Chelsea slammed and told they ‘will never win anything’ with Nunez-lite Nicolas Jackson
Not even beating Spurs can shield Chelsea and particularly Nicolas Jackson from criticism. Darwin Nunez is better and that really is saying something.
Send your thoughts to [email protected].
Oh Villa
Utterly depressing Villa.
Itâs the hope that kills you.
Paul
Well that wasnât ideal. Didnât get the rub of the green (Iâm talking deflections more so than decisions), and shot ourselves in the foot. Luiz handing the momentum back to Olympiacos, literally. Thatâs a penalty every day. Iâm confident we can turn it around though. Thatâs not to say we will, just that we can. Martinez to will us to the final.
Ta Chelsea, too.
Gary AVFC, Oxford.
Nunez > Jackson
Despite his (very fortuitous) header late on, surely Nicholas Jackson is amongst just a small handful of forwards in the league capable of foisting more frustration upon his own fan base than our much beloved, much mocked Darwin Nunez. Watching Jacksonâs daftness in key decision-making moments paired with his awful touch and lack of general awareness, it occurs to me his only asset is pace and even then, he isnât exactly blessed with explosiveness or world class speed. Heâs worse than Darwin and believe me thatâs saying something.
Not any kind of fresh take here, but Chelsea will never win anything with the likes of Nicholas Jackson leading the line. They won handily and assuredly tonight, but MBA sports exec programs the world over will point to the Blues and the Boehly/Clearlake helm as textbook primer on how not to construct your title contender. Political correctness aside I imagine most Chelsea supporters will curse the losses of Abramovich and Granovskaia (and probably Petr Cech) much the same way FSG might warmly welcome Michael Edwards back to the fold, and with him some semblance of plan as to recruitment, squad maintenance and foresight.
Anyway with an eye on our weekendâs fixture then, I couldnât conclude whether it would benefit us for Spurs to arrive Anfield on Sunday with a spiraling third loss on the trot, or a galvanizing 3 points taken from their Judas Pochettino. Then it occurred to me: who cares ? If anything, Liverpool vs Tottenham on Sunday is the deadest of rubbers featuring two calcified sides that, win, lose or draw, cannot catch those above them, and will not be caught by those below. Truly a footballing purgatory⊠but I suppose thatâs also how the median half of the table exists season on season, so perhaps it builds character to sit in this for a bit. Steep in it.
Of course any footballing character building exercise is a bit more the positive experience when next termâs Big Cup sweepstakes entry is likely assured, but Iâm certain Tottenham character builders relish their Audi cups all the same as we our six. So on to Sunday then.
Eric, Los Angeles  CA
Sanchno
I enjoyed Will Fordâs reaction to Jadon Sanchoâs performance in the Champions League semi-final. Yes, after taking on a fullback a few times, against the CLâs most notorious late-stage bottlers, itâs totally not a kneejerk reaction to suggest that Man Utd should sack their manager in the hope that Sancho might once again grace them with his presence and maybe put in a bit of effort.
But before anyone gets even more carried away, letâs not forget that Sancho was absolutely crap for Man Utd. That for a supposed top player, he looked spectacularly ill-suited to the Premier League. That the club approved a mid-season sabbatical so he could rediscover whatever it was that made him successful in Germany, only to realise that the key factor was probably having slow, hesitant defenders on the opposition teams.
In the run-up to this game the BBC website had an appraisal of Sancho from a journalist who actually watches German football: âHe lacks the ease and confidence of his first spell at BVB. He doesnât dribble as often and he also lacks pace and loses the ball too often.â So, basically the reasons he flopped hard in the Premier League and has gone from occasional substitute to forgotten man with England.
Plus, of course, he threw such a massive tantrum that the club that vastly overpaid to sign him was forced to send him out on loan. But hey, he looked a baller in the one game most of us have seen him play this season, so both of his managers at Man Utd were clearly wrong. Sack another one, get him back, and carry on vilifying Antony for being no better than Sancho was in that team.
