Topic: The Anfield Wrap

[Grobbelrevell]

Am I missing something - just downloaded yesterday's Second Captains and didn't hear Castles. Is there more than one?

He's definitely on there; "Pogba's Points, The Mendes Derby..." etc. About 30 minutes or so in though.

In fairness to Duncan, he does speak relatively sensibly about United and Mourinho in the main, albeit, this is after opening by stating that Wolves have come up as football playing trail-blazers from the Championship, an approach never before seen. I suspect the likes of Swansea and Al Fayed's Fulham, among others, might disagree on that one, like. He does also claim that Mourinho doesn't like spending money and Wolves, in being impressive, resemble a Mourinho team, but hey, Duncan will be Duncan.

[red_Mark1980]

Couldn't have been him. I'll download it and give it a listen

[Iska]

Am I missing something - just downloaded yesterday's Second Captains and didn't hear Castles. Is there more than one?

Yeah there was two came out yesterday - the other’s about Tiger Woods I think.

[Dench57]

He does also claim that Mourinho doesn't like spending money

That's an odd one Dunc, especially as Jose's the highest spending manager of all time and has spent over £1.1b in the last decade.

[Charlie Adams fried egg]

Do Liverpool have a Duncan castles equivalent.
I know we have many fans that are journos and while obviously supportive to us, I can't think of too many that will happily throw shit at our rivals or subtlety shit stir in the way that the likes of Castles and his ilk do with us given the chance.

[red_Mark1980]

Do Liverpool have a Duncan castles equivalent.
I know we have many fans that are journos and while obviously supportive to us, I can't think of too many that will happily throw shit at our rivals or subtlety shit stir in the way that the likes of Castles and his ilk do with us given the chance.

The thing is Castles is first and foremost a MaureenO fan. Primarily because he gets 99%of his work from Mendes.

On that second captains podcast. Castle started off balanced ish. Soon descended into his usual weirdo self. Turned it off

[zero zero]

The Rider is great, I must have added at least 90 songs to my playlist since it's inception all those years back

if it wasn’t for The Rider I would never have heard Toy by Young Fathers. What an immense tune that is.

Cheers Neil

[lamonti]

Ah, I initially read that as him being on TAW main show. Disappointing 

Still, out of morbid curiosity I have downloaded the Second Captains pod. Never listened to them before.

Well, Castles' appearance on SC seems almost entirely to be propaganda against the figures in Manchester United who disagree with Mendes and Mourinho: Raiola, Pogba, Woodward. I found it absolutely bizarre.

[MerseysideBrum]

When do the second look shows come out? Prefer it to the review shows these days

[Fitzy.]

Well, Castles' appearance on SC seems almost entirely to be propaganda against the figures in Manchester United who disagree with Mendes and Mourinho: Raiola, Pogba, Woodward. I found it absolutely bizarre.

Indeed. Castles is a fascinating individual in that there are very few recognised journalists who operate to covertly propagate a particular set of individuals without actually declaring any interest. It's such a dishonest way of going about things. There's no good faith in how he talks about these things. You'd think Mendes was some selfless altruistic agent intent on doing the right think while Raiola is a money-grabbing self-centred swine out to destroy football. He goes on about Pogba's self-obsessed fitness regime as if he was spending Saturday nights shooting crack up his bum while poor old innocent Jose is left trying his best.

Nothing...absolutely nothing is ever attributed to Jose in terms of poor signings, poor performances or strange press conferences. Such contortions...such rubbish.

[FlashGordon]

if it wasn’t for The Rider I would never have heard Toy by Young Fathers. What an immense tune that is.

Cheers Neil

On a sidenote, I Heard is also a cracking tune by Young Fathers. Feel free to use it Neil 

[Chivasino]

Thought some of the stuff the City supporting lad on Coach Home was saying was a bit strange.

The reasons why City fans are not invested in the Champions League, and in particular, the way they feel they have been treated by UEFA.

The moral stance on how UEFA reacted to racism in their CL games should be admired, but then they are happy to be bank rolled by an extremely shady organisation with questionable ethics (allegedly).

[Charlie Adams fried egg]

Indeed. Castles is a fascinating individual in that there are very few recognised journalists who operate to covertly propagate a particular set of individuals without actually declaring any interest. It's such a dishonest way of going about things. There's no good faith in how he talks about these things. You'd think Mendes was some selfless altruistic agent intent on doing the right think while Raiola is a money-grabbing self-centred swine out to destroy football. He goes on about Pogba's self-obsessed fitness regime as if he was spending Saturday nights shooting crack up his bum while poor old innocent Jose is left trying his best.

