the eulogising of one and lazy caricatures of the other [ no mention of tax fraud I note  in the selfless man] is, sadly, how most football chats end up

We are blessed to have two great payers who are both exceptional talents,that they are exceptional in different ways only adds to the luck we have to see them both playing at the same time.

Until very recently the home form has been very good indeed. It’s the away form that was the problem!

actually HYD, the commentator said last week (to my surprise) that we haven’t won a European tie at home for five years!  So let’s hope we scrape through with a draw!

I watched the whole of the home match v Osterund and by the end hoped we had had gone out cos we were so embarrassingly appalling!

Apologies, home form this season. Damn lies and statistics!

I used to despise Ronaldo, I’ve kind of grown to admire his utter utter arrogance.  The statues, the museums etc. Apparently he is the best at quickly working out your weakness ( as a defender not a human being, although that wouldn’t surprise me) and just exploiting  it and making a fool of you. Haha what a guy!

.

Cracking interview with Klopp on MOTD Premier League show just now. He seems like a top bloke.

Oh and well done Arsenal. I’d begun to feel sorry for their recent travails. The Europa League is their only route back into next year’s UCL and good luck to them for the rest of it.

We had the rub of the green last night . Welbz dat dive do’

Funny old dive though, I felt that the slight pull on his shoulder was enough to stop him from turning quickly and crossing.  So he went down because he knew he’d been fouled.  That’s my opinion anyway! 🙂

shame the british teams drew each other

Barcelona v Roma

Sevilla v Bayern Munich

Juventus v Real Madrid

Liverpool v Manchester City

So.. who’ll make it through to the semi’s?

Barca, Bayern, Real & City are my picks… the Sevilla/Bayern one being the hardest to call I think.

Bit of an arse – the one tie that neither team wanted. (I honestly think either side could have had a decent go at Barca, who seem to find a different gear for the UCL…City having more weapons for sure, but Liverpool have previous for knocking them out over two legs.)

English sides whittled very quickly from 5 to 1, come the semis. City should win over the two legs, it’s difficult to see beyond that but they will have the Anfield game in January in the back of their minds. Should be good though, another two games between two teams playing attractive, fast football.

Yeah it is a real shame that Liverpool and city are meeting in the quarters. I think they both had a very real chance of going through. You can never be confident of beating barca, madrid or bayern though. Madrid have been pretty poor for most of the season, but brushed aside psg without much bother. But I think that Liverpool and especially city are in the mix with those teams this year.

Should be a good couple of games though, I slightly favour man city over 2 legs if both teams are at full strength, Mendy should be back for city by then. I hope they both are at full strength and that the game doesn’t come down to injuries.

I’m a Liverpool fan but I think City will win fairly comfortably. Not only are they more consistent, they have the advantage of being able to rest players between the games. Liverpool have the small matter of a Merseyside derby between the two matches, and are battling for the 4th CL place. City will be pretty comfortable in the league, as they already are.

Never mind all that! Looks like Jose’s gone ‘Full Keegan’!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43434736

What they plan on scoring goals?

I wonder how many Arsenal fans are booking flights to Moscow. Could be…interesting…although I’m sure Vlad won’t want the embarrassment of English fans being battered (at least not before the start of the WC).

the Sevilla/Bayern one being the hardest to call I think.

Seville are not on a par with Bayern who should win easily

Juve v RM is the hardest to call

 Jose’s gone ‘Full Keegan’!!

More benitez with his list than the full keegan

It’s a sort of Keegan/Benitez crossover. I wonder if our season will now follow a similar pattern to those two.

I think City v Liverpool should be an absolute corker over 2 legs

Yeah, bit too controlled to be full Keegan. Keegan/Benitez crossover is spot on. Luv it!!!

Looks like Jose’s gone ‘Full Keegan’!!

“Whoever follows me at Utd will inherit a group of players…….”

what – and play them in a system that works to their strengths and creates a team that people want to see play.

That would be a fine ‘eritage.

Well done to the lady in East Sussex who has just won a million on Sky Sports Super Six !

Results went pretty much in Newcastle’s favour today without playing a game ..apart from the Bournmouth result ..probably the only time I have wanted Pardew to win since leaving Newcastle ..

