Other Games 21/22

[HarvSFC]

Rangnick makes Solskjaer look like a genius.

[CB Fry]

I think I could hear the Old Trafford faithful chanting for Graham Potter at the end there.

[adrian lord]

Man U:

 

Manager after manager after manager can’t get them playing anything decent.

 

When are they going to realise that the players are a bunch of arrogant prima donnas who think they’re better than the coaches?

[Holmes_and_Watson]

9 hours ago, whelk said:

xG seems to be hugely overused now Sky pundits seem to have grasped it. However there is merit in it and most telling example was when Palace lost their first  10 or so games and everyone saying situation was hopeless. Their xG put them mid table and that run of misses normally converted didn’t continue and they survived. I don’t know what xG a penalty gets or Martinelli’s miss as always seem incredibly low? 

I think Potter was considered to be better than results for similar reasons to Palace that you mention. Certainly from his employers, who apparently could see where the improvements were needed. Fixing them might take a bit longer.

xG from a penalty is 0.76.
Handily someone telly said it a few days back, but as long as I never say that, it'll be like I knew all along. 😊

10 hours ago, Turkish said:

 Doesn’t every club outside of the top one dream of having this a top striker? There is a reason why they usually only play for the biggest clubs

Not even a top striker, playing for one of the biggest teams. Just someone who can make a difference at the level below. Although presumably, they are also looking for a bargain to sell on later too. Arguably, all these strikers are towards the top so you often get exactly the sort of level of player you already have.

[tajjuk]

12 hours ago, adrian lord said:

Man U:

 

Manager after manager after manager can’t get them playing anything decent.

 

When are they going to realise that the players are a bunch of arrogant prima donnas who think they’re better than the coaches?

I think there is something rotten at the core of that club, more going on behind the scenes than we see. Those are good players, but as a collective they are just poor. 

For their budget, transfer spending of the last 5 years to be 7th, 20 points of the leaders (ok with some games in hand but no guarantee on current form they will win those) is just appalling. 

Does go to show that although football is all about the money at the moment (and for the forseeable future) building a team of the right characters that blend well together  is still very important. Man City might have shed loads of money but their recruitment seems to have a plan and they get top players who work as hard as anyone, whereas Utd seem to play fantasy football or FIFA as far as I can tell. 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

23 minutes ago, tajjuk said:

I think there is something rotten at the core of that club, more going on behind the scenes than we see. Those are good players, but as a collective they are just poor. 

For their budget, transfer spending of the last 5 years to be 7th, 20 points of the leaders (ok with some games in hand but no guarantee on current form they will win those) is just appalling. 

Does go to show that although football is all about the money at the moment (and for the forseeable future) building a team of the right characters that blend well together  is still very important. Man City might have shed loads of money but their recruitment seems to have a plan and they get top players who work as hard as anyone, whereas Utd seem to play fantasy football or FIFA as far as I can tell. 

Agree with that. I can't stand United but it does seem since Ferguson retired they have been searching for a new identity. Maybe they should have stuck with Moyes a bit longer. 

[East Kent Saint]

Fergie is the ghost at the banquet , the owners only know how to line their own pockets , too many old players resigned : Pogba , OGS , Ronaldo , too many good players signed then not used / discarded etc

[igsey]

I am enjoying the raft of pundits and armchair managers coming out saying the 4-2-2-2 system at United is stupid and never going to work no matter the players...

[Turkish]

There have been a couple of transfers today, we have been sold and the lead story on SSN is that Lukaku apologies to Chelsea. FFS

[Toadhall Saint]

1 minute ago, Turkish said:

There have been a couple of transfers today, we have been sold and the lead story on SSN is that Lukaku apologies to Chelsea. FFS

Shows how important we are in the scheme of things.😉

[whelk]

2 hours ago, Turkish said:

There have been a couple of transfers today, we have been sold and the lead story on SSN is that Lukaku apologies to Chelsea. FFS

TBF think Tuchel has been very good in this situation and speaking honestly with media. 

[HarvSFC]

Tottenham should have requested a postponement tonight and played the game once Hojbjerg became unavailable.

[LiberalCommunist]

Anyone else watching the Sky four morning transfers?

Its pretty funny. PC is going to sign for Villa because he loves Liverpool. Err what?

Trippier, the highest paid player in Toons history is a no risk move. Okay.

I'm just here for the laughs. 

[egg]

3 minutes ago, LiberalCommunist said:

Anyone else watching the Sky four morning transfers?

Its pretty funny. PC is going to sign for Villa because he loves Liverpool. Err what?

Trippier, the highest paid player in Toons history is a no risk move. Okay.

I'm just here for the laughs. 

Newcastle are  gonna tear other teams apart with Tripper feeding balls into Solanke when they get him. Or something. 

I'm not sure where Coutinho fits into Villa's team. Great player though and a big hitter. 

[LiberalCommunist]

Its the gushing though. I think they want Liverpool to sign someone so they can move on!

