The Football Thread 2019/20: Barcelona will have 2-8 till next season to avenge this embarrassment

[Curls]

Thinking over the injuries, it's actually been quite a bad year for them when you look over it. Gomes stepping up so fantastically has covered a lot I think. How much longer is Milner expected to be out.

Would be funny to see an alternate universe where City had got in Maguire and whether that would have addressed the loss of Kompany somewhat. Will be interesting to see Pep have to do a bit of a rebuild of that squad over the next couple of years. I wonder if he'll stick around for it. For me that's why no one will ever likely get close to Ferguson's achievements. Sure he didn't win enough CLs but rebuilding that squad 3 times to dominate like they did is unreal.

I mean you say he didn’t get enough CLs but only Ancelotti, Paisley and, err, Zidane have more European Cups to their name than he does. I’m not sure there will be a better gaffer than Ferguson in the premier league in my lifetime.

Unless Klopp stays for thirty years...

A man can dream

[Preezy]

Well Klopp is 52 so not sure how sprightly he'd be on the touchline as he turns 80

[Jenuall]

Well Klopp is 52 so not sure how sprightly he'd be on the touchline as he turns 80

Fergie got to what 70? 71? So whilst 30 may be pushing it 20 more years of Klopp could be achievable!

[Moggy]

Well Klopp is 52 so not sure how sprightly he'd be on the touchline as he turns 80

Fergie got to what 70? 71? So whilst 30 may be pushing it 20 more years of Klopp could be achievable!

Fergie was a whippersnapper compared to Larry Barilli.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-48256463

[Preezy]

That guy looks about 123 years old

[Jenuall]

That's what management at the high level of the District Welfare League will do to you!

[KK]

More wundervar discussion:

VAR has made the game less enjoyable to watch according to two thirds of Premier League viewers

While the VAR chief scored the system a 7/10 recently, regular viewers only give it a 4/10

Seemingly every weekend football fans find themselves howling at refereeing decisions made as a result of VAR. Now the results of a new YouGov RealTime survey of 1,396 people who regularly watch Premier League games shows quite how maligned the system is.

Fully six in ten say they think VAR works badly, compared to just 27% who think it has been working well. While VAR chief Neil Swarbrick gave the system’s performance to date a 7/10 in November, the average score among fans is just 4/10.

As many as two thirds of frequent viewers say that Premier League matches have become less enjoyable to watch since VAR was introduced. Only 13% say it has made it more enjoyable to tune in.

It’s certainly not that football fans think video refereeing can’t be implemented well in a sport. When we asked them how well they thought video refereeing and umpiring is working in rugby, cricket and tennis the answers were overwhelmingly favourable.

Despite the levels of negativity towards VAR, football fans do clearly believe such a system has a place in the game. Only 15% actually want to scrap VAR, but at the same time only 8% think it should stay in its current state. By far the most common view (at 74%) is that VAR should be kept but the way in which it is used must change.

So how could VAR be made better? We put several options to frequent football watchers, and they are emphatically in favour of all four. Fans say they want…

- To be able to see the video footage the referees are being shown at the same time as they are being shown it (81%);
- The on-field referee being encouraged to consult pitch-side VAR screens (80%);
- To be able to hear the conversation the referees and the video assistant referees are having regarding the decision (73%); and
- A time limit on how long it can take for decisions to be made using VAR (71%).
- With football’s global rule-makers, the International Football Association Board, looking set to update their guidance on VAR at their annual meeting this month, fans can hope that their voices will be heard and that some elegance will be restored to the beautiful game.

[Photek]

Also....despite the RAG's headlines, Shrewsbury had a goal scratched off because it was in fact Offside....like...it was the correct decision....

[Denster]

Rest in peace, flowers of Manchester.

[Moggy]

Also....despite the RAG's headlines, Shrewsbury had a goal scratched off because it was in fact Offside....like...it was the correct decision....

A lot of the moaning about VAR ignores that the decisions are usually correct.

It is annoying when VAR finds somebody was offside because of 1 armpit hair, but that's the fault of the interpretation of the rules not VAR itself.

[Photek]

Also....despite the RAG's headlines, Shrewsbury had a goal scratched off because it was in fact Offside....like...it was the correct decision....

A lot of the moaning about VAR ignores that the decisions are usually correct.

It is annoying when VAR finds somebody was offside because of 1 armpit hair, but that's the fault of the interpretation of the rules not VAR itself.

I agree I think the REALLY close off sides should be just let go, Liverpool have benefited from these ridiculous off sides but also have them go against our players. The Shrewsbury goal wasn't close at all.

