lebron

Yesterday was probably the best I've seen them play for a while, helped immensely by the fact that Copenhagen aren't really CL material. Apart from the last 10 mins of each half, Utd were easily the better team. Copenhagen acted a bit like Everton would do in that 2nd half, scared to take the initiative. Thankfully Utd managed to fuck it up anyway, good times!

The semi-final is two-legged this season, but will be single leg next season. https://www.efl.com/competitions/key-dates/

Yeah, but if ever there was something like a false points total, that would probably be the most egregious example of it in recent times (along with the penalty season under Ole). The amount of times a "hoof it into the box to Fellaini and Pogba" -tactic succeeded late on in games was the biggest miracle I've seen in football, it was truly spectacular how many points they achieved that season relevant to the football that was played. Mourinho described it as his biggest achievement at the time, and I can sort of see where he was coming from. As for the cups, that's always been his biggest strength, setting up sides in accordance with the opposition. Winning leagues with his tactics these days, I don't think so. He'd probably struggle to get it done even with the player material at City.

Amazed was probably the wrong word, as everything else in this current world circles around fame, individuality, sensationalising, stats and pointscoring online. I’ve long since given up on the social media frenzy and short time memory/attention span of youth/young adults. In a world where fewer and fewer actually watch full football matches, I’m still REALLY surprised people are hyping him up to be some demi-god on the pitch carrying his team to glory. ALL his Club teams have been TAILORED to putting chances on a plate for him. People quickly forget that we live in an era of super-clubs and extreme differences between the best and worst both league-wise and internationally. I’d wager half of Haaland’s international goals are against opposition ranked even lower than Norway. Even for those not having the time or inclination to watch full matches, it only takes 5 mins of YouTube comps from last year to see that both Messi and Mbappe are on a completely different level when it comes to the other aspects of the game than putting the ball in the net from 10 yards out. Putting him in the attacking environments of Molde, RB Salzburg Dortmund and now City have gotten the absolute most out of him. I credit Raiola/Pimenta and his obnoxious dad as much as I do Haaland himself. If he had gone to Utd instead of City we would have Neville making excuses about the Glazers and leaking roofs… …oh well, the last part might still ring true without him. Edit; To put things into perspective, I really dislike Harry Kane, but he was a much better footballer last season than Haaland. I’d probably put Ødegård’s season above him too.

There's also the fact that Haaland isn't even close to being the best footballer in the world, and the journalists seem to be able to understand this better than most supporters. He's one hell of a goalscorer when given sufficient service in the box though (something that is unlikely to happen as long as he plays for Norway), but severely limited in the facets of the game that have traditionally been given credence in this award. Gerd Muller in 71 and Michael Owen in 01 are the only players with similar shortcomings that I know of that have won the prize, similarily relying on extreme acceleration and not being especially pleasing on the eye. I'm actually amazed at the hype, attention and plaudits he gets. Had he not been put in EXTREMELY favourable surroundings by his management team(s), I doubt we would even mention him in the same breath as M'bappe, nevermind Messi. I guess it shows just how much the focus has shifted towards goals and stats during Cristiano's media war with Messi. I actually question if anyone voting for him as the world's best has seen a full game of him playing, especially for his national team. Anyway, this goes some way towards making up for the four (I guess Messi was injured for a good while in one of the seasons C Ronaldo won it) times Messi should have won instead of Ronaldo.

Having Darwin up top means we set up a bit differently though. I envisage Harvey playing Darwin through a couole of times today

Fair enough. Have seen lots of refs looking like they were going to whistle only to put it away at a seconds notice though. Fair to say I don't trust any of the refs at this time.

Nothing weird about it. Taylor would not have given us a pen if we hadn't accumulated enough for him to absolutely not be able to look away from it. Says it all that he didn’t think the first situation was enough for a pen. Have been away from the site from a bit, my head is spinning with all the referee stuff. I’m firmly in the corruption camp, and have been for a while. Thought I’d quickly pick up on a point from your discussion on the pod and what you’ve written though, where you say that you’re OK with Taylor reffing the game leniently. I’m very fucking far from OK with it, to quote someone with an axe to grind. It’s somehow snuck in as a habit of the PL refs to completely alter the scales from game to game, one week reffing like an under-12 game, then allowing everything in the Merseyside derby. It makes it almost impossible for managers and players, as well as making it even easier for PL refs with agendas. This has been going on for a long time, long before VAR, but the Jones/Kovacic red cards is just a furthering of the different standards that have been used in the PL for a while now. Doesn’t make it any less irritating of course. I haven’t brought myself to look at the clips of Webb and Owen in fear of ruining my TV/phone etc.

They haven’t looked great without de Bruyne (Haaland especially looks lost without him), having Rodri out as well is a backbreaker.

Can’t be bothered watching anymore. Time to get Lance Armstrong trending again. This is about as fair and clean.