[Give it to Ron]

2 hours ago, egg said:

Newcastle are  gonna tear other teams apart with Tripper feeding balls into Solanke when they get him. Or something. 

I'm not sure where Coutinho fits into Villa's team. Great player though and a big hitter. 

I watched him at Barca last year or year before covid he was rubbish. Not sure this is as good a deal as looks

Edited 7 January, 2022 by Give it to Ron

[igsey]

6 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

I watched him at Barca last year or year before covid he was rubbish. Not sure this is as good a deal as looks

I watched him at the Camp Nou in 2019 and he was getting booed every touch by the home fans, booed before the game and when he was subbed off. Can't be the best circumstances to perform in.

[S-Clarke]

Coutinho has had a tough time at Barca, he hasn't had a single good game there. Barca has been a bit bat shit crazy though, similar could be said of Dembele who was a phenomenal player at Dortmund.

The main question marks over Coutinho is that he also went on loan to Bayern and failed equally as badly there. 

I see this deal similar to that of James Rodriguez and Gareth Bale, lots of fan fare but neither did anything of note.

[East Kent Saint]

2 hours ago, igsey said:

I watched him at the Camp Nou in 2019 and he was getting booed every touch by the home fans, booed before the game and when he was subbed off. Can't be the best circumstances to perform in.

He was allegedly a Saints Target but foolishly chose Liverampton so explains why he is crap 

[whelk]

Fair play to Pep. Never takes the piss in the cups. 

[danjosaint]

5 hours ago, East Kent Saint said:

He was allegedly a Saints Target but foolishly chose Liverampton so explains why he is crap 

That's how we got Poch, we went scouting for Coutinho when iirc at Espanyol but ended up coming back with Poch

[badgerx16]

16 minutes ago, whelk said:

Fair play to Pep. Never takes the piss in the cups. 

21 cases of covid in the city squad and staff, including Pep.

[Toadhall Saint]

5 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

21 cases of covid in the city squad and staff, including Pep.

Pity the geordies don’t have the same integrity

[badgerx16]

35 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

21 cases of covid in the city squad and staff, including Pep.

 

29 minutes ago, Toadhall Saint said:

Pity the geordies don’t have the same integrity

8 players aged 20 or under for City, most of whom are listed in a first team squad for the first time.

[TWar]

11 hours ago, egg said:

I'm not sure where Coutinho fits into Villa's team.

I suspect they play

Martinez 

Cash Konsa Mings Targett

Mcginn Luiz Ramsey

Buendia coutinho

Watkins

In Gerrards favoured 4321 formation with two 10s behind the striker.

Coutinho looks washed up to me, was very poor for Barca to the point that he looked worse than their academy lads. Was not great for bayern either, despite good goals and assists return. Then again so did Lingard before tearing it up for west ham so stranger things have happened.

The option to buy is like £35m apparently, which is a bit steep and makes it a less good punt than originally thought, especially if they are paying a big chunk of wages.

Edited 7 January, 2022 by TWar

[whelk]

Jesus run up was too fast. Should have gone for this approach 

 

[Lighthouse]

I didn’t particularly think PC was THAT good at Liverpool, certainly nowhere near what Barca paid for him. He dined out on a handful of worldies, a couple of which were against us, but his all round game was nowhere near the current level of Salah or Mané.

[Toadhall Saint]

2 hours ago, badgerx16 said:

 

8 players aged 20 or under for City, most of whom are listed in a first team squad for the first time.

What about the other 13?

[badgerx16]

5 minutes ago, Toadhall Saint said:

What about the other 13?

I think De Bruyne, Jesus, Walker, Silva, Ake, etc just about count as regular first team starters 😉

[Toadhall Saint]

5 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

I think De Bruyne, Jesus, Walker, Silva, Ake, etc just about count as regular first team starters 😉

Anymore?

[CB Fry]

2 hours ago, whelk said:

Jesus run up was too fast. Should have gone for this approach 

 

Lovely stuff.

[saintwbu]

58 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

I didn’t particularly think PC was THAT good at Liverpool, certainly nowhere near what Barca paid for him. He dined out on a handful of worldies, a couple of which were against us, but his all round game was nowhere near the current level of Salah or Mané.

Agreed, was great business from them and i thought it at the time too.

[badgerx16]

Jack Butland, oh deary deary me 🙂

[64saint]

Just now, badgerx16 said:

Jack Butland, oh deary deary me 🙂

Two or three teams are good enough to play it out from the back, the rest really are playing with fire.  Swindon last night trying it against Man City !!!!   

First thing I thought of when Butland messed up, we might be signing him 🙄

[niceandfriendly]

Any streams for FA cup games today fellas?

[niceandfriendly]

Answered my own question https://cricfree.io/category/football

[badgerx16]

Bloody ridiculous that if an FA Cup third round tie is at a Premier League ground then VAR will be in use. Would it not be fairer for all ties to be without until the point later in the competition when they will have it available for all matches.

