Yeah it was, sorry for that was out eating dinner. From where I was it looked massively like it was outside the area. The other thing, was Osvaldo offside just before he put the ball into the net over vorm? Also looked like a close call from the itchen.
He was very clearly outside of the area, but whilst he was out there he didn't actually touch the ball with his hands by the looks of the replay, and Osvaldo was a good 5 yards offside I'm afraid.
Watching it at the time it looked like Osvaldo kicked it just as Vorm was about to grab it from outside the box. I did wonder whether had Osvaldo left it Vorm could of touched it and ended up in real trouble.
Just watched MOTD2 on iPlayer. What he's disallowed Vic's goal for, I've no idea, unless it really was just to make amends for the corner decision.
Very rarely (or never) do I make such accusations against refs, but I really can't see what else it could have been.
If a slump happens after January then the Ramirez slagging might cease as well as all the 'we needed Gaston crap and as well as the constant putting a player in 'next match' formations when he isn't good enough.
we'll be top by january once we've beaten all the big teams yet people will still be saying Gaston should be in the next match. Says something that Pochettino says he is fit and available for the Internationals yet chooses Guly and Ward Prowse ahead of him on the bench. I can only see one outcome in January. As well as us being top that is Just noticed the odds for us to finish top 4 are 33/1 at most bookies now. Wow. I got a tenner on @ 200/1 the day before the season started and I am praying every single game. lol
Ramirez is going to find it quite difficult to get in the squad now let alone the starting lineup. Pochettino's likely to name the same squad as the Swansea game next time with Shaw in for Fox. Fox doesn't seem to get on the bench when he doesn't start. This is assuming we get no injuries between now and then.
Ramirez may be fit enough to play but not "Pochettino fit" if that makes sense. I suspect his international involvement during pre-season plays a part in that. The same may go for Yoshida. Just a theory though. Poch makes some interesting selections at times. Take Fonte as an example. Many people felt Fonte was our best defender before he got injured last season but he struggled to get into Poch's team once he was fit again. That led to speculation that he might be sold in the summer but he's now one of our first choice centre backs again. Similarly Yoshida was expected by many to partner Lovren this season but he now struggles to get into the squad even though I don't think many people would say Hooiveld is a better player. No doubt there's some logic to these decisions and there are things like performance in training that we can't know about but I can't quite work Poch out yet.
I can only imagine this is the case. Yoshida was dependable last year, so the "he's just not good enough" arguments clearly don't fit. Add to that Pochettino was dismissing the possibility of Ramirez leaving only a few weeks ago. It's a squad game, and it's a long season, particularly if we're taking the cups seriously. You can save the conspiracy theories until the end of the season, then we'll see.
The Davis/Lallana tandem is working out well enough that there's no reason to change right now. An even stronger case can be made for Fonte/Lovren. That doesn't mean things can't change in a hurry, though. Both Davis and Fonte seemed to be second or third choice not too long ago. I've grown to trust MP's decision-making. I thought he was maybe showing a little too much Jay Rodriguez love, but he did end up benching him the last couple games. My feeling is the gap between Cork/Wanyama or Prowse/Lallana/Rodriguez/Ramirez/Davis is pretty small, and MP isn't too set in his lineup so everyone will get a chance if they show him something in training or in cup matches. It would be very surprised if the Davis/Lallana tandem lasts all year.
This- I think it is great for the squad to rotate and it shows players like cork, davis, Yoshi/fonte that the place is there and they have to earn it. If players know they are part of the 2nd string and will only ever make the bench I think it damages morale. Not sure Forte should hold his breath though...