Nothing...absolutely nothing is ever attributed to Jose in terms of poor signings, poor performances or strange press conferences. Such contortions...such rubbish.

Never knew that he was that entrenched with a set of people. Always just thought he was a Mourinho arse licker.
If he's making a living from it, I suppose it's up to him, but not sure he can call himself a journalist. A PR department yes, journalist, no chance.

[stewy17]

Thought some of the stuff the City supporting lad on Coach Home was saying was a bit strange.

The reasons why City fans are not invested in the Champions League, and in particular, the way they feel they have been treated by UEFA.

The moral stance on how UEFA reacted to racism in their CL games should be admired, but then they are happy to be bank rolled by an extremely shady organisation with questionable ethics (allegedly).

Just coming in to post this, what an absolute weirdo.

A Man City fan moaning that UEFA is too corporate just made me laugh, is there anything more corporate than them? They're literally only successful because of immense financial investment and as a result of zero sporting prowess.

The reality (I think) is that they are slightly bitter about UEFA but they overplay it to mask their failings and otherwise they are either liars or they just don't understand the European Cup due to their complete lack of history in it.

Man City fans turning their nose up at the European Cup, fucking hell. It's the pinnacle of club football.

[Fitzy.]

Never knew that he was that entrenched with a set of people. Always just thought he was a Mourinho arse licker.
If he's making a living from it, I suppose it's up to him, but not sure he can call himself a journalist. A PR department yes, journalist, no chance.

It's all alleged but just reading or listening to him signifies that this is more than just a lust for Jose. It's well-thought through in how he doesn't simply say: "Jose is the best..so there!" He uses double speak and half truths to paint a certain picture allowing him to establish the good guys and the bad guys. If it's a client of Mendes (chiefly Jose) then failings are excused, qualified and overly (mis)explained; individuals who make life difficult for the likes of Jose are cast in a negative light with tenuous details added to illustrate why someone of something caused Jose to not succeed. A total absence of balance.

In this Pogba story, for example, Castles goes to town on the player but doesn't acknowledge one bit that Jose has skin in the game and has, at least, some responsibility in the apparent breakdown in relations.

[NotTooXabi12]

Thought some of the stuff the City supporting lad on Coach Home was saying was a bit strange.

The reasons why City fans are not invested in the Champions League, and in particular, the way they feel they have been treated by UEFA.

The moral stance on how UEFA reacted to racism in their CL games should be admired, but then they are happy to be bank rolled by an extremely shady organisation with questionable ethics (allegedly).

Proper weird that fella was.

Also il definitely be swerving the carragher interview. Can't stand him me

[Charlie Adams fried egg]

It's all alleged but just reading or listening to him signifies that this is more than just a lust for Jose. It's well-thought through in how he doesn't simply say: "Jose is the best..so there!" He uses double speak and half truths to paint a certain picture allowing him to establish the good guys and the bad guys. If it's a client of Mendes (chiefly Jose) then failings are excused, qualified and overly (mis)explained; individuals who make life difficult for the likes of Jose are cast in a negative light with tenuous details added to illustrate why someone of something caused Jose to not succeed. A total absence of balance.

In this Pogba story, for example, Castles goes to town on the player but doesn't acknowledge one bit that Jose has skin in the game and has, at least, some responsibility in the apparent breakdown in relations.

Cheers for that. I try to avoid him because I know he'd wind me up as one of my pet hates is agenda pushing disguised as journalism. I wonder if he's on the payroll or doing what he does to curry favour and gain access?

[wige]

Excellent and correct article from Phil Blundell today.

https://www.theanfieldwrap.com/2018/09/liverpool-united-strongest-11/

[kavah]

^ that is good - really interesting

[thekitkatshuffler]

Neil's segment of the Team Talk today is a fantastic listen.  Isn't life mad!   

[Zlen]

Had to cancel my subscribtion as TAW killed my commute reading habit. Victims of their quality.

[bradders1011]

Neil's comic timing on AFQ's "...or Nuns On The Run..." made me snort.

[Raaphael]

AFQ back at its best.

[Iska]

Really good cameo from Neil and Gibbseh on the Citymetric Skylines podcast this week.

[Raaphael]

Great voice on whoever girl/woman who was on the post match show yesterday.

[Ciara (with a capital "C")]

Just got in the car to get bits for a Sunday roast and see the Pink is 1hr 3mins...? Might have to do my weekly shop instead!

