Author Topic: Chasing the Title  (Read 1399357 times)

Offline ThePoolMan

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5760 on: February 13, 2019, 10:58:36 am »
United may try to rough up our players - they may resort to being overly aggressive to try to put off especially our attacking players. To quote Keegan, they would just love it if they can disrupt our bid to win the league. So our players need to be at their most controlled and best to break the spirit of this United team, that I suspect is more fragile than it currently appears to be. If the feel good atmosphere wears out from the Solksjaer appointment, they could get their long overdue dip in form and the fault lines in their team will re emerge again. Surely it was not just Mourinho who was to blame for their dismal recent showing...

Offline Sharado

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5761 on: February 13, 2019, 11:36:14 am »
Last night made for interesting viewing on 2 levels for me.

Firstly - we can fucking twat united if things fall our way.

Secondly - there's still nothing quite like the european cup. Given where we are in the league, and the VVD/CB situation v bayern I'd thought 'ah well if we go out I won't be too bothered'. But it's fucking great. You can feel the magic of anfield beginning to stir already as winter turns to spring and a fellow european giant comes to town.

It'll have to be the double, I'm afraid, reds.
3 midfielders minimum in the next window. And probably another young CB to boot.

Anything else is negligent.

Offline Dubred

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5762 on: February 13, 2019, 12:20:12 pm »
Last night made for interesting viewing on 2 levels for me.

Firstly - we can fucking twat united if things fall our way.

Secondly - there's still nothing quite like the european cup. Given where we are in the league, and the VVD/CB situation v bayern I'd thought 'ah well if we go out I won't be too bothered'. But it's fucking great. You can feel the magic of anfield beginning to stir already as winter turns to spring and a fellow european giant comes to town.

It'll have to be the double, I'm afraid, reds.

If we must  ;D

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5763 on: February 13, 2019, 05:01:41 pm »
Last night made for interesting viewing on 2 levels for me.

Firstly - we can fucking twat united if things fall our way.

Secondly - there's still nothing quite like the european cup. Given where we are in the league, and the VVD/CB situation v bayern I'd thought 'ah well if we go out I won't be too bothered'. But it's fucking great. You can feel the magic of anfield beginning to stir already as winter turns to spring and a fellow european giant comes to town.

It'll have to be the double, I'm afraid, reds.
Yep. I had sort of compartmentalised it and pushed it to the back of my mind, but as you say, that move into spring, heading to Anfield throughout the competition as it gets lighter and lighter is so special. Hope we can go on a run. Got enough time between both games and I'm glad the Champions League game is first to get us back into our stride after another 10 days off. We could recover from most results against Bayern, but we should really be looking to win, or secure a point at Old Trafford.
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Offline kevlumley

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5764 on: February 13, 2019, 05:33:30 pm »
If they lose to chelsea in the FA cup.....wow, that will be perfect too.

Yeah, Chelsea must be due a good game.

Offline Raid

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5765 on: February 13, 2019, 06:02:27 pm »
Klopp's been charged by the FA for the West Ham post game comments. Any ban would likely start at Old Trafford

Offline Chakan

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5766 on: February 13, 2019, 06:03:13 pm »
Klopp's been charged by the FA for the West Ham post game comments. Any ban would likely start at Old Trafford

What did he say?

Offline Raid

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5767 on: February 13, 2019, 06:04:41 pm »
What did he say?

Suggested the officials decision making in the second half was influenced by them realising they had failed to flag Milner offside for our goal

Offline Chakan

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5768 on: February 13, 2019, 06:07:35 pm »
Suggested the officials decision making in the second half was influenced by them realising they had failed to flag Milner offside for our goal

Or they're just shit, but ok.

Offline SteveZissou

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5769 on: February 13, 2019, 06:17:18 pm »
Actually, Klopp was dead wrong that ref heard about Milner's offside at half-time and then made bad calls against Liverpool in the 2nd half, cos actually the linesman got two more big calls wrong in the 1st half, this time with Liverpool not being off-side but called off-side, and then two more wrong in the 2nd half (one against us and one for us). In the first half one went for us and two against us. So, if Origi scored late on it woulda been even more controversial. The bad calls were throughout the match, many against us and some for us. So, in conclusion: just shit refereeing. Not necessarily just against us.
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Offline daggerdoo

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5770 on: February 13, 2019, 06:39:21 pm »
He's not getting a ban for those comments, no way. He wasn't aggressive, simply giving his opinion of what could have happened.

Because the FA are embarrassed, he'll get a fine.

Offline ChaChaMooMoo

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5771 on: February 13, 2019, 06:44:55 pm »
Klopp's been charged by the FA for the West Ham post game comments. Any ban would likely start at Old Trafford

Well sure, questioning the integrity of the referee.

Fuck off FA.

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5772 on: February 13, 2019, 06:51:27 pm »
Any players that get sent off for them in the FA Cup this weekend have to miss the game against us, right?

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5773 on: February 13, 2019, 06:56:04 pm »
Any players that get sent off for them in the FA Cup this weekend have to miss the game against us, right?

