Yes, but you are equally capable of scoring against them, or putting a few past them.
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The 2021-2022 Football Thread
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Yes, but you are equally capable of scoring against them, or putting a few past them.
Slightly wild match at Anfield but. a precious three points. I expect the matches against Porto and Atleti to be cagier affairs, with hopefully fewer goals conceded.
The Old Firm both fall flat in their European matches, but a nice win for the Hammers - Zagreb is a hostile environment.
The Old Firm both fall flat in their European matches, but a nice win for the Hammers - Zagreb is a hostile environment.
With Antonio missing due to the red card last week, we are a lot less likely to score. Hope I’m wrong, but not feeling confident. Not helped as I will be watching it down the pub with a Man Utd fan.
I watch mostly highlights as I don’t have Sky Sports who show the live games. But I follow most commentary on the radio or app on my phone. Then I read the football news everyday.
Plus I have a fantasy football league or two I run at work.
Mostly highlights, - plus commentary - although I do follow matches by radio, or online, some of the time.
And yes, I keep up with and read football news, and not just articles about the players, but also serious analysis.
Moreover, I'll watch a good football documentary.
And I read books about football (but, rarely, player autobiographies; they tend to be dire, and are often ghost-written), about its history, its finances, its influence on culture, political culture and identity (for example: "Angels With Dirty Faces" by Jonathan Wilson; Simon Kuper's "Football Against The Enemy", "Fever Pitch", by Nick Hornby, and so on).
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Crystal Palace are always an awkward opponent for Liverpool, and they often make Liverpool suffer. Hardworking and physically powerful, also showed a lot of patience, picking good moments throughout the match to pounce on every errant ball from Liverpool. We played with a heavily rotated defense, which held up in the end but not without drama.
Liverpool looked more likely to score most of the match but also more likely to concede chances from loose passes in the midfield. Both the players and crowd started getting visibly frustrated and nervous by the 70th minute. Edouard looked lively when he came on and should have scored almost immediately but hesitated just long enough to miss the the chance. He caused problems throughout his appearance, but at the end of the day wayward finishing hurt Palace after creating some scary chances.
Milner had to put in a really tough shift at right back against Zaha, but he lasted the full 90 and looked pretty solid doing it.
Salah with a great finish on the volley, for the second goal, feeding off scraps at a time when Liverpool needed to score to reassert themselves on the match.
I always feel like at least two goals will be required to beat Palace. Absolute bullet by Keita for the third, who had about an hour to set himself for the volley from the keeper’s looping punch out. And then Anfield finally relaxed.
The match felt closer than the score line indicates, but at the end of the day the biggest difference between the teams was Liverpool’s positioning in the final third and finishing of chances.
It was a grind but three points in the end.
Liverpool looked more likely to score most of the match but also more likely to concede chances from loose passes in the midfield. Both the players and crowd started getting visibly frustrated and nervous by the 70th minute. Edouard looked lively when he came on and should have scored almost immediately but hesitated just long enough to miss the the chance. He caused problems throughout his appearance, but at the end of the day wayward finishing hurt Palace after creating some scary chances.
Milner had to put in a really tough shift at right back against Zaha, but he lasted the full 90 and looked pretty solid doing it.
Salah with a great finish on the volley, for the second goal, feeding off scraps at a time when Liverpool needed to score to reassert themselves on the match.
I always feel like at least two goals will be required to beat Palace. Absolute bullet by Keita for the third, who had about an hour to set himself for the volley from the keeper’s looping punch out. And then Anfield finally relaxed.
The match felt closer than the score line indicates, but at the end of the day the biggest difference between the teams was Liverpool’s positioning in the final third and finishing of chances.
It was a grind but three points in the end.
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Brighton beat Leicester 2-1 in a game dominated by VAR and disallowed goals. Should have been a draw.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s XI beat West Ham by the same score with the usual late winner. Man Utd trolling West Ham by beating them with a player they don’t even really want. That’s just mean-spirited.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s XI beat West Ham by the same score with the usual late winner. Man Utd trolling West Ham by beating them with a player they don’t even really want. That’s just mean-spirited.
