Liverpool ‘bottling’ impossible but Manchester City points deduction chances ‘fast diminishing’
There is some pre-emptive Premier League title ‘bottle’ defending from a Liverpool fan, but also talk of Manchester City’s points deduction and more.
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Get a grip
Following Liverpool over the years I have learned a few things.
If one great Barcelona team can score 3 goals in one game, you can score 4 on the return leg and win.
If one great Milan team can score 3 goals in one half of a final, you can at least equal that to bring the game to extra time.
So if 2 or 3 teams can drop about 10 points behind you in the first half of the season, you can drop 10 points in the second half of the season and they can catch you and beat you.
It’s not bottling it. It’s just having your weak period after everyone else.
It’s barely December. Nothing is decided. Nothing is in our hands.
Get a grip… everyone.
Joe lfc (maybe pep took the contract extension to guarantee a good payout when he gets fired. 4d chess!!)
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The Spurs fear returns
Ange Postecoglou cannot understand the reaction from the Spurs fans at the end of the Fulham game, yet some of it is obvious to me.
The team were laboured in the Palace and Ipswich games – and not much better against Fulham.
The overpassing in the defence from both ‘keepers and slow build-ups just encourage the opposition. Surely, this is obvious isn’t it?
The next two games are against Bournemouth and Chelsea; two teams that give me indigestion just watching their work-rate.
If Tottenham do not match them – I fear two beatings.
Anthony
Any tips on what the Bournemouth v Spurs score will be? Asking for a friend.
Dan
Manchester City case to drag
Sorry to p*ss on people’s respective parades, but the likelihood of City facing a points deduction in this current season is fast diminishing. It seems that we’re not expecting an outcome from the hearing until around Easter. If City are indeed handed a points deduction, the only way I don’t see them appealing is if it’s pathetic enough to keep them in the league. Judging by their current performances this would need to be less than about 30 points. Whilst that would be unprecedented, the level of wrongdoing that they’re accused of would warrant significantly more, if proven. I’m sure Everton and Forest fans would be particularly aggrieved at such a pathetic sanction.
Anything else and City will appeal. They have shown absolutely no cooperation throughout the process and through this associated party transaction farce have continued to be a thorn in the Premier League’s side. It’s likely to be next summer at the earliest before this is resolved. When is the latest this can happen to enable the relevant teams to participate in their respective leagues?
In addition, there’s absolutely no guarantee that the EFL will accept City if they are expelled from the Premier League. What do EFL club supporting mailboxers think of the possibility of facing City next season (or after)?
Ashmundo
READ MORE: Manchester City ‘worried’ about 115 charge ‘catastrophe’ and Liverpool agree Arsenal are rubbish
And Mbappe new year
Let’s try and have a crack at this then Neville. What’s up at/with Villa?
Football is all about fine margins, always has been. Watkins has been missing some big chances. Martinez has been making uncharacteristic mistakes/decisions. Rogers’ passing and control has been awful in the last few weeks. Actually, that can be said for a fair few players. Diego Carlos just looks constantly nervous, and rightly so. Bailey also looks like he’s seen a ghost. I don’t understand what Philogene is. The problem Villa have is that all these things are happening at the same time, and no looks like snapping out of their funk.
The summer business was generally okay; Philogene aside. Would it be nice to still have Luiz and Diaby? Sure, but Luiz hadn’t been great and was slightly tailing off at the end of last season, whilst Diaby full on plummeted from about December and just didn’t look interested. Barkley, Onana, and Maatsen look like good additions to the squad. Ramsey, Buendia, Kamara, and Mings returning added to that.
Lets not sugarcoat it, Villa have looked pretty abject for a few months now, with Chelsea hopefully the ‘peak’ and denouement. They are bereft of confidence and energy. I’m not sure fixing it is all that complicated though. Emery has to freshen things up. Try a few things to get a jammy result that helps the players. I totally understand why you’d trust the players that did what they did last year to get you out of this malaise, but it’s quite clear now that’s not going to happen. Give Maatsen a few starts. Barkley too. Tielemans needs a rest, as does Rogers. Hopefully Ramsey is back soon. Start Duran in one of the next two home games.
