View From Liverpool

October 24, 2020 / Roy / 8 Comments

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“Good win againt dogged opposition who will take points from teams bigger than them this season just like last.”
“Difficult but 3 points will do
“Poor first-half. Awful refereeing again.”
“Tough game. Job done.
VAR can go to hell. “
“VAR is amplifying the worst refereeing situation in any sport. As for the game, gritty and utterly what we’ve come to expect.”
“Scrappy 3 points”

“Just like last season when we were a winning machine despite VAR. It’s a bit grim that my first reaction to Jota’s goal was “Disallow that you tossers!”. I then watched the replay like a hawk for the slightest nonsense they could possibly rule it out for…
On the game itself, I hate that we’re now a soft touch again to balls bunted up the middle of the pitch. It was our Achilles heel for years but having VVD there I had almost forgotten about it. At least Watford went down last season.”
“Phew. Hate having no fans at Anfield.
I know it’s nothing new by now and the same for all teams, but it looks like a chore at times without fans there pushing them on. “
“Pretty decent after the setback from that pen.
Really good 2nd half. “
“And Breathe.
Made heavy weather of that but ultimately never really in doubt
.Shocking penalty decision though, VAR continues to ruin the Game.”
“Seasons going to be a slog, isn’t it.
No fans, poor officiating, and players looking knackered.”

“I don’t even feel anything. Football is a joke. Can’t celebrate goals, it’s all about the refs and their egos.
Pathetic sport right now.”
“it’s a shambles. You can’t even celebrate. “
“Whilst delighted we won I am starting to hate the var football.Can’t celebrate goals . It’s more of a lottery than a guy blowing a whistle as before “
“For years we saw too many shite results against endless bunches of fgrocks like the ones we were against tonight. But tonight the mentality monsters stuck their middle finger up to them and the **** at Stockley Park. I don’t give a shit who played well, who had a duffer, it doesn’t matter when the opposition might as well have 13 players. We won, that’s all that matters,**** the Premier League”
“I love it when we win these ‘dirty’ games”
“seems to be a rule for a couple of seasons now that you can pull and kick Salah in the box as much as you like.”

“That will do me,we played against 12 men”
“Not a bad result considering we were playing against 18 men.”
“Is Ferguson still holding influence? He always had Riley in his pocket. Don’t want us to catch their 20 titles. It’s obvious corruption. They won’t let us win the league this year.”
“Boggles the mind how people actually want us to stay in this corrupt league just to get screwed over week after week.”
“every VAR decision is mysteriously going against us.
It can’t carry on forever no matter how much the PL may want it too, it will soon become too noticeable if they do it every f**king week. “
” We’ve all been done one way or another, definitely us more so in recent times but I doubt you will see many organisations in favour.”
“it’s because of who we are. We had the audacity to win the prem, they’ll do what they can to try stop us retaining it.”

Pre-Match View From Liverpool

October 23, 2020 / Roy / Leave a comment

“The Walking Wounded v Sheffield United”
“More than enough quality there to put an also depleted Sheffield Utd team away.”
“we should have too much for Sheffield, who are struggling as well with injuries, i believe.”
“Sheffield United don’t look like the awkward, impressive outfit they were last season, and this one may well have come at a good time for the depleted Champions, following a hectic run of fixtures and a bruising derby at Goodison. It’s a game where I expect us to impose ourselves early, get an early breakthrough and control possession through the match.”
“Sheffield United have been poor this season.”

“Should be a comfortable win this one as these have seriously regressed this season.”
“I think we’ll win quite comfortably.”
“Sheffield are not the impressive team of last season. Wouldn’t surprise me if Rhian starts for them. God knows they are desperate for goals and Rhian might want to prove a point against his former club. Good thing is, our defenders should know him quite well, so I’m confident we’ll deal with his threat. I’m confident we’ll get the win here and hopefully another clean sheet “
“this Sheffield United team (on current form) are the poorest team we’ve faced so far this season”
“Any win will do, but I hope we smash them to bits”

