Men's Soccer (Football) Thread Soccer • Page 540

Wow just checked in. None of these matches are going the way I’d have suspected.

 

Salah please stop. I’ll never move the captaincy off of you again I swear.

 

Kelleher's had a bad game.

 

That's Kelleher's Karius moment.

 

in a vacuum, a draw away from home to a decent side isn't so bad

not in a vacuum, the ref was absolute shit from the start. and Kelleher's had his boner, need Alisson back

 

Looked like a shove before his header?

 

Hojlund has to be stronger there. To me there wasn’t enough in it but i am joyfully biased.

 

Had to be a corner

 

Seems like every time I look at the match Arsenal is taking a corner

 

god that Kelleher decision is so annoying. why are you coming to claim a ball if you’re not going to catch it. just do it, you have sticky gloves on and your job is to catch the ball

 

Chelsea scored 5, we've been unlucky big time. Couple that with Bowen missing a hat-trick of sitters yesterday and I'm just about ready to say a colossal fuck you

 

there’s no point getting clever with captaincy. I’ve learned my lesson (again)

 

After years of being a team full of nice, technical players who were all about 5 ft 6, it’s great to be able to switch it up and use set pieces to break down difficult defences. Just a great extra weapon to have.

Got a nice run coming up and we don’t even leave London all this month. Let’s get on a run and try make up some ground to Liverpool,

 

Expected set piece goals. But plenty of positives to take from that.

 

The Arsenal DJ is a hero playing Kesha - Timber at the end haha

 

I've been watching a lot more football the last few weeks, and at the moment there's a staggering dearth of pragmatism and basic game management in the Premier League. So many chances and goals given away because a team doesn't actually know how to play out from the back — instead of just having some sense that they should — or because they play with a high offside line that their defenders can't manage, or lack a basic understanding of how to control space, of when to double mark and not get distracted by an overlap etc. Everyone's buying good technical players and possess great support systems for fitness and analysis. But there are some coaches getting away with murder in pursuit of some vain philosophy, because they think that playing style is a binary between the 'right' way and the cynical, ugly way, with nothing in between.

We've been brilliant but one significant reason we have a seven point gap after fourteen games is because our attack is designed to kill an opponent that leaves big spaces in behind and risks a turnover in midfield. Almost no one thinks and plays pragmatically enough to find the sweet spot between offering a threat and managing a game.

 

One thing I've enjoyed going from Klopp to Slot is defensive control and pragmatism. There have been games where — in the moment — it feels like Liverpool are under the cosh for periods, but on rewatching it's clear that it was oppositional spells of possession with no bite because our defensive structure has been so, so solid. I think Wolves away is one where the online sentiment from our fans was that Liverpool were fortunate to get out of there with a 2-1 victory but a sober analysis would show that there was never any threat.

Although Liverpool's defensive depth is pretty bare right now, I was a bit surprised to not see Endo come on after going up 3-2. Not even sure who he would've came on for, maybe one of Salah/Darwin/Mac Allister, but generally Slot's substitutions late in game, specifically to kill games, has been so good and to not see it today was surprising

 

The Anfield Wrap’s post match show tonight had a brief cameo from Clive Tyldesley who apparently was on comms for the game in the UK. Super cool TAW was able to catch a few minutes of his time for his thoughts. I don’t know to what esteem he is held in by the broader soccer fanbase but I’ve always enjoyed him for Champions League games here in the US

 

He's been one of the best for years in England. I grew up with his commentary on ITV (free-to-air terrestrial channel that used to show Champions League games before TNT bought the rights) and he was also the voice of the official Champions League video games on the PS1/2. So yeah, he's been part of the fabric for me ever since I got into the sport properly.

 

Tyldesley has always been liable to spout drivel during a game but for a big moment there are few better. All my Champions League memories from childhood, particularly of course the 2005 Champions League final, are soundtracked by his voice (I don't think I'd do a bad job of transcribing his commentary during the penalty shootout, just off by heart).

And go back to the two late goals in the '99 Champions League final and notice both the sense of magnitude in his voice and the 15+ seconds of silence he leaves after the ball hits the net.

 

Tyldesley understood what needed to be done on calling a goal more than anyone. Enthusiastically yelled the player’s name right after the ball went in, and always gave it about 5 seconds of pure crowd reaction before continuing. Very much a less is more approach that let the atmosphere sell the viewer on the vibe of a goal.

 

Everything alright in the world of @Garrett? Not seen him/you in this thread for awhile!

 

We won’t see him for a few more weeks after Wind & Truth releases tomorrow.

 

watching footy on mute with the audiobook playing is literally all either of you and I will be doing all weekend