Newcastle sh*thousing splits the Mailbox as Arsenal fans are less happy than Man Utd
Arsenal ran aground against Newcastle and Gunners fans are angry about VAR and time-wasting, while we have plenty on Man Utd and Liverpool too…
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Loving the Newcastle sh*thousing
Can I just email now before you get all the p*ssy Asenal fans emailing in complaining about how we set up.
I am so proud of how horrible we are as a team right now. They hated it at Liverpool, they hated it last night. We are doing well to beat teams in the league but know our limitations away to the runaway leaders.
I’ve never seen us like this, we’ve always been soft. I love it.
Atletico Trippier.
Harry, York
Raging at the officials and Newcastle time-wasting
So 0-0 vs Newcastle and their stingy defence, it’s not the end of the world even though Arsenal deserved the win with the clear penalty not given for the shirt pull by Burn on Gabriel – made twice as bad because the same ref had actually yellow carded two Arsenal players for shirt pulling in the first half AND var can have a good long look at it.
Every team in the league would want and expect a penalty for that. I suppose we’ll resign ourselves to receiving another apology from the PGMOL in a few months as they tell us the decisions they definitely got wrong like the Martinelli goal v Man U which they admitted was a wrong intervention by var.
Now onto time wasting, this is not new to Newcastle as I’ve read Liverpool and Spurs fans write in annoyed at this tactic and the refusal of the officials to punish it or add on sufficient time. The ball was in play for 53 minutes last night, 8 minutes below average and the 18th shortest period this season. I thought it was fairly unanimous that the 10-12 minutes we were getting at the World Cup was a good thing to stamp out blatant time wasting and give the public the football they’ve paid for.
It’s literally the easiest thing to change in football but for reasons unknown the officials seem to turn a blind eye continuously – is it any wonder teams keep doing it?
Rich, AFC
…So Howard Webb says that VAR is only there to look at clear and obvious errors, can someone explain then how Saliba’s brushing of Bowen is more of a clear and obvious mistake than Dan Burn rugby tackling Gabriel?
Andy Woodall
Happy being a Man Utd fan
The feeling of waiting for the mailbox after matchday without any dread, wonderful.
Kay, Cheerful United fan
…United looked like a team against Bournemouth with everyone doing their roles perfectly.
The first half was as you would expect with United being in control against Bournemouth. United were a bit sloppy with passing and tempo but that is to be expected when you rotate the team. Luckily we got an early goal with a great set piece from Eriksen and Casemiro. Casemiro was easily the best player on the pitch in the first half and to me is the best defensive midfielder in the league just on ability and record. Wan-Bissaka looks a lot better than where he was two months ago and hopefully can do a good job as a backup for Dalot until the summer and then decide what the future holds for him.
The second half was a much better game of football from both sides. Luke Shaw scored a fantastic team goal he started in his own half. Bournemouth had some chances and tested De Gea but De Gea made it look simple and never was in much trouble. Rashford scored from a great ball from Shaw over the top to Bruno who then squared it to Rashford for the simple tap-in. This half of football was a great team performance with everyone doing their job well and looking like a real team.
Overall, It was an expected victory for United before the game and it was the during the game. United just looked better than Bournemouth and were never in serious trouble against them. Luke Shaw had an amazing game getting a goal and assist as well as looking good defensively and for me wins the man of the match. Casemiro is also someone you could give it to with him showing that there are levels to the game and he’s at the top and has been such a breath of fresh air to this United midfield.
Hopefully, we can continue this great form this month as we have both Arsenal and Man City where we can gain some serious ground in the league with good performances against them and hopefully we use the January window to bring in players to help with the schedule of the rest of the season and bring in someone Ten Hag wants or I fear that this form we are in can disappear real quick without support.
Max of Whitegate
Some Liverpool perspective
There are some elements of truth to Ash’s email but he definitely let emotions run away with him.
The defence isn’t sh*t, it’s being let down by a midfield which does not protect them at all. The midfield also doesn’t create anything either. All the midfielders at Liverpool are below par. Thiago is the best of a pretty terrible bunch and at least with him the effort is there to press and tackle even if he is an automatic yellow card every game.
