Not every team can play a defensive game though. That was the thing with RB Leipzig, they play a high pressing attacking game every week, they can't just suddenly switch all their patterns of play and defend deep and hope to get a counter attacking goal, it would probably work out even worse if they did. But they are going to have to beat teams with far higher quality attacking players than Leipzig to win the CL. IMO top 4 is their only chance of being in the CL next season
Yeah, I don’t think you’re wrong. You’d be daft to bet on them beating PSG or Bayern over two legs, esp without the crowd and the three first choice centre halves out.
while they bemoan there defensive injuries their problems are in attack, their midfield and front three should be still be creating many more chances that is still 6+ players that are meant to be among the best.
Quite clearly 1. Don’t know about tactics Liverpool play and/or 2. Have never watched them much the past 3/4 seasons.
The injuries to the centre backs has meant the whole spine of the team has gone which in turn has meant the whole of the attacking play the team operates has gone with it.
With Henderson and Fabinho in the midfield, generally speaking, the ball would be won higher up the pitch which meant Firmino in particular could link play up. Added to that the left and right backs don’t know whether to stick or twist going forward as they aren’t confident in the two centre backs it’s created the perfect storm.
Yes Liverpool should have more depth in the squad but I’ve said it before, no chance do teams other than oil billionaires have the depth to cover 4 world class players and especially not all at a similar time and then expect said ‘subs’ to work in tandem.
I'm going to stick my neck out and say that West Ham are safe from relegation.
Assuming the Man U get second, I wonder if Leicester and West Ham can get 3rd and 4th? Chelsea should push them hard with their squad? Everton possibly too.
Yeah, I was thinking that as well earlier in the day, before the earlier game I though villa might be in with a shout as well, but with the Leicester win and Grealish being out for a month I expect them to start slipping back down the table now even with their games in hand. Probably only city looking guaranteed to be in the top four, united also look more than capable of going on a losing run.
Newcastle are giving us a game here
The main thing to take from this match is that Nicky Butt nowadays looks even more terrifying than he used too. And he always looked pretty ****ing scary
You wouldn’t be too surprised in a few years to see him turn up in a Netflix documentary about serial killers
Watching Arsenal let City have a leisurely kickabout for 90 minutes before was very generous of them. City knew from the off that Arsenal were never going to score so having scored in the second minute, they effectively gave themselves the night off. I don’t think Arsenal put a single tackle in for the whole game. Just backed off and watched city knock it about between themselves. Did Aubamayang even touch the ball?
The worst Arsenal side I’ve ever watched, by a country mile. Absolutely awful. I can’t believe they’re in 10th. They look like relegation fodder.
I’d love to hear what all the ‘Wenger out’ mob make of this shitshow
Can't help but think west Ham are benefiting massively from not having any fans in the stadium. As much as the club's owners compete with Mike Ashley for the crown of biggest clown in football, the West Ham fans are in general such a miserable and entitled lot that they'd have been sure to drag the team and the manager down, especially after the first two losses of the season.
If West Ham keep this up It's gong to be weird when they finally let fans in the stadium and Moyes gets treated to a standing ovation and his name gets chanted by the erstwhile naysayers. Saving them from relegation twice and, as looks possible, getting them into Europe will be quite an achievement. His transfer dealings have been pretty immaculate and he's probably added millions to the value of the squad, more then the owners deserve really.
If you want the 'West Ham way' you'd best pop up the M1 to Leeds. In the meantime it looks like irons fans will just have to put up with the Moyes method.
In the meantime it looks like irons fans will just have to put up with the Moyes method.
As a West Ham fan I'm very happy with the way Moyes is managing the club, and thought he was unfortunate to not be offered a contract extension last time round. I think most fans want to see a) some decent attacking football and b) players putting a shift in. Which is what we're getting.
I don't know a football fan that doesn't want to see 'decent attacking football', it's just some realise that their club doesn't have the spending power to be successful playing that way.
If Leeds get relegated next year playing the same style of footy they are playing this year, it won't be long before a bunch of fans (& the media) clamour for a 'new approach'.
