Cf

I feel for him. I get that his position was basically untenable and he was a fool to find himself in that spot but at the same time I don't really think he did much wrong, or at least nothing that probably goes on all the time.

It felt harsh and was borderline both for him and Almiron but the question I asked myself was "would another PL team sign him"? And apart from a newly promoted team who were desperate I think the answer is no.

Obviously things are difficult at the moment so I thought I'd go through the squad to see the overall quality of it. The rankings are simple: top 4, 6, 10, 20. Essentially would that player easily start for a hypothetical team who finished in those positions. e.g. Isak I think would find a place in a top 4 side, but I think Gordon would struggle to. My rankings are below. My takeaway is whilst we have a number of good players overall quality is a bit thin on the ground. And this is where PSR starts to hurt us. Most teams aren't going to have a squad full of Top 4s - but ours is skewed too much towards the bottom. Top 4 Isak Botman (pre injury, remains to be seen following) Hall (given more development) Top 6 Bruno Gordon Tonali Top 10 Livramento Joelinton Barnes Willock (glass) Top 20 Pope Schar (age a factor) Burn (age a factor) Longstaff Wilson (age/glass a factor) Trippier (age a factor) Kelly Targett (maybe) Krafth Lascelles Not Good Enough Murphy Almiron Dubravka Future Prospects Miley (looks good) Osula Murphy

Wtf was that punch by Pope. He allergic to catching the ball?

Wtf was that.

We did spend most of that 5 minutes feigning injury tbf. I dunno. I'm struggling to put too much on the ref yesterday. The VVD one, meh. Probably intended a bit cheekily but didn't seem a huge amount in it. Probably should be a yellow but VAR won't intervene for that. Isak penalty I can see why not given. Contact is minor and one of those where the attacker is actively looking for and leaning into the foul. Prob gets given the other way mind. Blowing at the end. I'm not entirely sure when the whistle went but we were at time and if he's blown not seeing the attack was on I can forgive him it. I thought he was otherwise decent. Let the game flow, gave them yellows when they deserved them rather than let them go, didn't give their pen claim either. Was one of the better performances I remember seeing recently to be fair.

It had ticked over 95 before Pope threw it. I'm not entirely sure when the whistle went. Really it should have been before the throw. But once the ball has been thrown and there is a clear attacking chance on convention is to allow that attack to happen, especially as time was only just up and there had been stoppages in there too.

Switch which teams Salah and Murphy play for around and we more than comfortably win that match.

Agreed. Disappointing point against the probable league winners.

Stopped their counterattack quite effectively TBF.

Yup. He's obviously taken that squad as far as he can. They should get someone else in to have a go.

STOP CALLING HIM ANTHONY

Ref clearly didn't want to lose face by admitting he was wrong.

Why's this commentator keep calling him Anthony?

I don't get why it isn't a more collaborative process. Ref just needs to go "I'm not sure that I saw enough in it but what do you guys think"? "Defender has taken him down with no effort to play the ball, you might want to have a look". How hard is that?

Overall whilst we can't really argue with the result we could have easily got something from that game. I don't think it was an end of the world performance though the second half was a bit alarming. Thoughts on some players: Kelly: One to forget and whilst ok in parts makes me look forward to getting Burn back. Hall: Superb. He's basically first name on the team sheet at the moment. Livramento: I really like him but when he gets forward I can't help but wish he was Trippier instead. Really needs to work on that side of his game. Longstaff: Obviously brings something to the team but a clear drop in quality compared to the players around him. Gordon: Performed above par last season and below par this season so the drop is quite noticeable. Needs to sort himself out. Having Murphy on instead at the end doesn't reflect well on him.

This reminds me of that Arrested Development episode where Tobias casts everyone in each others roles.

Gordon needs to have a word with himself in that he's effectively been replaced by Murphy here.

We played well first half but this second has been woeful. We've just looked like we've chopped and changed formations constantly with no coherence at all.

That's a penalty that.

I think I'd like Schar to stop shooting from long range at this point.

Tonali getting ready.

Longstaff. Tonali. Now.

Already look so much better with Barnes out there.

How.