It just boils my piss the way posters are having a go at Cooper. IMO the Everton striker should have been penelised for shirt pulling. It's not Coopers fault that VAR is ruining the game and is effectivly taking the decisions out of the refs and linesmen's hands. Why if it was a foul didn't the linesman not flag. It may have been a simple lay off by Cooper, but at least he was in the right place to do it. I don't hear anyone slagging Bamford for his poor ball control.
Other players might have tried to turn with the ball and got tackled, others may have under hit the pass, regardless of what you think of Cooper and how SIMPLE his lay off was, it was his assist that created the chance for us to score. So stick that in your pipe and smoke it. If Philips had done it you'd all be wetting your pants.
Go Got to agree anyone else trying it and not quite pulling it off and it's ohhh hard luck. Raphinhas previous efforts were piss poor. As for Ayling he went missing and left Dallas to cover and they scored. Everton had some very good players on the pitch and a few were above our standard.
I always look at the two starting 11s and think, who of each team would make the opposing teams starting 11. More often than not the opposition look better on paper. The Cooper argument is irrelevant really, Bielsa likes him, players like him, he is team captain. I said before a ball was kicked it will be Cooper plus one, same as Dallas, there is a roll in the team that Bielsa feels is vital, neither will be dropped. Raphinha has a style of play that means when it comes off it’s magic but he’ll have a lot of stray passes and give the ball away a few times in a game, it’s just him. Coopers style of play means he’ll give free kicks and penalties away, he does tackle and mark players in a championship manner, or should I say a non VAR environment, he needs to remember that.
I’m not having a go at Cooper, I think he gets unfair criticism, I also completely agree with you on VAR, but he does grab opposition players a lot and he should know that whether we like it or not VAR is being used. I did think it was only for “clear and obvious” errors only otherwise they would stick with the on-field decision by the ref. Seems it didn’t happen on this occasion.
Great Atmosphere back at Church the fans defo gave all they could to get behind the boys. It was one of those games where anything could of happened we could of won lost or drawn all in the 90+ minutes. So a draw is fair. Mesleir distribution was better and he made some real important saves at vital times. Firpo did nowt special on the day but he's good on the ball and can only get better each game he plays. Defensively we were all over the shop Cooper at fault for the Pen you just can't do that with Var around. but what was Klich doing before that in the lead up after losing the ball. Klich started brightly took his goal well but faded badly I've said it before and even more so now with my own eyes he doesn't have the legs in this team for 90mins. was he injured I don't know but he was gassed before he went off. Bamford,Harrison,Dallas huffed and puffed as usual and Raph was really our only flair player. Coops again gets the social media backlash he might of gave a pen away but who assisted for the Raph goal? but nobody sees them do they. Yes he had a hard time in marking DCL and got the wrong side of him on many occasions but he never scored in free play. Happy with the point much better intensity than the Scum game my question marks. 1. Bamford only 1 chance of scoring in 2 games. plays the game well for the team but we aren't creating anything for him so far 2. Klich does he have 90 mins in him for this high tempo team now? 3. Cooper was he any worse than Ayling,Firpo,Struijk today? everyone of them were inconsistent and got caught out. Coops had the hardest player to mark aerially yet he never scored in free play, yes he gave a pen away but then becomes the scapegoat. not defending him just was he any worse than many on that pitch personally I say no but everyone entitled to their opinion. 4. Rodrigo out the team after 1 game. where do we go with him? does he fit into our system? if so why isn't he playing and how is Roberts getting the nod over him off the bench who again made no impact in his 30 mins cameo. We have nowt to worry about this season if some media/opposite fans think we are going down or are going to be in trouble Everton are too because they were nowt between us. As on Everton. Richarillson what a baller he is, Didn't have an impact on the game and got tired 2nd half and is a moany bugga but excellent feet and techa's on the ball.
Great day at the football yesterday. Apparently it was 500+ days since our last home match with a full crowd and fortunately the match itself didn't disappoint. All the players played well and gave their absolute all as we picked up a well deserved draw. It was thrilling to be back, watching on telly or a dodgy stream (whilst obviously better than nothing) just cannot compare in any way shape or form. Will probably add more later but after 3 days at York races and then yesterday at ER I'm taking some time to gather my thoughts and read all your lovely comments and observations.
