Finally. Tough one for Gakpo - he’s a born and raised attacker. A lot of learn to become this hybrid 8/10 thing.
GW1: It Begins Again
- Thread starter the1andonly3003
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So much play in the Liverpool box. Eventually you would think a ball hits an arm or someone gets fouled for a penalty.
Liverpool’s press completely ran out of gas in the second half. That prolonged spell of Chelsea possession seems to put them to sleep and they couldn’t get back up to speed. A draw is disappointing but I’ll take it.
edit: I was pretty dubious of the Elliot/Doak substitution but they had a massive energy injection.
edit: I was pretty dubious of the Elliot/Doak substitution but they had a massive energy injection.
I thought the substitutions saved the draw. They got on the front foot for a few minutes and gave the back line time to recharge.
Think I’d be very nervous about that were I a Liverpool fan. A point at Stamford bridge can’t be criticized too much but Chelsea were clearly the better side by the half hour mark and the Liverpool midfield still seemed to be a serious problem. So much of what Klopp does is based off of winning the ball in good positions in midfield and there just aren’t any real ball winners in there. If that match was the Caicedo derby Liverpool probably walks away feeling it is more necessary. And I don’t even think that Chelsea midfield is all that good
The story of the past few years had been Liverpool =“well organized tactically solid ruthless” and Chelsea = “bunch a random attacking players, let’s throw em out there see what happens”
One game is not enough ofc but looks like they’ve swapped? Impressive what Poch has done already,
They should have cleaned house before last season when it was clear Tielemans, Madders et al weren't going to extend. Relegation after reloading would have hurt less than watching that team play last season. Their players had the highest value and yet they asked for outrageously, refusing to compromise. They might be the next Blackpool and never return!
biggest display of anti-football I've seen in a while, by Getafe. Cherry on the top was a Getafe defender committing two fouls in sequence in the box at 90'+10', goes to VAR, ref calls neither.
To be fair, Barca were pretty lame all match and didn't particularly deserve to win, but Getafe definitely deserved to lose.
To be fair, Barca were pretty lame all match and didn't particularly deserve to win, but Getafe definitely deserved to lose.
We are one match into this season and we already have two of the most respected coaches — Guardiola and Xavi — complaining about the changes to the rules. To my eyes, La Liga is its own worst enemy and made changes to problems that don’t really exist. Plus, VAR seems broken after one week and the new “can’t complain” rules matched with this new level of randomness puts players and managers in a weird spot.
It doesn't look like he improved on his poor finishing technique from last season
Garnacho fails the eye test. Every time he was in possession he looked poor - wild passes, not connecting well with his front line
Utd did not look good today
Nothing like doubling down on your error.
Edit: Michael Salisbury on VAR. Yes, the same guy who was suspended last year for failing to order a review on a clear and obvious error. Cool.
What can you even say? It’s insane that we got VAR and we’re still getting decisions like this.
I think Tim Howard thinks goalies should be able to swing mace and chains freely in the penalty box. The karate chop to the head is nothing at all.
That’s a really good way to put it. At first, I thought it was just typical shouts for a pk but after three times it was clear.
Of course, United had a counter called offside that looked onside. And the linesperson let it go then called it off. But something that close should never be called.
Nowhere near as bad but just another example of how reffing has been ruined by VAR.
If that wasn't a penalty then declare open season on anyone daring come into the box. I had a flashback to Rudiger smashing Kevin De Bruyne's face putting him out for the season with a broken orbital bone.
Is there anything a coach/team can do if the refs are not protecting the players from injury?
Is there anything a coach/team can do if the refs are not protecting the players from injury?
Yeah, if I was a bitter person, I'd look at that non-call for United vs. the Son "penalty" yesterday and scream about the completely ridiculous standards.
Luckily, I'm not a bitter person.
I’m happy we have a keeper who will come out and challenge crosses.
Needs to work on his timing though lol
Needs to work on his timing though lol
Nice to see consequences for utter incompetence: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/38195447/referee-var-taken-prem-duty-onana-penalty-error
The two point swings in the standings for United and Wolves hopefully will amount to nothing. If they don't... That sucks.
The two point swings in the standings for United and Wolves hopefully will amount to nothing. If they don't... That sucks.
What are the consequences though? They'll all be back on prem matches within a couple of matchdays.
One week into the new campaign, and having on-field referees acting as VARs has already created drift in the standings. As it did last year, as it did the year prior... anything Webb does at this level seems to be continued window dressing.
One week into the new campaign, and having on-field referees acting as VARs has already created drift in the standings. As it did last year, as it did the year prior... anything Webb does at this level seems to be continued window dressing.
But - you’re not going to sack some official for botching a VAR decision. Doesn’t happen with players - shouldn’t happen with refs. (Angel Hernandez not withstanding)
The problem seems to be using regular refs in the VAR role. They are essentially amateurs. Train up a cadre of VAR guys - remove the conflict of interest with the onfield refs.