Turkish Delight

You can't predict it but given how quickly the games come in this season everyone was delighted we had a dead rubber at the time to give players a much needed rest but we didn't do it. My guess was that we were chasing the prize money for winning the game and that might not have been just Klopp's call.

Needlessly playing him in that dead rubber has been almost as damaging to our season as the Van Dijk injury. He's the only player other than Salah who has scored with any consistency this season.

When they broke before that shitty penalty decision I was screaming at the telly about the fact none of our midfielders gambled on the ball breaking to the edge of the box. Our midfield has two league goals between them all season and it's absolutely no surprise when you see how deep they all want to sit.

12 points I reckon we've been done out of by shitty decisions this season. Cost a red card, pen and a goal at Everton, blatant foul for the goal at Fulham, the Salah 'offside' and the pen at Brighton, the pen at Newcastle, the pen at Southampton and then yesterday. This shit is supposed to give accuracy and consistency as it's sole benefit and it can't even deliver that. It ruins the emotion of the game which is it's most important feature and if it carries on I think it genuinely will kill the game's popularity for no benefit at all. Personally, I'm sick of it and I'm watching less and less top flight football outside of our games.

There's obviously a lot more factors at play but our bad form has coincided a little with him coming in so it's understandable why he'd be questioned. Our record in all competitions when he's started and hasn't is very stark. Without him W15 D7 L2 With him W2 D2 L5 The hope was he'd offer something to help us unlock teams. The form of others hasn't helped him on that but he's not contributed anything to our forward play since coming back into the team and seems to spend most of his game sitting very deep. Defensively he's averaging more fouls per 90 minutes than any other player in the league and at Old Trafford in particular his lack of pace was exposed big time. He's clearly very talented but I'm very much on the fence about whether he's what we need.

I think the ideal scenario would have been to win but for the Karius fuck ups to have still happened. We'd been linked with Alisson for a while before then so we still may have got him. It's Kyiv for me anyway. One of the best weekends away I've ever had. If we'd won it would have been the best. I've been to two European Cuo finals, Istanbul and Kyiv. I always thought Istanbul was amazing because of the match. I didn't like the place itself that much and it was very moody in the ground at half time. Had we lost I wouldn't have looked back at that trip with the fondness I do but the celebrations made it brilliant. I really liked Kyiv and the atmosphere around it was great even after we'd lost.

I'm intrigued to see what the long term vision is for Thiago and the team. His vision and ability on the ball is exceptional but I think his lack of pace could become an issue in the way we play. Twice yesterday he was unable provide cover for the full backs out wide and had United players going away from him who weren't at full pace as he struggled to stay close. Both times they were easily able to cut into the box and it probably should have led to goals. It feels like he needs to be further up the pitch and Fabinho in midfield would help that to happen but does he have the legs to do the running that would be needed of him there? I don't have the answer and other than the odd Champions League game didn't watch him a lot at Bayern but from what I've seen it is a little bit of a concern to me.

Karius but to a lesser extent Mane's decent effort against the outside of the post at 2-1 in Kiev that could have changed the game. That was a brilliant weekend but it could have been even better. Suarez's last minute derby winner being disallowed when it was onside. Adrian's shitty clearance against Atletico last year. Andy Carroll's effort in the Cup final v Chelsea that looked like it crossed the line and would have made it 2-2 Moses miss from 2 yards in the last minute of the 3-3 at Palace Riise's own goal in the European Cup semi against Chelsea A chipped effort from Aurelio against Chelsea in the 4-4 game that went just wide. Would have made it 3-0. Hamann being subbed off for Smicer when we were winning in Leverkusen.

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.

Wolves are one dimensional. They play on the counter very well and cause problems for even the better teams who come out at them as a result. They can't break down organised teams who sit deep though even those they have better players than as they take too few risks in their game. It's why they regulalrly lose to sides like Burnley the other night and why a couple of years ago when Huddersfield won about three games all season that two of them were against Wolves. Nuno deserves a top job in the same way Roy Hodgson did and I'm fairly sure he'd get similar levels of success as him if he gets one as tactically they're very similar.

I was thinking today about how many goals are given onside by a slither of a line. I can only think of three and two of them were in European games. In the Prem I can only recall a goal for Palace at West Ham last year and I watch quite a lot of games. There's one or two off by the same margin every week. Unless my memory is being selective that has to mean the video ref is pissing about with the lines to make them off too much when it's close. It's not an exact science so they often choose to line it up as off. If you're going to use technology surely it can be automated in some way so big fucking light goes up in the stadium straight away if it's off.

It says one in five tests is positive so they've only tested 375 people on that basis. The real number of people with it is likely to be pretty huge.

I'm hoping that with most of their players away internationals it means that Ancelotti has a limited time to work on their shape ahead of this and they're not quite at it as a result. We have quite a few players who haven't been away late into the week so I'd be playing them. A team with Robbo, Matip (if he's fit enough), Thiago, Milner, Mane and Salah in would be fairly fresh. I'd leave the Brazilians on the bench after their travelling.

Butland is a shockingly bad keeper. Over-rated as a youngster, terrible with his feet, poor shot stopper and full of mistakes. The Stoke fans will be delighted to see him go. Signing him is basically an act of desperation as we've realised Adrian should have been replaced in the Summer but it's too late to get anyone else. At best he's no upgrade on what we have.