Fabinho doesn’t look like the same player from 2 years ago but his wife was heavily pregnant and recently gave birth so perhaps he was distracted – I’m not gonna criticise that, he’s a human being and football is a job.
Elliot hasn’t been great but then midfield is not his position at all. His skill set is wide forward, he needs to learn how to track runs and use tactical pressing but he’s 19 I’m sure he can develop that.
Nunez is new to the club, and has to adapt to new culture, language and expectations and yes he has missed big chances (15 prior to last night’s game) but if you look down the list Salah has missed 13 and robostriker haaland is 5th on that list missing 10. Nunez is finding chances, bad strikers don’t find chances. He’s also creating chances for others too. In his first season Suarez had a PL conversion ratio of 5%, he was missing tons of east chances, then he found his feet in second year and regularly put away 20-25% after. Let’s give Nunez at least a season or two.
Many of this seasons performances have been below par, even when we win. Our league position is an accurate reflection of our form I think. Summer time hopefully klopp and co will address the midfield issues and bring in a player or two and we’ll see Keira, ox and milner leave and retire. Unfortunately a transition season has hit us (city aand Chelsea as well) and we need to do a bit of restructuring and meanwhile klopp has to do what he can with what we have got.
More concerning for me are some of the tactical decisions. Elliot in midfield and ox up front? That should be reversed. High lines against fast teams that play long counters? That should be reversed.
We are playing a high line but without the pressing which makes a high line effective. Those are things which the coaching staff need to fix.
As for intensity? Give them a break. These players played literally every game last season, then some went to the World Cup and played some more. Of course they’re a bit jaded and we already have a high injury list telling everyone to play school yard football and press everywhere just to show some “fight” will lead to even more injuries. We don’t need more pressing or intensity, we need a deeper defensive line and a midfield which can help both defence and attack.
Lee
…First off, reading Ash’s email was pretty cathartic for me. After that performance yesterday, and having the start to the season we have had, throwing your hands up in the air and shouting “You’re all fucking shit!” seemed appropriately succinct. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really offer too much of a breakdown of our problems, and less, solutions for them. So let me play analytical cop to Ash’s angry cop…
THE PROBLEM – There are a few, but one stands out above all others. If you listen to tactics podcasts about Liverpool or read in depth analysis of Liverpool’s season, Liverpool’s rate of big chances conceded is ubiquitously the major cause for concern. In pretty much all metrics Liverpool are under performing from last season, but big chances conceded is head and shoulders above all others in the severity of difference. This season Liverpool have conceded 51 big chances. That is more than double Arsenal, Man City, Newcastle, Man Utd and Spurs. We are also conceding big chances at a rate of more than double last season. In fact, the rate is so severe that things would be significantly worse were it not for our one huge saving grace this season, Allison.
Allison has conceded 22 goals this season, his PSxG (Post shot expected goal, which works out how the median goalkeeper in the league would perform against the shots faced) states Allison should have conceded 30 goals. That’s just in the Premier League. In only 17 games. For reference Ederson has conceded 16 goals this season and has a PSxG of 12.6. And he’s a good goalkeeper. So if Allison has bailed us out to the value of 8 goals in 17 games, just imagine where we would be without him. I mention this stat only because it makes Klopp’s continual reticence to accept our shortcomings this season all the more intolerable.
He has a world class data science team at Liverpool, who will be breaking down these numbers in far greater fashion and with far better understanding, yet Jurgen continues to flail for excuses instead of accepting the reality of our decline. Worse, without understanding and accepting the problem, how can he search for the remedy?
As an aside, I wonder whether the recent resignations/departures in our data science division (Michael Edwards, Dr Ian Graham, Julian Ward) who’s decisions I had put down to changing ownership and under investment in squad/data science team, might have actually been more to do with Jurgen’s refusal to accept what they must surely have been telling him. Measurably and evidentially, performance is declining.