Yes

Offline farawayred

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5774 on: February 13, 2019, 07:06:54 pm »
Any players that get sent off for them in the FA Cup this weekend have to miss the game against us, right?
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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5775 on: February 13, 2019, 07:12:41 pm »
I've looked at prediction models on different sites and I actually think that this site has it quite close. They project that we will end up on par with points and City will edge us on goal difference. Of course, this is based on probabilities of winning games and doesn't account for fuckups.

https://www.euroclubindex.com/league-odds/

Edit: The reason we end up on par with City is our lower power coefficient (ECI), which gives us lower chance of winning games. But this model doesn't correctly account for the increase of our ECI has been rising, whereas City's has been steady.
« Last Edit: February 13, 2019, 07:14:52 pm by farawayred »
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Offline killer-heels

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5776 on: February 13, 2019, 07:14:24 pm »
I've looked at prediction models on different sites and I actually think that this site has it quite close. They project that we will end up on par with points and City will edge us on goal difference. Of course, this is based on probabilities of winning games and doesn't account for fuckups.

https://www.euroclubindex.com/league-odds/

At this stage getting 90 points would be quite low.

Offline goalrushatgoodison

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5777 on: February 13, 2019, 07:15:51 pm »
I thought Klopp was quite restrained to be honest.

There was an incident in the second half where a West Ham player controlled, or charged down the ball, with his hands, in our box, in one of the most obvious hand balls I have ever seen.

This was right in front of Friend who, it has to be said, was perfectly positioned. He basically couldn't miss it. His decision to wave play on, culminating in the player missing a golden opportunity to take the lead, wasn't just bizarre, it was fucking sinister.

Klopps explanation, that he was influenced by knowing they had fucked up the Liverpool goal, is a hell of a lot more generous to Friend than any alternative explanation. There is simply no way that Friend didn't know that the correct decision there was a free out.
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Offline Brian Blessed

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5778 on: February 13, 2019, 07:17:28 pm »
You know something we don't? Do share please... ;D

More wishful thinking ;)

Offline Caligula?

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5779 on: February 13, 2019, 07:22:03 pm »
He'll get a fine and that'll be that. It's happened countless times before with Mourinho, Ferguson, Wenger, etc. Nothing to see here.

Offline G Richards

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5780 on: February 13, 2019, 08:53:08 pm »
Can't question the integrity of the ref, so it will be a fine and we move on. That said, the ref was massively biased towards West Ham after the missed Milner decision. On our end we needed to play better and make the ref irrelevant. Thankfully the Bournemouth match was a good indication that the level is coming back after the post-Dubai blip.

Looking ahead to Bayern Munich I'm a bit nervous because we will be playing with a makeshift defence, since VVD is suspended and Gomez is injured. Lovren is touch and go too, so it could be Fabinho alongside Matip, which given three players missing in the one position, isn't so bad.

Bayern Munich have a lot of players who can do some damage, but on the other hand they are not what they were. They look like an aging side to me, and if we go at them with our pace and forward interplay, I think we can win this one. The team I would pick would be a fairly attacking 4-2-1-3:

Alisson
Trent Matip Fabinho Robertson
Henderson Wijnaldum
Keita
Salah Firmino Mane

This assumes Lovren doesn't make it back in time.

I gave some thought to whether to go for Keita or Milner. Milner is a reliable and solid pro, but the pace is going a bit these days. So I went for Keita as I think his pace and dribbling skills can open it up through the middle and give Bayern some problems. Keita has been below what we expected, but it's OK, it's a slow-burner and that sometimes happens. Just lately there are signs that it is starting to come together a bit more for him so I would stick him in for this big match to build on a bit more recent promise.

As for the Man Utd game it will be tough as they will be well up for it, but so long as we don't lose our heads we can win at their place too. VVD coming back for that one will be massive. I won't pick a team yet as we need to see what the landscape looks like at the time.

Offline 88_RED

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5781 on: February 14, 2019, 06:56:59 am »
How about playing Fabinho how Pep played Fernandinho against Arsenal??

When in possession, Fabinho pushes up in Midfield and plays as a 6..
When out of possession  Fabinho drops in at CB alongside Matip..

I know City are more fluid and Pep expects any player to fill a gap on the field depending on which zone he is in, but having watched that City v Arsenal game I thought Fernandinho's dual role worked pretty well..

Whether Fabinho has the tactical nous and discipline to do something similar or whether Klopp would think about something like this is open for debate..

I wouldn't mind seeing it though..
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Offline Mighty_Red

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5782 on: February 14, 2019, 01:25:21 pm »
Looking ahead to Bayern Munich I'm a bit nervous because we will be playing with a makeshift defence, since VVD is suspended and Gomez is injured. Lovren is touch and go too, so it could be Fabinho alongside Matip, which given three players missing in the one position, isn't so bad.

Don't be nervous, like I said, let's treat this as a free pass and enjoy the ride. I know it's hard to stop being nervous about the title challenge but the CL is just a bonus so we need to be relaxed.

I personally wouldn't bring Lovren into the side for Bayern - He didn't travel with the squad so it will be difficult for him to jump straight into a tough match having not played with Matip for a long time (last season perhaps) and he won't be able to train much with him either.

