Lets Talk Football

Tools    





I think both are plausible, but the tactical thing is more likely. Though, you'd expect that it would've been mentioned before the game? Maybe it was and that's why Sarri was so enraged? Anyway, he's been fined and dropped for the next game, so the official story does seem to be doubtful at best.

Liverpool showed everything against Watford that they haven't for the last month. If they keep going like that, then I think the league is probably theirs. That said, there's still 10 games to go and I don't know that they can do that every game for long enough to get the lead they need to protect.

It wasn't looking good for United, but that win away at Palace was a really good win for us considering all the problems. Southampton next, coming off a win themselves, but I'd hope that we'll still have enough to get past them. PSG after that and then the game which might decide who gets in the top 4. Away at Arsenal.
__________________
5-time MoFo Award winner.



PSG's second half against United was what I was expecting for the whole tie tbh. If I were a PSG fan I'd be slightly worried that they only did that once United's gameplan was completely done by injuries. Not for this leg, of course, they'd done more than enough. But against the top teams (especially away) they're going to have to be a lot better if they want to win the CL. Which they do, of course, as it's the only reason this incarnation of PSG exists.

I know they didn't have Neymar (and won't have Rabiot) but they're probably a better team without Neymar anyway.



Bye bye title. Can't see City dropping points.

It's now three seasons where we have produced a special season, only to see another team doing just a wee bit better. Infuriating. It's like a curse.



Sadly I wouldn't give up just yet. I think both Liverpool and City will drop points before the end. I think all of the top 6 have a defeat in them. The top two much less, but I can see them dropping points.



I know it seems an odd thing to say and there are, of course, other factors, but I'm starting to think Klopp might be a big part of the nervousness around Liverpool... And he's the one with the most experience of winning. Yesterday was too windy.... Apparently. Against United our injuries threw them off. I can't remember what it was with Bayern, but I'm sure there was another silly thing.



Must be doin sumthin right
I know it seems an odd thing to say and there are, of course, other factors, but I'm starting to think Klopp might be a big part of the nervousness around Liverpool...

He's rattled




The wind bit is embarrassing, apart from the excuses over grass that he has said on some occasions.
However, you could say that he was trying to protect his players from criticism. They have been underperforming since the start of the year, and publicly he will always back them.

That confrontation with the Everton ballboy was unnecessary. But that's how managers are. Especially the successful ones. They don't respond kindly to defeats.



I agree that this could be something he's doing/saying to deflect from the performance. After all, that's what we'd all be saying if this was Mourinho. But I do feel that he's nervous. It's being mirrored in Germany atm. It doesn't mean that Liverpool (or Dortmund) won't win their leagues, but both are the 'underdog' being challenged by the dominant league team with the experience of winning the league. Both had quite the lead at Christmas and have thrown away points (although Liverpool still have only lost one game.)



We've gone on holiday by mistake
Unbelievable!! What a result.

OLE, OLE OLE OLE!

More VAR controversy.
__________________



Wow. Just wow. Honestly, what do you say as a fan after that? I think that penalty was the only time I was pleased Pogba wasn't on the pitch. I don't know how I'd have coped with his tippy-tappy run up to a penalty. That penalty.

I'm not sure how I feel about the penalty. I'm not sure which side I come down on. Is it a deliberate handball? I don't think so. However, if I purposely put my arms out and the ball happens to hit them, isn't that deliberate? If the defender knew any contact between arm and ball would be called, would he have put his arm out? I don't think he would. It wasn't close enough for him not to be able to get his arm 'out of the way' if he knew he'd be giving a penalty away, IMO. Goalkeepers spread themselves in the hope of putting off an attacker and stopping a shot before they know where or which side it will go. IMO the defender is doing the same thing. Whether that is considered deliberate handball is a question for the referee and the lawmakers of the game.

None of this should distract from the fact (as Rafa would say ) that PSG could well be the biggest bottlers in European, if not world, football history. After Ole made the change and took Bailly off we pretty much stopped PSG from looking a threat. The longer that went on, the more nervous they looked. It felt like they were daring us to score.

I'm really pleased about it though, partly as PSG are just such an unlikeable group of players with an arrogance they haven't earned. Not as PSG players, anyway.


Congrats to Porto, too. neiba will be so pleased. Seems JR is too.



the samoan lawyer's Avatar
Unregistered User
Wow. Just wow. Honestly, what do you say as a fan after that? I think that penalty was the only time I was pleased Pogba wasn't on the pitch. I don't know how I'd have coped with his tippy-tappy run up to a penalty. That penalty.

