0wl18

I know it’s widely accepted that club and country achievements have a weighting on the final result but, it’s all a bit pointless isn’t it? The best player in both international and, club competition is rewarded in said competition anyway. Shows how backwards football generally is.

I think Howe is very well thought of within the football circles. Players all seem to enjoy playing for him and, you can see the improvement in the likes of Joelinton since his appointment

Yes, he swipes at the ball and his fingertips knock it away. It’s a weird one but, could it be that the players they’re looking at a different market these days? They’re new to the top table so, seen as a bit of a risk?

If you get the ‘where’s he supposed to put his arm’ argument, you’re essentially swaying towards the fact it’s not an intentional handball? If that’s the case, it cannot be a handball.

So defenders shouldn’t defend in case the ball hits their arm? Like I said, he can attempt to make a block. If that results in the ball hitting his arm, so be it. Wingers should just kick the ball at a defenders arm, stone wall penalty every cross! I’ve not seen the tackle tbf, will have a look but, I think the standard of referees as a whole is on the wane.

I think the biggest frustration I’d have as an Everton fan would be the inconsistency already displayed in just 1 weekend. The Bournemouth defender makes a clear swipe at the ball preventing a breakaway for Liverpool and, VAR bottles it.

Defenders rarely stand square on. With arms behind the back, the ball could still easily catch an elbow / forearm. Defenders are allowed the block the ball. He’s making an honest attempt to block it. He pulls his arm in towards his body and leans in to the ball. The ball hitting his arm isn’t an automatic offence. It has to be a deliberate handball or, the hand has to be in an unnatural position. it was neither.

If he had both hand behind his back would you still want a penalty? Do you think he deliberately handled the ball?

It’s not being pedantic, it’s appreciating the rules constantly change. The ball hitting the arm isn’t a handball. Especially when the arm/hand is in a natural position and, it isn’t making the body bigger. A defender should always be able to attempt to block the ball, without fear of being penalised for the hitting their arm.

Where in the rules does it say to put your hands behind your back? The fact you think this is / should be normal behaviour for a defender is worrying. Is it natural for a player to have their arm in said position whilst running? No. His arm stays perfectly still. He moves his body, not his arm. Unless you’re arguing that in the split second he has to make a decision, he deliberately tucks his arm by his side, tries to block the shot with his chest but secretly he’s trying to handle to ball, you’re wrong.

I disagree. Before ‘natural body position’, came deliberate hand ball. He hasn’t deliberately handled the ball. You’re essentially advocating penalising him for having arms. This situation is exactly why the natural position argument came to fruition. A player shouldn’t be penalised because the ball has hit his arm.

The weird thing about the pen is, if he puts his arm out in an ‘unnatural position’ the ball wouldn’t have hit his arm. He’s tucked his arm in the best he could. The ball took a major deflection and travelled at speed. He’s not intentionally trying to handle that ball.

Todd Boely? Isn’t he a minority owner at Chelsea?

Chansiri also has sole responsibility for the running of our club, it's not remotely comparable considering the position he's driven us to. Of all the potential flaws you could find with Textor, I'd argue his exploits at Palace are at the bottom of the list.

Textor didn't run the club though did he? It's rumoured he played a big part in getting their current manager to the club, I'm sure Palace fans are gutted about that.

I fail to see how any serious businessman would bid what 3-4 times what many perceive to be market value, for a company trading insolvent. Add into the mix the current owner clearly hasn’t got a pot to ******** in and, there’s some serious fantasy being thrown around.

Stole my thunder. Keeper’s are a different breed. I’m 30 and can’t recall a goalkeeper who’s burst onto the scene at 17-18 like you often see with outfield players. They take time to come into their own and, generally come in to their own mid to late 20’s.

Doubtful. This extended run is great financially and, Maresca is instilling a winning mentality within the dressing room room. It’s impossible to know what playing out there at the end of an extended season will do to these players. They’ll start blowing come Christmas. Sanchez isn’t of the standard necessary to win the premier league. Far too inconsistent.

I think you’re barking up the wrong tree. The likes of Pep and, Klopp have been outspoken for a while with regards to the congested calendar. The heirachy at the clubs are to blame. That being said, nobody forces the managers to choose the same 11 players week in week out. I’ve long said that’s the art of modern day management. One of the reasons Postecoglu can’t be excused for the abject league performance. The injuries they had were as a result of playing style/rushing players back.

Seems a reasonable take to me. After a result and, performance like Plymouth it’s understandable why some will get carried away. If we’re honest, how many of our starting 11 start for Leeds?

Leeds are a decent side. Yes they’ve started slow. Yes they’ve got rid of a few of their ‘star’ players. This is their starting 11 with the fees paid. Meslier - £6.5m Firpo - £15m Struijk - £0 (Valued at £15m) Rodon - £10m Ampadu - £8m Bogle - £6m Gruev - £6.5m Gnonto - £4.5m Aaronson - £32m James - £29m Joseph - £0 We’re still in a completely different world in comparison. We’ll improve. The ease in which we’ve been countered the last 2 weeks is a worry but, it’s night and day in comparison to last season. We’re a mid table side.

Mental how folk want to re-write history to suit their narrative. Chances are he’s somewhere in the middle, he wasn’t awful but, neither was he good enough. He’s currently back up keeper for a league 1 team. Says it all really.

Burnley may start to have problems if they don’t start to reduce the number of players in the squad. Watford look good.

And Phillips.

Mitoma was lucky his leg wasn’t fully planted. That tackle was borderline GBH.