Woodward only interested in waving his c**k at City and Liverpool

Joe Williams
Ed Woodward Manchester United

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com…

 

Man Utd inactivity
I thought I would give you my take on United’s transfer strategy/sh*tshow/inactivity delete as appropriate.

Ed Woodward is not a football man we all know this yet he is in charge of recruitment at the biggest club in England if not the World, without the saddling of debt inept management etc this in it self is reason enough to want rid of the Glazer’s.

On to Ed and his obsession with bringing in a Star name, not a player the manager wants to improve the side oh no someone who can sell shirts and make him feel big and important. Ole has asked him to deliver Wan Bissaka, De Ligt and Bruno Fernandez yet we all know we will be saddled with an injury prone Gareth Bale on a f**k ton of cash so Woodward can wave his c**k at City and Liverpool saying look at the superstar I signed ain’t I the bomb. It an all to depressing and familiar scenario for United fans.

If we are to move forward at all as a team and consistently challenge City & Liverpool for the Premier League we need to make sure Woodward is nowhere near any deal involving players, stick to official stapler and noodle contracts Ed your good at them. A director of football is needed to work hand in hand with the manager to bring in players the manager actually wants, do you in all honesty think Jose wanted Sanchez? that was another of Ed’s masterstrokes because City wanted him Ed wanted him more because Ed always gets his man, even if that man wasn’t needed for the team it doesn’t matter Ed beat City to his signature check out Ed he’s the man.

I really hope he proves me wrong and actually brings in the players Ole wants but I’m not holding my breath.
Paul Murphy, Manchester

 

Why do fans hate Liverpool?
Dave, LFC – to answer your question, your entire email spells out why people hate Liverpool, and it spells it out just beautifully.

It’s because of fans like you.

Fans like you DO think you’re different, and you act as if you’re different in turn. You behave as if you’re special, as if no other fans could feel the connection your fans feel, as if no other club is the beating heart of a community in the way yours is, as if there isn’t another team in the world that MEANS as much as you do to the people that follow it.

Quite frankly, you’re talking an utter casserole of nonsense, and you come across as an absolute slow dance of a human being.

Liverpool aren’t different at all – more successful than most, certainly – but you simply can’t tell me that the chap who goes to see Leyton Orient every single weekend cares less about his club than a Liverpool fan does about theirs. You can’t tell me that the “mystique” around Anfield is greater than that around Celtic Park. You can’t tell me that Liverpool means more to the local community than Newcastle does to theirs.

It’s interesting that you directly compare yourself to Barcelona, who’s whole “mes que un club” schtick makes them as reviled by just as many fans of other teams as you are.

You’ve had a great season, you’ve played some great football, and you’re worthy and deserved winners of the Champions League. I know a fair few Liverpool fans, and most of them are good people – it’s fans like you that actively create the dislike and disdain.

Perhaps if you showed some humility and grace you might get some of the respect you say you don’t care about having during the course of a seven paragraph email.
Logan, MUFC

 

Well that was pretty quick. You had a reasonably weel written and articulate question from Dave LFC about why lots of other fans of teams seem to hate Liverpool, then the answer is then promptly provided by Mike Rathbone.

I wish our fans would just humbly acknoweldge the fact that we have yet again performed exceedingly well in Europe, without feeling the need to tear down the other (in this case very good too) teams around us in the process.

Remember everybody “All you need is Love”
Stephen Baines

 

Someone needs to tell Dave, LFC that everything is fine in moderation. But I think he might have a problem. I love LFC as much as the next ardent Kopite but tone it down a bit Dave…?

You have been drinking the Klopp Kool Aid a bit too much and, whilst intoxicating, can turn you into a bit of a knob if you drink too much of it, la.

You’re welcome.
Gregory Whitehead, LFC

 

Could it be suggested that Liverpool fans writing in querying why they are disliked whilst using sentences like “…no matter how good, humble or generous we are” and “…a massive worldwide fan base built up over decade upon decade of trophy laden seasons”, might want to understand the concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy?
NorthernSpur

 

Dear Dave LFC

The reason why opposition fans hate Liverpool FC and its supporters  is pretty much encapsulated in your letter.