Edited 8 January, 2022 by badgerx16

[bpsaint]

Annoys me that the womens super league takes priority over the FA Cup on the Sky Sport Scores app.

[Matthew Le God]

4 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

Bloody ridiculous that if an FA Cup third round tie is at a Premier League ground then VAR will be in use. Would it not be fairer for all ties to be without until the point later in the competition when they will have it available for all matches.

Why is it unfair? It being used in one game doesn't affect another where it isn't being used. 

Edited 8 January, 2022 by Matthew Le God

[Sheaf Saint]

5 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

Bloody ridiculous that if an FA Cup third round tie is at a Premier League ground then VAR will be in use. Would it not be fairer for all ties to be without until the point later in the competition when they will have it available for all matches.

Millwall taking full advantage of there being no VAR so far. 

Will be a miracle if this game finishes 11 v 11.

[badgerx16]

3 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Why is it unfair? It being used in one game doesn't affect another where it isn't being used. 

Why do you always jump on everybody else's opinions ? Just occasionally keep your fingers off the keyboard and people might have a more amiable view of you. I feel that all matches in a particular round should be played to the same rules.

[badgerx16]

3 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Millwall taking full advantage of there being no VAR so far. 

Will be a miracle if this game finishes 11 v 11.

I think the ref has allowed the location to modify his opinion of what comprises fair play. Still, happy with the state of the match so far.

[Matthew Le God]

2 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

1) Why do you always jump on everybody else's opinions ?

2) Just occasionally keep your fingers off the keyboard and people might have a more amiable view of you. I feel that all matches in a particular round should be played to the same rules.

1) This is a forum... forums are for discussion. I asked a follow up question... that is a discussion.

2) The rules in the games are not different. A game with VAR and a game without VAR have exactly the same rules.

Edited 8 January, 2022 by Matthew Le God

[badgerx16]

2 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

1) This is a forum... forums are for discussion. I asked a follow up question... that is a discussion.

2) The rules in the games are not different. A game with VAR and a game without VAR has exactly the same rules.

(1) you take contrary positions consistently, it is your defining character trait.

(2) no they don't. All goals and penalty awards are verified by VAR, so the referee's decision can be overturned. Therefore, not the same rules.

Edited 8 January, 2022 by badgerx16

[Matthew Le God]

1 minute ago, badgerx16 said:

(2) no they don't. All goals and penalty awards are verified by VAR, so the referee's decision can be overturned. Therefore, not the same rules.

The rules are the same, what constitutes a penalty is the same with and without VAR. You are confusing rules with tools for implementing the rules.

[Whitey Grandad]

1 minute ago, Matthew Le God said:

The rules are the same, what constitutes a penalty is the same with and without VAR. You are confusing rules with tools for implementing the rules.

It’s not the Laws that are different. It’s the application of them.

[Saint_clark]

1 minute ago, Matthew Le God said:

The rules are the same, what constitutes a penalty is the same with and without VAR. You are confusing rules with tools for implementing the rules.

Two goals in two different games can be scored, both marginally offside. In the game without VAR it stands, in the game with VAR it's overruled. When games are in the same competition the conditions the match are played in should be exactly the same.

[badgerx16]

Just now, Matthew Le God said:

The rules are the same, what constitutes a penalty is the same with and without VAR. You are confusing rules with tools for implementing the rules.

If you want to be pedantic yes the "rules" are technically the same, but if the current game was being played at Selhurst Park the Palace penalty claim might well have been awarded on review. Also, it is entirely possible that PL teams playing at home will be able to take advantage of their experience of VAR to play offside more tightly, for instance.  All teams should have the benefit of a level playing field.

[nta786]

1 minute ago, badgerx16 said:

(2) no they don't. All goals and penalty awards are verified by VAR, so the referee's decision can be overturned. Therefore, not the same rules.

I agree with you, I don't think they should use it until all fixtures in a tie can implement it.

These are some of the following reasons as to why the FA Cup is undermined with its inconsistent use:

a) there will not be uniformity in the refereeing

b) a potential imbalance in sporting standards

for example, this hypothetical scenario: two matches are being played simultaneously, both of which are tied with a minute or two to play; identical goals are scored by the away teams right at the death, but in one of these matches a Premier League club is at home and VAR intervenes to call play back for a very narrow offside call. The goal is awarded in the other. If two matches in the same competition can have identical situations that result in wildly different outcomes because of the inconsistent application (or non-application) of technology, then surely we can only surmise that there is something fundamentally wrong with the competition itself.

VAR also changes the way PL players play on the pitch. For example, Chesterfield players may not be used to playing to the whistle as much as Chelsea players will be - we know with VAR linesmen now raise their flags less.

[Sheaf Saint]

4 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

It’s not the Laws that are different. It’s the application of them.

Case in point - that Palace goal would have been rightly disallowed for offside.