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Football thread 2022/23


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4 hours ago, Adrock said:

Alexander Arnold didn't play, he came on as sub at the end of the match. Did you watch the game?

 

Liverpool's system for as long as I can remember had one of the midfield three, normally Henderson, covering the right back because that gave the player freedom you get forward, Alexander Arnold always had a bodyguard.

 

Yesterday was different, since Klopp changed to a 442 or whatever you want to call it, the wingers have been getting back to help and yesterday that was Elliott on the right.

 

Parking the bus is not the same as the low block that Conte utilises.

 

Was Liverpool's system really that different against Arsenal? I don't really think it was. The personnel were different and the only real difference was the full backs weren't as adventurous against City.

 


I did, not fully alert in first half as was a bit dull / making dinner - I did think TAA had a dull game defence wise and only really noticed him with his chance at the end - explains why 😂

 

It looked like a low block to me, same setup as Spurs under Jose and Conte and not the usual swashbuckling style. It was vastly different to the Arsenal game where the midfield played higher up and offered no support and got torn through.

 

Parking the bus is of course a jibe, but it felt like a tactical change I’ve not seen a Klopp Liverpool side play

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1 hour ago, Shimmyhill said:

It was vastly different to the Arsenal game where the midfield played higher up and offered no support and got torn through.

 

Did you also watch that game? Liverpool dominated the midfield in the first half lol.

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Reducing the amount of time De Bruyne had on the ball was one of the more effective tactics Liverpool applied. Haaland still got service, but think only two real chances, both of which Allison dealt with pretty comfortably. The full-backs also sat back more, with Jota and Elliot being terriers in front of them.

 

Foden was excellent, and looked most likely to produce something for City, but Milner had a good duel with him. Was a cracking game, especially the second half. Didn't think the foul that led to City's goal was soft, or rather, the shirt pull by Haaland actually made it easier for Anthony Taylor to overturn. Had the Nordic meat shield simply had his arm across Fabinho's chest it may well have been viewed as a 50/50 by the referee. Klopp deserved his red (he was out the technical zone when balling out the referee's assistant); Pep probably helped the atmosphere with his constant gesturing to the crowd.

 

It's a real shame Arsenal Man City, which was due to be played midweek, is postponed. Obviously can see why the Europa League is being prioritised as there is less room to prolong the group stages, but would have been fascinating to see how Arsenal would have fared with a chance to go seven points clear.

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He's going to be sacked soon, but that account almost certainly doesn't know anything about it. It's just spinning the talk that's been going round for the past few weeks into a tweet when the news is quiet.

 

Gerrard is done though - looking at basically any stat, he's a basket case. Which is particularly damning when you look at the squad and you look at the money he's spent.

 

That's appalling. If I wasn't a fan you'd have to laugh. We've had the second worst start to a season in the PL in our history (the worst being the relegation season). Since his appointment we've had the worst home record in the league.

 

He's shit. His sacking is on the way. He was appointed with the CEO specifically saying Smith went because we were no longer continuously improving - there's absolutely no evidence that Gerrard has improved anything. There's plenty to argue the opposite.

 

He's legitimately one of the worst managers we've ever had. Shit managers with hopeless squads have achieved more. Even the clown Sherwood did more, and he was barely a manager.

 

Sack him now.

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There’s a problem with how people assess football managers and players, think it’s a result of the instant opinion demanded by social media. A manager/player are either good or shit. Especially as a manager, a huge part of being good at it is developing your style/tactics/management over a large number of years. It’s just that the Gerrards and Lampards do that at the top level so are massively under the spotlight. I mean it’s their fault for accepting the job but who wouldn’t? You’re bound to learn a lot more in a top job more quickly than ploughing away in non league for a few years.

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Funny how Guardiola fell into Klopp's mind game traps once again. I think preying on his insecurities about how City have bankrolled their successes forced Pep to prove what a smart arse he is and tinker with a winning formula yet again. Encouraging too that you could argue Haaland was the potential undoing for them against a top team as he forces City to play the risky early ball when they're not properly set, meaning they're exacerbating the problems they have getting caught behind if the ball is turned over. They do cede a man in the build up too which goes against everything they've worked towards. The problems that were predicted by trying to force Haaland into the XI do seem to be coming to pass, it's just they're absolutely creaming  teams when they win which masks it a lot. Easier said than done, but if you can find a way of stopping him then in this iteration of City you've got a chance.

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24 minutes ago, dizogg said:

 You’re bound to learn a lot more in a top job more quickly than ploughing away in non league for a few years.

 

Our current technical director is Neil Dewsnip.  He joined us in 2019.  He's managed the England under 17s, 18s and 20s and was at Everton for a very long time in coaching roles.  Our manager is in his first full season and we're top of League 1.  He's been linked with the West Brom job but I think he'd be mad to go.  He was assistant prior to that and under his assistant role, we won promotion from League 2 and consolidated in League 1 and then, during the second half of last season, we almost made the League 1 play-offs. 

 

Our club has the infrastructure of coaches to support the manager with Dewsnip as a mentor and a lot of our signings and tactics are based upon data analytics.  There are a fair few non-league clubs now using the same methods.   Our performances, fitness and also our style of play has massively improved since Dewsnip arrived - he's revolutionised the coaching and from the under 10s up, all the teams play the same formations and systems.  There's contingency in our set up to replace anyone that leaves as there's a set of values and a vision that Dewsnip has brought with him.  We've offered our captain a new contract this season and part of that is a future coaching role.  