Martin, BRFC
Open-heart surgery
Dear Members of the Ragnick said something profound brigade âŠ.
Hereâs whoâs still in the squad from the time Ragnick used selling every player as a shield
Martial â leaving this summer
Shaw- great in Ten Haags first year probably should leave
Rashford â Great Last year ,no effort this year currently every fans scapegoat
Lindelof -Super Sub probably not the biggest influence has been Swedish Captain
Mctominay-His attitude has been applauded by at least 2 managers one of the highest scorers this year with less play time
Dalot â a bit subjective some say heâs okay others think he canât defend
Maguire â Redeemed this year , was in the Rashford spot most of the last 2 years
AwB- probably leaving because he canât contribute to offense enough
Bruno- Currently the captain
Varane likely to leave â
Thatâs it
Some of these players have been the teams saving grace over the last 2 years and weâve bought more players under Ten HAAG enough to make players bought his tenure the minority.
can we get over a rant from a guy who said what he needed to cover his short comings as a manager, there arenât enough of them left to justify this years bad performance or why we need Ragnick again.
Roode, MUFC
MORE ONÂ THE MESS AT MAN UTD FROM F365
đ Where all 22 up-for-sale Man Utd players could end up this summer in ÂŁ575m INEOS clear out
đ Ratcliffe eats âjust days afterâ transfer-listing entire Man Utd squad
Laughing at Spurs fans
Anyone else find it rather amusing that Sp*rs fans are suggesting they should LET City win?!âŠ.ha ha ha. Let me tell you, arsenal are looking at Fulham to do them âa favourââŠnot Sp*rs. City will open you a new one!! Prove us wrong!
Dublin Gooner
And questioning Arsenal supporters
Arsenal are such a weird fanbase, re-imagining how the game played out to link back to bizarre comparisons to the 3-0. Anyway some observations:
1. Thomas Partey blatantly shoved Romero so his header hit the post instead of going in. Obvious penalty not spotted by ref or VAR.
2. Trossard fouled Kulusevski. Obvious penalty ignored by the ref and VAR, Saka scores straight away from the break.
3. Obvious foul on Vicario for the Havertz goal (fouling our goalkeeper is fair game now of course because he âneeds to be stronger when fouledâ???) â not seen or just ignored by the ref and VAR.
Thatâs a four goal swing, even ignoring the debatable goal that Van De Ven had disallowed. So to say Arsenal were in full control is fine if you believe in unicorns. And I suppose also fine for the first 10 minutes of the second half, the only time in the whole match when you werenât parking the bus. However, if the referees and VAR were even just remotely competent you would have been shown up and sent on your way.
One team dominated in every other measurable aspect of the game (apart from corners) and it wasnât the deluded lot who do the cringe song ânorth London foreverâ before each home game (hugs and kisses guys).
Dave, (Spurs fans please donât start on Ange ffs) Winchester Spurs
Overachievement
So, Adidasmufc raises an interesting point about Liverpool. I firmly believe that Klopp has overachieved massively.  well remember what a basket case the club was before he arrived, and theyâve played some of the most exciting, consistent and excellent football Iâve ever seen.  99 and 98 points back to back, three Champions League finals in 5 years and one win, three years undefeated at home, most wins in a season and that oh so close to a quadruple season. Genuinely amazing, and all into the teeth of two financially doped powerhouses.
But the point about trophies isnât wrong â history will not be kind to this side, and Iâve thought this more or less since Cityâs third goal against Villa. None of the above achievements, or the sheer joy of watching a side for three whole years knowing that they were basically two teams in the world capable of beating them, will last in the memory. Itâll be two lost finals, two second places and the shadow of a City team thatâs dominated England since Pep entered the building.
