ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE GOSSIP
It’s like Moyes at United
I don’t know why he said the media would get “no more funny quotes or jokes from me”. His first post match interview was utterly hilarious. For Chelsea fans though, it must be embarrassing. Yes Jose, you will get in trouble if you start calling the referee biased, or if you start complaining that you wouldn’t get away with berating the fourth official the way someone else did, or if there was a few extra seconds played at the end of the first half and it’s all a conspiracy against you and your club. But guess what? You don’t HAVE to say that. Be humble, talk about what you think went wrong and how you’ll try to fix it and you won’t be financing the FAs Christmas piss ups for the next few years.
Costa is a dirty bastard and although yes, Lucas should have had a second booking, putting your studs into someone’s chest while they’re on the ground is a straight red. Not everything is going against you when one of your players manages to stay on the pitch after common assault on a regular basis. Why not talk about that in your post match interview?
I’m glad of the controversial moments in Chelsea’s matches, long may they continue. This feels reminiscent of United when Moyes was in charge. In a way, he has to go and everyone outside of the club seems to see it, but I find myself praying that he doesn’t just so the comedy can continue.
Chris, London
The difference is huge
It was a good result for Liverpool and you could see they wanted it much more. The difference of both sets of players was stark. Chelsea players dived, rolled around, always looking for a decision and haranguing the ref (especially the Lucas incident). Not looking confident at all. The Liverpool players picked themselves up and on with it. Look at the Costa incident as an example, he kicked Skrtel in the chest with his heel studs (a dirty act from a dirty player and a definite red). Skrtel just made a face at Costa (who s**t pants) then got up and on with it and tooked Costa back into his pocket. No rolling around for 5 minutes then looking at the ref and demanding a card, just brushed it off and got into position. They looked confident, they had a job to do and they were going to do it.
Klopp has only been with them for a few weeks and the difference is huge especially in their attitude. As said in 16 Conclusions Liverpool will only improve and the top 4 is there for the taking.
MickT Liverpool
Thank you Diego Costa
As Chelsea have been losing I’ve started to dislike Diego Costa less and less. It’s really great knowing that his dastardly and unpunished misbehaviour negates any possible excuses Mourinho could have about other refereeing decisions.
Thank you Diego!
Joel Bradley, London
Costa just Rickie Lambert with a chip on his shoulder
This surely won’t be published because people will be crying about Mourinho and Rooney and hailing Klopp and the Arse, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while.
Diego Costa, he’s not that good. Seriously, people live with his thuggery because they say that’s what makes him so good but what is he actually that good at? Since this time last year he’s scored 12 goals, Jamie f*cking Vardy has scored nearly as many this season if you haven’t heard.
He’s not that great in open play, gets his team in trouble by receiving bans for thuggish behaviour that in no way benefits the team and we’ve been hearing that he’s playing at about 70% for a year now. How the f@#k can a professional footballer not be fit at least once in a year when they haven’t suffered a serious injury?
He’s basically Rickie Lambert with more issues, I wish Rickie all the best as well. He seems a genuinely nice man.
Paddy(Diego would kick these brackets if he could) Ireland
Karma
– If Deigo Kicksta’s stomping on Skrtel isn’t Red, then nothing is Red as Mark “Karma” Clattenburg clearly demonstrated.
This is why they say in the movies- you don’t mess with the Mafia – ” You sc**w me, WE sc**w you”
Well done Liverpool, exactly the result needed to finally build some character.
Cant wait for John Terry’s autobiography to come out..will be worth the time and money.. Mourinho’s made him a richer man
Amith LFC ( from the remotest desert with a scrambled signal)
Top four is a certainty
We’re 8 points off the top off the table having already played United, Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea and Everton away from home. We’ve also got past our usual banana skin of Stoke away, and got the big club’s 2015 nightmare of a visit from West Ham out of the way.
We’ve been playing awful football and we’re still just 8 points off the top with a wonderful new manager, a constantly improving style and renewed belief amongst all players.
I’m not for one second suggesting we’ll compete for the title this season, but I’m certain if top 4.
Plus Lucas will score a Premier League goal very soon, mark my words. He is a man reborn under Klopp.
Loving this like Kevin Keegan.
Dom (loving Jamie Vardy too) Littleford
Liverpool fan lording it
When you see a Mourinho team score inside of 5 minutes at home when they’re under pressure you would be forgiven for thinking that the next 85 minutes are going to be the most turgid and boring football you’ve ever seen.
For me the fear was doubled because they were playing us. Liverpool love to lose to teams that are playing awfully and desperately in need of a win. Bottom of the league, no win in 10? You’re guaranteed a comfortable 2-0 win over us. We also don’t know how to score and have no creativity whatsoever. We were basically doomed.
