The 21/22 Football Thread

There goes Burnley's Sean Dyche ..A football manager's job must be the most precarious. Never get a mortgage with that I'm sure :)

Watched some great games the last few evening including the Athelitico v Manchester City brawl.
 
Rangers did well last night beating Bragga to reach the semi finals of the Europa league....
 
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Dyce has been great for years, then one poor season... Must be getting close to the unbelievable point that Pep is the longest serving manager in the league :LOL:
 
Crazy decision to sack Dyche - They were probably doomed anyway but changing now will not help. Maybe 2 months ago, but then he would be the ideal person to take them back up.

Can see him going to someone like WBA next!
 
Those who support Spurs..like me..need to have BP tablets to hand. Following their 4-0 drubbing of Aston Villa last Saturday today they lose 1-0 to Brighton. They're so inconsistent. Re 4th place ..where they still sit, they were lucky that Arsenal (now 6th) also lost or they'd have had 57 pts each with Arsenal having a game in hand. Man-United's win has put them 5th also with 54pts.

Spurs games to come..April 23rd Brentford (A) May 1st Leicester (H) May 7th Liverpool (A) May 12 Arsenal (H) May 15th Burnley (H) Last game May 22nd Norwich (A)

Arsenal April 20th Chelsea (A) April 23rd Man-U (H) May 1st West Ham (A) May 8th Leeds (H) May 12th Spurs (A) May 16th Newcastle (A) and the last game ..May 22nd. Everton (A) last game May 22nd Norwich (A)

Manchester United Looks like they have the harder task with..Liverpool April 19th (A) Arsenal 23rd (A) May 2nd Brentford (H) May 7th Brighton (A) 15th Chelsea (H) and the last game ..May 22nd..Crystal Palace (A).

Another fantastic game to day. The FA cup semi-finl with Liverpool winning ..just. I expect those reading this thread will have seen it. It beats me why Pep kept Mahrez on the bench until 7 minutes from the end and he was, as ever, excellent. De Bruyner looked like he was coming off the bench but didn't but he had an injury as did Kyle Walker.

The other half to be played tomorrow Chelsea V Crystal Palace at 4.30pm..ITV this time. Probably be a Liverpool v Chelseas final May 14th. No time given yet but last year it was 5.15pm.
 
Those who support Spurs..like me..need to have BP tablets to hand. Following their 4-0 drubbing of Aston Villa last Saturday today they lose 1-0 to Brighton. They're so inconsistent.
That's just Spurs, and Arsenal, and Utd. :rolleyes: They are more consistent than many below them though. It could be a lot worse. ;) The usual happened with Spurs last week though, they played great, and everyone was bigging them up, especially Kane and Son as usual, like they were title contenders. The phrase always pops in my head Spurs and the rest of them, 'let's see the next 4-5 games'.
Another fantastic game to day. The FA cup semi-finl with Liverpool winning ..just. I expect those reading this thread will have seen it. It beats me why Pep kept Mahrez on the bench until 7 minutes from the end and he was, as ever, excellent. De Bruyner looked like he was coming off the bench but didn't but he had an injury as did Kyle Walker.
Guardiola's decision making is only questioned after defeats, and especially in big game defeats, so not very often. ;) :LOL: It was surprising he didn't make more changes earlier, but he knows his team, and what he has available. Works most of the time. ;) :( A phrase stood out to me in one of his interviews though, "I trust 'a lot' of my team". :thinking:
 
So..Liverpool V Chelsea. :)

I'm going for Liverpool after watching Chelsea beat Crystal Palace earlier.
 
Arsenal beating Chelsea midweek, and now Utd, never sure which Arsenal is going to turn up!

Still up to 4th for a few hours, that game with Spuds looks like it may be quite important...
 
Arsenal beating Chelsea midweek, and now Utd, never sure which Arsenal is going to turn up!

Still up to 4th for a few hours, that game with Spuds looks like it may be quite important...
Yes.. a big game for Spurs (Spuds..:)) Half-time now 0-0 so Conte will gee them up,I'm sure.I can only listen to the game on TalkSport.


