The 2019-2020 Football Thread

[Scepticalscribe]

It is good to be watching the Premier League again, Man City and Arsenal are playing now.

No, @JamesMike, it is not. Not at all.

Please allow me, permit me, put simply - just let me, crawl back to my secure space of sanctuary in splendid, solitary, isolation......and resume my personal lockdown.

And instead, let the football resume in another three months.

By which time, perhaps, with luck, divine intervention, and some sort of strategic footballing vision, we will have sold David Luiz, that is, if we can find someone sufficiently silly to wish to to contemplate such a purchase.

 

[Silencio]

David Lulz. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

 

[Apple fanboy]

No, @JamesMike, it is not. Not at all.

Please allow me, permit me, put simply - just let me, crawl back to my secure space of sanctuary in splendid, solitary, isolation......and resume my personal lockdown.

And instead, let the football resume in another three months.

By which time, perhaps, with luck, divine intervention, and some sort of strategic footballing vision, we will have sold David Luiz, that is, if we can find someone sufficiently foolish to play the role of purchaser.

Isn’t his contract up? Pretty sure he’ll be leaving you pretty soon.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Isn’t his contract up? Pretty sure he’ll be leaving you pretty soon.

I daresay his departure - whenever that blessed day comes - will not be greeted by a surfeit of grief.

 

[pachyderm]

David Luiz.

Arrived on the field as a substitute, - after 25 minutes - and, from that moment, Manchester City concentrated their attacks wherever they saw him.

He has been more or less responsible for conceding two goals, one penalty, and earned himself an entirely merited red card.

All in the space of twenty five minutes - twenty in the first half (and the usual silly lapse in concentration at 47 minutes......), followed by fresh idiocy six minutes into the second half.

So, Arsenal down to ten men, and trailing City by two goals.

I think I preferred lockdown.

I'm sorry but Arsenal was never going to win that game anyway.

Also, Sheffield United, whom I hate, will be playing in Europe inside of a year from now.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I'm sorry but Arsenal was never going to win that game anyway.

Also, Sheffield United, whom I hate, will be playing in Europe inside of a year from now.

Agreed, they were never going to win that game:

But, but, but, I think it would have been (or, could have been) possible not to lose with such gloriously ghastly - and completely catastrophic - comical incompetence.

Leno was superb, but, as for David Luiz.

He wasn't just poor: From an Arsenal perspective, he was spectacularly and dangerously destructive.

Arsenal actually played well for the first thirty minutes, and suffered two injuries during that time (a consequence of the second of these was the unfortunate introduction of David Luiz to the game), and then, there was David Luiz, who played an incomparable role.

Yes, we would probably have still lost, but - in the absence of David Luiz - we might have been able to make a competition of it until the end.

 

[pachyderm]

Agreed, they were never going to win that game:

But, but, but, I think it would have been possible not to lose with such gloriously ghastly - and completely catastrophic - comical incompetence.

Leno was superb, but, as for David Luiz.

He wasn't just poor: From an Arsenal perspective, he was spectacularly and dangerously destructive.

Arsenal actually played well for the first thirty minutes, and suffered two injuries during that time (a consequence of the second of these was the unfortunate introduction of David Luiz to the game), and then, there was David Luiz, who played an incomparable role.

Yes, we would probably have still lost, but - in the absence of David Luiz - we might have been able to make a competition of it until the end.

Yes Luiz did not cover himself in glory.

Is it his last match for them...?

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Yes Luiz did not cover himself in glory.

Is it his last match for them...?

Well, (and I am not blaming Arteta who did not purchase him), shall I simply say that if I were manager, it would be.

Anyone can make mistakes, but some do not learn from them, at all, and proceed instead to repeat them ad nauseam.

David Luiz has "previous"; he has a serious and comically awful history of persistent lapses in concentration and displays of absolutely atrocious judgement as a defender.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Rashford's campaigning has had an effect:

Boris Johnson to provide free school meal vouchers in major U-turn after Marcus Rashford campaign

Parents to get £15 a week to spend in supermarkets on food for disadvantaged children, after PM drops his opposition

www.independent.co.uk

I agree: as a Man Utd fan, we are extremely lucky to have him. Local lad, great head on his shoulders, humble, works extremely hard, seemingly limitless potential, still only 22 years old.

Interesting to see what the future holds. If he continues to develop he will have suitors at other clubs, and his value could become quite high. At the moment a move away from Man Utd seems unlikely, and the club remain a buyer, not a seller, of players. Plus, being English, he might be seen as a risky buy for a continental club. Stranger things have happened though.