I suspect Coutinho couldn’t have picked a remotely better time to score. Coming when the half should have already ended can only have made Chelsea’s players feel aggrieved and hard done by and also it must’ve been the only thing on their minds at half time. They must’ve managed to completely forget that we hadn’t had a serious chance on goal up to that point. They were clearly nervous at the start of the second half and for once Liverpool punished them.
This was simply delicious in every way. Mourinho losing to a team he hates, at home again too. Chelsea’s fans resorting to singing about Stevie G slipping over two seasons ago…even though he doesn’t play for us anymore and they will be dreaming right now of matching the lofty third place finish they managed that season. I definitely don’t want Mourinho sacked, as unpleasant a character as he is. I’d like to see him completely unravel and for this sh1tstorm to deepen even more.
You’ve got to say Klopp got dealt a raw deal for his first games in charge. Spurs, Southampton and Chelsea, two of them away, is probably one of the toughest runs in the league any new manager would have to face and having come through it with 5 points you’ve got to say he’s done very well. 4 points off 4th and with players returning to fitness in the next month only makes this all the more interesting.
Minty, LFC
No love for Milner
What an immense performance from every single Liverpool player on the pitch. It was intense. Haven’t enjoyed a result so much for ages.
One of the things I was happiest about was to see Milner subbed off. It was a ballsy move against a Chelsea side that looked there for the taking.
I like Milner but he looked as though he was undroppable when Rodgers was in charge, despite lacking a little in possession. His main attribute is running around loads, which is great, but when the whole team suddenly starts running around loads his slight lack of finesse becomes more obvious.
Joel Bradley, London
What a difference tactics make
Well needless to say after that I’m a very happy Liverpool supporter. It didn’t start to plan but the gameplan Klopp put together was for me perfect. Everyone knows how Chelsea play so if anything the goal helped solidify the way the game progressed. Firmino isn’t really a lone striker type player but once Chelsea scored and sat back he was the perfect player to be there to help retain possession. Yes Liverpool may have lacked a cutting edge but it also prevented Chelsea from playing since they were content to sit back and when Chelsea did pick up the ball the press was there to get it back.
To me this shows the most obvious and instant difference between Klopp and Rodgers. Rodgers Liverpool looked listless and without direction. You can tell instantly (even if the results weren’t) that Klopp has a philosophy and way of playing. His tactics were perfect and that just as much as the brilliant individual performances of Coutinho, Benteke, and (the much maligned by me but brilliant today) Skrtel.
I am tremendously encouraged.
Paul S., LFC, Baltimore, MD, USA
Justice for Rafa
“One person said I couldn’t play twice in a week. He knows who he is. I’m still here, still fighting,”
At the end of last season, John Terry and Jose Mourinho both took great pleasure in having a dig at Rafa Benitez with quotes like the above. Looking back now, could it be argued that if Terry hadn’t played twice a week all last season he might look a little less shagged now?
Just a thought.
Martin (Warrington)
Ozil the best midfielder in the Premier League
Mesut f***ing Ozil got his 9th assist of the season against Swansea. To put that in context, that is more than Manchester United have created combined, more than half the teams in the league in fact. What’s more, all but one of those assists have come through open play. Ozil has created 47 chances this season and runs more per game (both distance and sprints) than Alexis Sanchez. It is a shame he will never be recognized for his talents in England but he truly is the most remarkable player in the Premier League.
I remember when Chelsea signed Fabregas last year, a website not a million miles from here had a go at Wenger for not bringing him back. I’d be interested in asking if F365 (and of course other esteemed mailboxers) still think if that was the right call, now that Cesc has proven he cannot cut it in the Premier League at CM with his sub-par defensive awareness and was always going to be an option at CAM.
Also, excellent 16 conclusions but I wanted to add a couple more points to show exactly how bad a start Chelsea have made. They have let in more goals this season than any team in the league other than Norwich. They have also lost more games in the league other than Aston Villa. Still think Mourinho should not be sacked though. He’s finally made them interesting to watch.
– Falooda in NY
Play players in their positions, Louis
Excellent point by Silvio Dante. Spreading the players out into 5/6 teams has definitely diluted the quality of the league. And infact due to the same reason the EPL matches have become far more competitive thereby causing problems in Europe due the huff and puff of the league. I’m also inclined to agree with the fact that in his latter years Fergie did dish out some of the most dire football on show, albeit we won. This was more down to strategy and his insistence on not wanting to buy a good midfielder which is primarily why we came up short in the UCL every year.
