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Football: “WHAT THE F*CK WAS THAT”?


AncalagonTheBlack

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4 hours ago, JordanJH1993 said:

On the night Costa makes a goalscoring return to Atletico, Morata misses three bread and butter chances for Chelsea. Why, oh, why did Conte have to fall out with the Guv’nor?!

Pretty ironic, that. Saw some highlights from the Atleti game on ESPN FC. Diego scores, and Diego pisses off the opponent. God, I miss that. As much as I couldn't stand him towards the end, he is missed...

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If Coutinho goes, Pool needs to prioritize getting a top quality holding mid first. We have a fair few top quality forwards, or attacking mids who play those positions, to cover common injury scenarios. Mane, Salah, Ox and Firmino can play both wings. Tons of CF cover in Sturridge, Ings and Solanke (or even Salah). Good box-to-box midfield option with Ox, Lallana, Gini, Milner, Keita. The glaring weakness will be in the holding midfielder role when Can goes.

Klopp does seem to prefer a tall, physical and powerful player in that single holding mid role (Can and Hendo). I don't see any of the box-to-box player fitting that criteria (Ox does fit the physical bill but he seems to be so obviously an attacking mid that i don't think he will suit the role). Alternatively, he might play two holding mid (4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2) and forego the "physical" aspect of things in exchange for more bodies. But considering how many small attacking players we have, I think that might be a bit of a risk (specially as most teams are set up to exploit set pieces).

I do think another winger will be needed, but I am also hoping to see Woodburn break into the team and not getting another winger is the only way I can see this happening.

But considering all the pressure on Klopp, he will likely go for another proven winger instead of taking a risk with Woodburn. If that happens, I would like for Pool to try and snatch Willian from Chelsea (fast, tricky, good at set piece, goal scorer etc). He is not as good a dribbler as Coutinho( but not by much) but he has a lot of pace and is a goal threat so he will fit in perfectly. Alternatively, it will probably be either of Lemar or Draxler. However, secretly I am hoping for Isco! :P

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10 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Morata should just kneel down and head the ball instead of kicking it.  But what were the Arsenal CBs doing to give him that kind of space?

Very, very soft penalty. 

Great result for us with both dropping points.We're now only 3 points away from 2nd place.Next match against city is very important.I would be happy with a draw.

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8 hours ago, The Winged Shadow said:

Alternatively, it will probably be either of Lemar or Draxler. However, secretly I am hoping for Isco! :P

I don't think Draxler would be a good signing. Talented yes but his attitude stinks. Isco would only cost €700m - I'm sure FSG could swing that. ;)

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17 hours ago, Mark Antony said:

I’m just kinda over it. Could easily see Coutinho faking an injury again and going on strike till February 1st. Would almost rather get rid now to avoid that but it’s whatever :dunno: 

I'd like to see Klopp sending him to the reserves for the remainder of the season if he goes on strike.

It would cause significant loss of exposure and money for Coutinho, not to mention rule him out of the Brazil's World Cup squad next summer.

The club and the player need to find a solution that works for all parties involved. Selling a player for 20M£ bellow market value dos not work for the club and the player should accept that.

16 hours ago, Consigliere said:

I'm going off an article that Paul Joyce posted yesterday. He claims that Coutinho is pushing for a move in this window and that Liverpool's stance is not as hardline as it was in the summer and they might be willing to do business for a fee in the region of €150m.

I don't think there is a player out there I wouldn't give up for 150M£. I mean, Suarez left for barely over half of that and that was after one of the best seasons I've seen a player have in the Premier League in 20 years I've been watching.

Also, this time the whole issue started at the beginning of the transfer window so Liverpool would have much better shot at lining up a replacement before selling Coutinho. That's quite an important factor, too.

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Or they can do what Pool did with Keita, let Barcelona sign him now but for next season. As has been mentioned, he only improves their domestic prospects but they almost have it wrapped anyway so it's not a big deal. While Pool really needs his services in EPL and CPL.

I wonder if the kids will get some chance tonight. It's Everton, so losing isn't going to be acceptable. But it is FA cup, and unlike the last two seasons, we haven't seen much of the youngins thanks to getting kicked out of the league cup so early. Hope to see Woodburn atleast!

1 hour ago, Consigliere said:

I don't think Draxler would be a good signing. Talented yes but his attitude stinks. Isco would only cost €700m - I'm sure FSG could swing that. ;)

I haven't seen much of either to be honest. So don't really know if either is particularly good. I just know that we were in for both of those players over the last couple of years.

