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chips'ngravy

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Everything posted by chips'ngravy

  1. chips'ngravy
    5th story down even on the football only content page, behind a couple of articles each on West Ham and Liverpool. Incredible. You'd think they'd want to embrace the one positive English outcome amongst all the other disappointments.
  2. chips'ngravy
    The East and West Stands at Highbury are Grade II listed buildings (designed by a Brummie, no less). The only stand left with any architectural merit is The Holte, which in itself is a mock version of the old Trinity, so not really worth preserving anyway. There's no logical reason to move anyway so I'm not sure why this is still a topic of discussion.
  3. chips'ngravy
    Didn't have to be like this. City have shown enough vulnerability tonight for us to have made a decent fight of it. Too many changes
  4. chips'ngravy
    Genuinely surprised at some of the comments saying how poor we were. Clearly there are some short memories on here. Thought we totally dominated them and played some enterprising stuff at times. Final ball/shot obviously could've been better and our achilles heal continues to be our set piece defending, but overall I'm watching a team play like a big team, i.e. one that tries to control the game. West Ham have the ability to do damage but I thought their contribution was pitiful given the resources they have. UTV
  5. chips'ngravy
    Our Guardian Angel
  6. chips'ngravy
    Whilst it wasn't a great ball from Konsa, if that had been Luiz then I don't think we'd be talking about having conceded from the incident. Tielemans is static whenever he receives the ball rather than playing on the half turn. Not pinning it entirely on him but he certainly could've done better.
  7. chips'ngravy
    Exactly. It came just after he'd busted a gut to lay on, what looked like, a great chance for Zaniolo at the near post. Didn't get to see a re-run of it as the red card took all the air time afterwards. But you can understand his frustration. I thought he was our best player today. The double bum-roll being the highlight of his performance.
  8. chips'ngravy
    Lots of talk in the media of this being a high scoring game between two sides that employ a high line but I'm wondering if we won't see a more cautious approach from Unai. On Thursday we probably witnessed us play more long balls in 90mins than in all the time since Emery arrived. Was this a blueprint for tomorrow? I think it could be a 1-0 Villa with a return to a miserly defence just when we least expect it, just as was the case against City and Arsenal.
  9. chips'ngravy
    The argument for him to start over Digne has been based on his attacking contribution, but that's not been up to the same standard of last season since his return. Defensively, he's a liability. Man goes past him and he often elects to push him with both hands. Thought Digne would start today after the Forest match. Has to start v Spurs
  10. chips'ngravy
    Anyone got a Gary Neville gif?
  11. chips'ngravy
    Disagree with Emery when he said we controlled the transition. I thought that was where we were at our most vulnerable. 17 shots from them seems evidence enough that we got caught time and again. Also, is it me or has the meticulous line drawing for offsides suddenly disappeared? I thought there was a chance their winner might be chalked off when the ball was played through to Mainoo (I think) who then knocked it back for Dalot to cross.
  12. chips'ngravy
    During yesterday's Arsenal v Liverpool game, Neville referred to Alisson as being the 'best keeper in the league'. I thought...'hold on a second there, Gary. I think you've forgotten there's a current World Cup winner and holder of the Yashin Trophy playing in this league who also happens to be playing out of his skin at the moment' Even when we're in the top 4 our players aren't afforded the recognition they deserve. He's imperious at this current time.
  13. chips'ngravy
    Couldn't agree more. Someone else compared then to Sheff Utd as well! Who, for what it's worth, will bully us off the pitch if we play like that on Saturday.
  14. chips'ngravy
    Thought Ramsey was anonymous after coming on, to be fair, but was worth bringing on to try and shake things up. Zaniolo was woeful. Either lost the ball whenever it was passed to him or gave away idiotic fouls to help them see out the game. Bailey looked like he was on another planet to the rest when he came on.
  15. chips'ngravy
    My gut says Luton
  16. chips'ngravy
    Some have described Everton's tactics as low-block, but that wasn't how they played. The periods they had every man behind the ball were when we pushing them back with our possession play. We had plenty of space to attack them and did so on numerous occasions through Moreno on the left. They actually played into our hands by trying to press us but not doing it well enough which enabled us to play through them and spark the kind of attacks we were accustomed to seeing a month or so ago. McGinn was off it today but it largely broke down up front with all 3 nowhere near sharp enough. Hard to be too tough on Bailey as he's been in such sparkling form of late so he was due a bad one. Ollie's touch wasn't good enough on a number of occasions and Diaby put in another insipid showing, his lack of confidence highlighted in the move when he was put through down the middle but checked back. As for the disallowed goal. Was it clearly offside? Clearly not, as it wouldn't have taken 4 mins to decide. They drew a line which was their ultimate response but you couldn't even see the player making the pass in the frame they used. So how could we tell if that was the right moment to freeze it? Very unsatisfactory to say the least. The fact they show them looking pretty clueless as to what or where the infringement took place only further underlines how confused the whole process is.
  17. chips'ngravy
    Pretty sure he grew up as a bluenose
  18. chips'ngravy
    We were uncharacteristically sloppy in possession from the beginning. The real surprise was that we actually went 2 up and managed not to concede by half time. At no point were we ever controlling the play. This was most evident after scoring the second goal and Utd had the crowd on their backs yet twice in quick succession they had opportunities straight down the middle through a gaping hole in our defence. Konsa was visibly exhausted which got me thinking on the relative demands of playing centre-back to right-back. It's like switching from being a 400m runner to a 100m sprinter these days. We're in danger of burning him out if he continues to switch from one to the other. And as good as he is, he offers very little in the attacking areas of the pitch. The restoration of Cash, for all his faults, will be to the benefit of the right-hand side and the centre of defence. As much as I like and admire our willingness to play out from the back under pressure there has to be an acceptance that it is not the ONLY way to move the ball out of defence. If you have had control of the ball for the majority of the game it's a simpler task than if you've been run ragged and are mentally and physically tired. It was a frustrating sight watching us persisting with this tactic boxed in our own corners with the clock ticking down. My only explanation as to why this was the case is that to achieve the radical turnaround in style that Emery has in such a short space of time is that you have to be absolutist in the implementation of your demands. In doing so you eliminate any free thinking that could see us switch it up when required. Our lack of urgency to get the ball forward and in the opposition's face more when we are looking to save a game or grab a late winner is frustrating for us fans to witness. That said, I'm sure Unai would argue that applying patience and eliminating the emotion will reap more rewards than not. Personally, I'd like to see a shift to being a bit more direct when we are looking for a late reprieve.
  19. chips'ngravy
    Couple of relatively minor things that wound me up the other night at Villa Park, after my first visit for a while. From where I was sitting I wasn't sure who'd scored for Sheffield Utd, of course my assumption was that it would be Archer, but nevertheless would've have appreciated some confirmation. I was amazed that none was forthcoming. Is this now standard when the opposition score? If so, how petty. And what's the deal with not announcing the attendance? It seems that they don't even release it to the media. Weird. Oh, and one other thing. As the teams scrolled across the scoreboard at the beginning of the match they'd spelt Konsa wrong! It appeared as Konza ffs
  20. chips'ngravy
    My Arsenal supporting mate reckons they'll be quite cautious and go with Jorghino rather than Havertz in the middle. If so I can see us forcing mistakes from him if we're on it like we were on Wednesday.
  21. chips'ngravy
    Why bother commenting if by your own admission you're completely ingnorant?
  22. chips'ngravy
    This is the team I'm hoping for too. Spurs played 3 up top against them and they got some joy out of it. Diaby, Bailey and Watkins all in good form too.
  23. chips'ngravy
    When they first looked at it from the right hand side I was confident there was no offside. When they flipped it to the other side it looked marginally off, but then when you look at the angle they were judging it from it was very difficult to tell. The result was a bizarre perspective to be trying to draw lines from. I'd say it was very unclear and therefore you can't give it as off.
  24. chips'ngravy
    Don't know why Emery has messed around with the defence. Seen nothing to justify Diego Carlos being a starter. Cash has his faults but we're much more balanced with him at RB and Konsa at CB
  25. chips'ngravy
    Credit where credit's due. He looked very assured with the ball at his feet tonight. Another player improved by Emery?
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