Kid Icarus

Like it wouldn't be debated to death on here. See the Pope challenge vs Wolves at home last season

No. What makes you think that?

If you just watch the 'keeper it's a pen like.

Imo a soft pen, but made up for disallowing a perfectly reasonable goal and an 'unnatural position' handball. Basically Pawson got more or less everything wrong throughout

Yeah. He got caught on the ball or passed to Brentford 5 times that I noticed, leading to chances, a corner, and a free kick. I thought he was in over his head throughout.

So often the whipping boy for fan frustrations on here, understandably from an attacking point of view maybe, but often over the top imo. Thought he was the stand out in our back 4 tonight, particularly in the air and on the cover.

A tough match against a very physical side who defended spaces very well. Off you go, back to selling Afterdark cds down the quayside, Tommy toucher. Hopefully that's a springboard match. I totally understand a need to conserve energy and switch up our play, but I hope our full press makes a return at some point because I really miss it and I think our style of play misses it too. I think our fans and Brentford will both agree that, as always, referee Craig Pawson, who always looks like he should be tossing a salad at the world's most boring, insufferably middle class dinner party, was absolutely fucking shit. Pope: 6 Trippier: 7.5 Schar: 7.5 Botman: 7.5 Burn: 8 Bruno: 7 Anderson: 6 Longstaff: 5 Barnes: 6.5 Wilson: 8 Gordon: 7.5

Craig Pawson has never not had a mare.

Update the title ye pigs

Could definitely be better and worse. A real lack of pace and movement off the ball. Barnes, Anderson, and Longstaff all doing pretty similar things that don't really affect the game.

The lack of replay is telling me it's bad.

He keeps saying "I've been watching..." about players, trying to sound insightful as well.

Shut up Jenas, you were a spineless shit of a footballer

Neto is on it today like

Wolves 1-3 Liverpool Villa 2-1 Palace Fulham 2-0 Luton Man Utd 1-2 Brighton Spurs 4-0 Sheff Utd West Ham 1-3 Man City Newcastle 2-1 Brentford Bournemouth 2-1 Chelsea Everton 0-2 Arsenal Forest 3-1 Burnley

Can guarantee the answer is no, he's just incredibly click baity.

It's often good other times just okay. They get good guests on from time to time and their stuff with opposition fans are very good, but beyond that I enjoy it just as a background sort of thing and it's good when we've won and they're hyping up all the players, with anyone rarely getting rated less than an 8/10 . They probably put out too much content to make what they're talking about worthwhile tbh, but that's the nature of the beast with trying to get a channel out there, and aside from when they have that bellend Graeme Bailey one, it's usually good. It's not the sort of podcast you go to for any deep insight or anything, it's more just fan chat, which tbh is much more my preference these days.

This would only make sense if England also has Rodri and co at their disposal.

Baklava nonce

The comparison has nothing to do with player selection really, it's about how we see the overall transformation in hindsight. This has ended up being a long post so apologies in advance. In my lifetime England have nearly always been far less than the sum of their parts at tournaments regardless of how prestigious the manager was and how incredible we knew the players were for their clubs. Who, if they got out of their group, made it an absolute chore in terms of results and performances, and put in regularly shocking performances against teams who on paper had far less quality. Bombing out or failing to qualify at the hands of the likes of: Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway in the '90s Romania, Portugal, Macedonia, Israel, Russia, and Croatia in the '00s. Germany (a good team but it was a thrashing), Costa Rica, Russia, Slovakia, and Iceland in the '10s. Even when we did qualify, either for the tournament or from the group stage, aside from a few notable performances like vs Netherlands in '96, we never really turned it on. This was for the most part with a team full of really good or world class players as well. In 2016 the 'Golden Generation' were gone and it was generally agreed that this new generation coming through were nowhere near the same level as those that had gone. That was the undeniable context imo. That team at Euro '16 drew with Russia and Slovakia, then immediately got beaten by Iceland, a team from a country with a population around the size of Newcastle's. So by this point it should be established that England and 'teams we should be beating' don't necessarily mix. This is the point where everything before it feels like people have incredibly short memories. So then Southgate comes in and at his first tournament, World Cup '18, we have a favourable group. At this point cast your mind back to our group in 2010 that the 'Golden Generation' under serial trophy winner Capello made a meal of. It was an arrogant headline, but not out of keeping with the sentiment of the perception of the group in England. " England Algeria Slovenia Yanks " So then we beat Colombia and Sweden. Then lose the semi final to Croatia after going 1-0 up a mere 2 years after arguably England's lowest ebb in the modern era. A nation's pride in England is restored, with Southgate's team getting results and performances at a tournament, reaching the semi-final with a team that for once was bigger than the sum of its parts and not the other way around. Southgate is championed for reconnecting England with its supporters after years of disconnect and underperformance. <---By comparison this is similar to where I think Eddie Howe is now. ---> Fast forward to Euro '21 and that's when things start to flip imo. Suddenly the fact that England had failed for decades previously, stumbling against 'teams we should be beating' cast aside, previous generations of players downgraded, current England players upgraded, and the lack of game time for certain players questioned. Despite all that, we win the group beating Croatia, then beat Germany, Ukraine, and Denmark to get to the final, our first in 55 years. But now these are all 'teams we should be beating' including international tournament powerhouses Germany. It seemingly being forgotten that England don't have the best record against 'teams we should be beating'. We lose the final on pens and there's understandable frustration at the tactics, but beyond that, that's when things flipped from: Southgate getting more than the sum of its parts from a squad with less quality than in previous years to Southgate isn't getting enough out of the best England generation ever. Discounting '66 and sticking with my lifetime, the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, Terry, Ferdinand, Cole, Beckham wholesale demoted to being seemingly not as good as the likes of Rice, Phillips, Mount, Maguire, Stones, Sterling all because of, ironically, their performances for England under Southgate vs the underperformance of those previous players under the likes of trophy winners Eriksson and Capello. That's the part I find incredible and I think is a bit foreboding re Howe. I have little problem with the criticisms of Southgate's in-game management in crunch games, mainly because the result hugely dictates whether the decisions have been right. I agree that Maguire, Phillips, and especially Henderson's inclusion is wearing thin, but there were complaints about them even when they were performing for England. Pickford can also be thrown in as a player Southgate is inexplicably criticised for starting as well. It's that flip I mentioned earlier that I still find the most incredible. Even if I agree that these are position-by-position, the best English players ever, which for the most part I definitely don't, we still have decades of failure with excellent players that should have taught us that amazing players are no guarantee of success on their own, let alone if the players and the team are performing but there are also other absolutely quality national teams around who are themselves absolutely stacked with quality.

Yes it does

We've beaten or been penalties away from beating/going square with the very best teams in major tournaments, and beaten teams that have beaten the best teams. But when that happens it doesn't count or we should be beating them. So yeah I get where you're coming from, but I don't agree.

Or maybe another English team. Just googled it and can't find the match.

Been to Bruges a few times and based on the people I've spoken to our visit was a mix of good and bad (they might have been being kind because they knew I supported Newcastle) but they would happily never ever see another West Ham fan as long as they live.

Sadly no stairs going up to the bedrooms.