It’s not really it’s one week in 3 where we play a midweek game.
Not so much rules though is it, a lot of decisions come down to common sense.
You have refs who get decisions wrong “by the letter of the law” and then you immediately get refs come to their aid by saying “well actually you know what, it was a subjective decision at the time thus was a 50/50 whether it was the wrong call”
The rules are over complicated for the average fan to comprehend and are only there (and changed) to protect refs, this is a fact. Aren’t rules supposed to regulate and maintain the game from coming into disrepute?
1 Like
2 Likes
One of those decisions we’re happy to get, but would be pissed off if we’d been the scorers.
Doesn’t need War and Peace to dissect
2 Likes
That looks close. Maybe Trent at the back post playing him on by the lino has a great angle on it. Finding an extreme edge case that identifies a limitation in the process is not unexpected, but this should not be an edge case. Just like the Arsenal goal against us, it was completely normal sequence of play and it’s a farce there can be such a limitation that when first exposed was not immediately addressed.
It is a farce that the hawkeye camera can have a limitation like this and you would have thought the first time the limiation was exposed (like Arsenal’s first goal against us) they would have
1 Like
So the goal was disallowed because VAR couldn’t fully interpret (from that god awful camera angle) that the linesman got it wrong after putting his flag up?
The same linesman who is on the other side of the field with about 20 bodies blocking his view?
If the linesman was on the near side, suddenly that changes everything…maybe a call to have 4 linesmen every game.
If he’s offside the lino is in the better side to be able to see it…the bodies in the way wont actually be in the way and he’d be able to clearly see the attacker on the far side as behind them all.
1 Like
Of course you are correct.
My gripe with Thiago atm is that he slows everything down, he makes bad decissions and he gives the ball away too cheaply.
Due to the number of times he gives the ball away cheaply he should be making more tackles.
As he is our play maker all these points are multiplied. Everyone is passing to him and he’s not delivering.
We need him to buck his ideas up, even his positioning, when we are in possession, is often far too deep to do what he eventually tries.
He’s not our only player off form however he is the most important player to have in form.
I actually went to vote Fab Hendo and Thiago but kept coming up with this error message everytime I tried to submit so in the end went with a random 3 it did allow me to.
Voting isn’t compulsory,if you can’t select the players you want let @Mascot know rather than just randomly picking players.
Please stay away from any Polling Stations at election times.
2 Likes
It’s only voting Echo, no biggie.
I’m sure no harm will come from it.
Nice to assume I haven’t done the equation, and then it leads you to assume what I think. But of course it’s only what you think I think.
Back to subject, whether or not you are Dutch and have seen him play for PSV and Holland or anywhere else, my question was of course rhetorical, and was simply pointing out that I don’t think that a player who’s 23 and identified by Klopp as one he can mould, can be judged by 80 minutes game time with this team and its particular style of play, and after only a couple of days under Klopp’s guidance. Shouldn’t have to explain all this for my previous post normally, but, anyway…
We’ll see whether it pans out well for us or not.
How can you quicken up play when there are no forward passing options especially when we are in our defensive 3rd, we are missing Bobby to be that option.
1 Like
I dont know, we have good discussions but that is more from the subjective point of view of decisions
Rightly so though don’t you think? The general standard of refereeing is poor, even with all the tech and assistance. On top of that you’ve got rules that are simply too complicated and don’t help the officials either. It gives it too much room for debate.
Plus the whole process of too many cooks with some hiding in a room miles away just winds me up.
That said it doesn’t excuse another sub par performance from us.
It seems like the changes to the rules aren’t done by football people but by those supposedly wanting to make the game more appealing, why? It is the most watched sport in the World!
1 Like
Current member of the IFAB advisory board include
- Luis Figo
- Zvonomir Boban
- Arsene Wenger
- Daniel Amokachi
- Hidetoshi Nakata
- Mehdi Mahdavikia
- Nery Pumpido
- Maxwell (the Brazilian LB who used to play for Barca)
That’s collectively about 600 international caps, a lot of trophies including a world cup, and near 1500 or so top level games coached that is going in to determining what the rules are.
The rules by definition are subjective. Every effort that has ever been made to remove room for debate and improve between game consistency just leads to a raft of absurd decisions leaving the fans and pundits raging that we “just need a bit of common sense”. So you’re left with rules that allow refs to use their judgement, meaning there is no definitive right or wrong in the majority of cases. There is plenty of room to debate those decisions and even conclude you think any particular ref is shit, but it has to be grounded in what the rules actually are for it make any sense. Too often “VAR is shit” is just short hand for “I dont know the rules” or “I dont agree with decision.”
5 Likes
Let us know if you see any midfielders we could use 
2 Likes
I’m going to say something daring, and I am a bit conflicted, as Thiago is clearly an excellent player.
So here goes… it’s a discussion forum and all…
I suspect when we bought Thiago it was to help us evolve our play and sort of put a cherry on top, and to help us win the biggest prizes. He was experienced, world class, and had seen and done it all before, in different countries.
Next stop Liverpool: help them go from a high level to even new heights, and pick up a Prem title or two, and at least another CL along the way.
It hasn’t worked out like that.
Here’s the contentious part: we haven’t kicked on, as we surely expected when he arrived.
I certainly wouldn’t lay all the blame for that at Thiago’s feet, but for one reason and another we have gone backwards in midfield. It needs a reset, and to my mind, while Thiago wouldn’t be at the top of the list of departures, he is far from untouchable.
Beyond the contract expirations of Milner, Keita, Ox and Melo, there might be further subtractions, especially if we recruit 2-3 new midfielders and give it a rebuild in the engine room.
If we keep all three of Henderson, Thiago and Fabinho next season, plus Bajcetic, Elliott, Jones, Carvalho and bring Morton back, that is 8 players. Ok, you might debate whether or not Elliott and Carvalho are more suited to a 4231, but it’s still a fair amount of players, especially with, presumably, two very good or excellent midfielders added on top.
Let’s say it is Caicedo and Bellingham. They would start more often than not, and then it will be up to the old guard and youngsters to force their way in for minutes.
Arguably we would have too many players, so I expect midfield cuts to go deeper than the four contract expirations.
At that point Thiago is not untouchable.
1 Like
I agree, I think the game needs it (VAR) especially at the top levels but,…
We have a saying at work “ripping the arse out of it”
Basically you can have loads of great minds but that doesn’t necessarily result in a nice simple output. Quite the opposite in fact, especially when there’s either a lack of planning at the outset, or a lack of control through it all. No one taking a step back, looking at the wider picture and steering things correctly. The result is a shit load of nothing that no one can follow.
This has all the hallmarks of that.