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The 2023-2024 Football Thread
- Thread starter Scepticalscribe
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Maybe I spoke too soon about VAR not stealing the limelight in this match...
Though, in the bigger picture I think the injuries Spurs have suffered today might be the biggest news.
Between their subs, their red cards, and their injuries, it appears that Spurs are now down to a mere four of the their starting eleven.
I don't think Man City worry about that sort of thing anymore.
Hard to draw lessons from this match. Spurs were self destructive, Chelsea made very heavy work getting over the line after being all but handed the win.
Hard to draw lessons from this match. Spurs were self destructive, Chelsea made very heavy work getting over the line after being all but handed the win.
I wish Arsenal can put in same effort with 11 men the way 9 men Spurs were chasing and closing down Chelsea.
Arsenal need to grow a pair. So bloody soft.
Arsenal need to grow a pair. So bloody soft.
Ive got my money on Liverpool to win the league this season. Massive underdogs but they might do it.
I think that @Lord Blackadder has the right of it:
Yes, the results have all gone City's way, but Manchester City are so far ahead - they have won five out of the last six Premier League titles - that they do not need to be bothered by trifles such as how everyone ele (potential challengers included) are actually doing.
Meanwhile, in the here and now of tonight's game, Chelsea make heavy weather of defeating a self-destructive nine man Spurs, with a score (a 4-1 victory) that ends up flattering them.
However, I suspect that neither this defeat nor the red cards will hurt Spurs the most: Rather, it may well be the injuries - if severe - to der Van and Maddison which could serve to wound them most of all.
They are disjointed as a team, this season, - not cohesive and not comfortable - and that is on Mikel Arteta.
As was yesterday's intemperate tantrum.
Had Raya claimed that ball, (instead of flapping at it), Newcastle wouldn't have, and couldn't have, scored, and then, all of the arguments about VAR would have been moot.
No, (and this sort of analogy really irks me), they are not soft.
Sometimes, their concentration lapses (which annoys me), but that (infuriating) hopeless spinelessness which we saw all too frequently a few seasons ago whenever they went behind by a goal or more, is (mostly), a thing of the past.
Rather, they need to learn how to take responsibility on the pitch, and play as a team, and the manager needs to accept that he may be drawing the wrong lessons from last season.
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Got to give Vicario massive credit — he put on a great show out there, though ultimately in vain.
The suspension for Romero will also be damaging to Spurs. Amazing how bad 19 out of 20 teams in the league look when you remove a few starters due to injury or suspension.
They've made an absolute mess of VAR.
The suspension for Romero will also be damaging to Spurs. Amazing how bad 19 out of 20 teams in the league look when you remove a few starters due to injury or suspension.
They've made an absolute mess of VAR.
Yes, he was.
Not as bad as the injuries to der Van and - possibly - Maddison.
Between games lost due to suspensions as a result of red cards and injuries, - at least one of which looked severe Van der Ven was in agony and had to be stretchered off - they have lost quite a few of their first team tonight.
Yes, most teams don't have very much strength in depth.
If it wasn't VAR, it would have been the ref (who had been complained about).
VAR is not the problem - and it is here to stay; devising ways and means of ensuring that the use of it is understood and that rules are adapted to ensure that it is applied consistently and intelligently and fairly - those strike me as the necessary challenges that need to be addressed.
Personally, (and both yesterday's Arsenal vs Newcastle game and tonights's Chelsea vs Spurs offer too many examples), whatever about VAR, I would like to see referees come down harder (and more consistently) on cynical fouls.
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Yeah, once it started, the train wreck wouldn't end...Finished 4 -1 to Chelskie...
In fairness, in terms of goals conceded, a defeat became a rout only after the 90th minute.
True. I saw the 2nd red coming from a mile away though.
They actually had several chances to tie it back up.
Oh well, as they say, "Spursy".
Dortmund have now dealt with Saudicastle home and away. Granted they have injuries.
Now need to beat PSG and Milan away…gd luck to them
Now need to beat PSG and Milan away…gd luck to them
If that had been a decent team against Spurs, it would have ended a lot, lot worse. 'Ange ball' has been found out; he doesn't seem to have the cunning to adapt well according to circumstances. Playing a really high line with 9 v 11?? Insane. Liverpool or City would have got 10 past them.
This is Good News. The less they achieve, the better for football.