Brighton penalty. Watching live my first thought was "you can't be serious", then I reflected and thought, if a late foot is a pen, then a late head should be the same. Having now watched MOTD and seeing Saliba make contact with the ball before the attacking player I do not understand how VAR has not overturned it.
That was my thinking too, all I can come up with by way of an explanation is yer Brighton fella heads in on to Gabriel's head. It's the top/side of his head it hits not his forehead. It was a bizarre penalty though. Not one we'll see again anytime soon. He says, guaranteeing it happens this week.
I saw the highlights of the WH game on MOTD, it definitely didnt look a 4-1 game. That first goal was criminal wimping out by Paqueta(?) if he goes for the header and maybe gets hit, City don't score. But no, he chickens out. 2 seconds later…. Grow a set FFS.
As for today. I don't know how to view that. On the one hand it should have been seen out at 2-1 and against such an out of form Utd that result and performance is disappointing. Especially at Anfield.
On the other hand, the pitch did look a bit worse than the cameras made it seem. A lot of players were quite tentative and almost tip toeing at points as if bits of it werent fully defrosted. Granted, it's the same for both sides, I just mean it limited the ability of the game to flow, which would have suited Utd more than Pool. Also a point when you play 85minutes with 10 men is never to be sniffed at.
I've watched a **** tonne of football in my time, World cups, European Championships, CL, EL, PL, FAC, Championship, L1, L2, even the Conference and (when I was really really bored) the SPL. But I have NEVER seen a performance as utterly wretched as Trent Alexander Arnold's today. It wasn't even a "0" out of ten. He did NOTHING. He won zero duels in 85 minutes, gave the ball away every time he had it. Even by the law of averages he must have mis-hit one to a liverpool player, but no. He didnt mark. He didnt close down. He didnt track. He didnt run. He just casually walked about the pitch. It was like watching someone playing in a testimonial after a night on the tiles and a morning hanging out of Lilly Phillips.
Genuinely I have never seen a "professional" footballer look that disinterested and poor. Ever. Moreno, at his worst, was streets ahead of what TAA did today. How he stayed on for 85 minutes I will never know.
Then Connor Bradley takes 90seconds to win his first duel.
Roy Keane said he would be off to Tranmere after a performance like that, and Tranmere tweet a "no thanks" with a picture of what I assume/guess is their RB. That sums up how **** he was, a team in a relegation fight in League two don't want you.
I genuinely can not do justice to just how bad TAA was today. He is an attack minded defender and he does leave gaps in behind, but today he was worse than a competition winner. He should repay his weeks wages after a performance like that.
Slot also needs to look at himself for leaving him on for so long. I know Bradley is only back from injury and possibly that is why, but from the first minute Trent was MILES off the pace. I'm not even joking when I say he was Utd's best player.