It was deliberate handball by James imo. Obviously he tried to block it with his thigh but he had his arm there just in case the ball skimmed off his thigh - which it did. Take your point re the ref only being shown a still, but fortunately in this case he came to the correct decision.
Tuen Koopmeiners another player we wer linked with has gone tomAtalanta for just €14m so around £12m. Full dutch International midfeilder and young. Weird?
Moise Keen leaves Everton for Juventus the most skint club in Europe, on a 2 years deal with an option to buy at the end if the deal. Unless Everton are getting a very high loan fee they are losing out. They paid £30m back in 2019 he was hardly used then sent out to PSG on loan where he scored for fun, PSG got Messi so no need for him this season so now 2 years away on loan again. He will still have another year on his contract when this deal is over.
Wonder what hes worth now? 2nd highest English goalscorer last season and now called up to England squad. Our £7m seemed a lot of money at the time, must be at least £40m now?
One question. How do you know what the referee gets shown by VAR? Thought he watched a replay on the monitor?
As the ref walked up to the monitor it was already showing the still. He looked at it for 5 seconds then immediately turned round to award the penalty.
Explained that. You don’t get sent off if the ref deems that a genuine attempt has been made to play the ball (in a tackle). Once the ref decided it was deliberate handball it can’t be considered as a genuine effort to stop the goal fairly so has to be a red card. If he thought it deflected off his knee it would be accidental and not a penalty.
Last week the ref only saw the last frame of the Cooper incident so not saw what led up to it. Last season the ref saw the whole incident and from all camera angkes, this season it seems the final frame is all they get.
A couple of stories around today saying Bielsa is blocking some transfers because he believes the price is too high? Seems Joe Willock was offered to bielsa but Arsenal wanted £25m but Bielsa said he isnt worth that, so Newcastle got him. O’Brian is valued at £4m by Bielsa because he hasnt done anything yet, and Kinnear has said some players we looked at were over priced, but now seems that Bielsa has a price in his head and will not move
I wasn’t aware of that. To me that’s the fault of the on field ref and again, like last season, ballsing up VAR, instead of using it like the rest of the the major football nations and how it was used in the euros. That said, I’d still scrap it now if given the choice.
Manure taking the piss again. Wanting £20m+ for Dan James. He was **** against us and was the same again today, please please let's not go down that road.
I’d take him as long as it wasn’t a loan. Harrison has too many off games and Costa is useless. Bielsa transforms players, what you can’t give someone is pace, he is the ideal candidate for Bielsa but it really doesn’t want to be a loan. First choice would be see what Summerville brings to the table if given a chance but we all know Bielsa doesn’t see that as an option, I don’t get his unwillingness to give Summerville and Gelhardt a chance ahead of Roberts and Costa
I too get frustrated because I see 17,18 and 19yo players in all the top teams around Europe,PSG, Barelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool, AC Milan, Juventus, Man Utd, Man City, Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester, Inter Milan, Athletico Madrid and many many more. Yet we seem to steer away from giving any a chance. Drameh couldnt have played worse than Ayling yesterday, Gelhardt, Bate and Summerville are clearly in my mind good enough now to get given a shot. At least it might silence some fans who say we havent done much in the window. The simple answer could be that we have a new RB, Dm, AM and striker. As it happens I am now of the opinion that 18 players and U23s isnt enough this season. We were 3 players out yesterday in Junior, Klich and Koch and only had Roberts Costa and Shackelton on the bench besides kids. We saw Phillips getting clattered and picking up a yellow which means he and Cooper will no doubt be suspended before long again. We will pick up suspensions and injuries but right now have no game changers in reserve and if we are not going to give a kid a try we will need to be in the January window desperate for someone
If they want £20m+, it will be a no no anyway, as we don't appear to have that much to spend or at least a resilience to do so. For all Bielsa's great attributes he obviously as his frailties, which both I put down to him being high on a spectrum, which one I've no idea, but one of the frailties seems to be his, some call it stubbornness others loyalty, in certain players, he makes a statement sometime or other about them and he seems to have the need to prove himself right that they are his preferred options. It appears Poveda showed some kind of descent towards this and look what's happened there. The vast majority of Leeds fans don't want to see Costa near the team, Roberts was probably 60/40, now I think that number is 80% against him and I can't believe Radz et all sit in the stands and are impressed with either but they know it won't change but they are the only one's who can change it by going out and improving the first team the downside to that is, Costa and Roberts will still be on the bench and the likes of Sumerville won't unless of course we can off load them. For all his greatness it must be very frustrating dealing with Bielsa, probably like dealing with a sulking spoilt child at times. Having said all that, I trust he will get us through this, all teams have a slump throughout a season, hopefully ours as come at the start and it's nothing more than that.
I never have seen Bielsa as someone who could or would take us into Europe or be here with big backers and millions to spend. Bielsa does not handle the flamboyant characters and sadly you need one or two of them if you want to compete at the very top. Whilst we have the squad we currently have I accept Bielsa as being vital but another season or two in the PL and there will be life after Bielsa
