Iskaral Pust

I finally got to watch the Ireland vs Italy game. Not a great spectacle because Ireland were disjointed in their play with so many changes. They scored six tries while comfortably smothering any attacking play by Italy but it rarely felt like a free-flowing or exciting contest. It’s good to see more depth in the squad. Crowley was very good as the #10 playmaker, although his kicking for points was very poor. McCarthy and Baird both showed great speed and energy for their size, with Ireland’s changed pack looking mobile and fast. Lowe and Keenan were both in very good form (let’s hope Keenan recovers from that injury quickly), and Nash did well alongside them. And I thought we got a good showing from McCloskey and Henshaw at center considering how strong Aki and Ringrose typically are as a pair. Lineouts were really solid, with mauls generating some of the tries. Scrums were iffy again. Nothing went right for Larmour in his brief sub appearance but there was a lot of ropey play at that stage as some subs were third or fourth string while others were JVDF and JGP. Italy must feel dispirited after being much more competitive against England. Hopefully they’ll have more competitive matches ahead. They aren’t indulging in the madcap risks of last year, they just didn’t have quite enough quality to breach a very diligent Irish defense, while the scores against them gradually mounted. Watching Ireland score from 5-10m lineouts made me think again that England should have tried the same a week prior rather than kicking for points.

Odin’s Betrayal by Donovan Cook is the opening book in a series of Viking historical fiction, with the central character born in Francia/Germnay to a Viking father abandoned there during a raid. The prose and characterization felt sophomoric — bland and tropey. I won’t read further. The Boyfriend by Thomas Perry is a crime fiction about an ex-cop PI in California on the track of a serial killer who’s using his girlfriend victims as a series of temporary covers for his work as an assassin around the country. Far-fetched plot but an OK read. An Elegant Defense by Matt Richtel is a non-fiction about the human immune system. It’s an interesting topic and well researched but, like too many non-fictions, it’s torturously over-extended to book length. Would have been a good long-form article instead.

Got Trouble by Dave Dobson is, I guess, a sci-if thriller novel, whose rating in GoodReads seems inflated by a large % of ARCs. The protagonist is a woman struggling through life at the very bottom of the socioeconomic ladder, when she is suddenly thrust into a sci-fi crime plot, with a helpful college professor sidekick to explain to her what’s happening as it unfolds. I wouldn’t recommend. Stigmata by Colin Falconer is historical fiction set in 13th century France at the time of the Cathar Crusade. This is my second experience with this author who has been heavily promoted on Amazon, after enjoying his Silk Road novel — for which I posted a quick review in one of these threads. I didn’t much enjoy this one. It doubled down on the weak points of the other novel: it’s primarily an interpersonal/romance melodrama set against the backdrop of an interesting historical period, and spends much more focus on the dime-a-dozen character drama than the history. If you care more about Scarlet O’Hara than the American Civil War then you might enjoy this author but I’m not inclined to read any further. Son Of Mercia by M.J. Porter is historical fiction set in 9th century England as Saxon and Danish kingdoms maneuver and compete. The style is a disappointment: almost every chapter is an internal monologue as a POV engages in and reflects upon a conversation with another king or warband leader as they try to persuade allies and gather military support. It just goes on and on like this. I thought it was a poor choice of narrative structure.

I forgot to respond to this good engagement on The Heart Of Darkness. It’s a good point that an influential new structure or style should be a classic even if it’s subsequently executed better. But the bolded part appears to have a very long history in literature, going back to The Odyssey, The Epic Of Gilgamesh, and many prehistoric myths where geographical symbolism of the wilderness/forest, sea, underworld, desert, etc mirrored or was a metaphor for the mental or spiritual journey of the protagonist. It’s pretty central to the entire hero’s journey too.

This is the kind of cut-throat politicking and strategy we expect from F1, whether true or not. Since driver salaries are not part of the F1 budget cap, I wondered if the big teams would try to reassert their financial advantage through driver super-teams, running the risk that it helps win the WCC while potentially splitting the points and losing the WDC. The ideal second driver, from the POV of a title-chasing first driver, is Merc-era Bottas. Checo made some positive contribution as the Ministry Of Defense in Verstappen’s first WDC title but has been a non-factor since. Max could use a better partner but not too much better.

Yes, it looked a penalty. As did the fouls on Jota and Diaz not given. The ref allowed a lot of heavy contact all game; the “let the game flow” attitude rewards clogging over skill.

And now Jones and Jota subbed off early with further injuries. Jota’s looked potentially very bad.