Unless you are one of the top 6 (or Leicester... though realistically they aren't far off from taking Arsenals place in the establishment), you generally can't have consistent results & decent attacking football. Even as a top 6 club it feels like it's no longer a guarantee. Every Mourinho team in the last 10 years being case in point.
Anyway Leicester, when can we have Johnny Evans back?
If Leeds get relegated next year playing the same style of footy they are playing this year, it won’t be long before a bunch of fans (& the media) clamour for a ‘new approach’.
We get a bunch of fans demanding that every time we lose already. Just before Sam Allardyce took over WBA there were some saying we should ditch Bielsa and get him so we had an experienced Premiership manager who could shore up our defence and avoid our getting relegated.
If Leeds get relegated next year playing the same style of footy they are playing this year, it won’t be long before a bunch of fans (& the media) clamour for a ‘new approach’.
I think you're right - people have short memories and will forget just how long Leeds spent out of the top division. Though I don't think there's any incompatibility between attacking football and decent defending. A big part of West Ham's good form has been Rice and Soucek's defensive cover, and then bringing the ball forward.
We get a bunch of fans demanding that every time we lose already. Just before Sam Allardyce took over WBA there were some saying we should ditch Bielsa and get him so we had an experienced Premiership manager who could shore up our defence and avoid our getting relegated.
Very true, there are always some, mostly stirred up by the media IME. Same with sacking Ole dat 3 or 4 times since he took over as our permanent manager, when almost every fan I know was fully behind having him in for the long term. Progress is all the majority want to see, even if it's slow or frustrating at times.
I think you’re right – people have short memories and will forget just how long Leeds spent out of the top division. Though I don’t think there’s any incompatibility between attacking football and decent defending. A big part of West Ham’s good form has been Rice and Soucek’s defensive cover, and then bringing the ball forward.
Yep, I don't think they are incompatible, but it is quite unusual when building a team on a budget.
The likes of Soucek who was what, £15m odd, and bags goals as a defensive midfielder? He'd cost you £50m at the end of the season.
Like Liverpool, Leeds have missed two key defensive players (Koch & Llorente who were both signed after our promotion) for most of this season, and we have particularly missed the poise and calmness that Ben White provided in central defence last season. Essentially, 90% of the Leeds squad is the same as for the last couple of seasons in the Championship. The club, for the first time in a couple of decades, is run by someone who isn't some sort of shady spiv, and has a long-term plan for the club rather than a short-term plan for his bank balance. San Fransisco 49ers have just increased their investment to 35% of the club which should enable us to invest in more experienced (and hopefully better) players which should ensure safety for the next few seasons in the Premiership and hopefully a challenge for Europa league places or a cup win.
These Atletico players really ought to wear more padding in case they get injured falling over - all the time. Still they have the master of the dark arts as a manager.
The Leeds Southampton game tonight was an absolute belter. Say what you like about Leeds and but it’s never dull
Unless you’re from S’ampton, in which case it was a massive load of balls. And a bit worrying frankly.
Ooooft, didn’t see that Chelsea performance/win coming.
Good game, no atmosphere.
Say what you like about Leeds - we don’t care MOT ALAW 😻
Good article here from a City fan on their treatment in the media:
(I say good, it's miles too long, but he writes well)
Interesting perspective - he's clearly right on the media's attitude to City (IMHO), but he's feeling it on a perversely deep level. It sounds like he could watch prime KDB absolutely running the show for 90 mins, but it would all turn to ashes because a football sage like Paul Scholes makes a back-handed remark on Sky sports.
Another city win, will Ole manage to end their run on Sunday?
Doubt it - reckon he'll set up cautious again and try and get another 0-0. Not necessarily a bad policy v the so called big 6 if they beat everyone else, which they've in the main been doing.
I just hope it’s not as awful as the Chelski game on Sunday. That was the same as the last Derby, where it seemed like everyone had agreed to have a tedious 90 minute kickabout and take a point
Cavani is back, so we may have a bit more urgency up front. Anything but Tony Marshall, who looks completely disinterested and couldn’t hit a cows arse with a banjo this season
Talking of tedious, the last cartoon on this made me snort tea out of my nose
(Woy's guide to txting also was close)
Dear god, this is woeful. If we’re second in the league on the strength of this, it shows just how bad everyone else is
We won’t be second for long if we carry on like this. It’s shockingly bad!
