Manchester City are cursed and the Everton, Frank Lampard hate is weird

Editor F365
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Pep Guardiola reacts

Manchester City put on an attacking clinic but still gave Real Madrid a chance, while there are defences of Everton and Frank Lampard.

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.

 

About last night…
Football is brilliant.
Jon, Lincoln.

 

Blimey.  That did nothing for my dodgy ticker.  But what a game.  Sheesh.

If you watched it, then I have no unique clinical analysis to offer.  You saw what we all saw.

If, however, you watched that as a neutral, and didn’t think that it was one of the best CL games of recent times (Note for trolls not THE best just one of them), then you’re probably one of the few mailers that like to write in about how boring it is to watch City because they are ‘robotic’ or ‘sterile’.

If you couldn’t watch that and appreciate Vinicius Jr’s goal as a thing of beauty as well as Benzema’s skill and even more outrageous pen or Ferna’s delicious cross for Foden’s header and Bernardo’s sweet left foot strike then, might I respectfully suggest, perhaps you are not quite as neutral as you might like to think.

Just a thought.

Personally?  I’ll take that kind of ‘robotic’ all day long,
Mark (4-3.  Without our first-choice defence.  Get in!).  MCFC.

 

A superb combination – a club that can’t win the champions league no matter how good they get, against a club that seems well able to win it no matter how average they get – and a game that really reflected that.

I’m not normally one for putting too much stock in the idea that a club’s history and culture , successes and failures are all relevant factors in deciding what happens on the pitch, but are City  just bloody cursed or what? City were awesome again last night, just as they have been countless times under Pep. I’m a Liverpool fan and I even think it would be a pity if they failed to win it eventually. But they keep making huge mistakes at huge moments, time and time again in Europe. And Madrid are good at …scoring goals- and that’s it! They’re not even good at creating lots of chances, they just take a few they get, almost as if it’s inevitable, simply because they’re Real Madrid.

I’m positive that City will be the better team next week, but you just feel that, yet again with City in the UCL ,being good enough might not be good enough- and especially so against this lot.
Bryan

 

Can the people who whined about the ending of the away goals rule in European football, step forward please?

Free from the shackles of stick or twist caused by the away goals jeopardy, teams can just go blow for blow for every minute of every game.

Just brilliant.
Eoghan

 

The shame of it is that it was played to such a restricted television audience. This is Box Office football, and the sooner it is back on terrestrial television, the better.

What a game.
Bladey Mick (Wow!)

 

That Benzyma is some player
Gaz, CFC, Sidcup (Real have got more lives than the cat next door)

 

After that Man City Vs Real Madrid match I am sure I am not alone when I say I cannot wait to see an article from Johnny ‘happy’ Nic saying how such matches are a stain on society, and how we are all a disgrace for not seeing that Concord Rangers v Slough on the same night was the more important (and better) match.

All the best
Lee, Boro 

 

Leave Everton alone
Where has all this hate for Everton come from?

So they played Mourinhoball against Liverpool? It’s hardly the crime of the century.

And wanting a club to end their nearly 70 year tenure in the top flight because they appointed Frank Lampard? Let’s have some perspective.

I can think of loads more clubs with more disagreeable fans than Everton’s. My own club, me included, are incredibly annoying due to the number of keyboard warriors we have produced – I’ve been writing into F365’s mailbox for 20 years!

I can’t wish any ill on Everton. They’re a great community club with a lovely bunch of fans and as a founding member of the Premier League and an ever present in the top flight in practically everyone you know’s lifetime, if they do go down then I’ll certainly miss them – even if no-one else will.

I’m really hoping that we have secured European football and Everton are safe by the time Arsenal meet Everton on the final day of the season – it will be a meeting between the two teams with the longest continual runs in the top flight to date – I hope that run isn’t broken.
Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London

 

Almost exactly 1 year ago 6 teams tried to join the “Super league” and screw over football as we all know and love it.

Chelsea are/were owned by one of Putins best mates.

Newcastle were bought by a country currently at war with a neighbour and possessing a horrendous human rights record.

Yet Everton are being painted as the bad guys and getting a kicking here at every turn.

Some balance might not go amiss.
Steve Limerick Ireland 

 

…but pile on Frank
I for one will be very sad to see Everton go down, if that ends up their fate. Not because of their football particularly, though it was a lot better at the beginning of the season.