EDIT Screw that - just played it and it changed to 28mins 

[kavah]

A quick question for any iTunes users what do you have to search for on the apple pod cast app to find TAW player? There is something else I’ve got called “the anfield wrap podcast”  which has got some content but not all the other stuff like the post match show. I’ve tried searching for TAW player and “The Anfield Wrap” player but with no luck - cheers

Edit - sorted - cheers to U13 (the post below for the link)

[U13]

A quick question for any iTunes users what do you have to search for on the apple pod cast app to find TAW player? There is something else I’ve got called “the anfield wrap podcast”  which has got some content but not all the other stuff like the post match show. I’ve tried searching for TAW player and “The Anfield Wrap” player but with no luck - cheers

You can't find TAW player by searching iTunes, you have to add it manually. Instructions are here - https://www.theanfieldwrap.com/taw-player/instructions/

[kavah]

^ great thanks for that. Makes sense now as I updated the operating system and it disappeared

Sorted. Cheers

[Chivasino]

Been a great week or two for TAW. AFQ is back on form, the staff show especially good. Team Talk with Neil and his Dad's mate was a touching moment, the Pink after Chelsea was great. Neil again, capturing perfectly why Sturridge remains so many supporters favourite.

[Grobbelrevell]

Neil's segment of the Team Talk today is a fantastic listen.  Isn't life mad!   

Yeah, I couldn't stop smiling at that. Wonderful moment that ended up shared with all of us!

[Mr Dilkington]

Having listened to the latest review, I think there's an argument that it isn't quite what it should be. It's obviously intended to be more of a tactical look at any given game, in comparison to the free show which bounces around from discussing away ends, key moments and specific players. The issue (for me at least) is that often it's hard to differentiate between The Review and the free show in terms of content. I think The Review would benefit from having a bit more structure in terms of covering the tactical side of the game as it often loses its way and becomes just another post match type show with a lot of conjecture and speculation. I realise conjecture and speculation is sort of unavoidable in some respects because we can't be sure what Klopp has said and asked from his players. The thing is though, there is now unprecedented access to statistics which I think the Review could be making more use of. For example, there were times last season when Liverpool would win a game 4-0 with an xG of like 3.3 and the Review would say Liverpool should be more ruthless and if they were they could and should have won 6/7-0. I understand xG is not for everyone, and there are clear limitations with it, but it's really useful for guiding any analysis.

There was so much going on in that Chelsea game that I thought could have been covered more. Maybe the Review would benefit from being a video show, in the mold of the little tactical videos Neil does for the YouTube previews. I notice TAW were promoting a stats app on today's Talking Reds - maybe they could incorporate that into it.

Anyway, bit of constructive feedback. 

[Hightown Phil]

I realise conjecture and speculation is sort of unavoidable in some respects because we can't be sure what Klopp has said and asked from his players. The thing is though, there is now unprecedented access to statistics which I think the Review could be making more use of. For example, there were times last season when Liverpool would win a game 4-0 with an xG of like 3.3 and the Review would say Liverpool should be more ruthless and if they were they could and should have won 6/7-0. I understand xG is not for everyone, and there are clear limitations with it, but it's really useful for guiding any analysis.

xG in that instance would back up that sentence pretty well though?

[Mr Dilkington]

xG in that instance would back up that sentence pretty well though?

An xG of 3.3 would back up that Liverpool could/should have won 6 or 7-0?

Liverpool scored ~ in line with their xG numbers last season and yet one of the persistent criticisms was a lack of ruthlessness, which to me just wasn't the case. There's a reason teams don't win by those sort of margins on a regular basis.

[Hightown Phil]

No, an xG of 3.3 would back up that Liverpool could have won 6 or 7 if they were ruthless.

[Mr Dilkington]

No, an xG of 3.3 would back up that Liverpool could have won 6 or 7 if they were ruthless.

Sure, but this was a regular occurrence on the review last season, not just a one off - and often the emphasis was on should rather than could. For example, Salah outscored his xG numbers last season by around 8 or 9, which is common for players who score at that volume. Firmino was also running hot last season in terms of goals vs xG yet there was a constant criticism that they weren't ruthless enough.

[Fitzy.]

Having listened to the latest review, I think there's an argument that it isn't quite what it should be. It's obviously intended to be more of a tactical look at any given game, in comparison to the free show which bounces around from discussing away ends, key moments and specific players. The issue (for me at least) is that often it's hard to differentiate between The Review and the free show in terms of content. I think The Review would benefit from having a bit more structure in terms of covering the tactical side of the game as it often loses its way and becomes just another post match type show with a lot of conjecture and speculation. I realise conjecture and speculation is sort of unavoidable in some respects because we can't be sure what Klopp has said and asked from his players. The thing is though, there is now unprecedented access to statistics which I think the Review could be making more use of. For example, there were times last season when Liverpool would win a game 4-0 with an xG of like 3.3 and the Review would say Liverpool should be more ruthless and if they were they could and should have won 6/7-0. I understand xG is not for everyone, and there are clear limitations with it, but it's really useful for guiding any analysis.