“If we have an off day and Brewster wants to prove a point, jeez it’ll be RAWK carnage.
Quietly optimistic that won’t happen though. Mo seems to really want that golden boot again.”
“They’ve been shite so far.
So naturally, they will be bang on it and put a right shift in against us. Especially Rhian”
“their so far poorly performing keeper is bound to have a blinder!”
“Playing a shit boring team. Expecting a shit and boring match.”
“Not much of a turnaround from Wednesday which is why I think we may see Jota or Minamino start and another different midfield. Should have enough though”

“Sheff U are a decent side, just had no goal threat. Now they’ve got Brewster though and he’ll be up for it if he’s playing.
Their a fit and physical side so it’ll be a difficult game after playing away in Europe on the Wednesday night. This is where the schedule gets crazy and Klopp has to do things like take the front three off after an hour to rest them up and we don’t get the 5 subs in PL.
Going to be tough given the players missing, but obviously a game we should and need to win.”
“Hopefully a much cleaner, fairer game than the last league game as we look to get back on track with a victory.”
“Don’t sign up to the profiteering. Boycott. There is a humanitarian crisis in our country, which is only going to worsen. Fans Supporting Foodbanks have worked tirelessly during lockdown and restrictions, a task made harder by the loss of matchday collections aligned with the growth in demand – this has increased 130% in the five years they have been going.
We are asking that those fans who support our boycott of PPV, make a donation, whatever is affordable, to Fans Supporting Foodbanks online here or Text: FOODBANKFC to 70460 to donate £5.”

View From Fulham

October 18, 2020 / Roy / Leave a comment

“Shockingly poor first half. These slow starts will get us relegated.The second half was better but normally we would have been down 0-3 after such a poor first half. Sorry, I still can’t see this squad finishing above 18th.”
“Second half was quality. We bossed the game and they got a very dodgy penalty . There are signs of hope, Lookman obviously, RLC too. Pity we didn’t win but I’m a bit more hopeful than I was at half time.
Looking at the table, it’s possible 32 or 33 points will be enough this season.”
“Thought we looked a lot better in the 2nd half- and do believe we have a chance of getting out of this”
“Obvious disappointment in not winning the game, but we could have been 2 or 3 nil down at half time.
The season is a marathon not a sprint and judging us on our second half today, at last we look like we have the makings of a competitive side in this division. Certainly some confidence now moving forward.”

“They dominated the first half, and we were all over them in the second, so a draw is probably a fair result on the balance of play. However, it’s disheartening because we were finishing all over them – another 5 minutes and we would have scored.”
“Mixed feelings. Should’ve been down by a few goals first half, but were the better team second half. Mitro had a shocker. Adarabioyo was outstanding and Ream did well.
Lookman was very very good 2nd half and scored a genius goal.
Overall a fair result but disappointing.”
“Disappointed to drop two points.
We had enough chances to have won this comfortabley today, especially in the second half.”
“Second half was quality. We bossed the game and they got a very dodgy penalty”
“thought we looked much better as a side. Rode our luck at times…..McBurnie could of had a hat trick, but it was a joy to watch.”

“Think we should have taken all three points but a point away to a side that is going to be in the relegation mix is not a bad result. The team is starting to take shape, you can see that. Our stats were much better today also. We dominated possession, had 15 shots, 6 on target. They were holding on for a point towards the end”
“We’ve got a window now to take some points and put a window between us and Sheffield Utd the next few games as they play Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea (two of those games away).”
“We improved as the game went on. Sure it was against a rival who were there for the taking, and we are already behind the curve with regard to staying up, but there were encouraging signs.”
“Shocking first half, much better second. Lacking confidence and also, sorry to say it, but the same players are the culprits. There’s potential there, but we should’ve been looking to win. Sheffield Utd did better against Arsenal than we did by quite a way, so there’s definitely improvement from our end”
“Sheffield U had a fair amount of chances, but they seemed more dangerous than they were because they were offside most of the time.”
“Berg for them was immense”
“Mariner all at sea with the pen. Var is a joke & is truly spoiling the game. How you can give a pen 3 minutes after the event. What would have happened if we had scored in those 3 minutes?”
“If this is the future of football then I’m not interested anymore. I just don’t see that as a foul at all. I thought the rule was that it has to be something clear that the referee has missed. If VAR is going to dissect every bit of every game then there would be about 300 fouls and 10 penalties over 90mins”
“Excellent close up pic on the BBC showing that both players had a foot in the air both trying to get the ball. No way should that be a pen. There was no intent to foul. One of the worst VAR decisions I have seen & there have been plenty of shockers.”
“I think VAR has killed the game for me.”