Remember when Arsenal were struggling to score goals?

Szoboszlai is really missed in MF. I think MacAllister, Szoboszlai and Jones is the strongest MF by some distance (assuming Thiago is out of contention), but we’ve had very few games where we’ve been able to start with them. Elliot did well as a sub again, and has been more impactful as a sub rather than starter all season. A pity to see TAA withdrawn — both he and Szoboszlai were rushed back too soon. With Gomez out with flu and Bradley on compassionate leave, TAA was rushed back despite finally having two very capable deputies in the squad — after years of no depth at his position.

In other news, lots of injuries, one suspension (Konate) and now now flu too have decimated Liverpool’s squad for today.

Such a pity about Thiago. As everyone has said, this was the predictable risk and it has gone worse than the 50:50 betting line. But he was a joy to watch on the pitch. I hope he can recover enough to play on, whether for us or elsewhere. Incredible player.

Lots of changes for Ireland. I don’t think that’s complacency about Italy, rather some development for a wider pool of players. In the WC we had the core players play far too many minutes and reached the QF looking fatigued. It should be a good match, and the Italians may see an opportunity against a rotated Ireland and come out swinging.

I’ve watched Italy vs England now too (during my home gym sessions). England should feel pretty good. Despite (or because of) a lot of selection changes, their possession play was much sharper and more coherent. Their ruck speed was much faster, they were fit and fast enough to sustain possession and territory pressure for long periods, and they didn’t lose faith or fall apart when their progress stalled. Perhaps their biggest failing in attack was taking points from too many penalties rather than chasing the try. I fully expect this England team to improve as they go on and build more familiarity and perhaps some belief. (Side note: Mitchell’s try looked like a completed tackle, so with that plus a missed easy penalty by Italy, the result could have gone the other way despite England comfortably dominating possession and territory) OTOH Italy scored three good tries where they exploited a key line break. And that was without Capuozzo, and Cannone went off injured quite early. I think Italy are improving each year but England need to question why they could score three tries without their (arguably) two best players. England’s defensive shape looked suspect once the ball was moved quickly from inside to wing. And, yes, Italy scored their last try in garbage time but they also had a good threatening period for several minutes before that, and then generated that last attack immediately after England had them on the ropes in their own 22. Italy gave France big problems in their home opener last year. There’s limited predictive power to this one match. Based on what I saw, I’m a lot more worried about the challenge of playing England in Twickenham after they’ve found some more rhythm than an improving Italy with Capuozzo and Cannone added.

I’m still watching and will finish the season. Ep4 felt too much like horror for my enjoyment though. The claustrophobia of the darkness, the snowbound small town, the economic tension (the poisonous mine is what keeps the town alive), mental health problems, and the fraught relationships is the tone they want to convey, and it works. And horror seems to be the natural genre for such claustrophobia, although I don’t enjoy it. There is a detective investigating a crime but the thread is messy and overwhelmed by the horror elements and committing so much to the tone.

Great to hear this is good so far. I’ll turn back on my AppleTV subscription to binge it when complete.

Really disappointing performance and result. We’ve struggled against Arsenal this season even if we snatched a win in the cup tie. We had too many players missing today for a top-of-table clash like this but also didn’t get great performances from the players on the field. What’s galling is that the weakest points were predictable: Gakpo has been ghosting in and out of games as a starter and doesn’t offer the threat of Nunez (who gave the Arsenal CBs a lot of problems in the prior game), Gravenberch looks soft and inconsistent against any strong opponent and is only ready for weaker opponents at this point, Trent is good against parked bus opponents but a liability against an opponent with real attacking intent (and Martinelli has had his number in the past), and VVD has been getting too casual again lately. Only Alisson’s performance could not have been predicted. Once you have that many weak points, the whole team gets dragged down because the collective coordination of the system is gone.

Szoboszlai missing today, along with Bradley on compassionate leave and Nunez only in the bench as a precaution after his foot injury. It’s a pity to lose Szoboszlai because Gravenberch doesn’t provide the same control or solidity in MF. Thiago is on the bench though after his long absence. It would have been better if we had the midweek team + bench available today rather than against Chelsea.