We're with BT re our landline so I have access to BT Sport and was able to watch the Arsenal game earlier game. Granit Xhaka got a yellow for petulantly kicking the ball into the crowd after a free-kick was awarded to Man-U so was at risk of a second but soon scored with a fantastic drive which left De Gea with no chance .

I wasn't impressed with Arteta,though. Saka, infront of goal managed to toe the ball forwrds and in the 'scrum' Nketiah managed to toe it into the net. However he was deemed to be offside BUT just as Saka was getting the ball infront of goal Lindelof definitely gave him a back nudge which caused Saka to fall. VAR looked at that. The VAR controller told the ref . Mike Dean to take a look at the pitchside monitor. As he was about 10 paces from it Arteta went to him aggressively saying.. whatever.. and Mike Dean waved him out of his way at which point Arteta turned to the Arsenal supporters who were right by the monitor and gesticulated at them with arms in the air, like an orchestra conductor, encouraging them to make noise which they they did. Just to intimidate Mike Dean.Totally out of order for which he rightly got a yellow card. Saka scored a decisive goal. I'm really pleased he's progressed so well since missing that Euro 2020 Final penalty which must have knocked him back a lot but he's come through that.

Bruno Fernandes had a chance to equalise when it was 2-1 for Arsenal but the ball hit the post. He stood behind the ball doing a 'dance'..his usual..which makes him look like a gull or a blackbird when they stamps their feet on the ground encouraging worms to surface thinking it's rain and they then come up for a wash & brush up ...:D....then Fernandes strikes the ball very weakly and off target resulting in it coming off the post to go behind.A vital win for you, Steve.

Let's see if a 'word or two' from Conte does the trick. Nice to see (hear) Erikson playing his former club, too.
 
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So..Newcastle won today and now have 43 points so well safe. They beat Norwich who are still bottom on 21 pts and going down. I'm beginning to think the unthinkable might happen..Everton relegated. They are 4th from bottom on 29 pts. Tomorrow Burnley (3rd from bottom on 28 points) play Wolves at home. Liverpool at home to Everton tomorrow. :rolleyes: The other important game is Monday. Leeds one place above Everton at 5th with 33 pts v Crystal Palace ( 14th with 37 pts). It's bad news for Everton if Burnley beat Wolves and Leeds beat Crystal Palace which is very possible.

This must be one of the best seasons re the struggle at the top and the bottom.
 
I wasn't impressed with Arteta,though. Saka, infront of goal managed to toe the ball forwrds and in the 'scrum' Nketiah managed to toe it into the net. However he was deemed to be offside BUT just as Saka was getting the ball infront of goal Lindelof definitely gave him a back nudge which caused Saka to fall. VAR looked at that. The VAR controller told the ref . Mike Dean to take a look at the pitchside monitor. As he was about 10 paces from it Arteta went to him aggressively saying.. whatever.. and Mike Dean waved him out of his way at which point Arteta turned to the Arsenal supporters who were right by the monitor and gesticulated at them with arms in the air, like an orchestra conductor, encouraging them to make noise which they they did. Just to intimidate Mike Dean.Totally out of order for which he rightly got a yellow card.
And he still managed to not give a penalty for it.... Also no red card for that terrible over the top tackle by Fernandez on Xhaka. You can bet your house that if it was the other way around, Arsenal would have been down to 10 men.

I detest Mike Dean, having been a Gooner all of my life, he must be the worst referee for being "anti-Arsenal" there has ever been. It doesn't help that the crowd give him stick when he comes on, but who can blame them...
 
And he still managed to not give a penalty for it.... Also no red card for that terrible over the top tackle by Fernandez on Xhaka. You can bet your house that if it was the other way around, Arsenal would have been down to 10 men.

I detest Mike Dean, having been a Gooner all of my life, he must be the worst referee for being "anti-Arsenal" there has ever been. It doesn't help that the crowd give him stick when he comes on, but who can blame them...

That's not right,Steve. He did give a penalty for it. Saka took it and scored.

