Magic Lamps

The rumours linking us with Mario Gila are getting more traction. While I don’t think it will happen, the prospect of having a very technical, super pro-active almost playmaking defender is exciting but I do have some reservations about his lack of physicality. I think he would be well suited for Marescaball but not the best in the air so might struggle with some PL oppositions

This settles us not getting into the semis most likely. Our hypothetical path in the KO stage would probably be Benfica-PSG-Real-Bayern/City

Woltemade feels like a Kalajdzic deja-vue. Lanky somewhat slow and lightweight technical striker from stuttgart moving to the PL after decent breakout season. And we know how that one turned out. Afaik the first guy has been riding benches at wolves and Frankfurt for years now

What I find even more baffling is how the club renounced 7 squad slots for no apparent reason, leaving us with just one right-footed winger and one leftback. Other teams like Atlético or Bayern have registered 30+ players to give some youngsters a chance. Sure, most will not play much after the group stages but even if it is just a couple of mins vs LAFC, for their development it can be invaluable to train and travel with the senior squad. Also bizarre how the club decided to bring along only Santos from the loan army (allegedly bc they see the cwc as still ‚this season‘) but already sent home Sancho

On the bright side, we have endured winter slumps almost every season. Usually beginning in November then recovering early December and again underperforming through the festive days. It usually gets better with the FA Cup 3 rd round where we normally win convincingly vs some minnows. This year we skipped the November part but hopefully still take charge again vs Morecambe in 2 weeks. Saturday at Selhurst park will probably be another eyesore affair but in the past few years we usually won there even with mediocre performances bc they just allow so many chances. Just take a few of them ffs.

I don’t think it is that deep. We have failed vs deep buses and low midfield blocks time and time again these past 7 years. This season went better at the start bc a lot of teams (for whatever dumb reason) tried to match us blow for blow and got a bloody nose. Everton, Fulham and Ipswich all packed the box with defenders, forced us wide and blocked everything we threw at them. With luck, a little help from the refs and that poor Defense of ours this is a blueprint that gives every team in the league a more than decent fighting chance against us. Most will copy this from now on, so Maresca better switches things up

While Delap put in the performance of his life, I so hope we don’t buy him. He seems to be the typical super limited run of the mill English battering ram type of striker. Annoying for cbs but absolutely useless vs low blocks bc of his average technique

this was an L the moment the lineup was fixed, latest when that blind ref awarded them a pen for a blatant dive. Will be interesting how Maresca manages this first little crisis. It will be a tight battle for top 4 but I expect 5th place to be enough this season the way CL has been going

1000% if that is a pen, no gk can ever run out of his goal to shorten the angle ever again. Jorgensen does everything right there, pulls some awkward reverse shrimp pose to get his hands out of the way, Delap drags his leg a mile looking for contact, does not get enough, then does another step and goes off like a seal. It looked like a Monty python sketch in every single replay. Criminal no on field review was recommended. This is exactly what VAR is there for

Not even starting on that ridiculous dive that was given as pen against us or Felix still being an excuse of an attacker. These last 215 minutes of football from us show exactly why we are so far off competing for the title even though it looked like it for a wee bit. While there have been instances where we have managed to turn things around, doing so vs a hostile ref and a low block/deep bus has frustrated this team to the point they keep missing all of the decent chances they create. Top teams find a way this team does not.

Great news. Just read an arm long piece by German sports page Dazn/Spox yesterday detailing how much of an uphill battle cfc still had to climb to secure an acgeampong extension and that Bayern were likely to pounce. So much for that, suckers

But how much does mudryk have in the bank ? Maybe a couple of mils, never enough to make up the damage . nope, this is pretty much the worst case contractually if true. His career will be all but finished at the top level so even if a court decides for a claim over his future wages those will be probably modest at least it will relieve the pressure on Maresca to shoehorn him into the side. Highly unlikely that it was just some stupid misunderstanding albeit but let’s at least hope we won’t recall Sterling lol

This last bit of resilience, composure and ultimately quality is all that is missing for us to win the league again. I was impressed with how patiently we ground them down as their defending und the first half was actually quite good. The last minutes however showed why we might not be able to see out tight wins vs top opposition yet. But seriously, if we go into the January transfer window anywhere near top spot, clownlake would be stupid not to go all in and buy a top quality, experienced CB and goalie to give us a real fighting chance to win it.

This expendables approach is sensible. No need to risk senior players for what is basically rubber in an icebox. Pedro Neto probably only had to make the trip bc of mudryk and Felix absences. Hope he doesn’t pick up an injury Tbh, I have never ran around in shorts on AstroTurf at -27 C . How does this work for ppl unaccustomed? Will they get special thermal undergarments ? Usually, matches are not played when it’s over 40 C on the ground in a stadium. Now this provisionary Almaty ground is not heated. Isn’t there a significant freezing health risk beside injury comparable to overheat?

In 2009/10 we scored 103 goals in 38 games with Drogba, Lamprd, Anelka, Malouda, Kalou all scoring a fair few, which is also a far better ratio than our current. So in terms of output that one was better One could also argue that Mazacar+KDB+Salah+Drogba+Remy+ Costa despite only the latter being in his prime in 2014 was even better in terms of names than the current attack. Still our current attack has the potential to become the best in PL history.

what a game. The late one conceded was almost as unnecessary as the first two but it’s testament to our attacking prowess how we can outscore an opposition despite our holey defence .

No you are obviously mistaken and also apparently unable to keep your calm. you are entitled to your unfounded, illegitimate opinion but there is no reason for insulting other members. My point is, Cucurella has been with the club for ages and only in the last few months beginning end of last season has he shown some form. Not that he has been great. He has been adequate at best. For his price tag he should be one of the best LBs in the world. He is not. At the euros he was spains least effective player. had the game vs Germany been officiated by a ref not named Anthony Taylor he would have been at fault for spains exit just as he is at fault for the two goals we conceded today

Cucu remains a clown. He had a nice purple patch showing his defensive qualities but bottom line he is still a liability . also there is no doubt that muay Thai elbow from kulusevski was intentional. Latvia should have gone down instantly. That was vicious and warranted a red

Ffs so coming still annoying.

I envy your optimism, I really do. I remember last season you predicted us getting top 4 in a match thread sometime in spring. Nothing wrong with that. But I always have the urge to remain as realistic as possible with the typical German tendency for pessimism. I agree, our midfield is more talented than theirs overall. Our attack has more depth and arguably also a more diverse technical profile but you know how it goes. Attack wins games, defence wins championships. what counts when winning titles besides quality and depth is experience and mentality. Liverpool are a well oiled machine, that squad has been playing together for years mostly. Most of their top performers are somewhere around their prime. This probably their last chance and with Klopp gone they might have that additional edge. If salah or VVD get injured for longer time, it is a different story. Yet, I honestly also don’t see us finishing over mancity and arsenal for similar reasons. But we are not far off those either and a lot better than the rest while having a super young squad that might still improve for years to come, player for player. Time is on our side. Save any further Clownlake bottlejobs, if this team stays together plus a couple of key additions it will go far

There is 0 chance of us winning the league. But thats ok. We will compete for it next season

Just saw that arsenals goal was again from a corner. They have Developed that side for ages under arteta, spend close to 1bn too yet set pieces remain their most important source of goals

xG Stat of 5.29. Anyone with eyes could have Seen we should have scored 8 or 10 xG is a decent Concept but the Methodology of the goal probability meaurement is so obviously flawed

This is too complacent and casual. This team is talented but clearly lacking killer instinct and champions mentality

Honestly would rather See mudryk than felix. At least brings some excitement and intensity with a remote Chance of not stagnating