Football

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Watching an hour of Briton Ferry v Cardiff City women on youtube before the FA Cup. 150 or so of us enjoying it!

Edited March 2 by The Hallucinating Goose

[gingerjon]

5 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Watching an hour of Briton Ferry v Cardiff City women on youtube before the FA Cup. 150 or so of us enjoying it!

Until this season, Cardiff City were one of the (surprisingly not that uncommon) sides where a club schism had created on team called Women and one called Ladies. One of them played in Wales, and the other followed the men's template of playing in England (with due confusion, the latter one was not the official Cardiff City team). The English playing lot have become Gwalia United this season and moved to Newport.

[gingerjon]

A rare one in depths of the Sussex County Women's League this afternoon where AFC Uckfield Town beat Newhaven DS 1-0 with their only goal being scored by the goalkeeper. Not a goalkick blown in or a last minute header, it was a well taken penalty.

[Gerrumonside ref]

And the HMS Man Utd lists to port as another torpedo slams into her side…

[HawkMan]

Very enjoyable FA Cup weekend , didn't notice empty seats either,  the Cup lives on.

QF Draw;

Bournemouth v Man City 

Fulham v C. Palace

Brighton v Nottm F or Ipswich 

Preston N E v Aston Villa 

[Sidi Fidi Gold]

1 hour ago, HawkMan said:

Very enjoyable FA Cup weekend , didn't notice empty seats either,  the Cup lives on.

QF Draw;

Bournemouth v Man City 

Fulham v C. Palace

Brighton v Nottm F or Ipswich 

Preston N E v Aston Villa 

With the exception of Manchester City, its the most exciting/interesting last 8 for years, no doubt City will win it though, although its the most vulnerable City have been for years.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

33 minutes ago, Sidi Fidi Gold said:

With the exception of Manchester City, its the most exciting/interesting last 8 for years, no doubt City will win it though, although its the most vulnerable City have been for years.

I dunno, this City side hasn't exactly been fantastic this season. The Premier League has been very competitive when it's come to individual fixtures with anyone beating anyone on the day, maybe with the exception of Liverpool. Villa have looked very strong all season and Brighton have been coming into some form of late, this cup is still very open.

[Gerrumonside ref]

On 02/03/2025 at 22:21, The Hallucinating Goose said:

I dunno, this City side hasn't exactly been fantastic this season. The Premier League has been very competitive when it's come to individual fixtures with anyone beating anyone on the day, maybe with the exception of Liverpool. Villa have looked very strong all season and Brighton have been coming into some form of late, this cup is still very open.

Surprised no-one has mentioned it, but now that Brighton have found a bit of form they’ll be looking for revenge against Forest for that 7-0 slamming they got at the City Ground not so long ago.  This is assuming Forest don’t get turned over at home to Ipswich tonight.

Edited March 4 by Gerrumonside ref

[The Hallucinating Goose]

C'mon Cork! 35 mins gone and 1-0 up on Waterford!

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Waterford have pulled it back to 1-1 early in the second half...

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Bloomin eck, a red card for Cork and a late goal from Waterford sees them take the victory 2-1 and strengthen their position at the top of the table. 

[Gerrumonside ref]

St Patrick’s Athletic beat Derry City 2-0 thanks to a couple of penalties and a red card for the opposition.

Moves St Pat’s up to 4th just two points off Waterford ahead of the big Dublin derby with Shamrock Rovers who are languishing at the bottom.

Derry City’s manager not happy though:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cj923mdr0ddo

Edited March 4 by Gerrumonside ref

[JohnM]

On 02/03/2025 at 21:46, Sidi Fidi Gold said:

With the exception of Manchester City, its the most exciting/interesting last 8 for years, no doubt City will win it though, although its the most vulnerable City have been for years.

A City win is far from certain. Us long-term City fans will be familiar with the expression, "Typical bloody City". We have an almost unique ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

[RayCee]

Apparently there was a smash and grab job in Paris. The suspects have legged it England. 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

26 minutes ago, RayCee said:

Apparently there was a smash and grab job in Paris. The suspects have legged it England. 

It is a pretty extraordinary win when you look at the stats. Liverpool had just 29% possession, just 2 shots in the entire game and just 1 on target, which was of course the goal in the 87th minute. At the other end, PSG had 27 shots and 10 on target but didn't do anything with those and 71% possession. Crazy result!

[OriginalMrC]

30 minutes ago, RayCee said:

Apparently there was a smash and grab job in Paris. The suspects have legged it England. 

Got absolutely battered but this team under Slot making a habit of finding a way to win.

