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Football: the winter break


Iskaral Pust

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4 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Spurs had no basis to complain in August/September.



Well, not officially, but it's still easier for everyone if the club is on board with it.


Matip's treatment was well harsh- I think this idea that players aren't allowed to retire (I remember Makelele had a similar issue a while back) from international football to be bonkers and tbh clubs should get priority anyway- but it's hardly South Korea's job to do similar just to make Liverpool feel fairly done by.

Can see why it would be annoying though.

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Spurs were the better side in the 2nd half and De Gea made some good saves but it was also a combination of poor finishing. Shots were either straight at or too close to De Gea. Plus point is that Solskjaer has shown some tactical flexibility in setting up more defensively but we still managed a good amount of attempts at goal so it was far from the park-the-bus hoofball we saw under Mourinho. Negative is that Jones is total wank - Spurs players were regularly outmuscling him like he was a 5 year old. I think we've all seen enough of the likes of Jones and Rojo to conclude that neither is anywhere near good enough combined with both being made out of glass. Those two need to be the first out the door.

 

1 hour ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Spurs had no basis to complain in August/September.  Son was eligible for selection and clubs cannot block international call-ups (and I’ve complained plenty about how FIFA have self-appointed first priority). 

It’s not a bad thing that the national team came to some accommodation here, but it is a jarringly different treatment from Matip.

Football associations in Africa are a complete joke.

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1 hour ago, Ser Glendon Fireball said:

Imagine Poch bringing Llorente in for Winks. I fear our back 4 would explode.

And it actually happened. Thanks to St David we didn't fall apart, albeit we quite had to resort to Joséball at the end. We still need a top CB to replace Jones.

Nice to see Ole bagging 3pts against a big6 though. Thought that Rashford's record against big6 may not be ludicrous, too.

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11 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

Other positives: Herrera was back to his hassling, scurrying best, and Rashford is an absolute menace.

Yeah, Herrera has been very good since Solskjaer came in. He really does enjoy playing in a high tempo system - his best form came under Bielsa. Matic has upped his game as well. 

 

I see some commentators saying a more tactically astute manager than Solskjaer would have made some changes in the 2nd half to stem the tide. I think they are being very disrespectful to Solskjaer here. Sometimes when momentum shifts against a quality side, it can be very difficult to get back on the front foot. Also, Smalling and Rojo are both injured and Bailly suspended so there were no CBs to call upon. Fellaini could have helped if Spurs resorted to lumping balls into the box but they didn't and Fella is about as useful as a tree against quick passing and movement. Solskjaer did the best he could with what was available. We simply lack the quality in defence and even last season with a renowned defensive manager, we conceded by far more shots on goal than any other side in the top 6. 

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DDG is in the perfect spot for a goalkeeper - massive club, therefore massive $$$, but also cack defense so plenty of chances to be a superhero.

Usually it's just one of the two, but he has the best of both worlds.

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30 minutes ago, Mexal said:

Arsenal aren’t even fun to watch anymore. Making me sad that I have no desire to wake up early to watch the match.

This season was never going to be a cakewalk as Wenger's team did need some dismantling and retooling. I think I'm happy to allow Emery one dud season.

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21 minutes ago, Jeor said:

This season was never going to be a cakewalk as Wenger's team did need some dismantling and retooling. I think I'm happy to allow Emery one dud season.

If I had any idea what Emery was doing, sure. But I don’t so instead it’s just painful football.

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7 minutes ago, Mexal said:

If I had any idea what Emery was doing, sure. But I don’t so instead it’s just painful football.

The bad football was being bailed out by second half goals during their best run.  The goals have slowed slightly (not dried up), so it’s just a bit more precarious now. 

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1 hour ago, Iskaral Pust said:

The bad football was being bailed out by second half goals during their best run.  The goals have slowed slightly (not dried up), so it’s just a bit more precarious now. 

Yup. That’s pretty accurate. Arsenals conversion rate seemed pretty high too as our average shots per game is down quite a bit this season. Think they also have the least amount of clean sheets (bottom 5 at least) in the league. Bad combo.

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What a terrible decision from Huddersfield. Wagner is a victim of his own success in taking them to a position no manager could sustain. I said at the timed he should have left in the summer as the only way was down, but I at least expected them to allow him to take them there.

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4 hours ago, Philokles said:

What a terrible decision from Huddersfield. Wagner is a victim of his own success in taking them to a position no manager could sustain. I said at the timed he should have left in the summer as the only way was down, but I at least expected them to allow him to take them there.

Yes, that feels really harsh on Wagner.  He was loyal to them in the summer when he could have jumped ship, and now he's fired for not repeating a miracle.  They're still playing decent football overall, they just don't have the quality of strikers to score enough.  Hopefully Wagner gets another chance elsewhere.

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