JRC

Said that to my lad. With the ball it's like watching Alonso or Molby. Snapping at opponent's heels it's like watching Lee Cattermole. Often talk about players who receive the ball on the half turn; he seems to receive the ball with the capability to make that half turn either way, or whilst doing a trick. Proper bamboozled the attempted presser more than once today. A pleasure to watch

Ironic that he was also still bitter about our game; the game after which Klopp was very complimentary about the way they played, their professionalism etc. without in any way labouring it so as to imply they were actually a bunch of yard-dogs. Yet Sam's comments?..... Yes, we played long ball against Liverpool because they didn't like it up 'em ...... so thin-skinned.

Don't think they showed the Fouls stats on MOTD2, but gut feel was that Dean gave them at least twice as many as us - despite us having 75% possession

Only sadness is that it wasn't that goal that sent Allardyce down

Some Football Finance fella on Merseyside this morning cited Leicester as the cause - if little old Leicester could break the domination by winning the League etc., they needed to make sure it can't happen again. Two things - City and Chelsea have already done that, and it has more been the failure of UEFA to enforce FFP that has spooked the others (and why City and Chelsea were involved both as much for their current status as for the 'inside the tent pissing out' principle; and have not necessarily been as comfortable bedfellows as others); and in many ways Leicester are another re-incarnation of that threat - massively wealthy foreign owner using PL connection to enhance their global brand, and getting at least half-way there by virtue of a financial regulation busting promotion from the Championship, where their bought success has never been as widely lauded. The fairy-tale league win, and the subsequent tragedy, have obviously cemented a bond with the fans, but trying to pretend they aren't in the same business - albeit with better PR - is deluded.

Reference to RL was that the fans didn't stay away, despite it embodying some of the worse examples of this kind of change - and evidence of harm to the game as well as benefit. Of course RL is fighting a different corner in terms of exposure and coverage. Wrt Re-election, there has been lot of appeals to the 'pyramid' system at the heart of the great history of our game - but that has only really been true in practice since the mid-80's. The FL was effectively a closed shop - of 92 clubs of varying size, history and financial stability, yes, but plenty of well-run, ambitious non-league clubs were denied the opportunity to move up that pyramid until fairly recently. That is the history. What I agree with is that promotion/relegation to the FL has been a fair and improving change (note that the last 2 clubs elected to the League went on to play in the top tier and win the FA Cup, which proved that the pyramid was the more legitimate option) so I agree that a closed shop League is NOT a good idea. Just don't invoke a history that wasn't quite like that.

Or was it double bluff - the UEFA proposal was so obviously s***, the ESL would have still looked opportunistic and self-serving. If supporters were gong to rail against the co-efficient/history method being used to protect the place of the bigger clubs, how does a no co-efficient, permanent place at the top[ table seem better? Best get it out there and stand your ground.

RL Super League - a sport whose history is as rooted in working class communities as much as football - was initially closed and has played with relegation/formal applications/play-offs in different formats ever since. Fans love it now, but (relatively recent) former World Club Champions Widnes got f***ed over and have never really recovered (abetted by routinely awful management, tbf). At least the clubs held out against forced merged 'franchises' and fair play to St.Helens, they didn't even adopt a fancy new brand/name. It re-booted the game financially until the next meltdown, which is probably happening now anyway. If we want to refer to Football's historic roots - don't forget, we won most of our titles in a Football League that operated a de facto closed shop/invitational exit and entry system. In fact, over around 100 years we won more League titles than there were teams replaced in the FL by meritocratically superior non-FL teams. (Those looking to transfer their support could switch to Southport - the last team to fail to be re-elected and so demoted from the League; 8 or so years before promotion/relegation was introduced) I'm NOT a supporter this move, btw, just think some of the approaches and arguments against are overly sentimental (and yes, hypocritical) - and that cuts no ice with the 12 sets of owners.

Radio pundit (I know) suggesting he shouldn't go to the Euros this summer on this form. Given Southgate's posturing re Trent, that is not that irrational a shout.

Yeah, gutted that it could virtually be the post Palace mini-slump - draws vs West Brom and Newcastle, loss at Southampton - that cost us; that we could have still very possibly finished Top 4 relatively easily even with an incredible - and unlikely ever to be repeated - clusterf*** of 6 straight defeats at home will bug me more. To some extent I can 'laugh' at that run, because it is just so bonkers and so out of kilter with what we have been for so long. Not over until its over, though, so come on the Mighty Reds. Who knows, maybe something will come up again like last year, and completely change the way the season ends and next season goes.