You know your stuff re football so I doubted myself and checked. What I have got wrong is the ref. It was, infact, Craig Pawson. Mike Dean retired April 1st. so you won''t have to worry about him anymore. Goodness knows where I read that. I'm checking my history.

A copy/paste from..https://www.goal.com/en/news/var-nketiah-goal-penalty-saka-arsenal-man-utd/blt9d4a1cffd9a018ee

"Eddie Nketiah appeared to have put Arsenal 2-0 ahead against United - but VAR disallowed the goal for offside, only to give a penalty to the Gunners instead, which Bukayo Saka scored."

There's a clip of the incident in my link. It shows the nudge in the back that Saka got from Telles(not Lindelof) just prior to the offside given against Nketiah. Then it shows Carig Pawson going to the monitor and coming away from it to point to the spot.

From what I've read most agree that Fernandez should have a red and was lucky to get away with that. It went to VAR too but he was given only a yellow.

Next game. Burnley V Wolves at 2.00pm. Then Liverpool v Everton 4.30pm.
 
Not that one, this one:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1XucDUAc6c


The penalty came from a foul on Saka.....

Yes.. Fernandez got away with that despite a VAR check. I don't think Pawson went to the pitch-side monitor as he did with the Saka incident. There was a VAR check which came to nothing.

If you look back at my post I only described the Saka foul > VAR > pitch-side monitor > penalty given > Saka scores and then you started your response with .."And he still managed not to give a penalty for it... [when,as you acknowledge,he did}

You then went on... "Also no red card for that terrible over the top tackle by Fernandez on Xhaka " A separate issue on which we and many others including famous ex-players.. agree on.

So...I'm a bit lost on this one.
 
So..Newcastle won today and now have 43 points so well safe. They beat Norwich who are still bottom on 21 pts and going down. I'm beginning to think the unthinkable might happen..Everton relegated. They are 4th from bottom on 29 pts. Tomorrow Burnley (3rd from bottom on 28 points) play Wolves at home. Liverpool at home to Everton tomorrow. :rolleyes: The other important game is Monday. Leeds one place above Everton at 5th with 33 pts v Crystal Palace ( 14th with 37 pts). It's bad news for Everton if Burnley beat Wolves and Leeds beat Crystal Palace which is very possible.

This must be one of the best seasons re the struggle at the top and the bottom.

And Cambridge United are the only team to beat them this calendar year at St James Park!!

Shame we were robbed this weekend in Mackem land, with the ref giving us a red card after 10 mins that even Sunderland thought was crazy!
 
If you look back at my post I only described the Saka foul > VAR > pitch-side monitor > penalty given > Saka scores and then you started your response with .."And he still managed not to give a penalty for it... [when,as you acknowledge,he did}

You then went on... "Also no red card for that terrible over the top tackle by Fernandez on Xhaka " A separate issue on which we and many others including famous ex-players.. agree on.

So...I'm a bit lost on this one.

My confusion, there was another incident where Saka was pulled down which went totally unnoticed. I watched Rio Ferdinand on MOTD2 yesterday, and he just couldn't concede that Utd lost because they were poor. He kept going on about the ref, despite them being awarded their customary penalty which Fernades made a real hash of (Not as bad as the Pires/Henry one a few years ago though). I've never thought much of Ferdinand as a pundit, but he really did show his red & white colours last night...
 
My confusion, there was another incident where Saka was pulled down which went totally unnoticed. I watched Rio Ferdinand on MOTD2 yesterday, and he just couldn't concede that Utd lost because they were poor. He kept going on about the ref, despite them being awarded their customary penalty which Fernades made a real hash of (Not as bad as the Pires/Henry one a few years ago though). I've never thought much of Ferdinand as a pundit, but he really did show his red & white colours last night...
Was Rio Ferdinand on MOTD2? :thinking: MOTD2 on the BBC, in the UK at least, I recall it was Jermaine Jenas and Micah Richards last night.
 
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So..Crystal Palace have just drawn with Leeds. 0-0.

