ohmelads

Well, VAR might work in our favour against Watford or someone. If that happens, it's a positive for us. With regards to the more powerful clubs though, there's more money than ever in the game now and I don't see VAR changing the balance of decision-making. It's not a conspiracy where VAR/refs set out to ensure one side win but simply people's decision-making being affected by massive pressure. Like anyone else, match officials want a successful career and they don't make decisions in a vacuum. If they get the big calls wrong against the top 6, they find their name in the headlines the next day. Fergie, at the end of his career, admitted that this is a big part of the game. He once complained about Chris Foy not giving them penalties in a game they lost against Spurs. The following week, Foy found himself reffing an Accrington Stanley game three divisions down in League Two. We're seeing similar pressure on refs now from Klopp. Yet you look at Cardiff last season and they suffered some incredible decisions but people just laughed when Warnock went mental about it. I don't see VAR changing this aspect of the sport because the money at stake is so huge now. Said it before but the world cup final was a perfect example.

I like the idea of VAR. We've got a great game administered by corrupt organisations and poor officials. The problem is VAR is administered by the same corrupt organisations and poor officials. With regards to Newcastle, let's wait and see. This could go either way.

Can't understand the lineup. You play your best team for a semi-final. World Cup games are every 3-4 days. CL final was 5 days ago.

The pen was the wrong decision and spoiled what could have been a good open game. Both teams were turd. Liverpool just sat back launching hopeful long balls. Spurs weren't much better. I'd have preferred Spurs because now we have to suffer all the plastic fans everywhere and all the Liverpool-biased media. Over the course of the season though, Liverpool deserve a trophy far more than Spurs do.

True but he was arguably the best player on the pitch for several of those games. McTominay was arguably the best player on the pitch against Barcelona (first game) and definitely the best player on the pitch against PSG yet people on here are suggesting Longstaff is better. Too early to compare Longstaff to other youngsters because he hasn't played enough games and they play at opposite ends of the table, but he deserves the praise he's getting. Made his first competitive games in a struggling side that had won only 1 of its last 6 (against Huddersfield) and faced a tough run including Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City, Spurs, Wolves. During what should have been the toughest part of our season, he played a major part in turning the season around. Big season for him next year. Hope he comes back stronger from his injury.

Fucking hell that’s sad, urgh. Liverpool winning the league sends out a message to your on club they too can win the league without being bankrolled by a terrorist state. If that’s what makes you feel your own club not winning the league more bearable though hey, that’s what it’s all about no... Sorry, but I just don’t get this kind of rationalising! Let's not pretend that Liverpool haven't spent ridiculous money in order to compete too like; their squad cost about £550 million - that's hardly a message of hope to the rest of the league they're no underdog story like Leicester so Man City's spending becomes significantly less relevant in terms of deciding who you want to win it Yup. And fair play to them but they're no fucking underdogs man. As if the likes of Solanke and Ings were worth anywhere neat the money they got for them. Their transfer love-in with Southampton and Bournemouth is dodgy as fuck IMO. Still can't make any sense of those deals. Not like those clubs are swimming in cash. It does look dodgy but can't explain what would be in it for Southampton/Bournemouth to do those deals.

Liverpool have far more insufferable plastic fans than Man City and the media is full of ex-Liverpool players. Owen, McManaman, Souness, Lawrenson, Murphy etc etc etc. Guardiola has generally been respectful of opponents in press conferences and I find him to be a much more likeable manager than Klopp. There's also the diving antics of players like Salah, Mane and Fabinho. And as someone else mentioned, City winning the league is basically meaningless and there won't be all the hype from pro-Liverpool media. All reasons why I think many would rather City. Leicester winning it was brilliant for the neutrals because it means that other midtable clubs could dream of a one-off miracle season and they showed it isn't impossible. Liverpool's are one of the richest clubs in the world so it's a completely different situation. They're a fantastic team and credit to Klopp and their scouting team who consistently buy and sell well, but Klopp's attitude towards opponents, their diving players and the plastic fans put a lot of people off. Having lived in Liverpool, I can say that genuine Liverpool fans are usually decent craic just like genuine fans of any other club, but all over the country and the world you tend to meet a lot of Liverpool/Man Utd fans who know little about the game. City winning would be easier to ignore.

Jesus. Pundits in contributing to the problem shocker. It'll only get worse when a bunch of morons are given a major platform to be morons. With VAR coming in, it could end up going the way of every single foul being checked, maybe rightfully so as well considering how bad diving is getting. The referee should at the very least be fed information on it. Make diving (if confirmed by VAR or if the ref is 100% certain) a straight red card. If they want to stamp it out then they should start taking a no nonsense policy. Players learn that they're becoming a liability by diving. Unfortunately this won't happen, the powers that be don't want a fair competition, they want a product they can market. We all know that the Fabinho dive would be given as a free kick still with VAR, we all know we will still be denied stonewall penalties at will too. The big problem with VAR is it still relies on a referee to make a decision, with all their biases. VAR is open to abuse, and abuse it will suffer no doubt. Largely agree with this up to a point. Dives for free kicks probably won't be reviewed and it'll be the same refs making the decisions. The linesman/ref had a clear view of the Fabinho/Rondon incidents and still made bizarre/unfair calls. I'm just hoping they'll have to give blatant penalties and deny blatant dives for penalties. Even that'd be an improvement. We'll still get screwed on ones like the tackle on Almiron.

Fair enough but that of course means that diving outside the box won't change at all next season. VAR's been a mixed bag but has been very well used in some games. What's frustrating is that all these replays haven't been used to retrospectively punish divers with bans. The Premier League for example set up a diving panel and have basically done nothing with it despite so many clear cut cases.

