Pata

Arteta crying about timewasting is hilarious when they were the worst in the league for it even before this game.

Biggest game of the year or not, players can't be stupid but expect to get away with it due to it being a big game.

Incredibly stupid from Trossard, not even looking like he's going for the ball.

Wonder if Brighton fans are questioning Hürzeler's future after that poor performance.

That’s one thing where football is still stuck in the 1800’s and I’m amazed any advanced data guys haven’t fixed it yet. Goalie should always see the ball even if it means you leave a gap on the wall. Having your own players standing in the line of sight is like blindfolding your keeper. In icehockey it’s essential that goalie sees the puck when it’s shot but in football defending teams block the line of sight voluntarily, MGW should never stand there.

It's his corner, he has to save that. If Welbeck goes over the wall, fair play to him.

What is Sels doing ffs? You need to see the ball or at least try to see it and not just stand in the middle of the goal hoping it hits you in the chest.

Think this is blatantly wrong and it has never been tougher than it is right now. There's arguably a 'big 8' right now and the teams below them are canny good too. Top 2 is ridiculously strong. Crystal Palace are selling players for megabucks to clubs like Bayern Munchen, West Ham are starting really good internationals like Paqueta, Brighton finally started to use the massive fees they have received. Brentford, Fulham, Nottingham, Bournemouth can beat anyone. PL's financial superiority compared to any other league is starting to show. I think it's telling how hard it is for promoted teams, there used to be one regularly finishing in the top 10 but right now any promoted team would take 17th place if offered before the season.

Based on what?

Writing off players after 200 minutes, never change N-O.

How many managers in the world have won honours with Bournemouth, Burnley and Newcastle?

I think champions only CL would be very shit but agree that up to 5 teams from the same league is too much.

Making the top 8 is huge and can see it being interesting in weeks 7-8, actually more interesting than who make the next 16. It's just so far away that it's hard to get excited about these early rounds and the table won't tell anything for ages.

Aye, it feels meaningless at least in the early rounds. Man City and Barcelona might struggle to win their groups after these results but now with no groups and still seven games left it's just a big meh.

Hard to better than that tbf.

Has to be a pen, so much grabbing and feet contact even on the box.

Great goal by Yamal.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S146902922100131X Some light bed reading.

I have no idea how you could even find concrete evidence for something like this outside the results. At least NFL has the easily tangible thing of not being able to communicate on offense like you would at home which results in false starts, players not hearing the right play call, blown coverages in o-line and inability to audible as easily. Feels weird they don't mention it at all. I obviously can't prove anything but I firmly believe crowd is a bigger factor in home advantage than referee bias. There was research done during the covid empty stadiums period and iirc home advantage wasn't a thing anymore. Also means there wasn't crowd pressure on the referee though. But at least I can say that it’s the crowd that’s the main reason for potential referee bias for the home team.

That's class, always wonder why more footballers don't go for these experiences at the end of their careers. World is full of amazing places.

They really don’t want VAR to work with these artificial boundaries. The respect the on-field decision gets is insane when you consider why VAR is a thing.

LeBron of soccer, nice goal.

Hazy memory too but remember same and thought he looked more comfortable in possession back then. Now he's basically just a runner both ways and even his shooting was IMO much better then.

Doesn't change anything from last season though when the abuse was just as bad with no other options. Tonali is guaranteed to start the next match in any case and will be first choice going forward, patience.

The games I saw live last season, it was pretty clear who the scapegoats were and it's 100% guaranteed the players can feel it on the pitch. The tiniest mistake or pass backwards and massive parts of SJP sigh loudly and some stand up shouting abuse. There was one instance last season where Longstaff clearly reacted to it raising his arms after his pass was deemed too unambitious by SJP. Burn was getting this too but on a lesser scale. I really feel bad for Longstaff, this should be his dream but the over the top reactions will be on his mind constantly and just build up pressure when he's not the most confident lad in the squad. And all this current drama feels so unnecessary. Everyone knows Sandro is the starter moving forward, have some patience.