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coachpotato

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Everything posted by coachpotato

  1. They’d have been screaming blue murder for a red if that was a tackle by one of ours. In the cold light of day it was made to look worse than it was by the VAR check, but technically it fulfilled some of the criteria for a red card. Studs showing, straight leg, off the ground and not forgetting the main criteria, “ there was contact so he was entitled to go down”.
  2. That’s a decent observation, but at least we have the benefit of their experience to ensure it doesn’t happen to us. Our owners are too smart to let that happen. Aren’t they?
  3. A much better performance overall than of late, which sounds daft considering we’re top and by a couple of points This game was another where I felt there was still some room for improvement. Perhaps comparing us with our pomp in 2019-21 is unfair, but the point made that our press was back to a level which made us the team to avoid is a better guideline to where we have to be, and it was there in this game, where we forced the pace rather than stroked the ball backwards and forwards as we have in recent games. Both Newcastle goals were disappointing for different reasons. The ease at which Gordon broke through on our right for the first was scandalous given he was double teamed by Trent and Dominic and the way that Botman got up above all our tall defenders and a 6’2” keeper to head home was poor. I’ve said it before, Allison is a great keeper, yet Botman heads that in from 6 yds out with Allison on his line. There are no Newcastle players blocking him off. So I can’t understand why he isn’t out there punching that away with the advantage he has with his height, presence and arm length. Maybe I’m being overly critical and fair enough if that’s what you think, but we’re probably looking at being near perfect to win this league and sketchy defending and missed goal scoring opportunities will catch us out, probably against teams that we won’t expect them to. Having said that, I wouldn’t have expected us to be in this position at the start of the season, yet here we are, and I think the title is there for the taking as I’m not certain City will do their usual runaway unbeaten run, given how they have played this season so far either. We scored good goals and there were top performances from almost everyone, Jota is back, Mac too and Diaz looked effective, if Nunez can put the finishing touches to his play, we may not miss Mo as much as is thought, and it could keep us ahead of the field.
  4. Van Basten-esque, pity it didn’t go in, looks more spectacular when it cannons in off the woodwork!
  5. Inter Cities Fairs Cup, Bobby Moncur, those were the days! Don’t think they had bare bellied biffs in the away end then though.
  6. From when Wenger took over, Arsenal had a case for arguing they were up there with the Red Mancs and us, and they actually won things. They played good football and went toe to toe with Ferguson for several years, however from when they got rid of Wenger, they became more petulant and entitled, appearing to think they were the only team to play anything other than hoof ball, but without actually winning anything. Now, they play decent stuff at times, and actually look as though they could start to win things again, but the manner in which they look down on other teams grates because they haven’t actually won anything since 2020 when they won the FA Cup, unless you count a Charity Shield win over City earlier this season. Last League title as 2003/4, Champions League - nada. Not really grounds for having the superiority complex some of them do, although they are more storied than City, Chelsea or Newcastle.
  7. Guardiola will expect them to go on a run of wins and will also likely expect us and Arsenal, in particular, to not be able to keep up with them. He won’t be alone in believing that scenario. However, the longer it goes with us at least matching their results, and hopefully getting the result against them in March, the more he’ll get agitated and stressed. It is really in our hands to win the next 19 games, 1-0 in every game if necessary, and while unlikely, it isn’t impossible. It’ll also put us through the wringer as well!! What a piss boiler that would be though.
  8. Another one of those games where we seem to struggle against the dross, or at least make hard work about putting them away. Had either of the two disallowed goals stood, then perhaps Burnley might’ve collapsed, but they didn’t because of entirely subjective, personal views on our players involvement. It is now obvious there’s an agenda, certainly from Tierney, to fuck us over every chance he gets, and he’ll always get back up from whoever is on VAR. That’s how the PGMOL work. It has been said before, but I hope the club is building a dossier against these “decisions” which can be used at some stage to call out such biased officials. He shouldn’t be near any of our games and had it been against United when Ferguson was in charge, he wouldn’t be near any of theirs. We didn’t help ourselves with some poor finishing in between good finishes from Nunez and Jota, and the stat that we’ve had 66 shots in the last 3 games resulting in 3 goals, if correct, goes a long way to indicate where we need to improve the most. Our shots to goals ratio must be pretty poor in comparison to other teams and could explain somewhat why it’s not always sacrilegious to say some of our players, while scoring, should do much better with the chances they get. However, three points gained, and if we keep winning, we’ll likely be champions.
  9. If recent history proves anything, it is that we are likely to sustain further injuries to some of our players. The problem is we don’t seem to have players who get a “niggly” injury, they’re out for several weeks or even months. Klopp will say that a certain player is now training and is close, but we don’t then see them in the match day squad for ages, and I know other teams get injuries too, but we seem to have had this for several years! Currently, Endo is on 4 yellows and Trent on 3 so it would be likely either or both could get a suspension in the near future too which won’t help. It’s not going to take too much to place us in a precarious position, so although it might be asking for too much, I hope we’ve got one or two players lined up to bring in come January. We’re likely going to need them to win anything this season.
  10. It could be close, or one or other could have a really good day, too close to call I think. They’re good going forwards, inventive and skilful, I think they are vulnerable at the back though, and we need to show that’s the case, but without letting them show how good they are offensively. Could be down to which keeper has the better day. Don’t lose, preferably win.
  11. We have been very good at creating loads of chances, from when Mane and Firmino were tearing it up with Mo, up to and including now, but we haven’t always been very good at taking them. I accept we’ve been up there with the best in terms of goals scored, but I’d venture we are one of the more average teams in terms of goals scored per chances made.
