I wasn't talking about the quality of their chances. Rather I was referring to what I recall as a sustained period (10-15mins?) sometime after we scored (maybe somewhere in the 65'-85' timeframe), where we seemed to sit back, take our foot off the gas, let them have the ball more. That's what I meant about it feeling like we let them back into the game. And if you know me, you know me that I judge games more by how they look to the eye, not just by what the stats say. I'm old school and I'm fine with that. But that said, it'd be interesting to see what the stats say for just that timeframe (not the whole game): like possession, field tilt, momentum. To see if they support the feeling I had then. All I can tell you is that I did not feel super comfortable during that 10-15 min period, or that we had the game in the bag and that they wouldn't equalize. And I think they had some very close chances (Wilson going just over the bar?) which aren't really accounted for by xG. In the end we saw the game out. But I, for one, did not feel super confident about that until the 97th minute. Maybe I've got baggage from the past when we've thrown away leads? p.s. re the penalty, it's not universally agreed if one Arse fan says immediately after watching replays that they aren't gonna complain about that call being reversed. That was me. Edit: apparently at least one ex-pro analyst (Mustoe) agreed with me too
Yeah the team is incredibly confident they aren't going to concede so I don't mind them trying to generate transition opportunities and get a rest in their 442.
Re Calafiori’s disallowed goal for offside. He was clearly goal side of the last defender but I kept looking for a replay to show whether he was goalside of the ball (I think it might have been a closer call than being goalside of the defender, but we never got that replay.
I thought at the time that it looked like he was goalside on both accounts. But man oh man I wanted that goal to stand... it was the kind of goal that I wish we scored a lot more of. And clearly we're capable!
OK. I'm much more of the school of thought that if you have a 1-goal lead you should push on for a 2-goal lead. It's just a clear philosophy of mine and it really bugs me when we back off. But maybe we were tired, as you suggest, and we needed a breather, and were willing to take whatever risk came along with doing that. In the end, we pulled it out, and that was a BIG accomplishment, especially after an interlull that interrupted any momentum we were building from our previous win. And especially to keep the pressure on LFC & MCFC. WELL DONE BOYS!
100 percent foul Contact to knee first causing saka to lose balance .. then in follow through defender has a slight touch on the ball If that’s not a fouls I don’t know what is Var ********ed it per usual Can’t overturn unless it’s clear and obvious Mere fact that it took five minutes suggests that it wasn’t clear and obvious Same old
I could totally understand missing the contact in real time at speed and not giving a penalty. I cannot at all comprehend how you call it in real time, can with VAR see the knee contact prior to contact with the ball, and then reverse it. Corrupt as ********.
I don’t think it’s corrupt at all. Just incompetent. They literally don’t even know what it is they’re supposed to be trying to accomplish, let alone how to accomplish it.
If VAR competence and consistency were the norm, how would all of these gambling sites have the cash to sponsor the clubs involved?
Like Teta said, VAR is supposed to decide clear and obvious errors. The video officials are saying a ref was wrong and telling them how and giving a step by step. A clear and obvious error should be handled in under a minute but it take them 5 minutes... which is also how we ended up with 9 minutes of stoppage time.
I don't like the idea of putting a timer on things because it feels like that can be abused, but honestly if it takes more than 2 minutes to review it absolutely can't be clear and obvious.
Odegaard was just starting to get a bit closer to his old self before he got injured. The good thing for us is we are winning without him. December we will be next to full strength. If we can get to January 5 points ahead of City and Liverpool, we can start thinking possibilties. There are points to drop and wlll be dropped. The question for us I think is can be 'on track' to score over 90 points. I say on track because if we win get the title with 3 or 4 games left, we will likely play a weakend side and drop points because we will hopefully be in the FA cup or CL competitions and need to put a stronger squad in those cups. We played three sides, Fulham (Fulham away), Newcastle (away) and West Ham (home) in games we lost or dropped points to the last year or so. Expecting 5-0 wins is unreasonable. Bogeyman sides you are just glad to leave with a win.
Last year in these corresponding matches we got 1 point from 9, this year its 9/9. Based on the equivalent fixtures from last year to this year (swapping the relegated teams for the promoted ones) courtesy of Reddit: We are 7 points better off than we were against this opposition last season.
a) Honestly in October there is no way of knowing what our fitness will be in December. You can optimistically hope, but you cannot know who will have healed and who new we will have lost. b) So far this season's been tight so it's possible someone can win the title with <90 pts. Looks like 4 of the last 10 EPL winners have done it with <90 pts. It'll be interesting to see if the tightness continues or if one team (from N5) goes on a tear and kills off the competition early.