Vesper

that aged well 1 1 Neymar

says Håland lolol did you not read anything amongst the massive amount of posts detailing his move? if not go search and ye shall find

he would be the one manager I might keep Kante for BUT he plays such cynical football it would be a schizo move would much rather Poch

Håland did not want to come here I am the harshest critic of the board on here and they are not to blame for him not being here

woooooooooooot 1 nil Saul

2019-20 UEFA Champions League, Round of 16 Borussia Dortmund v Paris Saint-Germain HD Streams http://www.sportnews.to/sports/2020/champions-league-borussia-dortmund-vs-psg-s2/ https://www.totalsportek.com/psg-games/

2019-20 UEFA Champions League, Round of 16 Atletico Madrid v Victimpool HD Streams http://www.sportnews.to/sports/2020/champions-league-atletico-madrid-vs-liverpool-s1/ https://www.totalsportek.com/highlights/arsenal-vs-everton-2016-match/

Anthony Taylor needs to be fined and demoted back to reffing a Grimsby Town shitter regardless of all our other cock-ups he flat out stole this game from us and may have helped cost us CL

its was a stone cold foul, ZERO dive, yes

that logic doesn't hold up at all as the 'no chance or slim chance at 4th' was predicated on many of the other teams be much improved now that they have not shown to be that at all and given that we had a large lead we have now shit away and given the HORRIFIC loses to pure shit teams, so many and given our SHIT form at home Lampard is on very thin ice and if he loses the next 5 games, simply has to be sacked he has been a very middling manager so far given our overall results we are rapidly regressing, not improving

