**Official** English Football Season 2023/24

[Socerer 01]

You're aware he's returning from injury?

no wasnt aware of that, thanks

Diaz was so good today

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

Not the best result, that.

 

[Uppercut]

no wasnt aware of that, thanks

Diaz was so good today

He bottled a couple of big chances though.

Unfortunately I have to admit that this was a seriously impressive performance from Liverpool. On paper that lineup has no right to be outplaying City.

 

[Furball]

Surprised that booting a player in the chest isn't a penalty.

 

[Aidan11]

The Villa v Spirs game was hilarious the way Udogie was about to lamp McGinn for that bad challenge and then realised he should go down and roll over in agony to get him sent off.

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

The Villa v Spirs game was hilarious the way Udogie was about to lamp McGinn for that bad challenge and then realised he should go down and roll over in agony to get him sent off.

Should replay it imo.

 

[Furball]

The McGinn challenge was a shocker.

 

[Uppercut]

I remember Rooney getting a red for one like that against Cardiff years ago. Definitely the right call. A tactical foul isn’t an opportunity to boot someone as hard as you can and have it stay a yellow.

 

[anil1405]

Just a different level these games.

The difference is that none of these two managers hold back for long when it comes to playing attacking football. Not always the case when top managers/teams come up against each other.

 

[Socerer 01]

The Villa v Spirs game was hilarious the way Udogie was about to lamp McGinn for that bad challenge and then realised he should go down and roll over in agony to get him sent off.

seemed more like he was angry about it before the pain hit him and he couldnt simply run over judging by his limp and fall but what do i know

 

[Molehill]

seemed more like he was angry about it before the pain hit him and he couldnt simply run over judging by his limp and fall but what do i know

Yeah, that was my take on it too. I think he seriously wanted to have a pop back but then realised he couldn't. Like when you stub your toe and there's that small gap before the pain kicks in.

He bottled a couple of big chances though.

Unfortunately I have to admit that this was a seriously impressive performance from Liverpool. On paper that lineup has no right to be outplaying City.

I would go a long with that. Draw seemed fair because each side dominated a half. Your last point is why I wonder how Liverpool carry on in this form after Klopp, I think it is so intrinsically linked to him.

 

[Skipper Pup]

Yeah, that was my take on it too. I think he seriously wanted to have a pop back but then realised he couldn't. Like when you stub your toe and there's that small gap before the pain kicks in.



I would go a long with that. Draw seemed fair because each side dominated a half. Your last point is why I wonder how Liverpool carry on in this form after Klopp, I think it is so intrinsically linked to him.

Agreed with most the thoughts on here about the game but slightly disagree here. We were all over the shop with our press in the first 10min, City were carving us up. Endo and Macca worked it out between them and I thought we were far the better side from mins 10-20, that Stones goal was definitely against the run of play and a sucker punch. Rest of the first half we were much the better side.

Overall I'm okay with that result, we should have won it but Diaz couldn't finish his dinner. I had no issue with the pen shout at the end, I've become accustomed to not getting those decisions in big games. Only really disappointed that Salah and Nunez weren't fit enough to play 90min.

Immensely proud of that performance. It's nice to finally see this team get some respect that doesn't include backhanded compliments like "their luck will run out" or "their form isn't that good" etc.. Average age of the team that started was about 25yo so the future is bright.

Shout out to Pep for the subs he made just after our goal, especially taking KDB off. Kovacic took the sting out of the game and gave City back some control. Prior to that we were absolutely battering them. Fantastic game and a fitting end to the Klopp v Guardiola era.

 

[Baldrick]

Liverpool will have a natural drop off next season however how much that drop off will be will be down to a variety of factors. City will have the same drop off when Pep leaves in a year or two. Realistically the best placed team in all of this is Arsenal.

Down at the not so mighty Newport's level, there's some Thursday night games...who decides teams should play league matches on a Sat/Thurs/Sat? Pesky League Two.

 

[Uppercut]

I thought the Liverpool pen shout was meh, you almost never get those without VAR. Unwritten rule that high boot doesn’t apply to defenders in their own box.

It’s not even especially dangerous or painful taking studs to the torso in that situation. People sort of assume that since shin or knee high studs are so dangerous, chest high studs must be REALLY dangerous, but they’re really not.

 

[sledger]

"We'll only get better" Cole Palmer warns, ominously, whilst his team sits in the bottom half of the table. lol

 

[duffer]

I love David Raya now, I think

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

I think Colchester are going down this season. Forest Green seem to be in a run of form, and for some reason the Colchester pitch appears to be buggered which has meant successive home games (3 games out of the last 4) have been deferred, which will lead to a fixture crunch at the end of the season along with the lost momentum of the last few weeks.

 

[Molehill]

Shout out to Pep for the subs he made just after our goal, especially taking KDB off. Kovacic took the sting out of the game and gave City back some control. Prior to that we were absolutely battering them. Fantastic game and a fitting end to the Klopp v Guardiola era.

Agree with that, the Kovacic change definitely halted the Liverpool charge. And for all that Liverpool dominated the half, they could only score from a gift whilst City hit the woodwork twice.

I thought the Liverpool pen shout was meh, you almost never get those without VAR. Unwritten rule that high boot doesn’t apply to defenders in their own box.

It’s not even especially dangerous or painful taking studs to the torso in that situation. People sort of assume that since shin or knee high studs are so dangerous, chest high studs must be REALLY dangerous, but they’re really not.

I thought Mac Allister was kind of clever in that he realised Doku was waiting for it to come down before going to kick it. So he managed to get his chest in there without ever I think really trying to play the ball. I think it's one of those that falls into the category of always given outside the box, rarely in it.

Not going to complain about any refs after Pompey seemingly got away with one last night..... looked a stonewall pen for Burton in the last 5 mins.

 

[Skipper Pup]

I thought the Liverpool pen shout was meh, you almost never get those without VAR. Unwritten rule that high boot doesn’t apply to defenders in their own box.

It’s not even especially dangerous or painful taking studs to the torso in that situation. People sort of assume that since shin or knee high studs are so dangerous, chest high studs must be REALLY dangerous, but they’re really not.

I agree with this. The issue is it gets particularly subjective when the player is stooping for a header or happens to be shorter than the guy trying to kick the ball.

Mane got sent off a few seasons ago against City for a foot in a similar position to Doku's - just in that scenario Ederson was trying to head the ball and he stooped his head to chest height and copped the boot. No one complained about the decision and rightfully so but it's just a grey area that has no real consistency.

As a LFC fan I have no issue with the Macca decision but I'm not shocked the media continue to push a narrative that gets clicks. Watching the replay back I think the only thing that saves Doku is that he gets a slight touch on the ball before he makes contact with the chest... but then again we've seen so many red cards this season for players making 'dangerous' tackles despite making contact with the ball first (Curtis Jones v Spurs, as one example).

 

[sledger]

I love David Raya now, I think

The last two games have only emphasised this, but he is objectively such a significant upgrade on Ramsdale (who I also really like).