The Ongoing Serie A, La Liga, All English Football, Champions League Thread - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Part 31

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This is a continuation thread, the old thread is [split]490049[/split]

 

[DeadPresident]

This ref is setting a record for missed penalty calls in a 2 minute window. Southampton should have had at least one.

 

[Iceman]

I didn't get a proper look at the 2nd one but for the 1st I thought he went down a bit easy.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Pool should've had one now on Sterling.

 

[DeadPresident]

Three potential calls, none given. I felt Southampton should definitely have had one for the second call.

 

[DeadPresident]

Mignolet got lucky there, looked outside his box. Suspect refereeing to say the least.

 

[Iceman]

Did he use his arms? Was definitely outside the area yeah, looked like it hit his chest? Didn't see a replay of it.

 

[Juha Bach]

LoL. This is some disgusting refereeing i am witnessing here.

 

[DeadPresident]

Did he use his arms? Was definitely outside the area yeah, looked like it hit his chest? Didn't see a replay of it.

From what I saw his left arm made contact and was beyond the line, but I only saw from one angle so I might be wrong. Looked very suspicious though.

 

[Iceman]

Oh right. Yeah, I didn't get a good view either. Will be interesting to see a summary of these controversial decisions at the end of the game.

 

[DeadPresident]

This combined with the Chelsea fiasco is ridiculous. Refereeing standard this season has been in the toilet. I do wonder what the pundits will make of it, I hope they're as annoyed as the average viewer must be.

 

[Iceman]

2-0 Sterling..scrappy goal

 

[kit1982]

Don't really see the fuss about the ref. The first Saints appeal wasn't anywhere near a penalty, the second one was debateable but I'd be disappointed if it had been given against Leeds, on the third Fonte clearly took the ball before making any contact with Sterling, next Lovren had his hands down by his side when the ball hit it and finally the ball hit Mignolet's chest before ricoheting onto his arm.....he's got them all right IMO.

Coutinho's quality has won this game, you don't want to be chasing a game in these conditions especially against the quick Liverpool counter.

 

[DeadPresident]

The Lovren one may have been called for dangerous play anywhere else on the field, irrespective of him getting the ball first.

 

[kit1982]

Do you mean Fonte? I don't see how it's dangerous play, where are his legs meant to go when he slides? There will be contact when you slide in, it's a physical game there will at times be a coming together, he hasn't gone high, he hasn't gone feet up.... not sure what else he can do?

 

[B]

Yesterday's defeat was like quite a large number of games last season under Moyes. We played well'ish & yet somehow found a way to lose. We saw a lot of the ball but we were very wasteful in front of goal, we didn't create a lot of clear cut chances, but we had opportunities in which we should have at least made the keeper work.

We had large portions of the ball & to be fair we pretty much looked like the home side for periods, they sat deep & just soaked up the pressure preparing to let us have the ball.. but the problem is when this happens and you don't get the goals & have something to show for your pressure you get punished. Swansea effectively scored from one of their only shots in the 2nd half if I recall.

Can't really take any positives from the game, we controlled it, but didn't win.

 

[Iceman]

Liverpool building some momentum for a CL chase. I think Arsenal will be one of the top 4 but it's still really open.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Yeah, fans attending games need to keep the faith and stay behind the team. Going to become a little tougher after a performance like today's, but it should be expected. The tough bit is that this was a golden opportunity because March is going to be very difficult to get points out of.

The result has created a lot of doom and gloom which is understandable, need 6 points from the next two games and hope City's renewed form pushes Liverpool back a bit as them and Arsenal are looking the most likely for 3rd and 4th right now.

That would be great, maybe United can sway him from joining either of the Spanish giants. I actually like your idea of Shaw/Young, because that'll defensively lock down the left flank very well, both work hard and I think Young is quite intelligent when it comes to reading opposition attacks, and his deliveries this season have been fantastic. As much as I love RvP, and like the idea of Falcao, this season requires a bit of ruthlessness, neither should still be there in September. So far I'd say Lacazette looks like the best bet, United are in desperate need of a forward with the balls to take shots on from distance, as Rooney clearly doesn't have that confidence anymore.

The biggest competition for Danilo is Barca but they can't buy him this summer and Porto will want to sell as he'll only have a year left on his deal, I can't see where the Real spec has came from as Carvajal should be their RB for the next decade. Yes, I think Shaw/Young on the left would give us the best balance we can get on that flank for the remainder of the season as both are rounded players as you say, hopefully LvG realizes the diamond isn't working. I like Lacazette and I certainly think Falcao and RvP need to go, but we have not been linked with him at all, in fact hardly anyone has despite his goal record this season, which makes me wonder if there is already something in place for him to go to PSG.

I'm not sure why but Dutch players in the Dutch league are very reasonably priced. Guaranteed if Depay was at Porto, Dontesk or Roma he'd be valued at £40m+ like people are conjuring up for Dybala. If United start the talks early he's likely to cost little more than about £20m. Like you say his conversion rate for a wide player is pretty impressive, he could almost be considered another forward to accompany Wilson/Rooney as well as being useful out wide.

I think it might be due to where the Eredivisie is ranked in Europe and also because there have been several high profile flops who had been stars in that league but failed to cut it in the PL. If we could get Depay for between £20-25M then it would be great business and give us more flexibility up top, hopefully LvG can influence the deal.

Strangely I thought that Mangala was going to deliver immediately, but he's been a disciplinary risk each game. Might take a while for him to acclimate to the PL. To be fair Silva and Dzeko are both leading up to 30, but in Aguero and Bony I think they have a fine set of forwards that can last a few years. I think RB and CM is going to be their issue, City's allure has worn off this season, if clubs like Chelsea or Madrid are competing for a player's signature with City I don't see many players choosing the Etihad. They're going to have to be very crafty in the transfer market to replace players like Toure and Kolarov with equal levels of talent.

Mangala had a great debut but has since looked very ropey and isn't even first choice right now I think, he's young enough to grow into the league though for sure a she has the physical tools. It's going to be very tricky for City as FFP will require them to be shrewd in how they replace players and how they balance the sales with the buys, waiting to long and getting nothing for star players might not be viable, Chelsea have turned this into an art form, the price they get for everyone they sell is incredible and they are in a great position to simply keep molding their squad with a couple of buys each window.

 

[The Endless]

Just say the tackle on Matic... I'd have got up and head butted the Burnley player. Clearly trying to end his career. Shocking tackle.

 

[Iceman]

Must be very hard to just do nothing when someone does that to you.

 

[wobbly]

Read that Chelsea are appealing the red card for Matic. Good opportunity for the FA to make some amends for the ref's overall terrible 'performance', but I doubt they will take it. Knowing them I wouldn't be surprised if they make it more branding it a 'frivolous' appeal.

Now I wasn't aware of this as I had always thought if the ref didn't spot a red card offence by a player in a game (and as such didn't give any card) the FA can retrospectively impose the adequate ban as the ref failed to deal with the incident at the time. It's when they do book the player with a yellow card for the incident, when it should have been a Red, that their hands are tied. Or so I thought...

However I've read the FA "cannot" deal with the incident retrospectively as it was 'on the ball' or some crap, and they can only intervene if the offence is considered serious enough to merit more than the standard 3 match ban*. Apparently the FA don't think Barnes' obvious attempted leg breaker was 'exceptional' enough to warrant such action.

*This doesn't make any sense to me since a 3 match ban was exactly what they gave Costa for his 'on the ball' stamp....

Matic was fortunate he didn't get a broken leg. His pushing the dirty pr#ck over who tried to break it was never gonna injure that pr#ck (its not like he head butted or punched him). Matic has a 3 match ban for reacting with (justifiable) anger (and I think that will likely be upheld). Barnes gets nothing at all?

Hopefully the article I read about the FA doing nothing with him is wrong. No way should Barnes be allowed to escape any punishment at all.

 

[Hunter Rider]

The Barnes tackle reminds me of the Callum McManamann one that they didn't punish a couple of seasons ago, it's ridiculous that they are not going to do anything about something that could end a career, yet will give a guy a 3 match ban for a minor shove which had total justification.

You make a good point with the Costa stamp Wobbly, the FA decided to play mind readers on intent with that one and did something about it, yet here they seem to be ready to ignore one of the wort tackles I've seen in the PL.

 

[Iceman]

Did anyone see Mourinho on Sky Sports? I just read about it, wish I'd seen what he said. All his previous interviews have been boring as hell lol. He's 100% in the right this time but this also shows why you shouldn't cry wolf. If you ONLY make noise when this kind of thing happens everyone will take you seriously but now even when people kneecap one of your players during live play people will just hear the same broken record. His defence of Costa means I don't want his ridiculously biased opinion on this matter. Regardless though, this is such an open and shut case that the FA will just be admitting their all-out incompetence in full-view Blatter-style if they don't deal with it properly.

 

[wobbly]

The Barnes tackle reminds me of the Callum McManamann one that they didn't punish a couple of seasons ago, it's ridiculous that they are not going to do anything about something that could end a career, yet will give a guy a 3 match ban for a minor shove which had total justification.

You make a good point with the Costa stamp Wobbly, the FA decided to play mind readers on intent with that one and did something about it, yet here they seem to be ready to ignore one of the wort tackles I've seen in the PL.

The FA are as woefully inconsistent as their referees. Just like the refs these anonymous pen pushers are never called to account for any of it.

Jose was also right to have a blast at Sky yesterday: What Barnes did was worse than Costa's offence, yet in the post match round ups their host (Jeff Stelling) was trying like hell to get Paul Merson (who had watched it live) to praise up Burnley rather than dwell on that tackle. Merson (who I seldom agree with) wouldn't do it. He said he couldn't give any credit to a team who had resort to that filth to get back into a game.

It made for amusing TV as Stelling was visibly squirming in his seat, but he wouldn't let up, saying you cant blame the rest of the players for the sins of the one and all that, and eventually Merson conceded said they took their goal well, but added "but they wouldn't have scored in a month of Sundays" without Barnes inciting the sending off.

Now contrast that with Sky's coverage of the Cahill dive. He didn't win any penalty either for that. The 'big' argument was he should have been booked a 2nd time. Sky repeated the dive over and over in news follow ups, hilariously accompanied with replays of Willian and Costa 'diving' in the same game (both were booked for those tumbles). I say hilarious as their own 'evidence' replays showed both were fouled!!

Then there's the Costa's stamp, replayed over and over and judged guilty as charged by Sky's pundits before the half time whistle had blown.

So it's not hard to see why Jose thinks many of the Sky mob are a bunch of tossers (I'm looking at you, Jamie 'waffles a lot without saying ###k all of substance' Redknapp in particular). They consistently make a big deal when a Chelsea player does wrong, but don't often dwell on similar incidents with players from other teams.

Treat all incidents the same, the same exposure, the same self righteous condemnation, regardless of the team involved, then Jose has no ammo.

Side note: Amusingly Burnley fans voted Barnes their man of the match.....