[Gerrumonside ref]

Alisson just cementing his place as the goalkeeper in Liverpool’s all time XI as the reds snap PSG’s unbeaten streak.

An outstanding goalkeeping performance.

 

 

[Father Gascoigne]

8 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

It is a pretty extraordinary win when you look at the stats. Liverpool had just 29% possession, just 2 shots in the entire game and just 1 on target, which was of course the goal in the 87th minute. At the other end, PSG had 27 shots and 10 on target but didn't do anything with those and 71% possession. Crazy result!

 

8 hours ago, OriginalMrC said:

Got absolutely battered but this team under Slot making a habit of finding a way to win.

Stats are somewhat meaningless if they're not looked at the in the context of what a team was trying to achieve. There's a difference between being battered and setting up in an attempt not to lose. When you choose to cede control of the ball to the opposition team to the extent that Liverpool did, there's a decent chance that team will look superior. 

Liverpool was happy to let PSG have the ball all night. They made no effort to do anything other than sit deep, stay compact centrally (ceding the flanks), and hit them on the break (and even in those circumstances they rarely committed more than a few players). No pressure on the ball whatsoever either, which is not something you typically see of Liverpool.

That was a conscious decision, and one that made PSG look better than they might otherwise have been. Had Liverpool gone a goal down early, I suspect the complexion of the game would have changed, and it would have looked less flattering for PSG. 

I'd have picked Liverpool to progress had PSG won 1-0. They really needed a two-goal buffer at least, because at Anfield Liverpool will most likely look to control the ball, and PSG's midfield is not going to be able to dictate the pace of play like they did here. 

That said, Dembele remains the most dangerous player on the pitch. While I'm no fan of his decision-making when he gets in the box, he's unbelievably good at dribbling, and it makes sense why you'd want to minimise space between defenders when he's on the ball. 

I'll take a stab and say Liverpool will look the superior side in the second leg, winning by at least three on aggregate. 

[Father Gascoigne]

8 hours ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Alisson just cementing his place as the goalkeeper in Liverpool’s all time XI as the reds snap PSG’s unbeaten streak.

An outstanding goalkeeping performance.

It's one of those things that probably varies depending on age. I'll always pick Messi over Maradona as I've never seen the latter play, other than the odd highlights package.

Similarly, I've never seen Ray Clemence play, but I suspect for a certain generation it's going to be awfully difficult for Alisson to displace him as the greatest ever keeper in club history.  

[Gerrumonside ref]

21 minutes ago, Father Gascoigne said:

It's one of those things that probably varies depending on age. I'll always pick Messi over Maradona as I've never seen the latter play, other than the odd highlights package.

Similarly, I've never seen Ray Clemence play, but I suspect for a certain generation it's going to be awfully difficult for Alisson to displace him as the greatest ever keeper in club history.  

You are right that these things are in the eye of the beholder.  I saw Clemence (towards the end) and he had a period earlier in the 1970’s for Liverpool of making vital saves in key games in Europe.

But no single performance for me as good or sustained as that one last night.

Add in Alisson’s ability with the ball both defensively and of course offensively then it is his jersey in the all time XI. 

Edited March 6 by Gerrumonside ref

[Gerrumonside ref]

46 minutes ago, Father Gascoigne said:

 

Stats are somewhat meaningless if they're not looked at the in the context of what a team was trying to achieve. There's a difference between being battered and setting up in an attempt not to lose. When you choose to cede control of the ball to the opposition team to the extent that Liverpool did, there's a decent chance that team will look superior. 

Liverpool was happy to let PSG have the ball all night. They made no effort to do anything other than sit deep, stay compact centrally (ceding the flanks), and hit them on the break (and even in those circumstances they rarely committed more than a few players). No pressure on the ball whatsoever either, which is not something you typically see of Liverpool.

That was a conscious decision, and one that made PSG look better than they might otherwise have been. Had Liverpool gone a goal down early, I suspect the complexion of the game would have changed, and it would have looked less flattering for PSG. 

I'd have picked Liverpool to progress had PSG won 1-0. They really needed a two-goal buffer at least, because at Anfield Liverpool will most likely look to control the ball, and PSG's midfield is not going to be able to dictate the pace of play like they did here. 

That said, Dembele remains the most dangerous player on the pitch. While I'm no fan of his decision-making when he gets in the box, he's unbelievably good at dribbling, and it makes sense why you'd want to minimise space between defenders when he's on the ball. 

I'll take a stab and say Liverpool will look the superior side in the second leg, winning by at least three on aggregate. 

I agree in the main with this and certainly in the second half I think it was more disciplined and I think Slot said after the game that he simplified the job for the forwards to tracking back after we lost the ball rather than Diaz attempting to do pressing as well.

