Premiership 2019-20

[yuppie]

Will be interesting to see if Pep is staying at City.

Big rebuild required and some mistakes have been made. Questions being asked of Pep now and his contract expires in the summer.

Many are still waiting for him to win a champions league with out Xavi, Iniesta and Messi .

[Red Devil]

Will be interesting to see if Pep is staying at City.

Big rebuild required and some mistakes have been made. Questions being asked of Pep now and his contract expires in the summer.

Many are still waiting for him to win a champions league with out Xavi, Iniesta and Messi .

tep - wouldn't be the biggest surprise if he went but I think he'll stay as he probably wants to leave when he's on top rather than like this

[Red Devil]

United manage to win again, still maing it tough as todays game should ahve been over a lot earlier - top 4 looking like it might be doable

[sussexpob]

Many are still waiting for him to win a champions league with out Xavi, Iniesta and Messi .

I wonder who personally mentored Xavi from the age of 11, and who blocked his transfer out the club after a few lean years when he arrived as manager? I wonder who seen Iniesta's potential as a between the lines advanced playmaker and convinced him to stay at the club after years being a utility player, turning him within 6 months from a player ranked by Spanish media outside the top 20 players in Spain to 3rd in the Ballon D'or votes. I wonder who took Messi and created the "false 9" role, taking a 15 goal a year wide player to one that scored 50 and won world player of the year in less than a year.

"Many" people would do well to do some research.

[sussexpob]

People have a disrespect for Guardiola that I find staggering. He creates the best side ever, but its disregarded as him inheriting a wonderful team. He goes to Bayern, wins the league every year in February by record points hauls, and hes considered to have failed. He goes to City, wins two titles by record amounts, and people talk of him getting sacked because he's currently second to a team that are currently on course to score 110 points in a season, which to put it into context, would beat every single major league record thats currently held by European teams.

The reality is, at Barcelona he changed football more than any person has arguably done so from a tactical level. Klopp's "gegenpressen" doesnt exist without Guardiola's evolution of high pressing he brought to the game. At Barcelona, he instantly made players better. He brought youth players into the side that became world class..... where are the La Mesia graduates now? We are led to believe its La Mesia that did Guardiola's work for him, but if thats true, where are they all? The only graduate players in the team that are any good are now are Messi, who Guardiola fine tuned into a legend, and 4 others who debuted under him.

Bayern.... yeah, he did so appallingly there. Took over a team that had not won the Bundesliga in 2 years, had only won 2 in 7 titles going further back, had an ageing squad and had not signed a player over 30 million euros in their history, and won three straight leagues in February by record margins. 2 of the 3 managers I can remember who have won the CLs at more than one club, Jupp and Carlo, had the job either side of him.....in comparison Jupp lost the league twice, Ancelloti was sacked within a year and left with the dressing room in chaos.....

Man City... beats the record points haul first year. Betters it second year. Terrible.

[sussexpob]

Luck can also play such a massive part in things. Wolves play City 2 days before Liverpool (and once again at Christmas, Liverpool play a team with a days less rest than them), they tuck away every chance they have into the bottom corner; 2 days later, they dominate the last 20 minutes and miss several key chances. Everything seems to have gone Liverpool's way this year. Wolves rested all their attackers, City didnt get that luxury (and those subs coming into the game totally changed its direction at the end).

They never get any serious injuries, teams find ways to make silly mistakes vs them, and recently teams just miss rafts of chances against them.... how many games this year have City dominated, only for a team to score with every single half chance they get? How many coin flip VAR decisions consistently go Liverpool's way, and against city (pretty much every single one, if there is a hint it can be given Liverpools way, it does).

There really isnt that much of a gap between the sides, I think both are pretty similar in quality with Liverpool currently having better form..... but play this year with the same line ups 100 times, Id expect the level of titles would be similar between them.

[Gingerfinch]

Have Liverpool had many VAR decisions go their way this season?

Agree about Pep, btw. He does get some very unwarranted criticism.

[sussexpob]

Have Liverpool had many VAR decisions go their way this season?

Yesterday's goal should have been disallowed. Van Dijk controlled a pass from Robertson with his hand, launched the long ball upfield, and it ended in the back of the net after...... the PL have confirmed that the video referee saw (and agreed) Van Dijk had handled it, but that it had taken place too far back in play to be ruled on.

