ljkeane Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 Curtis Jones is looking good with this run of fitness/starts. He was always quite press resistant and had a decent work rate but he probably didn’t offer enough in terms of incisive passes or goal threat in the final third. Good to see him kicking on when given the chance. He’s not the solution as a starting midfielder long term but he’s clearly a perfectly decent squad option. Leicester actually started quite well but when things start to go wrong for them the wheels come off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted May 15 Author Share Posted May 15 Curtis Jones?! Not exactly Alisson heading the winner in injury time for Liverpool, but talking about unlikely heroes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 That TAA goal was almost as nice as Amad Diallo's the other day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted May 15 Author Share Posted May 15 Anyway, wanted to reisit the debate from earlier in this season, whether City was better before Haaland. Last season City had 86 points after their 35th game. This year they are sitting on 85. So pointwise it's pretty level. Goal wise they scored some more this year, but also conceded a few more. Arguably the dynamic shifted a bit. But it's still roughly level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daemon the Leaner Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 7 minutes ago, Soylent Brown said: Salah has been absolutely gash in front of goal tonight. I readed this post and I knew Liverpool were in front without checking the score Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 14 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said: Anyway, wanted to reisit the debate from earlier in this season, whether City was better before Haaland. Last season City had 86 points after their 35th game. This year they are sitting on 85. So pointwise it's pretty level. Goal wise they scored some more this year, but also conceded a few more. Arguably the dynamic shifted a bit. But it's still roughly level. It’s not really about the league for them though. I mean I’m sure him scoring a shitload of goals in the league is nice but they signed him to make a difference in big European ties. Admittedly I’m not sure they actually played better against Real than they did last year but that’s the plan anyway. That was a very comfortable second half for Liverpool. That’s really not what Leicester want to be seeing at this stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted May 16 Author Share Posted May 16 Yes, however, in the league you can measure/compare the overall performance of a team over the course of a season better. CL (like any other cup competition) you also need a certain degree of luck to win it. Not just the ball hitting the post instead of ending up in the back of the net or that (un)lucky bounce or deflection in a particular game, but also luck with injuries in the knock out stages. If you miss 1-2 key players for 3-4 weeks in the league, tough luck, the other clubs will usually have to deal with those issues at some point, too. So that will more likely level out. If you miss them in k.o. games, you can't really fix that later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 (edited) 22 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said: Yes, however, in the league you can measure/compare the overall performance of a team over the course of a season better. CL (like any other cup competition) you also need a certain degree of luck to win it. Sure, but in the case of this specific move I think it was very much a case of 'we'll accept being a slightly worse league team in the pursuit of being a slightly better knock out football team' from City. As you say it's turned out that they've basically ended up at roughly the same level in the league which is a nice bonus. I do think they've looked at Real who've been a good league side but an excellent Champions League side for the last 10-15 years and are specifically targeting things that should improve their odds for those latter stage Champions League ties even if there is some luck involved. ETA: It's not just getting Haaland although that's the main one. I think there's been a lot more focus on being comfortable with spending more time without possession and hitting teams on the break if required this season. They've gone from having a more attacking style player like Zinchenko or Cancelo being their defender who steps into midfield to Stones, who's still good on the ball obviously but is a bit more defensive. They just play a left centre back at left back now. Rather than the two 'free 8s' it tends to be De Bruyne and Gundogan who's a bit more box to box. Grealish is playing more and he's very good at being an outball and winning free kicks if required when they're under pressure. Edited May 16 by ljkeane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 Teng Ai Hui 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted May 16 Author Share Posted May 16 Anyway, wanted to share some more from the rumour mill. United and Bayern have another club joining the race for Kolo-Muani PSG are also interested. Frankfurt might be open there for a deal like this. 80m € (instead of 100m) + El Chadaille Bitshiabu. Ekitike is another player Frankfurt might be interested in. PSG has an obligation to buy Ekitike for 35m to make his loan deal to PSG permanent. They might be open to loan Ekitike with an option to buy to Frankfurt as part of the Kolo-Muani package. If Kolo-Muani leaves, Frankfurt very much want M. Dembele as his replacement. But since he will be out of contract, there are quite a few clubs interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corvinus85 Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 The World Cup is ours in 2026. USA! USA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sunland Lord Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 Bye milan you cunts Spockydog 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 20 hours ago, Consigliere said: This whole "I'll play for X at U21 and then switch to Y at senior level" is just stupid to me, but I guess England can't really complain after doing the same with Rice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rorschach - 2 Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 Well, Brentford might sell him to us over the summer, then. He'd sit out the start of next season, and then he'll get a terrible double leg fracture in training, forcing him to retire. DCL will play every 7th match, before getting injured. We'll sack Dyche by January and rehire Martinez. Five years from now, we'll be four leagues below. That's the optimist scenario, of course, we're still very much in with a shot at going down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 4 minutes ago, Rorschach - 2 said: Well, Brentford might sell him to us over the summer, then. He'd sit out the start of next season, and then he'll get a terrible double leg fracture in training, forcing him to retire. DCL will play every 7th match, before getting injured. We'll sack Dyche by January and rehire Martinez. Five years from now, we'll be four leagues below. That's the optimist scenario, of course, we're still very much in with a shot at going down. You'll have a shiny new stadium though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rorschach - 2 Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 Just now, BigFatCoward said: You'll have a shiny new stadium though. That we will. Small mercies.. In other news, The Guardian Does Not Talk To Soylent Brown: Quote Firmino decided not to sign an extension after eight hugely successful seasons at Anfield that made him one of the most influential, and popular, players of the Jürgen Klopp era. baxus 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 (edited) Good thing City have signed Haaland to take these chances. ETA: Boo. Maybe, I'd really quite like Real to lose too but I suppose despite being really annoying they aren't as evil as City. Edited May 17 by ljkeane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lacuna Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 Wonder if Kroos can put a jacket on without falling over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sunland Lord Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 (edited) Not over till it's over, Real can turn this around edit: 2-0 Edited May 17 by The Sunland Lord Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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