Pawson "let if flow", again. It's just really bad refereeing and leads to all kinds of inconsistencies. I caught the end of the Arsenal game and Xhaka did something very similar to the Davidson Sanchez move that got him sent off. It had more elbow to it and he only got a yellow. The difference between decisions is enormous. Down to 10 men and a 3 match ban or basically nothing.
At the moment it looks like we will be out of the top 4 unless our injured return soon and the rest remove their fingers.So the Europa,if we go in it next season,will probably be used as a reserve tournament as will the FL Cup and FA Cup,the future doesn't look too promising! The only thing remaining for us this season is.......win the Champions League by beating City in the final............!!!!!?
Do you not think Aurier would have seen a red card fairly quickly as he did one of his slide tackles. I think he's a good player but this element of his game makes him a risk that MP did not want to take. We tried to take the game to them and let's not forget that for 10 minutes in the first half and 25 in the second we did. Infact City had to change their game in the first half for aggressive closing down. Nobody has mentioned this and it was a big factor in our defeat and some of it especially from DeBruyne was way over the top. So for a third of the game we were dominant stop just looking at the score and consider the whole of the game. I still think MP was right to try and attack them to sit back and try to take them on the break would have asked for trouble and played into their hands even more. The best team in Europe??? that's premature PSG might have a say in that and others, the best ever in the PL really? they need to win the CL to have a shout at that accolade The age of hype just grows and grows..
To me the bloody score looks dreadful!.....as did the 5-1 at Newcastle a couple of seasons ago. For the wages they are getting they should not be hiding in games........do they ever think of their fans spending all that money following them all round the country and rewarding them by playing like that (or not playing!)? I can remember my mum yelling at the old man " It's not my bloody fault Spurs lost!" The fault belongs to players for not going hard at it for 90 minutes (They do know they are getting payed to play for 90 minutes I presume?)
Sufficiently calmed down to put a bit of perspective on things. I think it is important to separate results and performance. Both have been largely forgettable this season but ultimately it is a results business and, that said, we have lost 5 games this season, 4 of which were away from home and one our first ever PL game at Wembley. 4 of our defeats have been against Chelsea, United, Arsenal and City. Seen in this context, the only seriously disappointing one was Leicester. But there again - mitigated slightly by the fact that it was away from home against a side rejuvenated by the arrival of a new manager with a point to prove. Compare to Arsenal, who have lost to both Stoke and Watford, or Chelsea - lost to Burnley, Palace and West Ham, and our record really doesn't look so bad. I'd say we are slowly getting used to Wembley, have Dave returning from suspension and Lamela from injury. The sooner Wanyama can get match fit the better as I personally feel we've missed him more than Toby, especially with Dembele struggling for fitness. A recurring theme of pur encounters with the top sides has been the far-too-easy bypass of swathes of central territory usually defended so well by the Kenyan. Spent a bit of time looking back at my posts from this time last year and in all honesty the sentiments were pretty much identical. Eriksen and Alli out of form, no proper cover for Kane, lack of pace down the flanks etc etc. So yes, it's frustrating to revisit past problems and in all honesty Poch had all summer to properly address them and probably didn't, but I'm hopeful we'll have a similarly strong second half of the season this time round. A couple of January incomings would do wonders to lift the place though. Sessegnon and Barkley with a Gallas or Naybet type to cover at the back would be marvellous. Just remember lads; we've been through far, far worse before.
This season has exposed a critical flaw in our team's system: last season we were able to cope with having one of Alderweireld or Wanyama out injured as Dier could play in either of their positions, but this season we've had both of them out and have been left with the dilemma or having Dier strengthen midfield at the risk of being exposed at the back or having Dier play at the back at the risk of losing control of central midfield - but no matter what we do the weakness doesn't disappear, and it's going to be there until we have (at the very least) Dier, Sanchez, Wanyama and Vertonghen all available at the same time.
