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Premier League Round Up (Jan 1-2 2021)


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West Brom have followed up their draw at Anfield by shipping I’ve against Leeds and four against Arsenal, who have now won three on the spin.

 

Allardyce isn’t smelling himself anywhere near as much as he was a week ago. Instead he’s bemoaning how Brexit has stopped him making three signings. A far cry from this….

 

 

 

West Brom’s defending was horrendous, just as it was against Leeds. This is the thing though. They defended well against us because that was all they were really focused on. They did counter attack a little in the second half when they played us, but mostly what they wanted to do was defend with everything they had.

 

As with a lot of these negative, bottom dwellers, as soon as they have to think about attacking there are gaps everywhere and they get exposed for what they are - shite. I’m proper fucking wound up now just thinking about it. Dropping two points to these shit cunts. Fuck off. This season is doing my head in.

 

Still, better to be complaining while sat at the top (albeit only just) than being where Arsenal are. They’re improving though, seemingly. Tierney’s brilliant individual effort set them on their way. Great goal that. The second goal was boss too, albeit a completely different type. This one was old school Arenal, slick one touch passing and movement around the box finished off by Saka. 

 

Lacazette made it 3-0 and added another one soon after to wrap it up. That Smith Rowe lad has made a big difference to them. I don’t like, obviously. It almost goes without saying when he wears his socks like that. He’s given them something they’ve been lacking though. He’s what I imagine Ozil would have been if he hadn’t kept pulling his disappearing act.

 

When West Brom go down hopefully this time they stay down. These yo-yo clubs are boring. West Brom, Watford, Norwich… make your mind up. You’re either Premier League or Championship. I’d much rather they just fucked off and let the likes of Brentford, Preston, or even throwbacks like Luton and Forest (the fucking scabs). 

 

Arsenal were never as bad as 15th place but they aren’t good either. Maybe those kids will give them something to build upon, but most of those players need fucking off. Not sure any big club has had worse recruitment in recent years as they have. 

 

Having tumbled off the window ledge Mrs Doyle style after going top a few weeks ago, Spurs got themselves back on track with an easy win over Leeds. Not a surprise this. Bielsa’s style is tailor made to be Mourinho’d and that’s what happened. 

 

Leeds attacked, Spurs repelled them and then killed them at the other end. It might have been different if my boy Bamford had converted a good chance at 0-0. He missed and then Spurs were given a dubious penalty. Dubious mainly because it looked to be outside the box, but also because occasionally those decisions go against the forward. Not that it should go against the forward, but sometimes they do. It usually depends on who goes down. 

 

Bergwijn stepped across the defender who collided with him. Bergwijn hit the deck because he wanted the decision. If that had been higher up the pitch he might have stayed on his feet and got away from the defender, in which case he might have been the one penalised.

 

I’ve seen that so many times where the attacker is wrongly penalised. It’s always annoyed me because I think it’s clever play by the forward. You’re entitled to shield the ball and if the defender over commits then that’s his fault. In fact, I got sent off once in school for telling the teacher to “fuck off” after he gave a foul against me for turning a defender exactly like that, so while I side with Bergwijn I do think it looked outside the box.

 

Put it this way. If that was Salah or Mané in that situation, what do you think the outcome would have been? Most likely would have been “no foul, play on”. Next most likely would have been “foul on the defender, free kick to Leeds”. Then you’re looking at “foul, free-kick on the edge of the box”. Penalty wouldn’t have even been on the table.

 

Kane scored and Spurs were never likely to let it slip. Leeds had a go, they always do, and Harrison went close with a dipping shot from 20 yards before Son tapped in a brilliant cross by Kane to make it 2-0. Alderweireld added a third that the keeper made a complete mess of. He’s a weird one him. He makes world class saves every week but I’d be reluctant to say he’s really good. He might be, I don’t know. I think he is, but don’t hold me to it.

 

I got my fingers burned with Pickford who I thought was boss at Sunderland because I’d see him making worldies every week. That’s not what makes a top keeper though. Sometimes they are making those spectacular saves because their positioning is shit. It’s really difficult to judge I think. Meslier is only a kid though so you’d assume he’s only going to get better.

