GWT: EPL - Matchweek 21

[bluesfan94]

Midweek matchweek, on account of the FA Cup weekend. Some fun matches in this matchweek, with both a title context, as Forest welcomes Liverpool to the City Ground and a North London derby at the Emirates. That is not the only London derby, as West Ham hosts Fulham, too. There are also a couple relegation six pointers, with Leicester hosting Crystal Palace and Southampton traveling north to the leaky cauldron known as Old Trafford.

Home	Away	Time and Date (CT)	Venue
Chelsea	Bournemouth	Tue., Jan. 14, 1:30 PM	Stamford Bridge
West Ham United	Fulham	Tue., Jan. 14, 1:30 PM	London Stadium
Brentford	Manchester City	Tue., Jan. 14, 1:30 PM	Gtech Community Stadium
Nottingham Forest	Liverpool	Tue., Jan. 14, 2:00 PM	City Ground
Newcastle United	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Wed., Jan. 15, 1:30 PM	St. James' Park
Everton	Aston Villa	Wed., Jan. 15, 1:30 PM	Goodison Park
Leicester City	Crystal Palace	Wed., Jan. 15, 1:30 PM	King Power Stadium
Arsenal	Tottenham Hotspur	Wed., Jan. 15, 2:00 PM	The Emirates
Ipswich Town	Brighton & Hove Albion	Thu., Jan. 16, 1:30 PM	Portman Road
Manchester United	Southampton	Thu., Jan. 16, 2:00 PM	Old Trafford

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[hatterson]

United fresh off an unexpectedly good performance.

I’d bet a very large amount of money on them coming out awful and losing by multiple goals.

 

[Jussi]

United fresh off an unexpectedly good performance.

I’d bet a very large amount of money on them coming out awful and losing by multiple goals.

Fresh? United play Arsenal in the FA Cup on Sunday.

 

[hatterson]

Fresh? United play Arsenal in the FA Cup on Sunday.

In my head these games were this midweek

 

[spintheblackcircle]

Richarlison and Moore back in training. Moore has been out with a virus since November 1st, must have been a really debilitating illness, glad he is back.

 

[KJS14]

I've been busy over the holidays and not able to catch every game, but have mostly kept up with Arsenal highlights, and I'm wondering what brand new/one-time only call will be given against Arsenal vs Spurs. I know everyone will poke fun about Arsenal fans complaining about the referees, but please give me any other examples of:

• VAR forgot to draw offsides lines on opponent's goal
• Players sent off for time wasting / delaying restart
• Players sent off for last man foul ~50 yards from goal
• Penalties given for a clash of heads

The Saliba DOGSO red was certainly debatable, but there were similar incidents the same match week and following match week which were not given reds. And even if you ignore that decision altogether, refs have cost us at least 6 points this year (Man City and Brighton x2).

And to top it all off, the narrative is that we're a team overly reliant on dark arts corner tactics when in reality the opposing teams are getting away with NFL form tackling our players in the box while we just have a player standing next to their goalkeeper.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

If the hook looks a little too much like fishfood, it’s the fish’s fault for getting caught.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Personally I'm wondering if we are going to see more handball interceptions, like we saw last week.

 

[hatterson]

Personally I'm wondering if we are going to see more handball interceptions, like we saw last week.

Do you mean ones where the ball was kicked into the players arm from close range and the arm was near the players side and in a very natural position, thus not meeting the criteria to be called a deliberate hand ball?

 

[Jussi]

Do you mean ones where the ball was kicked into the players arm from close range and the arm was near the players side and in a very natural position, thus not meeting the criteria to be called a deliberate hand ball?

Stop bringing facts into these threads and ruining good feeling based rants!

 

[Power Man]

LIRL

 

[Savant]

Tomorrow just might be a title decider

 

[S E P H]

With how Arsenal is playing, Ange should be fired if he doesn't win on Wednesday.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

With how Arsenal is playing, Ange should be fired if he doesn't win on Wednesday.

 

[robertmac43]

A mid-week NLD....Good bye productivity.

 

[John Price]

Watch: Pep Guardiola's frustration with fans asking for autographs in bizarre encounter

Guardiola's confrontation with autograph hunters has sparked a debate about the ethics of seeking autographs for profit versus personal enjoyment, highlighting the complexities of the fan-athlete relationship.

worldsoccertalk.com

Usually can't stand him but he's not wrong. Those guys are just going to resell his autograph.

 

[Jussi]

With how Arsenal is playing, Ange should be fired if he doesn't win on Wednesday.

With how Spurs are playing, Arteta should be fired if Arsenal doesn't win.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

With how Arsenal is playing, Ange should be fired if he doesn't win on Wednesday.

We're playing an 18 y/o midfielder as a centre-back.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

We're playing an 18 y/o midfielder as a centre-back.

He's such a good kid on top of being a future star

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

Caicedo as the hybrid RB-CDM again today, and another start for Young Josh!

Veiga on the bench suggests his departure isn't locked in, even though it seems likely.

 

[Savant]

Caicedo as the hybrid RB-CDM again today, and another start for Young Josh!

Veiga on the bench suggests his departure isn't locked in, even though it seems likely.

I don’t know if Maresca is good or not, but he deserves a ton of credit for realizing Enzo and Caicedo in the middle does not work. And fair play to Caicedo for playing RB without a fuss

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

I don’t know if Maresca is good or not, but he deserves a ton of credit for realizing Enzo and Caicedo in the middle does not work.

It's strange though, because he actually had figured out a system which made it work in November-ish.

Cucurella was being slightly more conservative going forward, to allow Enzo to make those late runs that were yielding really good end product (Villa goal the case in point). Enzo was also playing a little deeper and was more disciplined in his running. Seemed like Maresca had drilled into Cucurella and Enzo a system of 'one goes, one stays' which was allowing Enzo and Caicedo to work as a double pivot.

And then, Maresca changed back to what had been happening before? Or maybe Enzo, once the whole team offense was beginning to lose form a bit, started going rogue more? But he's been getting caught up high again, which Maresca had successfully prevented from happening through the fall.

Caicedo in this hybrid RB-DM role allows him and Lavia to functionally be a double pivot, with Cucurella acting as a third CB rather than as an additional attacking force. I think it's probably the best way to get all three of Caicedo, Lavia, and Enzo in. If things aren't working today, though, I do hope that Maresca's first move is to take off Enzo for Reece.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

And fair play to Caicedo for playing RB without a fuss

To be fair, he isn't playing RB anywhere other than on the official team sheet which puts guys in a formation for easy visual display. His role barely changes when he's officially "playing right back." He's still playing DM.

 

[Savant]

To be fair, he isn't playing RB anywhere other than on the official team sheet which puts guys in a formation for easy visual display. His role barely changes when he's officially "playing right back." He's still playing DM.

Sure but the spacing is better

 

[Savant]

Not feeling super awesome about the six pointer coming up. Forest was kind of built in a lab to counter this LFC squad, and they are in better form. LFC need this one very badly. Things could spiral if they lose