Could Ole fluke his way to the Premier League title?

Editor F365

Manchester United certainly rode their luck against Wolves. Send your views on a Premier League title challenge to theeditor@football365.com

 

Could Ole’s luck take him to the title?
I cannot believe how much luck has gone Ole’s way over the last year or so! Majority of key moments in every game seem to be falling in Ole’s favour. Something definitely needs to be done behind the scenes to get this team going.

That being said, there are questions that I am unable to answer. If Ole is lucky for a long time, is it worth it to see how lucky he can get? You could argue that he got lucky to finish third and then second last year. What’s not to suggest he might get lucky and improve even further?

On the other hand, if you are consistently lucky, are you actually just “lucky”?
FerventFootballer

 

A bollocks record
So I see Man United are officially record breakers for being unbeaten away. Like I remain the best in the world at trifle darts. Makes no sense. Still utter bollocks.

Regards,
Ian (still drunk)

 

Oh Fred
So after a pretty average team performance, Man Utd lucked out and won despite Wolves being the better team on the day. It was a definite foul on Neves by Pogba, though it did take me watching the replays about 6 times to see it. Despite Wolves being the better team, I didn’t really feel too worried they were going to score, partly on their form this season but also because Varane had a very impressive debut. It was also good to see De Gea get a clean sheet.

Which is where we mention Fred again. How long is the Fred experiment going to last? He was awful today, he was pretty bad against Southampton last week. He’s been a rubbish for us since he signed. So my bet (for the prize of a pickled egg) is that not only will we not sign another midfielder, he’ll start again next game, and Donny will wonder why he stayed.

I hope I’m wrong, but I doubt it.
Daniel, Cambridge

 

Never say Neves was honest
While I agree that it was a foul by Pogba in the build up to the goal , I want to disagree with the pundits assertion that Neves was punished for being too honest. He went to run on realised he wasn’t getting the ball looked at the ref then went down in a heap to try and force the decision. For me the pundits on sky seemed to be getting mixed up. The foul wasn’t given because the ref didn’t see the contact. Perhaps var should have seen it but the foul not being given was nothing to do with the new refereeing guidelines.
Sam, Newtownabbey

 

Swings and roundabouts
That was absolutely a foul on neves. But it was absolutely a foul on Fernandes last week against Southampton. You can’t have it both ways. As they say, swings and roundabouts.

Ps. We were absolutely atrocious and didn’t deserve anything from the game. Wolves played us off the park. De gea won us that game, not Greenwood. But my god what a player.
Charlie, Northern Ireland

Mason Greenwood Manchester United

 

Ref talk
Another interesting weekend of refereeing talking points.

Starting with the United game, it should’ve been a foul by Pogba in the buildup, but I think there are a few noteworthy points:

– looked to me like Pogba catches Neves on the shinpad, a very light touch, but potentially dangerous, and it’s never OK to go in that high.

– was this an interpretation of “letting the soft stuff go”? Because in a sense it was very soft (I don’t think he touches his man at all). But that for me is the problem with that new “rule”. A foul is a foul is a foul and its nothing to do with whether it’s a “soft” foul or not. The issue is that last season the referees didn’t do their job properly and used VAR to give non-existent fouls if they saw contact of any kind and their solution this season is not to train themselves better to apply the rules properly, it’s to set a policy position of only blowing if there’s a particularly hard foul. So two examples: in last week’s Southampton game the decision shouldn’t be “well, he body-checked Fernandes, but not that hard…” because you’re allowed to make contact in the course of playing, but not allowed to play the man instead of the ball. Second – Pogba brushed a shinpad, so very soft, but that was only by chance and it was an obvious foul.

– that new interpretation is going to do nothing except encourage Sean Dyche-style football and get someone injured. I’m all for letting games flow, but letting rubbish teams get away with fouling people because they aren’t good enough to compete within the rules is letting something flow, but not the actual game…

– that said, I think I’m giving Dean too much credit. He probably wasn’t just misapplying the rule – he’s just a really bad referee.

– it was Neves’ fault it played out like that. He was described as “too honest” by the lads in the studio, but that’s not really the case at all. His explanation afterwards it comical… he didn’t go down because he was checking where the ball went first… he didn’t go down because he didn’t get hit, he probably only realised a moment later because his shinpad was a bit squiffy… and he threw himself to the ground far too late to convince the ref. Players shouldn’t have to throw themselves to the ground to get decisions, but if the ref wasn’t convinced in the moment you can’t throw yourself to the ground afterwards…

Secondly, the Reece James thing. I’m not sure it really was a handball. It came of his leg into his arm that was by his side. Yes he then moved his arm forward but that is what arms do when people walk… probably it was a penalty, but I don’t think it’s that clear cut. What’s inexcusable is the ref only looking at a still image out of context. Without seeing the deflection and James’ movement in real time, how can he possibly judge it.

The standard of refereeing in the PL, the stupid guidance they issue rather than just working on applying the (mostly) perfectly good rules correctly is just a shambles.
Andy (MUFC)

 

Tottenham, Tottenham…
Well, at the risk of sounding like I’m from the school of Barry Fox…

Going well, isn’t it?

COYS.
Jon, Lincoln

 

…So after three rounds the only who haven’t lost points yet .. are the Mighty Spurs!

Kane to end his drought?

Levy knows best?

Most competitive season yet?
Stijn, Amsterdam

 

Fanmail for Paul, Chester
I want to congratulate Paul from Chester for posting the all-time most ridiculous mailbox message in the history of Football365. That’s seriously quite an accomplishment, I’m impressed.

Aghast beyond all recognition, but impressed.
JP, Washington DC

 

…You must have been one of those “instinct” players who never analysed what they did but just did it. A conference Gazza, if you will. Because now you are analysing it, seems you are not that sharp – the old good player/piss-poor manager dichotomy again (mirrored by the average-to-crap player/good manager contrast – Klopp, early Mourinho etc).

Klopp has built an entire top-to bottom structure that has won the Champions League and Premier League against massive financial doping by MCFC, PSG and others.

You want to replace him with Stevie G.

We all love Stevie but he won a two horse race because the entire Celtic organisation shat the bed having got lazy and self-indulgent over the years when there was nobody to call them to account. Then this year Rangers got dumped out of CL in qualifying by the first bunch of adults they played. As a manager he is not fit to lace Klopp’s shoes, and in fairness I think he himself would readily admit that.

But yeah crack on with your theory. I am sure no City/Utd /Chelsea followers on here will take the opportunity to mock delusional Liverpool fans, much to the frustration of the sane majority.
Andy (sad about Terry Mac – one of my first Liverpool heroes), Asia