Today's Football

[Crumpets]

I think the large number of assists largely come from having such good finishers alongside him
But yeah, the drop off was much more noticeable after AFCON. Long season.

Coutinho fell victim to the same thing I recall. Coming inside and shooting on his right from 25 yards. It amazes me how so many full backs still don't keep Salah from coming inside. Easier said than done I suppose!

I think United are after de Jong because of the ten Hag 'connection'. And they love splashing the cash to remind people they're still a big club (In their heads)
Who knows how he'll turn out. But United have a terrible habit of keeping their under-underformers for too long.
One thing already is, he appears not to want join United and that doesn't bode well. Maybe unnoticeable at Barca, but evidentally not a dumb chap

[Derek27]

That's a lot of money for a salad.

[greenmark]

Only just twigged about Salah's new £350k a week deal.
Not sure this is a good move. Is he worth 100k more than any other LFC player?
It has the potential to disrupt the team. I think we should have stuck to the pay structure and looked elsewhere if he left.
It does mean, though, I will be glued to every televised LFC game. Huge call for Julian Ward too.

[Dallas]

Clubs in the Premier and Championship league can now apply for safe standing areas in their grounds

[Derek27]

Clubs in the Premier and Championship league can now apply for safe standing areas in their grounds

I'm all for safety improvements. Nothing's more dangerous than standing up.

[On_The_Edge]

Galtier to be the next coach of PSG. Very nice, I'm of the opinion he was probably the best coaches overall in Ligue 1 over the last two seasons. Very impressive what he has achieved with Lille, especially.

[weemac]

Darn it....I backed over 95.5 pre match.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/africa/62049926

[Derek27]

Darn it....I backed over 95.5 pre match.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/africa/62049926

If you're gonna fix a match you may as well go big.


Two goals a minute in the second half!!

[Derek27]

What sort of bet delay do they have in a 100-metre sprint? I hope it's not 12 seconds!

[greenmark]

Crikey! Alex Scott may have a point about diversity in womens footy. Pure white England team. Anyone that's played the game kniws thats just weird.

[Trader Pat]

I rarely watch women's football but I'm sure the England coach is picking the best eleven available?

You're always going to have people complaining about the makeup of a team along racial lines but the goal should always be to have the best players on the pitch that are available to select. Like I said I know nothing about womens football but maybe someone more knowledgeable than me can say if there are girls of colour who are more deserving of a start.

You see this too in Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton saying there's not enough diversity and there should be some kind of quota to ensure drivers of colour get a fair shot at a seat. Maybe the message should be to focus on ensuring the best drivers based on talent get an F1 seat and not someone who has the financial backing to buy a seat. Maybe then more black drivers would get a shot.

[greenmark]

I rarely watch women's football but I'm sure the England coach is picking the best eleven available?

You're always going to have people complaining about the makeup of a team along racial lines but the goal should always be to have the best players on the pitch that are available to select. Like I said I know nothing about womens football but maybe someone more knowledgeable than me can say if there are girls of colour who are more deserving of a start.

You see this too in Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton saying there's not enough diversity and there should be some kind of quota to ensure drivers of colour get a fair shot at a seat. Maybe the message should be to focus on ensuring the best drivers based on talent get an F1 seat and not someone who has the financial backing to buy a seat. Maybe then more black drivers would get a shot.

Sorry Trader Pat but I've played footy for yonks in Brum and Sheffield and you can't ignore the talent in the BAME community, It's right there on the pitch with you, either your side or the opposition. It's strange for me that the BAME players in England's women have fallen away.

[Trader Pat]

I rarely watch women's football but I'm sure the England coach is picking the best eleven available?

You're always going to have people complaining about the makeup of a team along racial lines but the goal should always be to have the best players on the pitch that are available to select. Like I said I know nothing about womens football but maybe someone more knowledgeable than me can say if there are girls of colour who are more deserving of a start.

You see this too in Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton saying there's not enough diversity and there should be some kind of quota to ensure drivers of colour get a fair shot at a seat. Maybe the message should be to focus on ensuring the best drivers based on talent get an F1 seat and not someone who has the financial backing to buy a seat. Maybe then more black drivers would get a shot.

Sorry Trader Pat but I've played footy for yonks in Brum and Sheffield and you can't ignore the talent in the BAME community, It's right there on the pitch with you, either your side or the opposition. It's strange for me that the BAME players in England's women have fallen away.

I'm ignorant about women's football and you obviously know a lot more about the subject than I do but do you really think the coach hasn't picked some players for this match because of the colour of their skin?

If the team is all white then I'm sure it will be picked by the media and she'll have to answer questions about I'd be amazed if she hasn't just picked who she believes are the best eleven players for the game at hand.

[jimibt]

I rarely watch women's football but I'm sure the England coach is picking the best eleven available?

You're always going to have people complaining about the makeup of a team along racial lines but the goal should always be to have the best players on the pitch that are available to select. Like I said I know nothing about womens football but maybe someone more knowledgeable than me can say if there are girls of colour who are more deserving of a start.

You see this too in Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton saying there's not enough diversity and there should be some kind of quota to ensure drivers of colour get a fair shot at a seat. Maybe the message should be to focus on ensuring the best drivers based on talent get an F1 seat and not someone who has the financial backing to buy a seat. Maybe then more black drivers would get a shot.

Sorry Trader Pat but I've played footy for yonks in Brum and Sheffield and you can't ignore the talent in the BAME community, It's right there on the pitch with you, either your side or the opposition. It's strange for me that the BAME players in England's women have fallen away.

yup, watching now and is quite obvious. can't comment on the reasons why, but could be legacy cultural and hopefully we're playing catchup and will see more diversity in coming years or sooner).

in other news, hoping Derek isn't watching for reasons other than the sport!!

[edit] - weirdly, like tennis, the womans' game has got more going for it as the field literally seems far more balanced/evenly competative and therefore more contentious. who knows how long it will be before we have a premier league side with one of these players. prolly not tomorrow, but there are some great natural players here.

[greenmark]

I rarely watch women's football but I'm sure the England coach is picking the best eleven available?

You're always going to have people complaining about the makeup of a team along racial lines but the goal should always be to have the best players on the pitch that are available to select. Like I said I know nothing about womens football but maybe someone more knowledgeable than me can say if there are girls of colour who are more deserving of a start.

You see this too in Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton saying there's not enough diversity and there should be some kind of quota to ensure drivers of colour get a fair shot at a seat. Maybe the message should be to focus on ensuring the best drivers based on talent get an F1 seat and not someone who has the financial backing to buy a seat. Maybe then more black drivers would get a shot.

Sorry Trader Pat but I've played footy for yonks in Brum and Sheffield and you can't ignore the talent in the BAME community, It's right there on the pitch with you, either your side or the opposition. It's strange for me that the BAME players in England's women have fallen away.

yup, watching now and is quite obvious. can't comment on the reasons why, but could be legacy cultural and hopefully we're playing catchup and will see more diversity in coming years or sooner).

in other news, hoping Derek isn't watching for reasons other than the sport!!

[edit] - weirdly, like tennis, the womans' game has got more going for it as the field literally seems far more balanced/evenly competative and therefore more contentious. who knows how long it will be before we have a premier league side with one of these players. prolly not tomorrow, but there are some great natural players here.

Can't ever see a woman in the Prem. An intriguing concept though.
How would it work? Women are (so far as my stupidity extends) are generally 10% less powerful than men.
So you couldn't place a swift forward female ahead of a male. And you coudn't place a tall girl in place of any man approaching the competence of virgil van dijk.
Or maybe I'm wrong. The changing room scenario would be interesting though.