I like their history, I like that they’ve struggled successfully against relegation and battled through. For me, it’s a shame that they’re struggling again after looking like they might have made some good signings and progress. Terrible ownership, terrible board, terrible managerial appointments. Maybe it’s a little bit of empathy from the plight of United. However, I can never wish a side to be relegated – especially when you know that you’ll likely never see them back in the top flight again. Ok, there’s an exception – I’d love to see West Ham disappear, but that’s a historic hatred of their scum supporters. Does anyone really hate Everton that much?

But I cannot abide Lampard. Couldn’t abide him as a player – oooh he scored a lot of goals, while taking an absolute tonne of shots rather than pass to his colleagues in better positions, and IMO was regularly a waste of an England shirt (give me Scholes and Gerrard in the centre any day). Can’t really get on board with him as a person – maybe i’m jealous of his massively unchallenging life from birth through to being gifted multi-million-pound management contracts he doesn’t in any way deserve. My hope is that the side somehow scrapes through and he’s ditched off in the most deserving and humiliating of ways.

However, seeing these tedious red pile-ons in the mailbox should just remind everyone how utterly abhorrent so many gloating Liverpool fans are. And as if one of them complained about Everton players diving… honestly, self-awareness much?

And that is why more fans would rather City won the league than Liverpool.
Badwolf

 

And now leave Frank alone
Dear F365.

As a Spurs supporter I’m certainly no fan of Frank Lampard, I can recognise just how good a player he was though.

I’m not sure I agree (or am that comfortable) with the kicking he seems to be getting from. He deserves to be criticised because his team are quite likely to be relegated but the criticism for him taking the job seems very bizarre. Why wouldn’t a manager take the reins of a prem team that are towards the bottom of the league if you have the confidence and vision? Plenty have had the same opportunity, plenty have failed as well, I’m not sure why Lampard is being singled out?

The comparisons at the moment are with Eddie Howe and why he’s the poster boy for a team in dire straits, his last prem side were relegated, surely that made him an even bigger gamble for a relegation threatened club? I remember the defence on here of Marco Silva when he was appointed to help steer a relegation threatened Hull despite never having managed in the prem or been in a relegation scrap. Arteta’s appointment at Arsenal was initially welcomed and Vieira’s at Palace was also fine (he had only managed 30 or so games more than Lampard). Graham Potter had 51 or so games under his belt in the Championship but plenty in Sweden, again, none had any direct experience or success of the job they were then recruited for.

As I said, I’m no Lampard nor Everton fan, I don’t really understand the glee of their demise because Frank was in your opinion unqualified for the task. We should be trying to nurture young managerial talent rather than hoping and praying they fail.
Steve (THFC)

 

Toffees lament
I’m not going to talk about the derby match any more. I imagine it’s pretty boring now and both sides have said all that can be said. Ste, L13 got it right when he says no one hates Everton as much as Evertonians, and as always it’s the hope that gets you.

Jack Kildare, I generally don’t hear anyone defending Richarlison’s antics when it comes to faking injuries. I do know it is a source of frustration for many Evertonians. I think as fans we can all be guilty of excusing undesirable behaviour from our players (several things just jumped into your head right??) trying to waste a bit of time on the pitch is probably one of the least objectionable.

Paul McDevitt has been listening to Everton podcasts for some reason? And is shocked to find some blinkered and passionate opinions contained within. Is he suggesting that Liverpool’s reputation and status played no part in those players joining them? Liverpool’s recruitment, scouting, backroom set up is excellent. They have consistently identified the right players and brought those players in to benefit the team. No one is denying that. But to suggest that the task isn’t made easier than it is for other clubs because of the worldwide reputation of Liverpool is just the kind of well-reasoned and not-at-all biased opinion I’d expect to hear in the local shouty fan podcast.

And finally… To Frank Lampard, and some of the claims and opinions that have been expressed. James, Sussex nodded all the way through Jonny Nic’s article and wants to know why Everton didn’t get Eddie Howe. For a start, the article was nothing but click bait garbage. I sometimes like Jonny Nic’s articles, but they have been getting worse and worse lately. The thing is, I don’t actually believe that Jonny would want Everton to get relegated. But this pie in the sky “football would be so much better if we didn’t have capitalism or money or if Liverpool, City, Man U, Tottenham all f**ked off to Europe or all the players were happy to play for thruppence a season and pocket full of skittles” narrative is not rooted in any kind of realism or real world thinking. It’s click bate and its designed to drive traffic and comments on this site. Which I don’t have a problem with as I live in the real world and I know that if I want a site like this to continue, it might need a little click bate to help with revenue.

