LIVERPOOL
Newcastle vs Stoke - DRAW
Watford vs Man City - MAN CITY
WBA vs West Ham - WEST BROM
Spurs vs Swansea - SPURS
Chelsea vs Arsenal - CHELSEA
Man Utd vs Everton - MAN UTD

Paddypower odds 1262/1

Tarek said...

Bournemouth vs Brighton - BOURNEMOUTH
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - CRYSTAL PALACE
Huddersfield vs Leicester - DRAW
Liverpool vs Burnley - LIVERPOOL
Newcastle vs Stoke - NEWCASTLE
Watford vs Man City - MAN CITY
WBA vs West Ham - DRAW
Spurs vs Swansea - SPURS
Chelsea vs Arsenal - DRAW
Man Utd vs Everton - MAN UTD

Nick (technically NTC now, of course) said...

Bournemouth vs Brighton - DRAW
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - CRYSTAL PALACE
Huddersfield vs Leicester - LEICESTER
Liverpool vs Burnley - LIVERPOOL
Newcastle vs Stoke - NEWCASTLE
Watford vs Man City - MAN CITY
WBA vs West Ham - WBA
Spurs vs Swansea - SPURS
Chelsea vs Arsenal - CHELSEA
Man Utd vs Everton - MAN UTD

Nick Jones said...

Bournemouth vs Brighton - Draw
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - CRYSTAL PALACE
Huddersfield vs Leicester - Leicester
Liverpool vs Burnley - LIVERPOOL
Newcastle vs Stoke - Draw
Watford vs Man City - MAN CITY
WBA vs West Ham - WBA
Spurs vs Swansea - SPURS
Chelsea vs Arsenal - Chelsea
Man Utd vs Everton - MAN UTD

Eli Daniels said...

Bournemouth vs Brighton - Bournemouth
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - Southampton
Huddersfield vs Leicester - Leicester
Liverpool vs Burnley - LIVERPOOL
Newcastle vs Stoke - DRAW
Watford vs Man City - MAN CITY
WBA vs West Ham - WEST BROM
Spurs vs Swansea - SPURS
Chelsea vs Arsenal - Draw
Man Utd vs Everton - MAN UTD

David B said...

Bournemouth vs Brighton - DRAW
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - SOUTHAMPTON
Huddersfield vs Leicester - DRAW
Liverpool vs Burnley - LIVERPOOL
Newcastle vs Stoke - NEWCASTLE
Watford vs Man City - MAN CITY
WBA vs West Ham - WBA
Spurs vs Swansea - SPURS
Chelsea vs Arsenal - CHELSEA
Man Utd vs Everton - MAN UTD

Josh said...

Bournemouth vs Brighton - BOURNEMOUTH
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - SOUTHAMPTON
Huddersfield vs Leicester - LEICESTER
Liverpool vs Burnley - LIVERPOOL
Newcastle vs Stoke - STOKE
Watford vs Man City - MAN CITY
WBA vs West Ham - WBA
Spurs vs Swansea - SPURS
Chelsea vs Arsenal - CHELSEA
Man Utd vs Everton - MAN UTD

Joni Kleiman said...

Bournemouth vs Brighton - BRIGHTON
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - DRAW
Huddersfield vs Leicester - LEICESTER
Liverpool vs Burnley - LIVERPOOL
Newcastle vs Stoke - STOKE
Watford vs Man City - MAN CITY
WBA vs West Ham - WEST HAM
Spurs vs Swansea - SPURS
Chelsea vs Arsenal - CHELSEA
Man Utd vs Everton - MAN UTD

Menachem said...

Bournemouth vs Brighton - Bournemouth
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - Draw
Huddersfield vs Leicester - Leicester
Liverpool vs Burnley - Liverpool
Newcastle vs Stoke - Draw
Watford vs Man City - Man City
WBA vs West Ham - WBA
Spurs vs Swansea - Spurs
Chelsea vs Arsenal - Chelsea
Man Utd vs Everton - Man Utd

Doron said...

Bournemouth vs Brighton - DRAW
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - DRAW
Huddersfield vs Leicester - DRAW
Liverpool vs Burnley - LIVERPOOL
Newcastle vs Stoke - DRAW
Watford vs Man City - MAN CITY
WBA vs West Ham - WBA
Spurs vs Swansea - SPURS
Chelsea vs Arsenal - DRAW
Man Utd vs Everton - MAN UTD

3249/1

Dagmar said...

