Now Fred’s been dealt with, send your mails on literally anything else to [email protected]…
Liverpool are learning
I’m a Liverpool supporter and I’m really pleased that Liverpool players have finally started to ‘go down’ and ‘ask the referee the question’. Liverpool, up until very recently, had not ‘won’ a single penalty at home in over a year. That is difficult to comprehend since they have some many quick and tricky forward players and ordinarily have the majority of possession. I can only conclude that there are two main reasons for this, a reverse bias from referees against ‘big clubs’ and Liverpool players too eager to stay on their feet. Manchester City, this season, are a good example of the reverse bias. They get far too few penalties that their play merits, take this weekend for example, a stonewall penalty denied. I feel that Raheem Sterling is going to have to lose a limb to win a penalty again. I don’t believe that he intended to kick the ground, but here we are.
A more analytical approach to this hypothesis would be to look at last season for example, because ‘it all balances out over a season’. Crystal Palace in 11th received more penalties (10) than the teams in second, third and fourth place combined (9), and if you think that’s cherry picking an outlier, lets take the top five teams (20) and compare them to the top 5 of the bottom half (30). It seems to be counter-intuitive to me that the teams that spend more time attacking that the others receive fewer penalties unless some reverse bias exists.
In my opinion, a big factor that contributes to diving is that I can’t recall an incident where a player was fouled in the box, stayed on their feet and was subsequently awarded a penalty.
This only encourages intelligent footballers to ‘ask the referee the question’. Harry Kane, Paul Pogba et al. do it, thank God Mohammed Salah is learning. Sahko kicked him missed the ball, ask the question – the timing of it made it embarrassing. I believe that it has to be made more advantageous to stay on your feet by letting the player play an advantage and if non accrues bring it back for the penalty. An advantage would need to be something like a clear shot at goal, not simply keeping possession or a tame shot or slice because the player is off balance. Football need to increase the likelihood of scoring a goal if players are honest.
Fred, London I enjoyed that. I hope that you’re ok x
Bill (Imagine a world where the punishment for diving was a concession of a penalty instead of receiving a yellow card)
So, Fred…
Wow, poor Fred really has got his knickers in a twist there hasn’t he:
1) How can Liverpool have any effect on the state of an opposition squad and and when we play them? Everybody in the league plays each other twice but actual dates and order will of fixtures are sorted by a computer/TV companies.
2) Yes we have had luck on our side up to now and I actually had a mail published a few weeks back stating how I thought luck was really on our side at the minute. Again, though, something we can’t control, but we have capitalised on. I don’t know why Pickford fumbled that or why Gross made a needless tackle, but thinking about those moments alone makes it sound a bit more like player negligence in key moments of games as opposed to luck.
3) Almost the whole league played United when they were abysmal fella as Jose wasn’t sacked until about 2 games away from the halfway point of the season, including Tottenham.
4) I don’t really wanna understand the comparison you are trying to make with Rondon as it makes absolutely no sense so I’ll just leave that.
5) Salah diving. Cough Kane, cough Alli. Seen them take a fair few dives so you can’t really be so fickle when the shoe is on the other foot. Diving is wrong full stop but I think most fans opinions seem to change on whether a decision is given for them/against them/ for someone they dislike. Il leave that for another mail.
6) I really couldn’t give a shit about “neutrals” and how many Non Liverpool fans want/don’t want us to win the league. I have plenty of Liverpool friends and family to share memories and opinions with and trust me it never comes up in conversation what other people want or don’t want us to do.
7) A converted blue? Have you given up already? 9 points off and just under half the season to go. I mean you sound so bitter in this mail that you either must be an Everton fan in disguise or you are just a perfect example of why I know so many of your “neutrals” can’t stand Spurs.