My gripe is more to do with why this present squad can have only one attempt on goal against a good but generally average Palace side. This to me has been the general issue of most of the top teams in the last couple of seasons. Let me make a general assessment here. Blind in central defense (woeful at most times), Young / Velancia at right back (has no chance of regularly breaking free and providing crosses), Martial on the left (can dribble as much as he likes but won’t get an opportunity to score), Rooney everywhere (same as Martial), Fellaini in central midfield (has no chance of scoring from headers in such a situation) and finally Mata on the right (has very little opportunity to dicate play and make telling passes. What does all this tell anyone with half a brain? All the players were made to look impotent in less than useful starting positions which would make them look industrious but never a potential threat. And then we question why United didn’t have shots on goal. I mean what sort of think tank would make a plan like this before a match?
Smalling and Jones in central defense should not be tinkered with unless someone’s not fit (and I’m hoping Jones was unfit), Blind should cover for right back until Darmian gets better or not play at all and Rojo until Shaw does. In midfield Schweinsteiger should play a more ambitious role or let Herrera prove himself in that position and let Schneiderlin do the screening. The wingers, as they are supposed to do, should be providing quality crosses and frankly the last player I saw do this successfully was called Beckham and let’s face it Valencia has been absolutely woeful in that regard. Which brings me to Young and Rojo who are both excellent crossers on the left and Lingaard on the right, or a Young on the right and Depay on the left who shall be instructed to provide crosses only (without any of his funny business). The top two in which case leaves one of Fellaini and Rooney with Martial up top and I’d really feel now that Rooney should ideally play the last thirty minutes of every game as an impact player as he would probably be a lot more destructive in such a scenario.
Unless United create atleast thirty chances, fifteen each half you won’t have atleast 12 to 15 attempts on goal, the only way that might improve our chances in every game. And this certainly is not being made possible by players being put in positions wherein they are least effective.
Saby MUFC
Time for him to go
Rooney was a shambles again, Fellaini was brought on and straight away almost cost us a goal by not jumping for a header from a corner. Pathetic.
Van Gaal came with an attacking reputation which he hasn’t delivered. He persists with Rooney and thinks lumping it to Fellaini is a good tactic. Indefensible, time to go.
Silvio Dante
Sack LVG, hire Mourinho
It’s f**king simple LVG. Put Martial up front and Rooney behind him. Rooney is complete sh*t up front on his own. SACK LVG AND HIRE MOURINHO. We can win the title with Mourinho, then search for a proper manager for next campaign.
Brandon (SACK THE IDIOT LVG) stateside, MUFC
Worse than Moyes
Van Gaal has made United worse than we were under Moyes. Same results and somehow worse less enjoyable football despite spending the most ridiculous amount of money ever seen
Have some dignity Louis and walk away now because I honestly believe anybody could do a better job than you, your a cancer on football and my club
Leon
SavageExcellent point by Silvio Dante. Spreading the players out into 5/6 teams has definitely diluted the quality of the league. And infact due to the same reason the EPL matches have become far more competitive thereby causing problems in Europe due the huff and puff of the league. I’m also inclined to agree with the fact that in his latter years Fergie did dish out some of the most dire football on show, albeit we won. This was more down to strategy and his insistence on not wanting to buy a good midfielder which is primarily why we came up short in the UCL every year.
My gripe is more to do with why this present squad can have only one attempt on goal against a good but generally average Palace side. This to me has been the general issue of most of the top teams in the last couple of seasons. Let me make a general assessment here. Blind in central defense (woeful at most times), Young / Velancia at right back (has no chance of regularly breaking free and providing crosses), Martial on the left (can dribble as much as he likes but won’t get an opportunity to score), Rooney everywhere (same as Martial), Fellaini in central midfield (has no chance of scoring from headers in such a situation) and finally Mata on the right (has very little opportunity to dicate play and make telling passes. What does all this tell anyone with half a brain? All the players were made to look impotent in less than useful starting positions which would make them look industrious but never a potential threat. And then we question why United didn’t have shots on goal. I mean what sort of think tank would make a plan like this before a match?
Smalling and Jones in central defense should not be tinkered with unless someone’s not fit (and I’m hoping Jones was unfit), Blind should cover for right back until Darmian gets better or not play at all and Rojo until Shaw does. In midfield Schweinsteiger should play a more ambitious role or let Herrera prove himself in that position and let Schneiderlin do the screening. The wingers, as they are supposed to do, should be providing quality crosses and frankly the last player I saw do this successfully was called Beckham and let’s face it Valencia has been absolutely woeful in that regard. Which brings me to Young and Rojo who are both excellent crossers on the left and Lingaard on the right, or a Young on the right and Depay on the left who shall be instructed to provide crosses only (without any of his funny business). The top two in which case leaves one of Fellaini and Rooney with Martial up top and I’d really feel now that Rooney should ideally play the last thirty minutes of every game as an impact player as he would probably be a lot more destructive in such a scenario.
