Week 14 - Capital Kick-Off

fletcherpost

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Jul 15, 2005
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West Ham are lacking a bit of guile and craft in the final third. Seeing a lot more of the ball, but the moves are petering out with a whimper. Chelsea have been pretty sloppy with the ball since they scored.
 

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Sunny von Bulow
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Chelsea should have done better on that counter.

In all of these games the players look pretty gassed, but I haven't seen anyone dip too deeply into the bench or the academy.
 

Tuff Ghost

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Oh my, Timo Werner and the close-range misses continue. Bungled what should have been a free goal after a poor first touch coming from a Pulisic pass. I like watching this Chelsea team and a clinical Werner is a scary thought for how good they can be, but it's starting to seem like he has a temporary mental block around the front of the net.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Chelsea should have done better on that counter.

In all of these games the players look pretty gassed, but I haven't seen anyone dip too deeply into the bench or the academy.
I've been noticing that too.

And its going to get so much worse, especially for clubs in Europe. Those teams are going to be playing twice a week most weeks from now until April.

That should work out well.
 

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Sunny von Bulow
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And then head straight to the Euros
They should do away with international play altogether until the pandemic abates, just for pandemic reasons. It's sheer lunacy.

With regard to fixture congestion - since I follow Everton, I could see that Richarlison, Allan, Mina, and James all had their form fall off and their fitness levels go down after the last trip to South America and back, which was a little shorter than usual.

It's too much. They are killing the golden goose.
 

67YAZ

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Creswell had a great view of that play standing back behind all his teammates.

Clever little finish by Abraham. too bad for West Ham....

Oh and another right away! Wow. A total collapse after a long spell of Hammers control.

Pulisic with the excellent carry to bring the ball into the danger zone and then the nod off the keeper to set up Abraham's rebound goal.
 
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SocrManiac

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Apr 15, 2006
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With regard to fixture congestion - since I follow Everton, I could see that Richarlison, Allan, Mina, and James all had their form fall off and their fitness levels go down after the last trip to South America and back
Gomez didn’t leave England. His fitness fell off pretty precipitously as well.

I agree wholeheartedly with all of your points. The club fixture congestion by itself is a danger without internationals thrown in the mix. Having players travel worldwide right now is insane even if strict guidelines were in place. I see no evidence of even that being the case. I’m too tired to look shit up right now, but my memory is insisting that the last break brought with it a rash of positives. Am
I making that up?
 

Tuff Ghost

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I missed this yesterday, but Nuno Espirito Santo absolutely tore into referee Lee Mason in his post-match interview following Wolves 2-1 loss to Burnley. He flatly states that Mason is unfit for the job. The Sky Sports link below has the video (the Athletic link below is formatted nicer if you want to read and have a subscription; it also includes a section about Podence complaining on Instagram about various fouls and goalkeepers holding the ball for longer than 6-7 seconds).

He started by questioning Mason’s basic actual ability to purse his lips and physically blow a whistle (OK, this was perhaps an expression meaning “to referee”, but still).

“The referee is not good enough to whistle.” What a start.

“It is his job. He has to improve, he has to get better. It isn’t about the major, crucial decisions. It is the way he handles the players – both teams lose their focus, they are always arguing the decision.

“I just don’t want to see him more, I told him I hope he does not whistle a game of ours again. He cannot control the players, he does not have the quality to whistle a Premier League game.

“All the games we have with Lee Mason is always the same. The players get nervous – he whistles from the noises from the players. We are talking about the best competition, but he does not have the quality to whistle the game. The other referees let the game flow.”
https://theathletic.com/2276645/2020/12/22/nuno-rant-referee-wolves/https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12169721/nuno-espirito-santo-referee-lee-mason-is-not-good-enough-for-the-premier-league
 

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Sunny von Bulow
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Nino's gonna be writing a big fat check.

If he set up a GoFundMe he'd have it covered by PL fans within an hour.