I guess they've come to their senses after the last couple of sobering results. I'm shocked the so-called top businessmen pozzos got all giddy over a handful of decent results and a cup exit.
We've never given a renewed contract to anyone, whether form is "dire" or good (Joka), so it's a first for the Pozzo's. On paper our form is not the best. Since that wonderful start of winning the first 4, we've only won 2 of the following 9, losing 5 of them. However, you have to look deeper than that. Do performances reflect that return of just 8 point from 9 games? I would say no. We've been done by bad referring decisions at key moments and also our chronic lack of ability in front of goal that has cost us. Yes, the game went away from us yesterday, but it's always a combination of small key issues that decide a game. Liverpool would certainly have got that penalty had it been Salah and not Hughes, so it's a case of who you are whether you get a decision or not. We get a penalty in the 55 minute, with the score at 0-0 then everything changes. Foster, though played well, should have saved the Salah shot which led to their first goal. First goals are so important. Instead of being 1-0 up, we find ourselves 1-0 down. At the time I didn't feel Liverpool really deserved to be ahead. Mapps makes a mistake with his positioning and gives away a freekick, but it's still a long way out. Foster again is beaten, and his positioning was suspect but I rather would praise the quality of the shot. So, out of nothing we're 2-0 down and the game is done. But overall the performance was good up to that point. This has been the case in many of our games. We cannot do anything about the referee, but we can do something about finishing our chances. We create a lot of good opportunities and this really shows up our strikers. They cannot take them on a regular basis. Too often it's a miskick or final ball just not right at the vital moment. I think collectively our players get a little too excited when presented with a scoring chance and they snatch at it. They do not have the composure. This is really hurting the side. So overall, we're not getting what our performances deserve. We're a much better team than results are suggesting and this is why Gracia is rightly being given an extended deal.
How many games do we have to go without a win before people realise this buffoon is hopelessly out of his depth? He'll be gone after our home defeat to Cardiff. Bookmark this post.
Oh woe is us! We're so bad that even if we were awarded a penalty we would miss it. I think all us fans should commit mass suicide by leaping into the Colne after the Man City match, then those dreadful people that own and run our football club might take notice and stop dragging us into the mire. Oh woe is us....etc. etc.
Or, alternatively, people should take their yellow coloured glasses off for long enough to accept that we would have lost the game irrespective of whether the penalty was awarded or not, because we were second best?
Do you seriously think we would have won, even then? As Relegation Certs posted on the match thread, it would probably have been 3-1. I’m just being realistic. They are just a better team. No shame in that.
Had we been awarded the penalty (and just for you, scored it), then yes, absolutely. I would have expected Watford to have gone on to win the match. Just because Liverpool ended the match strongly doesn't mean that would have happened had they gone a goal behind. Football is a confidence game and is full of momentum swings. Our crowd would have been very excited and that atmosphere transcends to the pitch. Liverpool lost to Red Star in the CL. They only just beat Fulham at home 2-0, including a tight offside goal which they benefited from, and only beat Huddersfield 1-0 away. It's not an impossible task to beat them. Look at it from a Liverpool perspective. You could tell how tough they knew Watford away would be and were absolutely delighted to have got the 3 points from it. I think you seriously underestimate how good Watford are.
OK, well we will have to agree to differ then. I thought we deserved to beat United - certainly, to get a point. Not so yesterday.
Yes, Liverpool are better than us as they have much better players, and once they'd scored which forced us to come out more & abandon the compact shape that had effectively nullified their attack up to that point, then they clearly made that superiority count. But to assume from this that, even if we'd have scored from the spot, the game would "probably" have panned out the same way is not justified. Our compact shape could have been reinforced, say, by bringing on Chalobah & taking off Pereyra; it had been so successful up to then, that to do so whilst defending a 1-0 lead would have given us momentum & forced Liverpool to change their approach, especially if it were still 1-0 after 75 minutes. That may have given us opportunities on the break, especially with Success' pace. Even if not, I think it is equally justified to say that it would have been unlikely that Liverpool would have scored 2 if they did not have the opportunity of picking us off as we over-committed. So, maybe 1-1 was "probably" the likeliest result. At the level we're talking about, margins are so tight that scoring first that far into the game, even against a team so good, is very likely to secure a draw. Which is why people are discussing the non-award of the penalty; not because it would have led to us certainly going on to win (although that would have been a possibility), but it would very likely have won us a point.
A new contract signed, just heard it on the radio here in Spain, where I live and that. I don't go on Twitter, so I can't be lying.
Nice man, **** coach. Fcking idiots giving him a new contract. He was crap last year and nothing has changed. Get rid
Hugely premature. We always start well, should have waited to see if we could become consistent. No way will he complete that contract.
I have zero idea what they were thinking giving him such a long extension. Realistically what is it that he's bringing to the table to warrant it? Poor selections, players out position, favouritism with certain players despite poor performance. Bizarre.
Amazing. Corners which he insists on our awful, over the hill, hot headed, Greek moron takes, and are inevitably absolute ***** 90% of the time.
I don't see what Gracia really did wrong today. We outplayed them for just about the whole game. Their two goals were a mistake from the keeper and an individual error in defence. Apart from the goals I think they only had one chance. We made some great chances and fluffed them all. We lost this game back in the summer when we failed to get a goalscorer in, when it was blatantly obvious to anyone who knows anything about football, that it was our priority.
He started an average Championship centre back ahead of our best centre back AGAIN. He started a horrendously under performing Hughes, out of position, AGAIN. He dropped Masina for absolutely no reason and played the woeful Holebas AGAIN. Oh, and after also playing Deulofeu out of position AGAIN, he swiftly took him off straight after he had created two great chances in the space of two minutes from a wide right position, where he should be playing in the first place.