Wasn’t Even sent to the screen

I didn't need to see this match or its ridiculous bias/errors to confirm there's corruption in the game, it has merely entrenched me in my beliefs... The more money floating around a business, the bigger the chance of corruption. While there may not be millions of pounds floating towards the refs, there are guaranteed benefits, whether that is in the form of cozy vacations/hospitality packages for sporting events, watches, gifts etc, or a purse of money I guarantee you those are being both offered and accepted. That goes for games outside of England too of course. The middle-Eastern angle is new and of course really, really disturbing, but we've been subjected to bias for so long, it's just another layer for me. There are probably a few small(ish) clubs out there that can lay claim to being treated badly by refs for periods of time (Brighton this year is an example), but I'm positive there are no other big clubs being so consistently screwed by the refs as us. The 90's was just one, constant blur of egregious decisions going against us and for the Mancs, while the last few years has been similarly bad against us and positive for both Manc clubs. Someone (Code?) posted the origins of the referees a year or two back, and while birthplace isn't necessarily indicative of which team you support, I call bullshit on every Greater Manchester ref supposedly supporting Altrincham, Barnsley or whatever small club they can pretend to follow. The referees working the top flight games have all at some moment in time got into football by playing or watching the game, right? You REALLY think it was some obscure low-tier match that caught their interest? I guarantee you it was one of the glamour teams that got them into reffing. The lure of the big stadiums and the desire to be able to make a living as well as hanging around players and managers and media. You think that came to the likes of Antony Taylor when watching Altrincham vs Dagenham & Redbridge? Grassroot referees (God bless them) MIGHT be another story (although all the referees I know are supporting Utd, LFC or even Spurs!), but every top ref out there is a supporter of one of the big clubs, they just aren't allowed to own up to it (as they wouldn't be able to ref the top games.) Had Clattenburg (an avid Newcastle supporter) been around now, he probably wouldn't be able to ref the other top 6 games (for fear of bias). I truly believe some of the refs hate us (or love one of the Mancs, same shit), and we're getting shafted because of it. I had an argument with a Spurs supporter towards last season, where he wondered whether I was feeling positive that we would be turning things around. I said I was, but that I had heard rumours that Webb would be taking over as head of PGMOL, and that any such progress would be eradicated by the refs screwing us even more that before.. I was of course met by the same shrugs as you do when complaining to supporters of another big(ish) club, his club had seen far worse decisions etc.... He'll never agree to it since yesterday benefitted him/his club, but it's nice to know that inside his head that victory will ring a bit more hollow. A tiny, tiny consolation in the shitshow that this season has been from a refereeing standpoint. I'm completely sleep-deprived due to the game ruining my last two nights of sleep, as well as visit from my parents Saturday evening. Hence my rambling. I'll just end with saying I actually share Dave's sentiments that we would win the title if it wasn't for Webb/the refs, as this City team aren't as good as previous editions (especially with KdB on the wane/injury bug), and we're really fucking good! Fuck Howard Webb and his corrupt/biased cronies, up the Reds!

Sloppy passing Passive defending Too afraid to make mistankes on the ball Sort 2 of these out and we’ll beat these

Maybe do a sportswashing special, and invite Jurgen Knows as a special guest? Would be interesting to listen to his views on the subject.

Great read. As much as I hate what modern football has become, us looking (rather) boss again sure gives a nice, warm feeling. Reading these and listening to the podcast likewise. As petty as it is, can’t help but smile the most at the miserly Mancs and you ripping them to shreds. The wingers/girlfriends line will be translated to Norwegian and inserted into my next encounter with any Manc “friends” over here…

I'm not saying they need to pay him THAT much. It removes all competition though. We've not been realistically linked with him once, even with him being a lifelong Liverpool fan and us publically saying we're after a new CB and preferably a left-sided one. Other clubs should have been linked too, yet there he is; hottest CB property in world football and no-one's being linked apart from City. In a market where there's a dearth of CBs, so all the big clubs desperately need one. Also with the lad having a stormer of a World Cup? A tad suspicious isn't it? As a boyhood Liverpool fan, don't you think he might have wanted to hear us out if we were offering say 200 a week? I'm pretty sure his agent would have been good with that (we regularly are top of the clubs paying out agent fees) unless someone doubled or tripled what our offer would be? My guess is that City leaked early on (as they and now Chelsea seem to do) that he would be getting (at least) half a million a week. It's the same reason why De Bruyne, Aguero, David Silva never gets/got linked with a move away. There simply aren't any other clubs being able to offer what City do (up until now with the Saudi league), so the agents have got no leverage. The players seem all to happy with staying at a plastic club, as long as they and their families are being set up for life with offshore accounts galore. We've heard Klopp say repeatedly that the numbers being thrown around for Mbappe, Haaland and others are insane, and there's absolutely no chance for us to do it. That would be the same for Caicedo and Gvardiol. If Salah gets 350 for us, would you be comfortable with either of Caicedo and Gvardiol earning more? I guarantee you they are. The City books won't show it of course, but the Chelsea ones might once their 8 year contracts are leaked... A year from now, Haaland will be linked with a move to the Saudi League and he'll re-negotiate his "contract" with City and his team will make sure that he earns more than what Mbappe will with his baked-in transfer fee free-agent deal with Real. I'm guessing those two will rake in approx 2 (Mbappe) and 3 m (Haaland) a week a from their clubs alone. Hooray for the supply and demand football market, eh?