I admit this a full FM level post and also this is impossible to do in even 2 summers probably but here goes The need to go go go go's: this is not counting the rotten dregs out on loan, they are a given that they need to be binned ASAP these are all on the main roster atm, and it would NOT be hard at all to sell them ALL this summer the problem is the buys to replace but EVERY one of these truly needs to be binned and fast, I will give Mount and Jorginho one more season to see if they fit in the long range plans OUT Willy Caballero Kurt Zouma Andreas Christensen Emerson Marcos Alonso N'Golo Kanté <<< a shadow of what he was, always injured, soon 30, and a true square peg in a round hole, Sarri destroyed him in multiple ways, unless we are sacking Lamapard and schizophremically slamming back to defensive, counter attacking model, Kante simply makes ZERO sense to be kept, and we risk shitting away tens of millions of quid by holding onto him Ross Barkley Marco van Ginkel Lewis Baker Danilo Pantic Willian Pedro Michy Batshuayi Olivier Giroud this leaves Kepa (he is unsaleable atm, unless we are willing to take a £65-70m loss due to a massively reduced fee and also eating around half or so of his last 5 years contractually due salary of £50m Antonio Rüdiger Fikayo Tomori César Azpilicueta we are obviously going to keep him until he is worthless in terms of resale value, that said, he should NEVER play at LB again, it is suicidal and big reason Lamps quite likely will get sacked, he is close to the worst LB in the league when he plays there, he is unbelievably poor in the offensive flow, he wrecks us. He also needs to be stripped of his captaincy, as he is a shit leader. He means well, but he is a negative on net, other than as a ageing backup RB Reece James Jorginho Conor Gallagher Mateo Kovacic << our best player this year on full balance, madness that Lampard benched him for so long, and jammed in an out of form, incompatible, and injured Kante Ruben Loftus-Cheek <<< we all had best hope he can recover from his horrific injury Billy Gilmour <<<< I would loan him out, he needs playing time Mason Mount <<< poor poor after the beginning false dawn, one more year and then out via a sale with a buyback or loan him out Callum Hudson-Odoi Christian Pulisic Hakim Ziyech Tammy Abraham <<<< he is looking like a backup option atm, to the new CF we will hopefully bring in, 3 league goals in the past 3 and a half months is a pathetic return assuming Gilmour is loaned out, that leaves 14 left on the main, 15 if you count a 3rd string GK like Jamie Cumming so here would be my 10 buys (yes I know it is impossible to go in one window or maybe even 2 summer windows and a January 2021 window but we sure as fuck had best try) GK IF we go strictly for a backup buy, the best pick would be Sven Ulreich, then Martin Dubravka. IF we are going for a full time or split starter with an eye on eventually selling Kepa, there are many good ones: Thomas Strakosha, André Onana, Alex Meret, Predrag Rajkovic, Mike Maignan, Dean Henderson, Odysseas Vlachodimos, Juan Musso, Bartlomiej Dragowski, David Soria, Koen Casteels, Matvey Safonov, (20yo, 21 in exactly a week, so more of a long term prospect), Tomas Vaclik CB Raphaël Varane, work out a deal with RM involving Kante, I do not care if thsi is crazy, if we want a truly WC commanding CB, here he is, use Kante whilst we still can CB Declan Rice (I see his future at CB, he is a great player and ex Chels, plus can give cover at DMF, I do not care what the haters say) LB Theo Hernandez Chilwell at £80m or more is madness, especially as that cock blocks selling both of our shitters due to the way the numpty board thinks LB Alex Telles (Emerson sales basically covers thsi cost or pretty near) DMF Thomas Partey (£41m release clause is a steal) or Denis Zakaria (I am not sold on soumare, but if he is as good as the baord thinks, I will not freak out here) I REALLY would buy Camavinga, but the baord will not do it, he will probably go to RM or Barca or PSG and perhaps become the best DMF in the world, grrrrr AMF Grealish, a MUST for me, as Ziyech is going to be a full time starter at RW I think Winger Boga (yes, I hear the howls now, as I am giving up on Sancho, but SEE BELOW and IF NO Sancho then Ziyech changes the equation, and I think we