Match Day Thread 2016/17 Premier League, Cups & Euro Watch

Hard to judge anyone today. Everyone was playing at 50% and just making sure they did enough. Agree on Lingard. They were loving him at Ht and at missing from 4 yards out, I forgot he was playing.

Walcott was pants, Alli was meh, Sturridge was barely involved so kept coming deep and crowding things up.

Problem em is against those teams you need neat quick interplay around the box which is packed. Walcott is very much run into space winger so was never going to get much room given how they would play. Same reason Vardy had no impact when he came on.

In those games honestly thing be better to go with Carroll and Kane up top. 2 Wide players to put in crosses. Trying to walk the ball through middle with 10 players spread across width of 18 yard box is always going to be tricky, especially when we don't have players like Silva or Iniesta.

 

I caught a bit of Giggs' analysis as I was walking through our messroom. Did he really say that Hendo and Rooney should have been booting the ball up past the centre backs as soon as they got it? Appears LVG and lump it to Fellaini (now Abramovich as well) has got to him.

 

you forget about George Graham's Arsenal?

 

Georgia should be winning here. Wales being caught on counter.

 

Georgia in that second half reminded me of Dynamo Tiblisi at Anfield @ 1980, if anyone else remembers that far back. And whats going on here in Moldova - one or two of those Irish lads look like they weren't born in Liverpool or Scotland.

 

Oh Behave Paddy. They could have got 6 there - this is almost like watching City squandering a bagful against Uniturd in that first half. Just KNEW Moldova would score.

 

Republic give away a gift of a goal right on halftime ...............................1-1

 

So ireland won and wales drew tonight apparently.

 

Table shows wales 3rd 2 points off top.

Seems the welsh have a little euros hangover and are dropping points they need to not drop.

 

Struggling being favourites and having to break teams down? Similar to Leicester?

 

Dunno. They played georgia so theres really no excuse but it was at home so that really is a double whammy.

 

Rooney will apparently be dropped for England's game against Slovenia. Dier and Hendo in middle.

 

This is only to give him more rest for the PL. Rooney being **** is not some revelation that has only come to light in the last 3 days.

 

Ah I see, it's a conspiracy against Liverpool

 

As opposed to what? An appropriate footballing decision made by an FA employee? #naive

 

There's 6 days before the Liverpool game ffs.

 

Yes nowhere near long enough to get Rooney in shape but they couldn't drop Rooney for Southgate's first game and still justify him remaining as captain so it's the best they could do

 

Hendo is captain in Rooney's absence. Means he will probably play the full game.

 

A word of slight sadness re Rooney. I concur with the view that he physically developed as a man early (he was like a welterweight at 16) and he's ageing just as quickly (despite the hair transplant). Like Gerrard, I think he's trying to recreate himself in some sort of quasi- Pirlo role, and in all honesty, like Gerrard he has the passing, dead-ball and control thing. But I'm beginning to think Pirlo made that job look easy by an utterly unique sense knowing where the ball would be. The nearest I can remember to that was Gary MacAllister, and if you go far enough back to Bobby Charlton.

(edit; Scholes too, or Platini, if we talk about non UK players).

I think, if you lump in Owen too, that, athletically, these players are effectively ruined at the top by 30 unless, as with Ronaldo, you can let them just stroll about and have impact when they feel like. If you look though at how the game is going with the likes of Pep, Klopp and Pocho I can foresee that when players such as Barclay, Alli, Mane and Walcott will be burned out by 27/28, if some aren't already showing signs now.
It used to be that players would lose cartlidges with wear and tear and suffer arthritis in joints due to countless cortisone injections to keep them playing. Now, though the medical treatment is improving, they're getting more and more tendon and soft-tissue injuries as the game becomes more of an endurance sport, but beware - marathon and middle distance runners and cyclists don't compete three times a week for ten months of the year. Of this I'm sure - we'll never see another Giggs again, even if their club manager pulls them out of every international on some spurious whim.

Rant over (for now).

 

like Rugby football at times feels like it is going down a "physical" route as the first priority rather than touch .control and pure ability on the ball, though the ones who are excellent at those attributes will still feature highly ,those of average ability will be passed over for an "athlete" ,