He’s already being paid Saudi money or thereabouts at City, so he’ll likely stay at City as long as his body holds up. Retirement thereafter….

Quick word for @Paul on the lack of interest for Gvardiol. I’m sure we were interested. As with Bellingham though, a package would have been much too expensive for us and our wage structure. Whatever Real are supposedly giving him (and his family) is probably triple of what is the official number. Same with the oil clubs, whenever one of our targets gets linked and gets a sniff of what they are offering (via their agents in most cases), it’s over. I guess Gvardiol is on double of what Salah is earning for us. If we want to play by the rules, the wages for the likes of him and Caicedo just aren’t feasible. Thankfully there are some loopholes, and while they are making a good fist of it, Chelsea can’t buy everyone!! Just to clarify, we could probably afford the transfer fees for Bellingham or Gvardiol in isolation, but that won’t help much once their agents get news of the difference in wages. This won’t really change for the foreseeable future either, unless we suddenly start spending the potential Saudi money coming in for Salah. Not like we didn’t use oil/blood money from the hyper inflated Coutinho transfer. I’m not really comfortable with us having to rely on the Saudis to fund this years and probably future transfer windows, but it is what it is at the moment.

Easily among the top 10 most satisfying wins in the Klopp era. To overcome that amount of biased refereeing and steal 3 pts felt ridiculously good.

How to say «I don’t understand football» without saying it.

Well… I’ll say this, it’s going to be a long season for us, VvD, Trent and Klopp. Perhaps Klopp’s biggest mistake was getting on the wrong side of PGOML

I do agree with this to an extent, but if we had peak Sadio, Bobby, Mo and Wijnaldum doing the pressing up front he wouldn't have to bother much about the "system" at all, as the opposition would be forced to play the outball (which Konate and even the current version of Van Dijk) would handle easily. Robbo would then be able to take part in said press/marauding. My hope is that Szobo, Jones, Diaz/Jota and (with a rocket up his arse) Mo can get close to what that front 3/4 gave us. I think that's the easiest way back for Robbo. I love him, but Van Dijk (peak) was always the reason why Trent came out worse than Robbo in the defending stakes. I don't think it's much in between them in terms of positioning/ball-watching/closing down, neither are great at it. There wasn't a team in the world that challenged Van Dijk's side of the field when Matip/Gomez (I actually like both) played on the other side though. I think the tables have turned now though, and Robbo (whatever system we play) will be hindered by Van Dijk's obvious decline, while Konate and his pace will be a big security blanket for Trent (or other rb's).

Couldn't agree more. In my childhood we were all suckered into the whole British lion/warrior/gentleman story, while those with passports originating furhter South were portrayed a bit eh... differently. I'm 100 per cent certain the PL has seen just as many envelopes change hands over the last two decades as the Serie A. While there may not be a Mafia controlling the results of each game, the narratives are being set by people in power, and with money to earn.

I hate that he has represented us in the past, the Sky shill. Most overrated player by our fans in our history. Presumably not that great a human either.

It was much easier doing deals just a couple of years ago though. Our path into that market was the insane Neymar money flooding the market, giving us a heads up with us having money to burn from the Coutinho transfer. Now the Saudi money is flooding the same market, only 20-50 times the money PSG funded back then. Clubs that are lucky enough to have really sellable assets in valuable positions (this year it's the 6, next time it's probably a striker or central defender) don't HAVE to sell anymore. They are fine with pitting buying clubs up against each other, as they can wait them out. The market is crazy (to quote Klopp). It's not possible to lock down deals unless you offer way over the odds in BOTH transfer fee and wages. The clubs and/or the agent/player know that there's influx of unlimited money coming in, and they are all too willing to take their piece of the pie. Say we tried to agree a deal with Dortmund for Bellingham. The clubs were closing on an agreement and Bellingham himself was satisfied with the numbers we had leaked to his camp. Then Real come knocking and leak to his agent/family that they will offer him double/treble the wages we've offered. They also believe they can strike a deal with Dortmund if they can make us pull out of the race, diverting money from the transfer fees into the agents/player/family's pockets. Result: Player stalls and won't commit to anything. We pull out, leaving the door open for Madrid. They pay the selling club 75 pct of the fee we've agreed, lining the pockets of the player and agent instead, as the selling club at the time has gotten the word from the player that he'll only play for this club, and is on an outgoing contract. What do you reckon we should do in that scenario? Pay him double/treble of what Virgil and Mo earns? I guarantee you that would be the only way to keep him interested once he and his advisors learned of Real's offer. It's the same stunt Haaland and his father/Raiola pulled, they just had the good sense to tout him around with a mandatory release clause. Once City leaked their interest, no-one else were able to put up numbers even close... You can see Klopp is frustrated about these things, hence his latest Chelsea managers comments. He doesn't think clubs are doing things properly, and he surely knows about the underhand money being exchanged. What can he and we do though? If we're doing it by the book, not much. We have a wage structure, and we will probably stick with it until these owners leave at some point. Unless we get a sugar daddy and/or gamble with the future of the club, our position won't change much, if at all. As