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Football: The grind begins


Mexal

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First weekend over and the best team was... United? What? I have to hope to god their form was more down to West Ham and less them because I don't like Mourinho having a balanced team that can score goals. And I really don't like him winning another title with another team. If he does do it, it'll be this year since he always seems to win a title the 2nd year with the club (see all his other titles).

In Arsenal news, Thierry Henry did a great job breaking down Lacazette on Sky Sports after the first game. There were multiple opportunities for Xhaka to put the ball over the top when Lacazette made a great run that he missed. I really hope they start playing to that strength rather then to feet because Lacazette is always seems active between the CBs and can cause a ton of trouble if they push the ball over the top. The one time Xhaka did put the ball to Lacazette over the top, it lead to a really great opportunity that Ozil scuffed. Could be really exciting if they're able to recognize and play those types of balls. It was what Cazorla and Fabregas before him were so good at. Xhaka is capable, just has to look for it.

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Man United won their 3 opening games last season and soon fell out of the title race and even race for top 4...

At least that's what I am clutching onto instead of accepting that they looked brilliant against West Ham and finally have balance and look like a typical Mourinho team: big, strong, powerful and deadly. 

A lot of people predicting Man City to win the title but I'm going with Man United. Simply because what is wrong with City from last season is harder to fix. I still believe they will be exposed defensively just because with the way Guardiola teams like to play, there is always a chance to score against them.

Jose's main issue was finishing off smaller teams. He will always be able to nick draws or wins against big teams - they even did it last season - but winning games at home against teams that sat back caused them a problem. West Ham are the type of team they'd have struggled against last year but they pumped them 4-0. If they can win the games they should have won last season and maintain a decent record against the big 6, Jose and Man United will soon be back at the top of the English game.

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Harsh scoreline on Hoffenheim but Baumann should have dived for the free-kick and Kramaric's penalty was woeful. Wonder if they will sub Bicakcic off as he is really struggling with Liverpool's speed and has been the weak link so far.

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16 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

TAA has looked very good for Liverpool and now he knocks in a great free kick. Clyne is going to face a major battle to win back a starting place.

Hes a clear upgrade on Clyne offensively but Clyne is arguably our most solid defender. Shit Id maybe throw Clyne at LB when he's back at 100% and keep TAA starting :dunno:

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6 minutes ago, Soylent Brown said:

We've Milner and Robertson too, I just really don't know what Klopp is thinking. 

Playing Moreno? He was really good against Bayern. If he was ever going to get a chance he'd probably earned it. 

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Well, Liverpool was a bit fortunate in two crucial moments.

1. That woeful penalty by Kramaric. If Hoffenheim converts it's a different game.

2. The freekick before the 2-0. The ball was (very clearly imo) still in motion, and not lying still as it should have been. So Liverpool were lucky that the referee didn't whistle it off and let Liverpool retake the freekick.

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2 minutes ago, Soylent Brown said:

He had 1 good game, after 3 years of being dreadful. I'd hazard a guess that the 1 game is the outlier here, rather than the previous bunch.

Sure, I think so too but they obviously don't think Robertson's ready yet and Milner was coming back from an injury. If they're not going to play Moreno, after he was the best left back in preseason, at that stage what's the point of having him in the squad?

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I thought Liverpool defended better tonight than they did against Watford (only saw the first half of that game in full though), especially from set pieces. With a bit better finishing from Hoffenheim or understanding between Gnabry and the other forwards they could have got a draw or better which would have been fair. I suppose the difference was Matip playing relatively well tonight rather than poorly on the weekend.

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15 hours ago, Horse of Kent said:

Harsh scoreline on Hoffenheim but Baumann should have dived for the free-kick and Kramaric's penalty was woeful. Wonder if they will sub Bicakcic off as he is really struggling with Liverpool's speed and has been the weak link so far.

I'd like to see an English team sign Bičakčić, if only to hear all the funny ways his name would be pronounced. :lol: Honestly, it's a problem for native speakers most of the time.

Regarding Liverpool's game, we have to be happy with an away win, even though there are quite a few things that need improvement. That penalty was stupidly conceded (it was a clear penalty), the offside trap (conceded a goal on a failed attempt) and TAA's reaction before the conceded goal (repeatedly looking at the linesman waiting for the offside call instead of going after the player) are the most obvious ones.

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Everton mean business. I see that Sigurdsson to Everton is done for around £40m + £2.5m in add ons.

Will Barkley be on his way out? I read that he picked up a hamstring injury in training. Don't know how serious it is or whether that would affect any move. His stock isn't as high as it was a while ago so I don't think anyone will be spending £50m on him.

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