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The 2018-2019 Football Thread

Silencio said:
All has gone quiet on the Director of Football front. I wonder if they'll even bother with one now.
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For modern super-wealthy clubs I think a Director of Football is a necessity. Finding the right personnel is not easy, but these operations are too big and too much money is sloshing around for a manger to be running everything.

OGS might be invincible at the moment, greatly exceeding expectations, but handing him the whole operation, even if he turns out to the be the second coming of Ferguson, is still risky.
 
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A big upset for Newcastle, taking down Everton, and Spurs get Spursy.

Columbus with a solid 2-0 away win against New England today. One thing I'm going to have to get used to with our new manager is that he is late making subs and makes few of them. it will be interesting to see if he sticks to this habit when we are chasing a match early on.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
A big upset for Newcastle, taking down Everton, and Spurs get Spursy.

Columbus with a solid 2-0 away win against New England today. One thing I'm going to have to get used to with our new manager is that he is late making subs and makes few of them. it will be interesting to see if he sticks to this habit when we are chasing a match early on.
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They were so Spursy they made themselves look like they were performing a parody of themselves.


That's some Spursyass Spursing right there...
 
A weird incident at the Birmingham derby, as some nincompoop ran on to the pitch and swung a haymaker at Jack Grealish from behind. A cowardly attack at the best of times, and in this case recorded on global TV. I was surprised they actually broadcast footage of the attack, as that will only encourage other similarly moronic "fans" to replicate these invasions.

Scepticalscribe said:
A cracking game; Liverpool defeat Burnley by four goals to two which leaves them a point behind Manchester City, snapping at their heels, thereby ensuring that the title race is kept alive.
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It should have been easier for Liverpool, but that odd olympic goal early on (Allison could possibly have done better) and Burnley's nicely worked second made people nervous. But Klopp and Co. did what needed to be done to get the points.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
A weird incident at the Birmingham derby, as some nincompoop ran on to the pitch and swung a haymaker at Jack Grealish from behind. A cowardly attack at the best of times, and in this case recorded on global TV. I was surprised they actually broadcast footage of the attack, as that will only encourage other similarly moronic "fans" to replicate these invasions.



It should have been easier for Liverpool, but that odd olympic goal early on (Allison could possibly have done better) and Burnley's nicely worked second made people nervous. But Klopp and Co. did what needed to be done to get the points.
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Not only was Grealish attacked on the pitch - an appalling incident - but it also seems that Liverpool goalie Shamal George was attacked in a bar (in what is thought to have been a racially motivated attack) early on Saturday morning.

Vert nasty and ugly.

Nevertheless, it is a very good win for Liverpool, and the fact that Burnley fought made it all the better.
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Not only was Grealish attacked on the pitch - an appalling incident - but it also seems that Liverpool goalie Shamal George was attacked in a bar (in what is thought to have been a racially motivated attack) early on Saturday morning.

Vert nasty and ugly.

Nevertheless, it is a very good win for Liverpool, and the fact that Burnley fought made it all the better.
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Horrible news about George, to be sure.

Going back to Burnley's first goal (which I missed due to a dodgy video stream) Alisson would have easily collected the ball had he not been clearly fouled by two Burnley players at once. The foul wasn't called, so that can be chalked up to bad luck - though Matip didn't need to give away the corner in the first place. Burnely's keeper Heaton did not have a good day.

Good to see Lallana back and contributing. Depth is important at this stage, and we will need him.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
A weird incident at the Birmingham derby, as some nincompoop ran on to the pitch and swung a haymaker at Jack Grealish from behind. A cowardly attack at the best of times, and in this case recorded on global TV. I was surprised they actually broadcast footage of the attack, as that will only encourage other similarly moronic "fans" to replicate these invasions.



It should have been easier for Liverpool, but that odd olympic goal early on (Allison could possibly have done better) and Burnley's nicely worked second made people nervous. But Klopp and Co. did what needed to be done to get the points.
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Nothing was done to punish L**ds.

Supposedly that fan was given a lifetime ban but how can they enforce that?
 
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Chelsea and Spurs are simply tripping over themselves to hand Man Utd a Champions League spot.

"Please Good Sir, after you, I insist!"

Heck, even if Mourinho were still here they might have ended up in the CL, the way the clubs immediately above them are throwing away points.

...lets see if Arsenal do the same today. Currently one-nil up at halftime but you know that's not going to be the score after 90.

EDIT:

I did't think Arsenal had it in them, but they came up big today in what might turn out to be a six-pointer in the battle for a top four spot. This also helps keep Chelsea in the hunt, though their form suggests they are probably not going to finish ahead of Man Utd.

pachyderm said:


Nothing was done to punish L**ds.

Supposedly that fan was given a lifetime ban but how can they enforce that?
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Those bans are pretty flimsy. I think clubs should be threatened with points deductions for fan violence, and the league should follow through. However, this will never happen. Clubs would genuinely rather see a few fans badly beaten here and there than support a league-wide punishment system that might end up costing them points - and thus potentially millions of pounds.