City will absolutely batter us at the weekend if we play like this
Only 10 minutes left, was hoping the fog go so thick you couldn’t see the game!!
The weather is about the most interesting thing about this match
The Burnley v Leicester game before was a belter
This is spirit-crushingly tedious
The Burnley v Leicester game before was a belter
I watched the Villa as we’ve got them at the weekend, have to say the Blades deserved their win and it could be the right time to play the villains who without Greasy aren’t playing as well as they have. Good luck against City! We hardly got a kick last night.😀
Thomas Tuchel - the German Sam Alladyce
The first time in Liverpool’s history that they have lost five consecutive home games 😮
On King Kenny’s 70th birthday too
Carry on at this rate and even Thursday nights in Kazakstan will be out of reach
#Kloppout #Kennyin
It’s a good job for the scousers that they have already reached 40 points. Otherwise they’d be a few sleepless nights ahead.
Maybe they could tempt Big Sam away from West Brom to shore things up until the end of the season?
Just watching MOTD. How on earth was the Fulham goal disallowed for handball? His arm was straight down by his side, in line with his body. Absolutely insane VAR decision yet again. Mental!
I’m starting to think that Stockley Park is under the control of a Chinese betting syndicate
Football will evolve - soon the best players will have no arms.
I think that they’ll have to start hacking peoples arms off as they sign their contracts
https://twitter.com/footballjoe/status/1367557852890607618?s=21
It really does seem like the refs are just making it up as they go along at the moment
His arm was straight down by his side, in line with his body. Absolutely insane VAR decision yet again. Mental!
I can't remember what version of the rule we are on this week but at some point, if the ball went off an attackers arm, regardless of position or movement, in the build up to a goal, it's a handball and the goal is disallowed. VAR, in this case, seems roughly in line with the rule. The position of the arm/ speed of the ball/distance thing only matters if it's a defenders arm.
That Fulham handball decision was a disgrace, I thought they had ended the rule that if the ball touches an attacking players arm in the build, even if accidental, it was disallowed.
The Chelsea one was highly debatable, it looked to me like Greenwood's arm was pushing Hudson-Odoi's arm towards the ball I can see why it wasn't given. If it was a mistake it wasn't the clear and obvious error the media have depicted it as. United lost because they were awful, not because of a refereeing decision.
I don't think that VAR is the problem, it is the woeful standard of officiating currently in the English game that is the problem, even given all the tools to help them they still can't get it right or as above when they do do just don't clearly communicate why that was the case and allow a false/biased media frenzy.
THe offside rule is still irritating me the most. I thought Chelseas first should have been allowed and even after VAR i thought it was ridiculously unfair to disallow it.
As for Liverpool, i've got nothing.... as did they.
That Chelsea offside, and two offside reviews in the city vs wolves game the night before (one allowed the other disallowed) even with the lines drawn on the screen I couldn't clearly see an offside. And then you can muddy the waters even more by asking how do you know if that is the frame that captures when the ball was kicked/passed, how do you even define the "moment" a ball is kicked in terms of selecting an exact moment to analyse a freeze frame.
But I also haven't heard a good rule change to correct it yet. My suggestion would be to have the lines on screen a representative width of the on pitch markings and if there is any doubt the advantage goes to the attacking team. Any notion of what body part is or isn't offside is just moving the line of dispute mm's or cm's not the specificity.
But I also haven’t heard a good rule change to correct it yet.
That's an easy one.
No lines, no VAR, just linesmen/women.
But I also haven’t heard a good rule change to correct it yet.
You could have a margin of error, like the umpire's call in cricket. That would use the tech to identify obvious mistakes by the referee, which I thought was supposed to be the point.
Or what weeksy said.
There was that other one last night in the first game, it was being checked for a handball, which was decided no as it didn't hit him on the arm....Which i'm fine with. But was then given as a goal kick. ! But it did hit him. How the heck is that right. It's ridiculous.
I was actually glad when the Chelsea handball wasn't given, earlier in the season that was a nailed on penalty. But again for me, nah, not really.