Give Klopp his replay and watch Spurs ‘batter’ Liverpool; blaming the Glazers for Man Utd injuries

Jurgen Klopp can have his replay if Liverpool continue to play with nine players and are we really blaming the Glazers for the injuries at Manchester United now?

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.

VAR comedic climax
Lots of chat about VAR in the mailbox understandably. I support Liverpool going after a reasonable explanation/solution that benefits all clubs, odd to say out loud.

I would also love to see a replay – I think we can all agree it would be an excellent comedic climax to this whole sorry affair.

Give Pool their goal, drop them down two players (as those decisions were correct so it’s only fair) and see how it goes. Given a second chance, I’d expect Spurs to batter them as they can plan all week for it.

I’m sure Klopp will blame the wind or some other injustice when they lose. And everyone will be suitably warm and fuzzy because it was fair and there was integrity.

Or, we can just realise it’s now an entertainment product, and there hasn’t been sporting integrity since that ‘fit and proper’ Russian loaned a small club in West London some cash. Makes it all easier to stomach the complete and utter clownshow it’s become.
Dan (Ajax Cape Town), god forbid there’s a kak decision in the replay

Just leave it
Chris, Croydon. Mate. Plenty of us are old enough to remember the Sheffield United rematch and what caused it, and ’embarrassing misunderstanding’ is not quite accurate, is it bud? It’s probably more accurate to say ‘blatant and disgraceful cheating by Overmars’ is probably closer to the truth. Followed by your ever so classy manager NOT allowing the opposition a free goal to rectify the situation, leading to a massive outcry and an unnecessary extra match. Your players wilfully and knowingly broke the basic moral code of the game. Let’s not conflate the issues, nor muddy the waters with absurd examples of outright awfulness. Silly boy.

TM, these things happen. They just do. Get over it. We’ve had Clattenberg and Dean both admit to intentionally failing to apply laws in the past, for differing reasons. In most games of football you will see a referee fail to act in a situation that requires it. We all know it. We all know that players are unlikely to get sent off in the early stages. That some refs will let you get away with a yellow card offence because you’re already on one and they don’t want to send you off for it. That time wasting is unlikely to be penalised until the final stages of a game. When we played Sheffield United everyone in the ground knew that their keeper was being given carte blanche to time waste with impunity, because he was already booked in the first half and the ref was NEVER going to send him off. All of these are issues that can ultimately have a substantial impact. But the rest of us just accept that life is inconsistent and expecting, nay demanding perfection, is a miserable path to unhappiness and dissatisfaction.

Still, at least we know what every Liverpool fan is going to hear for the next few years whenever a decision goes in their favour. I, for one, am ever so excited to see the mental hoops they leap through to explain why every other situation is different – and more importantly, not as bad – as this one.

And in the world of mad hypotheticals, what happens if we give them a replay and beat them by a greater margin, then shuffle them out of the top four on goal difference? Will they want the original result back? Another replay? Void the league?

Just leave it. And if you insist on banging on and on, at least stop pretending it is for anyone else’s benefit. That’s just weird.
thayden

VAR and UCAS
I would like to respond to TM’s letter entitled Why this cock-up is different.

As any secondary school teacher at this time of year knows, a bunch of year 13 kids will spend hours of their time trying to convince you that the predicted grade you’re giving them for their university applications is uniquely unfair to them, even though every assessment they’ve ever done is a B or a C, they’re  definitely going to get an A* in the end.

I’d like to tell TM what I say to these pupils . ‘ we may be wrong, in most cases we’re not, but you are not unique, the rules have been applied in the same way to you as to everyone else’

I have listened to the audio, the instruction given to the referee wasn’t to award the goal, rather the instruction was to go with the on-field decision. Which means that  (in the words of TM) ‘ The application of that decision was that no goal was awarded. The decision and the application were consistent’

Thanks
AB P.S. if you think VAR is a poorly constructed system it has nothing on the ucas predicted grades system.

Glazer injuries
I’ve been hearing for years how everything wrong at United is the fault of the Glazers – some reasons accurate and some utter nonsense.  But AVM, Phoenix putting the blame on the Glazers for INJURIES…oh come on, this is a new one and possible the worst excuse I have heard yet!

From
It’s the Glazers fault my wife left me 

OPINION: The leading contenders to be next Manchester United manager if they sack Erik ten Hag

Keegan
In response to SH (if you’re trying to appear like a level-headed voice of reason, maybe don’t open with ‘frothing classes’) – I tend to think when someone says something either ill-judged or crass it is generally best ignored.  If the head of FIFA said “I don’t like listening to ladies talking about the England men’s team at the match because I don’t think it’s the same experience” that’s probably newsworthy. Kevin Keegan saying it a private function in 2023…I’m unclear why anyone cares what he has to say, but it’s been reported and you wrote in about it, so here we are.