As a matter of fact, we SHOULD be seeing points deductions for lots of stuff: egregious instances of on-field cheating or ref abuse, fan violence, and shady business operations by owners and club suits. But, of course, we almost never do.
 
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Not really surprised by the result. Utd had been riding their luck far too much recently exemplified by the lack of clean sheets.
 
Excellent result from Arsenal, (they defeated Manchester United by two goals to nil) and one that has pleasantly surprised me, as I didn't think that they had it in them to pull this off.
 
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3rd to 6th separated by 4 points. But 4 into 2 won’t go.
Good result for Arsenal. My team had a shocking result yesterday.
But I guess Cardiff have something to play for.
 
Apple fanboy said:
3rd to 6th separated by 4 points. But 4 into 2 won’t go.
Good result for Arsenal. My team had a shocking result yesterday.
But I guess Cardiff have something to play for.
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Chelsea and Spurs are both currently stuttering and stumbling for different reasons, and Manchester United under OGS have shown impressive improvement and a rejuvenated team spirit.

However, I suspect that it is not just Spurs being "Spursy", but that the length of the season is finally getting to them, as they don't have the strength in depth of some of the other teams.

A very good result for Arsenal; to be quite candid, going on some of our lacklustre recent form, I hadn't been looking forward to today's match at all, and would have been content with a draw.
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Chelsea and Spurs are both currently stuttering and stumbling for different reasons, and Manchester United under OGS have shown impressive improvement and a rejuvenated team spirit.

However, I suspect that it is not just Spurs being "Spursy", but that the length of the season is finally getting to them, as they don't have the strength in depth of some of the other teams.

A very good result for Arsenal; to be quite candid, going on some of our lacklustre recent form, I hadn't been looking forward to today's match at all, and would have been content with a draw.
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Funnily enough I was expecting a draw. But Spurs are a smaller squad who failed to bring in any players in two transfer windows.
They also had a lot of players involved in the later stages of the World Cup and I think that is adding to the fatigue.
I recall some years ago we played in the inter toto cup. It started in July. We started the season well as we were already match fit when the season started.
But we fell away badly as the season went on due to having no summer break.
 
Apple fanboy said:
Funnily enough I was expecting a draw. But Spurs are a smaller squad who failed to bring in any players in two transfer windows.
They also had a lot of players involved in the later stages of the World Cup and I think that is adding to the fatigue.
I recall some years ago we played in the inter toto cup. It started in July. We started the season well as we were already match fit when the season started.
But we fell away badly as the season went on due to having no summer break.
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Yes, agreed: I have long suspected that the fact that Spurs contributed a large number of players to the English team in last summer's World Cup would catch up with them at some stage by way of injuries, and exhaustion.

Plus, as you have pointed out, they don't have a large squad to start with, and, during recent transfer windows, haven't had the means (as a result of over-running costs - in terms of both time and money - for the new stadium, a situation that Arsenal were more than familiar with when they first moved to the Emirates) to make purchases during the transfer window.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
They were long overdue for a loss, but I am still surprised it was Arsenal that handed it to them.
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As am I, @Lord Blackadder, as am I.
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Alphazoid said:
Not really surprised by the result. Utd had been riding their luck far too much recently exemplified by the lack of clean sheets.
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Agreed.

Under OGS, their confidence had been restored - which in itself - (as we saw under Sir Alex) often tends to give rise to "luck", or enable them to "make luck".

Inevitably, they were going to be found out and their limitations and shortcomings exposed, but yes, I am surprised (but pleased) that this revelation was brought about thanks to Arsenal.
 
Arsenal was slightly better overall on the day. Have to say they rode their luck a bit on the goals — Xhaka's strike completely fooling De Gea and the penalty against Fred that was either very soft or nonexistent — and Lukaku's terrible finishing resurfaced at a bad time. If he buried that early chance instead of chipping it onto the crossbar, different ballgame for sure.
 
Silencio said:
Lukaku's terrible finishing resurfaced at a bad time.
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He has played very well in some big games, but I think it is still fair to say that he does not score very often against high quality teams (like, say, Aguero). There is no doubt as to his talent, but he is not a consistent big-game goalscorer.

Arsenal had their slice of luck, to be sure, and they were at home. But they did not buckle in a big match here, which is a bit of a departure from recent seasons.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
He has played very well in some big games, but I think it is still fair to say that he does not score very often against high quality teams (like, say, Aguero). There is no doubt as to his talent, but he is not a consistent big-game goalscorer.

Arsenal had their slice of luck, to be sure, and they were at home. But they did not buckle in a big match here, which is a bit of a departure from recent seasons.
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Exactly.

That is the key element of the match - they fought until the end, showing character and backbone.
 
In what has to be his, I dunno, fourth "comeback," Landon Donovan has made his debut for his latest football gig - the San Diego Sockers indoor football club.

"Landycakes" is still probably the most recognizable name in American soccer and arguably still the best outfield player the USA has had up to this point. He's certainly had an eccentric career. He's played for top division teams in Germany, England, and Mexico but spent by far the majority of his career in MLS.
 
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