So, if we are conceding lots of big chances, and accordingly, conceding lots of goals despite Allison’s brilliance, then what exactly has changed so substantially this season to cause such decline? Well, the most obvious cause is the ageing of the starting XI combined with fatigue from the high intensity football we have been playing the last few seasons. I don’t have access to the specific data (as you need a subscription to a football data source) but from other sources such as Analysing Anfield and Blood Red, Liverpool’s running metrics are considerably lower this season than last, with both distance covered and sprints lower.
Our pressures per opposition action (in the final 3rd) which rates our ability to press our opponents high up the pitch, has Liverpool falling from 2nd last season to 12th this season. Considering out tactical setup and how important our pressing is, with Liverpool countering the threat of long balls by pressing the defence and midfield to stop them having time to look up, its conceivable this physical drop off might realistically be having a serious impact on our tactical efficacy.
There will be people that point out how close we came to winning the quadruple and say that the players can’t have aged that badly in a few months, but the unsurprisingly the situation is more complex that it initially seems. First off it is better to view the affect of age on the squad rather than on each individual. Say a team has 25 players in its active squad, that means each season the squad gets 25 years older. This is the cumulative impact of a whole squad ageing at the same time.
And this is more pertinent to Liverpool as we have a large number of players at an age where they will be declining, particularly in physical terms. Millner, Henderson, Thiago, VVD, Matip, Firmino, Salah and Allison are all 30 or above. Add to that Fab and Ox will be turning 30 this season and you have a significant swathe of our team currently on a downward trajectory. And this trajectory is usually pretty steep. Most players who are regulars at 28 are not by 33. 5 years to go from their peak to a sub. Some manage this decline better, some learn new positions, lots play for weaker teams as their prowess declines, but some deteriorate even quicker e.g. Wayne Rooney.
Liverpool have not managed this well. While our defence and particularly our attack has been refreshed with some important new additions, our midfield hasn’t. Leaving one area to age, particularly when it is colloquially referred to as ‘your engine room’ is surprisingly amateurish. My sense is that Jurgen has shown too much loyalty to some of his midfield generals. Henderson, Milner, Thiago and to a lesser extent Fabinho, are all great players, but their physical decline needs to be managed by accompanying it with youth. Too frequently our midfield 3 has been consisted of 3 of those players. And we have suffered for it.
Obviously, age is not the only problem. TAA has been a huge liability at RB. We have come off the downer of losing the league and Champs League final. We have lots of injuries. And our tactics have flip flopped over the season whilst the underlying attitude has stayed the same – play a high line and try and dominate the ball. This has allowed teams to maintain the same tactical approach of countering with direct balls into the space behind our defensive line whether we play 433, 442 or 4231. The reality is there will be a myriad of issues, but teams will always have some weaknesses, the important part is identifying what’s causing the biggest problems and sorting those issues out first.
THE REMEDY – It’s simple. We need fresh, youthful players. Jurgen has played Elliott quite regularly, but as a teenager he has struggled in an already struggling midfield. Curtis Jones has been injured and the jury is out on his potential. Carvalho is clearly not ready. We need players of the requisite ability who are at the start of their prime and can inject some urgency and athleticism to complement the over abundance of age and experience. Bellingham is the obvious answer, but even if he will agree to come and rescue us, Dortmund won’t play ball until the summer. Liverpool have a month to find at least 1 or preferably 2 players to come in. If they don’t they won’t turn this around. If age is our problem, the situation is likely to get worse not better…
Ed Ern
Ask Google
Imagine if you could take a peek into Jurgen Klopp’s browser history, here’s what you might find…
Best Jude Bellingham alternatives 2023
Best Enzo Fernandez alternatives 2023
How to turn a donkey into a world class striker
How to be mentality monsters
This means more
ETC, etc…hahahahaha
Gitonga
The Brentford perspective
The aftermath of the Liverpool game feels somewhat similar to that which followed our thumping of Man U earlier in the season. It’s as if both teams lost for only one reason, because they were terrible. I hate it to break it to you all, but Brentford are actually quite good. Especially at home. Since we’ve been in the PL we’ve lost at home by more than 1 goal only 3 times. And of those, only Arsenal actually outplayed us and fully deserved the win.
