2023-2024 EPL Season

luiginb

Registered User
Aug 23, 2007
7,549
2,910
Barcelona
35 ex players are suing the football league for brain lesions they say they've gotten from heading balls repeatedly. I wonder if this means one day heading will be removed from the game.
 

hatterson

Registered User
Apr 12, 2010
36,654
14,170
North Tonawanda, NY
35 ex players are suing the football league for brain lesions they say they've gotten from heading balls repeatedly. I wonder if this means one day heading will be removed from the game.
I listened to this podcast a few years back regarding CTE in football:


It focuses on Jeff Astle (West Brom legend) but touches on a lot of other CTE situations. It's a really well put together mini series of 4 episodes and a total of about 3 bours 45 of listening time.
 

Jussi

Registered User
Feb 28, 2002
94,954
12,137
Mojo Dojo Casa House
35 ex players are suing the football league for brain lesions they say they've gotten from heading balls repeatedly. I wonder if this means one day heading will be removed from the game.
I think the real danger is in potential head collisions while going for the ball. But I can see there being changes to the ball, more forgiving material for example.
 

bluesfan94

Registered User
Jan 7, 2008
31,745
8,647
St. Louis
Michael Oliver dismissing a clear penalty that injured a player which he had a good look of isn't a hypothetical.
Got it. So you’re upset about a call that was overturned in your favor?

You can understand the hypothetical because you finished it with a sentence starting with imagine
 

S E P H

Cloud IX
Mar 5, 2010
32,596
17,991
Toruń, PL
To be fair Raya has the same issue.
Raya has been bloody good, most if not all the major mistakes he's made this season...have actually been self-inflicted ones lol. He isn't as good of a shot blocker as Ramsdale is, who is probably top 3 along with Alisson and Martinez in the EPL, but if you factor in the entire package, Arteta was smart getting him.
 

Paulie Gualtieri

R.I.P. Tony Sirico
May 18, 2016
12,849
3,362
Got it. So you’re upset about a call that was overturned in your favor?

You can understand the hypothetical because you finished it with a sentence starting with imagine
Let me get this straight. You think referees should be excused because VAR covers their butt and overturns their obviously terrible decisions?
 

Savant

Registered User
Oct 3, 2013
38,391
11,479
I only brought it up again because it turns out that Davies is out for the season because of the "clean play".
The season ends in two and a half weeks. It’s not exactly like an ACL tear here. Let’s not make it sound like he was butchered
 
  • Like
Reactions: KJS14

bluesfan94

Registered User
Jan 7, 2008
31,745
8,647
St. Louis
I only brought it up again because it turns out that Davies is out for the season because of the "clean play".
Except it wasn't a clean play. You were awarded a penalty. This is like being upset still because Son broke Gomes' leg and got a red card.

Also, Davies sustained a calf injury after being kicked in the groin. Make that make sense. And out for the season is doing a lot of work for two weeks.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: KJS14

Wee Baby Seamus

Yo, Goober, where's the meat?
Mar 15, 2011
16,266
7,334
Halifax/Toronto
I didn't say that.

I think 4 days later you shouldn't still be upset about a call that you got.
process evaluation vs. outcome evaluation.

yes the call eventually got made and the end result was the same, but it's reasonable to look at the sequence of events and be mad that it took a var intervention to give a stonewall penalty that the ref was staring directly at.

because the var could just as easily have said "he has a good view, call stands."

use your brain here, it's not just about the outcome.

spurs chelsea in october. caicedo has a goal very stupidly disallowed (one of the more insane and over-the-top 'interfered from an offside position' i've seen this season). var then notices that romero tried to destroy his compatriot's shin bone, pulls back, gives penalty.

outcome is same - a goal - and in another sense superior because of the red card. but that does not negate me being pissed off that a very stupid call was made on the actual shot that went into the net.
 

hatterson

Registered User
Apr 12, 2010
36,654
14,170
North Tonawanda, NY
I said at the time (well, when I saw the highlights after the game since I didn't watch it live) that I have no idea how it wasn't called live. Zero idea what the ref thought happened and it was classic PL referee incompetence.