I appreciate that you are very proud of Liverpool’s recent success but it’s that sort of self regard, exceptionalism and pomposity that makes other supporters think that Liverpool supporters are utter beauts.

I am a Liverpool supporter and I was born and bred in Liverpool. I am proud of the football team I support and I have some civic pride for the city I was born in. But I also know that some of the biggest gobshites I’ve ever met are from Liverpool and some of the biggest idiots I’ve ever met are Liverpool supporters.

I’m afraid you can’t portray yourself as something different, better and unique compared to other clubs and supporters and then scratch your head wondering why no-one likes you.

It is the right of every football supporter to hate another club. It’s immature, it’s irrational, it’s silly and it’s pointless but it is a right every football supporter has, including Liverpool supporters.

Really, what you should be thinking about opposition supporters who hate Liverpool is, Who Cares?
David, Toxteth, LFC.

 

In response to To Dave LFC

The ‘We are different, we are Liverpool, we’ll never walk alone’ thing is the kind of nonsense which makes all of us neutrals dislike Liverpool, (as an NUFC fan I don’t really have any opinion on the top 6, beyond respecting the job Poch has done, unbelievable).

Its rubbish, look at how LFC fans and all the players treated Karius last year after his disaster. A young guy who on a personal level needed help left crying on the turf as opposition players consoled him. It’s easy to love star players, not so easy to support your players when the going gets tough. Liverpool also seem to sometimes stray into United territory under the ‘it’s so tough not having won a trophy for 3 years’ spiel. Cry me a river….

This was personified while I was watching Liverpool/Porto in the pub a couple of months ago and got chatting to a Liverpool fan, with me celebrating Liverpool as an English club winning the match convincingly. He asked me if I would support Liverpool throughout and I replied ‘only if you lot stop with all this special club nonsense’, his face darkened and he said ‘but we are a special club’ and basically stopped talking to me. Aaaah! We like Klopp, your players and your history. Respect for the trophies, I’d love to have them! But it’s really, really, not jealousy – it’s the constant irritation of LFC fans thinking they’re a little bit more special and ‘different’ for no real reason (United have done a lot more in the last 30 years). Let’s be honest, arguably the most special fans are those with a team in League 1/2, who go week in week out knowing they’ll never win anything big but they’ll have some amazing moments, and they’ll enjoy the ride.
Chris, NUFC

 

I think Dave LFC has (inadvertently) hit the nail on the head.

Rather than *being* different, it is the fact that we, as Liverpool fans, actually genuinely believe we are different (read: superior) that causes such vitriol to be aimed at us.

I said to a group of mates after the Barcelona game that I couldn’t imagine supporting anyone else, and would hate football if I did, and that fans of other clubs just wouldn’t understand. It was the sheer ignorance of this comment that sums up why we are so universally disliked. I honestly couldn’t fathom any other fans being as passionate as me and my fellow Liverpool supporters. And despite being fully aware of my ignorance, nothing will change my mind.

To sum it up, a potent mix of arrogance and ignorance is a pretty unbeatable combination to be hated by all without any need for them to explain.
Phejoc (a proudly ignorant LFC fanboy), Dublin

 

The reason so many otherwise neutral fans dislike Liverpool is that like Barcelona, whenever they get criticised you get a ton of fans popping off with this that and the other, all with the reedy undertone of “why can’t they see that we’re better than them?”

Compare this to the likes of Bayern, Real and Juve. They’re generally fine with being the villain, on the basis that they don’t give a shit what fans of “lesser” clubs think of them.

