Premier League Gameweek 38

TheReligion

Abusive
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
51,446
Location
Manchester
Very tired performance from Spurs today but we did enough. Incidently that was Kane's 14th goal in 19 matches he has played under Mourhino which suggests he will score goals just fine under Jose.
What did you think of the celebration at the end? Seemed a bit much
 

Maluco

Last Man Standing 3 champion 2019/20
Joined
Jan 4, 2014
Messages
5,765
Sensational collapse and meltdown from Leicester. The manner of the collapse will put Brendan under pressure straight away next season, even though he has taken them to 5th. Football is a funny game.

Watford finally punished for their bizarre way of running things and Bournemouth for years of poor investment.

Good finish.
 

balaks

Full Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Messages
15,335
Location
Northern Ireland
Supports
Tottenham Hotspur
Just reminded me of what Jose tried to do at United when we won a few cups. Wasn't sniping. He tries to get a togetherness going seemingly.
I see it as 6th was our overall goal for the last few weeks - it was realistically the best finish we could get. If you look at it that way he is celebrating attaining the teams goal which I have no problem with at all.
 

Sweech

Full Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2016
Messages
783
Supports
Tottenham Hotspur
Yes, stupid that VAR couldn’t have got involved
VAR the tool described as being there to help make up for "clear and obvious errors" when in actuality it's there for giving offsides to a player for being 0.0000014mm offside or for giving penalties for when players step on the ball and fall over.
 

1966

Full Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2018
Messages
418
Location
UK
Supports
England
Very tired performance from Spurs today but we did enough. Incidently that was Kane's 14th goal in 19 matches he has played under Mourhino which suggests he will score goals just fine under Jose.
Yes, he will. He would score under anyone because when he's fit, he's a fecking fantastic striker. The best in the world for me. The issue is and always has been that he won't score as many as he theoretically could in a more attacking team -- any team where he's given opportunities to score in the back 70 minutes of a game and where a total xG of 0.3 against a club like Palace is not considered acceptably prudent.

(On a larger scale, playing this way, which is essentially relying on individual brilliance from Kane, is completely unsustainable. Never fear, Jose will be found out if he continues to try this shit next season. Runs of games like those against Sheffield and Everton will be common features.)
 

tentan

Poor man's poster.
Joined
Oct 5, 2013
Messages
4,503
Shame for Watford and Bournemouth, good teams and brought a lot to the Premier League.
 

RobinLFC

Cries when Liverpool doesn't get praised
Joined
May 20, 2014
Messages
20,808
Location
Belgium
Supports
Liverpool
Do you rate Lovren and Gomez higher?
Gomez is one of the best CBs in the league imo. Our stats with him in the side are incredible. Aké is a decent PL player who could make the step up to a team like Everton, Wolves, Leicester et al but he's nowhere near good enough for a team aspiring to be a title challenger. If City sign him to pair him with Laporte, I'll be very happy with that.


I actually think the above might not be true anymore now, but it was still quite an incredible stat. Also think he's never lost a game at Anfield since he joined us.

Lovren is gone by the way, he joined Zenit.
 

SilentWitness

ShoelessWitness
Staff
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
30,143
Supports
Everton
Gomez is one of the best CBs in the league imo. Our stats with him in the side are incredible. Aké is a decent PL player who could make the step up to a team like Everton, Wolves, Leicester et al but he's nowhere near good enough for a team aspiring to be a title challenger. If City sign him to pair him with Laporte, I'll be very happy with that.


I actually think the above might not be true anymore now, but it was still quite an incredible stat. Also think he's never lost a game at Anfield since he joined us.

Lovren is gone by the way, he joined Zenit.
It isn't. He played at CB in the 4-0 loss to City. I think that tweet cursed him as I had a look and you lost against Arsenal with him at CB too!

Plus the Chelsea and Atletico games but they aren't PL.
 
Last edited:

Berbasbullet

Too Boring For A Funny Tagline
Joined
Nov 3, 2011
Messages
20,031
Gomez is one of the best CBs in the league imo. Our stats with him in the side are incredible. Aké is a decent PL player who could make the step up to a team like Everton, Wolves, Leicester et al but he's nowhere near good enough for a team aspiring to be a title challenger. If City sign him to pair him with Laporte, I'll be very happy with that.


I actually think the above might not be true anymore now, but it was still quite an incredible stat. Also think he's never lost a game at Anfield since he joined us.

Lovren is gone by the way, he joined Zenit.
Fair play, one to watch for my fantasy football next season then.
 

Klopper76

"Did you see Fabinho against Red Star & Cardiff?"
Joined
Dec 15, 2015
Messages
19,721
Location
Victoria, BC
Supports
Liverpool
I think he's a solid PL player. He'd get into your back 4 too.
No he wouldn't. Gomez is better than him and I'd rather have Matip as well. Lovren is a toss up but I see Ake making plenty of mistakes.
 

