I'm sure that David Baddiel will be criticising the Chelsea fans for what they've been singing in Milan...
Just caught up with the Woolwich v Pool highlights. Some horrifically poor decisions in the home side's favour. Looks like The Narrative this year is to arrange a 'Master v Apprentice' title race showdown. The TV appeal is obvious.
Sadly we're still a ways to go until we can entertain the idea of a title push. Citeh v Pool got a bit stale, can't be that every year. Pep v Arteta will have the TV fat cats reaching for the Kleenex. You heard it hear first. If Michael Oliverpool is calling big decisions against them, we're all fecked.
I reckon Citeh will finish the season with at least : 1. pts in the 90s 2. GD in the 70s For them lot to reach : - #1 they will have to match their previous season + get 7 more wins at a minimum - #2 they will have to score around an extra 3 goals every 2 games they win As for Spurs, IMHO we will know more with 1/3 of the season gone.
Since Arteta's been at the club, Liverpool have gotten away with some shockers against us - Trent with a shin-high studs-up challenge on Saka that was a blatant red but didn't get given, Mane kicking out at Holding, Mane forearm smashing Tierney in the face, Jota controlling a ball with his arm, leading to a goal which should have been ruled out. Then, on the weekend, Tsmikas elbowed Jesus in the face which went unpunished. Despite most of these incidents, aside from the last one, I couldn't begrudge Liverpool their wins because they outplayed us and deserved to win on their performances. The same logic applies here for me. We got lucky with one or two decisions, but our performance warranted a victory. That was Klopp's lowest xG in a game since he's been at the club: First half, it was fairly even/maybe they edged it. Second half, it was clear who the better team was. Our display justified the win and I'm not having anyone take that away from us.
xGoals is bollocks, especially when a big chunk of yours is from a ludicrous penalty and an offside goal. You started well and then fell off badly when they equalised. Stole the lead on the break at the death in the first half, then let them back in again. There wasn't a lot in it and the officials made all the difference. Their supposed penalty was not one, though. Hit the defender's chest, then his arm. That's only a pen for them in Champions League final, apparently.
The words in the Law on Handball about deflections have been removed though....his hand was in an unnatural position so it was handball.
because the creators of it have AFA(K not even provided a sample of attempted shots from actual games so outsiders can see how the stats are computed.
I fully understand where you're coming from as we've all been there. But as we both know, that simply isn't how football - or most competitive sport - works. If points were awarded based solely on who 'deserves' them based on the overall balance of play or on things like xG, Brighton would have finished 3rd last season as they were the better team playing the better football in most of their games - they just couldn't put the ball in the net. Meanwhile we'd be 17th this season as we've been crap in most games yet still managed to scrape victories. Football is - ostensibly - a sport based on objective rules, not sentiment. Sadly most officials in this country don't seem to realise that.
Bye John Duncan. One of my favourites. I was told by a West Ham fan that John was the only player that wore wellington boots!!!!!?
Football has certainly changed. Three players to take goal kicks sideways. Corners taken outside that mark,with the takers arm in the air to tell us what we already know!?Players on the wing refusing to center the ball to team mates waiting in the penalty area,passing backwards and finishing up back to their own goalie. The constant sideways passing and backwards. Did you ever see Cliff Jones receive the ball and not going head first to the opposing goal?
They had 3 shots on target the entire game. We had over double that and had comfortably more shots overall than them. Whatever possession they may have dominated wasn’t converted into actual attacking opportunities. Ramsdale didn’t exactly have loads to do in the second half. As for the rest of what you said, be that as it may, Liverpool have had plenty of decisions against us go their way more often than not. Particularly since Klopp has been there. This is the one time against them where we perhaps got the rub of the green. I’m not going to lose sleep over it.
See my response to PNP. Naturally, I get why it bothers you more because we’re your rivals and competing for the same thing. However, I obviously have very little sympathy for us getting a bit of fortune in a fixture where game-changing decisions have generally gone the way of Liverpool.
I wouldn't care either, especially with Klopp doing his usual post-loss bullshit routine. It was another weekend of officials having too much influence on results, though. Fulham could feel especially hard done by, despite apparently playing ****.
https://www.skysports.com/football/arsenal-vs-liverpool/stats/464725 So the Poool were 66% better in scoring.
Oh I have very little sympathy for Liverpool when decisions go against them, trust me. My point was more a general one. It is disingenuous to put too much emphasis on things like xG and overall dominance of the game. We all know football or indeed anything involving strategy isn't about that. Moving away from the specific Arsenal v Pool example, think about Wigan v City in the 2013 FA cup final. XG and dominance would have awarded the trophy to City within 15 mins of kick off. But that isn't what happened, because Wigan had a very set game plan designed specifically to bridge the gulf in xG and dominance and went on to achieve the unlikeliest of victories. It was such a good strategy in fact, they used it again in the 2018 fifth round and it had the same effect. Leicester navigated 38 games in a similar manner and ended up winning the league! It's one of the things that pees me off about Klopp. He moans after games that the opposition played defensively and kept the channels compact. But what does he expect teams to do? Press a high line and push their FBs up and be annihilated? The game is about much more than possession, dominance, chances created or xG stattery. And if officials undermine this fact, it isn't good for the game as it only further limits the abilities of the underdog to achieve victory through carefully rehearsed strategy.