  12. I get Klopp wants to have a loud and hostile atmosphere on Saturday against Arsenal. They are currently the best team in the league. They may not be top at the end of the season however, but for now, Klopp wants the kind of noise that can be worth the proverbial goal start and, like us, he wants them beat. Didn’t Arteta play a recording of our crowd one time in their training games before one of our games because he felt the Anfield crowd had an adverse effect on his team? Perhaps that’s what in Klopp’s mind. Criticising the atmosphere last night is a bit off in my estimation, I thought given the opposition and the team we put out, the crowd made enough noise and the team responded by beating West Ham well. With another 7k in the ground you should expect the noise level to be greater, but it’s also the case that the crowd respond to the team as well, especially if they’re putting in a fighting performance and/or if the opposition are seen as main rivals, such as City, Arsenal, Everton etc.. Klopp will argue the team respond to the crowd no doubt, so he’s trying to be the catalyst that breaks the chicken/egg scenario before a ball is kicked I suspect. I don’t think there’s any doubt that the crowd dynamic has changed over decades, it’s likely less local, less working class and less inventive vocally than in its heyday, but there’s still the odd Barcelona/Chelsea/St Etienne “performance” lurking in there.
  13. We have struggled against deep lying defensive teams for a few seasons now, but usually we’ve had an individual on the pitch who can produce a killer pass or a winner for us. Yesterday we didn’t have that. The style of play we use still relies on goals on the break to a some extent, one of the TV commentators remarked recently we are still the best in the league at that, (although Arsenal might show us differently next week) or we dictate the pace of a game and generally wear the opposition down, which we didn’t do yesterday either. Perversely, playing Arsenal, who will come out and attack I believe, might provide a greater opportunity for us to create more chances and the pace of the game should be quicker than yesterday too. We’re due a performance befitting this teams abilities, let’s hope we get it against Arsenal.
  14. The inability to strike the ball cleanly was stark today. We had several players in decent positions in front of goal and they hit the ball with less power than my 5 year old granddaughter could hit it with. To be able to strike a ball correctly should be second nature to a professional footballer, as should be the ability to place a pass in front of the player your passing to, so it allows an attack or build up to proceed smoothly. These are basics that should be done easily and especially because the pitch is like a bowling green.
  15. You forgot to read the addendum relating to Saudi teams and their players.
  16. Hold on, they were only doing what the Sly Six’s actions had forced them into doing, and what “the 14” would be doing in their place, so that’s ok then.
  17. Surely the Premier League are watching all the bravado, piss taking, faux outrage and pontificating and will come down hard on them for not accepting they are wrong by appealing, and that they have affected the running and livelihoods of other teams and not seemingly given a shit about it. Entitled? Too fucking right they are, and have been for the best part of three decades and they really need to be shown the trapdoor to bring them to any sense of reality. Of course, in the great big world of PL, it’s unlikely to happen.
  18. I got twatted on here for suggesting Watkins a season or two back. Still think he’s got something about him but prefer Olise at Palace, trouble is he’s a Lahndan boy so likely won’t move away from there. Agree that Livramento seems a good prospect, and I like Bowen at West Ham too. Branthwaite too has a good look about him but he’s been touched now and would likely turn to dust if he ever put pen to paper on an LFC contract.
  19. Really would like another ruthless, attacking 7-0 win, but I’d accept a 1-0 snooze fest if offered now. I’d accept a further 21 1-0 snooze fests if offered now. These fuckers are down out the moment, so the only way for them is up. It’s up to us to make sure it doesn’t start tomorrow.
  20. This. Access for kids is virtually nil, certainly with us, so most kids interest would be through the telly. Just not the same “grab” as actually being there, specially at a big night game, so no wonder there’s little of the interest my kids had that means they are both avid Reds, at 38 and 44 and have been from when they could walk, pretty much. My grandson, 11, has been to a pre-season game and around the stadium and found the experience “ok” but he’s not really been bitten, as yet. My granddaughter is nearly 5 and likes kicking a ball around, knows it’s us on the telly when we’re on, so there may be some mileage there. It’s way too expensive now for many families with kids I suspect so where are the next generation coming from?
  21. Given the amount of people on here who think football is fucked, I reckon the kids are a bit smarter than we give them credit for!
  22. In terms of the result, the game didn’t matter as we knew because we were already qualified. Because of that, the only benefit was to see what the youngsters could show they could do against a team who would be taking proceedings seriously. In that respect, few covered themselves in glory unfortunately, although, to be fair, if everyone isn’t giving 100% concentration and application, the overall performance will suffer anyway. Not easy to get concerned about what happened, although technically, some of the passing was poor (under hit, wayward, behind players instead of in front of them etc.) and tackling was powder puff, but those things can be improved with training, experience and greater physicality. Perhaps we can meet USG in the future and give them a good whupping just to set the record a bit straighter. Now for Sunday.
  23. They’re learning that just because you win the lottery, you still have to earn your place to win in this competition, even City took years before they eventually did it. Newcastle will benefit being able to “concentrate on the league”, and I’ve no doubt they’ll continue to evolve (buy more players) and their fans will benefit having seen more technical players in the flesh, and by assessing whether it was a good idea to have gone quiet when their team went behind.
  24. Gordon off. Obviously his level of cheating isn’t required at this point. The audible “pop” as the bubble burst around 58 mins was fun. Still, they have time yet.
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