Unless United create atleast thirty chances, fifteen each half you won’t have atleast 12 to 15 attempts on goal, the only way that might improve our chances in every game. And this certainly is not being made possible by players being put in positions wherein they are least effective.
Saby MUFC
Time for him to go
Rooney was a shambles again, Fellaini was brought on and straight away almost cost us a goal by not jumping for a header from a corner. Pathetic.
Van Gaal came with an attacking reputation which he hasn’t delivered. He persists with Rooney and thinks lumping it to Fellaini is a good tactic. Indefensible, time to go.
Silvio Dante
Sack LVG, hire Mourinho
It’s f**king simple LVG. Put Martial up front and Rooney behind him. Rooney is complete sh*t up front on his own. SACK LVG AND HIRE MOURINHO. We can win the title with Mourinho, then search for a proper manager for next campaign.
Brandon (SACK THE IDIOT LVG) stateside, MUFC
Worse than Moyes
Van Gaal has made United worse than we were under Moyes. Same results and somehow worse less enjoyable football despite spending the most ridiculous amount of money ever seen
Have some dignity Louis and walk away now because I honestly believe anybody could do a better job than you, your a cancer on football and my club
Leon
More world-class consistency from Robbie Savage on Saturday’s 606:
“If Chelsea (15th) sack Mourinho, then football has gone mad!”
Not 20 minutes later:
“How much longer are Man Utd. (4th) fans going to put up with this?”
Never change, Robert. Never change.
What the papers say: Jose Mourinho’s future
‘Mourinho will be given a month to change fortunes,’ claim The Independent. Their man, Glenn Moore, reports that ‘sources at the club’ have confirmed ‘there was still no appetite to sack Mourinho’ despite yet another disappointment, and that he would likely be given at least another month to turn things around. That sequence includes Champions League group stage games against Dynamo Kyiv and Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Premier League games against Stoke, Norwich and Spurs, as well as a lovely international break.
The Sun believes Mourinho will be given only two of those games – against Kyiv and Stoke within this next week – to save his job. Mike McGrath says club insiders have claimed Mourinho ‘was summoned for crisis talks with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich hours after the final whistle – and given a last warning.’ Sounds rather serious. McGrath’s Sun colleague Andrew Dillon reported that defeat to Liverpool ‘could prove a tipping point’ last week, for what it’s worth.
‘JOSE WAVES GOODBYE’ is the headline chosen by the Sunday People, whose man Steve Bates believes the Portuguese ‘is on the brink of being sacked’. What gave it away?
Bates goes on to write that defeat to Liverpool has ‘convinced owner Abramovich that change is needed and he is expected to wield the axe this week’. Apparently, ‘sources close’ to Mourinho fear that he could be sacked even before the Champions League clash with Kyiv on Wednesday.
Colin Mafham of the Sunday Express gives no timeline on Mourinho’s stay, but does offer the following: ‘The consensus is that Mourinho will get more time to turn his chumps back into champs again.’ Earlier in the week, the Express claimed defeat to Liverpool would spell the end for the Chelsea boss, so what’s changed?
Over to Neil Ashton now, who has been a busy boy for The Mail on Sunday. Again, Ashton is rather fence-bound as he claims Mourinho’s job is only at risk if he ‘fails to turn results around,’ but the Mail man believes owner Abramovich ‘is prepared’ to fire his manager if necessary. ‘The club have made it known that his job is under threat,’ apparently.
We conclude with Simon Mullock of the Sunday Mirror, who not only claims Mourinho ‘is on the brink of being sacked,’ but that he would receive only a £9.5million pay-off if Abramovich pulls the trigger. The Mail and the Express both said last week that Mourinho would receive around £30million in compensation, so what’s changed?
Well, according to Mullock, Mourinho has a clause in his contract which stipulates he would receive only one year’s salary if his contract is terminated. ‘Sources in Portugal’ (we presume they have some other relations to Mourinho as opposed to just nationality) say Mourinho could be gone before Wednesday.
Basically, no-one’s got a f**king clue.
Official Chelsea match report: A thing of beauty
Date published: Sunday 1st November 2015 12:20
Ramires opened the scoring early on in Saturday’s lunchtime match but the visitors levelled on the stroke of half-time and then made the best of their attacks later in the game.An incongruous start to the glorious match report from the 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool on Chelsea’s official website. It involves tales of woe, questioning of the officials on more than one occasion, and suggesting that players surrounding the referee is perfectly acceptable behaviour.
‘There was again the feeling that little is going our way at the present time,’ was the main
Complaints over the officiating seemed to be the general theme of the match report. ‘The foul had been by Lucas, who repeated the offence on eight minutes on Diego Costa but was only spoken to by referee Mark Clattenburg’, ‘Emre Can painfully went through Willian, but again just words from the ref followed. It would not be the only foul on the Brazilian’. This, of course, was building up to a crescendo: Lucas’ non-red card.
With the Brazilian midfielder already on a booking, Lucas prevented a Ramires-led Chelsea counter-attack with a cynical foul. A free-kick had been awarded by Clattenburg, but, much to Chelsea’s derision, not a second yellow.
‘Mikel became our first booking for a foul on Lallana,’ begins the official Chelsea description. ‘Quite rightly, our midfielder and many others were asking why Lucas, already on a yellow, was not shown another for a foul just as bad moments later.’
The FA’s respect campaign explicitly states that any of the following are not allowed: ‘Running towards the referee in an aggressive manner’, ‘players surrounding the referee to protest a decision’, ‘repeatedly asking questions about decisions in an attempt to influence the referee or undermine his/her responsibilities and ‘repeatedly moaning at the referee about decisions’. While they may have felt – rightly or wrongly – aggrieved at Lucas staying on the field, the actions of the Chelsea players afterwards were literally not ‘quite right’.
But, after describing Coutinho’s second to make it 2-1 as ‘sickening’ – Liverpool had had 10 attempts to Chelsea’s five at this point – and lamenting the ‘slight deflection’ on Christian Benteke’s crowning goal (there is no mention of the woeful defending which facilitated it), the match report came to its beautiful conclusion.
Strangely, there is no mention of a kick to the chest of Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel courtesy of Diego Costa. Said kick could yet land the striker a four-game FA ban, according to widespread reports.
There is also no mention of the stats from this ‘keenly contested’ and ‘evenly balanced’ game, so we feel we should oblige: Chelsea had eight shots to Liverpool’s 16, including two shots on target to seven, Liverpool played 147 more passes than Chelsea, and the visitors had 57.3% possession overall. Plus, of course, the scoreline and stuff.
We are in the midst of a world where Jamie Vardy is a hot commodity among Real Madrid, Liverpool and Tottenham, while Harry Kane is a £50million striker wanted by not only Manchester United, but now Bayern Munich. Isn’t 2015 great?
The new line on Kane comes from The Sun, whose man Mike McGrath is reporting an exclusive on the England international.
According to McGrath, Bayern have watched Kane three times so far this season. Let’s hope for Kane’s sake that one of them was his hat-trick game at Bournemouth last week; the only other Premier League match he’s scored in this season is against Manchester City.
McGrath also reports further on any potential Kane fee. He claims that Daniel Levy, notoriously kind to negotiators as he is, will be requesting a ‘staggering bid’ for the 22-year-old after seeing Anthony Martial and Raheem Sterling – both younger than Kane – fetch fees close to £40million.
BALE A UNITED ‘PRIORITY’
That’s 2015 done, now it’s time to regurgitate a rumour from a year ago and attempt to repackage it.
At least, we assume that was the thought process from the Sunday People’s Steve Bates, who claims Manchester United would rather like to sign Gareth Bale from Real Madrid next summer for £90million.
Bale is ‘still the number one target for United’ apparently, but the Red Devils ‘will not enter negotiations to trade Bale for goalkeeper David de Gea’. Ed Woodward is supposedly confident of striking a deal. He’s getting all confident, bless him.
Bates believes Louis van Gaal will attempt to sign Bale in January (presumably before reverting him to a wing-back), but that next summer is considered as the optimum time to make an approach as Bale continues to suffer in the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo.
It is also claimed that Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski are back-up targets if United cannot land Bale. Who is the back-up for when they say no too?
AND THE REST
Manchester United are preparing to offer £40million for Lazio playmaker Felipe Anderson after learning Bayern Munich are also interested…Tottenham are to offer Christian Eriksen a new contract that will keep the Danish star at White Hart Lane for the next four years…Manchester City and Manchester United are set to battle for the signature of Belgium’s latest young star, Anderlecht’s £30m-rated midfielder Youri Tielemans…Liverpool are facing a fight to keep hold of Jordan Rossiter as interest mounts in the 18-year-old midfielder…Leicester will demand £15m for in-form striker Jamie Vardy, who has attracted interest from Tottenham, Liverpool, West Brom and Borussia Dortmund.
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