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Football: The grind begins


Mexal

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Harsh second card on Walker. I don't agree with it. Commentators saying that the backwards glance he gave sold them on giving the card. Guess the premeditated look makes it a little worse. Collapsing to the ground was unnecessary. 

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It was harsh on Walker but also dumb by him.

4 minutes ago, Soylent Brown said:

The initial angle made it look like Aguero was just barging him flying, but the other angles showed Holgate was shielding the ball, and was as responsible for the contact as Aguero.


Of course he was shielding the ball. That's what he's supposed to do. Doesn't give Aguero the right to go sticking his shoulder in his back with no attempt to play the ball.

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When the first goal went in I was worried (for the sake of my fantasy football) that Klaassen was never going to see the pitch in this situation, but now that Everton are a man up and City look a bit wobbly, I can see them making a couple of attacking subs. Though presumably Siggurdson will be first go.
 

Strikers do it all the time when they can't get around the defender, I really don't see what the issue is. And this is pretty tame for Ken: he saves his worst behaviour for David Luiz after all.

 

Oh sure it wasn't a really major issue or anything, it just annoyed me in the moment. All the more with what looked like Aguero jawing off at Holgate in the aftermath.

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Heh, he's had a really good game up to this point but that's a horrendous defensive header from Holgate. I thought Silva had got his head on it before I saw the replay.

ETA: Yeah, that's not a yellow. You might argue about the first one but Aguero's definitely bought that.

Wasn't there something about retrospective punishments for feigning injuries supposed to be brought in this year?

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10 minutes ago, ljkeane said:

Wasn't there something about retrospective punishments for feigning injuries supposed to be brought in this year?



Yeah, Aguero could see a two-match ban for that.

 

 

Bernardo Silva was brilliant after he came on. But now that leaves the title race down to us, Huddersfield and West Brom.

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1 minute ago, Mark Antony said:

Thought Schneiderlins second yellow was a much worse decision than Walkers. Aguero milked the hell out of it.



Well yeah. Walker's was actually a foul, just the card was harsh. Schneiderlin cleanly and clearly won the ball and didn't even come near Aguero's thigh that he was clutching.

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All in all very pleased with that performance. Pickford solid again, defense playing well spart from Holgate´s error, midfield working hard, Rooney directing relatively well .. lots of positives there. 

Biggest takeaway for me today was Calvert-Lewin, however. He has looked tidy at times earlier, and had spells in matches where he shows glipses of talent, but today he led the line a lot better that I expected. Held up the ball well, ran his socks off, won headers, stayed onside for most of his runs, and, of course, had the assist for the goal. 

Shame we couldn´t hold on in the end, but one point away at City is a good return. I would have taken that in a heartbeat ahead of the match.

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Also, as I see a spelling error in my post, let me apologize in advance for the autocorrect on my new job iPad. It changes just about every other word, and if I happen to type fast, some of it´s inane suggestions slip by me. 

Basically, f@ck Steve Jobs.

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14 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

Well yeah. Walker's was actually a foul, just the card was harsh. Schneiderlin cleanly and clearly won the ball and didn't even come near Aguero's thigh that he was clutching.

Aguero really should be handed a two game ban. Lets see whether this new regulation regarding deception is going to be strictly enforced or just more lip service.

ETA. wonder whether Calvert-Lewin will find himself in a bit of trouble as well. He certainly made the most of Walker's challenge and his reaction can be construed as an attempt to deceive.

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Schniderlin suspended for the Chelsea game.

Everton did well to hold on and manage to get away with a draw. I really thought Man City would make minced meat of them tonight, so that was a really big point away from home for them. Do think they are missing a focal point up front. It's a shame they didn't manage to get someone like Olivier Giroud in.

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2 hours ago, Rorshach said:

Also, as I see a spelling error in my post, let me apologize in advance for the autocorrect on my new job iPad. It changes just about every other word, and if I happen to type fast, some of it´s inane suggestions slip by me. 

Basically, f@ck Steve Jobs.

*its ;)

Agree that Aguero should be banned for that.

And Everton have a really promising batch of youngsters coming through, with Davis, C-L and Lookman.

I have an (ir)rational hatred of Klaasen, as he always scores against me on FIFA, and almost always with a header, for some infernal reason

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On 19/08/2017 at 8:34 AM, polishgenius said:


Chicharito is a goal machine. Anything that pings loose in the box he's on. West Ham look dire as a team but with individuals like him, Antonio and when he comes back Lanzini they should stay up anyway. But Bilic should be sacked off.

Sad to say, but as a Hammers fan I completely agree with this.   I just don't have any faith in Bilic's ability to organize a team, especially defensively.  

But there is some serious talent in the squad--probably more than enough to keep us safe no matter how shambolic we look from game to game.  I could see Antonio and Chicharito being a particularly deadly combination up front.  And I get why the club signed Arnautovic, even though he seems like a total dipshit of a human being and he fucked up the Saints game for his teammates.

If the heavily rumored Carvalho transfer goes through, the team will have even more talent, though I can never quite see what Bilic's plan is.  He seems to favour a 4-2-3-1, but we might end up with Carvalho, Obiang, Noble, Kouyate, Fernandes and youngster Declan Rice all fighting for just two central midfield spots. If he switches to three in the middle to accommodate all these central players, he has to fit Lanzini into a front three (which has never quite worked, and leaves record signing Arnautovic and previous record-signing Ayew on the outside looking in).   

Ever since his prolonged and determined failure to turn Antonio into a wingback, I've never quite been able to get behind Bilic. He seems like a really good fellow and decent 'man manager', and he's consequently quite popular with the players, but he just looks totally tactically outmatched against most premier league managers, and I think he's currently out of his depth. 

 

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Wayne Rooney retires from international football.

Good decision, IMO. He can concentrate on playing for Everton without having to listen to people talk about whether he will or won't be picked for England again.

I'd say he has to go down as an England legend. Yes, he didn't win anything with the national team, but only one squad of English players ever have and that was over half a century ago.

The highlight of his England career has to be his performances at Euro 2004. That was Wayne Rooney at his explosive best. You can't help but feel with the squad they had back then that was as good of a chance as they are likely to have for a long time to win an international tournament. It's a shame he got injured in the quarter final or who knows what could have happened.

Now comes the debacle over who will be next England captain. Let the media circus commence...

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How early he achieved things in his career will perversely count against him. When he was so great at 20, it seems disappointing that he never pushed on to be one of the best 3 or 4 in the world, but really he was just an early developer. His successor is almost certainly going to be Hart - because it can only ever be players whose form no longer justifies their place but have to be included as captain.

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I wouldn't have thought Hart would be a candidate. Given the way he has been shifted out on loan at club level and the fact his form has dropped to the point that Jack Butland or Jordan Pickford would be a better choice in goal for England, I can't see his status as undisputed no. 1 lasting much longer.

I think it helps if the captain is also captain at club level, which would make Gary Cahill a candidate. Jordan Henderson, too. Gareth Southgate gave Harry Kane the captain's armband a few times in recent matches. I'd say Kane is the frontrunner for the role. Despite his inexperience at international level, he must have leadership qualities within him; he is Tottenham's current vice captain. Picking Kane as captain would be a shout for the long term, which I think Southgate would prefer to do over giving it to Hart, whose days as first choice keeper may be numbered, Cahill, who, at 31, may only have one international tournament left in him or Henderson, who is prone to injury and has no guarantees over his place in the first team.

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