TheReligion

Abusive
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
51,446
Location
Manchester
No he wouldn't. Gomez is better than him and I'd rather have Matip as well. Lovren is a toss up but I see Ake making plenty of mistakes.
Lovren is garbage IMO. Gomez has been good but still think Ake is no where near as bad or far away as being made out. He's just a little small.

In addition your defence has been pretty awful for a while now.
 

Klopper76

"Did you see Fabinho against Red Star & Cardiff?"
Joined
Dec 15, 2015
Messages
19,721
Location
Victoria, BC
Supports
Liverpool
Lovren is garbage IMO. Gomez has been good but still think Ake is no where near as bad or far away as being made out. He's just a little small.

In addition your defence has been pretty awful for a while now.
Yeah but we still have the best defensive record in the league. We've had the luxury of being able to switch off a bit but our record over the last two seasons speaks for itself. Lovren is garbage but I've seen Ake make plenty of errors at Bournemouth too.

On Ake, I'm not convinced personally. I just don't see a player who is going to join a City or United and then step up. You'd be better off bringing Smalling back than signing Ake if those are your two options. I do accept that great CB's are harder to come by nowadays but I don't think Ake improves your defense at all, unless you're replacing Jones with him.
 

TheReligion

Abusive
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
51,446
Location
Manchester
Yeah but we still have the best defensive record in the league. We've had the luxury of being able to switch off a bit but our record over the last two seasons speaks for itself. Lovren is garbage but I've seen Ake make plenty of errors at Bournemouth too.

On Ake, I'm not convinced personally. I just don't see a player who is going to join a City or United and then step up. You'd be better off bringing Smalling back than signing Ake if those are your two options. I do accept that great CB's are harder to come by nowadays but I don't think Ake improves your defense at all, unless you're replacing Jones with him.
What's your record like post Xmas? It feels like you've been leaking goals since before lockdown and they pretty much consistently since restart?

I think Ake is PL quality and would be a good addition to any of the top sides squads but I'll accept I don't watch him every week or routinely.
 

Klopper76

"Did you see Fabinho against Red Star & Cardiff?"
Joined
Dec 15, 2015
Messages
19,721
Location
Victoria, BC
Supports
Liverpool
What's your record like post Xmas? It feels like you've been leaking goals since before lockdown and they pretty much consistently since restart?

I think Ake is PL quality and would be a good addition to any of the top sides squads but I'll accept I don't watch him every week or routinely.
Between the beginning of January to when lockdown started we conceded 15 goals in all competitions across 16 games, but most of those came after January. In January we conceded 3 goals across 7 games, and two of those were against Shrewsbury in the FA Cup where we heavily rotated. Since lockdown we've been all over the shop (conceding 12 in 9) but I think part of that might be because the job was done.

We were better and more organized defensively in the first half of the season though. Van Dijk's played every league game in the last two seasons without missing a minute so I think he's why we're so good in that area now.
 

TheReligion

Abusive
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
51,446
Location
Manchester
Between the beginning of January to when lockdown started we conceded 15 goals in all competitions across 16 games, but most of those came after January. In January we conceded 3 goals across 7 games, and two of those were against Shrewsbury in the FA Cup where we heavily rotated. Since lockdown we've been all over the shop (conceding 12 in 9) but I think part of that might be because the job was done.

We were better and more organized defensively in the first half of the season though. Van Dijk's played every league game in the last two seasons without missing a minute so I think he's why we're so good in that area now.
It feels like before lockdown you were ropey too. Conceded 3 away to Watford another 3 at home to Norwich, 4 to Athletico and another couple away to Chelsea. That seems to have carried on post restart for whatever reason.

Anyway I'm sure you'll get it back sorted but I do feel as though you can be got at a bit.
 

Klopper76

"Did you see Fabinho against Red Star & Cardiff?"
Joined
Dec 15, 2015
Messages
19,721
Location
Victoria, BC
Supports
Liverpool
It feels like before lockdown you were ropey too. Conceded 3 away to Watford another 3 at home to Norwich, 4 to Athletico and another couple away to Chelsea. That seems to have carried on post restart for whatever reason.

Anyway I'm sure you'll get it back sorted but I do feel as though you can be got at a bit.
We didn't concede 3 to Norwich but yeah we're not a defensive bastion of invincibility. Some times we over press and leave space behind our midfield. Robertson & TAA leave a lot of space behind them as well.
 

TheReligion

Abusive
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
51,446
Location
Manchester
We didn't concede 3 to Norwich but yeah we're not a defensive bastion of invincibility. Some times we over press and leave space behind our midfield. Robertson & TAA leave a lot of space behind them as well.
Sorry it was 2 you conceded to West Ham. 3-2 win.