I hope you're right but with all the money in the game right now and the well-known corruption of FIFA and UEFA, I do wonder why they were so desperate to bring it in. If the game is indeed dirty (for now I think it's just refs fearing big clubs and media backlash so they default to giving it the way of top sides when in doubt) then it's simply an extra tool to make sure results go the way they want. Would they have even checked the Fabinho dive? In the world cup final, the biggest game of all with all eyes on them, Griezmann dived for a free kick (no contact whatsoever) and France scored directly off the free kick. VAR simply ignored it. Things are so bad right now I don't think VAR can make it any worse, but I am sceptical about why proven corrupt organisations wanted it in so badly. PS. Here's the Griezmann world cup final dive that they just ignored: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NrVy3FzRfs

Honestly don't know how anyone here can want these diving whingeing cunts to win the league. The amount of decisions they've had this season is ridiculous. You can't breathe on them. I don't get the love-in for Klopp from some people. By rights the title race should be over now. If that's 2-2, City are 4 goals ahead and need only 1 win from 2 games - can even afford a defeat. Klopp has ten times the budget Rafa has (no exaggeration) and his team created very little, relied on the ref and he comes out saying we're a long ball team and implies we got some decisions. He consistently talks shit. The league and media are on for Liverpool but I can't see why anyone here thinks them winning is good for the integrity of the league. They've been class this season and he's a great manager, but they've had so much nonsense go their way and last night is just another example. There's too much money to be had by taking the title race to the final day. We were on a hiding to nothing but should be proud of Rafa and the players. Poor defending on the set pieces but it's a bullshit result.

What ever happened to that diving panel that Danny Murphy is a member of? From a quick google search, it seems like only two players were ever punished, one of them an Everton player.

Taylor is from Manchester yet allowed to ref Man Utd and Man City games because he says he supports Altrincham.

If Trent shouldn't be red carded then where is the deterrent for outfield players saving goals on the line? If the ref plays advantage and doesn't come back to the incident then you go unpunished? Especially towards the end of a tight game, players may as well try to save it with their hands.

There's no great conspiracy. If you're a ref and you're guessing, are you gonna give it against Liverpool, ruin their title bid and risk your name all over the papers if you're wrong? Or are you gonna give it against the team in 14th? It's obvious. If that's given at the other end and we won 3-2, it'd be all over the press today. Media would hang the ref/linesman out to dry. It's the main talking point of the game and I can't find any mention of it anywhere on the BBC. It's a shocking decision that directly led to the winner and has a huge impact on the title race. Phil McNulty ("Chief BBC Sports Writer") is from Liverpool so should we be surprised? Instead he's written gushing praise gloating about Liverpool and put a pic of that mackem twat celebrating. No credit given to us who had 7 shots on target to 4, hit the woodwork, denied a red card and they've scored the winner off a dive. I'd also add that you'll struggle to find a football fan who doesn't care whether City or Liverpool win the title. But who cares if we finish 13th or 15th? No one. If Liverpool had drawn 2-2 and City win, the title race would be over before the final day and no one involved in the media or the Prem would want that. VAR will add more accountability but the linesman had as good a view as any replay and has got it completely wrong. Yet the media aren't arsed and VAR won't change that.

To be fair he normally stays on his feet, despite getting kicked all over. He's clearly fouled there but does make a meal of it. Neymar/Ronaldo etc on another level when it comes to diving. Salah does worse when minimal or zero contact.

First half Brighton were there for the taking. We didn't play well, they just gave us all the time in the world on the ball. Only ourselves to blame. Second half we were awful and lucky they didn't nick a winner. Probably a fair result for two sides with no craft or invention whatsoever. We look like we're on the beach now.

Something ironic about West Ham fans laughing at Spurs stadium. They knocked down a stadium full of history to play in a crap athletics stadium funded by taxpayers.

A lot better. P8 W4 D2 L2. 2 pens for and 0 against. Given them 2 reds, though.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/mike-dean/bilanzdetail/schiedsrichter/379/saison_id/0/heim_gast//verein_id/762/wettbewerb_id//funktion/1/plus/0 You're right. Seems in our last 11 games with Dean we've been given 5 red cards.

Maybe defenders sussed him out? Been a while since we saw him but seem to recall he cut inside every time and rarely went down the line. Became very predictable. The tricks came off for him at first but in a pragmatic side I don't think Rafa can afford a player who has few attributes and that usually loses the ball or plays it backwards when the full back shows him down the line. Might do better in a side that can make him the main outlet but he doesn't look good enough to justify that.

I felt the same way when the tech first came in, but not so sure now. When you have a top side against an also-ran, refs and video refs will still bottle it with tight calls. It's just so much easier to f*ck over the also-ran and it doesn't make headline news. If you're a ref under massive pressure, I think you're always going to be more lenient towards the top sides. Same goes for VAR. Whether it'll benefit us is hard to tell. We've already seen a lack of consistency with it but it's early days. It'll surely get more decisions right than refs without video do, but it's about which teams get those big calls. What makes me sceptical is that FIFA wanted this so much and they're hardly known for being above board or having the game's best interests at heart.

Brighton 11/1 to go down isn't bad. If Cardiff beat them on Tuesday the gap is 2 points. Cardiff have Fulham and Palace to come and would need to win one of those. Apart from Brighton's home game against us, their run in looks very tough (Arsenal, Spurs and Wolves away, Man City at home). They're without Knockaert next 3 games as well.

If that's to stop a counter, it'd be the standard 'cynical yellow', 'being clever', 'taking one for the team'.

If it's not a foul then we've obviously missed a major change in reffing which we need to exploit. I'd now be telling my strikers to jump before the keeper so that they can get their arms around his neck and use him as leverage and try to block his jump/arms/view. Considering this is now legal, I'd be putting Rondon on the keeper every chance we get and just loading constant high balls into the box.