Man, I'm so far out of the Everton loop. Feel kinda bad about it. All the sports bars here either show NFL chat show stuff or just the main football game of the day. To make it even worse I'm going out of my way to watch Liverpool/Man City tomorrow.

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Just seen that goal. What a peach

Newcastle 2-0 Man U - 10 mins in

This is almost too good

MULTI-EDITS:

Jose takes Bailly off for Mata after 15 mins, and puts McTominay back in defence. In what universe is McTominay a better centreback than Bailly?

And DeGea makes a great save to stop it being 3

Oh and Newcastle just denied a stone wall pen

Jose sacked at half time?

Hope he never goes. This is just too much fun

"Manchester United have conceded two goals in the opening 10 minutes of a Premier League game at Old Trafford for the very first time."

Looooll

The ultimate irony will be Rafa being the manager who ultimately got Jose the sack.

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Oh god ... 2nd half ... Pogba playing centreback now. I shit you not.

Jose's picking tactics out of a hat now.

Just reading the comments on the BBC page, there'll be lots of money to be made as a shrink near that bloke Mourinho...

ok, 2-1.

But even if they end up winning this, it'll be too little too late.

2-2

More chance of Jose staying, it's all good

3-2 Alexis

Hopefully the Jose circus will drag on but I still can't see it

Damn, that piece of shit's team has made it 3-2.
He'll take all the credit.

Beating a team that's yet to win a game...

If there was irony in Rafa maybe losing him his job, it's just as ironic, considering how he's treated them, that Martial and Sanchez might've saved it.

For me they won that in spite of Mourinho rather than because of him. Desperate 'tactics' against an awful team.

Well I guess that'll teach us to keep our big mouths shut. Of all the times Sanchez decides to score too.

Turns out they have nbc here at this hostel so I was able to watch it. That's the game for tomorrow sorted too.

Are you still in Washington?

Nah, I've been in Nashville for this week. Broadway here is basically Disneyland for drunk country fans. I'm off to Memphis for a coupla days on Monday. After that I'm gonna drive up to Chicago. It'll be slow drive though as there a load of stuff I wanna see on the way up.

I'm so fucking jealous, it isn't even funny. Have a great time. :)

Ah thanks man. I'm honestly not trying to brag about it. It's been an experience so far. Ive met a lot of great people.

You're not bragging at all. I asked you. I'm interested cos it's a trip I'd love to do myself, taking in many of the same places.

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Anyway, big day today in the Prem, watching all the games. Fulham v Arsenal is on now, then its Chelsea v Southampton, then the big one: Liverpool v Man City

EDIT:

Ramsey's goal was Arselona-esque: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35VL3BKR5qY

o man! i’m so ready for the game of the season, yeah

not gonna open any preludes but save my eyes for the main feature

Hazard was brilliant today.

so i heard. will chck highlights.

here we go!

my wish is for liverpool to win but think man city has the better chances

I think it's 50/50. Mendy starts and will be up against Salah. Mendy's great going forward but suspect in defence so that should favour Liverpool, but who knows?

Fucking hell, Liverpool are on steroids in this early phase

Mendy actually keeping mc in this ... as a defender!

milner out is bad news

Well that was a crappy first half

jury still out at halftime lol but seems man city reaching a bit further

Lots of energy but no real quality from either team. Henderson looks like Liverpool's best player. Stones for MC. Mahrez is having a mare and needs to come off.

i disagreee with you guys

the “problem” as i see it is they are so good they neutralize each other well

so far anyway

every inch contested

I'm enjoying it but they're both losing the ball too easily for me.

losing the ball to whom?

the other best team in the league

ok chelsea too but who else is in contest

ended kinda like i expected—man city more chances (and that was all)

expected more fireworks though, but i understand why they didn’t happen

overall was a bit like this:



match stats also super-even in shots, shots on goal, fouls, and possession ha ha ha

Yeah, 0-0 felt fair. Fernandinho should've been off and Mahrez was poor and wouldn't have deserved to score a winning pen. And where was Mane for most of the game?

By losing the ball I meant among themselves. passes going astray, rushed shots, etc., especially from Man City. Not much real composure from either team.

yeah i think the unusual pressure they placed upon each other mutually unstabilized them

suprising to see klopp even on possession with pep no? 49-51 or something.

i enjoy the tactical battle more than the action itself.

and yeah i was gonna ask earlier if the ref was in love with fernandinho or something. a bit of an embarrassment for the prem i thought. fucker should get sanctioned.

but the teams great.

I watched the game again last night. Your original point about a stalemate was right. Both managers made key tactical changes to their usual style and were probably guilty of showing each other too much respect. Watching the game again, the one player who really stood out was Henderson - a player I love but one who tends to go unnoticed in such a usually attack-minded team. Equally I'd say LaPorte was probably City's best player. But neither team were really in their comfort zone, which probably explains why a usually reliable player like Bernardo Silva, playing deeper than usual, was making so many silly on the ball mistakes and why Mane couldn't make any kind of impact at all.