Here's how they stand at the bottom of the table. It's not been updated yet but Leeds now have 35pts. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/table

It seems unthinkable that Everton could go down but it's looking that way. When they played Liverpool (and lost 2-0) it was a slow-it-down strategy...disrupt flow..feign injury..Jordon Pickford taking forever to get the ball up field..etc.. and Lampard has said that's going to be their strategy. They play Chelsea next Sunday at home and having seen the game-plan against Liverpool Tuchel will no doubt take that into account.
 
Was Rio Ferdinand on MOTD2? :thinking: MOTD2 on the BBC, in the UK at least, I recall it was Jermaine Jenas and Micah Richards last night.

Well I'm pretty sure it wasn't Sky, and I no longer bother with BT Sport. Maybe it was Sky, but it was on when I came into the room, and I can't see my Mrs switching over to the footie :oops: :$

Anyway, as you can see, he p***** me off a bit with his "Man Utd are perfect" attitude...
 
Just finished listening to Watford v Burnley. Burnley down 1-0 with 10 minutes to go and managed two goals to win 2-1. Goals 83rd and 86th minute.

This is massive for the bottom end of the table. Norwich are going down. Watford too,I'd have thought. They are the two bottom clubs. Today Norwich 21 pts. Watford 22pts. Everton next up with 29pts and then Leeds with 34pts as with Burnley now but GD for Burnley - 15 Leeds - 30. I can't see Leeds beating Manchester City ..kick off at 5.30.

Everton play Chelsea tomorrow with a 2.00pm kick off. Can't see them even drawing let alone winning so they'll most likely stay on 29 pts.
 
That would result in another of the original clubs being relegated from the EPL, leaving just 5. Arsenal, Manure, Liverpool, Spurs and Chelski (I think).
 
Just finished listening to Watford v Burnley. Burnley down 1-0 with 10 minutes to go and managed two goals to win 2-1. Goals 83rd and 86th minute.

This is massive for the bottom end of the table. Norwich are going down. Watford too,I'd have thought. They are the two bottom clubs. Today Norwich 21 pts. Watford 22pts. Everton next up with 29pts and then Leeds with 34pts as with Burnley now but GD for Burnley - 15 Leeds - 30. I can't see Leeds beating Manchester City ..kick off at 5.30.

Everton play Chelsea tomorrow with a 2.00pm kick off. Can't see them even drawing let alone winning so they'll most likely stay on 29 pts.

I though Burnley were idiots for sacking Dyche - even going down he would be ideal to take them back up, but can't argue with that now. Would be funny to see Everton drop.
 
I though Burnley were idiots for sacking Dyche - even going down he would be ideal to take them back up, but can't argue with that now. Would be funny to see Everton drop.

I agree. I've heard TV pundits say pretty much the same thing. One did say that that win yesterday seems to have vindicated the decision. A bit short-sighted,I think. As you'll know, he'd been there 10 years. The Board didn't even have anyone lined up. I see Vincent Kompany is a contender. At the moment he's in his first coaching role at Anderlecht. I'd have thought they'd want someone with more experience. In the meantime, seeing out the season, is Mike Jackson who's been in charge of the under-23s.

Will you be watching/listening to the Everton v Chelsea game ? Starts at 2.00pm. I can only listen to it on Five Live because it's on Sky.
 
I agree. I've heard TV pundits say pretty much the same thing. One did say that that win yesterday seems to have vindicated the decision. A bit short-sighted,I think. As you'll know, he'd been there 10 years. The Board didn't even have anyone lined up. I see Vincent Kompany is a contender. At the moment he's in his first coaching role at Anderlecht. I'd have thought they'd want someone with more experience. In the meantime, seeing out the season, is Mike Jackson who's been in charge of the under-23s.

Will you be watching/listening to the Everton v Chelsea game ? Starts at 2.00pm. I can only listen to it on Five Live because it's on Sky.

No, off to pub! but can't see Everton getting much from it.
 
