Consigliere

Ajax are having a bit of a disaster this season. Not sure how Steijn is still in the job. This is the weakest Ajax side in years and probably not good enough to win the league but they should still be finishing in the top 5 and not sat in the relegation zone. Would be very surprised if Steijn isn't sacked soon with the international break coming up.

Mahrez and Gundogan leaving are big losses too. Those two often came up clutch at crucial moments.

I wish our current management would put pressure on referees like Ferguson did. We've been robbed of at least a dozen penalties since last season - we just don't moan about it anywhere to the extent that Arsenal and Liverpool do. Ferguson's approach was right - if you don't pressure these cunts, they'll walk all over you.

Certain referees are quite literally on the payroll of Man City's owners. How the PL, FA and whoever else cannot see the conflict of interest there is baffling. Game's gone. The independent regulator needs to come in asap. And not some powerless version just for show either.

Refs protect City players.

Brighton/Liverpool was quite entertaining. Both sides had a proper go at each other. Think a draw was a fair result on the balance of play.

Gross should've been sent off there.

I see that Rooney has left DC United. There are reports that he's due to arrive in England soon and that a deal for him to take over at Birmingham City is close to being completed. If accurate, this is an odd decision because John Eustace has been doing a pretty good job for Birmingham.

Pulisic has been doing a good job for Milan so far.

This is a results business, especially for club's like United. 'Play coming together' doesn't mean all that much when the results are no better than Solskjaer's last season. So far he's been rather stubbornly sticking with a system that is clearly not working and has made us much worse defensively. He needs to find solutions and fast even if that means abandoning (either partially or totally) this new style he's trying to implement in favour of a more compact system otherwise he isn't going to last for very long. He needs to go back to his pragmatism of last season - we imploded in a few games but were defensively solid for the most part and ended up keeping the most clean sheets in the league.

Ten Hag has only been marginally better than Solskjaer, if that. In fact this season has been almost as bad as late stage Solskjaer - we are only 3 points better off after 8 games this season than we were in Solskjaer's last season and that only thanks to McTominay's heroics in injury time. EtH's tactics have been a complete disaster this season - our defensive play has completely crumbled since preseason and continued into the season even before all the injuries. ETA. And these defensive errors are a direct result of our defensive play turning to shit. We are currently among the top 3 or 4 teams with the highest Xg against in the league. When a team is conceding a lot of chances, that usually increases the probability of defensive errors being made.

McTominator probably saved Ten Hag's job. I'm so glad that we did not sell him. He's not top class but he is a very good squad player that any manager would be happy to have. I'm not going to lose sight of the fact that this was another diabolical performance. Ten Hag has gotten every signing he wanted (except De Jong and only because the player rejected a move) and has still made the team worse. Some may point to the injuries in an effort to absolve the manager and my response would be that the fundamental issues we are having this season were blatantly apparent even during preseason (before the injuries). Ten Hag has failed tactically this season.

Solskjaer > Ten Hag Only United could sack Solskjaer and somehow replace him with someone just as bad or worse.

We need to park the bus. If Ten Hag is actually dumb enough to try and play a high line with this back four then he deserves to be sacked.

A glimmer of hope for Pogba. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/paul-pogba-hopes-to-avoid-long-ban-because-drug-wasnt-testosterone-27jkl6hww

Yeah, starting to look like Legia fans were causing shit which is why the riot police were called in and the stadium put into lockdown. Also the two players arrested are suspected of assaulting AZ's security coordinator.

Reports that stadium security and police refused to let Legia Warsaw staff and players leave the AZ Alkmaar stadium after last nights game. Players, staff and the club's president were then assaulted by the police. I don't see an article in english that collates all the footage. This is the most detailed article on the matter (use a translator extension in your browser): https://sport.tvp.pl/73219971/josue-i-radovan-pankov-zatrzymani-przez-policje-w-holandii-skandal-w-alkmaar

Ever since making United look like a Sunday League side, Brighton have been pretty shit themselves.

They should have never built another stadium in Cape Town and Durban. Newlands Rugby Stadium and Kings Park should've been renovated instead like Loftus Versfeld, Ellis Park and the Free State Stadium. Peter Mokaba Stadium (Polokwane), Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace (Rustenburg), Mbombela Stadium (Nelspruit), Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (Port Elizabeth) and Moses Mabhida Stadium (Durban) are basically white elephants now and a drain on the public purse.

Masters of the Air: Apple TV+ Sets Date for Austin Butler’s WWII Drama From Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. Been waiting for this one. Really hope that it's in the same ballpark as Band of Brothers and The Pacific.

Always funny watching PSG lose.

This makes no fucking sense. So this guy is not competent to officiate Liverpool games but is competent to officiate everyone else's games? Darren England will not officiate Liverpool for rest of the season - but won't be sacked

They need to release the audio. In rugby anyway, one of the first things established between the referee and the TMO is the on field decision. The VAR being unaware of the on field decision cannot be brushed off as innocent human error; it's gross negligence on the part of the VAR and referee. PGMOL has fostered a culture of mediocrity, complacency and no accountability. They just circle the wagons while the officials involved get a week or two off and any criticism from players/managers is met with fines and/or suspensions. VAR should not be selected from the current refereeing pool imo. VAR teams should be independent of PGMOL and trained by the Premier League. Right now these refs are more concerned about protecting their mates.

Refs doing everything to help Spurs. A point would be an amazing result for Liverpool.