Dan2501
Tour Winner
Doubt they'll be that worried, he only made 13 starts last season. Laporte, Otamendi, Stones and Walker with Fernandinho tracking back and dropping into defence when needed should be enough quality at the back for them.
Doubt they'll be that worried, he only made 13 starts last season. Laporte, Otamendi, Stones and Walker with Fernandinho tracking back and dropping into defence when needed should be enough quality at the back for them.
Beezerk
Money List Winner
Fair point but Walker and Stones switch off far too often so no amount of tracking back can cover for the sloppy errors they churn out.
Dan2501
Tour Winner
Walker's not going to be starting at CB often though. I imagine Laporte and Stones will be the main partnership of choice, with Otamendi stepping in as first back-up. I also see Cancelo taking Walker's RB position long-term too and see him as a better all-round RB than Walker. Kompany's been an injury liability the last 2 seasons (only made 15 starts the season before last) and City have been superb. I don't think Pep will be worried.
D
Deleted member 1740
Guest
Few worked out how to beat Liverpool last season and they played exactly the same brand as the previous season.
Liverbirdie
Ryder Cup Winner
Ok, so do we just want it to end up being a business, more than a sport whereby whoever spends the most wins the most, as a rule of thumb. I dont.
Its not jealousy, if you dont want to do it the same way. As Ive said before I would only want an Arab sheik, if all the other 19 all had them.
No matter how its dressed up a large number of neutral fans see Chelsea and city's success as slightly tainted due to it all being about rapid investment by a billionaire who either wants a toy, or to make a country a bit more likeable. Its also why in 100,000 people you would be hard pressed to find someone who didnt enjoy Leiceter's title.
Liverbirdie
Ryder Cup Winner
Liverbirdie
Ryder Cup Winner
Dont believe all you hear, one rumour had it that City had 13 of them last year. Could be true, though.
clubchamp98
Journeyman Pro
You have just given your tactics away!I don't think there's a recorded database of incorrect refereeing decisions. Not one I can find anyway. I just remember a spell when Liverpool benefitted several times in the space of a couple of months. Offside goals and soft penalties after Salah's flouncing. No matter though, what's done is done, the point is VAR will make this a very different season for all teams. I for one have filled my fantasy team with penalty takers to start with.
clubchamp98
Journeyman Pro
Not enough teams have a go at them ,so they don’t need a great defence ,hence no Cl medals as them teams do know how to play against them.
Orikoru
Tour Winner
That's fine, I don't have any money on this one.
sawtooth
Tour Winner
I don't think there's a recorded database of incorrect refereeing decisions. Not one I can find anyway. I just remember a spell when Liverpool benefitted several times in the space of a couple of months. Offside goals and soft penalties after Salah's flouncing. No matter though, what's done is done, the point is VAR will make this a very different season for all teams. I for one have filled my fantasy team with penalty takers to start with.
VAR will deter diving and rule out some of the dubious hand ball decisions resulting in less penalties not more surely?
clubchamp98
Journeyman Pro
Yes when players adjust the way they play but that’s going to take time.
So still some silly ones for me.
Leicester flouted the rules just as much as City and Chelsea when getting themselves promoted. So whilst it was a fairytale win, it could still be tainted if you wanted to look at it this way.
I'm also not saying that I like footy being a business, but quite simply it is. Your owners stopped further expansion after your supporters complained about ticket prices. They all have balance sheets.
If City and Chelsea continued to spend more than everyone else then I agree its not on. But Chelsea nowaways don't, and City in the last few windows have spent similar amounts to their rivals. Of course they needed an injection of cash otherwise the status quo would simply have remained.
All I know is that in the time I've watched football which is less than some. The last 10/15 have had more varied title winners than the previous 10/15.
MegaSteve
Tour Winner
Footy was a whole lot better when the focus was the folk on the terraces... Now it's more about the 'bottom line' and viewing figures...
Sadly, the clock can't be turned back...
Sadly, the clock can't be turned back...
Reemul
Head Pro
Didn't you play the whole season with 9 men due to those injuries, rose tinted glasses going on there me thinks.
4LEX
Well-known member
That's actually totally incorrect.Liverpool changed their style, tempo and tactics massively last season, compared to the season before. They were super high tempo and blew teams away in 17/18 but last season it was much more controlled and defensively sound. It was actually an quite amazing change and really impressed me about Klopp.
Orikoru
Tour Winner
No that hasn't been the case so far. VAR has already seen the award of some ridiculous hand ball decisions that I don't think would have been given in open play. The problem is in slow motion it often looks worse, because the arm appears to have been in that position for an age, rather than in real time it could only be half a second as they pull it out of the way. All the surrounding context is lost and people have been punished for some quite unfair situations in my view. Where previously a ref may not have awarded a penalty because he wasn't 100% sure, now it will be reviewed, potentially look a lot worse on the slow motion replay, and then be awarded.
For diving, yes we hope it will go the other way. It will certainly rule out the ones where there was no contact you would have thought.
Tashyboy
Please don’t ask to see my tatts 👍
Last sentence Stu, last year it was harder. Much much harder. I remember when City were going through a stage where they found it hard to break teams down. They just sat back and the flowing football of the previous year was just not there. Teams had learned from the previous " centurions" year. That was one of the reasons Pep said he bought Mahrez, to help break down teams that sit back. Think Liverpool of this year could find that " patience" is the key word.
Looks like Citys injuries have already started with Sane 😖
Semantics. The Moores fortune began from the pools, they built liverpool up to be the force they became, 50 odd years at liverpool I believe. This is all long established.
Why does it bother you? Your history is your history.
Orikoru
Tour Winner
He was going to Bayern anyway.
