This is going to be the most egregious example of modern sport spectating, the displacement of the true fanatic who build a disproportionate of their life around their chosen sport by the outsizedly wealthy who feel entitled to buy their way into any event that is in that cohort’s check list of things have been seen to have done.
It's never going to be patch on USA 94 - the tournament started when Diana Ross missed a pen & finished when Di Baggio missed a pen. A beautifully bookended world cup (& the most un-Brazilian team who won)
It's never going to be patch on USA 94 - the tournament started when Diana Ross missed a pen & finished when Di Baggio missed a pen. A beautifully bookended world cup (& the most un-Brazilian team who won)
So many of my friends both sides of the sea went to this tournament following Ireland around the US - some even came back. I was a proper Cinderella watching the matches in a student union bar.
Slot in! 😀
Is Isak still on strike? 😂
I think Wirtz may still come good - under a new manager probably! - but Newcastle have done Liverpool good and proper with Isak.
For all the 'Dyche only plays defensive football' as soon as they bought Konate off he chucked Omari Hutchinson into the mix, and only bought Yates on fir Jesus in the 86th minute.
Loving his work since the Aussie fraud got binned.
Nobody’s got their shooting boots on in this match, have they? How on earth is this still 0-0?
Well these offside checks are just getting silly now.
It was something like 5 minutes for Newcastle's 2nd goal.
But the VAR Pandora's Box has been opened and we can never go back to just a bloke with a flag.
That was about as comfortable as it gets for Arsenal. They never even broke a sweat. 6 points clear at the top, but they look unplayable on that form. Eze looked awesome. Could/should have had 4 or 5, but had to make do with just the hatrick
Champions elect. Great defence - and probably a spring in their step given Liverpool’s dramatic decline and City being a bit off it at times.
And the award for the most stupid red card you’ll ever see goes to….
And despite that Utd still couldn't find away through.
Good to see the real Utd are back.
An unwelcome return of the completely toothless United of last season. As soon as I saw he was starting Zirkzee up front I had a sinking feeling which way it was going to go
Good to see Amorim go down the Slot route of post-match excuses for a pitiful performance though …
Champions elect. Great defence - and probably a spring in their step given Liverpool’s dramatic decline and City being a bit off it at times.
They will fade away with the daffodils as per the last few seasons.
An unwelcome return of the completely toothless United of last season. As soon as I saw he was starting Zirkzee up front I had a sinking feeling which way it was going to go
Good to see Amorim go down the Slot route of post-match excuses for a pitiful performance though …
That has to be the worst excuse ever given.
Apart from anything else about it, why doesn't he have a standard plan to play against 10?
That has to be the worst excuse ever given.
Apart from anything else about it, why doesn't he have a standard plan to play against 10?
If United fans had been told in August that they would be above Liverpool after 12 games they would have been ecstatic.
Apart from anything else about it, why doesn't he have a standard plan to play against 10?
A question we were all asking ourselves as it became glaringly obvious
If United fans had been told in August that they would be above Liverpool after 12 games they would have been ecstatic.
True dat
Whether it’ll stay that way for long now we’ve reverted back to the United of last season remains to be seen
They will fade away with the daffodils as per the last few seasons.
I don't think they will this season, they are the the most complete team and operating at closest to their best. At city we have a lot further to climb to our peak as the likes of Cherki and Rijnders get up to speed with the PL, but really we need Rodri to be back at near his best to challenge for the PL title or the CL, and unfortunately I am now starting to worry that might never happen.
Slot is clearly struggling at Liverpool, he flattered to deceive last year as everything just fell into place, and this year he has a challenge to adapt that he so far shows no indication he is up to, although with that squad if it does click they should be formidable.
The gooners have had the closest to an "injury crisis" of the expected title challengers so far, and it has barely knocked them off their stride, maybe if it was the back line rather than the front line where they are well stacked the impact might be different, but no one should be relying on that to happen.
Mind you all the pundits were already to hand the title to the "winners of the transfer window" not much more than a month ago, so everything can still change.
