OttawaSaint

Lots of excitement for this squad. Our biggest star is Bayern's Alphonso Davies but he's missed most of this campaign with myocarditis following a covid infection. We play a nice game, with high pressing and quick counter attacks. We have players whose value is rising all the time. Ottawa's own Jonathon David is a real gem, he plays for Lille in France. Indeed most of the team play in leagues like Belgian, Turkish, Portuguese, MLS, English Championship. Will be intriguing to see how we get on in Qatar and as you say 2026 is here (not in Ottawa though) when the players will no doubt be even bigger stars. And as I type it's 2-0. We're off to Qatar!!!! 1st appearance since 1986!

Kyle Larin just put Canada 1-0 up vs Jamaica with an near identical chance to Adam Armstrong's vs City last week. Canada need just a draw to qualify for Qatar.

At 2-1 up Jose Fonte gave away a penalty that was awarded after a VAR check. Turkey missed it and Portugal added a 3rd to set up their tie with N Macedonia.

Yeah, but who only has two yachts in 2022? I'm going to keep paying my fair share of taxes so that these poor souls can avoid paying theirs and afford that 3rd yacht. It would break my heart to see them suffer like this...

Wonder what the xG was...

There was a young chap named TWar, Who used statistics to tell us the score, But the forward was Long, And he played like a mong And Saints ended up losing 1-4

Anyway, that's enough from me. I'm heading out for a run. Need to keep the fitness going for 7-a-side on Friday night. The fitter you are, the better you control the ball

To be honest. I looked at those still shots on their own merit and couldn't actually remember if they were scored on or missed and where the player put the ball. We get ex pros as pundits on the DAZN channel I subscribe to. They often educate the hosts as to what was a bad miss or a difficult chance. I'd be very surprised if Alan Shearer or Michael Owen said that AA was unlucky, both of them would be salivating at a chance laid on like that, the pace of the pass, the angle of the goal, where the keeper was and on his favoured foot. AA is probably torturing himself with that one.

You remind me of that scene in Goodwill Hunting where Robin Williams tells Matt Damon things like (paraphrasing), "you could probably tell me all about great painters and what they painted and their techniques and history, but you couldn't tell me what the Sistine Chapel smells like, what it feels like to look up at that ceiling".

So both Djenepo and Redmond, neither known for their finishing and both often miss howlers, scored on xGs of around 0.25 to 0.18. That, to me would suggest how flawed the xG stat is.

So you said that a penalty kick is 0.85xG. Are you aware (and I don't know why this is, physics or something) that a dead ball is much harder to strike cleanly than a moving ball. Again, it doesn't seem logical but it is. Playing the game teaches you that, actually kicking a ball rather than watching others.

Interesting that @TWar neglected to comment on this one. I think it fits the situation very nicely. Too nicely...

Once made a sandwich? So I've played football once? I've played the game since I was a kid, I'm now 48 and play indoor and outdoor in organized leagues with refs and linos. I've played 1000s and 1000s of games. Sorry if it reminds you of being picked last in PE but I can't help that. That chance of AAs was a very easy chance. .75 on the xG. It simply was and if you ask Adam he'll tell you that himself, he's probably pretty down about it saying to himself, "i usually slot those in in my sleep". Sorry if this offends you. I hope he will bounce back and be a force for us, I really do.

I see I'm not going to get through to you. But I'll leave you with this. When I came to Canada I got really into (ice) hockey and the Ottawa Senators. I have been to many games, watch almost every game on TV, I play the video games, play fantasy hockey etc. When I'm with my friends watching I can reel off the stats etc. and describe the "trap" formation and powerplay strategies etc. until the moose come home. But when it comes to the technical aspects of skating, passing and shooting I defer to them. Initially I'd yell. "oh god what a miss!!!" when I was watching but my friends who actually play the game, and yes, vs Dave the maple syrup farmer, they will say, actually, on the backhand there, in that tight at that speed is really tough. They should know, they play the game, they are not pros, nor do they play against pros and pros would absolutely destroy them but they have played so much they know what is a difficult finish that looks easy and also an easy finish that looks difficult. They have a perspective that I just don't have.

So actually working in a kitchen environment and constantly tasting food and using the various techniques and equipment gives you the same level of understanding as just reading a book or watching a video. Got it!

False equivalence there. For your analogy. Lets say we are watching Gordon Ramsay and he says something like the texture of this dish is all wrong, it needs to be crisper and not so soggy. A person who had worked in a restaurant kitchen would understand, "ah yes, he needed to broil it with a bit of glaze, it does give him the taste and texture that Gordon wanted". The person that watched youtube videos of others cooking and doesn't cook themselves might know what to do but not know what that texture feels like or how it should taste.

This one is much harder, he has #21 breathing down hos neck, the player in the center looking to lunge and there is far less goal to go for on the far side. Ideally he'd want to curl it with his right just inside the far post but that lunging defender in his eyeline makes it tricky so he'd have top go top corner.

You'd be surprised. I certainly prefer a slight angle because it gives you more options.

I think you are still missing the point entirely. I'll spell it out. 1) There are certain aspects of the game like formation, tactics, shape and movement that people who watch the game a lot, can study, quantify and understand. These people have good insight into the potential outcome of the game or why certain things worked and didn't against other teams. Etc. 2) Then there are people who actively play the game, they have a better insight into how it actually feels to play the game, what is easy, what is more difficult, how nerves and confidence effect the game. I simply pointed out that from what you had said about AA being unlucky is that you likely fit into bracket 1. It wasn't a slight or snub, but I realized that if you'd actually played the game to a decent enough level that it was a bad miss and not unlucky. Yes it hit the post, but in this circumstance it wasn't unlucky. The lad clearly had no confidence and and tried to force the ball in and it ended up hitting his heal. I know because I've done it myself when I wasn't confident. For a striker playing well, that chance was an easy one. Sometimes on Canadian TV we get shows with "miss-play of the day". Football is growing here but hockey etc. are sports that people are more familiar with and play. Often these show will show a footballer spooning an effort over the bar and say "OMG what a terrible miss" but many times the chance itself was to those with playing knowledge a really tough chance, the ball was at pace, he's stretching trying to reach the ball and there are 2 defenders closing in. But the presenters would in these cases probably say, "ohhh AA hit the post, how unlucky and, uggh that other guy missed an easy one". However, if they'd played the game they'd know that AAs was an easy chance and the other more difficult. In conclusion, no-one is saying you don't know your stuff about xG etc. only that your perspective for certain situations seems to be off and I think shows you haven't really played the game.

Agreed. If he'd wanted to mix it up he could have had AA vs Watford (instead of the ineffective Smallbone) to give him game time and then started with Bro and AA today. You can't just throw him in cold and low on confidence alongside Long.

Agreed, the commentary team even said it at 4-1, "if you are tuning in now and think City have thrashed Southampton then you'd be wrong, that's not the story".

I see it a bit differently. I think we did harry and press them. We created some excellent opportunities that AA scuffed, Long got in SAs way and Adams hit too close to the keeper. We didn't fanny around at the back but 2 brain farts (JS and MS) killed our chance. I'm not sure I understand what you mean about contractual. Who's contract? RH is contracted to make a sub on 60? Long contracted to play 60? I don't think anything like that is in anyone's contact.

Dean was fine. What did you see?

Yikes! You just keep digging. I'll state one last time. You don't need to have been a pro, but just played at decent level (I still do) to know how upset AA will be with that miss.

Oh dear...