Very slightly off topic as it's absolutely not an excuse for conceding seven goals to Aston fucking Villa but I hate seeing us in black kits as we're often shite in them. I'd much rather see us in some fluorescent monstrosity that the players can easily pick each other out in than something that's hard to pick out (especially with a slither of red on) just because it makes a nice fashion statement. Our record in them over the years must be terrible. I can remember Marseille away being a good performance in one season but very little else even when we've won. A few notable bad ones I remember: 6-1 v Stoke The beach ball game 2-1 at Sunderland when they won about 2 games all season Getting knocked out of Europe by Braga Losing at Blackpool in Kenny's first game Atletico away last season.

When I was a kid we were burgled the day after my nan's funeral. We were at a meal with my mum's extended family before everyone went back to their different places around the country. Whoever did it saw all of the sympathy cards and just cracked on. Absolute scum.

I just can't see it with Traore. To me he's like a bulkier, faster Jermaine Pennant with a goal return to match. He's become a very good crosser and has terrifying pace but he's a touchline hugger with no natural instinct to go in to the box when the ball is on the other side. Where teams dig in and he can't just use raw pace he doesn't have the guile to create chances for himself or to get into the right spaces for others to find him. That's why he has one single premier league goal in his career against teams outside the big six.

Those Leicester games make me think of Matt Elliott. A yard dog of a defender but he was excellent against us and fairly sure he scored as well. Seem to remember there being a clamour for us to sign him at the time too as his toughness was the opposite of what we had back then.

I'm 38 and took this step after 11 years nearly 2 years ago. I found the initial adjustment emotionally tough but my take on it now is: - The time with my kids is better quality. They live with me half the time and the absence of the strain of a failing relationship makes it much more relaxed when we do things together. - Use the additional time on your own well. Try to put your effort into things that can have a positive impact on your life. I put my focus on getting fit as much for mental well being as anything. I was overweight but I'm now fitter than I've ever been in my life. - My time with my mates is much better than it ever was. I can go out for a few pints or even go for a weekend away (which I hadn't done in years) when I don't have the kids without knowing I'm going home to a guilt trip. - Meeting women is much easier now than it ever was with the internet. I've also learned I'm much more comfortable in my own skin than when I was younger which helps. - I've found with time I get on fine with my ex. We both recognise we weren't right for each other in the end but everything is totally amicable and we're both happier for doing what we did. Most importantly, I think the kids are too. It is daunting to take those first steps on your own but if things weren't working out it will be for the best in the end. Hope it goes well for you.

I think I might have caught Covid at that Atletico game too. I had bought some flowers to drop round at my Mum's on Mothers Day which was the following weekend but I woke up that morning not feeling right and decided I wouldn't take chances on passing her something to bring into her house. It took me 4 or 5 weeks before I was properly back to normal and I'm just so glad I didn't go around there. I was at the shops to get the flowers the day before and remember looking around loads of sports shops for things to do exercise at home that day too. It's a horrible thought to think I could have passed it on to anyone.

I'm fairly sure SARS mutated to something more severe with a higher death rate among those who caught it which enabled it to be recognised easily and contained. I don't have the source but think it may have been a Chris Whitty presentation that I watched. Basically, viruses that are mild to most people have potential to spread wider and stay around longer as people go about their daily lives when they have them and transmit them. Obviously, if it goes mild to the extent it stops killing people then that's a good thing. When something is very obviously severe from the outset it's easier to identify and contain to bring the R rate low.

Exactly this. He was fucking awful in the run up to that final and got away with mistakes against City and Roma through bad refereeing and luck. He was a ticking timebomb that was always going to cost us at some point. I remember in Istanbul having no real sympathy for Harry Kewell when he went off injured but I actually ended up meeting him and chatted to him about it years later. He said going off in the European Cup final was one of the toughest moments of his career but he knew he'd picked up an injury and wasn't going to be able to perform at a level the team needed him to so he asked to come off for the good of the team. Karius instead stayed on and cost us the game. For all Mignolet's faults, if he'd come on in that match I don't think we'd have lost.

Generally in this game there wasn't much in it but Watford won because they made less mistakes than us. Usually we don't make those types of mistakes but the big concern for me is that we aren't really creating a lot at all. Some of that is on the front 3 but where teams are setting out to defend deep in numbers both against the forwards and the full backs we need someone in midfield to offer something both in energy and creativity. That's just not happening at all. Fabinho has struggled since his injury and both Keita and Ox have stunk the place out recently when asked to fill in as well. If Curtis Jones plays well at Chelsea tomorrow then he has a proper stake for picking up that role at the weekend too as there's nobody else there standing out at the moment.

Abu Dhabi got involved with City as a promotional tool to deflect from their human rights abuses and corruption and to portray their country in a good light. I'm pretty sure it wasn't because of a love for the sport. At the point it becomes clear they are just magnifying those things by being obviously corrupt in the way City is run will they just fuck it off?

We play first the weekend after that too so if we win the next 4 they'd go to United at least 31 points behind us unless the West Ham game is played before then. We could do with them taking something off Leicester or a United win there would mean us winning the league that day.