People respect bastards, no one likes people with airs.
Dan, Plastic LFC 

 

VAR is sucking the life out of football
Good afternoon,

I’ve got to say, the last week has made me completely turn against VAR. Being a Lincoln fan, every L2 and L1 supporter will agree with me that the referee’s are, generally, atrocious and they need help. The idea of VAR was supported by many because it was brought in to stamp out the mistakes. What we’re having at the moment though is fans up and down the country reluctant to celebrate as they’re waiting for VAR. Thursday, for example – Lingard slots the ball home. My reaction? Continue to sit their with my arms folded until VAR was checked. The England goal yesterday. My reaction? Continue to sit their with my arms folded until VAR was checked. VAR actually seems to have genuine intentions of being honourable, but it’s just sucking the life out of football.

My dad and I have agreed to cancel our Sky Sports subscription. It ends in August and we won’t be renewing. Why? Because we are fed up of forking out to watch football and not actually be entertained. It comes to something when you can’t even celebrate a goal. Me and my dad are season ticket holders at Lincoln so we are not directly affected by VAR, but we like nothing better than watching the drama of the Premier League unfold, but how can we justify paying money to watch fans not celebrating in fear of being struck by VAR? That is not football. That is nonsense.

The whole idea of the offside rule is that it deters players from being 5, 10, 15 yards from the last defender and therefore gaining a huge advantage. Lingard’s big toe is offside by the letter of the law… but surely the rule should be changed then? I also believe VAR was for clear and obvious errors? Is a big toe offside a clear and obvious error? No. We are probably venting our anger at the wrong people. Whilst referee’s and officials hardly cover themselves in glory, ultimately they are applying the laws. The offside law needs looking at, and they need to remember why it was introduced in the first place.

In all seriousness, we are going to end up watching football matches where celebrations are watered down and muted because people are afraid to demonstrate any form of passion in fear of VAR coming to play. By the letter of the law, Lingard’s goal was correctly offside. By the letter of the law, Wilson did pull down their defender and the goal shouldn’t have stood. But for those sort of decisions, are we not better off letting the referee’s do what they are paid to do? I’m a teacher, and if I don’t do what I’m paid to do then I’m not told to use a form of robot to help me – I attend training where the standard is much higher than it was before and then I demonstrate that I can apply that training. Who is training these referee’s? Why aren’t they being trained appropriately? And if they are but they’re not showing it, then why are they referee’s in the first place? There seems to be no guidelines.

VAR is ruining the game. There are pros and cons to the technology, but if you’re telling me you’d rather see deflated celebrations and 3+ minute waits for a decision rather than allowing the referee’s to actually apply what they’ve been taught, then I believe that’s barmy. There some things that referee’s need help on, I grant you that, but if you take the two goals that VAR ruled out for England – surely you have just got to leave those up to the officials. Surely.

Anyway, no VAR in L1 so us Imps should be fine 😉

Kind regards,
Rick.

 

Johnny Nic (for once) makes a very valid point about VAR and at what point it becomes correct to use, the incorrect throw-in example fully backs up his argument, however I am a VAR advocate as I would rather be beaten by a correct decision rather than an officials incompetence.  Yesterdays decision was absolutely right and so was Gary Neville in commentary when he said that had that been down the other end then England fans would be screaming for the free kick.  A comment was made on a twitter account of “what’s happened to gaining an advantage”, what, by cheating? Presumably by someone who has no problem with “the hand of God”.

VAR has been in operation in Cricket for years now and Football can learn from it’s evolution, a  review system similar to that in Cricket would be hugely beneficial, especially if, as in Cricket, the call is made on the field by the Captain.  At the moment, every time there is a free kick or corner, one player will be pushed or will fall to the ground and immediately throw their arms open in appeal (not actually shouting Howzat), 999/1000 these appeals are turned down and probably incorrectly in many cases, last nights final had a clear example when the Dutch attacker was clearly wrestled over far more forcefully than Wilsons arm tug yet nothing was given or even reviewed.  The player in question could easily turn to his Captain and ask for an appeal to be made and if successful, the review retained.  This may initially lead to 9-9 score draws but in time defenders and attackers would have to learn to compete and win a header cleanly rather than act like an NFL linebacker.  I don’t want to remove physicality completely from the game, jostling for position will always occur, just lets stamp out the blatant pulling and wrestling.  For now, every goal is reviewed and this seems to be favouring the defending team (correctly) and again, I wouldn’t like to see every goalmouth incident reviewed but an appeal system should/would/could benefit the attacking team.