There was so much going on in that Chelsea game that I thought could have been covered more. Maybe the Review would benefit from being a video show, in the mold of the little tactical videos Neil does for the YouTube previews. I notice TAW were promoting a stats app on today's Talking Reds - maybe they could incorporate that into it.

Anyway, bit of constructive feedback. 

Possibly some legs in this, I think. To be fair, heat maps and other stats are used quite a bit in the review show which add value to the analysis but there's possibly room for more??

That said, the conjecture is pretty well-considered in the sense that it doesn't stretch too far and doesn't enter outright fantasy. Indeed, guessing what Klopp was thinking is pretty interesting, even if we never fully know the answer.

[Mr Dilkington]

Possibly some legs in this, I think. To be fair, heat maps and other stats are used quite a bit in the review show which add value to the analysis but there's possibly room for more??

That said, the conjecture is pretty well-considered in the sense that it doesn't stretch too far and doesn't enter outright fantasy. Indeed, guessing what Klopp was thinking is pretty interesting, even if we never fully know the answer.

That's fair. Don't want to come across overly critical, it's still enjoyable, however I do think at times it can drift off and lose its way in terms of delivering tactical analysis.

I suppose another issue is that not everyone is enamored with analytics in football, so TAW are in a position where they need to keep it accessible to the thousands who subscribe.

Also, I wish Sean would expand on certain things from his own coaching standpoint. For example, in a couple of shows this season, including the latest one, he suggests moving Mane to the right and Salah to the left to keep future opponents guessing, but never really expands on the tactical implications of the switch. It's all well and good saying stick Salah on the left wing to get chalk on his boots, but the whole system is based on getting Salah advanced in high and central areas of the pitch. Moving Salah wide left would have significant implications on how the entire team operates, and whilst I disagree with the idea it would even be worth trying, it would be good if Sean could elaborate further on his reasoning.

[Dougle]

Having listened to the latest review, I think there's an argument that it isn't quite what it should be. It's obviously intended to be more of a tactical look at any given game, in comparison to the free show which bounces around from discussing away ends, key moments and specific players. The issue (for me at least) is that often it's hard to differentiate between The Review and the free show in terms of content. I think The Review would benefit from having a bit more structure in terms of covering the tactical side of the game as it often loses its way and becomes just another post match type show with a lot of conjecture and speculation. I realise conjecture and speculation is sort of unavoidable in some respects because we can't be sure what Klopp has said and asked from his players. The thing is though, there is now unprecedented access to statistics which I think the Review could be making more use of. For example, there were times last season when Liverpool would win a game 4-0 with an xG of like 3.3 and the Review would say Liverpool should be more ruthless and if they were they could and should have won 6/7-0. I understand xG is not for everyone, and there are clear limitations with it, but it's really useful for guiding any analysis.

There was so much going on in that Chelsea game that I thought could have been covered more. Maybe the Review would benefit from being a video show, in the mold of the little tactical videos Neil does for the YouTube previews. I notice TAW were promoting a stats app on today's Talking Reds - maybe they could incorporate that into it.

Anyway, bit of constructive feedback.

It varies for sure. Given that, the previous review with Rob, Neil and Sean, for me, was one of the best I have heard. I like Neil as one of the reviewers myself.

[Fitzy.]

That's fair. Don't want to come across overly critical, it's still enjoyable, however I do think at times it can drift off and lose its way in terms of delivering tactical analysis.

I suppose another issue is that not everyone is enamored with analytics in football, so TAW are in a position where they need to keep it accessible to the thousands who subscribe.

Also, I wish Sean would expand on certain things from his own coaching standpoint. For example, in a couple of shows this season, including the latest one, he suggests moving Mane to the right and Salah to the left to keep future opponents guessing, but never really expands on the tactical implications of the switch. It's all well and good saying stick Salah on the left wing to get chalk on his boots, but the whole system is based on getting Salah advanced in high and central areas of the pitch. Moving Salah wide left would have significant implications on how the entire team operates, and whilst I disagree with the idea it would even be worth trying, it would be good if Sean could elaborate further on his reasoning.

I presume Sean is suggesting just switching their position rather than making them play wider - so Mane comes from the right and Salah from the left but the shape is identical. I presume Sean thinks this may discombobulate the opposition as it's not our usual approach.