No More Sarri - Premier League 2019/20

[Sporting]

So you would ditch Kane or what?

[Gangster Octopus]

I am almost certainly alone in loving Manchester City's Tequila Sunrise kit.

[Glass Half Empty]

Another example of the overprotected goalkeeper. Ederson was late and took out Iheanacho with his fists.

[Tactical Genius]

So you would ditch Kane or what?

I think even you know that's not what I meant.

[Sporting]

Yeah, it was written on the hoof.

[Wouter D]

Bergwijn was apparently the fastest player in the Dutch league. This begs the question, fastest at what?

At driving. More than twice the speed limit, in a residential area.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Squeaky Bum time now for Liverpool. Lead down to 19 points, Henderson out for three weeks and just the one game in hand.

[Patrick Thistle]

VAR getting roasted on MOTD. Easy target when the refs watching the TVs come out and admit they fucked it up royal. Apparently handballs are OK if Man City do it. Yet again it feels like the whole shebang is bent as fuck.

[Patrick Thistle]

VAR getting roasted on MOTD. Easy target when the refs watching the TVs come out and admit they fucked it up royal. Apparently handballs are OK if Man City do it. Yet again it feels like the whole shebang is bent as fuck.

And that was before the show got to the Burnley Bournemouth game.

[Cesar Rodriguez]

The crazy thing about VAR is that football is one of the last sports to employ instant replay and instant replay is not exactly cutting edge technology - its been around for decades........ An 11 year old with a VCR in 1987 should have been able to make a half decent VAR operator.

They could have consulted any number of sports leagues to determine where the challenges would lay in its implementation and have drafted up some pretty clear parameters of where it would and would not be used. Its supposed to enhance the quality of officiating, not add another layer of complexity. What are the protocols for its use? Who is the ultimate authority? What is the quality control and best practices? Are there ongoing efforts to better educate referees in how to use it effectively?

I would have thought its best use would have been in helping refs identify and punish egregious and deliberate foul play. Elbows, two footed challenges and the like. The violent and dangerous stuff that ends seasons and careers. Not disallowing goals because a player sneezes on his opponent or his right elbow is an inch or two offside. How can the margins be so tight on some decisions but laissez faire on others?

[G-Man]

I just want to rewind to the discussion on Klopp's letter.

I have very little doubt that it was written by him personally, rather than by a PR flunkie. The syntax is Germanic, and in some pgases, I know exactly which German phrase Klopp rendered in English. The points he makes, and the way he does so, is consistent with the way he responds to many things, with thoughtfulness and good humour. The letter is Klopp being Klopp, not some stroke of PR genius.

[Jah Womble]

(^Finally.)

The handball ruling change isn’t ‘bent as f***’, it’s just confusing, overly-dogmatic and completely unnecessary.

You can listen to the bozos on those podcasts, talksport or MOTD or listen to the Tactical Genius the choice is yours.

I find that having followed the game for fifty years tends to work for me. (I certainly wouldn’t waste my time with TalkSport, anyway.)

At driving. More than twice the speed limit, in a residential area.

Why has it taken over six months to charge him?

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

These sort of communications, which I agree have their precedents (it's as close to a zero cost to the club as dammit, so why the hell not do it?), tend to stay private. Unless, that is, the recipient chooses to publicise them. Which is what appears to have happened in this case.

Alex Ferguson was also quite good at doing this sort of thing, IIRC. And in his case he would often hand-write the replies, making it harder to claim it was a PR flunkies words.

Yeah, Of course he wrote it. It was probably the most enjoyable part of his day. Certainly the only bit that didn't make him feel like a scrubbing himself with a brillo pad. Imagine being immersed in the horrible cynical world of football where everyone is terrible and everything is awful, and then you can write a letter to a child? I'd say david Moyes just sits in his office writing letters to random children all day and has to be pried out.

[Wouter D]

Why has it taken over six months to charge him?

This is unclear for this specific case. Generally, however, small traffic violations are dealt with swiftly in the Dutch system; large violations (including speeding by 30km/h and up) go through a generic court case, which takes substantially longer.

[Ray de Galles]

Just turned Arsenal v Everton on and it's the first PL football I've seen this weekend, have they changed the design of the ball mid-season?

[Arturo]

Poor display from Norwich today. Fine for the first ten minutes and then not much afterwards.

Time to go full strength for the cup. We're done in this league.

[ursus arctos]

Just turned Arsenal v Everton on and it's the first PL football I've seen this weekend, have they changed the design of the ball mid-season?

Yes

https://hypebeast.com/2020/2/nike-pr...el-vision-ball

[Sits]

Five goals in two games for Diogo Jota which is pretty good after a slow start followed by an injury.

[Ray de Galles]

Yes

https://hypebeast.com/2020/2/nike-pr...el-vision-ball

Blimey, what a load of guff.

It reminded me of the late seventies official Football League ball ;



The timing would have been apposite given Justin Fashanu was honoured this week ;

[Sits]

That’s great, as is the honouring - if decades too late. Poor Justin, a deeply wronged man.

[Tactical Genius]

That’s great, as is the honouring - if decades too late. Poor Justin, a deeply wronged man.

Wasn't he accused of indecent assault before he committed suicide?

[Jah Womble]

‘Liverpool concede goal’-shock...

[Toby Gymshorts]

I can't be sure if Liverpool deserved to win that, but I know for damn sure that West Ham didn't deserve to lose it.

[Eggchaser]

That was a West Ham season distilled into a single match.

[hobbes]

I can't be sure if Liverpool deserved to win that, but I know for damn sure that West Ham didn't deserve to lose it.

Of course they did. David Moyes is their manager. They deserve to lose every game.