I've been busy in work but wanted to offer a tuppance ha'penny or two on the match this weeked past. First its a good result and second it's not all that some desperately want to make it out to be. On a positive note: we can see that agger was not seriously injured after all and borini likewise and that adds to our options. Suso and sterling start up front with suarez and thats a huge leap for our youth policy... it speaks volumes for that pair that they put older players on the bench Wisdom likewise made the expected step up, he's got so much more about him that other young players like sama or flanangan. Sahin could not be called fit. he combined with gerrard and allen very well Suarez scored goals! A bit or reality needs to also set in The fact that wisdom did force his way in is good but jonhson at LB is weak as SH1TE and we must look squarely at enrique and wonder what on earth he's at, perhaps robsinson could force his way in too but thats a few games off at the least! Reina flogged yet another goal... we were performcing adequetely, they were getting chances and pepe made a few good saves then he just goes and makes another error. The opta stats don't lie, we did dominate the game in terms of possession... but... conversely they also show norwich had a lot of chances themselves. The ref didn't give a stonewall pen again. For me there's a lot of relief and delight in picking up a win but i have to see that its a long way from a great performance as norwich really didn't put us under any pressure and stood off suarez way way too much. I think we could have beaten utd if the ref hadn't have done what he did then and on saturday we merely got the result the level we played at could give... however i watched utd kick the ball out of play and generally play poorly so i think we need to up our performances a lot on the back of this one. A win is a win and it takes a little bit of pressure off but we need to up it from here, cut out the errors in particular but also find the net ourselves more consistenly. Some goals v norwich had big slices of luck (finally) in them and we can't rely on that we need to get in behind more like we did v west brom for that 3rd goal. Roll on udinese!
I couldn't agree more MITO. At LB all of Johnsons defensive flaws are gone and his attacking prowess remains, he's a much better player in this position and is now first choice LB.
either that irony of the highest order or i've FIXED your comment. jonhson's flogging goals and backing off faster than a french tank in 1940 when anyone comes at him.
Think your massively overcritical of Johnson who I think has been exceptional this season so far Pepe I agree is out of form I agree, but he is class and needs our support, Id play him in the EL games too The best point I think you make is teams makin chances despite not havin much of the ball, cant put my finger on why this is at the mo.Things its a combination of things.Lucas being out who reads the game better than Allen defensively, but doesnt create as much WITH the ball, defensive mistakes, such as Skrtel missing the ball for 2nd goal.And I think the main one is a similar problme to what Barcelona have, cos we are having so much possesion, the teams natural positions are very advanced, this leaves us open to the counter attack as we are very open in behind.I think we will get better at this with time, players will work out when you can push forward and when you cant
And the world is, once more, back to normal. PS As a tangential point: what the f*ck is with the rise of the phrase 'stonewall penalty'? 'Cast-iron penalty' makes sense, as in cast-iron case for a penalty, but 'stonewall'? As far as I'm aware Stonewall is a charity for gay, lesbian and bisexuals. Ex X-factor contestants often sing at Stonewall events, but I'm f*cked if I know how the charity is linked with penalty kicks in football? Any thoughts, gents? Are they unofficial sponsors or something? Elton John loves football, did he set it up? What the f*ck is with this mad fad?
i think we are taking some risks to play the game we are going, we are trying to pass that ball in tight area and thats fine as it can take out a lot of norwich players with just one pass if it works... they pressed up and we passed it through them and were suddenly inon their back 4.... but wehn you play a side who sits back its a lot harder. We are pushing both full backs right on so are two at the back and the issue i see is the only guy whos got rdoger's mentality is allen... everyone esle is jogging back rather than sprinting back. when we lose the ball certain players need to press and certain players need to get the hell back... and sorry to johnson but one of the goals we conceeded recently was down to him just not getting back very fast.... bascially we care getting caught on the break a bit.
'Stonewall' Jackson was also a general in the American Civil War. Just thought I'd add that piece of irrelevant information.
i presume its some term that is the equivilant of "ironed on" though how a stone wall equates to ironing on something i don't know. I always thought stone wall was some thing about the 3 little piggies, i mean the straw walls blew in when the big bad fergie huffed and puffed and so tdid the stick walls but the walls made of stone were so unequivicable even ferguson couldn't complain when one was awarded at old trafford to someone else. Mind you to him he never gets pens at anfield so valencia forgetting to pass then flopping was "stonewall" who knows? i'll bow to your clealry superior knowledge of all things "frutiy" i guess
Pretty decent attempt at an explanation, MITO. Chances are, though, like a lot of memes, this was probably started by a pundit who thought it was a real phrase. It was then probably picked up by other associated pundits and then, by repetition, by some of the public. Heck, 'Chinese whispers' of this kind has produced the great variation of our language today in both American and British English.
right or left chasing back is chasing back!... conversely the way he defended at left back v sunderland was the issue, he's not confident on his left tackling and guys can walk past him so he retreats faster than an argentinian conscript and that puts the whole team on the back foot.
I have the same problem with the ridiculous phrase "early doors" What the **** does "early doors" mean? The original phrase which has been bastardised out of all recognition is "early days" which makes sense grammatically and colloquially But early doors? Probably coined first by some Sky Sports muppet getting overpaid to talk bollocks.
I always thought the term 'early doors' referred to the good old days when alehouses closed at 3.00pm and re-opened at 5.30pm, or thereabouts. If you were waiting outside when it re-opened, you were there "early doors". I always tried to ensure I was
Pretty damn good, RHC. Like Jonesey, I thought they'd mistaken the saying of 'early days' for 'early doors', like people who say 'on tenderhooks' when they mean 'on tenterhooks'. But, as I like etymology, I had a quick look and found this: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ear1.htm Interesting stuff.