The absolute worst part of this is that the Klopp/Pep era wonât be remembered for either of them. It belongs to Real, the club I dislike the most in the world. Theyâve won La Liga basically as much as City have won the PL and routinely beaten both City and Liverpool more or less whenever theyâve faced off, often in hilarious or memorable fashion. City are boring, but you can at least respect their commitment to doing things properly and playing good football. Madrid are a tapeworm that sucks the life out of spanish football, and firehoses money at the best players with as much thought as a ten year old playing champ manager with a cheat code. And theyâve had more state aid over the years than City or PSG, itâs just easier to sportswash it when itâs your own government.
Dan, Plastic LFC
Franco speaking
All this talk of the best defences has a glaring omission â Nonno Baresi. My Italian mate (shout Wardo) says he was a back four all on his own, and taught Maldini everything he knows.
This excerpt from These Football Times says it all:
Of all the great players who have adorned the Rossoneri, it is Baresi who was voted Player of the Century, and it was in his honour that the famous number 6 was retired. The only other Milan player to have the same privilege was Baresiâs protĂ©gĂ©, Paolo Maldini, the keeper of the sacred defensive flame for the most famous side in calcio history.
Gofezo (VVD isnât fit to lace his boots, moreâs the pity)
Southend United and hope
I urge everyone to read the quite excellent article by Tim Burrows in the Guardian regarding the plight of Southend United.
It very neatly describes how Southend United have nearly, and still might possibly cease to exist under Ron Martinâs ownership.
Rather than focus on just how bad Ron the Rat has been for Southend I wanted to highlight just how good a job the players and management team have done in hugely challenging circumstances.
I was fortunate enough to have a private lunch with the first team management team recently and a more impressive 3 individuals in the circumstances you could not wish to meet, what is said in the article only scrathes the story of some of the hardships they have gone through. Whatever happens they will manage in higher leagues (hopefully with Southend).
The players went into the last game of the season with a shot of making the playoffs, despite having 10 points deducted, games with outfield players playing in goal as only one goalkeeper could be signed on at a time due to the transfer embargo and games where they could name only one substitute.
Ultimately they fell short but everyone pulling together with the hope of better things to come under the potential new owners shows that in adversity the true strength of a team and club come to the fore.
Well done to the those involved in fighting for the club â letâs hope the deal gets done and over the line and there is a brighter future ahead for those who did.
Brooko
The Peopleâs VAR
VAR is broken and needs fixing.
VARâs job is to correct âclear and obviousâ errors. Therefore the current focus on using current referees as the VAR is wrong. Equally the calls for former players to run VAR is wrong. These guys are experts. We do not need experts running VAR. A layman should be able to see a clear and obvious error. If he canât, then itâs not clear and obvious. By definition!
Given this we need to re-evaluate who should be sitting in Stockley Park. I believe the answer is a Peopleâs VAR. this is similar to the Peopleâs Lottery. Every week the general population can buy a ticket to be the VAR at a football match. Funds raised from the ticket will go towards grassroots football.
The winner will then be placed in the Stockley Park studio and will act as the VAR, (obviously after checking team allegiances).
There are many benefits to this:
The referee on the pitch is in charge. Big Ange will not be able to complain that the match is being refereed from Stockley Park
Only clear and obvious errors will be highlighted, if the ball is handled outside the box, as in a recent WBA match, then any old layman will be able to see that there has been a clear and obvious error. If a player is 2 yards offside then it will be clear to the Peoples VAR that a clear and obvious error has been made. If Maradona punches the ball into the net then the peoples VAR would intervene. If Terry Henry controls the ball with his hand before sending France to the World Cup, then you donât need an expert to point this out. If Ben Davieâs gets kicked in the bollocks then obviously the Peoples VAR will ask the referee to go to the screen etc
The final decision will be the on field referees. It will not be decided by the novice in the box.
Finally remember what the national lottery did for good causes when it was first introduced, the Peopleâs VAR will do the same for grass roots football. 3G pitches everywhere!
There are no downsides to the Peopleâs VAR. I suggest the FA should look to implement asap so it is ready for the start of next season.
NPR
PS The Peoples VAR would also abolish the drawing of lines when there is an offside decision, the Peopleâs VAR will just need to use their eyes.