Bournemouth vs Brighton - Bournemouth
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - Crystal Palace
Huddersfield vs Leicester - Leicester
Liverpool vs Burnley - Liverpool
Newcastle vs Stoke - Draw
Watford vs Man City - Man City
WBA vs West Ham - WBA
Spurs vs Swansea - Spurs
Chelsea vs Arsenal - Draw (so she hopes...)
Man Utd vs Everton - Man Utd

Joe Abbott said...

Bournemouth vs Brighton - Bournemouth
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - Crystal Palace
Huddersfield vs Leicester - Leicester
Liverpool vs Burnley - Liverpool
Newcastle vs Stoke - Draw
Watford vs Man City - Man City
WBA vs West Ham - Draw
Spurs vs Swansea - Spurs
Chelsea vs Arsenal - Chelsea
Man Utd vs Everton - Man Utd

Sam Ruback said...

Bournemouth vs Brighton - BOURNEMOUTH
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - DRAW
Huddersfield vs Leicester - DRAW
Liverpool vs Burnley - LIVERPOOL
Newcastle vs Stoke - DRAW
Watford vs Man City - MAN CITY
WBA vs West Ham - WEST HAM
Spurs vs Swansea - SPURS
Chelsea vs Arsenal - DRAW
Man Utd vs Everton - MAN UTD

Joshua Daniels said...

Bournemouth vs Brighton - Brighton
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - Palace
Huddersfield vs Leicester - Leicester
Liverpool vs Burnley - LIVERPOOL
Newcastle vs Stoke - Stoke
Watford vs Man City - MAN CITY
WBA vs West Ham - WBA
Spurs vs Swansea - SPURS
Chelsea vs Arsenal - Arsenal
Man Utd vs Everton - MAN UTD

Aron Kleiman said...

Bournemouth vs Brighton - BOURNEMOUTH
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - CRYSTAL PALACE
Huddersfield vs Leicester - LEICESTER
Liverpool vs Burnley - LIVERPOOL
Newcastle vs Stoke - NEWCASTLE
Watford vs Man City - MAN CITY
WBA vs West Ham - DRAW
Spurs vs Swansea - SPURS
Chelsea vs Arsenal - CHELSEA
Man Utd vs Everton - MAN UTD

Joshua Daniels said...

2339/1

Dgsilverman said...

Bournemouth vs Brighton - DRAW
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - CRYSTAL PALACE
Huddersfield vs Leicester - DRAW
Liverpool vs Burnley - LIVERPOOL
Newcastle vs Stoke - NEWCASTLE
Watford vs Man City - MAN CITY
WBA vs West Ham - WEST HAM
Spurs vs Swansea - SPURS
Chelsea vs Arsenal - DRAW
Man Utd vs Everton - MAN UTD

Feneley said...

AF

Bournemouth vs Brighton - DRAW
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - CRYSTAL PALACE
Huddersfield vs Leicester - LEICESTER
Liverpool vs Burnley - LIVERPOOL
Newcastle vs Stoke - NEWCASTLE
Watford vs Man City - MAN CITY
WBA vs West Ham - WEST HAM
Spurs vs Swansea - SPURS
Chelsea vs Arsenal - ARSENAL
Man Utd vs Everton - MAN UTD

AFM

Bournemouth vs Brighton - BOURNEMOUTH
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - SOUTHAMPTON
Huddersfield vs Leicester - HUDDERSFIELD
Liverpool vs Burnley - LIVERPOOL
Newcastle vs Stoke - NEWCASTLE
Watford vs Man City - MAN CITY
WBA vs West Ham - WEST HAM
Spurs vs Swansea - SPURS
Chelsea vs Arsenal - CHELSEA
Man Utd vs Everton - MAN UTD

David Dinkin said...

Bournemouth vs Brighton - Bournemouth
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - CRYSTAL PALACE
Huddersfield vs Leicester - DRAW
Liverpool vs Burnley - LIVERPOOL
Newcastle vs Stoke - draw
Watford vs Man City - MAN CITY
WBA vs West Ham - WEST Brom
Spurs vs Swansea - SPURS
Chelsea vs Arsenal - chelsea
Man Utd vs Everton - MAN UTD