An uncharitable view of his comments as a whole could be that he is suggesting women are okay to present a football program for an England match, but not give an opinion. Look pretty and read the autocue but leave the tactical stuff to use boys.

A more charitable view is that he is saying that the only people on earth who can comment on the England men’s team are people who have reached that pinnacle, the highest level of all football – playing for England men in a major tournament.

This somehow assumes a level of punditry that I have not noticed.  Tends to be “was that a foul?” or “should he have passed there?” or “why hasn’t he started (insert tricky midfielder) today.” I rarely hear discussion on the biomechanics of hitting a clean strike using your superior muscle density – perhaps ITV cover that stuff? But! Let us move on from that and take a selective peek at those top level football talents who were paid to pundit/co-commentate the last (men’s, natch) world cup.

Jermaine Jenas – zero starts in the 2006 world cup. Not picked in a squad for any other major tournaments. 21 caps, 1 goal.

Micah Richards – never made a tournament squad. Very good manager Roy Hodgson picked meme specialist Phil Jones ahead of him for Euro 2012.

Actual Danny Murphy – 9 England caps, zero tournament squads.

Stephen Warnock – who is, with the best will in the world, Stephen Warnock.

Chris (quiz answer for 1 cap wonders Sutton.

This is not slight on any of these fine people. Some of them are excellent and/or entertaining pundits. And some are Danny Murphy.  The point is, if you are going to apply a ludicrous standard to anyone discussing the sport, you probably ought to apply it universally. Otherwise you’ll end up arguing that Stephen Warnock is better qualified to comment on a major tournament final than a woman who’s actually played in one.

I make no judgement on what Keegan is reported to have said. It’s irritating that it sparks a whole load more tedious “women aren’t as good as men” people to pipe up, but ultimately meaningless. Yet I wrote a whole mail about it, instead of something useful, so well played everyone.
Jeremy (thing is, I really don’t care what Keegan has to say about anything) Aves

I guess this is an old school thing. Wor Kev has spoken, and whilst you could argue his comments are being skewed a little (he was quite complimentary about some female pundits), he is a proper idiot for going down this particular rabbit hole. His comments don’t make a whole lot of sense – why single out international football, the “logic” that he uses – “I don’t think it’s the same experience” – can be applied to any level of the game.

I do get that it’s an adjustment. We have been so used to hearing male voices only that it was strange (at least to me) when female commentators and pundits first contributed to the men’s game, but it has become completely normalised at this point, and that can only be a good thing. One thing I have noticed about many a female ex-player-turned-pundit is that their diction, rhetoric and use of cliches is absolutely on a par with their male counterparts, it’s like a sub-language that those in the game seem powerless to resist.

Back to Keegan though. He could make exactly the same point if someone from the sub-continent was a part of the commentary team, but he wouldn’t because a) he doesn’t have to, the game still has yet to bridge this particular gap, and b) it would be blatantly racist if he did. And if that would be a form of bigotry, then so are his comments about women.

The worst thing about this is the oh-so-predictable response on social media. Incels and misogynists (many of whom lack self-awareness on such a pathological level that they don’t even understand they have a problem with women) lining up to back Keegan in their masses. Social media is staggeringly depressing these days – the alt-right/populist right (basically the same thing) have won this battle for the time being, and we have taken a step backwards as people fall over themselves to show what bigots they are, feeling safety in numbers.

I am sure the playground bullies in the comments section will think this is all a right larf.
Matthew (RIP WellRed, thanks Mark Twain for your wisdom)

‘Lady Ferguson’
They say that behind every successful man is a good woman.  Then surely behind the most successful British manager ever there must have been an amazing Lady.  One of my fondest moments in life was as a starry eyed 9 year old watching the Champions League final on that balmy night in 99.  Not only because of the outcome but the fact that it was one of the last memories I have of my parents being together. That’s what Sir Alex could do, he created moments for so many of us that will be cherished for lifetimes.

Hardcore football fans sometimes joke that football is the most important thing in life but we know deep down it’s family and the ones we love.   I’m sure many others have similar memories of United games bringing their family together and experiencing the magic that Sir Alex created. A foundation for that magic was his wife; she gave Alexander the love, support and stability to be The Great.  So immense was his love for his ‘bedrock’ that he actually retired from the game he had conquered to spend more time with her when her sister died. So whilst many of us may not know much about Lady Ferguson, we know this: her impact on Sir Alex will be an enduring legacy and a testament to what true love can do for a man. So to Lady Ferguson we thank you.
Mason Wild