It was a spikey game from both sides and I think overall the ref did ok. Fernandinho got off lightly but the same could be said for Wijnaldum and Lovren. The Anfield atmosphere was intense (Sterling was getting hassle the whole game) so it wasn't the easiest game to referee.

yeah. not sure if it was guilt of caution or the wisdom of prudence. the tie worked well for both teams i suppose. a good hedge at least. but yes, a lack of fireworks is sometimes the price of a winning strategy.

i still remember pep in the man city documentary talking about how he’s afraid of liverpool’s attackers. he uses those words. i forget if it’s “im afraid” or “they scare me” but it’s a clear acknowledgment of respect for the opponent.

and milner leaving was bad for liverpool, wasnt it? they didnt work the same without him.

i didn’t like the ref. i never like that ref actually. i dont know his name yet but i know his face by now. seen him a number of times now and he always sucks, ha ha ha.

bundesliga btw has introduced var and it works better than this nonsense or what we’re seeing in the champions. yes there will always be errors and disputes about var, but i believe the margin of error is greatly reduced with that tool, and it’s no greater delay than players getting in the ref’s face for an unjust call.

dont know what i’ll do this weekend without football. probably have a little halloween film festival instead.

The whole point was that both teams employed a try not to lose strategy.


Yeah, I saw that too. I think that fear thing has always been their with Pep. Not just towards Klopp or Liverpool. He sometimes seems overly pre-occupied with what he sees as his opponents' strengths rather than focusing on his own. It's a weird way of thinking, especially for such a successful manager - although he'd probably say that's part of why he's been so successful. It definitely explains why he tinkers so much.


It was bad for the way Klopp had initially set them up but Keita really should have made them more of an attacking threat, but it never happened. One issue seems to be that Firmino doesn't appear to function properly when Keita's there. God knows how Klopp solves that one as Firmino's too important to them for hm to be sidelined or moved to accommodate Keita, and Keita's too good (and expensive) to be reduced to super-sub status. It often happens with players in similar positions and styles (the infamous Lampard/Gerrard problem with England) but less obvious when the two players are in very different positions. Man City sort of have a similar issue with playing Sane and Mendy together, to the extent I wouldn't be surprised if Sane eventually gets sold.

ha ha ha yes, i did not miss that this was your point, but i worded my response imprecisely. sorry about the confusion

i should not have written “win” but what is the word for coming out of a contest with the strategic advantage of having avoided disaster, living to fight another day, as opposed to getting crushed by the enemy? it’s a kind of win... sorta, lol

and by strategy i idnt just mean this game but the whole campaign and winning the prem. i.e., screw up a game to win the cup.

now they will go on fighting via proxy wars, cheering for the other team’s opponent, till they meet again, maybe still even in points.


a founder/ceo of intel i forget his name andy something titled his memoirs “only the paranoid survive” ha ha ha



yes, but i think that the reason keita was less of a threat on attack was that he offered less defensive coverage.

the greatness of milner is that he is proper beast wherever he goes. keita was supposed to be the more refined attacker right? (i dont know the guy yet). at least my commentators were going on about how keita was gonna add the offensive touch bla bla bla.

i dont remember in what particular position milner ws that day, but regardless, he seems to operate like a box to box midfielder, great on attack and on defense. reminds me a lot of schweinsteiger in his heyday, blending skill and physicality,, only even bigger in size.

keita does not have the same presence no? does he scare and dominate people? i don’t really know the guy but i don’t think so.

so liverpool folded back to cover that defensive hole, whereas they had been on a stronger offensive footing up to that point because their backs were better covered. they lost the... what. the scaffolding? their midfield got shakier and man city started pushing forward.

up to that point liverpool was defying my expectations for the match, they had the better chances, i think if milner had stayed they would have won it. now we’ll never know ha ha ha. but yeah. those first 20 minutes my oredictionof higher chances for man city were crap.

i didn’t figure the firmino connection but i’ll look for it next time. with milner’s age and condition i understand he cannot play every game? kloppo has to work on that piece of the puzzle for sure...

Milner can play anywhere on the left hand side and is usually 1st choice for penalties.

I know what you mean in the comparison with Schweinsteiger but Milner's not really as dynamic going forward as him, while Schweinsteiger probably wasn't as strong defensively. I'm actually struggling to think of another player like him.Which is ridiculous, because there's nothing especially unique about him in terms of his position or role but I can see Klopp having a harder time trying to replace him than he will some of his more high profile stars.

We were talking recently about Ferrari v Audi players. Milner's more your Toyota Landcruiser.

haha yes or a humvee

he really is a rock, and to me having such a strong defender in an advanced position means you can play really high up the pitch with little fear.

Nah, not a Humvee. He's far too versatile for that. He can do the off road stuff while being just as comfortable on a school run. He's really hard to nail down. He's a midfielder really but he can defend when he has to - but he's not a defensive midfielder, a la Mascherano. Nor is he an attacking wingback like say Jordi Alba or Marcelo. He's not really a playmaker either - although he's done that too. At some point in his career, he's probably played in every position on the pitch, except maybe in goal - and he's probably had a go at that, too, and done ok.

So probably not even a landcruiser. I googled car equivalent to a swiss army knife and apparently it's a Subaru Forester Turbo. So now you know: James Milner's the Subaru Forester Turbo of footballers.

Although he apparently drives a BMW X5.

ha haha

nice ride that mercedes

the subaru is a little small for the usa, although it’spretty popular in this part of the country, more so in colorado. it handles the ice well enough and rough roads okay, does well on the highway, etc.

from my rural perspective though he’s a beefier vehicle, like a 4wd pickup truck which can travel rough roads while carrying a load. plus with a large enough engine which through the sheer displacement can fly on highways in spite of a poor aerodynamic profile.

behold the chevy silverado hd duramax



the stuff in the trailer is the forwards :D

Haha. I'll tell you who IS a Humvee, and not just a Humvee but a Humvee with a big fuck off cannon on top:



Just 4 more days before life can start again. I'm fuckin' dying here.

Trust me to be stuck in a Chicago art gallery looking at some of the finest art in history, when instead I could be looking at some of the finest football in history.

3-0 England. And against Spain. Lordy.