I get being frustrated when a player is injured from that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: luiginb

bluesfan94

Registered User
Jan 7, 2008
31,745
8,647
St. Louis
I said at the time (well, when I saw the highlights after the game since I didn't watch it live) that I have no idea how it wasn't called live. Zero idea what the ref thought happened and it was classic PL referee incompetence.

I get being frustrated when a player is injured from that.
If Oliver had blown his whistle, Davies still would be hurt. Like the actual outcome is no different, so being upset about it days later seems weird to me.

I get being upset about it in the moment, but it had literally zero impact on the game, so continuing to harp on it just is beyond me. But to each their own.
 
Last edited:

luiginb

Registered User
Aug 23, 2007
7,549
2,910
Barcelona
Raya literally has the best crosses stopped % in the top 5 leagues lol

I was going by his handful of games playing goal for the national team. Whenever I watch Arsenal he doesn't even have to claim all that many, as your guys are mostly in control of the ball. I'm actually impressed as he's on the shorter side for modern goalkeepers.
 

Savant

Registered User
Oct 3, 2013
38,391
11,479
A story in three acts.

LFC told Nike that they were charging too much for their kits.

Nike ‘thanks’ LFC with one of the ugliest home kits I’ve ever seen.

LFC dumping Nike and going back to Adidas for 2025-26
 
  • Haha
Reactions: luiginb

Wee Baby Seamus

Yo, Goober, where's the meat?
Mar 15, 2011
16,266
7,334
Halifax/Toronto
I was going by his handful of games playing goal for the national team. Whenever I watch Arsenal he doesn't even have to claim all that many, as your guys are mostly in control of the ball. I'm actually impressed as he's on the shorter side for modern goalkeepers.
i would probably take the sample size of his whole club career versus the sample size of four games for the national team

and ability claiming crosses is generally seen as having a higher premium for teams that control the ball, as generally it is underdog teams which rely more on crosses in matches. it's not a coincidence that the list of top cross claimers by % is dominated by keepers for top teams. #2 is Emi, #3 Maignan, #5 Ederson, #7 Lunin.

It feels like recently, for right or wrong, big teams which dominate possession have been picking keepers far more for distribution and box command than for stopping. I think statistically it probably works out over an entire season, but it does lead to occasional acute issues on a game-by-game level.

Cross-claiming is the only thing we've really missed about Sanchez since he went down and Petro took over. He's definitely stronger aerially than Petrovic is.
 
Last edited:

KJS14

Registered User
Jun 13, 2013
3,470
1,225
I was going by his handful of games playing goal for the national team. Whenever I watch Arsenal he doesn't even have to claim all that many, as your guys are mostly in control of the ball. I'm actually impressed as he's on the shorter side for modern goalkeepers.
Let's just say it's not a coincidence that the Arsenal's defense is significantly better and the only standout change has been Raya over Ramsdale. Ramsdale is a better shot stopper, but Raya is much better at claiming crosses, which is more important for our defense.

What's wild is how willing he is to put his body on the line to claim crosses after getting his face smashed in by Jay Rodriguez while playing for Blackburn years ago.

Edit: Declan Rice also a major change, but the point still stands that Raya has been fantastic.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: luiginb

KJS14

Registered User
Jun 13, 2013
3,470
1,225
A story in three acts.

LFC told Nike that they were charging too much for their kits.

Nike ‘thanks’ LFC with one of the ugliest home kits I’ve ever seen.

LFC dumping Nike and going back to Adidas for 2025-26
The Adidas leaked design for Arsenal's home kit doesn't look great either tbh. Looks like they tried to make us aerodynamic or something. But they have put out bangers for us the past 3 years.
 

Wee Baby Seamus

Yo, Goober, where's the meat?
Mar 15, 2011
16,266
7,334
Halifax/Toronto
Let's just say it's not a coincidence that the Arsenal's defense is significantly better and the only standout change has been Raya over Ramsdale. Ramsdale is a better shot stopper, but Raya is much better at claiming crosses, which is more important for our defense.

What's wild is how willing he is to put his body on the line to claim crosses after getting his face smashed in by Jay Rodriguez while playing for Blackburn years ago.
defense is a full team affair and the standout change has been Declan Rice
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad