This Weekend's Fixtures & Midweek Fixture (21/22/23/25/26/27 Feb)

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Friday, 21st February 2025
Leicester City 0-2 Brentford, 20:00 https://i.imgur.com/htwHZ0c.jpg

Saturday, 22nd February 2025
Everton v Manchester United, 12:30 https://i.imgur.com/tM2pRxb.png
Bournemouth v Wolverhampton Wanderers, 15:00
Arsenal v West Ham United, 15:00
Fulham v Crystal Palace, 15:00
Ipswich Town v Tottenham Hotspur, 15:00
Southampton v Brighton & Hove Albion, 15:00
Aston Villa v Chelsea, 17:30 https://i.imgur.com/htwHZ0c.jpg

Sunday, 23rd February 2025
Newcastle United v Nottingham Forest, 14:00 https://i.imgur.com/htwHZ0c.jpg
Manchester City v Liverpool, 16:30 https://i.imgur.com/htwHZ0c.jpg

Tuesday, 25th February 2025
Brighton & Hove Albion v Bournemouth, 19:30
Crystal Palace v Aston Villa, 19:30
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Fulham, 19:30
Chelsea v Southampton, 20:15

Wednesday, 26th February 2025
Brentford v Everton, 19:30
Manchester United v Ipswich Town, 19:30
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal, 19:30
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, 19:30
Liverpool v Newcastle United, 20:15

Thursday, 27th February 2025
West Ham United v Leicester City, 20:00

---------

All midweek games are on TNT.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Mbuemo and Wissa have the goals for Brentford.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Leicester 0-3 Brentford, Norgaard.

[HCZ_Reborn]

So just saying, if Brentford who have been awful away from home are absolutely running a train through Leicester. And we took 80 minutes to open the scoring. It doesn’t especially make me feel confident going into harder games

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

I played this brilliantly by booking a little solo trip away for myself this weekend (I still must pack) and thought I'd take in a game whilst I'm there..... at the same time we kick off on Sunday. And the flight back is when we play on Wednesday.

I missed the last Newcastle game doing the same thing. :doh:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

So just saying, if Brentford who have been awful away from home are absolutely running a train through Leicester. And we took 80 minutes to open the scoring. It doesn’t especially make me feel confident going into harder games

They also didn't score against Tottenham, football is irrational.

[HCZ_Reborn]

I played this brilliantly by booking a little solo trip away for myself this weekend (I still must pack) and thought I'd take in a game whilst I'm there..... at the same time we kick off on Sunday. And the flight back is when we play on Wednesday.

I missed the last Newcastle game doing the same thing. :doh:

Going anywhere nice.

The only football I’ve ever watched in a foreign country was in Prague. A Champions league game

[HCZ_Reborn]

They also didn't score against Tottenham, football is irrational.

Oh true. But I think Spurs have started to turn a corner. Not that I give a fuck, they won’t finish anywhere near us and we don’t have to play them again. If they can be useful by taking points off Forest, Chelsea, city and Liverpool I’m
All for it

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

Going anywhere nice.

The only football I’ve ever watched in a foreign country was in Prague. A Champions league game

Only Copenhagen, did it last year with the ex. Liked it so want to reclaim it for myself :lol: :jesuschrist:

Other than the CL final in Paris in 2022 :rose: I've only ever done a Barca game abroad. Turned out to be Iniesta's last game which was decent.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Leicester 0-4 Brentford, Carvalho. :lol:

[Mac76]

Poor old Horseface :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Everton: Pickford, O'Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Gueye, Garner, Doucoure, Lindstrom, Harrison, Beto.
Subs: Virginia, Begovic, Keane, Young, Alcaraz, Iroegbunam, Sherif, Dixon, Heath.

Man Utd: Onana, Dalot, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Maguire, Dorgu, Casemiro, Ugarte, Fernandes, Hojlund, Zirkzee.
Subs: Graczyk, Harrison, Heaven, Lindelof, Yoro, Eriksen, Kone, Garnacho, Obi.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Beto header, easy even for Onana.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Everton 1-0 Man Utd, (Be)Beto!

[HCZ_Reborn]

Shocking defending, how many opportunities do United have to clear their lines

[HCZ_Reborn]

Being checked for offside

[McNamara That Ghost...]

VAR wasting everyone's time.

Checking and double checking an offside in different phase.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Finally given after trying to find a reason to scrub it for three minutes

[Mac76]

I can't believe I was actually worried when Amorim took charge, he's actually doing worse than Ten Hag :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

2-0 Doucoure. :lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

I can't believe I was actually worried when Amorim took charge, he's actually doing worse than Ten Hag :lol:

Combination of things. I think Amorim is out of his depth anyway. And I think with that team it’s impossible to get decent results from that team. Take Bruno Fernandes and one or two others out of it and that Everton side is superior to it and I’m not even joking. The amount of money they’ve spent on absolute rubbish. I really don’t think relegation within the next couple of years is out of the question, because I’m not sure they can buy their way out of trouble.

[HCZ_Reborn]

2-0 Doucoure. :lol:

And in no way does it flatter Everton.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Ugarte is a load of old shit

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Amorim is a terrible fit for Man Utd currently, that might change but not without going through appalling form firstly.

[Niall_Quinn]

Lots of shit going on at Utd. It seems like a major downsizing. They are a billion quid in debt. Suspect a lot of that is spilling over, then you get a new manager on top. Shitshow.

Ipswich can pull within 9 points of Utd if they can beat the spuds today.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Amorim looks like he knows he is done.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Amorim looks like he knows he is done.

The problem is he won’t get sacked because of the cost of it.

[Niall_Quinn]

The problem is he won’t get sacked because of the cost of it.

Everyone else is getting sacked at the moment. Somebody, somewhere has demonstrated levels of incompetency not seen since Nunez last got the ball. They had the most money, the biggest fan base, the most sponsors, the biggest stadium. And they have utterly fucked it up. It's far, far worse than just a squad transition. It's almost like they are being prepared for a corporate fire sale.

[Niall_Quinn]

Ludicrously inept Casemiro off, Garnacho on. What wasn't that done in the 0th minute?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Obi getting decent minutes

[Niall_Quinn]

2-1 Fernades

[McNamara That Ghost...]

2-1 Fernandes.

[Niall_Quinn]

Weird, keeper didn't move a muscle. Might have been a deflection off the wall.

[Niall_Quinn]

Is that Ashley Young? Is he still alive?

[Niall_Quinn]

2-2 Agate

[McNamara That Ghost...]

2-2 Ugarte, good finish!

[Niall_Quinn]

Everton have been pretty shit really.

[Niall_Quinn]

VAR checking for Utd pen.

[Niall_Quinn]

No pen.

[Niall_Quinn]

Last rites being administered for dying Everton player.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Beto with a chance to win it!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Great save Pickford

[Niall_Quinn]

Neverton pen!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Pelanty to Everton!

[Niall_Quinn]

That crazy keeper Banana with the assist. Palms it straight back into danger zone then the entire Utd defence bundles the striker. Hilarious.

[Niall_Quinn]

Pretty spectacular dive though. VAR taking forever.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Overturn. Hmm fair I think

[Niall_Quinn]

VAR overrules - no pen. Would have been if Young was still playing for Utd. Young didn't need to do the spectacular dive, if he'd have gone down normally would have got then pen.

[Niall_Quinn]

FT 2-2

Shambles by Everton.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Everton 2-2 Man Utd, FT. Mad game.

[HCZ_Reborn]

FT 2-2

Shambles by Everton.

I think United played a get out of jail card there

They were nowhere in that game, second best with everything bar possession stats

Does help having a player like Fernandes who can bail you out from time to time

[Niall_Quinn]

Ashley Young relentlessly harassing ref. 65K fine incoming?

Weird watching Young, one of the worst cheats in the history of the game. Thought he was long dead but now pops up to show he's as good as ever at diving in the box. Form is temporary, classlessness is permanent.

[Niall_Quinn]

I think United played a get out of jail card there

They were nowhere in that game, second best with everything bar possession stats

Does help having a player like Fernandes who can bail you out from time to time

Fernandes did one thing right in the whole game, otherwise he was a fuck-up for the full 90. But it changed when Utd got the xtra man when Casemiro was subbed off.

[Niall_Quinn]

Utd aren't going to be back as a major force for a very long time, I think. They pretty much have to replace that whole team.

[Niall_Quinn]

In computer games engines today there are some seriously good physics models and real time motion capture. That's in relatively cheap computer games. It would be possible to model that pen shout and figure out what should have happened when there was a tug on Young's shirt. If a NPC went down like that after being lightly tugged you'd day, shit physics model, game is bugged. But in football nobody really goes into depth about how ludicrous some of the cheating attempts are. Players like Young, Diaz and Gakpo should be hated and shunned by all fans for their antics, but it gets glossed over and they just keep doing it. I'm not saying the game should be stopped so incidents can be modelled and sold as DLCs to make EA even more money. But the pundits could analyse it after the game and shame the cheats.

Today Young's cheating probably cost his team a win, so that's a favourable outcome but it's accidental. Then pen was actually ruled out because refs aren't giving light shirt pulls in the box. But why not? They'd give it against us, so why not everyone? If you grab an opponents shirt, even for a second, it's a foul isn't it? You can't accidentally grab a shirt, you have to do it consciously.So it should be a foul.

Even so, I'd like to see a Cheat of the Day award on Sky after all the games have wrapped up each week. And there should be a Cheat of the Year trophy at the end of the season, to rub it in.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Disallowed goal for Ipswich.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Ipswich 0-1 Spuds, Johnson

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Southampton 0-1 Brighton, Joao Pedro.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Ipswich 0-2 Tottenham, Johnson

[Niall_Quinn]

Utd definitely staying up now. Disaster.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Zabarnyi sent off for Bournemouth.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Bournemouth 0-1 Wolves, Cunha.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Ipswich 1-2 Spuds, Hutchinson.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Fulham 0-1 Palace, Andersen OG

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Southampton 0-2 Brighton, Rutter.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Fulham 0-2 Palace, Munoz.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Southampton 0-3 Brighton, Mitoma.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Southampton 0-4 Brighton, Hinshelwood.

Ipswich 1-3 Spuds, Spence also.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-4 now, Kulusevski.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Villa 1-1 Chelsea, Asensio. :lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Chelsea were leading through Enzo Fernandez

Aston Villa score but chalked off, VAR overturns. It’s now 1-1 Asensio the scorer

[HCZ_Reborn]

Villa 1-1 Chelsea, Asensio. :lol:

Back from having your tea? :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Oh my message of the first goal never went through, anyway Fernandez got the opener.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Back from having your tea? :lol:

I was having a scone when that one went in.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Palmer falling over everything.

[Letters]

I was having a scone when that one went in.

Scones :bow:

[Mac76]

Back from having your tea? :lol:

Yes, he's a balanced human being and doesn't spend his entire life monitoring a message board

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Yes, he's human and doesn't spend his entire life monitoring a message board

Well about that...

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Scones :bow:

Agreed. Top tier.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Villa 2-1 Chelsea, Jorgensen chucks one in off Asensio.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Villa 2-1 Chelsea, FT. :lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Forest ahead at Newcastle, far from ideal

[HCZ_Reborn]

Newcastle equalise through Miley (no idea)

So according to Sky sports, Newcastle are the only team to have got all three points against Forest after going behind (Bournemouth and Wolves got draws I think). Size of the task we have on Wednesday and how if overcommitting against West Ham was foolish, against this lot it would be plain suicidal

[HCZ_Reborn]

Newcastle take the lead - Murphy

And they are about to be given a pel

Forest have not exactly been great away from home recently (lost to Fulham and blitzed by Bournemouth before today)

[HCZ_Reborn]

Isaak scores from the spot to make it 3-1

All Newcastles goals have come in a period of less than ten minutes

[HCZ_Reborn]

Jesus, 4-1 now. Isaak again….34th minute

Forest were 1-0 up in the 22nd minute. Spectacular collapse

[Niall_Quinn]

We'll bounce back against Forest and then collapse again the following match. It's what we do.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Forest. :lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

We'll bounce back against Forest and then collapse again the following match. It's what we do.

I doubt very much we will bounce back against Forest, who haven’t lost at home in three months.

Especially when we can’t score goals.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

I doubt very much we will bounce back against Forest, who haven’t lost at home in three months.

Especially when we can’t score goals.

He probably means we will draw, which will be celebrated as some sort of great achievement and christened a "spirited effort" by Arteta.

[HCZ_Reborn]

He probably means we will draw, which will be celebrated as some sort of great achievement and christened a "spirited effort" by Arteta.

Maybe, but this is a guy who thought we should have won yesterday if only we’d played at a higher tempo as if somehow we have ballers like Ozil in the team

[Niall_Quinn]

Maybe, but this is a guy who thought we should have won yesterday if only we’d played at a higher tempo as if somehow we have ballers like Ozil in the team

Didn't realise you had a sore arse about that. And I'm not even the first guy who called you out for posing as a football coach.

[Niall_Quinn]

That #21 in the geordie defence. That's hilarious. Just standing around watching while Forest score and then he wanders off.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Didn't realise you had a sore arse about that. And I'm not even the first guy who called you out for posing as a football coach.

I’m not sore about anything. As with your reply here, I just happen to think you were being ridiculous.

I’m not posing as a football coach, i am someone who understands the difference between the space available on a football pitch between counter attacking and non counter attacking football (I have two working eyes)

[HCZ_Reborn]

No Haaland for City

[Niall_Quinn]

No Haaland for City

Of course not. Why would there be?

[Niall_Quinn]

I’m not sore about anything. As with your reply here, I just happen to think you were being ridiculous.

I’m not posing as a football coach, i am someone who understands the difference between the space available on a football pitch between counter attacking and non counter attacking football (I have two working eyes)

Are you saying our players are only capable of plodding around the pitch playing 5 yard backwards passes? Anything else would require Ozil? I too get the difference between counter attacking football and non-counter attacking football. The word "non" is the important distinction.

I'm asking, when we are counter attacking, would it be better to move the ball at speed up the field towards the opposition goal, OR, tap it around in the midfield at snail's pace?

[HCZ_Reborn]

Are you saying our players are only capable of plodding around the pitch playing 5 yard backwards passes? Anything else would require Ozil? I too get the difference between counter attacking football and non-counter attacking football. The word "non" is the important distinction.

I'm asking, when we are counter attacking, would it be better to move the ball at speed up the field towards the opposition goal, OR, tap it around in the midfield at snail's pace?

Yes I’m saying that. These aren’t high intensity technical footballers. The reason they are plodding and probing is because they don’t have the dribbling ability or pace to just slalom around players.

And let’s be fair when a team has come to defend and do you on the counter it doesn’t really matter if you do have those kind of players. We struggled to break down defensive teams at times when we had the likes of Henry and Bergkamp and things became slow and metronomic because otherwise you’re running into a wall of players with different colour shirts

It’s like you have selective memory

[HCZ_Reborn]

Anyway that game finished 4-3 which is frankly ridiculous

[Niall_Quinn]

Yes I’m saying that. These aren’t high intensity technical footballers. The reason they are plodding and probing is because they don’t have the dribbling ability or pace to just slalom around players.

And let’s be fair when a team has come to defend and do you on the counter it doesn’t really matter if you do have those kind of players. We struggled to break down defensive teams at times when we had the likes of Henry and Bergkamp and things became slow and metronomic because otherwise you’re running into a wall of players with different colour shirts

It’s like you have selective memory

No, before we get to my selective memory, let's go back to your assertion we don't have players that can do anything beyond the bullshit we saw yesterday. Tip-tap, backwards, slow, plod. Martinelli, Nwaneri, Saka, Trossard, these are all plodders? That's why they play with their backs to goal (apart from Nwaneri but he's new so he'll learn)? That's why they lay off the short backwards pass rather than try to advance the ball up the pitch? They aren't high intensity and they aren't technical enough? So who is? Give me an example of one of these high intensity, technical squads.

[HCZ_Reborn]

No, before we get to my selective memory, let's go back to your assertion we don't have players that can do anything beyond the bullshit we saw yesterday. Tip-tap, backwards, slow, plod. Martinelli, Nwaneri, Saka, Trossard, these are all plodders? That's why they play with their backs to goal (apart from Nwaneri but he's new so he'll learn)? That's why they lay off the short backwards pass rather than try to advance the ball up the pitch? They aren't high intensity and they aren't technical enough? So who is? Give me an example of one of these high intensity, technical squads.

Yes Martinelli and Saka who are unavailable to us right now. Trossard has zero pace.

Nwaneri? He’s 17 and like with Saka defenders will just double up on him. Generally speaking unless the 17 year old is Pele, the expectation is that a 17 year old won’t carry the team

But yeah you’re right, we were just not dynamic enough. We chose to slow the ball down, had nothing to do with having no space to operate in once we got to the final third :lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Now I understand why you defend Arteta so much, you’re him. He (and by he I mean you) refused to accept the defeat was down to the lack of quality up front either.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Manchester City: Ederson, Lewis, Khusanov, Ake, Gvardiol, Gonzalez, Foden, Savinho, Doku, De Bruyne, Marmoush.
Subs: Ortega, Dias, Kovacic, Grealish, Gundogan, Silva, Reis, Nunes, McAtee.

Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Diaz, Jones, Salah.
Subs: Kelleher, Quansah, Tsimikas, Endo, Nunez, Chiesa, Gakpo, Elliott, Jota.

[Niall_Quinn]

Yes Martinelli and Saka who are unavailable to us right now. Trossard has zero pace.

Nwaneri? He’s 17 and like with Saka defenders will just double up on him. Generally speaking unless the 17 year old is Pele, the expectation is that a 17 year old won’t carry the team

But yeah you’re right, we were just not dynamic enough. We chose to slow the ball down, had nothing to do with having no space to operate in once we got to the final third :lol:

Oh okay, now we're confining it to specifics so we can start eliminating the players that disprove your point. And then the context will change again, and then again. Until eventually we'll all have to accept there's no alternative to plodding around the pitch, unlike Forest and Newcastle who just didn't. They must have better players, I suppose? More dynamic and technical players?

[Niall_Quinn]

Marmoush kicks the ball away. Yellow coming any minute...

Just waiting...

Any moment now...

[HCZ_Reborn]

Hmm what to expect here

Liverpool have never won in the league at a City managed by Guardiola (of course first time for everything)

Though City have put out a side that’s very obliging to Liverpool but equally they aren’t really at the races of late and have needed Salah to get them through games undefeated

[Niall_Quinn]

Who's better, Palmer, Foden or some bloke down the pub?

[HCZ_Reborn]

Oh okay, now we're confining it to specifics so we can start eliminating the players that disprove your point. And then the context will change again, and then again. Until eventually we'll all have to accept there's no alternative to plodding around the pitch, unlike Forest and Newcastle who just didn't. They must have better players, I suppose? More dynamic and technical players?

The game finished 4-3, it’s fair to say neither side was that committed to defending or closing down space

Every team that faces a team with 11 players playing behind the ball, ends up playing slow, sideways passing looking for a gap to exploit. And such a tactic works even better when you have your first choice attack out

I’m not singling out Arsenal, I think Liverpool would be just as toothless if they were without Salah.

[Niall_Quinn]

Well that eliminates Foden from the running. WTF was that?

[HCZ_Reborn]

Well that eliminates Foden from the running. WTF was that?

Does the bloke down the pub have a vowel at the end of his name ?

[HCZ_Reborn]

And Salah again

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-1 Salah. :lol:

[Niall_Quinn]

0-1 Salad and another Liverpool fluke. How many now?

[Niall_Quinn]

It's definitely their year.

[Niall_Quinn]

Still nice to see city losing, can't help myself.

[HCZ_Reborn]

0-1 Salad and another Liverpool fluke. How many now?

If by fluke you mean it’s a fluke they are playing a side that can’t defend for shit I guess

It will be a double fluke if they finish the game with 11 players

[Niall_Quinn]

So, so poor by Doku. Can't even supply the simplest of passes over 3 yards.

[Niall_Quinn]

If by fluke you mean it’s a fluke they are playing a side that can’t defend for shit I guess

It will be a double fluke if they finish the game with 11 players

I mean it got a deflection that took the keeper out. Normally that shot is blocked, it wasn't a very good shot.

[HCZ_Reborn]

I mean it got a deflection that took the keeper out. Normally that shot is blocked, it wasn't a very good shot.

No but Hungarian copy and paste still had the space at the near post to pick him out to begin with

[Niall_Quinn]

What's up with Diaz? No dive?

[HCZ_Reborn]

So question, I don’t think it applies to anyone here

Why does anyone rate Alexander Arnold? Real Madrid want him. But he can’t defend, he’s not a good passer of the ball and at 26 he will have peaked in terms of pace.

I don’t get it

[McNamara That Ghost...]

So question, I don’t think it applies to anyone here

Why does anyone rate Alexander Arnold? Real Madrid want him. But he can’t defend, he’s not a good passer of the ball and at 26 he will have peaked in terms of pace.

I don’t get it

Hoiked ball up front for players to run on to. Transition FC Madrid Edition will love it there.

[Niall_Quinn]

So question, I don’t think it applies to anyone here

Why does anyone rate Alexander Arnold? Real Madrid want him. But he can’t defend, he’s not a good passer of the ball and at 26 he will have peaked in terms of pace.

I don’t get it

Don't and never have rated him as a defender. But he's a decent winger and that's mostly where he's made his reputation with the pundits who drive the hype storms. The other guy on the other side is a much better defender, Robertson is it? You know who I mean.

[Niall_Quinn]

Fucker stayed on his feet after being fouled. I like that! Haven't seen it in a while.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Don't and never have rated him as a defender. But he's a decent winger and that's mostly where he's made his reputation with the pundits who drive the hype storms. The other guy on the other side is a much better defender, Robertson is it? You know who I mean.

He’s not a great winger either. He’s got the pace to beat his man, and he’s ok at dead balls but that’s it

[Niall_Quinn]

That question about Trent also raises an even more urgent question.

Foden.

Discuss.

[Niall_Quinn]

Marmoush scores but offside. Lazy really, but good finish. He's another one who was impossible to sign in January.

[Niall_Quinn]

He’s not a great winger either. He’s got the pace to beat his man, and he’s ok at dead balls but that’s it

He crosses a good ball and that in itself marks him out as a rare commodity in TBLITWtbfTM.

[HCZ_Reborn]

He crosses a good ball and that in itself marks him out as a rare commodity in TBLITWtbfTM.

I mean that’s not untrue, is it diabolical how crossing seems to be a skill that no one possesses anymore.

I suppose if more players actually practiced what should be a rudimentary ability, he’d be nowhere

[Niall_Quinn]

You know you could be right. It does look like these modern players can't play simple passes under the slightest pressure.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-2 Szobszolai. :lol:

[Niall_Quinn]

Diaz literally can't do anything except dive. All he had to do was tap the ball to a teammate there, and he somehow fucked it up!

[Niall_Quinn]

0-2 some bloke scores.

[Niall_Quinn]

Was offside, but whatever. Gypos aren't in this anyway.

[Niall_Quinn]

Hilarious dive by Marmush - that wouldn't convince anyone except a referee.

[HCZ_Reborn]

The furious Onanism from the sky sports commentary team has commenced

[Niall_Quinn]

There are so many grim similarities between ourselves and this gypo team - except the titles of course.

[Niall_Quinn]

Marmush is their best player. Musn't have had his Pep implant done yet.

[Marc Overmars]

At least there shouldn’t be any pretence of a title race anymore.

Sky. :lol:

[Niall_Quinn]

If I was Pep my whole game plan would revolve around not passing to Doku.

[Niall_Quinn]

I wonder will we see a massive change in the reffing in the second half? 15 minutes to get on that phone and make it happen.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

De Bruyne. :lol:

[Niall_Quinn]

DeBrown does something weird, then the ref blows for HT and waits for further instructions.

[Niall_Quinn]

Two boring teams and a sloppy, chaotic mess punctuated by a couple of hoofs over the top that exposed the gypo's non-existent defence. The quality of the football here is genuinely shocking. Some of these players couldn't hit the side of the Titanic from 2 yards. Mostly because the water depth would crush them instantly, but also because they are shite.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

There are so many grim similarities between ourselves and this gypo team - except the titles of course.

This is one of the main reasons I am almost certain we will not win anything else under Arteta with the decline of Pepball.

[Niall_Quinn]

Simple example right there - gypos have the ball in front of a massed Liverpool defence. Shifting it left to right, as Liverpool shuffle as a pack, left to right. Gypos have a wide man, facing back towards the midfield, ball comes to him, he instantly taps it back to where it came from. There's open space behind him on the wing, all it would take is for that initial pass to go into that space and the wide man, FACING FORWARDS would be on to it and whipping in a first time cross before the defence could do a damn thing. Of course there's NOBODY in the box, another special gift inflicted on us by Pep. But say you DID get players in the box?

[Niall_Quinn]

forget what I said about Robertson - that was woeful. Not much better by Salad and no deflection to help. That was inept, from all involved.

[Niall_Quinn]

Forget what I said about Robertson the second time - lovely cross field ball when every other cunt was determined to play it backwards. At least one of them get football is supposed to be entertainment.

[Niall_Quinn]

Diaz goes down in the box but too far away from anyone to get the pen.

[Niall_Quinn]

0-3 Jones but it'll be ruled offside.

[Niall_Quinn]

Finally, some decent football. Marmoush actually looks quite good.

[Niall_Quinn]

Doku couldn't cross a ball if he had a felt tip pen.

[Niall_Quinn]

Good play by Liverpool, countering the atrocious play by city. Straight run up the whole pitch and a shot. Do that enough times and you'll get goals.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Old Man De Bruyne off, McAtee on.

[Niall_Quinn]

It's hard to put into words just haw bad that was from Silvinho.

DeBrown off and McAtee on. WHO?

[Niall_Quinn]

Could the gypos be so bad this year because - Doku and Silvinho? If these two had been injured, would they be in the title hunt?

[Niall_Quinn]

Forgot Foden was playing. As bad as ever.

[Niall_Quinn]

If the gypos get 2 decent wide men in the summer it'll shoot them straight back up the table.

[Niall_Quinn]

Silvinho to Doku - you can guess the rest.

[Niall_Quinn]

Some bloke with a bun coming on for pool. Jones off. Robertson off. Kid called Endo on. Think some gypo came on too.

[Niall_Quinn]

Doku is Liverpool's best player. Put ANYONE else there and Liverpool would be under a heap more pressure.

[Niall_Quinn]

Marmoush off??? WHAT? Well that's that then.

Ake off, didn't know he was on.

Gonzalez off.

Dias the diver on.

Gundogan I think.

And kovitic the tennis player.

[Niall_Quinn]

Diaz off Gakpo on, so no synchronised diving. Was looking forward to that.

[Niall_Quinn]

City bossing it, like a boss nobody listens to. Liverpool casually batting them away with the tireless work of their two best defenders Doku and Silvinho (thee guys have been instrumental in this victory). City have all the play but they can't actually play. So now we know what becomes of Pep drones when they run out of batteries.

Meanwhile Salad puts it on a plate for ??? and he fucks it up.

[Niall_Quinn]

Women's Super League next Sunday at 5pm if you want a second helping of Arsenal vs West ham, which I'm sure we all do.

[Niall_Quinn]

Halaand would have made no difference today because the gypos never managed to get a decent ball in the box, despite a whole heap of possession.

[Niall_Quinn]

Is Salad married, becaue Neville sure seems interested. MOTM, by default, even though he didn't do much of note today. Marmoush was MOTM but playing at a level far above his team mates.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-2 FT. :lol: Terrible game.

[Niall_Quinn]

I'd love to see Foden's heat map for this game, to see just how sparse it is. Bloke has hardly touched the ball. What's he supposed to be doing out there?

[Mac76]

"Title race" :rose:

Quite a relief really, it was never really on but at least it hopefully be won't be down to those referee decisions, they'll win by a much bigger margin I think

[Niall_Quinn]

Game ends as it starts, with Doku falling over his own feet.

Flattering for Liverpool because they were poor. Two fortunate goals, one of them offside. BUT. They did what they had to do and the gypos, despite controlling most of the game, could only use the ball to misplace passes and run blindly into opponents. It was crazy how wasteful they were. Doku and Silvinho are hilarious and Foden is something, not sure what.

I could see this Liverpool team collapsing for sure. Their defence is ordinary, their midfield ordinary, but they have Salad up front and he can always do one thing in a game to make the difference. Even so, I could see Liverpool collapsing, but only if put under sustained pressure. And there's nobody who's going to do that - I hope nobody is looking at us because forget it, we have our own collapse to focus on.

[Letters]

"Title race" :rose:

Quite a relief really, it was never really on but at least it hopefully be won't be down to those referee decisions, they'll win by a much bigger margin I think

I kinda made a point of not following this. After yesterday's debacle Liverpool could have afforded to lose this.
But they didn't anyway. Have you say they're worthy champions. This is not a great Liverpool side, it's not a great side at all. They have one player having an incredible season, but this isn't a side full of world class players. They're an effective unit and they're better than everyone else but that's a pretty low bar this season.

There's always next season

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Brighton 1-0 Bournemouth, Joao Pedro pelanty

Wolves 1-1 Fulham, Sessegnon and then Joao Gomes.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Palace 1-0 Villa, Sarr. Villa really dislike clean sheets.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Wolves 1-2 Fulham, Muniz!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Chelsea 1-0 Southampton, Nkunku.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Palace 1-1 Villa, Rogers.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Palace 2-1 Villa, Mateta!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Chelsea 2-0 Southampton, Pedro Neto.