I was gutted Noble missed the pen. But to be fair, Utd should have had at least one of their own. It was always going to be Lingard who scored. At least he didn’t celebrate!Brighton beat Leicester 2-1 in a game dominated by VAR and disallowed goals. Should have been a draw.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s XI beat West Ham by the same score with the usual late winner. Man Utd trolling West Ham by beating them with a player they don’t even really want. That’s just mean-spirited.
Of course we will have to go through it all again on Wednesday in the league cup.
It just shows respect. I think it was weirder when the West Ham fans stood to applaud him as he came on.
100% spot on. I didn't get to watch the entire match, but it was a bit weird, especially the referee's decisions about the non-penalties for United (one could've been soft, the other seemed a clear pen). United wasn't great overall but Benrahma's deflected strike was very unlucky. Noble's miss / De Gea's save was karmic, and I'm very pleased for De Gea in particular since he's had a rough couple of years and hadn't saved a penalty in forever.
I still think United should have sold Lingard, but he can be valuable cover for Bruno and Pogba if utilized properly. Very sweet redemption from his disastrous outing in the UCL.
We'll see some rotation on Wednesday, but United will be motivated to field a strong squad and compete for any trophy they can get.
Truth is I’m torn on if we should field a strong side or rotate the squad. This will be our 3rd game in 7 days.
Ah.
It is not only forwards, or strikers, that make a team dangerous.
Rather, this is a question of how the team functions as a whole, as a collective, as a team that makes a team dangerous, or a threat to their opponents.
An exceptional team needs outstanding players in almost every position, and needs for that team to be able to play as a team, not just a collection of gifted individuals who happen to have a talent for playing football.
To my mind, the absence of van Dijk was crucial to Liverpool last season, crucial to their inability to retain their Premiership title - I would go so far as to argue that he was the single most important piece/player in the construction of of their successful title winning (both Champions League, and Premiership) teams.
With van Dijk restored to them, I would expect Liverpool to be able to pose a more significant threat this season, than they were capable of last season.
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I would have been very happy with the draw. We get to do it again Wednesday.
Defending wins championships, it's as simple as that. Better forward play can turn the occasional result, or turn a draw into a win - and every now and then there are exceptional teams that successfully win trophies through attacking - but longer-term it's the lack of goals conceded that makes the biggest difference for most champions. Especially in knockout competitions, but also in the league. Italy's Euros campaign succeeded on the back of a gritty, stingy defense - their attacking play was good but they never lost; Chelsea can't be scored upon nearly at all right now (like the Mourinho Chelsea of old) and are still favorites for the title IMO. Man Utd's best years under Ferguson always featured imperious defenders like Ferdinand. Arsenal have never been the same since their star defenders from the 90s and 2000s left or retired.
Likewise Liverpool's title season saw the front three in excellent form for most of the season but van Dijk was untouchable for large portions of the campaign, and his parters in Matip and Gomez fed off that confidence and energy to play up to their full potential. The forward-thinking fullbacks, Trent A-A and Andy Robertson, had the confidence to become deadly attacking weapons knowing that the center backs were in world-class form behind them.
If Liverpool's defensive unit can do a passable imitation of the first half of the 2019-20 season, silverware is a real possibility. And van Dijk is key to that. He was expensive but teams like Man City would happily pay double what he cost for a player of his ability right now. Liverpool still have a title-winning squad, even if they do lack depth.
Agree that defenders can win or lose a title. All the great sides have a good centre half pairing.
I still think it will be Chelsea’s year with Man U or Man City as runners up.
Hopefully. But I’m not sure if you’ll be playing a full strength team.
One things for sure. If we get a penalty, Noble can only take it if he’s been on the pitch for a while!
Plenty of action in the league cup today but few surprises. Everton and Watford got knocked out by lower league opponents but otherwise the richer teams beat the poorer teams, as one would expect. Liverpool's B-squad generally handled Norwich without too much fuss. Minamino scored a brace, which is encouraging, but Norwich are pretty weak defensively.