Whitey Grandad

That's very childish.

If he didn't I will.

Players win games. Systems lose them.

That is a worry. This ‘manager’ seems to be trying to learn as he goes along. He talks of getting used to various formations when what is need in our situation is a team which is solid defensively and which plays in a formation with which they are accustomed and comfortable. This is no time to be trying out different players to see how good they are. He threw that semi final in an attempt to try something different. It was an insult to those supporters that made a wonderful effort to get up there and cheer their team on.

Only when he doesn’t play.

Of course we were more aggressive with a back four than we were with a back five. I wonder if that's anything to do with having another player further forward.

Each year that passes is a smaller fraction of the years you've had and a larger fraction of the years you've got left.

If you can find a bus.

He's young and inexperienced with all that goes with that. He has also been woefully exposed by what we call our defence.

None of the insults please, sonny. You cannot seriously expect any goalkeeper to save a shot that's low down from just over ten yards out. That shot was closer than the penalty spot. The goal is 8 yards wide. That's 24 feet wide. There's enough room for four six- foot goalkeepers to stretch out along it. Or for one goalkeeper to have twelve feet either side of him. It didn't matter where he positioned himself Longstaff would have put the ball past him. Try spending some time in goal yourself and you might understand what's involved.

I had my heart bypass nearly eleven years ago so that has bought me some time. The best £6000 that I have spent was getting my cataract lenses replaced with artificial ones. Most of my life I had been short sighted but now I have better than 20:20 vision. I just have some cheap specs for reading. I have been type 2 diabetic for a long while but have recently gone onto daily insulin injections. It has brought my blood sugar under control and now I can go hours without needing the toilet.

First goal was not stoppable. Ten yards out.

As Bob Monkhouse used to say, "You know you're getting old when you you walk into a room and can't remember why you went there. And it's the toilet."

That would be a complete mess. Maybe the Dutch team of ‘total football’ could have tried it. Then you would have AA knackered after running the length of the pitch whilst his central defenders had been spectators.

Yes, it’s a good squad of players. All we have to do now is get them playing as a unified team.

Dr. Richard North has written many pieces on this subject. https://www.turbulenttimes.co.uk/news/front-page/energy-a-broken-system/ “The worst of it is that the Courts have a significant financial interest in not looking too closely at the applications. Under the Magistrates Court Fees (Amendment) Order 2014, they get paid £20 per application. If, as the Guardian avers, they are processing something like 20,000 applications a month, this is a very lucrative business, raking in something like £400,000 a month to the court system.”

You left out, being invisible, groaning when you get up even if nothing hurts, finding all noises too loud, getting annoyed by wailing teenagers doing something called pop music, not being able to stand all through a game of football.

That would be what a well organised team would do. The team should keep its shape at all times and not be pulled about by surging runs towards its own goal. It should be a layered defence and you should never have to rely on one of your front men to run all the way back to your own goalkeeper. The defender of last resort should make his challenge by the edge of the penalty area at the latest. Once an attacker has had a free run all the way right up to within ten yards of the goal then they will most probably score.

No they wouldn’t.

I have never said that. What I have said is that runners are not tracked right back into your own penalty box and never shepherded right back to your own goalkeeper. One of the central back defenders should step up and block the attacker. How far back should AA have run with Longstaff, do you think?

If we do that then we are almost certainly relegated.

You’re miles off. Bednarek is not supposed to ‘mark’ a player who runs into the box. He’s supposed to confront him and put in a challenge. Watch the goal again and you can see him looking around like a lost child and he doesn’t even try to get to the ball. He turns himself sideways on and looks away completely almost as if he’s terrified of getting hit by the ball. Bazunu never had a chance. Longstaff was closer than the penalty spot and you wouldn’t normally expect a goalkeeper to save those.

Yes, getting old does suck. But what’s the alternative?

Warrants are approved in bulk without any scrutiny. It’s a nice little earner for the magistrates’ courts.

For the first time in my life I shall be cheering for Man Utd during the final. I can’t believe I’m saying this. I feel cheap and dirty.