Premier League 2020/2021 Thread
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edd_jedi said:
Just the ten changes by Utd.
I have seen a lot of people complaining about the affect this has on the race for the top 4. Those complaining are mainly unconnected with Pool, WH, Spurs or Everton, yet are saying "fans" from those clubs are up in arms. I haven't seen anyone from those clubs complain at all, bar Moyesy.
I'm kinda on the fence about it. I can understand why OGS felt the need to make changes. Utd have got Sun-Tues-Thurs, which is tough. They do then have a break until next Tuesday though. And it is a bit questionable to make all your changes in one game. Why not make 3 changes for Sunday, 3/4 more/different ones on Tues and then 3/4 more on Thursday?! That way everyone only plays 2 games, which is par for the course at a big club and the likes of Mata, Matic, and yer wee Welsh fella can even play all 3.
I can see why Moyesy was pissed off. It has all but handed Leicester a CL spot. From a Liverpool's fan POV, I have no complaints if Pool miss out. Yes, Injuries have shafted them this year. The CB's in particular is unprecedented. BUT, Pool have ****ed away far far too many stupid pts (Leeds and Newcastle with late equalisers in consecutive games, games where Pool had 39 shots and scored 2 goals, that's pish in anyone's book. Or Allison literally gifting Leicester 2 goals and 3pts, that 6pt swing from that one game would make a hell of a difference right now). I just hope they don't end up in this new European Conference thing. That has no CL spot for the winner so an utter waste of time.
If I was OGS I probably would have taken the chance to shaft your biggest rivals by handing 3pts and a CL spot to Leicester. Watch Utd field a full strength side on Thursday night, minus the injured fat Maguire. But stuff like that has a way of coming back and biting you in the arse. I can just picture the scene next year or the year after, when Pool are playing someone and Utd really need a favour. The temptation, and the precedent is there for Jurgen. OGS (or the Utd manager at the time) and Utd fans can have no complaints if the under 11's get sent out.
If I was WH/Moyesy I would really really hate Utd. First off they beat WH with a goal that was 10 feet off the pitch in the build up and VAR does FA, then Utd hand 3pts to Leicester in the run in. This could be a sliding doors season for WH. If Lindgard pissess off in the summer and Rice as well, will WH be anywhere near the European spots next year!?
Top four are settled now. I can't see any of the sides outside the top four putting a run together to close the gap. Never mind that happening AND Chelsea/Leicester losing all their remaining games.
With relegation settled early as well, there is really very little to play for. Personally, it just sums up this entire season. Poor, boring, utterly forgetable. Probably one of the worst seasons of PL footy in terms of entertainment and quality games, that I can think of.
VAR kops the majority of the blame for them. Liverpool's lack of fit CB's, and half a squad being out at the same time definitely didn't help. But this is the first time in my life that I have turned off football and let the missus watch whatever shite she wants.
The PL have a big problem with VAR, if they don't sort if fans will start to leave in droves.
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What makes me lough is fans blaming Man Utd for this, the Premiere League are to blame, they decided when Utd would play, them alone and they would say they had no choice which is bollucks, games have been called off all season because of Covid outbreaks. What if Man Utd were still in with a shout of winning the league (don't lough) going into this game or the top 4 was on the line? The premier league has compromised the integrity of the league this season on more than one occasion and it all boils down to playing a full season of fixtures in 9 months instead of 10. No surprise that the team with the best squad has won the league with ease!
Congratulations to Man City as well, all though it's a bit like completing Sonic the Hedgehog with a cheat code, Man City have been by far the best team and I can't begrudge their fans having success even if it is bought. They should enjoy these times as much as Leicester City fans did.
I wouldn't worry about tomorrow's game, I wouldn't be surprised if it's postponed again, which will mean cancelled this time and points awarded to Liverpool. You can't get near Old Trafford at the moment, but their are other ways to create problems for the Glazers.
Congratulations to Man City as well, all though it's a bit like completing Sonic the Hedgehog with a cheat code, Man City have been by far the best team and I can't begrudge their fans having success even if it is bought. They should enjoy these times as much as Leicester City fans did.
I wouldn't worry about tomorrow's game, I wouldn't be surprised if it's postponed again, which will mean cancelled this time and points awarded to Liverpool. You can't get near Old Trafford at the moment, but their are other ways to create problems for the Glazers.