Hate to be Mr I Told You So, but this was precisely the fear I expressed when the Andre Gomes deal fell through. Was it ever close to happening? We'll never know. He's still pretty out of favour at Barca and non-coincidentally at the same time it was announced that Wanyama had a medium-term injury back in October, the tabloids scrambled to join some pretty obvious dots. Biggest obstacle is likely to be Jorge "bit of a pillock" Mendes but the fact that we even 'went there', as well as reportedly circling for a look at Adrien Silva, suggests that Poch was well aware of the risks of relying on both to be fit at the same time. But we failed to bring in sufficient cover and then compounded the problem further by loaning out Onomah. You've hit the nail on the head. Pick any other 2 players to get injured at the same time and the effect on the team wouldn't be as pronounced. I'd even go so far as to say Kane and Toby but might stop there. With Dave back next week, I have to say I am sick to death of watching a powder puff midfield. Burnley are in superb form and will bully us all over the pitch if we're not careful. To my mind it is a MUST to stick to a back 4 and draft Dier back into a DM position. Hugo Aurier Dave Jan Davies Dier Dembele Lamela Random member of the crowd Son Kane For me.
The one thing that probably scuppered the Andre Gomes deal was his agent: Jorge ****ing Mendes. The one potential transfer we could have made and it gobsmacks me that we didn't was Pape Cheikh Diop, who we were linked with throughout the summer before he wound up joining Lyon for just €10m (potentially €14m after bonuses) in spite of ticking every single box - and just to add further insult to injury, within weeks of joining Lyon he sprained his ankle and he only made his debut on Wednesday in a Coupe de la Ligue match.
Diop! Bloody hell I'd forgotten all about him! There was a time when it was looking like he'd be our only signing of the whole window and then...nada. Bloody hell we aren't half stupid when it comes to transfer windows. If the same part of Levy's brain that controls transfer incomings controlled the stadium construction, we'd end up with the seats installed on the pitch and a retracting car park.
I do agree we have been through worse things but we have been led to believe that was all behind us and our present squad was good enough to give anyone a hard time. But you can't give anyone a hard time if players go missing. Do we have anyone in the dressing room to give some players hell and others encouragement? Or is it "Oh well,see yuh down the pub boys!" (That is if today's players visit common places like pubs!)
I wonder what riches the new stadium will bring. I hope we don't get Arsenal'd. I understand the sentiment of 'be careful what you wish for', however once Levy has built the value of the club to a Billion, give or take, I hope he sells up. I can't see a penny pincher investing that much money just to get by. Therefore whoever buys will buy with the intention of being serious. Levy has done a great job but like some managers who have 'taken the club as far as they can', I think Levy is the same once the stadium is built. I'm aware of the theory that the new stadium will mean lots more money, will it? Enough to compete for the big ones? We can't live with the free spenders, especially when we are happy to do business with them. I hope he sells up to some filthy rich Oli baron Sheik or we aren't winning ****. We don't take the 'little' trophies seriously enough and we aren't good enough to compete for the big ones. Teams who have a winning mentality in their DNA don't get spanked 4-1 to their rivals...might go out fighting but not like a rabbit that just got run over never mind staring at the headlights. Our squad is weak...one absence and we need the Plumber. We had a certain mentality and now we seem to be developing another where almost being there should be seen as good enough and an upgrade to the soft underbelly mentality we had. However the nearly there mentality isn't good enough either. How the **** did a poxy bastard win against Madrid get to their weak ****ing heads so much that it took the next few months to get over it? Pathetic
Neither with the drugs I am on or maybe I should rephrase that the medication I am on I get high as a kite sometimes that's the closest I'll ever get to being an astronaut .mind you the way we played against citeh the drugs helped
Dermot Gallagher's come out and said Craig Pawson was right to not send Otamendi off for kicking Harry Kane in the face as there was "no malice" in him kicking Harry Kane in the face. Here's what FIFA's Laws of the Game say about that... Playing in a dangerous manner is defined as any action that, while trying to play the ball, threatens injury to someone (including the player himself). It is committed with an opponent nearby and prevents the opponent from playing the ball for fear of injury. Playing in a dangerous manner involves no physical contact between the players. If there is physical contact, the action becomes an offence punishable with a direct free kick or penalty kick. In the case of physical contact, the referee should carefully consider the high probability that misconduct has also been committed. Of course, as there's a Narrative going on, Gallagher also said Dele Alli should've been sent off - even though, by his own logic, he should have merely been cautioned as there was "no malice" in his challenge. ****ing idiot.