I do wonder how much Jota's passing has affected Liverpool's team - they just seem to be in a funk, which is odd considering how they started the season.
Everyone else just when you think they're putting a run together the wheels seem to come off. I wonder if Newcastle will be able to string a few results together or if they only show up when the opposition is decent.
which is odd considering how they started the season.
Liverpool started the season winning games without playing well and looking very disorganised in defence. They now look disorganised throughout and the one summer signing that actually started well is no longer starting as Slot tries to fit Isak (he's playing exactly the same now as he did for the last 10 games at Newcastle) into the team to justify the cost of signing him, ignoring the fact they looked more of a threat with Ekitike up front
Liverpool finished last season not playing well.
They have spent a fortune and bought very unbalanced squad additions.
It seems that Isak's head has gone, he was always a confidence player and he is very injury prone. At Newcastle the whole team and system of play was designed to feed him and get the ball to him in shooting positions. Newcastle paid £60 million+ for him and a lot of people questioned it. He only scored 6 league goals in his last season at Sociedad. Maybe 24-25 was his high point?
How long will Liverpool keep Slot? They have some very winnable league games coming up, WHU, Sunderland, Leeds and Wolves. If he drops a few points will he make it to the transfer window?
I would expect them to win 3/4 of those. In theory this season's Forest should be a winnable game, & we all saw how that worked out.
Sunderland gave Arsenal a hell of game.
As defending champoions who have added to their squad - the only really tough games this season should be against the title challengers & maybe Champs league chasers. All the other games should be considered winnable.
As a Gooner with more scars of disappointment over 50-plus years of following them than I care to count I’m not getting carried away just yet. However, results over the weekend were very kind and if I may indulge in a little optimism at this point, we have a complete front line waiting to return from injury (although the barn door we bought for Jesus’s shooting practice is still unmarked I hear). All the top teams have a two games a week schedule into the New Year from here which means a lot of points to be won and lost. If momentum counts for anything, Chelsea are shaping up as the dark horses this season as Maresca now seems to have settled on a winning structure out of the squad he inherited, and it just so happens they are our next opponents; a six-pointer if ever there was one.
WTF was Pep doing last night - fielding a weakened side in the Champions League after losing to Newcastle at the weekend?
Chelsea had a shocker - winning against Barca, never saw that coming
yeah but.....obviously not the preferred outcome for Pep but the new CL format allows you to have an off/rest night at this stage. I have no idea how the Man City PL and CL fixture list looks, but as a Gooner we were discussing whether we actually need to field a first choice eleven against Bayern given where we are in the CL table and with Chelsea at the weekend. Mikel tends to work his first choices hard but given the depth of squad and some players returning from injuries the temptation to change things up must be quite high.
It seems that Isak's head has gone, he was always a confidence player and he is very injury prone.
I stand by my view that much of Isak's 'success' in the last couple of seasons is down to Eddie Howe. Without Howe's man management and willingness to build the team around him he's a fairly average player. He's not going to get the close attention and focus from Slot, and that's going to end very badly for both of them. I'd be worried about Liverpool poaching Howe once they dump Slot but apparently all the bridges have been burned between Howe and Isak and also Richard Hughes so we can probably be confident it won't happen.
it’s not just Liverpool you need to worry about though.
I’m still sticking with my prediction that Amorim will be sacked before Christmas, then the managerial merry-go-round will receive yet another spin.
I know he’d have to be mental to go to Old Trafford, but that hasn’t stopped the last few, and it’s a massive payout when you’re sacked too in 12 months time
Watched the Chelsea game last night and when they click - they are very good. Took a very good PSG side apart last season.
@dazh I agree with a lot of that post but I disagree that Isak is "fairly average". He's a very good player but he's very high maintenance.
Howe has a big decision coming up, what to do with Pope, he's made some critical saves in the last 2 games but that howler last night cost Newcastle the game. The 2nd goal was direct result of the shock of the 1st.