Chelsea beat City twice in a fortnight and then lose to Arsenal :lol: Although I agree it's been a terrible season, one thing you can never accuse the PL of is being predictable! Liverpool have a real chance of sneaking in the top four now.
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I think the FA and UEFA are in competition to see who can be the most incompetent. I see UEFA have seen the light and decided to move the all English Champions League final from Turkey to England. No hold on a minute I got that wrong they have moved it to Portugal, which makes soooooooo much sense.
theforceuk said:
Absolutely ridiculous. So every fan who wants to watch their team in a 90 minute final now needs to spend £1000+ on over-priced flights and hotels, rather than £100 or so it would have cost to see it here. And people wonder why clubs are sick of UEFA and wanted to setup the Super League!? It's a racket.
UEFA wanted assurances from the UK Gov that so many fans would be allowed in at the game. I think they wanted 25k, though I could be wrong. The Gov couldn't or wouldn't give them that assurance so they took it elsewhere.
I can see why the Gov wouldn't/couldn't give the assurances, you don't want to rick undoing however many months worth of lock down just for one game. And I can kind of understand why UEFA took it elsewhere. It is their premier competition and a global sporting event.
Common sense would kind imply UEFA bit the bullet and accepted a second year of no fans at the game, but is anyone under any illusions as to where UEFA's priorities lie!?
I can see why the Gov wouldn't/couldn't give the assurances, you don't want to rick undoing however many months worth of lock down just for one game. And I can kind of understand why UEFA took it elsewhere. It is their premier competition and a global sporting event.
Common sense would kind imply UEFA bit the bullet and accepted a second year of no fans at the game, but is anyone under any illusions as to where UEFA's priorities lie!?
Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams at CB. Cos Kabak and Davies are both injured. So that's just the FIVE CB's injured at the same time.
I started sounding like a broken record 5 months ago, but really has a club ever had FIVE players for the same position/two positions, injured at the same time before?
If Utd can't beat that CB pairing they don't deserve CL.
Ps, what a surprise 10 changes to the Utd team too. Lol
I started sounding like a broken record 5 months ago, but really has a club ever had FIVE players for the same position/two positions, injured at the same time before?
If Utd can't beat that CB pairing they don't deserve CL.
Ps, what a surprise 10 changes to the Utd team too. Lol
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The entire world population should be minimizing travelling across boarders end of, if 2 teams from the same country meet in any major final then they should play said final in their own country during a Pandemic.
As for the Liverpool game, this game just showed how average Man Utd are. This Man Utd team will bottle the Europa League final, they have done nothing to make me think otherwise. When it comes down to it they get beat. Leicester in the FA Cup, Leicester and Liverpool in the league, Man City in the League Cup. We could have thrown away a 4 goal lead against Roma in the semis if it wasn't for David De Gea. We won that tie with one decent second half performance at Old Trafford.
As for the Liverpool game, this game just showed how average Man Utd are. This Man Utd team will bottle the Europa League final, they have done nothing to make me think otherwise. When it comes down to it they get beat. Leicester in the FA Cup, Leicester and Liverpool in the league, Man City in the League Cup. We could have thrown away a 4 goal lead against Roma in the semis if it wasn't for David De Gea. We won that tie with one decent second half performance at Old Trafford.
I didn't watch the game. In fact I didn't even know the score until this morning lol.
I got the wee fella to bed and by then it was nearly 9pm and I had 37 whatsapps and 5 txt messages, I assumed Pool were losing given their CB pairing, so turned my phone off.
#Properfan
I have seen the MOTD highlights of the game, it actually looked like a half decent game. Result aside. It looks like a game a neutral would have enjoyed. Not something you could say about the last seven or eight games between those two.
I heard Gary Neville said Utd lost because Harry Maguire was out and he is their best/most important CB. Eeehhhh, Gary, that excuse MIGHT cut the mustard against any one else. But Liverpool have their three first choice CB's out, and had two more back up CB's out for that game. Maybe now he'll realise what a drawback having your CB's injured is. I won't hold my breath though.
Also, how did Gary Neville get FOUR utd players in his team of the season? Rashford over Salah or Son?
I got the wee fella to bed and by then it was nearly 9pm and I had 37 whatsapps and 5 txt messages, I assumed Pool were losing given their CB pairing, so turned my phone off.
#Properfan
I have seen the MOTD highlights of the game, it actually looked like a half decent game. Result aside. It looks like a game a neutral would have enjoyed. Not something you could say about the last seven or eight games between those two.
