The January Football Thread

[niko_cee]

Yeah, hadn't thought about the second touch. I guess that should be the decision point as that is when the ball is 'played' to him and he's clearly onside at that point. I want to say you shouldn't be able to flagged offside if you are running away from goal, although that would obviously be a terrible rule without nuance. In hockey they completely changed offside whilst I played from being football style to being only in the last 25. Made the game massively stretched [along with the move to astroturf and going aerial being a thing].

Running back and outside the penalty area would be better as an exemption, but would still have Van Nistelrooy camped on the edge of the box for the entire game. Maybe it shouldn't be possible to be offside outside the width of the penalty box? All these ideas clearly have massive exploits attached so it's probably just best to hope for a fully automated system.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Leeds

Ted Lasso getting donned in the Cup.

[SincereTheRebel]

At this level, players all where those tracker things for stats so they could make use it to track offsidess.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Decent save from Bagan that.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

[Jimmy Floyd]

Another example of incentivising people to commit fouls, should be a penalty goal.

[niko_cee]

Still salty after all these years.

Red card advantage makes up for the 0.2 xG deduction or whatever it is.

Is Perry Ng really pronounced Perry En-Gee?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The wank offside rule strikes again.

Gnoto was offside in the build up but the defender headed it away.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm just against deliberate fouls in all their forms, I don't understand why they're built into football. Too many people watching basketball.

Leeds deserved that goal, really decent team to watch. Cardiff just some men in matching strips.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The wank offside rule strikes again.

Gnoto was offside in the build up but the defender headed it away.

No, that's just normal offside, was hours until he next got the ball.

[niko_cee]

Not sure that's really a case of the bad rule interpretation manifesting itself. The offside player needs to be the one that gets the ball straight after the defender's touch.

[niko_cee]

I'm just against deliberate fouls in all their forms, I don't understand why they're built into football. Too many people watching basketball.

Probably give the City game a swerve then. Thought their cynical fouling tendencies were in overdrive the other day.

I think the award of a penalty and a red card is fair recompense for a goal line handball, although the further you go into Suarez territory then the less equitable it becomes.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

BBC have shit the bed with their selection for the next game.

Why show Man City reserves v Chelsea reserves instead of Villa/Stevenage.

We want cup upsets.

[Jimmy Floyd]

They only show big division gaps at this stage if the small team is at home, otherwise statistically it's likely to be a 4-0 snoozefest, and you don't get the FA Cup vibe from big grounds.

[Adramelch]

I'm just against deliberate fouls in all their forms, I don't understand why they're built into football. Too many people watching basketball.

Leeds deserved that goal, really decent team to watch. Cardiff just some men in matching strips.

Even in basketball they have started giving a lot more unsportsmanlike/flagrant fouls when there's no obvious attempt to play the ball.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I know but the whole setup of basketball is that people 'take fouls' and rotate doing so as an integral part of the game, rather than a foul being something frowned upon.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The start of this game has been a tricky old watch. Chelsea trying to keep the ball 112 yards from goal while being ultra-pressed by five fresh drones.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Shame Havertz had to punch that away at a Premier League stadium where yet another dogshit blind referee can be corrected.

[Lewis]

I feel like you could train a dog to do what Conor Gallagher does.

[Lewis]

Look at Graham Potter on the bench, hungover in his dog-walking coat. What a terrible fit.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I feel sorry for Potter. He has the most insipid collection of unmotivated 'senior' players you could ever find. At least Koulibaly looks like he gives a damn, even if in reality he's just more evidence of the pitiful weakness of the Italian league post 2010. Jorginho and Kovacic are just garbage, while Ziyech and Havertz don't look like they give a fuck. Aubameyang gone for a pub lunch today.

Mount is the exception as he actually shows leadership qualities and drives the team on, yet for some reason he's the one who gets all the online flak.

[randomlegend]

I'm just against deliberate fouls in all their forms, I don't understand why they're built into football

Agreed. If a player is ever in a situation where fouling is the better option then the rules are wrong.

[Waffdon]

I feel sorry for Potter. He has the most insipid collection of unmotivated 'senior' players you could ever find. At least Koulibaly looks like he gives a damn, even if in reality he's just more evidence of the pitiful weakness of the Italian league post 2010. Jorginho and Kovacic are just garbage, while Ziyech and Havertz don't look like they give a fuck. Aubameyang gone for a pub lunch today.

Mount is the exception as he actually shows leadership qualities and drives the team on, yet for some reason he's the one who gets all the online flak.

Mount is one of the worst things about the current Chelsea collection. No technical ability or tactical awareness whatsoever. A slightly more technically savvy Conor Gallagher. The best thing Chelsea can do is tell him to fuck off asking for his £300k a week and sell him on.

[Jimmy Floyd]

You spend far too much time on football twitter.

[niko_cee]

If you look at how infrequently penalty tries are actually given in both rugby codes you'll see how pointless the idea of a penalty goal would be [or perhaps, more generally, how much more subjectivity you'd be injecting into the decision making process]. Probably has to be a full Suarez diving save to be triggered and I don't think that would have been the case with that one today.

A free shot from 12 yards [and a player sent off] more than makes up for the loss of a goal.

A more interesting change would be to try and stamp out the tactical fouls designed to break up attacks and/or the awarding of a penalty for a professional foul outside of the box.

[niko_cee]

Now, I'm no frequent watcher of Chelsea, but "no technical ability or tactical awareness whatsoever" seems like a very weird critique of Mount. Always struck me as a player who's 'understanding of the game' [for want of a better vaguery] allied to decent competences in most other areas made him stand out - see how much more influential he was for Derby than Wilson who is probably a 'better player' in purely technical terms. I suppose you could just say that was his level, but I'd have him. Kind of a right place at the right time man.