And back into 4th with 3 points at West Ham.... C'mon you Gunners! :woot::woot:
 
And back into 4th with 3 points at West Ham.... C'mon you Gunners! :woot::woot:

I listened to it. You played well. I was desperate for WH to, at least, get an equaliser. They almost did on a couple of occasions. Not many games left.,now. We should have plenty to say after the May 12th (Thursday) 7.45pm kick-off.match between Spurs/Arsenal. A massive game .Could go either although I'm sure you'll have a different opnnion on that :D

I don't think Chelsea really turned up today. Frankie-boy will be delighted . Still not out of the woods,though.
 
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I listened to it. You played well. I was desperate for WH to, at least, get an equaliser. They almost did on a couple of occasions. Not many games left.,now. We should have plenty to say after the May 12th (Thursday) 7.45pm kick-off.match between Spurs/Arsenal. A massive game .Could go either although I'm sure you'll have a different opnnion on that :D

I don't think Chelsea really turned up today. Frankie-boy will be delighted . Still not out of the woods,though.

As pointed out on MOTD last night, the games next weekend could have a much bigger bearing, Spurs play Liverpool, so a good chance of coming away with nothing, and Arsenal are at home to Leeds. There could be 5 points in it before the North London derby.

Chelsea could now finish 4th if they keep up their current form, possibly even 5th! Those players must be worried about where all their money is going to come from, shame :LOL:
 
As pointed out on MOTD last night, the games next weekend could have a much bigger bearing, Spurs play Liverpool, so a good chance of coming away with nothing, and Arsenal are at home to Leeds. There could be 5 points in it before the North London derby.

Chelsea could now finish 4th if they keep up their current form, possibly even 5th! Those players must be worried about where all their money is going to come from, shame :LOL:

Agree. I'm a bit worried about that Liverpool game..BUT...you never know with Spurs :D However, looking back on recent games I'm now of the opinion that Spurs threw away the opportunity of top four when they lost to Brighton 1-0- on April 16 and then only drew with Brentford the following week..April 23rd.

That will be three points from the Leeds game for you.,then....:confused:.......:D
 
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Never write Liverpool off..never...fair play to villarreal they brought the game to us, in the first half and my arse was twitching like a rabbits nose , great team and great fans they should be proud
 
I thought Villareal were unrecognisable from the team from the game at Anfield till half time. As were Liverpool. :oops: :$

If Liverpool play that badly in the final as they did in the first half of that game, it could be all over by half time. Fingers crossed that was the kick they need to not play that badly again this season. Never give up etc, but either Cit€h or Real in form would have had a field day with the Liverpool of the first half.

Amazing to get to a 3rd Champions League final in 5 years. :) :clap:
 
Wow ! How did Man City lose that ? There has to be something in their DNA that contributes to these 'end of match' collapses. I remember Spurs turning them over in the last few minutes in the Premier league not so long ago. Real came back when ' punch drunk' in the first leg. Are they 'flat track bullies' great when everything is going their way but lacking ' mental fortitude' when opponents refuse to be cowed ? Shame really, I would have liked to have seen an all Premier league final.
 
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Hilarious! Have always said Pep was over-rated as a manager. A chimp could have coached his Barca team to victory and he has failed to win CL at Munich (at the time best in the word) and City now with all their resources.
 
Hilarious! Have always said Pep was over-rated as a manager. A chimp could have coached his Barca team to victory and he has failed to win CL at Munich (at the time best in the word) and City now with all their resources.

It has to be said that City, with the squad they have, should really be expecting to win the ECL. That said, the pedigree of Real is something else. It's not just the players, the staff or the fans, but they seem to add up to a sum greater than their parts, especially when their back is against the wall.

Liverpool have greater experience in Europe, and City will get there, it just takes time. In 2006 Arsenal should have taken the title, they were, at that point, the best team on the planet, but personal errors, and poor substitutions led to them losing 2 goals in the final 15 minutes. Experience, or rather, lack of it, makes a big difference at this level.
 
I watched most of the Cit€h match, but for some reason when 90+ mins were up I thought they had won, because of the lack of reaction by the crowd and switched off. :oops: :$ :rolleyes: :banghead: :LOL:

I got the surprise later when I put on YT and saw Real celebrating! :oops: :$

Guardiola looked OK at the final whistle on the pitch, but very shell shocked in the press conference clip I saw. It will be interesting to see how they react against Newcastle.