 

What’s with the shit music Spurs are playing after goals? I know we can’t talk, when we’ve got fucking “Song 2” blasting out (at least I think we do, it feels like months since we actually scored so I’m not sure), but this is a trend I’m not liking. When fans are allowed back into stadiums in 2025 they’d better fuck this off.

 

Doherty was sent off for two yellows. The first one he actually missed the lad by a long way. He had a bit of a swing but are we booking players for not getting anywhere near fouls now? David Coote is anyway. The second yellow was correct though so he finally got a decision right.

 

Who’d have thought that the best game of the weekend would be Brighton v Wolves? Not me, that’s for sure. It was though. By a mile.

 

Connoly toe poked Brighton in front early but the lead didn’t last long as Seiss headed in the equaliser. I don’t like Connoly and I’m fairly sure it’s 100% because he looks like a young Wayne Rooney, which in fairness is as good a reason as any for not liking someone. 

 

He’s even doing fucking overhead kicks like Rooney and he was within a whisker of replicating that famous Manc derby winner. The two main differences being that Connoly didn't score but he did at least hit it with his boot and not his shin.

 

Wolves went ahead when the Brighton keeper palmed a Neto shot onto Dan Burn and it bounced off the big man and into the net. Never made it 3-1 from the spot after Burn hacked down Adama. Clearest pen you’ll see that one. You may have noted the lack of a ‘my boy’ in reference to Adama. He’s lost his ‘my boy’ privileges for now. It’s a fluid situation though and I’m not making any definitive decision on it yet.

 

Maupay won and converted a pen to get Brighton back in it and Dunk powered in a header to equalise. The fun didn’t stop there though. Trossard thought he’d put Brighton in front but Andy Madeley had blown for a foul. It was never a foul in a million years and if he’d just waited instead of blowing his whistle then VAR may have sorted that one out. I say ‘may’ because frankly who knows? Second guessing these things is impossible, but he was defo too quick with his whistle.

 

Adama then went on a mazy run past three defenders before throwing himself to the floor after being dispossessed by Dunk. One, it wasn’t a foul. Two, Dunk got the ball anyway. He was much livelier in this game than he has been though, and he put one on a plate for Samedo at the end only for him to head over from close range.

 

Maupay channeled his inner Lovren afterwards by telling everyone about the team-talk he gave at half time. “I told the lads they weren’t giving anything and needed to run more” etc. Astounding levels of arrogance there and no sense of self awareness whatsoever. He seems like a tit him. And not a likeable tit like big Dejan.

 

People keep telling that Bissouma is class, and he’s actually been linked quite strongly with the Reds. I need to watch him closely as I’ve never really been overly impressed any time I’ve seen him. That Ben White is another we reportedly have a long standing interest in. He’s playing in midfield at the moment which is a bit of a red flag to me. If he isn’t good enough to be one of Brighton’s THREE centre backs then is he good enough for us? Of course right now I’d gladly take him. Maybe they’ll swap for Origi?

 

Speaking of centre backs though, Wolves are asking for trouble going with a back four. They’re shipping goals and it’s no surprise to me as I’ve said for fucking ages that Coady in a back four is not going to go well for him or them. Maybe it’s injuries, or maybe they’re trying to find a system to get the best out of Adama. They look a bit unbalanced at the moment after looking so well organised for so long. 

 

It’s a good test of Nuno Holy Spirit’s credentials though. If he changes the system and gets them to the level they were before it’s another string to an already impressive bow. I wonder sometimes though if some of us are guilty of over-rating him a bit just because he’s such a top fella?

 

Sheffield United lost again and still have more subs than points. As embarrassing as that is, they’re also the only side in the league to have been given less fouls than the Reds, which is pretty shameful. Imagine getting less free-kicks than a team that refs are deliberately not giving free-kicks to. It’s almost impossible to be that bad, so fair play to the Blades.

 

Seriously though, you can understand why they don’t get many fouls as there is virtually no guile or trickery in their side and they don’t see much of the ball. Explaining why we aren’t getting them is much more difficult, at least without sounding like one of the tin foil hat wearing brigade. Just because we’re crazy doesn’t mean we’re wrong though.