However back to Frank. My simple opinion is, what up and coming successful manager, or even experienced manager would want to come and ruin their reputation at Everton? Who could we get? Do you think Eddie Howe or Graham Potter would want to risk their career by coming to us? Should we have gone back to Allerdyce and said, well since we are still paying you from the last time you were here why not come back and give it another go? The truth is, I have no idea how much scouting or research went into the latest manager recruitment process and how many turned us down. No one except the people involved do. What I do know is that the shortlist we were left with was woeful. I’d have given it to Dunc for the season and tried to get a proper manager in place for the summer. But I’m not running the club just as non of the fans are running the club.

Apart from a few d*ckheads, most of the Everton fans were prepared to give Rafa a chance. Very few really wanted him in first place, BUT if he’d have actually won games and not dragged us into a relegation fight before selling one of our best players then he would still be here. The fact is, Frank Lampard is the manager now and what other choice have we got except to get behind him and hope that the decision pays off in the end.
James, EFC

 

Gerrard knock life
“The shark-infested waters of the middle of the Premier League, where it’s easy for hard-earned reputations to turn to dust” was a comment that really stood out to me from F365’s review of Gerrard’s Villa tenure. It really highlights how hard it is to move up the managerial ladder. During his time in charge, Villa have taken 27 points (8W, 3D, 9L) from a possible 60 in the League. If you were to extrapolate that over a season, it would get you to 51.3 points. On average that would land a team into 9th place. Not bad, but nothing to write home about.

The best predictor of a club’s final league position is its player wage bill. While it is difficult to get a truly fair comparison between clubs, Aston Villa sit somewhere around 11th. So Gerrard’s tenure could be accurately described as maybe slightly better than par-for-the-course. Unfortunately, par-for-the-course is extremely unlikely to get Gerrard into the Liverpool hotseat. United on the other hand…. anyway I digress.

Gerrard’s managerial CV shows he is no bluffer, but I think he is yet to show much evidence that he is the next Klopp.
Oliver, London 

 

Penalty nonsense
I have lost track of how many times recently I’ve heard pundits saying they think Liverpool or Man City would have been given a penalty that other teams aren’t awarded.

This is nonsense, and is only a “feeling” they have based on memorable incidents.

When Liverpool or City are winning 4 or 5 nil, no one remembers the couple of penalties they were denied because, who cares? Obviously when it’s Everton’s only chance of getting something at Anfield, its going to be a big deal.

Rather than basing it on a hunch, just look at the facts. Liverpool and City have been awarded just two more penalties than Everton and Brentford this season and just one more than Crystal Palace.

Now I don’t know the actual numbers(I’m sure someone can tell us), but I’d be very surprised if the ratio of touches in the opposition box to penalties favours Liverpool or City over those teams at all.

In fact, I’m fairly confident that the stats will show Liverpool should have way more than 2 penalties than Everton.

Can I also remind people that around 2017/18, Liverpool went over a year without getting a penalty at Anfield. For an attacking team containing Mane and Salah, that’s ludicrous!

Being a Liverpool fan, I can guarantee there is no way we get more penalties than we deserve. No doubt that will be dismissed as bias, but like I say, look at the facts.

Regards
Oliver Thompson

 

A point is a point
A point is a point. But even if Leeds survive, the future is bleak. That was awful to watch, there is no plan in possession other than to give it away and try and win the ball future up to pitch (presumably to hoof it further and repeat).

Phillips may aswell be the Yorkshire Pingu if he’s in a team this narrow. No more raking balls out to Raphinha who is then against an isolated full back with space to run into.

Survival and living are two separate things. I might fail to do either going forward due to profuse bleeding from the eyes.

A point is a point.
A point is a point.

 

Tricky trees
Within all the (absolutely warranted) mails on City and Real I just wanted to call out the performance of Nottingham Forest and Steve Cooper.

Forest had 1 point from 7 games when Chris Hughton was fired. They are now 3rd in the league and have 3 games left in the season with automatic promotion in their own hands. A hell of a achievement and as a Villa supporter, I hope they manage to get up.
Paul

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