The Real comeback in the final few minutes was stunning, but Cit€h really showed a lack of game management in the last 15-20 mins. Many times they had the ball wide on the wings and could have stopped and slowed the game, and also had opportunities to take it into the corners to force Real back, instead they attacked and then lost the ball, and then had Real right back at them. It is something Liverpool have learned over the last few years to try and kill the games towards the end of a match.

There were a few questionable decisions, and Casemiro should have had two strong yellow cards in the first half, but got nothing. :oops: :$ :rolleyes: The 'Ramos luck' seems to have been passed on to Casemiro. :rolleyes:

Liverpool v Real again, and Mo Salah is looking forward to the re-match after what happened to him in the last final between the two. ;)
 
Wow ! How did Man City lose that ? There has to be something in their DNA that contributes to these 'end of match' collapses. I remember Spurs turning them over in the last few minutes in the Premier league not so long ago. Real came back when ' punch drunk' in the first leg. Are they 'flat track bullies' great when everything is going their way but lacking ' mental fortitude' when opponents refuse to be cowed ? Shame really, I would have liked to have seen an all Premier league final.


I think they thought they were over the line. It was purgatory to watch. I had to reach for the tablets ..:D

Your point re DNA has some merit. Also, what puzzles me is why Pep often leaves Grealish on the bench until it's too late. He (Grealish) is a firecracker, causes mayhem, gets the team free kicks and if he doesn't score comes darned close as he did twice in that game.
 
Just been watching Eintracht v West Ham. Why was Cresswell on his own at the back which caused him to pull down Jens Hauge to stop a potential goal ? Yellow at first, then after a pitch-side monitor check a red. Even Moysey got a red !! Really bad scenes on a couple of occasions involving both benches/technical areas.

Eintracht have ultra-fans and I assume it was a few of them that had red flares burning throughout a lot of the game. Hell of atmosphere generated for the most part by the Eintracht fans. Then, they were allowed to swarm onto the pitch at the final whistle. They were getting too close to the West Ham fans for safety so the police came on, forced them back and then stood in a line/barrier across the centre of the pitch.

Having seen the volatility and 'roaring' from them as things got a bit heated on the pitch it's a bit concerning that they are to play Rangers in the final in Seville May 18th. 8.00pm kick off BT Sport. I think Rangers have their own 'wee' band of ultras.
 
Also, what puzzles me is why Pep often leaves Grealish on the bench until it's too late. He (Grealish) is a firecracker, causes mayhem, gets the team free kicks and if he doesn't score comes darned close as he did twice in that game.
I'm not sure Grealish is either is trusted by Guardiola, or fits into their system yet. He has, from what I have seen, come on as a sub to offer something different mostly.

If Cit€h were not having a(nother) very good season, getting so little return from a £100m player would be highlighted. As it is, Cit€h can blow £100m, and use the player for 35 games, so far, in a season, and get just 5 goals. In his best season for Villa, he only got 10 goals in 41 games. :oops: :$ Wow, £100m! :thinking:
 
Just been watching Eintracht v West Ham. Why was Cresswell on his own at the back which caused him to pull down Jens Hauge to stop a potential goal ? Yellow at first, then after a pitch-side monitor check a red. Even Moysey got a red !! Really bad scenes on a couple of occasions involving both benches/technical areas.

Eintracht have ultra-fans and I assume it was a few of them that had red flares burning throughout a lot of the game. Hell of atmosphere generated for the most part by the Eintracht fans. Then, they were allowed to swarm onto the pitch at the final whistle. They were getting too close to the West Ham fans for safety so the police came on, forced them back and then stood in a line/barrier across the centre of the pitch.

Having seen the volatility and 'roaring' from them as things got a bit heated on the pitch it's a bit concerning that they are to play Rangers in the final in Seville May 18th. 8.00pm kick off BT Sport. I think Rangers have their own 'wee' band of ultras.

German atmosphere is brilliant and love the flares they use. When I went to a koln game there were loads of tough looking police so fans rarely overstepped the mark.
 
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