Yep, there’s still 12 games to play and Liverpool are ‘just’ 8 points ahead with their next 2 games against City and Newcastle. Yep, they can faulter towards the end when VVD, Salah, Trent would have in mind to end the season injury free for their final pay checks. Yep, West Ham can do to them at Anfield what they did to us at Emirates. Nothing is absolute except two thing – We will fuck up again & Mikel will fuck up again. So yeah, get over with it and enjoy the rest of the season without any hopes and Champions League run while it lasts.
Liverpool dropped points against Aston Villa, and in a game at home against West Ham – who were 17th before the game – we were expected to win and close that gap. With City and Newcastle next, Liverpool can drop more points and we could have taken advantage of it. But hey, we don’t do that here. You drop 2 points, we drop 3 and we let you take the title home. We have been very consistent in throwing it away, doing it the third time now in last 3 seasons.
Lets get back to the game. We started the game with a midfielder as a striker. We substituted a midfielder with a left back who can’t get into the team even AS A LEFT BACK. With 1-0 down and 10 minutes left on the clock, we were craving for a goal so we bring in Raheem Sterling – who has scored exactly zero goals and assisted just one in 294 minutes in 11 games, 4 of which he started; Sterling, who plays in the front line but has twice the amount of back passes than passes forward in red and white shirt.
This is only from the West Ham game. Lets not forget that Thomas Partey – one of the best DMs out there – started as a RB in multiple games. When Odegaard was out-injured, we were playing with 3 DMs midfield – Partey, Rice, Merino.
So, we have spent north of 700m Great British Pound, and there were 3 positions where we didn’t have players. Also, I am totally ignoring that Odegaard needed to be subbed at half time and we didn’t have anyone on the bench to replace him with. No wonder we are only the second best from 3 seasons in a row now, and no wonder we have fucked up when it has mattered the most.
Lets get to the dumb part of all of this.
Everyone, including me who doesn’t know shit about football management and only been watching football for about 15 years, were calling out that we need reinforcements in the front line. Havertz hardly won us a game on his own but even if he was the Benzema of Arsenal, we needed his back up. We also needed a Xhaka’s replacement, a box to box midfielder who is more attacking minded, because our left side was disjointed and we were attacking from the right for like 100 games now.
When Declan Rice was brought in, everyone thought he was a like for like replacement of Thomas Partey, but the latter decided to not give up and kept his position. Mikel, in an attempt to prove himself right, gave Declan the left side attacking midfield role. Mikel, to accommodate another of his poor signings, moved Havertz up top and totally forgot to bring a specialist. He let Eddie Nketiah go, he paid Aubameyang to leave but didn’t get anybody. He brought in Mikel Merino and things got even more complicated for him because he had to accommodate his third signing, what did he do? He put Thomas Partey at RB, played Rice as DM, Merino as LCM, and Havertz up top. That’s 4D chess, and all of it to lose games.
What could have been done?
Again, I’m just stating the obvious. Only one of Declan Rice and Thomas Partey should start a game. Ollie Watkins was available for 60m and could have done the job for 2 seasons, we should have paid. Havertz should have been put back in the midfield to compete with Merino. We should have got a competition to Odegaard and let Nwaneri and Trossard back up for Saka and Martinelli. Gabriel Jesus and Zinchenko should have been sold. Tierney should have been sold. If you can’t find a good competition to Odegaard, you should have called Vieira back. MLS is keeping Calafiori, Zinchenko away from the starting line up, there’s was no point in trying Thomas Partey at RB when you could have just trusted him and put Timber on the right side. Nwaneri was the answer when you were playing 3 DMs in the midfield.
What can you do now?
Nothing. We have lost it this season. For the next one, stop trying square peg in a round hole. Here’s a bitter truth if you are reading this Mikel – I will prefer Wenger’s attacking football over your JDP shit if it means doing enough to finish in top 4. You were brought to win us trophy, and it has been 6 years and 700m GBP. I don’t care if we haven’t lost a game against top 6 in last 30 matches if we can’t beat West Ham and Villa at home when it matters.
Champions League – round of 16 – an easy one but I don’t have much hopes after that too. We pick ourselves up again in the summer and we start again, but let me tell you we will win nothing without a striker, without a Odegaard’s improvement, with Thomas Partey at RB, with Declan Rice as an attacking midfielder, with Havertz up top and with your controlling nature. Oh, and you don’t win trophies from corners.