In the Championship ..bye bye enjoy life in league 1 Mackems ..surely doomed and playing to an empty stadium at the end 🤣.

Sheesh, he’s some player that Salah fella.

Sure is – worried he’ll be playing in la liga next year?

be the year after

You’d have to think it’s likely yes. Sad as I’d find it, you can’t hate the best players for wanting big trophies.

He’s the most like Messi I’ve seen, in terms of dribbling, close control etc. Seems pretty humble, too.

Felt I had to find this thread to add my praise. What a player, what a performance.

I was also hugely impressed by the xG number – having read about it earlier this week. It takes the chances created (eg: pull back to a player on the 6 yard box, header from a corner on the front post, shot from 25 yards, etc.) , compares statistically against a massive data set of similar chances and outcomes and assigns a likelihood of that being scored.  Based on the chances created Liverpool had I think a 1.65 xG, yet scored 5.  Mainly because not only if he an amazing player, tireless worker, but he is ruthless with the chances he gets

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40699431

I’m surprised Jose hasn’t come out and taken any credit for making him the player he is today while he moulded his career at Chelsea 😁

We’ll await the time-honoured Anfield tradition

1. Say he’s not for sale at any price (already done today)

2. Player signs new contract (that’ll be sorted in the next month)

3. Player leaves next transfer window for astronomical fee

He’ll be gone to Real in the summer for 160 million+

Not a bad bit of business. He’s awesome though! Truly world class. I’ve had him as captain on my fantasy football for most of the season

Great business but the problem comes with finding the next one, the one after him etc. Admittedly VVD has helped the team massively since spending the Barca money, but £200m is only useful if you need it and can replace him.

But with that and the money you get of Bayern for Firmino you’ll be able to buy Pogba 😀

Don’t make me sad saying things like that. You’ll be throwing in Lukaku too soon!

Luke Shaw?

I could actually see Pogba fulfilling his potential under Klop (although his potential does not match the hysteria that was trumpeted before united signed him). Shaw needs to spend a couple of years at a level just below the top 5 or 6 clubs to get some match time and regain his confidence, it is a nightmare when working for a manager that undermines you.

I commented after the last manchester derby, the difference between Mourinho and Guardiola on the touchlines, Guardiola was shouting and screaming at his players, but he was telling them what they needed to do right (and he was doing the same last year when it wasn’t going so well),  Mourinho was just shouting at his players that they were idiots.

where it all comes down to is this

Name players who have developed and got better under the three managers , Klopp, Jose and Pep, and worse

Jose is the only ones who list of worse is substantially longer,[ I am not even sure the other two have made anyone worse]

I think he is Wenger mark 2 had a MO that worked  but failed to develop it as the game moved on. He is also a monumental **** and ists weird how his  press conferences are so outlandish , as his persona, and the team so dull and workmanlike.

Jose always loses the dressing room before he has inevitable hissy fit and throws his toys out of the pram, and it’s not hard to see why.

its difficult to imagine anyone reacting positively to being publicly slagged off and undermined. His enormous ego takes precidence over everything.

Mourinho is a clique manager, he treats his inner circle of players and coaches like gods (he is the chief god of course), and those outside the clique with utter disdain. British cycling did the same. And it works(ed) if those inside the clique don’t realise that not everyone is getting treated equally*. But when he attacks easy targets so publicly, like the physio at chelski and Shaw, it breaks the spell and suddenly the inner circle do realise that actually he is a **** and a bully, and they could be next. The odd thing at the moment is his clique seems to consist solely of Matic.

*The reveal can be difficult though, like life outside of sport, most successful people don’t realise how lucky they are, they put success down to their own supposed hard work, rather than the randomness of opportunity which is really the deciding factor in the majority of cases.

It’s usually the third season he really implodes isn’t it? I’ll go for November 2018 after falling behind in the title race and a few average performances in the Champions League.

At least a Jose implosion will be better to watch than  most of the season for man u. Question still stands will he ever beat Newcastle.

Anyway, I’ve asked this question a couple of times already this season, but I’ll ask it again:  who is the most valuable player in the Prem?

Ill ask again at the end of the season, as it will be interesting to see how the answers change over the course of the season.

For me Salah is now no. 1. Any disagreement with that?

Would be very hard to argue with that, but I’d put him and Kane very close at the top.