Keep your mails coming to theeditor@football365.com…
F*** sportsmanship
Phil , a little advice…f**k sportsmanship.. next time u get fouled in penalty box- YOU GO DOWN. Sportsmanship ain’t gonna get u premier league or championship league medals. So in summary Phil if you reading… F**K SPORTSMANSHIP, GO DOWN LIKE NEYMAR AND SUAREZ
JP
Underwhelmed by United
So Man Utd finally appointed a DoF. Will all due respect to John Murtaugh who seems like a good bloke and smart man, this feels like a superficial appointment to appease everyone breathing down Woodward’s neck. Will Murtaugh have more influence over United transfers with Woodward having less? I doubt it. Time will tell, but this just makes me think Woodward is slimier and craftier than ever. I wish it had been Van der Sar or someone with enough influence that you know they’re not going to just act as a public mouthpiece for Ed…
That is all. Sigh…
Jamin, Montreal
Kinnear to Comolli: When Directors of Football Go Bad
Lucky Liverpool?
Neil Levy of the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health talks about luck in terms of quantum mechanics and whether causality is deterministic. ‘Luckily’ for us he breaks it down as:-
1) It matters to them
2) It might easily not have happened, in other words the more it happens the more it cannot be considered ‘luck’
Luck is defined in the Cambridge Oxford dictionary as ‘the force that causes things, especially good things, to happen to you by chance and not as a result of your own efforts or abilities.’
After 1994 I thought Man Utd were the luckiest team on earth. Fergie time, the 98th minute Steve Bruce header at Old Trafford, 2 injury time goals to win the European cup. To me and my younger bitter self it was always down to luck.
My mate who is an Evertonian swears that Liverpool are by far the luckiest team in the world, ever. They made a pact with the devil and no matter what happens its always luck that is the cause. I asked him once ‘what are the chances of the worlds luckiest team also being your most hated, nearest bitter rivals’.
When Utd and Fergie built their 3rd good team with Ronaldo Rooney and Tevez I finally let go of my angst, annoyance and bitterness and appreciated the fact that Fergie was a better manager than Bob Paisley and Utd were a really good side to watch. Once this happened I stopped seeing Utd as lucky, they were just good. They kept going, they had great players, created the most chances and no matter who they were up against always went for it. It was an epiphanic moment…….
For me, luck doesn’t exist. Fergie built 3 sides over 20 years, always had a hunger for winning and always insisted on the best.
Liverpool over the past 5 years under FSG:-
Cleared the debt
Expanded the stadium
Built new training facilities
Hired a world class manager second only to Pep (at least until a few months ago !)
Hired a team of PhD boffins to analyse big data and see through the numbers who should be bought, culminating in a track record of recruitment the envy of everybody, buying a relegated midfielder from Newcastle, a relegated left back from Hull, negotiating a ridiculous fee for Coutinho, re-investing it in a world class goal keeper and the best defender in the world under Klopps coaching. This all translated into 2 European cup finals, 97 points one season, 28 wins 1 draw the next seemingly heading for over 100 points, 4 trophies delivered.
Then the season almost was cancelled with Liverpool only needing one more win. Winning the league in an empty stadium, being denied a trophy parade we had been waiting 30 years for and heading straight into a new season with a reduced budget which meant we couldn’t sign Werner and Upamecano, lost VVD for the entire season and stalled Thiago’s path into the first team for 3 months and a lot of fans and those writing into F365 put it all down to ‘luck’. We were lucky when we were good and now the luck has run out. So a world wide pandemic was bad luck ? Who for, Liverpool supporters, does that make it good luck for other fans as Liverpool couldn’t have a victory parade and celebrate as proper champions. If someone gets hit by lightning twice does that make them unlucky for being hit twice or lucky for surviving 2 times ?!
In reality it’s anything from envy, jealousy, hatred, all kinds of things. I was jealous of that Man Utd side, jealous they were winning trophies, jealous that they had a manager like Fergie whilst Liverpool failed to deliver and the ‘it’s our year’ moniker stuck.
Pep won 21 games in a row and recently lost to Utd. Was that down to the meticulous planning and unlimited funds of a fossil fuel country, building a Barcelona replica and buying Pep a squad of 20 world class internationals who can almost seamlessly switch in and out of the team or is it just his ‘luck’ ran out.
I look forward to Tuchel winning the league next year and Chelsea becoming the ‘luckiest’ team on the planet…….
Luck does not exist.