What I will say though is first half Dembele and Kvaratskhelia caused Liverpool lots of problems and I didn’t feel we were in control for long periods.  There were too many chances occurring inside the box for me.

I think the performance away at City was more of a defensive masterclass where for all their possession actually few good chances were created and Liverpool looked threatening.  Whereas last night I felt it was a goalkeeping masterclass and also Slot’s substitutions were the right ones at the right time.

Edited March 6 by Gerrumonside ref

[Father Gascoigne]

54 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

What I will say though is first half Dembele and Kvaratskhelia caused Liverpool lots of problems and I didn’t feel we were in control for long periods.  There were too many chances occurring inside the box for me.

 

You're right, yeah. Despite the cautious setup, it looked for a time as if it was going to backfire.

I've obviously never played professionally, but I've watched enough to see that teams stick to the given script unless instructed otherwise. There are rarely large momentum swings during a half. That's why you often see such wildly different performances from first to second half. 

I'm guessing Slot instructed them to keep it at 0-0 without deviating from the gameplan. As long as PSG kept racking up half-chances but not scoring, there was no reason to change mentality or setup. So they dominate the ball, camp inside Liverpool's half, create some good chances, and never score. That then looks a battering, or 'smash and grab' as I've seen some headlines suggest, but really Liverpool just stuck to a rigid gameplan, played the percentages and did exactly what they set out to do. The onus was on PSG to make Liverpool adapt, and they failed. 

I guess my point is Liverpool made PSG look way better than they otherwise might have if they were interested in winning at Parc des Princes. I suspect they'll show that they are a better team than PSG at Anfield as the mindset will be completely different, especially now that they are one goal to the good. 

I agree they do have some fantastic players, though. Along with the two you mentioned, Vitinha is proper class and, while he didn't have a great night, Barcola can be a gamechanger. 

Edited March 6 by Father Gascoigne

[Gerrumonside ref]

14 minutes ago, Father Gascoigne said:

You're right, yeah. Despite the cautious setup, it looked for a time as if it was going to backfire.

I've obviously never played professionally, but I've watched enough to see that teams stick to the given script unless instructed otherwise. There are rarely large momentum swings during a half. That's why you often see such wildly different performances from first to second half. 

I'm guessing Slot instructed them to keep it at 0-0 without deviating from the gameplan. As long as PSG kept racking up half-chances but not scoring, there was no reason to change mentality or setup. So they dominate the ball, camp inside Liverpool's half, create some good chances, and never score. That then looks a battering, or 'smash and grab' as I've seen some headlines suggest, but really Liverpool just stuck to a rigid gameplan, played the percentages and did exactly what they set out to do. The onus was on PSG to make Liverpool adapt, and they failed. 

I guess my point is Liverpool made PSG look way better than they otherwise might have if they were interested in winning at Parc des Princes. I suspect they'll show that they are a better team than PSG at Anfield as the mindset will be completely different, especially now that they are one goal to the good. 

I agree they do have some fantastic players. Along with the two you mentioned, Vitinha is proper class and, while he didn't have a great night, Barcola can be a gamechanger. 

I think at Anfield we are going to see just how well PSG can defend and play themselves on the counter attack as I think Liverpool will have more possession than last night.

The crowd too should be one of those snarly on top of everything efforts that tend to inject adrenaline into Liverpool performances and is always at its best when Liverpool are up against it.

PSG have a lot of quality this year, but you need more than that in these types of situations at Anfield or the crowd and the Liverpool team can start reinforcing each other and feel like they can overwhelm anyone.

PSG are good but my main worry is that Liverpool only needing a draw could foster a mentality of a slightly passive outlook if the first 20 mins haven’t produced a breakthrough.

 

Edited March 6 by Gerrumonside ref

[Father Gascoigne]

3 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

PSG are good but my main worry is that only needing a draw could foster a mentality of a slightly passive outlook if the first 20 mins haven’t produced a breakthrough.

 

As a neutral I think it'll be a comfortable victory, but as a fan you're probably right to hold some apprehension. 

Honestly it was just nice to see Liverpool deflate PSG's tires. Having listened to the noise around PSG claiming how much better they are without Mbappe this season, they could have really used one of the most reliable goalscorers in the game. 

That said, with all due respect to Club Brugge and PSG, I think us PL fans all want the Liverpool-Villa quarterfinal, and it's reassuring to see that we're just about there. 

 

[Eddie]

On 04/03/2025 at 09:07, JohnM said:

A City win is far from certain. Us long-term City fans will be familiar with the expression, "Typical bloody City". We have an almost unique ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

That was when you were a proper football club and not a franchise though (sorry )