are better off with Ziyech AND Grealish and Boga (plus another £55-60m or so left over for other positions like Rice at CB/DMF) than with just Ziyech and Sancho, whose combined cost for just the two is around £170m CF Werner is going to the Dippers, so that leaves Lautaro (the board will not drop £92m or more on him) Dembele (first choice left) or Victor Osimhen CF (3rd string) Josh Maja cost (and I will net out Varane for Kante as a net zero cost just for argument's sake) around £330m to £360m, depending on who we buy off that list for goalkeeper and a couple other options after the Ziyech buy, we have about £160m left from ALREADY done sales revenue now add up my sales around £175m from JUST the ones listed above in the out part (do not even get me started on the insane amount of cash shit away from the none sales of Willian, etc, plus the reduced revenue from non timely sales of just that group listed, (which would make the toal we would have gotten from that group alone about £300m, not £175m, thanks board!!!) that leaves a kitty so far of £335m so it covers all or damn near all the buys on my list plus we still have England GK Nathan Baxter (to Ross County until 30 June 2020) England GK Jamal Blackman (to Bristol Rovers until 31 May 2020) England DF Jake Clarke-Salter (to Birmingham City until 31 May 2020) England DF Josh Grant (to Plymouth Argyle until 31 May 2020) United States DF Matt Miazga (to Reading until 31 May 2020) England DF Richard Nartey (to Burton Albion until 31 May 2020) Ghana DF Baba Rahman (to Mallorca until 30 June 2020) Italy DF Davide Zappacosta (to Roma until 30 June 2020) France MF Tiémoué Bakayoko (to Monaco until 30 June 2020) England MF Danny Drinkwater (to Aston Villa until 30 June 2020) <<< good luck with getting anything for him!!!! Brazil MF Kenedy (to Getafe until 30 June 2020) <<<< not sure what is going on here, as his contract expires in June Nigeria MF Victor Moses (to Inter Milan until 30 June 2020) Belgium MF Charly Musonda (to Vitesse until 30 June 2020) Brazil MF Nathan (to Atlético Mineiro until 30 June 2020) Brazil MF Lucas Piazon (to Rio Ave until 30 June 2020) England FW Izzy Brown (to Luton Town until 31 May 2020) left to sell, as NONE of those were counted in any sales revenues listed above those add up to around £100m or so in total give or take 10 to 20m quid so IN THEORY if we dumped all, and did not buy Boga (other than a nice profit from his impending sale), we even could jam a Sancho buy and ALL the rest listed and basically spend either nothing to a max of £40, 50m net my maths are solid, and I am being very conservative, other than the wishful Kante for Varane swap, which I rate at a zero net anyway, so no cost effect to the bottom line will that all happen? Of course not, as....... BOARD, who have stalled, let shit build up, and shit away over £300m and counting just since summer 2017 (and that is NOT counting the Kepa disaster) but it could the 25 man roster it would have yielded Sancho included, as I did show how to pay for him as well GK Kepa (and he can be sold after next season if he truly is fucked for good, and we just decide to eat the loss, there will always be better keepers out there) GK Sven Ulreich GK Jamie Cumming CB Varane CB Rice (and DMF as well) CB Rudiger CB Tomori LB Theo Hernandez (technically we could, especially with no Sancho buy, but even WITH it, buy Chilwell here and still make it work as long as Chilwell price is somewhat sane and we liquidate the dregs 100%) LB Telles RB Reece RB Azpi DMF Thomas Partey or Soumare (both can play CMF as well) DMF Jorginho (can be swapped out eventually if he is simply not compatible) CMF Kovacic CMF Gallagher CMF/AMF RLC AMF Grealish AMF/CMF Mount (can be sold and upgraded if he truly shits out long term) LW Sancho (or Boga if we fail on Sancho, but lets say Sancho is somehow pulled in) LW CHO RW Ziyech (AMF as well) RW Pulisic CF Dembele (sorry Werner peeps, he aint coming, especially if we shit away CL) or we dice roll with Osimhen, who I actually think has a higher upside than Dembele perhaps, and would be cheaper CF Tammy CF Josh Maja give THAT team to Poch and we are back in the chips fo realio, even the dippers would have to beware, the cunts it is so deep, overall a great balance of youth and vets, extremely flexible, etc