‘The more I practice the luckier I get’ Arnold Palmer
Hong Kong Ian (unlucky in love, good at cards……) LFC
New Skrtel
Nat Phillips invoked the spirit of Martin Skrtel tonight; he just had a strong anti football vibe. Didn’t look to pass it or have too much finesse. He seemed totally focussed on keeping the ball as far away from his feet as possible and it was really effective.
Fabinho was central to virtually everyone else who looked good tonight. He must’ve won possession in their half at least 4 times tonight if not more. It recycled attacks and let everyone else be more adventurous. It was no accident that Thiago had his best game since Everton playing next to him. Leipzig definitely played into our hands a bit bit after the amount of stink we have served up I’m happy to focus on the positives.
Was there anything more positive than Mané scoring? You could see the relief in his face after it went in. Let’s hope it reinvigorates him a bit.
Minty, LFC
Reds relief
Well that was an unexpectedly pleasant Liverpool game for a number of reasons:
1. Winning.
2. Not being toilet.
3. Me not bricking it for the last 30 mins.
4. Origi assist.
5. No 4 minute delay for VAR to check if Mané was onside for the 2nd goal.
6. Wijnaldum having a nice Klopp hug when subbed (who could leave the club after that?).
7. Cleansheet.
8. No major injuries.
Aidan, Lfc (I have a longstanding deal with a City supporting friend that each year one of our teams win the league, the other the Champions League. It’s held for 2 years, but I suspect they might shaft me this season)
….Yes I am about to talk about Liverpool, but crucially, not about injuries, and no excuses either.
Liverpool are just one of those teams. Certain cups just love certain clubs, not just in football. However it happens for other clubs, for Liverpool, it really is the mentality, and i don’t mean that as a sly insult. They respect the prestige of the top European Cup competition.
I wouldn’t put it past them to go and win it to be honest (i just got sick in my mouth a little). Liverpool are that club that I’m sure has been theorised before, “what would happen if a team won the Champions League and got relegated”. I hate to say it, but I think they have the ability to win the Champions League even through such an adversity ridden season (dang, i did it, I mentioned injuries).
Away Goals: I’m okay with away goals as they are until extra time. Goals after extra time should be equal, but advantage the away team going first if it goes to penalties would be my twist on something already discussed in the comments.
Wurzel
Liverpool evolution
It’s been a pretty shocking title defense. Obviously injuries are a large part of it , but certainly not all. However , playing Fabinho in midfield last night, where he belongs , clearly makes a big difference. Thiago looked a lot more like it as a result. When Jordan is back, better still.
We’re not going to win the CL, simply not good enough this year and we rely on our supporters very heavily for those epic European nights. However, finish the season strong and confidently and next year can be very different . Virgil will be back, we can’t possibly be as decimated again and we will have learnt a lot.
City were completely written off a few months ago – Pep was a spent force / had been found out, players burnt out by his methods etc etc. Now look at them, the quadruple is actually half way realistic. Jurgen is no more past it than Pep was.
There’s a lot been said about Klopp and the team – I believe they’ll be desperate to prove people wrong in 21/22. Invest in some squad depth, possibly refresh our front line, bring our fans back and we’ll be there or thereabouts. It’s evolution not revolution for us.
James, Liverpool
Mailbox: Man Utd flop is not the only Ajax 2019 hero struggling…
Donny and Liverpool
In response to Paul (MUFC) Dublin:
Hmmm, I wonder why the English media is concentrating on the biggest club in England. If only there was something to explain that I wonder.
With De Ligt, his competition is Bonucci, Chiellini, two all-time great centre backs, not Fred, McTominay and Matic who barely make the top 30 midfielders in the Premier League. Also, good job ignoring the fact he had a shoulder injury on joining Juve and caught Covid-19 earlier this year and only returned at the end of March.
Ziyech – way to understate his injuries.
FDJ came into Barcelona as a 21-year old midfielder. His competition at the time was Arthur, Busquets, Rakitic, Roberto and Vidal. A high potential young midfielder who had established himself into that midfield, one of the best CDMs ever, a guy who won a treble with them, one of the best midfielders of the last decade and a guy from their youth system. Not exactly the same as competing against a guy who can’t run, a guy who can’t pass and another who seems to do a bit of everything to a decent level.
The reason why people concentrate on Donny not playing is because they can see a clear lack of creativity, ball progression and technique in the utd midfield and see a guy who can give all that yet has never been given the chance to show that or work his way into form.