I heard Gary Neville said Utd lost because Harry Maguire was out and he is their best/most important CB. Eeehhhh, Gary, that excuse MIGHT cut the mustard against any one else. But Liverpool have their three first choice CB's out, and had two more back up CB's out for that game. Maybe now he'll realise what a drawback having your CB's injured is. I won't hold my breath though.
Also, how did Gary Neville get FOUR utd players in his team of the season? Rashford over Salah or Son?
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I've stopped watching the pundits, 90% of the time they talk trash. I remember at the beggining of this season JC saying how Bruno and Pogba can't play together, say know more. Don't even start on Harry the fridge being missed against Liverpool, we would have lost with any back 6 combination.
Henderson was all over the shop, if Ole sticks with McFred in the midfield pivot next season he will be sacked by Christmas.
Henderson was all over the shop, if Ole sticks with McFred in the midfield pivot next season he will be sacked by Christmas.
theforceuk said:
I'm the same. Most of them offer less insight than you would get from a pissed up idiot in the pub. The difference being they get paid 100k for their opinions.
You get much better, and more impartial, insight from journalists. We all remember James Richardson on Gazzetta Italia when we were growing up. Raphael Honigstein, Gab Marcotti, and even Guillem Balague are streets ahead of any ex pro/manager on UK TV. Bar, maybe 4/5 they are all abysmal. And they are just as bad at co commentating. Keown, Hoddle and McManaman r serial game ruiners.
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I do think its funny how the opinion of a retired pro is regarded so highly. Look at Paul Gasgoigne, one of the best English players of my life time, does he have a better idea than most fans? I think in the next decade you will get fans as pundits on main stream TV, times are changing with all these fan forums.
Well you can't moan about VAR stiching Liverpool up tonight Weasel, it absolutely robbed West Brom of a goal, how in the hell was that offside!? There were two Liverpool players playing him on when he made the run, and the West Brom player who was offside was nowhere near the ball or goal keeper. That's got to be the most ridiculous VAR decision all season. Good job it won't affect WB's relegation battle, but it might well put Liverpool in the top four.
edd_jedi said:
Really?
From the angles I've seen the boy stood in front of Allison is offside (by a yard or 2) when his mate heads it. The fact he is stood RIGHT in front of Allison and in line with his mate who heads means surely that has to be disallowed? He is blocking the keepers view, and he's offside. If that isn't a reason to disallow it, what's to stop a team with 3 Peter Crouch's getting them to stand right in front of the other teams keeper every time they have a corner? I am not impartial on that, but I thought it was a fair enough call. I'm not a massive fan of that rule, but in a case like that (and I mean the circumstances, not the teams involved) that's a fair enough decision for me. You can't block the keeper's line of sight. And bizarrely, whether he would have been able to reach/save it, is irrelevant in eyes of the law (which is a bit daft).
Apparently there was an issue in the build up to the first goal. The ball hits the ref and it should have been an uncontested drop ball and not a free. So Fat Sam, (who I thought gave an incredibly classless post match interview, especially if you have seen Allison's minutes before) actually had a point there. Although, he still had 8 or 9 men behind the ball and there were about half a dozen passes, and a lost and regained possession, in between that and the goal, so his point loses a little of it's impact.
I only saw the last 10 minutes of the game. The brother in law put it on "just to torture" me. I was cursing him up and down right up until Allison score. And I never thought I would type those last two words together.
That goal will go down in PL folklore, it will be like Beckham's goal from 10 yards inside Wimbledon's half, the Tony Yeboah wonder strikes, Aguerrrroooooo, and Cantona's stand still and look around celebration, it will be replayed for decades to come.
Some bloody finish too.
Ohh and anyone who hasn't seen Allison's post match interview. Watch this, it's five minutes, but it's five minutes of a man baring his soul to a TV camera. Say what you like about Liverpool, or Allison as a keeper, but that is some interview.
https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/12308545/alisson-goal-for-my-father
I can't find a replay of it anywhere online so will have to wait til MOTD is on iPlayer, but from the side view I saw the 'offside' Baggies player was 6 feet right of the goalkeeper. Perhaps it was just the perspective, will have to take another look. It's one of the things that makes football both great and cruel though, that decision will probably deprive one of Leicester or Chelsea a CL spot, and they both deserve one more than Liverpool IMO. These marginal decisions can cost clubs millions of pounds.
