Football: Hotspur's Fox Hunt

[ljkeane]

13 minutes ago, Mark Antony said:

 

Not sure why Sturridge played the full 90, really hope Klopp starts him on Thursday.

Yeah, that's the worrying bit.

Ok, playing a lot of kids didn't work out but it doesn't really matter. Sturridge getting 90 minutes means he's fairly unlikely to start in Thursday which I'm a bit worried about though.

Also, bollocks. United score.

[AncalagonTheBlack]

C'mon Leicester! Captain Morgan to the rescue!

[polishgenius]

I've never felt so conflicted about us scoring and playing really well.


Leicester's fullbacks aren't handling our wide play at all. Martial has Simpson on toast.

[Consigliere]

Fellaini and his fucking elbows. He's lucky the ref didn't see that but I expect the FA to take retrospective action.

[polishgenius]

8 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

Fellaini and his fucking elbows. He's lucky the ref didn't see that but I expect the FA to take retrospective action.

All the more annoying because otherwise he's been displaying the best of his freakish ability to get his head or chest on absolutely everything today.

[Mexal]

34 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

Fellaini and his fucking elbows. He's lucky the ref didn't see that but I expect the FA to take retrospective action.

Do they ever catch him? Seems like he does it every single game and nothing happens.

[Consigliere]

18 minutes ago, Mexal said:

Do they ever catch him? Seems like he does it every single game and nothing happens.

Off the top of my head, I can't recall an incident where he was sanctioned. Probably why he still continues to throw his elbows about.

[Iskaral Pust]

Horror show by Liverpool although Klopp was right to make the changes.  With Allen, Toure and Lucas no longer available to play in the second string, the back-ups got diluted to the point of farce. 

We got more than we deserved out of our second string in the past couple of months, but the wheels have been coming off lately.  We probably could have pushed for 5th if we weren't resting players for so many league games.

The underlying problem that the spine of our first XI is missing really worries me for our remaining tilt at the EL.  With Sakho, Can, Hendo and Origi all out, the team that had finally clicked has been torn up. 

So now we either qualify for the CL or no Europe next season.  I'm ok with that. 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

3 hours ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

Agreed.Klopp probably making the point to owners that we need much better upgrades for those positions.

More like resting players for thursday. Even if it backfires, and Villareal eliminates Liverpool (which is absolutely possible, but not guaranteed), Liverpool then still has a fair shot of finishing 7th. Which should be enough for the European football next season. 

I am fairly sure, United will finish this season with the FA Cup and they will not drop out of top 6. The trickiest part for Liverpool would be a Southampton win over Man City today. Then finishing 7th could become somewhat difficult. 

But in all fairness, if Liverpool fails to get to 7th place, they messed it up earlier. Dropping 2-0 leads against Newcastle and Sunderland would be a good point to start complaining.

[AncalagonTheBlack]

7 minutes ago, Notone said:

But in all fairness, if Liverpool fails to get to 7th place, they messed it up earlier. Dropping 2-0 leads against Newcastle and Sunderland would be a good point to start complaining.

It's frustrating to think that when you're 2 goals up against lesser opponents, you have to see the game out.

2-0 up at home to Sunderland

2-0 up at home to Newcastle

2-0 up at Southampton

We dropped 7 points from these 3 games.Add those 7 pts. and we would be sitting in 5th place right now, ahead of United/West Ham and 2 pts. behind Man City.

[Mexal]

Hope Southampton can see this through. Should help with Arsenal's quest for third. 

[Iskaral Pust]

We've dropped 19 points from winning positions during this season.  The lack of a reliable GK (who conceded the first shot so many times) or any DM screen has crippled us.  I think Lovren, Sakho, Matip, Gomez and probably another will provide better CB next year but we badly need a better GK and CM.  I'm fine with Can but we need another 2-3 CMs. 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

I just checked the remaining fixtures. 

Even if Southampton wins, Liverpool still has a semi-good shot at 7th. 

Southampton still has to play Tottenham next week. So they can drop points there. Worst case scenario Southampton wins both games against Spurs and Palace, then Liverpool needs to win all of their remaining fixures: Watford and WBA should be doable. Chelsea is a different beast however.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

You could have had Leno for 18 milion €. He had a realase clause in his contract he could have used until the end of April. But the rumors still had you as one of the clubs chasing ter Stegen. 

As for Matip, if you get a chance to watch Bundesliga highlights from this weekend. Checkout Schalke's third goal against Hannover. Neat assist by Matip.

[Jeor]

Great result from Southampton vs City. Now a draw with City should be enough for us to secure third place.

City may actually be feeling a little nervous. United are only four points behind with a game in hand. United play Norwich, West Ham and Palace. Obviously the West Ham game would be crucial, but there is a possible scenario where City could yet slip out of fourth place.

For van Gaal's sake I want United to get into the CL spot. He's good value in the EPL and I'd love to see him still be around to mix it up with Guardiola, Conte, etc (Benitez too, if Newcastle survive). And for all the lack of progress United have made, at least Van Gaal can say he's played and developed some genuinely promising young players.

[Davrum]

Class move by the United fans to stay behind at the end to applaud Leicester's lads off the pitch.

[Raja]

Anyone watching? Good pace to the game so far - someone is certainly going to get sent off 

[Mme Erzulie]

4 hours ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

Skrtel and Lovren are a horrible pairing.

I'm starting to think it's just Skrtel, unfortunately (for him).

3 hours ago, Mark Antony said:

Skrtel is past it. Don't think he should play another game for Liverpool. Arguably worst team showing under Klopp, just awful. Ibe, Stewart, and Smith were all fucking terrible. Ojo wasn't particularly good but of all the kids that played today he shows the most promise.

Not sure why Sturridge played the full 90, really hope Klopp starts him on Thursday. 

Cmon Leicester. 

Agreed on Skrtel. Add Lucas to that. Did you know that we haven't lost a game in the league when Lucas hasn't played this season? Put another way, he's been on the pitch for every single loss. 

And yeah, I would assume that Sturridge playing 90 minutes today means he won't be starting on Thursday. To be honest, while I admire his finishing prowess and goal/game ratio as much as everyone else, he does seem to have a tendency to sulk and a noticeable attitude. Don't think Klopp rates him (or Benteke, clearly). 

3 hours ago, The Winged Shadow said:

That's a bit harsh. It's easy to forget how good he was earlier in the season, before his injury and when Lovren and Sakho were being dreadful. He just needs time to get into his stride and develop partnership with Lovren.

Uh... I've been on the fence about Skrtel for a few years, as he's a hard worker, extremely loyal, and will put his body on the line for the team time and again. But if this season has shown us anything, it's that he falls woefully short as a CB.  Sakho and Lovren might have their flaws, but the defence just falls apart when Skrtel is playing. 

2 hours ago, Mexal said:

Do they ever catch him? Seems like he does it every single game and nothing happens.

Correct.

[ljkeane]

Bah, Chelsea can't do anything useful this year.

[Mme Erzulie]

Kane, Eriksen & co making light work of Chelsea. Would be their first ever PL victory at the bridge.

Temperature is rising.

PL <3