[Jimmy Floyd]

In football it's literally only for this instance (a deliberate handball basically on the goal line), because there's no other instance where it would be appropriate.

How about two kinds of penalty - one from six yards and one from 18.

[niko_cee]

Would a six yard penalty be easier or harder? Head injury charities would probably take a dim view of torching the ball at someone from 6 yards.

Could give Neville Southall a career all over again. It's a lot of goalie to miss.

[Gray Fox]

Mount was also the one who played the incisive through ball for Havertz in the UCL Final, no?

[randomlegend]

If you look at how infrequently penalty tries are actually given in both rugby codes you'll see how pointless the idea of a penalty goal would be [or perhaps, more generally, how much more subjectivity you'd be injecting into the decision making process]. Probably has to be a full Suarez diving save to be triggered and I don't think that would have been the case with that one today.

A free shot from 12 yards [and a player sent off] more than makes up for the loss of a goal.

A more interesting change would be to try and stamp out the tactical fouls designed to break up attacks and/or the awarding of a penalty for a professional foul outside of the box.

I'd be down for a yellow card for the first player on a tea. to commit a tactical foul and straight reds for any subsequent ones. Making it a stone wall yellow would be the bare minimum, but you see teams get around at least some of that with the rotational fouling nonsense.

[Pepe]

Red cards ruin games way more than tactical fouls.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Would a six yard penalty be easier or harder? Head injury charities would probably take a dim view of torching the ball at someone from 6 yards.

Could give Neville Southall a career all over again. It's a lot of goalie to miss.

Alright - thirty yards, no goalkeeper, and it can only bounce once.

[Waffdon]

Mount was also the one who played the incisive through ball for Havertz in the UCL Final, no?

Yeah. Still doesn’t change the fact he’s not all that good. He should be a squad player at most, not starting every single week. Look at England without him messing every single attack up.

Koulibaly looking more and more tragic with every passing week. Tuchel’s signings last summer really have all turned out to be an absolute shambles.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Our fans singing for Tuchel is embarrassing.

Good ebening everyone.

[niko_cee]

As if Tuchel had any say whatsoever.

Haven't they got all of the finest minds in football directing there now? Presumably all miraculously not consulted about such matters as part of the interview process.

If Potter walks out of this with a 5 year pay-off for 3 months work the he'll have pretty much won football.

Crawley Town are probably hiring after that manager of theirs got sent down for racism [I assume in reality they have another manager but hey ho].

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Stevenage

As I said, BBC got the game selection wrong.

Giant killing > Two Prem sides sending out the reserves.

[niko_cee]

Aye, Jimmy [sort of] wrong with his 4-0 snoozefest prediction.

[Waffdon]

As if Tuchel had any say whatsoever.

Haven't they got all of the finest minds in football directing there now? Presumably all miraculously not consulted about such matters as part of the interview process.

If Potter walks out of this with a 5 year pay-off for 3 months work the he'll have pretty much won football.

Crawley Town are probably hiring after that manager of theirs got sent down for racism [I assume in reality they have another manager but hey ho].

Aubameyang and Koulibaly are the most Thomas Tuchel signings possible. Tuchel turned down Kounde and that’s why they got Koulibaly instead. Experience is all that matters to TT,

[Giggles]

There are cards for these things. Fuck all that penalty goal multi ball shite.

[randomlegend]

Red cards ruin games way more than tactical fouls.

People would stop doing it after about two games and you'd be left with neither tactical fouls nor loads of red cards.

[Shindig]

Yeah, punishment did wonders for diving ...

[Pepe]

We would get ten more VAR stoppages per game so that the fifty referee consortium can decide whether each foul was a tactical foul or not.

[randomlegend]

Yeah, punishment did wonders for diving ...

Because they never actually did it. They literally gave out about 3 yellow cards for a couple of weekends and then never did it again unless Daniel James is playing.

[Manc]

Guardiola would be finished if tactical fouling was punished.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Pepe speaks for Concacaf, where you could have the centre back throwing axes into the backs of strikers through on goal and the referee would just wave play on and shout sigue sigue as if ducking projectile axes has always been part of the game.

Free kick if someone falls over in the right back area though.

[Don]

No idea why Atleti-Barca is on ITV4 but

[Jimmy Floyd]

Turned on just in time for Pedri to create a wonderful goal and for a whole load of bestriped Simeone gypos to immediately surrounded the greasy-haired ref to complain about nothing. I do miss regular La Liga.

Fuck Matterface though.

[niko_cee]

Interesting month ahead for Graham Potter's Chelsea, seeing as the knives appear to be being sharpened. Couple of West London derbies against the RESURGENT Cottagers, West Ham away, Palace and the comfort of a trip to Anfield. Can see him getting the bullet if things go poorly through that, which they well could.

Pretty sure Brighton went through these long winter malaises under him as well so don't say you weren't warned.

[Ben]

Potter has definitely been put on a pedestal with his "great manager" reputation but a) De Zerbi has proved already that he wasn't working miracles and b) the problems at Chelsea are way bigger than the manager.

He needs to be given time but I don't think he's an oracle either.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I rate Potter highly in terms of getting the most out of players over the long run, but his comportment / nice guy image is really hurting him badly, football people really dislike overt niceness. If he was a snarling cunt or hard man he'd get more time.

There's also an argument that when you step up to managing massive world egos, you need to have a bit more 'aura' than he has. A bit of a data analyst's pick.

He's also another for my Name Theory of Everything. Graham Potter is not a name that buys you respect in this arena. If he was called, I dunno, Mick Brown, he'd have more of a chance.