Now to Sam, London on Liverpool:
Gomez WAS injury-prone sure, but look at his 19/20 season – he gets one injury which keeps him out for one game. Matip yes, no argument there. VVD though, how you can say “nature of the injury notwithstanding” is astonishing.
I’m also curious as to what you mean by all other teams having 5-6 senior centre backs – Utd have Lindelof, Bailly, Jones, Maguire and Tuanzebe. Bailly and Jones are semi-permanently crocked so there’s 3 there, Chelsea have 4 and only ones good enough to be in Liverpool’s defence rotation, City have 6 and arent comparable with their financial firepower, Arsenal have 5 and only is good enough to get into Liverpool’s defence as a backup perhaps and Spurs have 4 with only alderweireld good enough. Lovren is a red herring, the guy was terrible.
I think the problem for Liverpool was obvious – they went with 3 senior centrebacks with the expectation Matip would be available for maybe half of those. Fabinho or one of the youngsters could then fill in when needed. Yes, Ox and Keita don’t play much but in smaller games, they can afford to rest one of VVD/Gomez and move fabinho back into the defence with one of Ox/Naby slotting in. Add in Thiago and you have 4 first choice midfielders with an additional two as options if needed.
What they didn’t foresee, and neither did anyone else, was all 3 centre backs, Henderson, Ox and Keita all being injured at the same time. The arguments have been made to Timbuktu and back but you can see clearly no one could have seen that coming.
Abdullah, London
…To Paul (MUFC Dublin); Lovely email about Donny Van Der Beek, even if it was completely devoid of facts – but checking Wikipedia for your information was your biggest error.
You claim De Ligt has 40 appearances for Juventus in 2 years. Weirdly he’s started 52 games in that period despite having missed 2 games with Covid-19 and 8 through a shoulder injury.
Frankie De Jong has “50 odd appearances” you say? 36 starts in both of his seasons with Barcelona, and an between La Liga and the Champions League, he’s only missed 1 game this season?
Ziyech has struggled, with only 16 starts so far, he has missed 12 games through injury which probably shields him from some criticism.
Brings us to Donny, who may need a pre season (unlike Ziyech who was injured for his) or to figure out how he can be used in the team (Ziyech, De Ligt and De Jong are all on their 2nd manager with their new clubs?).
11 starts (completed 90 minutes 4 times). It definitely must be a conspiracy against Man Utd players, and not that you use dodgy stats to feed your confirmation bias.
To summarise, MUFC signings must definitely be held to a different standard, I for one haven’t seen any criticism of the performances of Thiago, Werner, Havertz, Bale etc this season. I imagine they’d get a tough time if they had signed for MUFC and only finished 3 games with 1 goal and 1 assist to their name.
Darren (also Dublin)
Ten Haag’s influence
I had also been thinking about the Ajax team of a couple of years back as has Paul (Dublin, MUFC.)
Only I had been taking a different angle. Given the size of the fees, their stunning performances in the 2018/19 CL (and the almost second leg against Spurs) and how disappointing they have all been since transferring, does that make Erik ten Hag a great and somewhat overlooked coach?
His name doesn’t come up when talking next coaches to jump up a level to one of the top teams. Wonder why?
Or do we just think it’s all a kind of sophomore jinx on what are young players?
Paul McDevitt
The two Kevs
As a Newcastle fan who was born and spent most of my life in the North east (despite currently living in Nottingham as well) I want to throw my two penneth in.
Basically I’m in agreement that this might be the relegation that drives Ashley out of the club. There are some solid players that I we would likely lose by dropping down to the Championship but it’s not like Bruce is making the most of them anyway. From my point of view it is the stagnation we are suffering under Bruce that is so disheartening. I’m probably looking through rose tinted glasses but I remember feeling that Carver and Shearer were both incompetent but didn’t have the slow, eroding effect on my spirits that has characterised the Bruce reign. If we stay up, Ashley will likely stick with him so any chance to clean up management and ownership has a certain appeal to me.
Northern soul NUFC (all of that being said, I will still celebrate if we stay up…I guess that’s the depressing reality at the heart of fandom)
PSG avoid catastrophe as Pochettino watches them ‘suffer’
Barca in transition
What is a transitional season really? All it is is a ready made excuse for a team under a rough patch with a new facet be it players or a manager. Watching this Barca in this champions league game is just urgh!! With the squad that they have Koeman putting the underperfomance in this whole season to this being a transitional season is just lazy. I accept now that Lampard was blindsiding us the whole time with the transitional season bs, guess you just have to see a different manager with the same squad to realize what you’ve been really missing. But we are humans and we are prone to confirmation bias and also we all love Lampard to bits so spare us the judgement.