Scholes: Mourinho would’ve got Maguire sent off at Chelsea https://www.football365.com/news/paul-scholes-jose-mourinho-manchester-united-harry-maguire-sent-off-chelsea Chelsea bench slammed by Man Utd great Paul Scholes after Harry Maguire reaction Manchester United defender Harry Maguire escaped punishment despite appearing to kick out at Michy Batshuayi in front of the Chelsea bench on Monday evening https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/chelsea-bench-slammed-man-utd-21520496 Ref Watch: Harry Maguire needed more punishment after Michy Batshuayi challenge Kurt Zouma and Olivier Giroud disallowed goals for Chelsea also analysed https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/11937019/ref-watch-harry-maguire-needed-more-punishment-after-michy-batshuayi-challenge Harry Maguire set to avoid retrospective action for Michy Batshuayi kick as Roy Keane labels him ‘very, very lucky’ United captain escaped sanction when he appeared to lash out at the Chelsea striker but his actions went down badly with Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher who believe he should have been sent off https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/harry-maguire-chelsea-vs-manchester-united-video-watch-kick-michy-batshuayi-retrospective-action-a9341951.html

and Azpi at LB absolutely crippling us offensively, and his refusal to play Giroud more, plus now his clear intent to play the woefully inadequate Willy for what may be the rest of the year Kepa is in a real funk, but that can be coached away, Willy is profoundly incapable as a first team keeper he is old, so so slow, bad at positioning, and very poor at distribution

you have to include the board with that they are also, in fact even more, to blame incredibly poor player buys/sales/non-buys/non-sales, shameful contractual management, and a complete lack of general direction for years upon years now IF we renew Willian and Pedro and do not offload both Alonso and Emerson this can no longer be debated by anyone who is operating in good faith