So please stop with all the over reactions and the meltdowns…you were just beaten by an incredibly organised team who know how to succeed against sides who, player-for-player, are more talented. And by the way, we did that with our star striker on the sidelines and our 4 most expensive signings missing from the starting XI!
It’s a shame we haven’t quite mastered beating the weaker sides otherwise I think we’d be in with a genuine shout for a European place.
Up the Bees!
Rob, Surrey, Bees Fan
Get a grip, Spurs fans
If David Clarke in Monday’s mailbox really started his time as a Spurs supporter in 1974, I would like to know where he saw “flamboyance” in that team. This was a period when Spurs really did have some woeful players, John Lacy, Gordon Smith, Terry Naylor to name but three. The emerging Glenn Hoddle , and the wonderful Pat Jennings and Steve Perryman, were serious exceptions to the general level. In fact we narrowly avoided relegation in 1975 and 1976, before finally succumbing in 1977. In an eerie glimpse of the future, as we were relegated, the then Spurs board let Pat Jennings go to Highbury for the sake of a few grand A YEAR!!
The second division was not exactly a procession. A tense 0-0 at the Dell on the last day of the season, saw us promoted ahead of Brighton on goal difference. I support my team, and will never change, a loyalty that seems to have passed to my three sons. The four of us share the same gallows humour about the team that my mates and I have shared since I first started going (see below). We don’t throw our toys out of the pram David.
Sunday was an abysmal performance, by a bunch of guys who seemed to be passing a couple of hours on New Years day having a run, sorry jog, about. None of them gave the impression they wanted to be there, a total lack of intensity, everyone keen to pass the ball sideways to let someone else do the work. In fact Romero made a challenge in the 2nd half for which he got a yellow, a red wouldn’t have been outrageous, my take was he quite fancied a 3 week break.
What was more galling than the performance of the team, was the performance of the manager. If things go right, he is very quick to claim every ounce of credit, but on a day like Sunday it’s nothing to do with him. What did he actually do whilst the World Cup was on? I regularly read that we have the best Academy facilities in the country, did he not spend time working with potential fresh blood? Oh no, it’s Daniel Levy’s fault for not spending another £150m on players Conte likes.
I would confess to not being the biggest fan Daniel Levy has, but ultimately as Head Coach, Conte is the man in charge of the team. I also wonder what impact it has on the team when the manager comes out with his tale of misery about not having enough good players, must be great for morale. I’ve had the misfortune to work for bosses who give off the same vibe as Conte.
Spurs have been miserable to watch since the start of the season, apart from the Son hat-trick, the team is clearly capable of better. Conte needs to zip the misery up, and get on with the job of getting the maximum out of what is available. As has been said elsewhere, Spurs finishing fourth last season was not a miracle, it was pretty much what the squad was capable of, and had achieved in 3 of the last 4 seasons.
Mauricio Pochettino managed a lesser squad to the Champions League Final, and ultimately the Chairmans failure to invest in the previous summer cost Poch his job as the weaknesses he highlighted appeared. Conte has started from a lot higher base, but is taking us downwards, whilst moaning and complaining all the way. He needs to prove he is worth the investment before he earns the right to moan like that.
A European place in any competition is in my opinion a very unlikely outcome this season. My challenge to Antonio Conte is to prove you’re worth investing in. Couldn’t be simpler, start by beating Portsmouth on Saturday, then “in a single competition” (his own words for last season) you only have to win 5 more matches and Spurs have a trophy. I’m sure Daniel Levy would appreciate the easing of the pressure on ENIC (don’t get me started), and he might loosen the purse strings again.
If Conte is going to spend the next 5 months moaning about how tough life is being manager of Spurs, then he should bugger off out of our club now. We are paying the highest admission prices in the country, to watch football that is mind numbingly dull, at the very least we want to see some kind of effort and plan being executed. We are the people entitled to moan, not someone being paid the thick end of £7m a year.
A Happy New Year to all, especially the guy who included me as a goalkeeper in a “mailbox 11” before Christmas. If you saw me play you wouldn’t have done that
Jim French (Spurs since ’59) Herts