Three one win in the end. Happy days! Hope we can build on it in the league.
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The 2018-2019 Football Thread
- Thread starter Lord Blackadder
- Start date
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Time to move on. It seems this was never anything more than English football anyways. Wish all your teams the best (except Liverpool). I hope they crash as they begin to play quality teams as they did in the CL final. All the best to everyone else. It was fun for a bit. Hopefully there is some room for respect for other leagues in the future and for people that support those other teams. So long.
Leicester away is not an easy game, but Liverpool again get the win. Leicester arguably deserved more from this match, but ultimately Liverpool did enough to earn the the three points.
The pundits will focus on Alisson's mistake, but really, are we surprised? Last week everyone was wowed by his chipping a defender - if you employ a keeper who plays like that he will occasionally get it wrong, with inevitable results. That is the nature of the sweeper-keeper approach...Manuel Neuer gets robbed every now and again. People who are dubbing him the 'Brazilian Karius' clearly haven't watched him play. He is much more confident than Karius and has thus far proven to be substantially less mistake-prone.
What is lost in all this is that Liverpool have played four matches and allowed a just single goal - and that due to one obvious individual error. The defensive issues are (so far) a thing of the past. Klopp was confident enough in his ability to defend that he started Hendo in the midfield rather than Keita - sacrificing some early attacking verve for control. Last season he would not have set up this way.
The pundits will focus on Alisson's mistake, but really, are we surprised? Last week everyone was wowed by his chipping a defender - if you employ a keeper who plays like that he will occasionally get it wrong, with inevitable results. That is the nature of the sweeper-keeper approach...Manuel Neuer gets robbed every now and again. People who are dubbing him the 'Brazilian Karius' clearly haven't watched him play. He is much more confident than Karius and has thus far proven to be substantially less mistake-prone.
What is lost in all this is that Liverpool have played four matches and allowed a just single goal - and that due to one obvious individual error. The defensive issues are (so far) a thing of the past. Klopp was confident enough in his ability to defend that he started Hendo in the midfield rather than Keita - sacrificing some early attacking verve for control. Last season he would not have set up this way.
It could be argued that Leicester deserved a point - and it is worth noting that Vardy was sitting the game out, as he is currently suspended - but Liverpool did very well to win.
While Manchester City are the team to beat, and have set the standard to meet - in terms of football, quality, class - other teams and managers will have spent considerable time wondering how best to deal with them, and neutralise them.
Even without de Bruyne's injury, Manchester City were never going to have it quite as easy this season, as they did last season, when they won the Premiership at a comfortable canter.
Commiserations.
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Man City beat Newcastle by an identical scoreline to Liverpool's earlier victory.
I think both Man City and Liverpool look, for the moment, a bit less dominant than last season. But in each of these games you's also have to say their opponents played some good football and could well have drawn the match with a little more luck. Like others have said, I doubt Pep will find it easy to win the title this season. They still look favorites but there are four or five teams behind them who have the tools to do it in the right circumstances.
Chelsea continue to win but are still getting talked down as a work in progress. If they keep winning, when do we stop calling them a project and start recognizing them as a contender?
I am quite looking forward to Watford v Spurs tomorrow - two teams who have started well and will play to win.
I think both Man City and Liverpool look, for the moment, a bit less dominant than last season. But in each of these games you's also have to say their opponents played some good football and could well have drawn the match with a little more luck. Like others have said, I doubt Pep will find it easy to win the title this season. They still look favorites but there are four or five teams behind them who have the tools to do it in the right circumstances.
Chelsea continue to win but are still getting talked down as a work in progress. If they keep winning, when do we stop calling them a project and start recognizing them as a contender?
I am quite looking forward to Watford v Spurs tomorrow - two teams who have started well and will play to win.
Manchester City are still in an excellent position, but they will have much more of a fight on their hands this year to win their second successive Premiership title, as other teams have studied them and given thought to how to best deal with them. Moreover, Liverpool - for one - have bought intelligently, with a view to addressing their shortcomings of last season.
Liverpool and Spurs will both certainly challenge them, and test them, and chase them; I don't see this year's title race making the form of a canter towards inevitable coronation.
Chelsea? They have started very well, but I think they may still need a settling period. Having said that, unlike Arsenal, they have become used to frequent changes of manager, so Sarri's arrive might not be as unsettling as Emery's most certainly has been in the Emirates.
Yes, Mr Wenger may have departed (may have been requested to depart) but, notwithstanding that, we still have the same old, same old, Arsenal.
Bloody brutally bad defending, and sloppy, complacent work in mid field.
This will not just be a work in progress, but a monumental (and time-consuming) work in progress. Two years at least, to my mind.
Good grief: A second goal conceded. (And well done Cardiff). Two all against Cardiff.
Bloody brutally bad defending, and sloppy, complacent work in mid field.
This will not just be a work in progress, but a monumental (and time-consuming) work in progress. Two years at least, to my mind.
Good grief: A second goal conceded. (And well done Cardiff). Two all against Cardiff.
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Arsenal have a reasonably good (at times, very good) set of options in attack; as per usual, it is defence (and complacency, inertia, laziness, and sloppiness in midfield) that are fragile and feeble.
I do wonder how long Emery is going to persist with Cech, who is clearly past his best, and is equally clearly uncomfortable with the way he is expected to play under the new regime.
I can understand the policy of giving the existing first team a chance, or opportunity, to prove themselves to a new manager, new broom and all that, but I expect that the days of indulging Xhaka, (and indeed Ozil, who actually wasn't bad today) may be drawing to a close.
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Lukaku has been accused of being a flat track bully - and Burnley is a pretty flat track!