I'm against it. I was against the PL for much the same reason. Having inherited my Dad's Season Ticket (and passed mine down to my Son), I admit to not being so principled that I will give up that legacy - mine, his, my grandson's - after 50 years. Maybe we won't be able to stomach it, or the game will implode anyway, but I've carried on going through Heysel. Hillsborough, Hicks, Hodgson et al; that the club is just another corporate institution focused on the bottom line is no longer shocking.

This content is not viewable to guests.

Given that last season (or the one before) there was a furious pitch invasion by home fans, and the owners had to be escorted from the Director's box for their own safety, I would say that may well be the case. This theory would also refute the jibes we make about the toxicity, booing etc at Goodison, implying that Everton are inspired by the crowd - because their home form is significantly worse than ours overall, not much better over our terrible recent 7-8 games even.

I genuinely think it extremely unlikely that replacing the current technology with the simple single shot/horizontal line images approach, and an acknowledgement that failure of that to show an attacker clearly offside is to be taken as that they were level, would eventually result in fans, managers etc arguing for the re-introduction of the current model; certainly not at the volume, near-consensus and intensity that there is about VAR now.

Last years RL Grand Final was decided on one of those in the very last minute. Video Ref took one look at the Freeze Frame, no lines drawn, and just called it onside, although it would definitely have been 5-minute line-drawing- and armpit-measuring-fest for Football VAR. Not one single complaint from the losing team, or their fans.

We have managed to twist the Off-Side Law out of shape to accommodate the fact we now have the technology to review it. Even if it were perfect - and I'm far from convinced that is as accurate as the promoters like to claim - it is still producing a ludicrous pretence of application of the principle of the Law. The very fact that they are having to reference vertical and horizontal lines, centres of gravity, protocols for the frame showing the exact point of contact with the ball, shirt sleeve lengths etc. tells us that something has gone horribly wrong. The original law was about a player being nearer the opponents goal line than the ball and penutltimate defender, as observed at full speed by a human, with level being on-side. Simple camera technology (other than maybe a horizontal line as a reference for the goal line parallel) can show when that human has got it wrong, down to pretty small measures - inches. If an off-side cannot be determined without all the shenanigans we are suffering now, then they are level within the spirit, intent and useful application of the Law, and appropriately so for any coachable defensive and offensive strategies players are taught; and so, by default, on-side. If they can't call it with one image - they're on-side. The problem with pre-VAR off-side was the occasional howler by the officials, and these should now be (are) extinct with the correct use of VAR - it was never the problem that too many goals were being scored (or assisted) by players - whose toes were fractionally off-side.

See also Sheffield United and, in reverse, West Ham.

Ha! That remains one of my favourite Torres moments. Don't recall a top defender getting quite so befuddled before - although I seem to recall him doing something similar to Dawson once. As for the new body - those Reading s***houses wouldn't be trying anything on now, would they? TBF, that lighter-weight version of Torres gave as good as he got then - as well as scoring a hat-trick - so this one would cause carnage.

This content is not viewable to guests.

This content is not viewable to guests.

Love the way he slips from 'Liverpool Fan(s)' to 'We'. Proper cheered me up that little clip.

See also Sheffield United, who clearly benefitted from a defiantly positive atmosphere last year. Not so much this. Man Uniteds home form is also relatively weak.

Apparently his wife is in the later stages of pregnancy as well, so that would probably preclude travelling, whatever quarantine rules apply. An atheist myself, I really hope his obviously strong and publicly avowed faith helps him to come to terms with this. YNWA, big guy.

Klopp's impassioned support of 5 subs this season making even more sense now. All the data and analytic capability they now have means the Sports Science folk had probably predicted a season like this for our players, if not the specifics at CH. Which begs some questions about recruitment/departures.

Merson is a strange one. Has always come over as a bit thick, but I suspect the journey he has (very publicly) made has knocked him out of the usual ex-player (lack of) perspective, and can sometimes be either insightful or, at least, not afraid to voice opinions less mundane (even if he is still a bit thick)