I doubt they're too worried, Stevie Gerrard (peace be upon him, Amen etc.) is retiring soon and he shall sweep up Liverpool FC in a tidal wave of Scouse joy and propel them up the table, into the stratosphere of CL success and PL titles galore. Or something.
You took a striker out of your side as he was about to play against Villa? They've conceded about 50% more goals than West Brom, so far.
I hear Swansea could have had a pen against Manure before they equalised. Will look forward to seeing that on MOTD later. Also, something I didn't expect to ever write: Stoke lose, this is a sad day for proper football....
Just seen the highlights of the utd game, I personally think it would have been a very soft penalty, rangel makes a right meal of it, not sure he deserved the yellow though.
I always forget to make changes so when I do it's just whatever I was going to do a few weeks before. But yeah, I didn't really think about that
2 incredible finishes from City, bugger. Thought City were looking pretty desperate with 2 upfront, Toure and Silva in midfield and Fernandinho at the back but it worked!
You could just see that coming. For a team that spends hundreds of millions every summer, the degree of reliance on Toure, Aguero and Kompany is shocking. Crucial that we win tomorrow as only Leicester dropped points from that cluster of teams in and around the top 4. Also I never thought I'd say this but Southampton could well be dragged into a relegation scrap this year. Koeman very much seems to be stuck in second season syndrome.
Sorry, only @PowerSpurs and @Spurf predicted a West Ham win. Would call you lucky if it wasn't for the fact that you only got one result wrong and even that was a late winner against 10 men.
Just seen the Stoke sending off and it's all pathetic really. Sure by the letter of the law it's a red, but (1) the oppo player makes a three course meal out of it "helping" the ref make up his mind and (2) again (yawn) consistency since surely the hand in the face of Carroll last week was at least as, and IMHO far more violent than that, yet Carroll stayed on his feet and the oppo player doesn't get sent off. The message again is sadly clear, if you simulate and make the most of anything, be it being "fouled" for a pen or "hurt" to get the other player sent off, you are far more likely to succeed than if you played the game in a more sporting way. It's very sad. The football authorities are very culpable in this and complete hypocrites. They make noises about fair play and then fail to take action in any way to enforce it.
Re Stoke, The Mirror claim that Bojan has a £10mill release clause in his contract?? If that's true, it's got to be a gimme for somebody!
It was Claudio Yacob. He's one of the worst for that sort of thing. Makes a poor tackle and acts the innocent, then rolls around like he's been shot when someone clips him. As you say, there's no consistency. An intentional whack in the face that draws blood is a yellow one week, while a grab that wouldn't hurt a child is a red the next. Dive and feign injury and you are rewarded.
Once they adopted yellow and red cards the referees became part of the media package. These decisions have become a huge part of the media presentation, especially on television. TV almost craves these moments to relieve what is often a boring uneventful game, look at the time they spend discussing these decisions. Look at the time WE spend discussing these decisions. There will never be consistency with different refs. on different days in different circumstances. The referee is trying to keep control of a game including 22 big egos, never going to be easy and it calls for punishment to fit the particular game in hand rather than the general crime. I'm not saying the refs always get it right but it's too easy just to compare 'crimes' and expect the same response each time.