Ryan, Liverpool
…Fred – Your indignation and feelings of burning injustice are exactly how I felt when Chelsea were winning leagues with deflected Lampard strikes or Arjen Robben dives. But on later reflection, it’s obvious they were just the best team most of the time. Liverpool may not be clearly the best team in the way Chelsea were and we’ve have had some luck this season, that’s for sure (and I doubt any Liverpool fan would dispute that). But your cherry-picking of evidence knows no bounds. For every bit of luck (or opposition incompetence) you mention, I can come up with an equal and opposite piece of luck. To focus only on your comments on the Palace game: on another day, Liverpool might have had at least one penalty from Townsend/Tomkins handballs in the box. Secondly, Mane’s goal only looks decisive because of what followed: Palace’s third goal comes from Liverpool relaxing and Keita trying to dribble the ball our of defence in the 95th minute – he wouldn’t have done that if it was 3-2, he’d have larruped it down field. Lastly (to borrow some of your shoutiness), Liverpool were missing 2 FIRST CHOICE right backs & had to play the ancient Milner against Palace’s biggest attacking threat. He duly allowed Zaha to waltz past him to create Palace’s opener and then rightly got sent off, so will face a suspension. (By the way – one right back got injured standing on a ball in a warm up, the other had his leg broken by a Burnley defender. So jammie!).
While we all know stats can’t prove anything (especially to a one-eyed cherry picker), one objective way to look at luck is xG and xPTS. It suggests Liverpool are indeed one of the luckiest in the league, in third place. They sit just behind Arsenal and the run away leaders in luck this season… Spurs.
Shappo, LFC
…Ok Fred, I’ll play.
Firstly, I note you’re conveniently forgetting the misfortune Liverpool have had this season;
The handball by Townsend in the box in the latest game going unpunished, seconds before he scored their opener.
The “post and out at” city as opposed to their “post and in” at the same end.
The perfectly good goal away at Arsenal, wrongly given offside (a game we ended up drawing – 2 points dropped right there!)
The countless injuries we too have had to first teamers, they just get less coverage than others because a) we still cope and b) we don’t bleat about it like other teams’ fans.
You also gloss over the fact that 2 of Salah’s penalties (against Arsenal and Brighton) were considered stonewall by everybody except Martin Keown and those who made their mind up based on still images on Twitter or the back page of The S*n. Or that Salah stayed on his feet to score against Bournemouth whilst clearly being fouled.
Secondly, I thought you may enjoy some sweeping generalisations on other teams, akin to your email;
Man Utd only beat Liverpool to the title in 08/09 because of a Macheda goal in Fergie time, and the subsequent lift if gave them.
Liverpool only lost the league to City in 13/14 due to Sterling being ruled offside at City when clearly miles on (on Boxing Day, when we were top of the league, looking to stretch it further)
Spurs only became top 4 contenders because of Bale’s insistence on speculative shots from distance somehow (flukily) repeatedly catching opposing ‘keepers out.
Arsenal only went a season unbeaten because of Pires’ dive at Portsmouth
Man Utd only won the treble because of Fergie time goals against Munich and Liverpool (people forget this one – also by Solskjaer, in the F.A. cup).
See Fred, it’s easy to generalise, the thing is, it’s just not very big or clever to do it.
I get your frustration though, after all, as your fans keep telling everybody, Spurs were supposed to be the team to build a good squad the right way and show the more affluent clubs how it’s done. I’m certain Pochettino will win trophies. They’ll just be housed in Manchester or Spain.
Dom (Don’t forget we once conceded a goal to a beach ball) Littleford
…Renouncing your ambivalence in the current title race in favour of new found support for Man City is supporter cowardice. It’s cheap and it’s codswallop.
Stop hedging your bets. We know Liverpool winning the title is the last thing you want. We know you hate us. We don’t care. But when we win the title, be it this year or the next, don’t expect any humility.
Feed the Scousers, Slippy G, Scouse Maths.
Keep it coming, once the overwhelming joy at finally returning to the pinnacle wears off we’ll make sure you hear about for another season at least.
Harry (oh look a Liverpool fan claiming next year will be our year…zzz) London (say what you want but Sakho kicked him, we’ve seen it first hand enough times)
…Loved Fred, London’s letter from the previous mailbox. He absolutely right with everything he says but rather than getting angry I’m just sitting back and wondering what will happen in LFC’s next few matches. So far I’ve got:
0-0 after 92mins, LFC defending a corner, VVD shanking it off his own bar and the ball ricocheting into the opposition’s half leaving Salah, Sané and Bobby three on one with the inevitable result.
Last minute Robertson shot being deflected in by a seagull.
Man City winning the league by two points but then getting three deducted for ffp irregularities.
Another beach ball incident.
Losing 3-0 but then a freak snowstorm / floodlight failure / locust swarm leading to match abandonment. LFC win rescheduled match 1-0.