 

It took just three minutes for the Blades to go behind at Palace as Schlupp latched onto a loose ball and scored with the aid of a deflection. 

 

If I was a team-mate of Zaha I reckon I’d smack him right in the fucking mouth. He’s always berating those around him and flinging his arms up in the air. He got to the byline and cut one back for Benteke who failed to convert it (wasn’t even a bad miss, he just had it blocked by a defender) and Zaha is having a pink fit shouting “OH MY GOD” like Kevin the Teenager.

 

He does this shit all the time lately. I’d not noticed it previously but he’s a right spoilt whiny bastard these days. Just because he’s their best player doesn’t give him the right to carry on like that. Mind you, he might not be their best player for long, and I don’t mean that he’ll finally get the move he’s been angling for either. I mean that Eze kid might eclipse him soon the way he’s progressing. 

 

He made it 2-0 with a glorious goal six minutes into stoppage time at the end of the first half. He was just gliding across the turf leaving defenders in his wake before he rolled the ball into the bottom corner. Usually players will go for power in that situation as he was a good 20 yards or so from goal, but he just stroked it into the corner. Fantastic goal. Zaha was the first on the scene to congratulate him but I bet it was through gritted teeth.

 

Hodgson pulled no punches afterwards when asked about his captain breaking Covid rules by mixing with Fulham’s Mitrovic and others on New Year’s Eve. He made no excuses, said it wasn’t acceptable as it puts the club in a bad light and that although Milovojevic had said sorry that wasn’t enough. Good for Roy.

 

Mourinho didn’t seem pleased at the antics of some of his South American contingent who did something similar, mixing with West Ham players and their families. He stopped short of laying into them but the implication was there that he’d be dealing with them harshly.

 

Then you have Guardiola, defending the antics of Mendy. Not really surprising though. City’s whole culture is that they are accountable to nobody and rules are for others to follow, not them. Fucking scumbags.

 

On that most perfect of segues, United beat Villa thanks to a questionable penalty. I didn’t watch it and I’m forwarding the MOTD highlights because fuck this shit. I’m boycotting all of their games now for the sake of my own sanity. I’ve seen the penalty incident and it’s just the same old same old. You can easily justify giving it because there’s contact. That’s never the issue though. The issue is that every fucking appeal they have ends up in a pen.

 

I’ve seen a lot of people saying Pogba tripped himself up but that’s not really the case. One of the easiest ways to trip someone up is to clip their back leg so it hits their front leg and puts them down. It’s like an ankle tap tackle in rugby. That’s what happened to Pogba, there was a little knock on his back leg and it put him down. 

 

I think the reason people get so angry is because any time they appear for a pen they get it, and because not long before that Pogba was blocking Luke Shaw for not going down in the box (I saw that clip on Twitter). They know. They know it. If they go down they’ll almost always get the penalty, so no wonder Pogba has that attitude. 

 

I have nothing else to say about them or about this game because I’m struggling to get over the sense of shock and injustice that these cunts have wormed their way back up the table off the back of incredible luck and favourable officiating. I’m not handling it well at all which is why the best policy is to try and pretend they don’t exist. 

 

The only good thing about the weekend’s fixtures was Everton losing to Moyes. I’m not surprised, because they’re shit. I have been saying that for a while. And West Ham and Moyes proved it. Everton are shit and in a false position. They’ll be well off the pace come the end of the season and frankly it’s annoying that they are where they are now. Because they’re shit.

 

They lost 1-0 to West Ham and I don’t even need to tell you who scored, because he scores every week. If he doesn’t win the Golden Boot then West Ham should demanding a recount and the fans should march on the PL Headquarters. MOTD reckon he’s only scored five goals this season. Get the fuck outta here. This is complete bullshit.

 

Onto Sunday now. Newcastle kept a clean sheet against us but Leicester had little trouble cutting them open. The finishing wasn’t great until Maddison finally thumped one in from a Vardy cutback. Tielemans added a similarly superb second. Big Andy came off the bench and walloped in a volley to set up a tense finale but Leicester held on.