 

You wouldn't have heard of our manager as he's not a big ex-Premier League star.  If he does leave, there's a confidence around the club that a new appointee would have to fit into this system rather than bringing in his own backroom staff and changing everything.  Changing the manager and the coaching team every other season (hello Watford) is just a disaster.   

 

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13 hours ago, Chindie said:

He's going to be sacked soon, but that account almost certainly doesn't know anything about it. It's just spinning the talk that's been going round for the past few weeks into a tweet when the news is quiet.

 

Gerrard is done though - looking at basically any stat, he's a basket case. Which is particularly damning when you look at the squad and you look at the money he's spent.

 

That's appalling. If I wasn't a fan you'd have to laugh. We've had the second worst start to a season in the PL in our history (the worst being the relegation season). Since his appointment we've had the worst home record in the league.

 

He's shit. His sacking is on the way. He was appointed with the CEO specifically saying Smith went because we were no longer continuously improving - there's absolutely no evidence that Gerrard has improved anything. There's plenty to argue the opposite.

 

He's legitimately one of the worst managers we've ever had. Shit managers with hopeless squads have achieved more. Even the clown Sherwood did more, and he was barely a manager.

 

Sack him now.

Would you in hindsight have preferred they stick with Smith? 

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36 minutes ago, Stoppy2000 said:

Would you in hindsight have preferred they stick with Smith? 

 

No.

 

Sadly, Smith needed to go, he'd had an awful run to start that season, and the form since the start of 2021 was bad with no sign of things getting better. He'd also had massive changes with his backroom staff and was looking like he'd reached the end of his rope. He is a limited manager and he struggled to improve us in some ways I've he got things were he aimed for - defensively we were often a bit soft with the only defensively strong period coming post lockdown when we became an extremely tight unit for a few months, he was heavily reliant on Grealish (in fairness he was the most talented player in the team by light years and it's Smith and O'Kelly that got him playing like that), and he couldn't ever work out how to best a team parking the bus or using a heavy press. Teams that did let us play though, Smith's football shone.

 

Which is all a massive shame of course, there was a real feel good atmosphere around his tenure, and when we were in form we hit really above our weight under him, and he had that connection with the club that is kinda gold dust - he was a local guy, he did have that life long connection to the club as a fan (rather than just an ex player who loved the club, which is great too, you felt like Smith really was living the dream of being in the stands as a kid and in the dugout as a man - a real Villan), and he was generally likable. I'll never forget him having a dig at the fourth official after a dreadful decision 'did you get juggling balls for Christmas?' which was a very... sarcastic, cutting, but funny and genuine comment that you don't see often from managers, you could tell he was a good bloke.

 

But his time had come. We'd been too bad for too long. The problem was we took a punt on Gerrard and it's failed, hard. We got a decent bounce out of him, where we played good football and got results, but then he started to put his image on the team and... well, it's bad. Hyper narrow with width only coming from fullbacks, which is laughably easy to exploit, with massive gaps between the 'units' of the team in a playground esque tactic of everyone chases the ball. The biggest highlight of his time here has been his ability to draw in names, but even that hasn't really worked because even with them we've been shit, and even then you have to acknowledge that it was a complete shift in transfer strategy... And chuck in the other stuff like dropping Mings from the captaincy for no reason, and giving it to McGinn seemingly because he's a nice guy, and his bizarre interviews (throwing the team under the bus constantly, bizarre comments about relying on the offensive players to make magic to win games...) and it's been a failure all round.

 

But Gerrard's failure doesn't raise Smith up. Love the man, he could be carried through Aston on the shoulders of everyone he met, and rightly so, but he had reached his end when he went.

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It's the game the neutrals have been waiting for all year, Palace V Wolves on a Tuesday night!

 

A lovely 8.15 kick off to make it extra difficult to take the kids (I'm taking them anyway as we miss the only other home game pre-World Cup as we are away)

 

I'm thinking a 0-0, no shots on target for either team and the pre-game wings and chips gives me the shits.

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2 hours ago, skadupuk said:

It's the game the neutrals have been waiting for all year, Palace V Wolves on a Tuesday night!

 

A lovely 8.15 kick off to make it extra difficult to take the kids (I'm taking them anyway as we miss the only other home game pre-World Cup as we are away)

 

I'm thinking a 0-0, no shots on target for either team and the pre-game wings and chips gives me the shits.


Wait… Palace only have one more home game before the World Cup?!

 

Googled. Shiiiit, the season break before the weird old jamboree in Qatar isn’t as far away as I thought. With loads of football still to be played.

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Dreadful ref but not an excuse for Palace doing fuck all with their promising possession early on, Wolves score with their first proper attack, hard to argue that Wolves have been the better team but can't argue with how weak Palace have been in attack (again)

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4 hours ago, skadupuk said:

It's the game the neutrals have been waiting for all year, Palace V Wolves on a Tuesday night!

 

A lovely 8.15 kick off to make it extra difficult to take the kids (I'm taking them anyway as we miss the only other home game pre-World Cup as we are away)

 

I'm thinking a 0-0, no shots on target for either team and the pre-game wings and chips gives me the shits.

I enjoyed that, first neutral game I've watched in ages and both teams were fully committed. 

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