Premier League 2023/24

[FLiam]

1 minute ago, Baddar said:

This is such a crazy offside trap from Spurs. Can't keep getting away with it surely.

Unfortunately as it’s Chelsea, I think they will.

[Baddar]

I will say the quicker the league use the World Cup/CL system for offsides the better. Lot of guesswork and line drawing on pixelated images with this.

[Colly]

15 minutes ago, lanky316 said:

This is the thing every week isn't it? You can watch a dozen incidents and say "how is this X and that not?" It's so inconsistent and you never know what you're going to get. Not knowing what you're going to get week to week, even from the same refs makes it really tough to understand where you stand. You'd almost think that this is a plan to get viewers for "ref watch" type shows on Sky Sports News 

I usually shy well away from the "if this is x why isn't this", it's genuinely just how bad that foul was. I'm sick of seeing pundits (and refs) dismiss it all weekend because it was "his trailing leg", ignoring the fact that his trailing leg wasn't slowly dragging across the turf, it was flying through the air and hitting Longstaff mid shin knee first. It's my own fault for watching it too many times, but having broken that exact bit of shun the contact makes me shudder every time.

Back on topic, I think you should be allowed an offside goal if you're down to 9, especially if it's a screamer like that.

7 minutes ago, Baddar said:

I will say the quicker the league use the World Cup/CL system for offsides the better. Lot of guesswork and line drawing on pixelated images with this.

Was so slow as well considering he was relatively fairly far off. Liner nailed it easily.

[lanky316]

I keep on getting surprised at how Chelsea somehow also have 11 men, there's been so many players making silly challenges when I'd assumed they were on yellow cards for cynical trips or repeated fouls that I'm shocked to find it's only a first yellow when the ref reaches into his pocket.

[Colly]

Gutted. I wanted another Dierbomb.

[lanky316]

That high line, how Spurs could think they could get away with standing on the half way line over and over again has made this look far more comfortable for Chelsea than it could have been. Crazy game overall.

[stokeriño]

Well that was the most mental game I've seen in a good while.

It's funny that we can beat Spurs 4-1 away with our striker getting a hat-trick, and legitimately think "fucking hell we were shite".

[Lineker]

Yeah all things considering, we didn't play badly at all I thought. 

 

Weekend XI should be interesting!

[lanky316]

Spurs' discipline in the first half was mad. They were cruising for the first 15 minutes or so, then some people lost their heads and they went mad. Vicario made some great stops in a sweeper role in the second half but you felt it was a matter of time before Chelsea got it right, then from being 2-1 up there's the Dier goal chalked off, Bentancur not quite getting contact from point blank and the Son chance before a couple of late goals when Spurs had everyone in the Chelsea half. It easily could have been 2-2 in stoppage time. Mental game.

[stokeriño]

On 03/11/2023 at 11:47, stokeriño said:

Suffice to say I am not displeased to see Anthony Taylor demoted to the Championship.

Not only is he back in the Prem this weekend (having dropped a clanger in Preston vs. Coventry while in the Championship), but he's been given Chelsea vs. Manchester City. Because fuck us, I guess. 

[Colly]

Am I missing something re Taylor? Much as our penalty v Wolves was very soft the general concensus was that it was the VAR at fault not him?

[stokeriño]

Tbh I don't really know why the Wolves one was picked up on. I've got years of Chelsea-based aggravation to base my opinion on.

[Naitch]

7 hours ago, stokeriño said:

Not only is he back in the Prem this weekend (having dropped a clanger in Preston vs. Coventry while in the Championship), but he's been given Chelsea vs. Manchester City. Because fuck us, I guess. 

Great commitment to improvement PGMOL are showing by giving him arguably* the biggest game of the weekend.

*based on league positions Liverpool/Brentford could be seen as bigger

[DavidMarrio]

Lutons statement they put out about the tragedy chanting is so laughably poor and whataboutery. 

"May have taken part without knowledge that the chant is in relation to Hillsborough and Heysel tragedies".

"A small number of supporters."

"Chants that may be interpreted"

Tinpot club. Just own it and condemn it, it isn't hard. 