David Luiz.

Arrived on the field as a substitute, - after 25 minutes - and, from that moment, Manchester City concentrated their attacks wherever they saw him.

He has been more or less responsible for conceding two goals, one penalty, and earned himself an entirely merited red card.

All in the space of twenty five minutes - twenty in the first half (and the usual silly lapse in concentration at 47 minutes......), followed by fresh idiocy six minutes into the second half.

So, Arsenal down to ten men, and trailing City by two goals.

I think I preferred lockdown.

This might be the most Arsenal performance I've seen yet, albeit they were facing the juggernaut that is Man City (who looked very sharp for a first outing).

Luiz is pure entertainment (unless you support whatever side he happens to be playing for). He clearly has world class talent but is and always will be capable of breathtaking defensive errors. Dirty Sergio Ramos looks positively reliable by comparison. He's really a libero, not a center back. Luiz is a physical specimen with an excellent passing range and good vision, technical ability, and he works hard. He's also no coward; he did not hide from the media after yesterday's debacle. But he and Arsenal are perhaps the worst fit I can think of between club and player. For the good of the club Arsenal should henceforth be banned from signing any player that is not a defender until they get the weird carnival sideshow that is their back line sorted out.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

This might be the most Arsenal performance I've seen yet, albeit they were facing the juggernaut that is Man City (who looked very sharp for a first outing).

Luiz is pure entertainment (unless you support whatever side he happens to be playing for). He clearly has world class talent but is and always will be capable of breathtaking defensive errors. Dirty Sergio Ramos looks positively reliable by comparison. He's really a libero, not a center back. Luiz is a physical specimen with an excellent passing range and good vision, technical ability, and he works hard. He's also no coward; he did not hide from the media after yesterday's debacle. But he and Arsenal are perhaps the worst fit I can think of between club and player. For the good of the club Arsenal should henceforth be banned from signing any player that is not a defender until they get the weird carnival sideshow that is their back line sorted out.

My thoughts have run along similar lines for years.

A hilarious and wonderful post.

But, not just one, but two, two breath-taking defensive errors - both of which directly led to goals for Manchester City - in one game is positively prodigal.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Also of note this week: the other midweek match, Aston Villa v. Sheffield United, was a complete snoozer apart from the remarkable fact that it represents the first time in over nine thousand matches that the Hawkeye goal line technology failed to register a ball crossing the goal line. According to Hawk-Eye, every camera in the system was blocked by a player or goalpost during the scramble - an occurrence that, due to the design of the system, was thought to be almost impossible. But almost impossible leaves a tiny amount of room for this to happen, and it did on Wednesday. Too bad it happened in a match that was in such desperate need of a goal!

Still, unlike VAR, Hawk Eye has been uncontroversial and reliable and in this case I think the exception proves the rule. If it fails once every 9,000 matches I'd call it a pretty successful technology.

I suspect in the future, football will augment or replace optical camera-based systems like Hawk Eye with an in-ball sensor technology that cannot be obstructed by bodies or other objects, making failures even less likely to happen.

 

[JamesMike]

I'm crossing my fingers that Man U does not have too much rust and play a decent match tomorrow.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I'm crossing my fingers that Man U does not have too much rust and play a decent match tomorrow.

Well, while I am not a fan of Manchester United, this summer has turned me into a huge fan of Marcus Rashford, someone for whom I have massive respect; Rashford is a wonderfully impressive human being, a superb role model, a very fine footballer, and someone who has used his fame and platform in an awesome and responsible manner to make a positive difference.

While I would prefer not to see him bearing down on the Arsenal goal, I more than wish him well professionally, and think that he has made the world a far better place the week. Super guy, and a class act.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Also of note this week: the other midweek match, Aston Villa v. Sheffield United, was a complete snoozer apart from the remarkable fact that it represents the first time in over nine thousand matches that the Hawkeye goal line technology failed to register a ball crossing the goal line. According to Hawk-Eye, every camera in the system was blocked by a player or goalpost during the scramble - an occurrence that, due to the design of the system, was thought to be almost impossible. But almost impossible leaves a tiny amount of room for this to happen, and it did on Wednesday. Too bad it happened in a match that was in such desperate need of a goal!

Still, unlike VAR, Hawk Eye has been uncontroversial and reliable and in this case I think the exception proves the rule. If it fails once every 9,000 matches I'd call it a pretty successful technology.

I suspect in the future, football will augment or replace optical camera-based systems like Hawk Eye with an in-ball sensor technology that cannot be obstructed by bodies or other objects, making failures even less likely to happen.