Well done, Tywin. I’ve also dropped some weight, about 10lbs over three months by cutting out the sugary treats late at night. I’d like to drop another ten to be back at my pre-COVID leanness. I’ve also returned to more consistent weightlifting after switching to swimming for the summer and then disrupted by COVID and lots of fall gardening projects as I tried to switch back. I’m only doing two sessions weekly at weekends (instead of ideally 3-4 throughout the week) because work keeps me so busy Mon-Fri, but at least those sessions are going well and I’m progressing back toward the pre-break levels. Pull-ups feel much easier now at a lighter weight but I’m making slower progress on my big lifts like bench press, mainly because I’m doing each type of big lift only every other week atm. No need to rush it, it’s not a competition. I also make a point to take long walks outdoors whenever possible to get sunlight and fresh air. When I lived in Chicago, I walked to and from the office each day. Now in the suburbs, I need to consciously go for a leisure walk if I’m not doing a gardening project.

Re: Alexander and Age Of Samurai and other historical documentaries on Netflix: I enjoyed AoS but generally find Netflix, or any of the cable/streaming providers, very hard to trust on actual history. There are several good YouTube channels that are much better for historical rigor (Kings and Generals for one). They don’t have budget for any live action, and the production value is basic, but at least the history is well researched and the synthesis narrative is well structured. Plus the channel sponsors point you toward higher production value versions for a subscription cost if you want.

Sheehan’s injury absence during the WC was a major factor in the weak lineout. It got better when he returned.

The French looked adrift for chunks of the game, even with a lot of experienced players in a home match. I think part of that was Ireland diligently supporting the ball carrier and clearing rucks to prevent the jackal. That nullified the French defensive strength and allowed Ireland to gradually prey on their weaknesses: heavy forwards eventually slower to regain line position, and some shakiness under high kicks. France’s general tactical approach — concede possession, kick long to manage territory, channel opponents inside into powerful jackals, counterattack explosively — is less effective without DuPont & Ntamack’s flair in counterattacks, and vulnerable to Ireland using their possession really well with quick passes and phases to evade the powerful forwards.

Really good win for Ireland. I had expected France to have the edge with home advantage. The red card mattered of course but I think Ireland looked sharper regardless and probably would have won anyway. Both teams showed some rust for the opening game and were disrupted by absences. Three young players made their first starts at this level (Crowley, Nash and McCarthy) and acquitted themselves quite well. Crowley’s open play kicking was poor but his kicking from the tee was very good bar one bad penalty miss, and his ball handling, tackling and coverage of space behind were all quite good. Nash was solid on the wing and carried well, while McCarthy earned PotG for his energetic play (although conceded a few penalties). Henshaw offered less than the missing Ringrose but Lowe had another great game, and Beirne and VDF seemed really up for the contest. Ireland’s weak points were the scrum and too many sloppy penalties conceded but they were better at the lineout, were sharper and faster through the phases in attack, and showed really good game management. The French need to pick themselves up for a tough trip to Scotland next and not get derailed by this bad start. LaGallec perhaps should start at 9 rather than Lucu, who was solid but uninspiring.

Good win for Liverpool and a great night for Bradley. A goal, two assists (five in his last four games) and MotM. He and Gomez have been very good as back-up FBs and either would be disappointed to lose their place in the XI. The MF looked really solid too. Hopefully this trio can stay fit as the primary MF and use rotation/subs to keep everyone fresh. Madness that we could yet have Thiago and Bajcetic back too, although I’m placing zero expectation on either for the rest of the season. VVD was too casual in conceding a goal to Norwich at the weekend and followed it up tonight being too casual on Nkunku for his goal and almost conceding two penalties. He has been very good this season, finally looking like his pre-injury level, but he still has moments when he’s not sharp enough in his defending. Konate is probably defending better than him. Nunez’ finishing regressed again unfortunately. Hitting the post four times (albeit one pushed onto the post by the GK) is edging into self-parody. But, trying to stay positive, he had a large number of high quality shots. He’s playing well to create these chances, but missing too many. At least the front three looked connected and potent.

How do Leinster cope with so many of their players called up for Ireland? The fly-half position is especially bad because the Irish squad has called up most of the depth there.

I thought it was a poor effort. The first episode led off with Finn Russell sneering and smirking as usual (am I the only one who finds him extremely punchable?) and tries to portray him as the conquering hero in a game where he didn’t do much. I skipped ahead to ep3 to watch the focus on Ireland. Andrew Porter seems like a good guy but the format is just so bland. Not enough focus on the actual sport, the games themselves, or the contribution of different players. And the WC was conspicuous by its absence in every interview with DuPont or Galthie, or acknowledgement of Ireland and France as the two top rated teams in the world. The format works fine for Formula 1 where individual rivalries drive the narrative. Not for a team sport like rugby.