Everton the victims of lasagna gate part two just before the derby.
Aliens.
Don’t get mad Fred, relax and enjoy the absurdity of it all.
Bill, Aberdeenshire
A plea for Ole
After a few weeks of watching United under OGS, I have completely changed my mind on him. I have gone from being 100% against him getting the job to now believing that, should things continue with anything approaching the current levels of performance, he has to get the job.
I didn’t want his reputation as a club legend ruined by him being an awful manager for us. He is a hero to United fans and the thought of him being booed at Old Trafford or his star losing some of its lustre because of a dodgy managerial spell was painful to even think about. I was afraid.
But, now there is an emotion more powerful than fear that has changed my mind. Love.
I would love it if Ole did well. It would be an incredible, wonderful, fantastic and romantic story to have him be successful at United. Shipped in from tiny Molde for a short-term loan, the club legend on the pitch becomes a managerial star off it. Not only that, but he would be doing it in such a way which further enhances our self-promoted vision of United as different to other clubs – we are a big family with a sense of doing things a certain way based on a shared understanding of the benefits of positive, enjoyable, entertaining football, the advantages of promoting from within and a preference for longevity and consistency of management when possible.
I’m not saying that is true, but it is something we United fans like to believe and it is certainly something we cherish. We are supposed to trust in youth and potential – so why not try it with our manager as well? Ole has served a managerial apprenticeship. He is not high profile but he is not an amateur. The skills he was using at Molde as a player, when given the support of better players at United, were a match for the best in the world. Why not as a manager as well?
Sure, he might not be good enough and there are others with better CVs. But if he can do it, then it will add another wonderful layer to the legend and romance of United as a club. Ole has given United fans an opportunity to enjoy football again. Playing well is great. Playing well under Ole is even better. Winning things is great. Winning things under Ole would be even better. Having a club legend manage your club is like watching a youth-team player make it. It means more.
Who knows, maybe it starts a new tradition that we can aim for – the ex-player as manager. Why not look towards the next generation of managers as well? Sit on the bench for the first team for a couple of seasons. Do the youth teams for a couple of seasons. Head off into the world for a few years and know that United might come calling in the future, looking on you favourably if you have shown to be preserving and maintaining the traditions of United. For no other reason than I think they might be good managers, I could see Carrick taking over in 10 years. Herrera a few years after that. Why not?
The possibility of being successful under Ole is so exciting that I want to, no, I need to put aside the practical reasons not to pursue that dream. I need to ignore the rational and reasonable and reach for the romantic and fanciful. So much of the non-football world is crammed with impactful decisions that really matter and where deciding on the evidence, taking into consideration the likely outcome, is crucial. But football is a game. So let me dream of the beautiful but unlikely. Aim for the gloriously improbable. Give us a chance to dream. Give it to Ole.
Andreas Hunter, St Albans
Kante-ball>Sarri-ball
I enjoyed 16 conclusions, another good review of the 2 teams and their respective dynamics.
A point you touched on was moving Kante back to the base of the midfield. Watching Chelsea play I actually think Jorginho and Kante should swap roles. Hear me out:-
1) if you have David Luiz in defence he NEEDS a minder. We all know that
2) ALL forwards the last 2 years said they rushed shots because Kante was either there or they thought he was there. This is powerful. Now they know he’s 30 yards away and they only have to get past Luiz.
3) Chelsea need defensive solidity and they also need Luiz to be able to push forward into space and find the pass. He can do this with Kante there
4) If Jorginho is such a good calm accurate all seeing passer of the ball get him between the lines higher up the pitch. Willian Pedro and Hazard make great runs and Jorginho can find them
5) Forget Higuain and Carroll, Pedro and Willian are quality. Loftus-Cheek can cover for 1 of them as he would also be more dangerous further forward using his energy and drive.
Sarri-ball has been found out, change to Kante-ball and see what happens……
Ian (currently unemployed reading every article you post so keep at it !!) LFC
Kovacic getting away with it
There have been a lot of mails and comments about Chelsea’s midfield recently after they put up yet another insipid performance. Most of them seem to be zeroing in on how Jorginho absolutely refuses to play any risky forward passes to protect his precious stat padding passing stats (was hilarious watching him literally kick the ball out for a goal kick in injury time about the only time he tried to pass forward in the final third). It just does not matter how good your passing in the center circle is. If it doesn’t have the vision of someone like Fabregas, it will not unlock defenses.
Other comments about the midfield (including in 16 conclusions), seem to be focusing on how Kante is playing out of position but surely that is on Sarri and not the player who’s most immune to any type of yellow cards, no matter how many fouls he accumulates and gets away with.
But to me, the real issue is the gaping hole at LCM. Kovacic is extremely lucky that Jorginho seems to be copping all the flak for them. He’s such an incredibly nothing player. By which I don’t mean he’s necessarily bad, just that he poses zero threat to the opposition goal. For all the hype about him, he can’t and won’t shoot, he can’t play defense splitting passes. He’s a good dribbler but seems allergic to getting in the box (it was painfully obvious how desperate Chelsea were for someone to make runs into the box from midfield). It is crucial for the midfield to support the attack when playing with a false 9 (like when Hazard played the ball across the 6 yard box). Yet it was Kante, not the vaunted Kovacic who appeared anywhere close to the box anytime Chelsea attacked. He’s a decent tackler but doesn’t press especially well and gets dribbled around a lot. Worse still, he has absolutely no game sense to take up positions when gaps open up in midfield (like when Arsenal dropped deep towards the end and there were plenty of positions to get in front of them and take shots). Even Barkley, for all his inconsistency, at least looks to drive from the midfield and at least had a shot on goal (blocked by Koscielny’s bollocks). Kovacic’s best trait seems to be simply be keeping the ball, recycling it in midfield. The hype about signing him as some kind of coup, even on loan, seemed ridiculous at the time given that he was just going to be yet another player blocking the path into first team for Chelsea’s youngsters, and seems even more ridiculous now.
Unfortunately for the likes of RLC, that hype doesn’t seem to be running out and its unlikely he will ever be a starter at the club. Playing their youth players is just not in Chelsea’s DNA, the best youth academy in the country is entirely wasted on them. Similar to the CHO situation, the most he can ever hope for is some token minutes towards the end of matches.
Falooda in NY
It’s definitely coming home
Peter, Andalucia: good news! You are definitely not the only one getting excited for England’s next generation. I’ve been thinking about this for a while and wondering what Gareth’s starting XI might be come the World Cup.
In goal we have Pickford, with decent hope for McCarthy, Butland, Gunn, Bettinelli, Pope and even a long shot for Heaton to make a glorious return.
At right back we have Walker, Trippier, Alexander-Arnold, Wan-Bissaka (who might just be the best of the lot). At left back we have Shaw and Chilwell, maybe Sessegnon (probably more of a winger). At centre back we have Stones, Gomez, Maguire and… Okay, we’re a little short at centre back.
Midfielders, we’ve got tons of similarly talented options with the hope for a few breakthroughs. Starting 3 might well be Rice behind Foden and Oxlade-Chamberlain. If their development continues as we hope, that could be a world-class midfield. In reserve, Henderson will still be around, and Dier, Alli, Barkley, Maddison, maybe Ward-Prowse might kick on, who knows?
Young talented wingers aplenty with Sterling, Lingard, Sancho, Nelson, Hudson-Odoi (apparently), probably Sessegnon, Gray and Barnes at Leicester… Even if half of them don’t make the grade, that’s still looking good. And with Kane, Rashford and maybe Wilson or Abraham on the rise, our attacking options are looking very good.
I have little to no idea how exciting the young prospects are for Italy, Spain, Germany, Holland and whoever else (except France, hoping for their usual post-success implosion), but England’s crop of youngsters really does look impressive.
In conclusion, forget about the Premier League. It’s rubbish. Huddersfield are in it. Get on the hype train for the international break!
Harry, THFC (apologies to anyone I’ve forgotten about, there’s definitely someone)
Jack (Bloody love Rashford) Manchester – Maybe if they distributed 11,000 tickets to school kids in and around Sassuolo and paid for their transportation to and from the game it would be fair as then inter would be punished by a)having to pay for around 500 coaches and b) theyd be essentially playing an away game at home.
I think if you want to make a situation like that 100% fair you’d have to make the home game gainst napoli next season the game where fans are banned from the stadium and the above scenario is done.
Either that or if you wanna say a big f**k you to racism make them pay for a bunch of underprivileged kids from the country the player recieving the racist abuse is from (in koulibaly’s case Senegal) to watch the same fixture next season. This would give them plenty of time to organise the logistics of it all, would give a bunch of kids a memory theyd never forget, infuriate the racist fans of the club and make the clubs treat racism more seriously as the costs would be greater than the BS fines that are currently getting handed out.
Andy, Melbourne (Oldham)
KPB WTF
Just when you think that the game has gone mad, when Bournemouth are quoting £75mil for Callum Wilson, when 31 year old Gonzalo Higuain is going to cost £50mil, when Alexis Sanchez is on £350k a week, when Dominic Solanke is fetching £19mil, when centre halves cost as much as luxury yachts and full backs cost the same as building a shopping centre…
Barcelona go and sign Kevin Prince-Boateng and give us all a smile and remind us how wonderfully random football can be sometimes!
Special mention for Ryan Babel at Fulham too.
DC, BAC
The footballers’ football site
I, like many others on here, visit the site repeatedly during a day. It has become part of my daily routine. Often I find myself wondering the same question. Namely, are there any top level footballers (or refs?!) who visit this site often and read it in the same way we all do?
Maybe you can’t say, maybe you don’t know – but it would be interesting to know if you (or any readers) know of any who do? (Even if names can’t be used it would be interesting to know something, such as “Premier league defender for “)
Thanks
R (soccer fan exiled across the pond)
Brexit, that
Congratulations, John Nicholson – you’ve pulled off the enviable Remainer trifecta of ageism, demonisation of the working class and collusion in the hysterical idiocy of Project Fear Mark 2. All the available data suggests the majority of Brexiteers voted for reasons of sovereignty and democracy, not racism. Nor have I seen any poll which suggests a significant number of Leave voters actually thought the country would be better off economically after Brexit. They simply wanted British citizens to have a say over who governed them. For a man who makes rather a lot of noise about his ordinary Northern town roots, it’s odd that you would deprive your working class comrades one of the most fundamental human rights – the right to a meaningful vote. This letter isn’t really about football, but neither was your article until well after you’d lost my interest. I’ll still read your stuff because I think you’re a top quality writer, but you’ve really pissed me off today.
Matt Pitt
Postcard from Japan
Japan laboured through their Asian Cup group but finished top. They came from behind to beat Turkmenistan (3-2) and Uzbekistan (2-1), using a second-string team in the latter game, and won 1-0 against Oman with a goal from a dubious penalty. That set up a Round of 16 match against Saudi Arabia.
Since Hajime Moriyasu took over as manager after the World Cup, Japan’s exciting and high-scoring attack has compensated for their shaky defence, but I felt the team always looked capable of coming unstuck against an attacking team eventually. Saudi Arabia tested my theory last night but Japan produced an excellent defensive display to win 1-0. For the first 20 minutes Japan could barely get out of their own half, as Saudi Arabia kept coming at them but couldn’t find a way through. There were two chances of note in that opening period, one a curler that just went wide, and the other a half volley that Maya Yoshida blocked with his face from short range.
Japan’s first real excursion into their other half led to the game’s only goal. A cross-field pass to Genki Haraguchi on the left allowed him to win a corner, which Gaku Shibasaki took and defender Takehiro Tomiyasu headed home. Japan spent a little more time in the opposition half, but after that it was basically all Saudi Arabia, especially in the second half: they kept coming, pressuring and creating neat passing moves, and created several good chances, but they were either hit over, headed wide, or blocked by desperate Japanese defenders. On the odd occasion when Japan did venture down the other end, nothing came of it and Saudi Arabia countered. For much of the second half Japan had 11 men defending; indeed for most of the game overall Japan were in full-on defensive mode.
They held on though, and the defenders deserve full credit for the win. This win seemed to show that Japan can set up defensively and withstand extended periods of pressure. It could have been one of those backs-against-the-wall wins that shows the team is champion material. Then again, it could have been one of those backs-against-the-wall wins that shows the team doesn’t seem able to balance defence and attack in the same game. What do I know? Not much: in my last email I confused Fabio Capello and Marcello Lippi (in my defence, I was very tired and they both have Ls in their names). Anyway, Japan will play Vietnam in the quarter final on Thursday, and I’m looking forward to seeing what this young team will do next.
Regards,
James T, Ishikawa, Japan