Danny

We are playing like dogshit

3 goals acored in 15 minutes. Wolves went 2-0 up. decent first goal that was poorly defended and then from the kick off Collins plays a limp ball to Flekken which they intercepted to make it 2. We then immediately go up the other end and Maupay sets up Wissa to make it 2-1. As I write this we nearly make it 2-2. If youre not watching this then thats your loss lol

Not sure if I posted this already but when looking at the title challenge I think both Liverpool and Arsenal need a forward who can bag 20+ goals a season. I think the differences between the two is sometimes represented as Arsenal needing a forward and Liverpool not, but I think they both need one and the actual difference is that Arsenal have a more balanced squad for their style of play with less out and out best in position type players and Liverpool don’t have Arsenal’s squad balance in how they want to play but have about 3/4 out and out best in position type players in Salah, Trent, VvD and Allison.

I dont get how people are blaming Onana for those goals. The first is unfortunate but they happen, very difficult to get to the ball when you’re anticipating someone will get a head or leg to it. The second he had no chance.

Not surprised Villa have struggled as of late. I’ve not been that impressed since the Tottenham game and for them to completely lose their heads so early on in the season against us, struggled against Sheffield United afterwards, lost a 2 goal lead against United…I think the pressure has got to them a bit in a very difficult part of the season.

Fulham have been far too static, little going forward, too easy to attack against. Bournemouth are on form today and this is their 6th win from their last 7. Their first 14 games were tough for them, I don’ think they played badly and in their opening game against West Ham I said they looked the real deal. 3 draws, 7 losses and 1 win didn’t look good for them nor Iraola and there was a lot of sour grapes from people regarding O’Neill being sacked. They’re such an aggressive team, high pressing, looking to win the ball up the pitch but also stretching the game with their forwards, very strong wing play and play incisive passes through defences to them. It’ll be interesting to see how they do moving into the new year but they are very much contenders for a top 6 finish now.

Alex Scott, what an assist, what a player. Was worried he’d turn into a bit of a Will Hughes, wizard of a playmaker in the Champ and pretty average in the Prem. But that was class and a statement of intent. He’s played a pretty deep role too and made a couple key interceptions/clearances, handling Fulham’s physicality. A bright future there in Scott!

Merry Christmas/Boxing Day everyone! With a bit of luck this will be my final Christmas that is ruined by assignments. Next year I plan to firmly spend the two weeks off drinking beer, eating chocolate and visiting as many pubs as possible. But this year wasn’t so bad, some nice presents, good food, good company and fiery arguments caused by a level of competition that only a quiz can cause!

Acclimatised to the new game and feel a lot better with the dribbling etc. Two issues though, first is that the goalkeeper doesn’t seem to make any saves at all. Most shots go in. Second issue is that the player changing mechanism is awful, you’ll go to get a player near the ball to make a tackle and it’ll change to someone near the back post.

Curb is great, really underrated compared to rubbish like Friends and The Office US

At the moment I think Arsenal’s team overall is more balanced than Liverpool’s and that goes in their favour, but I also think that Liverpool have at least 4 truly world class players in Salah, Trent, Van Dijk & Allison whilst Arsenal have a group of players that want to get to that level but so far aren’t quite there yet. I had Liverpool winning the league over them this season and I’d probably still stick with that, but all could change in January depending on who Arsenal bring in up front. But also the same applies for Liverpool and a defensive midfielder, or a centre back to play in a back 3. I don’t think the Odegaard handball claim was one, thought he was falling over and it is natural that his arm would fall down like that. I think its harsh to give that tbh, looking at the handball laws I don’t see anything that would back that up us a handball for me. I thought the game was close, Arsenal dominated early on and then Liverpool took more control later. Also thought Arsenal attacked Anfield very well, to come out of the blocks and just go for it after last season is a big step up in mentality for them. Trent should have scored the counter but ultimately it’s a close game and I don’t think either side could be that disappointed with that result. Ultimately I still think City are likely to run away with it when everyones back fully fit.

Blame it on the Guinness haha

In fairness you did sit off them second half and produced very little, I get how that could rile a fanbase up. But with that said I did think if Brighton got going they’d score 2 or 3 past you so the fact it only ended 1-1 is pretty good for you. And like you said, it took an absolute worldy of a header from Welbeck to do that.

It’s a classic role! Lots of classic roles going around too! https://www.indy100.com/tiktok/nativity-fail-door-school-kid

It’s a shame they don’t explore those layers. The only characters given an interesting arc are Tom and Greg. They tried to do it with Kendall at the end of series 1 but everything became repetitive and they never really explored the kids death as much as they could have for Kendall. I felt half the storytelling was just quick witted jokes and vague cultural reference points dressed up as plot development.

Brighton started alright but have been mistake heavy as the game as gone on. Palace are building all their attacks through the wings, either using Ayew almost as a target man to play others in or using Olise to either run at players or play through them. But unlike Brighton, when Palace get the ball on the wings they get 2, 3 or 4 men immediately supporting the ball carrier and then either try and switch it or play it in behind. Brighton keep playing with almost a front 5, looking to draw Palace defenders out. Andersen specifically is always stepping up into midfield, which then leaves room for either Pedro, Grob, Hinshelwood to run into. It’s not a bad tactic from Palace but there are moments where Richards and Lerma don’t know when to drop in and plug the gap. The build up play has been decent for Brighton but they’ve not had the end product. Watching this I thought if the teams keep playing as they are Palace will nick it as Olise is magic and Brighton have created little in actual chances. Then Brighton make another mistake, Olise dinks it to Ayew and they have the lead! If Brighton step it up a gear then I think they have it in them to score 3 or 4 based on how expansive the build up play has been, but they need to be more incisive and cut the mistakes in possession as otherwise I think Palace will eventually hit them on the break or in transition and score another.

A good watch seeing how Brighton control possession, create space and exploit space. An even better watch is Michael Olise, what a player.

Yeah it’s the type of card boxing needs tbh. Apparently AJ and Wilder are signing a two fight deal, should make for an interesting 2024 with Fury/Usyk coming up too!

This is the problem with European football now. It’s easy as a Premier League club to say we don’t want it, well it is for the “big” clubs, because they benefit the most from the financial power of the league. In terms of what they can spend clubs in Spain, Italy and Germany fall far behind. Something like this is always going to be inevitable if the Premier League were to remain as powerful as it is.

As in you can’t watch it? It is a tiring watch, I watched it all in one mainly just to watch those two lol. A comedy series about Tom and Greg would be great tbh

I feel like the best shows are the one that manage to get in touch with the local community/culture and make the humour relatable without weaking it to try and make it understandable for an audience that are sort of globalised now through social media. Derry Girls for example done a really good job of it and you relate to them without even directly relating to what they're going through.

Bob Ross Ultras out and about

I've chucked a top 10 together...was really easy and hard at times, I've watched a lot of shows from previous years this year and not as much from 2023 as I thought! 1. Andor 2. The Last of Us 3. The Witcher S3 4. Loki S2 5. White Lotus S2 6. Foundation 7. Yellowstone 8. For All Mankind S4 9. Ghosts S5 10. The Lovers

I struggled to stick with Silo...been keen to watch Reservation Dogs but keep forgetting it exists lol

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/dec/01/the-50-best-tv-shows-of-2023 Succession at #2...never has a show relied so heavily on two supporting actors so much as this has. Without Cousin Greg and Tom it would not be watchable.