[Colly]

Don't know if anyone listens to the Guardian's Football Weekly podcast, but they brilliantly cover the "collapse of refereeing standards" and Arsenal's statement this week, which was skewered by the entire panel including the Arsenal supporter. Quite rightly they point out the current hysteria (horrendously covered on MOTD2 this week) is hurting refereeing rather than helping, where the fuck are we even going to get referees from if debatable decisions are treated as huge mistakes they should be sacked for? Raya is still whinging the ball was out of play, why doesn't he just deal with the cross?

[Colly]

 

 

[Lineker]

Quote

Colombian-born Liverpool footballer Luis Díaz's father has been released by the left-wing guerrillas who kidnapped him 13 days ago, police sources and local media say.

Luis Manuel Díaz was handed over to United Nations and Catholic church officials by members of the National Liberation Army (ELN).

He was abducted on 28 October in the family's hometown, Barrancas.

The footballer's mother was also seized, but was freed within hours.

Local media said Mr Díaz was travelling by military helicopter to the city of Valledupar, where he would undergo a medical examination before being returned to his family.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-67372903

[Lineker]

Quote

Burnley top scorer Lyle Foster is in the care of specialists after the recurrence of a mental health issue.

Foster, 23, first spoke about suffering with depression in July and has reached out to the club again for support.

Clarets manager Vincent Kompany said no timeframe has been put on Foster's return to the team.

Burnley said: "Recently, Lyle let us know that he continues to live with issues around his mental wellbeing and has reached out for help."

The club statement was released "on behalf of Lyle Foster and his family" to "share with you an update on Lyle's illness".

It added: "He is currently in the care of specialists - giving him the support and care he needs to help him back to full health.

"With the love and support of his family and everyone at Burnley Football Club, we will do all we can to provide everything he needs to get better."

They asked people to "respect Lyle's privacy", adding they "will not be making any more comment until further notice".

Striker Foster has played eight league and cup games for Kompany's side this season, scoring three goals and providing two assists, with his last appearance coming in the 3-0 loss at Brentford on 21 October.

He has also played four times for his national side this campaign.

In an interview with South African radio station MSW earlier this year, Foster spoke about his time at Belgian side Westerlo, where he played between August 2021 and January 2023.

"I was in my apartment all by myself. I realised I just felt this huge sense of loneliness," he said.

"I felt like I couldn't really express myself with all of my team-mates. It was a lot more difficult to be around them and do things footballers are supposed to do.

"I just used to try and go to training, play games and honestly the best thing to do at that time of my life was to go back home and sleep. There was no real excitement or looking forward to anything.

"That's when I realised I was in some trouble and I panicked a little bit. I didn't know what was going on or how to deal with it because it was the first time I was in a position like that."

Boss Kompany says speaking up about mental health is "not a taboo" any more and Foster was at "breaking point" before reaching out for help.

Speaking to the club's in-house media, Kompany said: "We were very fortunate that Lyle had been very open with us. From that moment we could act, as soon as he said it and showed signs of how severe it was for him.

"The entire support team within the club mobilised and made sure he could focus on his own recovery. In moments like this, we have to put the human first.

"Where Lyle is lucky is that he has a very good network around him. He has a very healthy supportive family and a club and people who want to help him - not just for the player he is, but for the person he is.

"We will provide the best care in the world possible to get him over his mental health issues. That is not a taboo any more, if people speak up about it they do get help."

According to the charity Mind, one in four people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England.

But Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) say that number increases with professional footballers, as more than 75% have experienced some kind of mental health issue.

Kompany added: "We are in an environment in football which does not necessarily take that into consideration. When you go out there to compete and have the noise around the game, people love it and have an opinion, but the arena is not designed to protect your mental wellbeing.

"You do get exposed to quite a lot of things and as a part of it you are going about things in your own way.

"Support for mental wellbeing in England is at a very high standard. The country and the league is at the forefront of what is being done to provide care for people.

"We are doing everything we can to get him to a place where he enjoys what he is doing and that is playing football as soon as possible. At this moment in time, he is one of us and we have to look after our own."

 

[DavidMarrio]

Now this is the Tottenham we all know 

[Bobfoc]

Weren't Wolves supposed to be relegation fodder?