Match Week Nov 5-7: Waiting on the World (Cup)
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They’ve turned the rule into a farce. The pretentious attitude required to make these calls is astonishing.
While this is true, this one isn’t a good example. I thought he was off live, and it definitely wasn’t by millimeters.
The freeze frame they use is after the ball has left KDBs foot. The cameras don’t have the accuracy and there’s no way to determine when the ball is kicked to make calls that tight. It’s happening every week and it’s ridiculous every time
But as I said, he looked off to me live/full speed and VAR seems to confirm that. As you allude to, there are far more egregious cases every week. I can see the argument that the call on the field should stand if it’s not clear off the margin for error (e.g. Isak vs. Liverpool), but this example doesn’t move me.
Anyway, there’s a deserved penalty.
Looking forward to seeing my former ninth-grade English student and advisee, Gio Reyna, represent the US in the World Cup.
Would Raheem Sterling have had a better career if he stayed with Jamaica? The contracts and pressure associated with being an English player must be crushing.
He has over 110 EPL goals and ten trophies. How much better was his career supposed to be?
He’s never been “the man” anywhere he’s played. He’s painfully right footed and has a finishing problem (those 110 should be 200).
If the complaint here is “he has weaknesses and is one of the top 25 EPL goal scorers instead of one of the top 3” I would suggest that inflated expectations might be a problem here.
Really? Yes he puts it over the goal a lot..but, what player..in the world.. wouldn't want to have played for 'pool, City and Chelsea? And when you say 'the man' that feels kinda comical given the company of players and other forwards he's played with. 110 goals in the EPL isn't a failure of a career no matter how you slice it.. even if he should have had more.
Would he also have stayed with Jamaica for the national team side?
edit: I'll also say.. that he's put a ton of goals over because he's a fairly unique player that is fast enough to get onto the end of a lot of balls that other players would never reach. If you want to see what I'd consider a 'failure' of a similar player.. look at Theo Walcott. Similar speed, similar finishing failures, has moved from club to club, but frequently injured..and the quality of clubs he's played with hasn't been nearly as high of a class.
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Taking the better part of a minute off the clock in stoppage time with an 1-0 lead and not drawing a card in the process? What part of that strikes you as dumb?
If he gets a card there then Chalobah probably does as well which sends him off and is still a net positive for Arsenal.
Sterling’s goal total looks a lot less impressive compared to other strikers when looking at his goal distribution. He beats up on smaller clubs, which a good striker should, but he’s pretty limited against bigger clubs.
Look at, say, Jamie Vardy, and compare totals.
Look at, say, Jamie Vardy, and compare totals.
I decided to watch Soton v Newcastle which has been phenomenal but now I am regretting not tuning in to this
edit: this match is great though both teams are flying with no caution trying to score on every attack and counter
That's interesting. Sterling does seem like a guy who struggles with the pressure. I don't think it's controversial to say that he doesn't play up to the level of his talent consistently.
Following up on my last post, Vardy is the polar opposite, a guy who thrives on pressure. He's a gigantic asshole, with a mean streak, and enjoys humiliating his opponents, which I mean as the highest praise.
Sterling has no regrets about his time at City I’m sure. I don’t think pressure is getting to him now, his performance has been really rough for a few years now at City. That City team with Sane was the perfect setup for him. Creative players playing slide rule passes and Sane pacing behind and crossing to him low. For the past few years he’s really struggled for City but the sheer volume of chances papered over some of the cracks in his game. He’s just not at the level he was at his absolute best and I doubt it has much to do with his nationality, contract, or pressure. I think his best football is just behind him
I think his “problem” always is that he’s not a finisher and he’s not even really a creator. He’s a chaos agent, a player who unsettled defenses at his best mostly with movement but sometimes with quickness or unorthodox patterns of play. He wanted to play on the left but he’s probably best deployed as a pacy RW who disrupts and crosses and just stretches the other team but isn’t expected to really score. He’s played his best with real top quality strikers and that’s probably not a coincidence. I think he’d have rebounded in reputation at least at City if he had transitioned into a creator for Haaland, as an example.
I think his “problem” always is that he’s not a finisher and he’s not even really a creator. He’s a chaos agent, a player who unsettled defenses at his best mostly with movement but sometimes with quickness or unorthodox patterns of play. He wanted to play on the left but he’s probably best deployed as a pacy RW who disrupts and crosses and just stretches the other team but isn’t expected to really score. He’s played his best with real top quality strikers and that’s probably not a coincidence. I think he’d have rebounded in reputation at least at City if he had transitioned into a creator for Haaland, as an example.
When Perisic is your second most attacking player…
I see a massive bus being parked here. First goal will be huge.
I see a massive bus being parked here. First goal will be huge.
Well, at least Spurs have *checks notes* injured Lucas, unfit Kulusevski and Bryan Gil to change the game.
Dier and Maguire are trying to see where Southgate’s line not to play them might be, if it even exists.
Conventional wisdom taking some hits too. The league is a lot more wide-open. Easy narratives aren't sticking. Teams written off springing to life and vice versa. Not much between many of these sides and it doesn't take much to shake things up in terms of what 'could' or 'should' happen.
Jones for Elliott needs to happen soon.
Any concerns about Nunez seem to have been dispelled these last few weeks. He's been great again.
Any concerns about Nunez seem to have been dispelled these last few weeks. He's been great again.