ozvillafan

Well - that was easy

3 things I learned :

• Unai has a very different attitude to Europe than our last manager that had us there
• That Digne fella can cross a ball! 
• The SPL really isn't that good 

24 minutes ago, fightoffyour said:

Just caught up on the weekend's mistakes, good stuff.

• Liverpool - ridiculous dive. Kane would be proud.
• Romero - handball, arms in the air blocking a shot on goal.
• MacAllister - harsh red.
• Arsenal - very harsh second yellow (haven't seen first).

MacAllister, for mine, is a nailed on red. Late, high, studs up.

1 minute ago, Kiwivillan said:

I think they're bottom 3

.. or very, very close. Big season of struggle for them.

4 minutes ago, birdman said:

Having now seen the replay looks like he's got a knee in the back of his leg so perhaps just a very sore bruised hamstring.

Aye, he got a knee - but it also looked a lot like Ming's injury.

No, not a bung knee - but the injury coming from landing awkwardly because of the contact.

Can we play Everton every week?

Our midfield was great and special mention to Bailey, who got better as the game went on. An assist and a goal - lovely.

3 things I learned:

• Being concerned about the line-up at kick-off, clearly I know nothing about football
• We can win without Mings
• Ashely Young is still a good player for us

3 minutes ago, HKP90 said:

Well you did get to boo us throughout the Nigeria game, so you achieved your main objective. Good luck to you.

Ha ha! I could mention the ashes here...

... but I'm better than that

Just now, mjmooney said:

Have you not noticed that the vast majority of the comments on here are 'better team won'? 

Dunno about 'whingeing poms', you've done nothing but whinge since your lot went out. 

The gloating on here about your shithousery in that game juxtaposes brilliantly with your (collectively) complaining about the referee in this one.

... and you're Poms. That just makes it all the more fun.

4 minutes ago, bobzy said:

At least you Aussies came 3rd in your own country and all. Must make you feel proud?

Best result we ever had. Yep - proud.

4 minutes ago, Genie said:

Did Australia get a medal for 4th? If so what is it made of?

English tears

That was hard to watch.

England - the shining light of playing "in the spirit of the game" - having to endure time wasting from the opposition and resorting to fouling.

Unlucky and deserved better.

That was an awesome tackle

Ref looking at a replay which is herself not 5 yards from the original incident.

42 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

Bad loser much? 

Nah - it just wasn't "In the spirit of the game"

John McGinn mk II

Crap. Gutted for Ty.

25 minutes ago, Kiwivillan said:

Coutinho would've been destroyed. He was so off the pace vs Valencia and walking at the end but people jizzing themselves off over a simple ball into space that Buendia scored with great run and finish

Fair call. McGinn the best option then, imo. Bailey to the bench and Tielemans in the 3 man midfield.

2 hours ago, Keener window-cleaner said:

We really missed his eager to always wanting the ball, his movement that creates spaces for others and his through-balls. It's going to be tough if we don't replace him with a creative player. We can't replace him with just some speedy winger. 

Agreed. I was kinda hoping we'd start with Coutinho in his place against Newcastle as he's the closest we have to Emi. It's possible for McGinn to fill that role if we go 4-3-1-2 and bring in Tielemans for Bailey.

While not quite as bad as opening day last season - Newcastle are actually a good side - the scoreline and manner of defeat has tempered my expectations somewhat.

3 things I learned:

• We already miss Buendia
• Without Mings or McGinn we are leaderless
• Digne and Cash < Moreno and Young

Need to get McGinn on the ball.

Cash and Digne not having much effect on this game either.

5 minutes ago, Steero113 said:

I agree, its bonkers. 

Brighton will sign two or three absolute unknowns from South America who will turn out to be incredible and roll on. They always do. 

Hmmmm.. People would have said the same about wolves not so long ago - just substitute Portugal for South America. 

It's not a long-term viable plan. 

I'm lost for words.

Gutted for him

1 hour ago, bobzy said:

It’s not the being critical - that’s fine - it’s the constant “bloody hell, my 12 year old lad and his mates could beat these lot”. For whatever reason, women’s football gets repeatedly compared to/ridiculed by comparison to a male version of the sport.

It just doesn’t seem to happen in other sports. No-one seems to watch, say, Iga Swiatek and goes “**** hell, even Andy Murray’s brother is better than this”.

Aye. I remember the matildas (Aussie national woman's team) playing the mens (boys?) under 18's national side. They were down 6-0 at half time. The point of the contest was to get the girls used to physically imposing teams and moving the ball on quicker, so not pointless.

I suspect in any other contact sport (and a lot of non-contact ones) you'd find a similar result. Not sure why in football it's constantly raised.

I will say this for the woman's game: They are tougher than the men. No Neymar-like rolling around the pitch when being breathed on. They generally just get up and get on with it.

11 hours ago, duke313 said:

Watched some of their game with Barca.They looked good going forward, but they will be ripped to pieces at the back.

That's Ange-ball.

Going to take a while for the central defenders to work out when to stick and when to twist. Same happened with Celtic when he took over - they copped a few hidings.

The question will be: Will he last until it clicks?

1 minute ago, Steero113 said:

'Airplane!' is one of the best comedy movies of all time. 

But it still isn't nearly as funny as listening to an Everton fan try to justify why James Ward-Prowse is miles better that the "not that bad" Douglas Luiz. 

Surely you can't be serious.