My impression watching highlights and games is that Isak at Newcastle did his best work playing on the break and in open games whereas playing for Liverpool he is in theory going to be up against a low block for much of his time.
As for Pope.....the first change is Ramsdale....a man relegated three times in five seasons.
Howe has a big decision coming up, what to do with Pope
Never been a fan. Preferred Dubravka TBH. There aren't many, but one of Howe's weaknesses is his unswerving loyalty to some players no matter how they perform. You can add Bruno and BDB to Pope. They're great players, but they're not undroppable, and playing them every single game is affecting their performances and blocking other players who deserve a chance.
it’s not just Liverpool you need to worry about though.
As much as I don't want to lose Howe, it would open up the opportunity to get someone else like Iraola or Glasner. Howe is great but he's not perfect. You only have to look at our away performances this season to see that. And besides everyone knows he'll be going to England after Tuchel.
Such was the enthusiastic welcome for Kane from the Arsenal fans he fell over.
You know things aren’t going well for Liverpool when West Ham away looks unwinnable! What a shocker, Slot must be due a vote of confidence soon.
The Liverpool situation has once again underlined just how difficult it is to follow a successful manager when that manager quits on their own terms. And it has also made a mockery of his supporters who proclaimed last season as a coaching success rather than the actual alternative thought that he was a very lucky man to have inherited a team (especially midfield) which Klopp had overhauled.
I watched Liverpool last night and they weren't terrible, a few silly mistakes made the difference (Van Dijk, Kerkez, Konate) but for a lot of the game they looked the better side. I don't get some of the team selection with Kerkez preferred to Robertson and Gomez not getting a look in at right back. Confidence is clearly gone in the team but in the Premier League I think you can put a lot down to the quality of the league, there's no easy wins and a bit of bad luck and poor form can really hurt. Liverpool might have won the PL last season but they hardly played fantastic football for the most part.
I think it’s a bit harsh on Slot crediting the title last year to Klopp. Klopp didn’t win it with the same squad the season before - and Slot changed the midfield by playing Gravenberch at 6, which was lauded as master stroke at the time, given Klopp didn’t even play him. He definitely tweaked things, being less gung ho than Klopp. The 84 pts jibe is a bit of a misnomer too, they still won the league by 10 points and it was won by February in reality. And the football was great - top scorers by a distance.
Seems apart from City defending the Premier League is bloody hard - and shows how good they were/are.
I’d be interested to hear how much influence Slot has had with the signings. Klopp eventually had total control which contributed to Edwards leaving, I wonder if Slot has less?
Losing Diaz has been a blow but he wanted to leave, but maybe they just have loss of Trent is even bigger? Despite not being a great defender he was integral to the system.
I think they just have to go all in with Wirtz to be honest, and play him as a 10, or a free role.
OMG no. Thought he was destined for United before Amorim’s mini revival. Iraola would be good I think. More Klopp like in intensity.
That is surely fake!! Here are the current odds. (Klopp 2nd favourite??)
As a neutral oberserver, I would love to see little Stevie G take the job. It would be hilarious, except for LFC fans. How can we make this happen?
Xabi Alonso 5/2
Jurgen Klopp 3/1
Oliver Glasner 6/1
Andoni Iraola 8/1
Simone Inzaghi 8/1
Steven Gerrard 12/1
Zinedine Zidane 16/1
Unai Emery 20/1
Fabien Hurzeler 20/1
Roberto De Zerbi 20/1
Diego Simeone 20/1
Luis Enrique 20/1
Julian Nagelsmann 20/1
Marco Silva 20/1
Xavi 20/1
Gareth Southgate 25/1
It has to be fake, but I thought I’d post it up just because it’d be hilarious!
It’d be Woy Hodgeson all over again. The scousers would go into meltdown 😂
Simeone would be fun! Dude can start a fight in an empty room. Alonso knows Wirtz well but also happens to be Real Madrid manager, although they’re only ever a few games from the sack and Vinicius is sulking already.