Pre-Match View From Fulham

October 16, 2020 / Roy / 1 Comment

“Sunday is a big one against Sheffield United. Like us, they’re yet to get off the mark, so they’ll be looking at it as a must-win game. But we just need to go there and play our game, be up for the battle. They’re a very organised, workmanlike side who had a great season last year. They haven’t started as well this time around but, as we know, there’s so much football still to be played. We can head to Bramall Lane with confidence after our last performance, and hopefully we’ll come away with a result to get things rolling.”
” we really need to win this one.”
“It’s a ‘biggie’, the clock is ticking to get some points on the board.”
“Absolutely Huge now. Have to get what we can from them.”
“Big game against another team who have struggled so far this season.”

“Sheff United don’t scare me…but we have problems scoring.”
“Only team that’s scored less than us after 4 games has been Sheffield United.”
“we have just signed a 1 legged footballer at 3/4mil per year. The bookies make Sheffield firm favourites against us,pundits forecast vary from 1 : 0 Sheffield to 4 : 1. I feel its a win for us”
“If you start off with a win and improved team performance with new players leaving a clear mark of their quality etc than it would/could definitely be a springboard. Especially seeing as there’s not a huge amount more we can do re transfers until Jan.
If we get thrashed by a in freefall Sheffield Utd who have players injured and isolating, then sayonara to our season, unless they all pull their fingers out and really kick on.
I think if we have a solid defensive and midfield base (which I think we may have if Joachim and one of CB – tosin/Hector/Ream/Aina or Kongolo can provide the goods), giving that platform to our attacking players to actually play then we may be in luck.
We’ve definitely got talent in each key area, it’s just a question of if it’s enough.”

“We need to finish the job by adding the power pace and sharpness we need up
front which is the pathway to scoring goals that will keep Fulham FC away from the relegation trap door and leave West Brom, Burnley Sheff Utd, Brighton and Southampton to fight and scrap it out between them, and it would not surprise me if Leeds and Palace get dragged into the mix and also finish below Fulham. “
“I’d add Newcastle into the mix- they look the worst of the teams I’ve watched this season. 8 shots on target, 5 scored, 7 points. Incredible. They did the same last season too. They concede a load of shots on target too- I’m not letting their good start fool me, reckon they’ll be in trouble.
The others- WBA don’t look strong, Sheff Utd haven’t got going but I expect them to improve, Leeds are shining something out of somewhere (according to pundits) that I don’t see and Burnley have been punching above for years. It’d be amazing if we actually got 3 points there now fans can’t witness it!”
“West Bromwich Albion, Burnley, Watford, Sheffield United, even Southampton, Newcastle and Brighton & Hove Albion will all possibly be in the mix, so if we can boost the strength of the forward play with another striker and maybe a winger, and the team is organised down to the last detail, and make sure our throw ons reach one of our players we have increased our chances.
It’s catch up time and we can over take a number of candidates if we can score goals and lock up that defence which is looking a lot healthier.”
“I thought we were going to embarrass ourselves – but I think we will make a much better fight of it than our last pl campaign”
“Mitro has just played 120 minutes for Serbia and has 2 more games in the next week, he should be nicely shattered for Sheffield United then.”

“Adarabioyo may not have played in the P.L. but he’ll have come up against Ageuro, Jesus, Sterling etc. in training. I don’t think he’d be overawed at the prospect of marking Eddie McGoldrick.
Whomever we pair with Andersen against Sheffield, it will be a partnership with less than two weeks’ practice together. “
“I’d be worried if he was overawed at the prospect of marking Eddie McGoldrick, even I wouldn’t, he’s 55”
“Stay COVID free…work….work….work…. repetition… fight for starting spots…
work… work…
Set piece and corner marking. Ball in the air drills… back line communication…
RUN RUN RUN RUN… watch game film of upcoming opponents (Sheff United next) Notice tendancies….
Rewatch game film from the Leeds and Villa matches… TWICE…point out errors…
That’s all.”

View From Wales

October 14, 2020 / Roy / Leave a comment

A selection of view from Wales fans regarding the performances of Ethan Ampadu and Rhys Norrington-Davies during their 1-0 win over Bulgaria

“Ampadu so good at inteceptions. At Leipzig his role is to dart from CB and steal the ball”
“Ampadu dragging Davies away from an argument with the referee – future captain”
“Smith seemed more relaxed today. Because Ampadu is playing alongside him in the middle (Chris Wilder take note!)”
“Ampadu. Peerless, playmaker peacemaker.”
“never fails to impress me. Unbelievable player and only going to get better”
“Ampadu doing Ampadu things”

“Quality”
“Don’t understand the hype around Declan Rice either, bang average player. Ethan Ampadu can do exactly what he does to the exact same level.”
“One of the biggest positives”
“Outstanding”
“My MOTM has to be Ethan Ampadu. Showed such maturity when all the yellow cards were flying around. Missed very little attack and defence wise. Bravo.”
“Rodon & Ampadu.. both seriously talented”

“a solid display”
“There were plenty of promising performances tonight. Rodon, Mepham, Ampadu & Norrington-Davies did well”
“I know Ampadu has cult status for Wales but he’s massively overrated.”
“He’s about seven years old though. There’s probably an element of projection to the general view of him, in that he looks like one of those strolling midfield generals/liberos that great European teams of the past had. But he’s a kid. A promising one, too.”
“Didnt do enough imo”
“Ampadu was poor”

“Great debut from Norrington Davies.”
“Norrington-Davies MOTM.”
“Norrington-Davies was excellent”
“Rhys Norrington-Davies fantastic on debut”
“looked at ease on debut”
” First time I’ve seen Norrington-Davies play – impressive. “

“Norrington-Davies was a STUD this game”
“Absolutely brilliant debut”
“Norrington-Davies impressed a lot”
“Rhys Norrington-Davies was a big plus on his debut”
“thought the dude looked good on his debut tonight”
“Rhys Norrington-Davies like a prime Kenny Jackett out there tonight”
“Norrington-Davies looked quite good!”
“Llongyfarchiadau Rhys Norrington-Davies cap cyntaf arbennig. Aber boi done good! “

Norway Fans Views On Sander Berge

October 14, 2020 / Roy / Leave a comment

“Very exciting starting lineup of Norway for the game now. Martin Ødegaard, Mohamed Elyonoussi, Sander Berge, Erling Braut Haaland, Kristoffer Ajer … TOP.”
“Sander Berge’s best international match? Displays Genk class today”
“Berge Man of the match”
“Sander Berge is good, but it does not go very fast with him.”

“Berge should have been substituted”
“We can talk about hype on many Norwegian players – but no one beats Berge. What do people see that we do not see?”
“What IS Sander Berge really good at?”
“Sander Berge is overrated!”
“Both Berge and Normann will drop out soon”
“victory against a weakened Northern Ireland thanks to a comic own goal by Stuart Dallas. reckons that it is good enough for the media to talk Ødegaard into the first student, as well as Haaland and Berge into Real Madrid”

Republic Of Ireland Fans Views On Enda Stevens

October 14, 2020 / Roy / Leave a comment

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“Stevens a bit unlucky with this chance”
“Enda Stevens of all people came closest to scoring for us”
“The simple joy of seeing a natural left back in a system that encourages overlapping runs and quality delivery into the box should keep the Sheffield United veteran in the manager’s plans”
“Stevens linked up well with Aaron Connolly down the left”

“A decent showing.”
“good from both full-backs in an attacking sense.
“Rock solid defensively and a useful outlet on the left. Is now Ireland’s Mr Dependable.”
“Once again, very hard to quibble with anything he did during the game and it was another assured performance from a player eager to get on the ball as often as possible.”

“Stevens didn’t have as prominent a game as he did against Wales on Sunday and conceded possession at one point that resulted in one of Finland’s clearest chances. “
“The fact Stephen Kenny gets paid money to play Matt Doherty and Enda Stevens at full back instead of wing back is why I love football”
“Stevens does something awful every game he plays for Ireland.”

Scotland Fans Views On John Fleck

October 11, 2020 / Roy / Leave a comment

“Fleck is the only Scotland player I’d personally like to see in the Rangers current squad.”
” I would personally have fleck before McGinn.”
“John fleck>Calum McGregor”
“The way folk go on about him I’m expecting Pirlo.”
“Somebody needs to tell fleck he’s can pass forward”

“Considine, Jack, Fleck… Just not cutting it for Scotland.”
“Fleck is an empty shirt. I’m not sure hes done one notable thing in any appearance hes had for scotland.”
“Game passed him by”
“John fleck is garbage”
“A complete passenger and offered us nothing”
“Don’t see it with Fleck. Really don’t see what he offers”

“John Fleck is honking”.
“John Fleck is a wee plum and oot his depth”
“John Fleck shouldn’t be anywhere near this squad. Awful player. Starting to think an unfit Griffiths would be a good shout”
“John Fleck is the most Scottish looking guy I’ve ever seen”

Norway Fans Views On Sander Berge

October 11, 2020 / Roy / Leave a comment

“Imagine if the players that is class today like Ødegaard, Håland, Ajer, Omar, Berge played like this against Serbia…”
“Ødegaard and Berge on a completely different level today, make some mistakes, but now dare to cross joints.”
“Haland is a goal scoring machine, there are Odegaard, Hauge and Berge on the side, this is even clearer”
“Haaland
Sørloth
Ødegaard
Hauge
Berge
Man, is that legal demais”

“What a pair Haaland and Ødegaard are with so much future and also sander Berge from Sheffield a crack”
“Hauge, Odegaard, Haaland, Sorloth, Sander Berge, Ajer. HOW MUCH THE FUCK DOES NORWAY GAS ?!”
“Very solid from Berge”
“It doesn’t take much to look good when you have Johansen and Berge next to you”

“Rice at Chelsea? Lol to do what? 60 million for this guy … Sander Berge is stronger”
“As a Chelsea fan we should go for Berge”
“Sander Berge, the 220 millionaire, you will get me cheap from me. big, heavy and everything goes in syrup. Praised”
“Sander Berge is Norway’s worst national team player. Now I may step on some toes, but I’m shitting.”

Wales Fans Views On Ethan Ampadu

October 11, 2020 / Roy / Leave a comment

“Ethan Ampadu vs Ireland
Position played: CB
•100% tackle success
•100% aerials won
•91% pass completion
•0 times dribbled past
•1 interception
•6 clearances
Clean sheet.
What a display from the 20year old”
“A good defensive display from Amps”
“Ampadu today was great, really solid”
“A very good perfromance”

“Stuck his head on the chopping block in the two boxes. Slotted into the centre of defence seamlessly, after struggling in midfield against Jack Grealish and England on Thursday night. Produced a fine display at the back. Man of the match”
“Disappointed to see Ampadu playing CB again. Don’t get me wrong he is great there but he offers so much more than anyone else in the squad at CDM.”
“I think the direction of travel is certainly for Ampadu to be played in defence at club and international level. TB Leipzig were adamant that he’s a defender, Sheff U seem to be of the same mind and Giggs is clearly trying to give him some continuity in that position now too.”
“I can also see the benefit of providing Ampadu with some continuity if his preferred position has been decided.”
“If Giggs, Wilder and Lampard have all decided that he is a CB then I agree with the continuity. It just seems a shame and a bit of a waste of talent for Wales when he is a cut above the rest of our current CDM’s.”

“I think Ampadu is best suited to the middle of a back 3 with license to step into midfield. “
“Ampadu the most creative player today from CB, that says alot”
“Ampadu wasted in defence tho need him in the middle of the park”
“Ampadu is hugely missed in midfield”
“I think Rodon and Ampadu is the best possible pairing in central defence, but Allen and Ampadu is also the best combination at the base of midfield. I expect Ampadu may be our best striker and goalkeeper too though”
“We all dream of a team of Ampadu’s, a team of Ampadu’s . . . “