But back to Barca cannot believe Messi wasting his final peak years in this Barca waiting for the person to make it all click. Considering that the playing staff will mostly remain the same due to their debilitating debt, the only change that can happen is with the manager. Is Ronald Koeman the guy to get the best out of them with these kind of results; doubt it. Will Xavi, an inexperienced manager, where most current case studies showing little tangible success. I think he should just ship out to a team already at it’s tactical best and just needs another layer of paint, ManCity. This season is already over now unless the Madrid clubs have a huge clusterf*ck and let the La Liga trophy slip.
Muriuki
GOATs
For the first time since the 2004-2005 season neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Lionel Messi will be in the Champions League quarter finals. That’s 17 seasons, that is phenomenonal.
We shouldn’t argue over who is the best, we should be glad that we lived in a time that we saw two of the best footballers ever, over 1300 career goals, multiple Ballon dors and countless titles between them.
What they have done for the game is legendary, yeah they can both still produce amazing moments (Messis goal last night being an example) but this just might be the beginning of the end for the GOAT(S).
I for one am delighted I was here to see what they did on a pitch.
Robbie DFC.
*hoping Haaland and Mbappe are next
Nerdgasm
Thankyou so much to Dave (I didn’t even see the bloody game) Lillis, Dublin, whose reference and link to the rulebook actually mentioning away goals “counting double” in a particular circumstance gave me an actual nerd-gasm (imagine, if you will, a sound similar to Gary Neville for that Torres goal against Barca). Wonderful stuff. That’s why I’ve read the mailbox every day for most of the last two decades.
I now can’t wait for the boozers to reopen so I can revert to my status as local pub bore and send everyone into a coma with that little technical titbit. Any time you can smugly start a sentence with the words “Well, actually….” is a triumph in my book. I tried explaining this rule to my wife, but she just glazed over with the same expression that I get when she tries to talk to me about Piers Morgan.
Chris Bridgeman, Kingston upon Thames
Away goals arsery
With all the talk of the nonsense of the away goals rule in the current climate, and the potential for e.g. Liverpool to go out on away goals later tonight despite both games being at the same ground – this has happened before.
2003 Champions League semi-finals, Inter v AC Milan. Both obviously play their home games at the San Siro. You can see where this is going….
The first leg, with AC Milan as the nominal home team, was 0-0. The second leg, with Inter as the home team, ended 1-1 – sending AC through to win the dullest final I can remember.
Chris Mac, LFC (In those circumstances, away goals really should be abolished)
Game’s gone
Isn’t football supposed to be all about the fans? Its all I keep hearing. If so why isn’t there annual surveys to the fans about what we’d most like to see? I for one am sick to death of diving with no one getting booked these days, of course players will keep trying it if they don’t get punished. But mostly what i miss most of all is tackling. Even if you win the ball and dont touch the player you can get booked for intent! We’re seriously getting into the realms of not being allowed to kick the ball too hard in case it hurts someone.
I don’t think I’m alone in wanting this, ok you lose the odd player through injury during a season, they dont mind on 200k a week but in return you get the blood and thunder of a good old fashioned sliding tackle taking ball and man. We all love the technical side of football but ask the fans what they want, I bet less VAR and proper tackling will be top of the list.
Ant
English refs
Two joke decisions this morning from English referees. How was the Phil Foden decision not a penalty. Referees have to start “rewarding” players for attempting to stay on their feet and not gaining an advantage or they’ll keep diving. The second was in Paris. The PSG penalty was laughable as was the yellow card. I understand that the rules may suggest this is foul play and I know this then opens up things for interpretation but given that Icardi is nowhere near the ball and it’s a complete accident this should be play on
Peter
Mugs
Only today I read the mail from ‘A Liverpool Fan’ and was surprised there was no replies yesterday.
I want to tell him/her that they have no impact on Liverpools results, so they can calm down and enjoy life pre/post lockdown! I do many of the same things as them. I have a Utd mug, and only drink tea from it on the days Utd play, but alot of the time we lose. Eventually, I realised (naturally), it’s not my tea drinking, it’s that Martial can’t be bothered to break a sweat, and nor does he need to on 150k a week! Since then, I just enjoy football for what it is – a bunch of overpaid clowns who dont like the team we support as much as we do. We all do love our clubs. But very few of our players do. Let’s just agree on that!!
Gary B (Players out!!)
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