There is 6 seconds from the handball to the ball hitting the net.

The PL might have well have released a statement saying they want to guarantee Liverpool the league.

[sussexpob]

I take it from this precedent that all goals will be now treated thus? That VAR now has a limit of 5 seconds from an infringement even if its clear?

Of course it wont, and rightly so... just wondering why the ref said that yesterday? The only conclusion I can come to is flagrant personal bias looking for a reason to give the goal wrongly, or corruption. Nothing else comes close to explaining it.

[Gingerfinch]

Yes the Van Dijk one did hit his arm. Was it a clear and obvious mistake though? Even if so, Liverpool certainly won't be winning the title because of VAR. Their consistency has been astounding for about a year now, and City's hasn't.

[sussexpob]

Yes the Van Dijk one did hit his arm. Was it a clear and obvious mistake though?

Cant get clearer, but that wasnt the debate. The PL statement indicates the video referee clearly thought it was a deliberate handball; he just thought that the 6 seconds it took to end in the net rendered it too far back to return to, which is frankly unfathomably stupid of him.....

City on the other hand lost 2 points from a Sterling goal a few weeks ago when the video ref went back 45 seconds to when Bernardo Silva's toe nail was half offside.

Its easy to be more consistent when the referee has different rules for both sides.

The referee literally invented an arbitrary rule that doesnt exist yesterday to gift Liverpool three points when there was clear evidence that it was a foul. Like I said..... its easy to keep winning when you get all the luck

[yuppie]

Pep is certainly not above criticism just like everyone else that plays the game. Supporters will always ask questions and have doubts about those that have not represented the teams that they support.

He now has the choice to either sit with City or move on. Changes are needed at City, and this will arguably be Peps biggest challenge if he chooses to stay. Not signing an extension so far seems at odds with him saying that he does want to continue. In the press he says he is preparing for next season, but some think he will jump ship .

3 seasons at Bayern and 4 at Barcelona might suggest a pattern that is worrying some City supporters.

It really would be a shame if he does leave City at the end of the season. Ferguson's record of continually rebuilding his team marks him down as an all time great. Managers now at the elite level are generally not given that chance. City would give Pep that chance if he wanted it, so like most I hope he takes the opportunity to do this

[Gingerfinch]

Yes the Van Dijk one did hit his arm. Was it a clear and obvious mistake though?

Cant get clearer, but that wasnt the debate. The PL statement indicates the video referee clearly thought it was a deliberate handball; he just thought that the 6 seconds it took to end in the net rendered it too far back to return to, which is frankly unfathomably stupid of him.....

City on the other hand lost 2 points from a Sterling goal a few weeks ago when the video ref went back 45 seconds to when Bernardo Silva's toe nail was half offside.

Its easy to be more consistent when the referee has different rules for both sides.

The referee literally invented an arbitrary rule that doesnt exist yesterday to gift Liverpool three points when there was clear evidence that it was a foul. Like I said..... its easy to keep winning when you get all the luck

That 6 second 'rule' is ludicrous. It was the same passage of play, so therefore should have been given as a free-kick.

As for the Sterling disallowed goal. If Silva's toe nail was in front then it was the correct decision.

[sussexpob]

Seems since these incidents referees are going to be given guidance in VAR use similar to cricket, where the video referee will only overturn decisions the ref makes if it is clear and obvious mistake..... the way it was reported, the whole "his elbow is fractionally off" measurements arent going to be made in the future, the video ref will have a quick look and unless he is miles off, the goals will stand.

Finally, something sensible. These measurements like the Firmino goal, when the edge of his nose was 1mm offside, surely cant be accurate? Hawkeye has an inbuilt tolerance accuracy that, from a fixed camera on one point, loses a couple of mm's..... this idea a side on camera can spot the exact moment the ball leaves a foot and judge within the smallest margins what has happened, without then reducing the decision to a margin of error, is foolish in the most fundamental way anyhow.

My guess would be that the majority of these offside decisions being made fall outside the margin of error the machinery is capable of.

[yuppie]

Does anyone think that Spurs and Jose will end well?