 

Barnes could have wrapped it up but instead of scoring he lashed it into the face of Darlow. Given the choice I’d have taken the same option, so well played, sir.

 

That Darlow cunt had his little dive for cameras early on when he flew through the air and then pulled his arms away from a Maddison shot that was at least ten yards off target. Any other keeper in the league other than Pickford just stands and waves that one wide. Not this cunt. I fucking hate him and I fucking hate our front three for making him look good the other night. 

 

Finally, City complete dismantled Chelsea. Everyone has been creaming themselves about City after this but them looking as good as they did was at least as much down to how bad Chelsea were than it was City being brilliant.

 

Yeah City did look ominously good, but they haven’t done that to anyone else this season and there’s a reason for that. Chelsea were fucking awful without the ball and made it easy for City.

 

City were without Ederson and for some reason Claudio Bravo wasn’t there either. Did they fuck him off and I’ve somehow missed it? They had some American fella in goal and the first thing he did was pick up a backpass and give away a free-kick. A free-kick OUTSIDE the box. He picked it up a yard inside the box, so why is the free-kick being taken outside? For one thing, if it was outside then the keeper should have been booked. But it wasn’t, it was well inside. Nice job, Anthony Taylor, you shit, bald, manc, tit.

 

The free-kick amounted to nothing and that was as good as it got for Chelsea who found themselves 3-0 down by half time. Gundogan broke the deadlock after a move that seemed to develop over about five minutes and a hundred passes while Chelsea chased shadows.

 

Foden made it 2-0 from a De Bruyne cross. Nice little finish but why was Chilwell five yards behind everyone else playing him onside? De Bruyne added a third after Sterling ran clear all alone from his own half but predictably messed up the finish. Luckily for him the rebound fell to De Bruyne who showed him how to finish.

 

City could easily have had another three or four as Chelsea were all over the place. They were running around and there was no shortage of effort, but pressing when you don’t know what you’re doing it pointless against a side who can move it around like City. If only Chelsea had a coach who knew his onions, instead of one who only knows onions when they’re on his triple cheeseburger.

 

Timo Walcott had another uninspiring performance capped by an embarrassing moment when tried to take a corner and kicked the corner flag instead. I’m saying nothing.

 

Except I told you so.


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  • dave u pinned this topic

I do think that Wolves manager is over-rated. They have a some very good players but only know how to play effectively by sitting deep and playing on the counter.

 

That gets some results against the better teams which makes people take notice but they lose all the time to teams who sit back even though they have the better players as they don't adapt their game.

 

The example that sticks in my mind is two years ago when Huddersfield won three league games all season and did the double over them. They have a shite record against Burnley for the same reason too.

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United are really starting to get too big for their britches OGS referring to Rafa's "Fact" Rant when asked about Klopp mentioning the fact that they have received more penalties in the 2 and a half seasons OGS has been at United than Klopp in his entire 5-year stint at Liverpool.

 

They are feeling themselves a little too much for my liking and need to be brought back to reality

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16 minutes ago, Mikhail said:

What the actual fuck?

"I will always remain convinced that those Liverpool fans who died were killed by Liverpool people. They brought the tragedy on themselves they were drunk, unruly and disorderly." In 2001, he said: "I now accept the investigations have made me realise I was misinformed. I wasn't trying to be vindictive or unsympathetic, but my opinion has altered over the years. It was never my intention to hurt anyone"

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2 hours ago, Mikhail said:

United are really starting to get too big for their britches OGS referring to Rafa's "Fact" Rant when asked about Klopp mentioning the fact that they have received more penalties in the 2 and a half seasons OGS has been at United than Klopp in his entire 5-year stint at Liverpool.

 

They are feeling themselves a little too much for my liking and need to be brought back to reality

Never mind Jurgen , he isn't fit to lick Rafa's boots.

 

When Rafa was the same age as OGS is now, he had won 2 La Ligas, a CL and various other smaller baubles. I would be amazed if he goblin ever amassed the same if he manages until he is 70.

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  • dave u unpinned this topic

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