What a ball by Shaq, and what a performance by Phillips. Kudos to Jota. Lad looks like he is made for our team.
VAR has ruined football a bit. No longer enjoying a goal, as I instead pray for the damn thing to clear it.
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Yes, indeed. And even when Friend looked at it pitchside, he messed up too. VAR a disgrace is shorthand for all of the above. Human error hasn’t gone away.
The intent of VAR is fine. The application is crap.
At that point we might as well get rid of the whole system and charge the ref and his assistants to run the show, trusting that they are doing their best, and you might get an iffy call here and there.
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There’s something really uplifting winning a shit game like that where VAR is doing it’s best to fuck you over! 
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Felt like that last year at times.
Appreciative of being able to watch a game of football without being kicked to fck at you Bitters and Blades. Really thought Moyes brigade would have turned up to do the same.
Jota needs to start, Bobby needs to rethink his approach to the game.
To be fair Shaq should be ahead of Jones as well. But they were likely both rested.
Very encouraging that we are withstanding this injury blitz.
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Didn’t have a problem with it, personally, I thought it was going to be called that in real time. Mane went through the back of him, almost no way he was going to get a clean play on the ball. In an odd way, I was relieved it was not for yet another magical ‘keeper protection’ call, which is what the Hammers were clearly lobbying to get.
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I need a drink. 85 minutes willing the clock to slow down then 10 chewing my nails begging the fucker to speed up. VAR has ruined the game, ruined the excitement of goals, it’s slowly killing football. Jota’s first goal disallowed for a foul on the defender? What a fucking joke.
Nat Phillips is old school, do the simple things well, head it away, get into position, fight the physical battle. He deserves MoM by a country mile. Jota is class, he must start league games with Bobby in such bad form, as was said by many before the game. I’m delighted to see Shaq have a redemption because he’s a quality player who will contribute if he can stay fit.
A mention for Hendo too because he ran his socks off start to finish in that game. With Thiago, Naby, Matip and Ox nearing fitness we can hopefully rest a few, maintain league form and see in January brings a new Centre half.
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Shaqiri’s vision and technique made again all the difference. As did Jota’s energy and coolness. He could have had a second one too if Salah hadn’t inexplicably and rather idiotically decided to try to find Mane instead of putting him through.
At the back, Phillips was a revelation. He provided an aerial presence, had good positioning and was generally far better than what was expected. Small sample but he seems to be more than serviceable.
The rest worked hard but it’s clear that the fixture congestion has taken a toll. We’ll see more performances like these but as long as we are winning, no one should complain.
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Agreed. It’s a tool. You give a sculptor a hammer and chisel you’ll get a statue. Give an idiot the same and you’ll get a trip to a&e. Give a competent ref control of VAR you’ll get a well officiated match. Give it to the FA and PGMOL you’ll get lunacy
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West Ham clearly played not to lose right off the get go. Pretty much parked the bus the whole way 
. They got a gift for the first goal and then pretty much was silent the whole night. Nat Phillips played very well tonight, nothing fancy just straight business. Played composed and pretty much had Haller under wraps the whole night. However, he was forced into a couple of bad passed that almost gave them a scoring opportunity.
I’ve been saying for a few games now, we need a creative Midfield to make those incisive pass. Before Shaq came on, we were just recycling the ball from left to right. As soon as he’s on the pitch, there were at least a few key pass that was made. I think Klopp needs to play him more in Mid.
Bobby and Jones didn’t play good today. Jones didn’t really offer anything different from Gini and Hendo. I would play Shaq ahead of him. As for Bobby, it’s the same old. Something has happened, he’s a completely different player from a few years ago. Even now he doesn’t really run as hard or press as hard anymore. Most crucially, he just looks ordinary, no magic back heel passes or intelligent lob passes. That spark he had before is gone😩.
Jota needs to start up front with Mo and Mane “This Is The Way”
On to Italy and then big game next week against City👍
YNWA
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Jota’s clear success makes me happy for the following reasons:
A.) He has hit the ground running in a massive way, giving me even more faith in the recruiting process that picked up Naby and Taki. They saw something and you will have to do a hell of a lot of convincing to make me think either of those players will be bombs.
B.) The ulcers on the Caf at how we got Jota in so easily and so cheaply are deadset fucking glorious.
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It was offside in the build up to it but VAR is blatantly trying to destroy our season
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Wijnaldum? He is a solid player. Hit fitness level and tracking back to cover for TAA is a big reason why he plays.
He is a workhorse. He many not be contributing much in goals and assist but he makes it up for his keeping the ball moving and tracking.
Bobby has had bizzare 6 months for sure. Hopefully jota can push him to be back to his best.
Only time will tell.
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big 3 points again… lets keep grindin and winning them games anyway we can…
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I thought Gini did well.
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Gini Wijnaldum is definitely underrated, it’s impossible to win the ball from him and he adds the steel to our midfield that is very much needed. I hope we keep him through this season.
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Nat Phillips! Wow! He will be extremely useful in England for us especially those teams that plays physical! What a debut. Kept it very simple and his physical strength is nice to see! Let’s see how the coaches improve his timing of headers!
As for Shaq, turns out his best position is a number 10! His passes are what we sorely lack in the first half. His assist is brilliant! What a nutmeg assist!
Jota’s form is red hot! Wow!
As for the downsides, our midfield offered nothing at all offensively. Gini had his moments but was playing very conservatively while Hendo was busy defending the midfield. Bar for that one pass to Salah that earned the penalty, Jones was very anonymous on the pitch. I didn’t see him win any take-ons against any West Ham players…
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This forum (first TIA and now TAN) has been saying the same things about Gini since he got here.
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Deserved victory but we were laboured at times. Not the most accomplished performance. Poor defensively for the goal but we did enough. Shaqiri and Jota made a great impact coming on.
Lol, if you’ll ask for that specifically, the team anyways is obliged to give you these results with the harder way. I would rather ask they make our lives simpler as fans! 
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