Speed and communication have also got to be improved but I’m confident these will as we progress and fans and referees become more educated.   New and better technology doesn’t mean the game will be lost to robots, but post match discussions should be about how your team or an individual player performed, not about the officiating and “I remember in 1964 when we had a goal disallowed for offside, these things even themselves out!”

Richard MCFC’s suggestion of a free kick for non intentional handball is a good start but I would also like to see a change to the offside law, why not flip it completely and say that if any part of the body is onside, then onside it is and go back to the “if you’re offside, you’re offside” days and ditch this stupid “second phase” garbage. Other laws may need to be changed in time and if VAR is the instigator for these and we end up with more goals (the object of the game after all), then so much the better.
Howard ( Stephane Henchoz would have hated it) Jones

 

In general, I agree with John Nicholson’s article today.  I am naturally opposed to VAR because it’s sanitising one of the few areas of our lives that are still unpredictable and chaotic.

However, I’ll sign up to it, fully and without complaint if someone can guarantee that everyone, commentators, pundits, journalists, TV presenters, Twitter wonks and blokes in pubs, will immediately stop bollocking on about decisions.  The only potential benefit of VAR to me, is that it should (but won’t) stop the lazy reflex of spending 75% of all half time and post-match talking about the referee getting something right or wrong.  So far, it seems that’s just been replaced with the exact same discussion on whether VAR got the decision right.  If the decision is still subjective VAR isn’t fit for purpose and we should bin it.  If the decision is not subjective, then shut up about it and move on to something else, like player performance, or tactics or what kind of pants James Milner wears (definitely briefs imo)…anything really, anything that isn’t the same meaningless discussion than when error prone humans were in charge.
Jeremy (luddite) Aves

 

You know I mostly find find John’s rambles on football a little precious and unrealistic .  But on VAR – absolutely spot on man.  It is the worst football innovation ever.  The self righteous supporters of this nonsense (mostly new plastic supporters of the sky four) should be hanging their heads in shame.  It is a disaster.  It has already reached the stage where I can no longer celebrate a goal because I am waiting for the review.  The governing bodies are now manipulating the rules of the game to try to make the rules simple for VAR to interpret.  The result of this is the joke penalties given in the world cup final and the CL final because apparently VAR is not capable of interpreting the simple concept of intent.  Tragically VAR is here to stay – but the sport will never be as great again.
Cheers, Jim.

 

Englandy
Not sure if everyone knows this already but seeing it written down really is quite worrying:

1992 – Euros Group Stage v Sweden – one nil up – lose and fail to get out of group

1996 – Euros SF v Germany – one nil up – lose on pens

1998 – World Cup 2nd Rnd v Argentina – one goal up – lose on pens

2000 – Euros Group Stage v Romania – one goal up – lose and fail to get out of group

2002 – World Cup QF v Brazil – one nil up – lose

2004 – Euros QF v Portugal – one nil up – lose on pens

2008 – Euro qualifier v Russia – one nil up – lose (only needed a draw to qualify…didn’t qualify)

2016 – Euros QF v Iceland – one nil up – lose

2018 – World Cup SF v Croatia – one nil up – lose

2019 – Nations League SF v Netherlands – one nil up – lose

I think we need to play for pens now to be safe.
Kevin G

 

Ten things I hate about Henderson
I hate that you’re Liverpools captain
I hate that you have 51 England caps
I hate your clichéd interviews
I hate that you add nothing to defence
I hate that you add nothing to attack
I hate your sideways and backwards passing
I hate your shouting
I hate your pointing
I hate your gait
But most of all I hate that I don’t hate you, not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all
Nik NUFC Liverpool