The CL is going okay, with only ‘that’ goal conceded, and yet Villa are conceding left, right, and centre in the PL. It’s clear the CL his distracted a fair bit from the PL, as Derek from Dundalk alluded to (with Newcastle last season).
Villa over achieved last season. They’re underachieving now. If they beat Brentford tomorrow and Southampton on Saturday though, the table will look a lot more healthy – and will probably reflect where Villa are/should be. It’s a worrying spell, no doubt, but I’m happy to asses where we are nearer the end of February, and panic then if I have to.
Ta,
Gary AVFC, Oxford (Hoping people appreciate the subject header reference)
Whose fault is it?
City fan here. Now I don’t usually respond to tribalistic nonsense, because it really is just b*llocks. I used to be that bloke whose whole week could be ruined by a defeat and, conversely, be elated by a rare win against, say, United. This being in the many decades when we were mostly pants you understand.
My world used to revolve around how I could watch, or listen, to City games often to the detriment of my relationships with partners or family.
Not anymore.
Why? In my case, two little monsters that are my children. That I was blessed with relatively late in life. One of whom thinks it hilarious to support Liverpool! Now, he couldn’t name more than three ‘Pool players and won’t watch any football game for more than five minutes before he is bored of it, but by God does he love wearing his full red kit whenever I take them out.
Time was, I would’ve moved heaven and earth to change his mind. Now? Couldn’t care less. If he grows up actually supporting Liverpool? So what? If it makes him happy, then I’m happy.
And before the amateur Freudians jump in, I’m perfectly well aware as to why he behaves like this, even though he doesn’t actually like football. It’s because I must’ve banged on about how much I dislike (hate?) Liverpool. And that, dear reader, is entirely on me. 100% on me. Remember the picture of a primary school-aged boy sticking two fingers up? Where did he learn that I wonder?
When we take our children to matches and, by doing so, directly or indirectly make violence (or the threat of it), truly foul language, tragedy chanting, racism or homophobia acceptable because, “That’s what happens at football”, then whose fault is that?
Football rivalry, even fierce rivalry is perfectly fine. But hate? And when we expose our own kids to it then we need to take a long hard look at ourselves do we not?
Finally, and to Mat (Arsenal & Chelsea etc). Respectfully, that’s an awful lot of wishful thinking if you don’t mind me saying so. Might I suggest you go to the MCFC website/video/menssteam/managersreaction to actually hear what he said about LFC and their supporters, specifically around the chant and his reaction. Looking forward to your response once you have.
Mark (If youth only knew. If age only could). MCFC.
It’s a fix!
So here’s a little curve ball for you to distract you from the Christmas advert onslaught.
We’ve had lots of discussion about high profile referees being biased ( which is a lot worse than incompetent) ….Coote and Oliver sitting on top of the Christmas tree ( see how those damn adverts get in your head??).
But are there any readers out there who think ” I hope we get so and so this week..I think he’s got a little soft spot for us”….I’m not talking about where maybe the odd decision has gone your team’s way .. I mean something more significant ( sinister?) than that.
I sit back and watch the Christmas adverts with bated breath..
Phil ( maybe too much time on my hands) Liasides
The Stewie reaction
Stewie is insufferable at the best of times, but now that he’s done some sort of community centre creative writing course we have to wade through sh*t and tortuous analogies to try and parse what he’s trying to say. That was the most long winded piffle I’ve read when he could have said ‘questions should be asked of Arteta if Slot wins the league.’ Eloquence is important Stewie.