Two big problems in the Arsenal defense: 1) their center backs are very slow 2) Cech is ageing and not suited to the style the manager wants to play.
It’s not the end of the word, but the current setup is inadequate for a team hoping to stay in the elite end of the table.
Two big problems in the Arsenal defense: 1) their center backs are very slow 2) Cech is ageing and not suited to the style the manager wants to play.
It’s not the end of the word, but the current setup is inadequate for a team hoping to stay in the elite end of the table.
And despite a saved penalty, (Hart had an excellent game for Burnley) and a red card for Rasford, they held on to win 2-0, taking some the immediate pressure off both Mourinho (which is unfortunate , in a way) and Woodward.
The centre-backs are not just slow, they seem positively lethargic.
However, I imagine that this inadequate setup will be addressed by Emery, piece by piece, but I expect that he wishes to take the dressing room (and the fans among others) along with him when he makes changes, and to have sufficient evidence for a compelling, incontrovertible case for change.
While I think Cech's days are numbered, it will be interesting to see whether Emery persists with him until, say, Hallowe'en.
Certainly, I would expect to see some of the new signings given an outing before too long, and it will be interesting, too, to see who is eased out (and bought in) over the course of the next transfer window, as that should reveal how the manager is thinking, and what areas he thinks need attention.
In the end a very easy win for Man Utd, though it will not change the narrative. Beating relegation candidates at home is not going to sway the press, the pundits, or many of the fans. But it will dampen criticism temporarily, and give Mpuronho the chance to try and build some team confidence.
The next match, away at Watford, should be an interesting test.
On the positive side, Nacho and Bellerin are very good, and the No. 2 keeper has promise by all accounts.
The next match, away at Watford, should be an interesting test.
On the positive side, Nacho and Bellerin are very good, and the No. 2 keeper has promise by all accounts.
I look forward to seeing the No 2 keeper (Leno) between the posts, and long for the day when it has become abundantly clear that Cech is so far past his best (and that his judgment is becoming increasingly suspect) that it should not give rise to issues when he is finally superseded by Leno.
Agreed, Nacho and Bellerin were very good, as was Lacazette.
Ozil continues to infuriate with tantalising glimpses of a magisterial capacity to read a game, preternatural passing, but also drifting, disconnected, and disengaged all too often.
Xhaka; well. Sigh.
Today's result simply bought Mourinho time; I still expect him to implode over the course of the season.
Watford beat Spurs and prove their fast start to the season was not a fluke. It will be interesting to see how long they can keep this up.
Burnley was an away match, but that doesn't diminish your point too much. I don't think they'll get relegated, but they haven't looked remotely close to their form from last season.
They have been distracted (and overstretched) - and perhaps, overawed - by having qualified to play in Europe.
Having been knocked out of their European competition (last week) - which is, perhaps,, no bad thing, they will now be free to concentrate their energies solely on Premiership survival.
team Colombia's coach Pekerman has left the team. he will be missed, he is the teams best coach so far. end of an era. lets see what drama unfolds and who will be the next coach. gonna go see a Colombia vs venezuela friendly game here in Miami on friday, its gonna be bananas. cant wait. even took off from work.
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I understand that the Nations League is designed to pit national teams against roughly equal opposition, to create more competitive international matches between major tournaments, and to banish the trope of "meaningless friendlies".
...but I still find myself sour at missing a week of league football.
USA 0-2 Brazil
A mostly full-strength Brazil unsurprisingly turned over a very young USA squad missing talisman Christian Pulisic (injury) and joint-all-time-leading-scorer Clint Dempsey (retired this week).
A meaningless friendly
), but I was excited to see Columbus Crew keeper Zach Steffen and midfielder (and Captain) Will Trapp both start for the USA. Trapp is a local boy, born in Columbus, and Steffen is the most exciting young goalkeeper in the USA setup - widely touted as the next long-term No 1 USA keeper.
Greg Berhalter has done a great job building a Columbus side that is comfortable possessing the ball in their own area and building from the back - one of the few MLS teams that truly can. As a result, Steffen is used to playing the kind of ball-on-the-deck keeper role that is very much in fashion now, and I think that bodes well for the future of the national team.
Once the world ends this fall and Columbus Crew are stolen from us by our execrable owner and the greedy league Quislings enabling him, and whisked away to create yet another new plastic club in Austin, I hope Steffen gets a move to Europe. He's young, but I think he may soon be too good to waste in MLS if we want him to develop into a long-term international keeper.
...but I still find myself sour at missing a week of league football.
USA 0-2 Brazil
A mostly full-strength Brazil unsurprisingly turned over a very young USA squad missing talisman Christian Pulisic (injury) and joint-all-time-leading-scorer Clint Dempsey (retired this week).
A meaningless friendly
), but I was excited to see Columbus Crew keeper Zach Steffen and midfielder (and Captain) Will Trapp both start for the USA. Trapp is a local boy, born in Columbus, and Steffen is the most exciting young goalkeeper in the USA setup - widely touted as the next long-term No 1 USA keeper.Greg Berhalter has done a great job building a Columbus side that is comfortable possessing the ball in their own area and building from the back - one of the few MLS teams that truly can. As a result, Steffen is used to playing the kind of ball-on-the-deck keeper role that is very much in fashion now, and I think that bodes well for the future of the national team.
Once the world ends this fall and Columbus Crew are stolen from us by our execrable owner and the greedy league Quislings enabling him, and whisked away to create yet another new plastic club in Austin, I hope Steffen gets a move to Europe. He's young, but I think he may soon be too good to waste in MLS if we want him to develop into a long-term international keeper.
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