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22 minutes ago, The Winged Shadow said:

I wonder if the kids will get some chance tonight. It's Everton, so losing isn't going to be acceptable. But it is FA cup, and unlike the last two seasons, we haven't seen much of the youngins thanks to getting kicked out of the league cup so early. Hope to see Woodburn atleast!

Hope you play the game tonight. And then don’t show up tomorrow, celebrating victory ;)

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Melissa Reddy reporting that a deal for Coutinho is close to being finalized. She's usually a reliable source for Liverpool but Barca's transfer business has been sketchy in recent years so we'll see whether this actually happens. According to her, Liverpool were willing to do business on an advanced deal for next season but both Coutinho and Barca rejected that. The fee being reported is €120m + €40m in add-ons.

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Newbie question: Looking at the FA Cup 3rd Round where the Championship and PL teams show up, there are no teams below League 2 left.  Does this make this edition of the FA Cup like the League Cup when there are no tiny clubs left?

I have only been paying attention for the past few seasons, as US coverage has become more accessible. Watching a major club have to play in a far-flung tiny stadium has been a cool thing to see.  Does missing these drain the competition of some appeal for long time fans?

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11 minutes ago, The Wedge said:

Newbie question: Looking at the FA Cup 3rd Round where the Championship and PL teams show up, there are no teams below League 2 left.  Does this make this edition of the FA Cup like the League Cup when there are no tiny clubs left?

I have only been paying attention for the past few seasons, as US coverage has become more accessible. Watching a major club have to play in a far-flung tiny stadium has been a cool thing to see.  Does missing these drain the competition of some appeal for long time fans?

League 2, despite the name, is the fourth and lowest division of the national football league.  Below that are “non-league” clubs who play in regional amateur/semi-professional leagues.  There were three non-league clubs in the drawing for the third round of the FA Cup because they had pending replays at the time of the drawing, but I think they all lost their replays. 

There’s usually one or two non-league sides who make it into the third round but none isn’t a huge outlier.  League 1 and 2 (division 3 and 4) teams are also very small compared to PL teams (division 1) and offer the David vs Goliath story. 

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2 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said:

League 2, despite the name, is the fourth and lowest division of the national football league.  Below that are “non-league” clubs who play in regional amateur/semi-professional leagues.  There were three non-league clubs in the drawing for the third round of the FA Cup because they had pending replays at the time of the drawing, but I think they all lost their replays. 

There’s usually one or two non-league sides who make it into the third round but none isn’t a huge outlier.  League 1 and 2 (division 3 and 4) teams are also very small compared to PL teams (division 1) and offer the David vs Goliath story. 

I understand League 2 is the fourth level and part of the Football League (hence my comment on whether this is now a League Cup redux).

I was thinking more in terms of last year when Sutton United and Lincoln City made it through a few rounds after the big dogs joined in.  It's fun to see multi-million pound players have to compete at tiny little grounds, or see players used to nothing playing in a modern PL stadium.

Slowly slowly this Yank is catching on.  ;)

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3 hours ago, The Wedge said:

Newbie question: Looking at the FA Cup 3rd Round where the Championship and PL teams show up, there are no teams below League 2 left.  Does this make this edition of the FA Cup like the League Cup when there are no tiny clubs left?

I have only been paying attention for the past few seasons, as US coverage has become more accessible. Watching a major club have to play in a far-flung tiny stadium has been a cool thing to see.  Does missing these drain the competition of some appeal for long time fans?

Yes, it's not as good as last season - though that was an especially bumper year. As others have said, many of the League Two sides are no bigger than those at the top of non-league. Lincoln, for example, have gone on to be one of the better sides in L2 after winning promotion as well last season. That being said, most of the teams through to the third round are the more traditional League One and Two sides, so there aren't too many prospective Premier League trips to tiny grounds. Fleetwood vs Leicester looks good for that, but if Wimbledon can get a draw at Wembley, then Spurs visiting Kingsmeadow is probably the best that can be hoped for.

The League Cup is actually good for David vs Goliath fixtures (about all that it is good for), given that L1 and L2 teams only need to win once for a shot and twice for a near certainty of getting a big draw given the seeding systems. As it is treated less seriously than the FA Cup there is a decent shot at an upset too.

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3 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

Those were two banging goals. It's like Lingard was playing for both sides!

You know, there is a lot of common points between Lingard and Son. Both are able of the best and the worst, both are willing fighters for their shirt, both are good players that are often not acknowledged as it.

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