Cox and Worville: What’s going wrong at Atletico Madrid? https://theathletic.com/1608038/2020/02/17/cox-and-worville-atletico-madrid-simeone-liverpool/ In this first collaboration between our resident tactics expert Michael Cox and our new football analytics writer Tom Worville, they analyse the fortunes of Liverpool’s Champions League opponents Jurgen Klopp’s first meeting with Diego Simeone has been a long time coming. Around a decade ago, it was impossible to escape the similarities between the two — they were up-and-coming, larger-than-life managers who had inspired their sides, Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid, to new heights. Klopp led Dortmund to two Bundesliga titles, then was defeated by old rivals Bayern Munich in the Champions League final. Simeone took Atletico to La Liga glory, then was defeated by old rivals Real Madrid in the Champions League final. Twice. Klopp and Simeone exuded the same energy. They couldn’t sign ready-made superstars like their domestic rivals — and the superstars they created often jumped ship — but they compensated with intensity and organisation. Both prided themselves on their sides’ tactical ability without possession; Klopp’s teams by gegenpressing and creating quick turnovers, Simeone’s by sitting deeper, pressing laterally and breaking directly. Earlier this season, when Spanish radio station Cadena Sur asked Simeone for a manager which he admired, his answer was immediate: “Jurgen Klopp. No doubt. He’s had to lose things and also has won beautiful things but always with the same style. I see him as close to his players.” After the draw in December pitted Atleti against Liverpool, Klopp was genuinely enthused. “It will be a tough game, between two teams who are used to playing intense football. Different styles and slightly different organisation, of course, but both are ready for intensity,” he grinned. And therefore, the Champions League last-16 meeting between Klopp’s Liverpool and Simeone’s Atletico should be something special: high-tempo, energetic, evenly-contested. It should be — but it might not be. Over the last 18 months, these sides have gone in opposite directions. Klopp is having the best campaign of his career, with Liverpool essentially wrapping up their first Premier League title by Christmas. Atletico, on the other hand, have slumped. For the first time, Simeone’s position is being questioned and potential successors are being discussed. At one stage, it felt like Atleti had superseded Real to become Madrid’s No 1 side. Now, they’re merely the third-best side in the capital, even behind little Getafe, whose manager Jose Bordalas is considered the perfect replacement for Simeone. Now, the old caricature of these sides — battlers, fighters, players who can run and run and run — no longer applies to either, in very different ways. For Liverpool, that’s because it is not the most relevant aspect of their play. They’re also excellent in almost every aspect of the game, from combination play to counter-attacking to set pieces. For Atleti, it doesn’t feel relevant either. They are suffering from injuries and appear physically exhausted. The old commitment and intensity is long gone and the embarrassing recent Copa del Rey exit at the hands of third-division Leonesa, where Atleti sat back when 1-0 up and were eventually defeated 2-1, was the lowest point of Simeone’s reign. What’s gone wrong for Atleti? The constant demand for intensity has seemingly left them exhausted and various players have spent long periods out this season. Up front, Alvaro Morata has been struggling with a groin problem, Joao Felix has missed the last three games and Diego Costa has been out since November. All three have a chance of facing Liverpool but none will be at 100 per cent. Hector Herrera and Jose Gimenez have a chance of returning from injury in time for this week’s game but Kieran Trippier is out of the tie. Among so many injury problems, Simeone’s Atletico have never looked less cohesive. Only two players have played more than 80 per cent of La Liga minutes — one is goalkeeper Jan Oblak and the other is Saul Niguez, and even he’s hardly been a steady presence, considering he’s been fielded on the right, on the left, in the centre of midfield and at left-back this season. Make no mistake: this isn’t Simeone keeping his players fresh by rotating — it’s Simeone struggling to field a consistent side because his players have been dropping like flies. For comparison, six Liverpool players have played more than 80 per cent of league minutes. The busy treatment room may also be a factor in Atletico’s reduced pressing game. While there’s no perfect number to measure pressing, Opta’s “high turnovers” represents a decent proxy. Domestically, Simeone’s men are averaging 4.1 high turnovers a game this season, their lowest in recent memory. In terms of Atletico’s poor results, on paper the issue is obvious. Atleti still boast a tremendous defensive record, having conceded just 17 goals from 24 matches this season — only Real have conceded fewer. But Simeone’s side have scored just 25 goals. Sure, Simeone’s approach has always been based upon a solid defence rather than a spectacular attack but these are nevertheless extremely concerning numbers. Many have focused upon the departure of Antoine Griezmann, Atleti’s top goalscorer in each of the last five campaigns, but it’s worth giving Morata some degree of credit for generating a comparable proportion of Atleti’s shots. The former Chelsea striker is responsible for 30 per cent of Atleti’s xG total in La Liga this season (Griezmann weighed in with 29 per cent in 2018-19.) Even in terms of shot-conversion rate, Morata has performed well — Griezmann scored with 11 per cent of his open-play shots last season, whereas Morata is on 14 per cent this season. Take away the three penalties Griezmann scored and there’s minimal difference between their goalscoring output. Atleti’s underlying statistics, meanwhile, make for particularly interesting reading. In terms of their expected goals (xG) numbers in attack, Atletico are miles behind the level you would expect. From the positions of their shots so far this season, you would expect them to have 12 more goals in La Liga alone. The below graph demonstrates the extent to which this is unusual — across Europe’s major five leagues only SPAL, propping up the Serie A table, are comparable in terms of underperforming in comparison to their underlying numbers. This isn’t the fault of one player alone — all Atletico’s attackers have fewer goals than expected based upon their chances — Morata, Costa, Felix and Angel Correa should all have scored more. This simply hasn’t been an issue for Atleti in recent years. As this graph demonstrates, they’re actually recording their third-highest xG numbers in recent years. Having always overperformed their xG by roughly the same margin, suddenly they’re miles behind their usual rate. This is more likely to be a blip than a fundamental flaw — for Simeone’s sake, let’s hope the board see it the same way. And if underperforming their xG numbers is Atleti’s only problem — or, at least, by far their main problem — then you suspect that no-one will sympathise with Simeone more than Klopp. In his final campaign with Borussia Dortmund, Klopp’s side had a similar issue. Their “real” numbers in terms of goals were wildly different from their xG numbers. At the midway point of 2014-15, Klopp’s side found themselves — remarkably — in second-last place in the Bundesliga, whereas the xG figures suggested they could have reasonably expected to be only a point off second. There was a difference of 16 goals between their goal difference and their xG difference. Statistical analysts used these numbers to confidently predict that, despite being in the relegation zone midway through the season, Dortmund would be absolutely fine. They were. In the second half of the campaign, they recorded over twice as many points as in the first half (31 compared to 15) and rose to seventh place. Atleti’s malaise hasn’t been so stark — largely because their underperformance has been solely in terms of attacking numbers, rather than defensive numbers. They’re not struggling at the bottom of the table like Klopp’s Dortmund were, merely struggling to confirm their Champions League spot for next season. It remains to be seen whether Atleti’s actual goal figures catch up with their xG figures and whether Simeone can convince Atleti’s board, supporters and players that this is merely a blip. Klopp, when in a comparable situation, at a similar stage of his spell with Dortmund, decided it was best to walk away. There’s little sign of Simeone making a similar decision, however, and Atletico’s underlying numbers suggest that an improvement could be imminent. Based upon their results — and, in particular, their poor goalscoring numbers — so far this season, Atleti start as serious underdogs. Simeone, however, won’t mind his side being underestimated.

Alisson vs Oblak: a poster boy for the modern game up against a throwback to a previous era. Two of the world’s best go head to head https://theathletic.com/1613157/2020/02/18/alisson-oblak-liverpool-atletico-goalkeeper/ Perhaps there is no position in football that has changed as much in recent years as that of the goalkeeper. While it was always important to have a reliable player in goal, their overall value within the squad often felt like it was overlooked in favour of other positions. There were exceptions of course but the majority of clubs believed their success wasn’t dependent on having a world-class goalkeeper. In the modern game a goalkeeper is far more involved as they are integrated into the shape of the team, nearly every single moment of the game, taking on much more of an all-encompassing role; crucial in both classic and modern ways. Shot-stopping and reflexes are as important as ever, but accurate distribution (over long and short distances), sweeping up behind the back line, and aggressive positioning are all just as vital. As a result of this massive paradigm shift, it’s never been more clear that in order to compete at the very top teams need to have a world-class goalkeeper. On Tuesday, two of the best in the world, Liverpool’s Alisson and Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak will meet in the first leg of the Champions League last 16. There are few who personify a goalkeepers’ importance to their team over the past couple of years better than these two. Most interestingly, they’ve done so despite playing in tactical setups with contrasting styles and requirements being put on the goalkeeper. While they do share some similar characteristics in their skill-set, they are also uniquely different in their approach to goalkeeping. In football, a team’s tactical system and the collection of players on the pitch is crucial to their team’s performance. Not only do the players need to have the technical skill-set to execute the game plan well, they also need to have the tactical acumen to process the game in front of them and play the ball into the necessary areas at exactly the right time. It’s one thing to understand this as a player and another entirely to actually carry it out on the field of play. This is especially true at the goalkeeper position. Jurgen Klopp has built his Liverpool squad around a highly skilled and pacey attack that quickly pushes players forward into the opponent’s half in an attempt to overwhelm and suffocate the opposition with numerical advantages in the most vulnerable part of the field. In order for them to be as successful as they have it’s been vital for his goalkeeper to be fast and aggressive to close down the attackers, comfortable playing a high line (often 30+ yards from his goal), while also being an extra passing pivot when building up possession. Alisson’s skill-set perhaps makes him the poster child for the modern day goalkeeper. His ability to remain patient and in control with the ball at his feet as the chaos threatens to consume those around him is arguably his quintessential talent and vital for Liverpool and their build-up play. This allows him to receive and hold onto the ball in order to invite the press from the opposition and open up spaces for his team to exploit elsewhere on the pitch. Games can get frenetic, but a steadying presence at the back can help a team stay focused and composed, setting a foundation of belief and confidence that they can play out of even the most hectic situations. That skill, in addition to his incredible accuracy when playing the ball long helps stretch the field (which is the main objective of teams who play out from the back) and makes Liverpool incredibly hard to defend against. Alisson’s ability to play long balls accurately is an underrated trait we often don’t talk about that much with goalkeepers. It’s far more common to hear about passing ability in tight areas but it’s actually the accurate long balls (sometimes even just the threat of it being played) that puts pressure on the opposition, sparks fear and hesitation in the defenders, and inevitably opens up spaces short for the goalkeeper to pass into. If the defence knows that the threat of the accurate long ball is there, teams will have to adjust, or risk leaving themselves exposed at the back. And no team enjoys running backward at full speed, trying to catch up to an attacker free on goal. Just ask Manchester United… It was Alisson’s deadly long ball that punished United as they pushed their entire team forward in search of a late equaliser in their Premier League match at the end of January. You can visibly see the pain, panic and frustration on the United players faces as they attempt to catch Mohamed Salah. The non-verbal reactions from the players as the strike hits the back of the net say more than any words could about the dilemma that teams face when playing against Liverpool. In addition to the more modern skill-set, Alisson is also a very good goalkeeper in the traditional sense. Last season he was one of two goalkeepers in the English top flight to boast a passing accuracy of more than 80% while also maintaining a save percentage above 70% (Manchester City’s Ederson was the other). This year both his passing accuracy and save percentage are well above 80%. His 87.23% save percentage this season is the best in the league by a fairly wide margin. Because of the nature of the way Liverpool play (they often hold possession for long periods of the game) it’s vital for their goalkeeper to be focused, tuned in, and come up with the big save when called upon. It’s not easy to go the majority of a match untested and then pull off the type of saves that Alisson does. It’s hard to explain how difficult this is to do and it’s certainly not a trait every goalkeeper possesses. On Saturday he came up big yet again against Norwich in a crucial moment of the match with the score at 0-0. Liverpool would go on to win 1-0. These types of saves — in the most influential moments, when the game’s result hangs in the balance — are what Liverpool were missing for many years prior to Alisson’s arrival. He filled a dire need for the club, and has done so spectacularly. If it weren’t for his timely interventions during last season’s Champions League campaign it’s almost certain that Liverpool never would have ended up European champions. His tremendous stop against Napoli comes to mind. While Alisson is part of a group of goalkeepers who are constantly redefining what we thought a goalkeeper should, or even could be, Oblak’s play is similar to that of goalkeepers of the past. He is a bit more conservative and pragmatic in comparison, rarely moving out of position to make tackles, clearances or interceptions like many modern-day goalkeepers do. Instead, he elects to stay closer to his line, carefully picking and choosing the moments to leave his goal, often letting his defenders deal with balls deep into his box. Diego Simeone has constructed one of the most organised and disciplined defensive teams on the globe, often forgoing numbers forward in favour of defensive security. In order for a team to defend as effectively as Atletico, each player — from the forwards to the goalkeeper — must fully buy into the system and execute his job with minimal lapses over 90 minutes and in every single game. The system would simply fall apart without this level of concentration and consistency. As goalkeeper, Oblak has been crucial to Atletico’s continued defensive success despite several personnel changes through the years. Oblak’s exceptional positioning and angle awareness is his greatest asset. There are many instances when you see a goalkeeper at full stretch and having to rely on their athleticism to make acrobatic saves; usually due to poor positioning. This very rarely ever happens to Oblak. The reason is down to his spatial awareness and innate ability to be in exactly the right place at the right time, anticipating the direction of the shot from the opposition. We often think of goalkeepers as reactive, since they are responding to the actions of the attackers in front of them. But proper positioning is what helps you become a proactive goalkeeper and able to think a few steps ahead of the play. This is vital because it means you are no longer a prisoner of the moment, scrambling to stay on top of everything you need to do — check your post, take one step to your right, get set, get back to your line, etc. — because it has become so ingrained in your psyche that you can execute your tasks almost subconsciously. This allows you to move your focus two or three steps ahead and anticipate the play unfolding before you. Take his stop against Karim Benzema of Real Madrid from earlier this season as an example. It was the type of save that many goalkeepers would have struggled to get to, yet his timing and positioning make it appear almost ordinary. As the ball is initially whipped into the centre of the box toward Benzema, Oblak is quick to realise that the Real striker will be the first to the ball and redirect it on target. Rather than get set in his starting position a few yards from goal he elected to take four rapid steps back to his goal-line and get set. There are two reasons he wanted to do this 1) because those extra steps backwards gave him additional time and space to make the save and 2) it allowed him to attack the ball at the necessary angle while creating a strong barrier to push it to safety. Had he failed to do either, we would potentially be looking at a goal against rather than a save. By the time the ball was redirected on target Oblak was already in the optimum position to take one strong step to his left and fling his body toward the ball. Even though the Atletico No 1 claimed it was a routine save, it most certainly wasn’t. Additionally, Oblak is excellent in one-v-one situations, specifically in his use of the spread technique to thwart the opposition’s chances. It’s his positioning, patience, and anticipation, as well as his ability to close down the attacker astonishingly quickly, while sprawling to cover as much of the goal as possible, that helps him defend all possible shot directions and makes him extremely difficult to beat. He’s virtually perfected the sprawling technique and the understanding of when is the correct moment/situation to do it. He keeps himself big without exposing too much of the net under his arms and between his legs, to the extent that I’m not sure there is a better goalkeeper in the world in breakaway situations. A stable force in goal is a crucial element for a team that relies so heavily on defensive discipline. Over and over, Oblak comes up big when the opposition manages to breach Atletico’s back line. His triple save against Bayern Leverkusen from 2017 stands out. The way he plays the game and moves as he traverses his goalmouth is eerily reminiscent of another goalkeeping great, Gianluigi Buffon, and the type of keeper that appears to be a dying breed. His continued success at playing a way that is now the outlier rather than the norm, and potentially even being the best goalkeeper in the world while doing so, is incredible. What makes the position so fascinating is there are several different ways to play it and get the same result. It would be wrong to say that one way is better than the other because each goalkeeper has their own strengths, weaknesses, preferences and comforts that help them be as effective and successful as they are. While both Alisson and Oblak fit their team perfectly, there are no guarantees that they would be able to adapt to the contrasting philosophies were they ever to switch teams. It takes a very specific type of goalkeeper to fit into each system. In Alisson and Oblak we are witnessing two of the best goalkeepers in the world. The fact that they have reached these heights while playing in different leagues and systems with various demands and expectations being put on them is simply remarkable. As two masters of their craft face one another in the Champions League last 16, just enjoy it.

Honigstein: Storm Denis (Zakaria) blows away Dusseldorf and shows why Liverpool were once so keen on signing him https://theathletic.com/1606925/2020/02/17/denis-zakaria-gladbach-bundesliga-honigstein/ It’s been a windy few days in the Lower Rhine region. Firstly, Borussia Monchengladbach’s game against 1. FC Koln had to be cancelled last week thanks to Storm Sabine. Then on Saturday, Storm Denis blew away Fortuna Dusseldorf at the Merkur-Spiel Arena, clocking in at a top speed of 35 km/h. It’s useful when you can conjure up your very own hurricane. This Denis, last name Zakaria, happens to be in the pay of Borussia. He wears the No 8 shirt but often plays three positions in one. Gladbach captain Lars Stindl grabbed the majority of the headlines, shooting down Uwe Rosler’s resurgent relegation battlers with a second-half brace. French prodigy Marcus Thuram had another excellent game in the 4-1 win, including a reverse pass so well disguised that Dusseldorf’s defence were still looking for it 48 hours later. The secret star of the show, however, was once more the man in the middle, a player who didn’t so much dominate the space between the boxes but made it disappear altogether. When Zakaria gets on the ball, the turf seems to shrink to a five-a-side pitch. Not only for him. Nobody else can keep up. The way the 23-year-old rushed towards goal from nowhere and then shrugged off poor Alfredo Morales with minimal effort twenty minutes from the end was case in point; the one-man stampede finished with him smartly dragging the ball back for Stindl’s second, the clincher of the game. Marco Rose’s men are now back within touching distance of the top of the table, four points off leaders Bayern with a game in hand. The exact ending is yet to be determined but the impact of Zakaria is bound to be a huge factor in the ‘Gladbach 2019-20’ story. This is the season the Swiss international is moving on from ‘next big thing’ to ‘very much in demand’, with half of Europe now keen on luring him away. His current contract expires in 2022, but Gladbach are reasonably optimistic they can get him to extend. Sources at the club describe the Geneva-born son of a Congolese father and Sudanese mother as a highly intelligent, easy-going yet very driven man who appreciates the value of gradual progress. He credits his mother Rina for his down to earth attitude and strong work ethic. She raised him, brother Richard and sister Bidour by herself in Switzerland after his father had gone back to work for the government of his home country. “I admire her a lot,” Zakaria told Blick. “She taught us how to clean, iron and cook ourselves. She wanted us to be independent once we moved out.” He grew up in the centre of town, and played football in a playground for hours on end, with trees and a bench for goals. Afterwards, him and his friends often went to a restaurant nearby, to ask for some food. The chef liked them and served chips for free. Initially a striker who modelled himself on Didier Drogba, Zakaria only really began playing consistently well in midfield as an 18-year-old at Servette. His old club thought he wasn’t quite ready to make it as a pro but Young Boys Bern did, and they were willing to pay €375,000 for him. There he became a key player under coach Adi Hutter (now at Frankfurt) and he was soon called up for Switzerland’s senior team. Gladbach were watching. Others were, too. A number of Premier League sides made approaches before he moved to Borussia Park from for €11 million plus add-ons in 2017, a record sale for the Swiss side. Liverpool had come in with a firm offer of €6 million a year earlier. Zakaria, advised by his agent Mathieu Beda, opted to join one of the Bundesliga’s best developers of talent rather than getting lost in the reserves of an English team. Sporting director Max Eberl explicitly pitched Gladbach as a stepping stone, referencing the career paths of Granit Xhaka (Arsenal), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona) and Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund) “Check out who came to us and went on to play somewhere else,” he told Zakaria. “If you’re up for it, we’ll take you to a really big club.” He was up for it. No small thanks to him, Gladbach are growing as a club, too, but not quite quickly enough to keep pace with his development. When he eventually goes, he’s expected to double the club’s record sale, held by Xhaka (€45 million). “We buy potential and sell quality,” Eberl has said. Zakaria certainly has quality. Kicker magazine ranked him the fifth-best defensive midfielder in the league in January, and it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise in the world if he were to surge past Joshua Kimmich (Bayern), Charles Aranguiz (Bayer Leverkusen), Konrad Laimer (RB Leipzig) and Suat Serdar (Schalke 04) to the same place Gladbach could still end up in the league: first. It may be worth taking Kicker’s rankings with a handful of salt, however. They failed to include Bayern’s Thiago on their list of the division’s best defensive midfielders, an omission that Athletic sources suggest brought roars of laughter from one bewildered player who actually did make the list. Most importantly, Rose and his coaching staff consider Zakaria a dream of a player, an almost perfect package combining skill with exemplary attitude. Versatility, too: He can play as a centre-back, holding midfielder or box-to-box. His ability to win the ball in tight spaces and immediately charge towards the other end of the pitch is best served in front of the back four though. Zakaria is, to misquote the Tom Jones’ dad-dance classic, a total ‘Sechs Bomb’ — a defensive midfielder (or Sechser in German football parlance) blessed with extraordinary explosiveness. A couple of weeks ago, he ran back half the length of the pitch to dispossess RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner, one of the league’s fastest strikers, turned on his heels and ran the other way, leaving his opponent befuddled in a plume of dust. “Denis doesn’t quite know how good he is himself,” one admiring member of he club’s inner circle puts it. He’s increasingly the only one in that respect. The top five sides all won this weekend leaving the sharp end of the table unchanged. RB Leipzig made light work of terribly inept Werder Bremen (3-0) and Bayer Leverkusen registered a lucky 3-2 win at Union while league leaders Bayern Munich set a new club away record of scoring three times in the opening twelve minutes of Sunday’s 4-1 win at Koln. The champions once again dropped their focus in the second half, however, allowing their opponents a series of chances and wasting many of their own. “We could have scored ten goals today and conceded five or six,” Manuel Neuer warned sternly. Talking of mad scorelines, goal-crazy Borussia Dortmund warmed up for their not-so-romantic rendezvous with ex Thomas Tuchel — they play Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday — by destroying Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 on Friday night. Eintracht coach Hutter had been mentioned as a possible replacement to Lucien Favre before the game but the Swiss coach had very much the upper hand as his attackers (sans Marco Reus and Julian Brandt) ran wild. Jadon Sancho had another belter of a match, Erling Haaland didn’t. The Norwegian showed a series of poor touches and came away with a solitary goal to raise his tally to nine in six games for Borussia. That’s only one more than Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Man Utd have mustered in their last six outings. Must do (a lot) better. After a momentous week in Berlin, the post-Klinsmann Hertha won 2-1 at SC Paderborn to ease relegation worries. The upturn in fortune couldn’t be taken for granted: caretaker Alexander Nouri had not won a league game in 21 attempts with second division Ingolstadt and Werder Bremen before. Over in the third division, Preussen Munster supporters showed how racism in the stands can be dealt with effectively. When a spectator directed monkey chants at Wurzburger Kickers player Leroy Kwadwo shortly before the end, the game was immediately stopped by referee Katrin Rafalski for a stadium announcement. Vast sections of the crowd rose to their feet to chant “Nazis out” and pointed to the alleged perpetrator, who was quickly arrested.

thanks! I was too lazy to look it up, lololol

that was the first EPL loss ever v Manure for us at the Bridge?

both can be true the game was literally stolen, but so many others were not if Lamps loses the next 5 games, he needs to be sacked maybe the next 4 and three of the four are against Spuds, Bayern, and Liverpool Bournemouth away and Everton at home (the 5th game) are the others all but Bournemouth are home games as well

It is time for most of the board to be cashiered or (and he will never do that) the club needs to be sold especially if (actually when, as it is almost certain) after the new stadium permit expires in 42 days, as we cannot compete under FFP rules without a new stadium

we are so fucked the stars have aligned against us

even with Son out, I think Mou expects to win he will not go complete kamikaze but still feel he will not park the bus maybe I am wrong, but a loss for us is a crucial blow and Mou knows it