Stewie is an anal polyp, a swollen hemorrhoid on every F365 Arsenal fan’s sphincter. I totally understand why you print him, he successfully boils the p*ss of us Gooners and so we bite. Here I am, someone who should know better, biting. We’re 13 games in pal and you’re anointing Slot as the winner huh. So if Liverpool don’t win, they bottled it, right? I remember the glee you took Stewie in our almost ran seasons, so I’m sure he will use that silver tongue of yours to write similar screeds about their failure and choking. Oh right, you won’t, because you’re a trolling cretin.
Shall I tell you something Stewie, I’ve really enjoyed Arteta’s tenure as our manager. In fact, I don’t rightly care that we haven’t won the league, we hadn’t won it for 20 years, so why do I care any more now? We have a great pipeline of youth to first team, the fans love the team, we are demonstrably better than we were in the previous decade under Wenger and Emery. In Saka we have a generational home grown player. So sure, sit in your misery, moan about how Arteta hasn’t won anything and is some sort of fraud, even though he’s got us scoring more goals than any Arsenal team before, with record points total for the club. If you view everything through your miopic lens, I’m not surprised you’re so eternally miserable.
I think you should stop watching football.
John Matrix AFC
I hate to be the one to bite at Stewie Griffin’s email (I usually skip right over them to be honest) but… Arteta was appointed in December 2019, he’s had 5 full seasons and 2 part seasons that, coincidentally, add up to 38 games. He hasn’t had 7 seasons, you could maybe stretch it to 6 seasons. However, in my opinion he can’t be fairly judged on the first half-season in 19/20, nor the second half-season of 24/25 as it is still yet to play out fully. I’d say judge him on 5 seasons, and for my money I think he is doing pretty well.
Here’s another opinion of mine, that’s not a “tortured analogy” that’s a “dante’s inferno analogy”! He really comes across as an insufferable prick!
Colin Sheppard, Kent
That ashtray a month ago had more non-penalty goals than Haaland in 2024…We like our ashtray just fine thanks Stewie
Rob A (now Emery is poor, Slot and the awful awful Liverpool team he inherited is the new stick for Stewie to beat Arteta with apparently, yawn) AFC
Morsy code
The Sam Morsy story: joining the below the line conversation is unsurprisingly difficult so I’m mailing instead.
Firstly, Morsy pretending this is to do with his religious beliefs is a lie. Let’s not pretend otherwise. A quick click on the ITFC website shows some ‘elite partners’ whose operations definitely do not align with certain religious beliefs. But does the club captain help advertise these partners? Does he take their money? Yes.
Fine: hypocrisy is not illegal, we’d all be in jail otherwise. But once your religious beliefs turn into a buffet of convenience, they become what I refer to as ‘personal’ beliefs. Sam Morsy is opting out of supporting the LGBTQIA community due to what he likes and does not like, not what he’s been taught to believe. Let’s not pretend Ipswich Town are struggling with competing tolerances here.
As for Ipswich, their statement is pathetic. They make all the noises and dish out the buzzwords they think people want to hear about this; proud, support, stand with, solidarity, inclusivity, blah blah blah. This is patronising b*llocks: a semitone away from, some of our best tractors are gay actually, and then getting Ed Sheeran on at half time to sing I Am What I Am.
But their actions? Have they decided to nominate a different captain for one of their 40+ games to allow them to continue with the campaign? Given that the captain doesn’t actually do anything apart from call heads/tails? No. The tiniest gesture available to them that actually means anything was still a step too far.
Progress is supposed to be inconvenient and unpopular, otherwise we’d be there already. Until a player or a club does something they don’t want to, things won’t change.
At least some good is coming of this though. Previously I’d thought the rainbow campaign was the usual diluted hand wafting; a bit of extra colour added to Sky’s branding, just imperceptible enough to avoid enraging the #shovingitdownourthroat phone-in monsters.
But now between this and Marc Guehi’s edgelord protest, it seems we are starting to see some people’s true colours, appropriately enough. And the first part of a solution is seeing the problem.
Neil Raines
Jesus
The irony of the headline about a man declaring his love for a man as a reason to not wear an armband that acknowledges man on man love is just the best.
(old enough to remember brackets)
Richard