Brighton 1-1 Bournemouth, Kluivert!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Palace 3-1 Villa, Sarr!

Emery. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Chelsea 3-0 Southampton, Colwill.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Palace 4-1 Villa, Nketiah!

Emery. :haha:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Palace 4-1 Villa, Nketiah!

Emery. :haha:

Edward’s first league goal for Palace? Good for him

[McNamara That Ghost...]

4-0 Chelsea, Cucurella.

[Mac76]

Palace 4-1 Villa, Nketiah!

Emery. :haha:

Agreed, losing 4-1 is one thing but being bad enough for Eddie to score against you is another level down

[Niall_Quinn]

Palace 4-1 Villa, Nketiah!

Emery. :haha:

Arteta out! Dick in.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Manchester United: Onana, De Ligt, Maguire, Yoro, Dorgu, Fernandes, Ugarte, Dalot, Garnacho, Zirkzee, Hojlund.
Subs: Graczyk, Harrison, Eriksen, Mazraoui, Casemiro, Heaven, Lindelof, Obi.

Ipswich: Palmer, Davis, Tuanzebe, Greaves, O’Shea, Cajuste, Morsy, Clarke, Hutchinson, Philogene, Delap.
Subs: Muric, Broadhead, Hirst, Johnson, Szmodics, Taylor, Luongo, Townsend, Woolfenden.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Brentford: Flekken; Ajer, Collins, Pinnok, Lewis-Potter; Janelt, Yarmoliuk; Schade, Damsgaard, Mbuemo; Wissa.
Subs: Valdimarsson, Carvalho, Mee, Konak, Maghoma, Kayode, Kim, Morgan.

Everton: Pickford; O'Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Gueye, Garner; Alcaraz, Lindstrom, Harrison; Beto.
Subs: Virginia, Begovic, Patterson, Keane, Chermiti, Young, Iroegbunam, Sherif.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Danso, Gray, Udogie, Bergvall, Bentancur, Odobert, Maddison, Johnson, Tel.
Subs: Kinsky, Reguilón, Son, Bissouma, Werner, Kulusevski, Spence, Sarr, Scarlett.

Man City: Ederson, Nunes, Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Nico Gonzalez, Savinho, Marmoush, Doku, Haaland.
Subs: Ortega, Aké, Grealish, De Bruyne, Gündogan, Bernardo Silva, Foden, Lewis, McAtee.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Man Utd 0-1 Ipswich. :lol:

[Mac76]

Man Utd 0-1 Ipswich. :lol:

:haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-1 Citeh, Haaland.

[Mac76]

0-1 Citeh, Haaland.

good - f**k spuds

[Niall_Quinn]

Barring a meteor strike, a draw here would suit us better.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Man Utd 1-1 Ipswich, Morsy OG.

[Mac76]

Barring a meteor strike, a draw here would suit us better.

like i said, f**k spuds

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Man Utd 2-1 Ipswich, De Ligt.

[Niall_Quinn]

Man Utd 2-1 Ipswich, De Ligt.

No, no, no. Put it back to 0-1.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Dorgu sent off.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Man Utd 2-2 Ipswich, Philogene with his second.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Brentford 1-0 Everton, Wissa!

[HCZ_Reborn]

Man Utd 2-2 Ipswich, Philogene with his second.

Wait Phil or Gene? Which one was it ?

[Niall_Quinn]

Philogene? Sounds like another Pfizer scam.

If Utd lose this one the fans will rip the place up. It's getting nasty up there by the sound of it. Everyone being sacked. The owners will be moving furniture out next.

Such a delicious shame.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Philogene? Sounds like another Pfizer scam.

If Utd lose this one the fans will rip the place up. It's getting nasty up there by the sound of it. Everyone being sacked. The owners will be moving furniture out next.

Such a delicious shame.

By the look of the ground, they wouldn’t need to tear it up. Just accidentally knock it slightly

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-0 Liverpool, Szboszlai.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Man Utd 3-2 Ipswich, Maguire.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Brentford 1-1 Everton, O'Brien.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Brentford 1-1 Everton, O'Brien.

Wondered what he was up to after torturing people in 1984

[McNamara That Ghost...]

2-0 Liverpool, Mac Allister.

Newcastle just letttng him waltz in to midfield.

[Mac76]

great shot from Mcallister

[Niall_Quinn]

2-0 Liverpool, Mac Allister.

Newcastle just letttng him waltz in to midfield.

They did that for the first goal too, just stood around and watched.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Playing Man City without Haaland and Newcastle without Isak in consecutive games is absolutely ridiculous.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Playing Man City without Haaland and Newcastle without Isak in consecutive games is absolutely ridiculous.

Almost as ridiculous as playing us without Saliba and Gabriel getting injured during the game

They’ve had almost everything go in their favour this season, we’ve had nothing


Don’t get me wrong we are architects of our own problems in many ways. And it’s not to say Liverpool wouldn’t be winning the title anyway, but fuck me it’s been made easy for them in every conceivable way

[McNamara That Ghost...]

If Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold all fuck off in the summer, I can take it.

But fuck me it's galling see their football work so effectively (and I hate how they play football quite honestly).

[Marc Overmars]

Yeah my Liverpool supporting friend is pretty stunned with how easy this has fallen for them. No competition at all for a title is a pretty rare thing but they’ve done what they had to do so fair play.

[Mac76]

(and I hate how they play football quite honestly).

I'm fine with how they play, I don't get all the hate - unless it's just pure jealousy

[Letters]

Almost as ridiculous as playing us without Saliba and Gabriel getting injured during the game

They’ve had almost everything go in their favour this season, we’ve had nothing


Don’t get me wrong we are architects of our own problems in many ways. And it’s not to say Liverpool wouldn’t be winning the title anyway, but fuck me it’s been made easy for them in every conceivable way

I've never quite bought into your luck thesis, but maybe where we differ is really only the level of luck they have compared with actually...they're just a good side.
But they're not a great side and yes, the Haaland and Izak thing is pretty ridiculous. They have had luck with decisions and with injuries.
Had we not had all our injuries we'd be a lot closer to them, I reckon, and it could be a decent title race.
But we aren't, so it isn't. It's a shame to see the title wrapped up before February is out.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I'm fine with how they play, I don't get all the hate - unless it's just pure jealousy

Lofted ball out wide over and over again.

Sure, good fun if you like NFL.

[Mac76]

Lofted ball out wide over and over again.

Sure, good fun if you like NFL.

I can assure you don't :lol:

At least it's at pace and some great passing - they also defend well - or have today

Plus they have no objection to using a proper left back which is nice to see ;)

[HCZ_Reborn]

I've never quite bought into your luck thesis, but maybe where we differ is really only the level of luck they have compared with actually...they're just a good side.
But they're not a great side and yes, the Haaland and Izak thing is pretty ridiculous. They have had luck with decisions and with injuries.
Had we not had all our injuries we'd be a lot closer to them, I reckon, and it could be a decent title race.
But we aren't, so it isn't. It's a shame to see the title wrapped up before February is out.

I think where we differ is over your perception of what I said to begin with, where I said they’ve been lucky you read it as they only were top due to luck

[HCZ_Reborn]

Lofted ball out wide over and over again.

Sure, good fun if you like NFL.

No one likes the NFL. Not even the Americans, it’s all just about maintaining a facade of a sport that no one outside of the US wants to be bothered with (except the type of people in this country who suffer from chronic insomnia)

[Letters]

I think where we differ is over your perception of what I said to begin with, where I said they’ve been lucky you read it as they only were top due to luck

Fair enough. You seemed to be they were just an ordinary side who were just getting lucky. I think they're a bit better than that.
But they're not an exceptional side and they've certainly got lucky with injuries, at times with refereeing decisions and to be in a season where City fell off a cliff, Arsenal had a massive injury crisis and no-one else was stepping up and putting any pressure on. I'm not sure if Salah's form can be considered luck, he's an exceptional player. But him being at this level at his age is a bit unexpected and he's had no injury issues which at his age I guess is a bit lucky.

In brief, first Covid Title and now this. Neither count :sulk:

[Niall_Quinn]

Liverpool mix their game up and it serves them well. Sometimes they slow it down, sometimes they slow it down, sometimes they slow it down, slow it down, slow, slooooooooooow...

Sorry, still recovering from our latest performance.

Liverpool though, pass it around when they have to, lump it when they have to, they do weird shit like adapt their tactics based on who they are playing. Must be a scouser thing.

Well, luck or not, nobody else can say they actually put up a challenge. So they've walked off with it. I wouldn't be complaining if we were up there. I'd be laughing my arse off at the =steaming pile of shit below us in the table. 13 points, will probably be a good 20 by the end. They performed, nobody else did - well none of the "big" clubs. Good seasons for Forest and Bournemouth, Fulham and a few others. Embarrassing for us and the other billionaires though.

[Letters]

Embarrassing for us and the other billionaires though.
I think that's a bit harsh on us. While this season has felt like a slog from the start, we were hanging in there till recently and our injuries really piled up.
And yes yes, we should have more squad depth, that's on us. But you take Salah and Gakpo out of their side for an extended period and they wouldn't be 13 points clear, they might not even be top.

[Marc Overmars]

Just 6 points between 3rd and 10th. Half the league should consider the CL a possibility with the way it’s going. :lol:

Not sure what that says about the current state of the league though. We’ve also been mostly rubbish yet have been second for ages too.

[Niall_Quinn]

I think that's a bit harsh on us. While this season has felt like a slog from the start, we were hanging in there till recently and our injuries really piled up.
And yes yes, we should have more squad depth, that's on us. But you take Salah and Gakpo out of their side for an extended period and they wouldn't be 13 points clear, they might not even be top.

Yeah! You need players and shit. Everyone else has them and we should have copied them.

[Mac76]

Ammers 2 Leicester 0

Van Nistelbignosehorselroy :pal: