[Mikus LFC]

Indeed Pagan, rarely do you see the very strong modern F1 cars ripped in half like that. Worst impact I’ve seen since Senna that.

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

The cheating side of him is ultimately rooted in the clash of cultures. The Latin American culture in that sense tends to see cheating as “getting one over on authority” – they’ll do anything to win, if that means cheating, then in their eyes it’s perfectly legitimate, it’s part of doing anything to win. But doesn’t that just sum up why England have often failed in big tournaments? They’ve either not been good enough or the other team simply wanted it more. The cheating element of it allowed itself to be used as an excuse, when really, the reason was the other teams wanted it more. That’s not to advocate cheating, just to point out that such things were not really the root cause of our failures over the years but just served as useful excuses for defeats.

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

Well, that’s the interesting question then – are the referees, when going to review an incident, effectively being intimidated to follow what the VAR referees have thought? They need to stand up for themselves if so. And even if the authorities threaten suspension for not following orders, I don’t think they have the luxury of having enough refs to take their places. So I still the senior refs can help turn the tide of all this. In any case, they’d have the support of most of the fans and the players.

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

Pagan, I think the referees could still use their discretion to judge whether contact has been enough or not. Just because they see contact in slow-mo, doesn’t mean they have to assume 100% guilt – they could say it wasn’t enough to warrant a penalty or foul or argue it was a coming together. They can bring context and perspective to the table. Presumably, the pitch side monitor was brought in as a safety valve to stop every little nick of contact resulting in a penalty. They should use it. The idea behind technology is that *you* use *technology*. What we have at the moment is that the *technology* is using *us*, with the referees avoiding making any judgement whatsoever and just letting every bit of contact or whatever result in a penalty with no context – in short they have taken the human being out of the equation and completely absolved responsibility. I don’t see why they can’t let the human being be part of the equation again. The pitch side review allows for that.

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

Pagan, yes but I think there is still scope within that pitch monitor review to make their own judgement – they still have that privilege, they should use it.

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

I still think there is scope for the on field referees to bring about a sea change with this. They just need to be braver and maintain their own prerogative on the pitch even if someone is shouting in their ear. It will only take a brave few for others to start following.

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

Jordan Henderson (MOTD) Would you rather scrap VAR? "I don't want to speak for anybody else but in my opinion I would. I just want to play football as normal. I saw Kevin de Bruyne saying in an interview they have changed so many rules we don't know what they are anymore." #LFC pic.twitter.com/bKBbjVVY95

— BBC Merseyside Sport (@bbcmerseysport) November 28, 2020

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

With VAR, every micro-detail is now being examined in full detail and in slow motion. I’ve been dwelling on why this is for some time now. And I think VAR has come about because it is completely rooted in fear – fear of a team and/or player being unjustly wronged. But by using VAR to alleviate such fears, it has vastly increased the power of the authorities on the game, whilst also presuming all players are guilty rather than innocent until proven guilty. And all they need to see is the tiniest nick of a players boot and it’s enough to assume 100% deliberate intent – it’s their get out of jail free card. No context, no perspective, no common sense. They are judge, jury and executioner. But fear is quite often irrational, and so it’s unsurprising to see irrational results follow from it because fear is quite often an irrational response to reality. Anyway, enough psycho-analysis for one day…

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

Will clubs in tier 3 be allowed to pipe in fake home fan noise equivalent to 4,000 fans worth? What a farce…

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

Very sad to hear. The best for me. The desire, hunger and strength of Suarez. The skill of Messi. RIP.

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

Pagan, doesn’t make people constantly working 12 hour shifts right either. But with footballers they are still straining themselves more than usual which will undoubtedly lead to more injuries. You can throw all the money in the world at them, still doesn’t make it right.

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

The difference between a 12.30 pm & 5.30 pm kick off may seem small but I would argue it does make a difference to the team, particularly mentally. I don’t care how much the teams and clubs get paid, the players are still human beings and they’re being exploited at the moment. They’ll have one day off after the Wednesday night game, probably training on the Friday, then a trip down to the south coast, then straight into a 12.30 pm kick off. That will take its toll over time. Something I think will have to give at some point, and I would think 5 subs probably will be allowed at some point.

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

Part 2…

Is right Jurgen….

“If someone tells me again about (SKY/BT) contracts then I will go really nuts” pic.twitter.com/EUJyLGV01B

— Andy Heaton (@Andrew_Heaton) November 22, 2020

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

These post match interviews from Klopp on the match scheduling now doing the rounds (they weren’t broadcast for obvious reasons). I know we’ve touched on this issue before, but regardless of how much footballers are being paid, they ain’t half being over used here to keep everyone entertained. On the flip side, I do think Liverpool having to play younger, perhaps hungrier players actually helped us yesterday. But even so, I do still sympathise with Klopp here. The scheduling has gone too far…

Jurgen Klopp on injuries and the broadcasting schedule.

This part of his interview wasn’t aired by Sky, probably because he was speaking absolute facts.

Well in, Jurgen! pic.twitter.com/lrW50IycIV

— Watch LFC (@Watch_LFC) November 22, 2020

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

I will point out here for the purposes of fairness that Klopp only had 47 points for his first 29 games at Liverpool, although context is also key here and there was clearly an identity with the team and the players knew, understood and were enjoying playing the football they were being coached. And a consistenty was developing. So far this season Arsenal have lost as many games as they’ve won. They’re all over the place still and the players don’t exactly look very happy.

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

Yeh Lucky I thought Arteta would start to turn the corner but he’s hasn’t. And this stat is pretty damning and backs up what you say…

Arsenal managers after 29 Premier League matches:

Unai Emery – 57 points
Bruce Rioch – 48 points
Arsene Wenger – 48 points
Mikel Arteta – 46 points pic.twitter.com/1oNUzvtPkC

— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) November 22, 2020

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

Sean, Matip is a very calm head on the pitch. Fingers crossed he can get some sort of run going.

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

Good win. Klopp’s done very well to reset the team since the Villa game.

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

What a signing Jota is proving – a very clever, almost surgical signing by the club. I read in an article that he apparently said to another teammate he couldn’t believe how many chances you get playing in this team.

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Mikus LFC]

Can’t see us playing the high line with Fabinho & Matip at the back today.

_____________________________

React below 👇

*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted

[Author]

Posts