Over to you guys.
Just seen a report of El Bastardo’s presser in which he said he’d give up the title chase over his dead body. It’s a shame he wasn’t holding a voodoo effigy of himself when he said it. What as phoney bastard.
Madhu—I so wished that Wenger had walked away right when Klopp was looking to land in the PL…now that would have been a succession plan…he would have quickly reenergized a program that had become stale…not only that, he was an admirer of our club, so we would have got the best version of him
Hi Marc
I think Ambarish’s recent piece on financials suggested we were making profits as a result of CL qualification and that the overall debt was gradually diminishing. But I may well has misunderstood. Frankly, it counts for nothing yo me whether the krankies are gaining or losing.
Stan is in it for the duration – no idea when he retires probably when he has breathed his last breath.
Wherever the top league is he wants to be there. Tim Lewis was taken on to make sure Stan sits at the top table. Any doubt that AFC qualify will be a major issue. Finish below second this year and the worry lines will show just below his syrup. El B’s arse will be making buttons.
NORG
Stan-k as a cryogenically preserved 126 year old wrapped in Walmart branded polythene chewing the fat with his 86 year old bastard son Josh from within a plastic bubble.
Y’know what Josh? After all these years spent fucking people over financially, profitting from selling cheap Chinese-made shite to idiots, sucking Trump’s orange, shit-flavoured micro penis whenever he’ll let me, oh and running various sporting franchises into the ground including the one belonging to those sad deluded fuckers in London, I think I’ve decided that I’m going to shun capitalism for the rest of my life because it’s pernicious and greedy….ughhhhhhhhhh I’m having a heart attack! Stan-k keels over
KP
Shucks I missed his 125th birthday. I understand he decided to expose his bald pate and sell off his prize collection of syrups. Sum received – 10cents.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/156443582#/media?activePlan=1&id=media2&ref=photoCollage&channel=RES_BUY
Was looking through UK properties and junior found this one, which was ok size wise until we came across the horror room of eat sleep support spuds on the wall.
So game over on that one…..
KP
Can you check your email please. Things have happened quickly here. Thanks.
LIR
What do we think for tonight? Forest looking to bounce back with El B’s body on the line as he stated. Sword of Damocles kind of thing?
I think we might scrape a draw but Forest counter so fast a high line will kill us. No Skelly out best LB and our back line have been nervous.
Looks like Ricehino is at 8 with Trossard, Merino and Nwaneri who I hope isn’t still carrying a knock.
Stupid yellow by Cala
Cala can never be a LB on a championship level squad, but he definitely has something to offer going forward…maybe he should be playing in Rice’s more advanced role and Declan should drop deeper for coverage purposes
Tony-agreed…that was an amateur hour early yellow…he’s got red card written all over him
we’re in full-bore corner and crosses bully-ball mode…thankfully Forest has been very timid this half, likely due to how they were ripped apart by Newcastle on the weekend (in the first half)
they’re starting to figure us out when it comes to our set piece antics…we’ve got to clean it up or find another way through without all the obvious heavy contact
A typical display by us with Cala hitting the post with any of note. Forest are playing counter football with us pushing 10 players in Forest’s half to nullify the counter.
Both sides cancelling each other out but our high line could come unstuck in n the 2nd half as we’ve done before.
Hi Tony
I’ve emailed you
Unable to watch but is this one of those games where we look incapable of scoring?
KP—are you sure you’re not watching, as you seem to have a real feel for this one shot on target slogfest
I get why you might replace Cala, as he’s on a yellow, but you had taken most of his defensive responsibilities away so why not let it ride for another 10-15…the more baffling decision was why would you put Tierney in a more central role (just as I was writing that MA brought in Zinchenko and shifted Tierney out wide, where he should have been all along)
maybe MA’s just trying to get his money’s worth from the 17 LBs he’s signed…talk about a short fucking bench
TRVL
Same shit different day for me.
thank God we’ve now taken off the two most likely to score
Tony—I agree, but it didn’t have to be…and I’m not just talking about our lack of squad depth…certain things were generating opportunities and we should continued to lean into them even if it required us to risk a second Cala yellow