I'm not sure how I feel about the penalty. I'm not sure which side I come down on. Is it a deliberate handball? I don't think so. However, if I purposely put my arms out and the ball happens to hit them, isn't that deliberate? If the defender knew any contact between arm and ball would be called, would he have put his arm out? I don't think he would. It wasn't close enough for him not to be able to get his arm 'out of the way' if he knew he'd be giving a penalty away, IMO. Goalkeepers spread themselves in the hope of putting off an attacker and stopping a shot before they know where or which side it will go. IMO the defender is doing the same thing. Whether that is considered deliberate handball is a question for the referee and the lawmakers of the game.

None of this should distract from the fact (as Rafa would say ) that PSG could well be the biggest bottlers in European, if not world, football history. After Ole made the change and took Bailly off we pretty much stopped PSG from looking a threat. The longer that went on, the more nervous they looked. It felt like they were daring us to score.

I'm really pleased about it though, partly as PSG are just such an unlikeable group of players with an arrogance they haven't earned. Not as PSG players, anyway.


Congrats to Porto, too. neiba will be so pleased. Seems JR is too.

I was in absolute bits when the penalty call was made. I was watching on my own and ending up waking the other half up to come down and watch it with me!


Difficult call on it indeed. Obviously so glad we got it but if it was other way around I would be fuming. Definitely not intentional but when the BT Sport referee made the point about Kimpembe making himself bigger by doing that, then its hard to argue against.


Still don't want everyone getting too carried away though. Its amazing being back and beating these teams but we are still getting outplayed in a lot of the games.
__________________
Too weird to live, and too rare to die.



Yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeedddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd
__________________
My Favorite Films



Question for Spurs fans. Now that the personnel crisis has pretty much passed results have dropped as have performances. Has Kane (and maybe Ali) come back to soon from injury? Or have the rest of the team relaxed now that the big boys have returned? Son seems to have disappeared since Kane returned. One of the problems with having a 'saviour' in a team is that everyone plays to them. When they're in form, it's fine. When it's not, frustration sets in and the others seem to forget how to do it for themselves. It's not just Spurs, I'd throw both Barca and Real in there and in the UK, Match Of The Day showed a little of it yesterday with Crystal Palace and Saha.



If you had to pick a player to take a penalty to save your life, would you really pick anyone other than Cristiano Ronaldo? Even the biggest Messi fan would do it, surely?

Surprised that Atleti performed the way they did. Too negative from the get go and didn't really push to get the goal which would all but assure their progression. I could see Juve scoring two, but I really thought they'd have to open up enough to allow the away goal. They did and had Madrid gone for it, they probably could've nicked one.

That said, I didn't know that Costa wouldn't be playing. That was a huge loss for them, both going forward and backwards. They had to hit on the break as no one could hold the ball up. Great game to watch, though. I took this rather than the City game as I assumed that'd be pretty much over by halftime. I had no idea just how over that game would be.



I didn't expect us to go through, let alone win so comfortably. We didn't even get out of the second gear.

The Bayern board should have listened to Ancelotti. That squad needs loads of changes. Too many old and unmotivated players.

As for us, we desperately need to win some silverware. I totally expect Zidane to be provided with a massive transfer kitty and he will most probably come for Salah. For those who don't know, one of the reasons he resigned was because he wanted to replace Bale with Salah and Perez denied his request. Can't see him saying no to Zidane again.
Ideally I don't want to lose Salah, but he can be replaced and we have options, including the young Wilson who has been brilliant at Derby. However, if they come for Van Dijk and if they succeed then the club will substantially regress in quality. The man is not a rock but the entire Himalayas and frankly can't be replaced.



Question for Spurs fans. Now that the personnel crisis has pretty much passed results have dropped as have performances. Has Kane (and maybe Ali) come back to soon from injury? Or have the rest of the team relaxed now that the big boys have returned? Son seems to have disappeared since Kane returned. One of the problems with having a 'saviour' in a team is that everyone plays to them. When they're in form, it's fine. When it's not, frustration sets in and the others seem to forget how to do it for themselves. It's not just Spurs, I'd throw both Barca and Real in there and in the UK, Match Of The Day showed a little of it yesterday with Crystal Palace and Saha.
I agree that maybe they came back too early, but this probably would've happened whenever they returned, the game plan changes and it takes time to adapt. If we had a like for like with Kane it wouldn't be too much of an issue, with Alli the midfield is pretty interchangeable but Llorente and Kane are 2 totally different kind of strikers, until they find a 2nd fiddle that plays a similar style to Kane they'll keep having these problems every season



Messi is still better then Ronaldo, and will always be.
Just for Champions League alone eight goals in six games. Ronaldo in seven games have four goals.
Messi could have scored zero goals, is better in my opinion because I like to watch football not goals.
I enjoy the pass as much as the goal itself. Ronaldo is just for show, media love it, his a good sales man.