But why couldn’t the Referee use VAR in that rare but very real circumstance? Clearly a goal. If Villa stay up by a point or Sheffield miss out on Europe by two, that will be criminal.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

But why couldn’t the Referee use VAR in that rare but very real circumstance? Clearly a goal. If Villa stay up by a point or Sheffield miss out on Europe by two, that will be criminal.

Good question. I assumed that if all camera angles were blocked for Hawk Eye they would be just as blocked for VAR, but I have not watched the replays. I think this was just one of those genuine fluke moments, and we have to accept that mistakes and subjective calls are still part of the game in spite of (and sometimes because of) the technology.

But it still feels horribly unfair when it goes against your team, or in favor of a hated club..

 

[pachyderm]

But why couldn’t the Referee use VAR in that rare but very real circumstance? Clearly a goal. If Villa stay up by a point or Sheffield miss out on Europe by two, that will be criminal.

I've been saying for a while now, on owlstalk, that the pigs will be playing in Europe.

 

[pachyderm]

 

[Apple fanboy]

Norwich v Southampton first half was pretty uninspiring. Hopefully this evenings game is a little more entertaining.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Norwich v Southampton first half was pretty uninspiring. Hopefully this evenings game is a little more entertaining.

Fully expecting an easy Man Utd win, Mou's Spurs were going nowhere before the league paused. However, the break arguably helped thinner squads like Spurs' the most, giving the players much needed rest. And Kane is back - Kane going on a red hot scoring streak is probably the only way they have a realistic chance at finishing in the CL spots. Competition for the final two champions League spots will be fierce, especially if Man City's ban is upheld (and it damned well better be, if there is even a tiny shred of credibility left in the notion of FFP).

All I can think about is the derby on Sunday. March feels like a lifetime ago. I suspect as soon as Liverpool take to the pitch all my old anxiety will return, even if neutrals all see the title race as finished.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Fully expecting an easy Man Utd win, Mou's Spurs were going nowhere before the league paused. However, the break arguably helped thinner squads like Spurs' the most, giving the players much needed rest. And Kane is back - Kane going on a red hot scoring streak is probably the only way they have a realistic chance at finishing in the CL spots. Competition for the final two champions League spots will be fierce, especially if Man City's ban is upheld (and it damned well better be, if there is even a tiny shred of credibility left in the notion of FFP).

All I can think about is the derby on Sunday. March feels like a lifetime ago. I suspect as soon as Liverpool take to the pitch all my old anxiety will return, even if neutrals all see the title race as finished.

I can’t see what you have to be anxious about. It’s not like you are just above the relegation spots on goal difference!

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I can’t see what you have to be anxious about. It’s not like you are just above the relegation spots on goal difference!

I know, my fan-privilege is showing. I think it stems from growing up in a sports town that, in spite of fielding three top-level professional sports teams, has won precisely one championship in the last 52 years. That's one championship in 150 seasons of play.... so I am not used to winning things, and have seen it all go belly-up in a bewildering number of different ways. As Yogi Berra said, it ain't over till it's over.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I still expect to see Liverpool crowned champions. In the relatively near future.

If anything, the break, rest, (and enforced absence from the stresses and strains of competitive football) may well have done them considerable good as they were showing some signs of exhaustion and letting the stress actually get to them before the cessation of games occurred.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Allowing 5 substitutes per game will certainly help teams like Liverpool who have a bigger squad. I’d be surprised if they aren’t crowned champions before the end of the month.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Allowing 5 substitutes per game will certainly help teams like Liverpool who have a bigger squad. I’d be surprised if they aren’t crowned champions before the end of the month.

With regards to the five substitute rule - I think it is a wise option to have in the present circumstances, but it needs to remain a temporary measure; it favors teams with deeper squads and more subs mean more disruption to the game.

Though with that being said, I still think they need to explore the idea of a rule where a player down with a head injury can be temporarily substituted while being assessed for concussion.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Allowing 5 substitutes per game will certainly help teams like Liverpool who have a bigger squad. I’d be surprised if they aren’t crowned champions before the end of the month.

In the conditions currently prevailing, I think it necessary, and a prudent option.

With regards to the five substitute rule - I think it is a wise option to have in the present circumstances, but it needs to remain a temporary measure; it favors teams with deeper squads and more subs mean more disruption to the game.

Though with that being said, I still think they need to explore the idea of a rule where a player down with a head injury can be temporarily substituted while being assessed for concussion.

Excellent post.

And your point about temporary substitutions allowed when a player suffers a head injury and/or concussion is very well made and is one that certainly merits consideration.