razor

I can name three Norwegian left backs who are better left backs than Salah. See if that computes...

Disingenuous. You smear your opinions of Salah all over the forums - including in the match thread last night - like a dirty protest with the added bonus of decontextuialised screenshots of stats. Always with the subtext that you see things that we interloping amateurs just can't see. In that thread you were absolving Salah of all blame which you lay squarley at the feet of Diaz. Diaz was our best player last night, and was trying to make things happen. He received little to no support from his fellow front liners. So here we are.

Honestly, Code, stop it. Salah stunk the place out, didn't get involved (apart from the "two times he had a pass in front of him"...!?). Diaz lost the ball more than Salah because he had TWICE AS MUCH OF THE BALL AS SALAH. He was getting involved and was trying to make things happen. I'd say watch the game again without prejudice but I know it's like talking to a pre-programmed robot. Will Diaz have the career that Mo has had? Almost certainly not. Is he a better player than Mo? No, he's not. Was he better in last night's game than Salah - yes, he was.

I totally agree. But with regards to the Diaz chance, I would also argue that it was a much more difficult opportunity than the Nunez chance. They aren't quite the same, so it wouldn't be fair to criticize them equally. I think it was Nunez's header that set it up - the best thing he did all evening. He miscontrolled a couple that ended up in Salah's path, but the Diaz pass was deliberate. All in all, a total mess of a performance, and not one showing the green shoots of promise or "something to build on." We are Liverpool and we require more.

via GIPHY

No! Don't do yourself down, mate, I'm sure you do!

Eyeballs? Eyeballs! Never judge a game of football by watching it, mate. Wait a few days until you can cherry pick some stats like "completed pass percentage". Then you'll understand football. Eyeballs...

Never change, Code. What am I talking about? You never will.

Well there was the tracking back. There was the physicality. There was the going on the outside, going on the inside. There was the bringing Robbo into play in dangerous areas to cross. There was the smacking the ball against the post from an opportunity he made himself. But yes, he wasn't as good as Salah whose bright light was only slightly dimmed by meandering about on the right not getting involved, and looking like a 9 year old in school shoes when the ball dropped at his feet in the box. But yes, you know so much more about football than the rest of the watching world, mate.

The Mary Chain and a tub of ice cream. Great thinking, clog.

I should neg this for its brazenness. But like most of our team, I just can't muster the fight.

If people like that Robinson and Fox really loved Britain/England, they would distance themselves from things like St George's Day. How can normal, everyday people of Britain feel proud of anything that they are part of? If behaving the way do is "claiming back Britishness", who would want to identify with Britishness? It's like Boris Johnson talking about British values of honesty and fair play. He is the antithesis of "British values". If I were to ever want to identify as British, it would be at the opposite end of the definition spectrum to them. I mean, did Wellington or Nelson ever get wasted on super-strength German lager and puff his chest out whilst toplessly goading coppers to "Come on, let's have it, then"? I know Oscar Wilde did, but he's Irish.

Go 'ed Slotty, lad.

Inject him with cortisone / glue / heroin. With or without consent.

Good stuff, Dave. For me, Gakpo has really stepped up. His speciality is picking up the ball on the edge of the attacking third, turning and bursting forward through tight spaces. We need to use that better with the movement ahead of him. He can then install himself as the Bobby replacement, linking the last phase of attack. On your excellent point (made on the pod, too) about the "moment" the ball is played during a VAR check, this is absolutely crucial. If my memory is correct, there are 24 frames per second in digital video. If you filmed a foot kicking a ball, the "contact" will cover virtually all 24 frames - and sometimes more, depending on the type of strike. Now, when two people are running (sometimes in opposite directions, so, unscientifically "twice" the speed!) the offside line shifts massively in a split second. So, the moment the "pause" button is pressed is VITAL. Yet, pundits and journalists never seem to talk about it! There is an arbitrary "press pause there" mumbled by the VAR, and then the lines are the only thing that is analysed! But if a few frames are rewound of moved forward - the boot will still be in contact with the ball ("the moment the ball is played") yet the lines will be in completely different places. VAR is a shambles and it has had a detrimental effect on the sport. Lastly, I just wanted to mention that Alisson corner. My mate used to referee in a Christian league. He loved it. Yes it was physical and competitive, but when it came down to contentious decisions, it was so easy because nobody cheated - if you touched the ball last you admitted it. Sometimes they'd be so honest that there's be a disagreement: "Mate, I did touch it, it's a corner." / "No, you didn't, I did, it's a goal kick..." I couldn't help but think of that league when I saw Alisson touch that ball over. Everything about him wanted the ref to give a corner. So, I think almost subconsciously, he took the goal kick he never wanted to a daft place when our players weren't even in the right positions. I'm not saying he wanted it to result in a goal, but he was defo uncomfortable with gaining an unfair advantage and was prepared to conceded possession. His heart belongs to Jesus, and there's nothin we can do about it!

For real. Sorry. (Miss Jackson)

What next for Everton, "Barmy Army [clap, clap]"? Generic artificiality has finally come to Merseyside. Embarrassing, and a little bit saddening.

Prescience - I called this on Wednesday...

I'm not a massive fan, but I love this moment - Syd Barrett and (The?) Pink Floyd.

He wears bloomers. Hardly a term of affection / respect, that, mate!

Did you not run?

Without reading any of the post past the first line - I mean, I just can't.... - the answer is that our players take too long to get shots away, and also just hit it with little hope of the ball hitting the net. I believe Americans call it a Hail Mary? I don't need stats, I can see it every week. It's like someone has crunched a load of numbers and said, "For every 10 shots you take, one goes in" so they just tot up a total and hope for the best. A quite divisive forward of ours does this perpetually. In fact, two of them do.

Great podcast. I listened to it in two halves on different days, and the arc pretty much matched my own processing. That said, I thought I was low when I started it, but bloody hell, I wanted to take Paul out for a pint and a packet of crisps during that first 20 minutes! The anger and the acceptance were also in there, so in reply to the question, do people really want to listen to these unpacking-of-the-misery podcasts, honestly, yes we do. Personally, I find it cathartic, mate. As a final point, I was also duped by the romance of Barcelona: in a world of cynicism and commercialism, in 2008-12 or something like that, they seemed to be a glimmer of hope. I now hate Barca more than I hate Madrid, and that is saying something. It stems from the duplicitous outward-facing masquerade. "More than a club" - yeah, alright. Més que un club = masquerade.

We should get one of those text to speech voices to read this thread out. It should be set to "Morgan Freeman documentary" mode, and be read over the background music of "Ebony and Ivory" by Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney.