Mails: Dele Alli is that type of player

Daniel Storey

Tomorrow we’ll no doubt have more Premier League weekend thoughts sent to theeditor@football365.com. You’re good, you lot…

Dele Alli: That type of player
So I know we all hate talking about referees, but when a referee’s incompetence starts threatening players’ safety on the field, which the referee is supposed to safeguard, then we really have to talk about that performance.

Saying it is a thankless job feels like a cop out. I understand that it is a difficult job but if Craig Pawson really is the pinnacle of this profession then VAR really cannot come soon enough. It is only through sheer brilliance on Man City’s part that they deemed the frankly unacceptable and shocking decisions irrelevant. De Bruyne and Sterling were both very lucky to avoid serious injury, which would have changed not just the course of the match but would have also had season defying consequences. The fact that both challenges were witnessed and only warranted warnings is very disheartening.

Additionally, when the margins for top 4 are so thin at the end of the season (often decided by a single point), Pawson’s incompetence in sending off English media darlings Kane and Alli not only affects this game, it affects the next three matches, the teams they play and those around them chasing fourth.

The FA are also partly to blame for such a scenario. In France, it doesn’t matter if a player has been already booked. The FA can still review incidents and impose bans if needs be. This ensures appropriate punishments are doled out for reckless behavior on the field, regardless of it was seen or not. As it stands, both Kane and Alli, who should both be starting 3 game bans at this crucial stage of the season, walk away scot free with no repercussions because the FA have ruled the incidents have been dealt with. It is an absolutely ridiculous rule that just compounds one error with another and hands Spurs an unfair advantage.

Finally, Alli is definitely that type of player. A dirty player with no regard for his fellow professionals who has let the media fawning get to his head. The referees do him no favors by constantly protecting him and forgiving his naughtiness on the field. By taking away the punishment, they take away his chance to learn from his mistakes and to grow up.

As it stands, with every stamp, ankle breaker, leg breaker he gets away with, it just reinforces how he is untouchable. De Bruyne can join Tomovic (kick to back), Mbemba (kicked into hoardings), Dejaeger (kick to knee v/s Gent), Mitrovic (kick to shin), Cabaye (knee to back), Can (push), Van Aanholt (shove to face), O’Shea (punch), Fosu Mensah (kick to ankle), Craig Dawson (push to hoardings) amongst others in showing how Alli is definitely not that type of player.
Falooda in NY (Waiting for Pawson’s “I let Spurs self implode” in 2019)

 

Some more conclusions
– Losing 5-0 to Man City with 10 men wasn’t that dreadful really. This could’ve been 6 or 7 if Man City had been clinical.

– I love Alli, but he’s a very dirty player with a real nasty streak in him. Probably should’ve seen red today.

– Sterling should’ve had at least a hat trick today. He’s been playing so well but was very wasteful today I felt.

– Is Kevin De Bruyne ginger or blonde? If he’s ginger then he might be the best ginger since Paul Scholes.

– Pawson could win awards for his lack of consistency. I think that he may just be one of the worst referees in the league. He doesn’t do a Clattenburg in his desperation for attention at least but have a clear and consistent thought process in the way you give decisions. Refereeing requires considered thought and it doesn’t feel like everything he does is well thought through.

– I’m not saying this to sound like a twat, but what does Man City need to do to sell out their stadium? They’re playing great football, the stadium is lovely and today they were playing in a huge game. If I were a neutral and lived nearby I’d want to get tickets. I don’t understand why they can’t sell out a game like this.
Minty, LFC

 

Someone who thinks ‘the powers that be’ censure Guardiola criticism
Man City just won yet again impressively and in the past week there have been quite a few people discussing/stressing in the mailbox about a sustained period of Guardiola led dominance in the EPL but I very much doubt it.

This not just because no team has won back to back titles since Man United 2007-2009 or that with the amount of money top teams have power shifts very quickly but because of City’s weakest link which is Guardiola himself as he has the staying power of an umbrella in a hurricane. There might be a lot of disagreement here but just look at Guardiola’s career and it shows a theme.

At Barcelona he won everything (with probably the most talent club team we’ll ever see but even an OK manager like Luis Enrique won everything with them one season which is fact not brought up enough for reasons I can certainly fathom). He was then crowned the best manager there has ever ever been but as soon as meanie Mourinho and his Real Madrid side won the La Liga title (no CL win that season either) Guardiola ran away with his tail between his legs to New York to lick his wounds.

Guardiola then took charge of a Bayern Munich side that Jupp Heynckes has molded into the best into Europe’s and had strolled majestically to the CL title the season before. The mighty Guardiola somehow manage to regress this side even after huge investment. Once he realised there was little chance he could win the CL title with this team he left with his reputation as the world’s best manager somehow intact after doing little of note in 3 years (winning domestic titles in Germany when you are Bayern counts for very little).

To make comparison Fergie a true great encountered three huge tests in his managerial career but never gave up until he overcame them. First was Arsene Wenger with his new foreign way of thinking, ridiculously talented and although hard to believe now incredibly physically imposing & aggressive side that Fergie limited to no back to back titles along with winning more himself.

Next was record-breaking (plus free spending) Chelsea with Mourinho that set the bar so high that Fergie’s United Looked past it however yet again the Scot took on the challenge and knocked them off their perch resulting in Mourinho’s eventual sacking and United cementing themselves as England top side again. Lastly there was Man City even more cash rich and obnoxious about it who won the title with that memorable Aguero goal. Fergie the next season took the most bang average United side plus Van Persie in the form of his career and strolled to the title before retiring a legend.

To put it plainly Guardiola in the same situation would have quit after Arsenal won that first title because once his dominance is challenged he’s isn’t up to the fight to regain it. It smacks of an arrogant little man who believes who’s own hype and feels entitled to win everything so runs away and sulks once one of his peers who he sees as below him steal his trophies. Until Guardiola stays at a club who win lots then fall but he stays to guide them to greatness again he will never be a true legend however many trophies his career provides him with.

Man City will win the title this season, possibly the CL too while probably breaking a few records on the way but nobody should be thinking this will last very long as Man City will falter one season soon and he will scarper so in 2-3 seasons max he’ll be at PSG who will the next super rich club to bankroll his fragile ego and make him feel special for a few seasons.

Now just to appease the powers that be at 365 I’ll admit Guardiola is a great manager who changed the game and we haven’t seen football this good in the EPL since Man Utd’s treble winners and the Henry/Vieira Arsenal years but be realistic and accept Pep is fallible and that this will be over sooner rather than later because of his obvious character flaws.
William, Leicester

 

Alli in a different league to KDB
Will Dele Alli be getting an assist for KDB’s goal and subsequent performance yesterday?

He got taught a lesson that when you try and take out a big beast with your tw*ttery you just make them angry and strike back harder.

Hope he learns. Probably won’t.
Duck

 

The media to blame for refereeing inconsistency
Reading your 16 conclusions on the Man City and Spurs game yesterday i couldnt help but notice the point you made about the Rose push on Mangala which you pointed out:

“But it would be intriguing to hear what Pawson saw when giving a penalty to Everton for Dejan Lovren’s push on Dominic Calvert-Lewin last week that he did not here. Both were penalties, yet only one was deemed as such.”

And the answer to why it wasn’t given is pretty simple,he was hammered by the press for giving the penalty in the Merseyside derby (it was the correct decision by the laws of the game). So he is faced with a similar decision yesterday,he doesnt give it. And why? In the end popular opinion will win out. Craig Pawson was told all week that he had made the wrong decision,so during the game yesterday he didn’t give it.

More than likely because the criticism last week effected him,the same as it would any player. He doesn’t want the same controversy two weeks in a row.

So if you want to see the power of the media over football matches then yesterday was a perfect example. Damned if you do,damned if you don’t. Everyone has a different opinion so how can a ref be consistent? The impossible job indeed…

On a related note,Kevin de Bruyne tho….wow! I think the quote from Rio Ferdinand is fantastic. He said that he thought left footed players always look stylish and skillful on the ball(my theory being that the majority of footballers being right footed makes left footers seem out of the norm if you will,simply because it’s different than the usual). And quite frankly Kevin de Bruynes head,chest,left foot,right foot and arse is outside the norm when it comes to the Premier league. He makes the simple look sublime! And i would include David Silva in that category too.And im a United fan!
Steve(Ireland)

 

And it’s bloody easy with hindsight and under no pressure
In City vs Spurs 16 Conclusions Matt Stead pontificates that he’s like to ask Craig Pawson why Lovren’s push on Calvert-Lewin resulted in a penalty when Danny Rose’ push on Mangala a week later did not. I can only think that because his decision last week was absolutely lambasted in the national press and social media, so much so, that he thought to himself “maybe I won’t award a penalty for that next time”.

The problem with fans and critics is that they not only have the gift of hindsight, they also don’t have the luxury of not being the person who actually has to make a big call in a live, televised, beamed around the world Premier League game.

Pawson can’t win under these circumstances. If he was “consistent” and award Mangala a penalty, then he wouldn’t be getting praised for being consistent, he’d be getting slaughtered for awarding two penalties which, it seems, incredibly vocal and untrained referees, disagree with.

Next week, if there’s another push in the penalty area, it would be interesting to see what he does, seeing as whatever he does seems to be wrong.
Dale May, Swindon Wengerite

 

Marco Silva isn’t very good
Second worst defense in the league?

Five games without a win?

Three of Huddersfield’s goals were scored with equal men? so Deeney can’t even be blamed?

It’s as if Marco Silva isn’t actually that good a manager.

I do look forward to winners and losers not even mentioning him on Monday though.
Daniel M
(Two things: 1) He did take over the team that finished 17th. 2) This isn’t all about Silva being a brilliant manager. It’s about managers not being written off on the basis of their nationality, but judged on merit).

 

I mean you can’t deny that it’s a joke
Yes Man City are very good. So much so that I think everyone has written as much as they can about how good they actually are. So instead here’s a joke my mate George came up with in the pub:

Which Man City player should be a vet?

Otter-mendy
Gary H

 

Storey claiming an assist on this one
If I am not wrong, Daniel Storey suggested that Andros Townsend, Ilkay Gundogan and Elias Kachunga had lost their mojo.

I guess they read the article and this weekend they were out there with the aim of proving him wrong and they surely did.

Let’s hope the rest of them will go through the article too.
Ian ( Despite Alexis losing his mojo, I believe they will miss him in case he leaves) Nairobi.