tarzansbrother
Vital Football Hero
I would say without jinxing him Carlos would be better suited to mark Hojlund aswell.
The FA Cup Thread
- Thread starter The Fear
- Start date
More to the point I believe VAR was in use last night. That decision was a clear and obvious error and lead directly to a goal. So where were they.
remote
Vital 1st Team Regular
VAR doesn't get involved in free kicks.
I was high up in the gods last night - but it looked to me like he blasted the ball against against a villa player and maybe stubbed his foot. - never in a million years a free kick.
Silhillvilla
Vital Football Legend
think i'd be more upset if i'd spent all that time and money going to Chelsea and then again last night. What a complete waste of time
Villan57
Alert Team
from my position which is the same as the TV it wasn't a foul Tielemans never got to him
The Fear
A Wise Man (once sat next to him)
Hope they did realise the importance, I'd take the FA Cup over that poxy european modern £00tball tinpot thing we are in (don't get me wrong, now we are in it, I want to win it, but no comparison to the FA Cup is it.... oh and heard the West Ham fans singing champions of europe the other day, I hope to fuck we aren't that stupid!)
They showed it clearly in a TV replay. No contact whatsoever. Air shot by the Chelsea player. Another incompetent twat with a whistle.
sirdennis
Alert Team
I'm happy to be corrected but Unai said nothing about prioritising the league over the F.A.Cup , in fact he got quite animated with a reporter who suggested he would.
sirdennis
Alert Team
Yup. The ref was totally useless , but I expect that level from every ref.
The Fear
A Wise Man (once sat next to him)
To be fair, and I do so hate being fair when it comes to refs, it happens so quickly, it did look like a free kick and that is where VAR could straight away be an asset to the game, telling the ref it isn't a matter of opinion, it is simply a mistake, do a drop ball.
MarvelVillan
Vital Reserves Team
Yeah. Admittedly I only half-listened to the presser while working but my take was the same as yours. I thought he took issue at the suggestion of favouring one over the other.
I've read comments and listened to a podcast today suggesting he did the
opposite.
sirdennis
Alert Team
Surely he would have put out a weakened side if he was prioritising anyway. Impossible to tell the players to play at 75% effort or whatever, absolutely impossible.
The Fear
A Wise Man (once sat next to him)
Yes, I wasn't implying otherwise, just to be clear, I've heard or read nothing from Unai.
I was just saying I hope they (as in the team/players) did know the importance. You saw it, they didn't look too active did they!
crimsondonkey
Vital 1st Team Regular
But I was only 'lambasting' the people who were looking to prove a point or say 'look at me, I told you so' etc in the aftermath of defeat.
I think these are a different group from the ones you think its your job to valiantly defend on their behalf.
Wicked Messenger
Vital 1st Team Regular
I know we all try to find a reason when things don’t go right, the difference with Unai is that he really does know what is the reason. Based on his comments and continual theme of controlling the game, the logical conclusion is that if we don’t keep the ball well we hand control to the opposition. Our passing last night was second rate with for me the worst offenders being SJM, Kamara and Tielemans, not sure about Doug. They couldn’t cope with the press and once possession was lost Chelsea had acres of space across the park. City, Liverpool and Arsenal do it better which is not unsurprising as they’ve been building for years. If we can’t keep the ball better against Utd we can expect that speed of counter again.
Silhillvilla
Vital Football Legend
The players didn't put in the required effort and got what they deserved. Strolling around, not pressing, not tracking runners , shocking really in front of a bumper gate and national TV audience.
CDX_EIRE
Vital Football Legend
Konsa was obviously a huge loss and playing a flat back four with two conventional fullbacks has given us at least two of our worst performances this season (Newcatsle/Chelsea).
Kamara is still learning to have that consistency game after game. Between himself and DC, those two are the most likely to cause dangerous turnovers from poor passes.
Pau and Konsa add a level of calm and composure that is perhaps only matched by Dougie. I also feel the loss of leadership between those at the back is massive. Essentially you have Martinez and then it jumps to Dougie/McGinn. So there is this massive void with no leadership and its 50-60% of our game is played where that leadership void is.
Thats my feelings on it aswell remote. I think 5/6. We don't have the squad quality that others do and it does show. Everyone gets injuries , but some squads can carry it better than others. Sunday is huge. Lose that and I think United definitely catch us. A draw would be ok, be pleased with that, a win would be the most important of the season so far.
I'm not sure about the performance level dropping when the subs came on at Sheffield, it think it was more a case of the game was won and even pro's switch off too a certain extent, and are not about too bust a gut or get injured at 5-0 up. Wish Konsa hadn't gone for that far post header, but it is what it is. I'm not angry about results such as last night. It's football, it happens, and it happens too better than us. It's how we respond that defines the rest of the season.
DeanoVilla
One Bloody Number
I'm with you, I didn't see him downplay the FA Cup at all. He basically said the next game is always the most important, the next game being Chelsea.