Fabinho & Matip is the best we can do under the circumstances
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Offline Sharado

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5783 on: February 14, 2019, 01:57:57 pm »
When's the TV dates for the fixtures for April/May announced? I can see every single one of ours moving.
3 midfielders minimum in the next window. And probably another young CB to boot.

Anything else is negligent.

Offline slaphead

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5784 on: February 14, 2019, 02:04:03 pm »
When's the TV dates for the fixtures for April/May announced? I can see every single one of ours moving.

I read 22nd Feb for the April games, then 5th April for May games. Nit too sure if thats 100% accurate though

Offline Scouser-Tommy

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5785 on: February 14, 2019, 02:34:44 pm »
When's the TV dates for the fixtures for April/May announced? I can see every single one of ours moving.
The lad above was right:

April fixtures announced 22nd February,
May fixtures announced 5th April.

https://www.premierleague.com/news/717797

Offline Uncle Ronnie

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5786 on: February 14, 2019, 02:47:51 pm »
For comparison, in the run in for 13/14 our only non-Sunday game from April onwards was the Palace match which was switched to the Monday. That comparative week this season (04th May against Newcastle) there's CL semis, so we wouldn't get moved to a Mon if we're still in it when they pick the fixtures I'd guess.

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5787 on: February 14, 2019, 02:53:18 pm »
Don't be nervous, like I said, let's treat this as a free pass and enjoy the ride. I know it's hard to stop being nervous about the title challenge but the CL is just a bonus so we need to be relaxed.

I personally wouldn't bring Lovren into the side for Bayern - He didn't travel with the squad so it will be difficult for him to jump straight into a tough match having not played with Matip for a long time (last season perhaps) and he won't be able to train much with him either.

Fabinho & Matip is the best we can do under the circumstances



We also have Mr.Dependable Wijnaldum
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Offline Mighty_Red

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5788 on: February 15, 2019, 12:41:02 am »


We also have Mr.Dependable Wijnaldum
Doubt we would want Gini in defence though! Hope he can recover as we will need him in midfield.
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Offline latortuga

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5789 on: February 15, 2019, 03:24:21 am »
I've looked at prediction models on different sites and I actually think that this site has it quite close. They project that we will end up on par with points and City will edge us on goal difference. Of course, this is based on probabilities of winning games and doesn't account for fuckups.

https://www.euroclubindex.com/league-odds/

Edit: The reason we end up on par with City is our lower power coefficient (ECI), which gives us lower chance of winning games. But this model doesn't correctly account for the increase of our ECI has been rising, whereas City's has been steady.

They're giving us a 30% chance in the Utd game and have Utd as favourites, where as the bookies have it reversed. 

Offline spider-neil

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5790 on: February 15, 2019, 07:52:20 am »
They're giving us a 30% chance in the Utd game and have Utd as favourites, where as the bookies have it reversed. 

Probably going by our record at Old Trafford in the past 5, 10, or even 15 years. Let's be honest here, our record there is less than great.

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5791 on: February 15, 2019, 07:53:33 am »
Probably going by our record at Old Trafford in the past 5, 10, or even 15 years. Let's be honest here, our record there is less than great.
The 2 exceptions have been when we’ve been in a title race though  ;)
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Offline spider-neil

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5792 on: February 15, 2019, 08:11:42 am »
The 2 exceptions have been when we’ve been in a title race though  ;)

True. And there are also the Danny Murphy golden years.

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5793 on: February 15, 2019, 09:27:30 am »
They're giving us a 30% chance in the Utd game and have Utd as favourites, where as the bookies have it reversed. 
So we "edge" it then..
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In such a sumptuous festival of shite, I wouldn't be so quick to pick a winner..

But he'd make the shortlist

Offline him_15

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5794 on: February 15, 2019, 01:15:28 pm »
Hope Martial is out and Sanchez starts for United, it basically means one man less for them.
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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5795 on: February 15, 2019, 01:30:42 pm »
They're giving us a 30% chance in the Utd game and have Utd as favourites, where as the bookies have it reversed.

538 have us at 53% and United at 23%.
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Offline Uncle Ronnie

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5797 on: February 15, 2019, 02:51:05 pm »

Offline Zlen

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5798 on: February 15, 2019, 02:55:07 pm »
I wish them a speedy recovery but...
This is really not bad news for us.

It does cripple their counter attacking capabilities.
It may probably be Rashford and Sanchez now.
While Rashford may get his nose in front, Sanchez doesn't look like he can finish his porridge - let alone suddenly interrupt his cruise to shine against the meanest defence around.

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Re: Chasing the Title
« Reply #5799 on: February 15, 2019, 02:56:57 pm »
I wish them a speedy recovery but...
This is really not bad news for us.

It does cripple their counter attacking capabilities.
It may probably be Rashford and Sanchez now.
While Rashford may get his nose in front, Sanchez doesn't look like he can finish his porridge - let alone suddenly interrupt his cruise to shine against the meanest defence around.
You forget Lukaku, who is not as bad as people make out. He is still a bully who can own many central defenders around the league on his day.