Featured: That was the week that was (Nov 3-9 2018)

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Saturday Nov 3: 

 

Arsenal 1 L 1 Any time you avoid defeat at any of the ‘big six’ clubs you’ve done alright. Wins are fantastic but the onus is more on the home side to win these games, so a point away is never a bad thing, particularly when that opponent has been on a great run and is in good form. It’s weird then that so many of us were left disappointed, some with the result, some with the performance and some with both. 

 

It’s partly because City are so relentless that anything other than a win feels like it will prove costly, but for me personally it’s not so much the result that disappointed me, it was more how we played. Arsenal aren’t the wide open mess they have been in recent seasons by any means (they were decent I thought), but the way they play still seems tailor made for us to exploit. They leave space behind the full backs and they defend high up the pitch. I expect us to murder teams who play like that so when it doesn’t happen it’s frustrating.

 

We had plenty of chances but most of them fell to Van Dijk and he didn’t take any of them. Milner took the one that came his way, but where were the front three? It’s doing my head in now, I keep expecting them to play like they did last season but it’s not happening. The defence were great and I didn’t have any real complaint about the Arsenal goal as it was just brilliant finishing from Lacazette. Fair play to him.

 

Of course we were a little unlucky with Sadio’s ‘offside’ goal that was ruled out. Apparently that was onside, which shows you just how completely fucking stupid the law is these days. Bit galling that Cardiff’s goal last week stood but this one didn’t. Really don’t know why they over complicated offside, as it was fine as it was.

 

Some pretty shocking clickbaiting after this from the Star and Express though. “Klopp aims dig at Van Dijk after Arsenal draw” said the Star, while the Express went even lower with “Klopp slams Van Dijk after Arsenal horror show - “I’d have scored three”. The actual quote was “I saw Virgil van Dijk after the game and he said ‘I should have had a hat-trick.’ I was not a good football player but I was good at heading and today I would have scored three.” Hardly slamming him is it? Twats.

 

Sunday Nov 4:

 

Chelsea and City both won but nothing could spoil my mood today. You may have seen it on twitter, but I’ll put a little meat on the bones of it here. My daughter, Adrianna, started playing footy four or five years ago and she’s been in defence since day one. Chris Kirkland coached the team for a while and he did try to get her to play in midfield and even up front, but it was a short lived experiment as the opposing half was like Kryptonite to her. She’s only interested in defending (which will stagger anyone who has ever played with me). 

 

There was one tournament they were in where everyone else in the squad had scored, including the keeper, and they were just hammering everyone. They were 5-0 up in the final so I told her to go up front and get a goal, and she shot me down, saying “no, we haven’t let a goal in all day and clean sheets mean more to me than goals”. I almost demanded a DNA test after that. How can any kid of mine think like that??

 

So anyway, a couple of years ago I told her I’d give her 50 quid if she scored. The problem was she didn’t want to go up for corners and leave the team light at the back, so she always stayed back. I told her to just get one of the other girls to stay back but she wouldn’t do it, until two weeks ago when she decided she was going up there. She went up for every corner that day but none cleared the near post (like watching the Reds a couple of years ago).

 

Today though, the second corner of the day landed right in the middle of the six yard box where I’d told her to stand. Most of the girls in there just watched it (hardly anyone wants to head the ball in these games) but Adrianna is fearless and will stick her head on anything. She nodded it goalwards, over the keeper (who was taller than me) and it looped into the top corner. I had to do a double take, and so did she. It was only when all her mates went mad that she realised it had gone in.

 

She comes running towards me and I’m thinking she’s gonna just do a Lallana with Klopp and jump into my arms, but as she reaches me she starts doing this:

 

 

I just grabbed her and we shared a big hug, it was a really special moment that I’ll never forget. Cost me fifty quid but I’ve never been happier handing money over than I was today. They won 3-1, with one of her mates scoring the other two. She was on a pound a goal bonus and as she came off I told her “you need a better agent”.

 

So yeah, I’ll worry about Man City another day, the pricks.

 

 

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[Dr Nowt]

Haha, that’s life-affirming stuff about your lass.

 

You might just wanna check you never left your missus unsupervised with Carra, mind.