Was reading up on the whole FSG moneyball and they really have brought it to Liverpool, apart from personalities, which they decide on a case by case basis (Fekir's deal fell through because his brother asked for more wages and Fekir himself decided to literally stop talking during the unveiling interview until he got his demands) , they have several analytical models on players that they are looking to bring in, 1 to 2 years away. Klopp runs into the dressing room at half time to collect the real time analytics from the first half then translate that to what he wants the team to do.

It's fascinating stuff but the big thing I gleaned from it all is that Klopp listens to experts around him, he's not to clever to learn and although he gets the final decision on players, a completely separate team brings them to him to select.

[Dowbocop]

Also....despite the RAG's headlines, Shrewsbury had a goal scratched off because it was in fact Offside....like...it was the correct decision....

A lot of the moaning about VAR ignores that the decisions are usually correct.

It is annoying when VAR finds somebody was offside because of 1 armpit hair, but that's the fault of the interpretation of the rules not VAR itself.

It's applying brand new technology to an older rule that was in itself not entirely for for purpose. I said in seasons past that it's not fair to expect a lino to judge a toe being offside from the touchline when play is moving as fast as it can do. Now we have the technology to allow that to happen and it turns out that the rule is actually to the detriment of the game. A toe being offside is not a significant advantage. Having the core of your body ahead of the defender is, so I'd say the marker for offside should be the waistline or chest (maybe have those Opta bra things worn during the game).

[Moggy]

Also....despite the RAG's headlines, Shrewsbury had a goal scratched off because it was in fact Offside....like...it was the correct decision....

A lot of the moaning about VAR ignores that the decisions are usually correct.

It is annoying when VAR finds somebody was offside because of 1 armpit hair, but that's the fault of the interpretation of the rules not VAR itself.

It's applying brand new technology to an older rule that was in itself not entirely for for purpose. I said in seasons past that it's not fair to expect a lino to judge a toe being offside from the touchline when play is moving as fast as it can do. Now we have the technology to allow that to happen and it turns out that the rule is actually to the detriment of the game. A toe being offside is not a significant advantage. Having the core of your body ahead of the defender is, so I'd say the marker for offside should be the waistline or chest (maybe have those Opta bra things worn during the game).

Exactly, VAR isn’t (usually) the problem, it’s the rules that need altering.

[Jenuall]

Yeah, they should scrap it. And ditch the false start rule in sprint racing as well while they're at it, so what if one person sets off a fraction before the others, what difference does it even make!

joking obvs

[pjbetman]

Also....despite the RAG's headlines, Shrewsbury had a goal scratched off because it was in fact Offside....like...it was the correct decision....

A lot of the moaning about VAR ignores that the decisions are usually correct.

It is annoying when VAR finds somebody was offside because of 1 armpit hair, but that's the fault of the interpretation of the rules not VAR itself.

I agree I think the REALLY close off sides should be just let go, Liverpool have benefited from these ridiculous off sides but also have them go against our players. The Shrewsbury goal wasn't close at all.

Was reading up on the whole FSG moneyball and they really have brought it to Liverpool, apart from personalities, which they decide on a case by case basis (Fekir's deal fell through because his brother asked for more wages and Fekir himself decided to literally stop talking during the unveiling interview until he got his demands) , they have several analytical models on players that they are looking to bring in, 1 to 2 years away. Klopp runs into the dressing room at half time to collect the real time analytics from the first half then translate that to what he wants the team to do.

It's fascinating stuff but the big thing I gleaned from it all is that Klopp listens to experts around him, he's not to clever to learn and although he gets the final decision on players, a completely separate team brings them to him to select.

It's fascinating stuff. I'm particularly interested in the personality side of team recruitment. There is a definite 'profile' that they go for - humble, almost shy, 100% dedication, no greed, no bullys, pure 100% teamwork, extremely athletically gifted (even by Prem standards), good injury record, non -drinker. There's at least 7 or 8 players that fit that profile, so i'm sure it's not coincidence, even if a few of them were already on the team when he arrived.

[Blue Eyes]

Turns out Solskjaer is a rapist enabler.

twitter.com/MikeLUHGv3/status/1223372975098990592

[Benzin]

Some of the responses

[Buffalo]

Try saying his name several times in a row quickly when you’ve had a few.

EDIT - both of them geezers actually

[Jenuall]

That's bad stuff.

Doesn't sound like Ole has much defence here either as it seems he was pretty well aware of it all.

[Moggy]

twitter.com/danroan/status/1225832271703351301

I’m no Man U fan but I hope they bankrupt the strawberry floaters.