Jota gets way with murder and still Klopp rages at ref? Jurgen’s got a bloody cheek…

The Mailbox has had enough of Jurgen Klopp’s bullsh*t when it comes to whining about officials. Also: lousy Leeds; Carry On Spurs; and Arsenal’s shame…

Get your views in to theeditor@football365.com…

Jota joke
Ask yourself if Casemiro did what Jota did would it only be a yellow? Only at Anfield. Shocking refereeing. But Paul Tierney has form.
Anthony, Dublin

…Imagine if Harry Kane kicked one of their players in the head and then scored the winner? It’s all you’d hear for two weeks. Henry Winter would be be writing flowery 5000 word pieces on how Kane’s boot is a fitting metaphor for the systemic oppression of Liverpudlians by the South, Sky Sports News will be diligently replaying the clip over and over again above a yellow ticker reminding us of the assault. Sky’s football coverage would have activated their ‘Harry Kane Question Time’, which is Kane being asked why he’s done something when countless other players do it and avoid any scrutiny. Gabby Agbonlahor and Darren Bent would debate whether or not a stretch inside would sort Kane out, explaining that what he did is far worse than Troy Deeney did to be out in HMP Winson Green

Meanwhile, what’s actually happening is they’re all dribbling over Klopp moaning about a conspiracy against Liverpool.

You have to laugh
Birkenshaw Spurs

Klopp the clown
So after Klopp’s comments after the game which will never be brought up again we’re all agreed managers can’t just say what they want after a game right?

The decision both ways don’t matter you can just slander a ref and it’s all ok?

Just checking we’re all on the same page as Klopp as normal won’t receive any form of punishment

What a load of bullsh*t, and people think FFP is the problem rather than privileged second rate managers
Leon

…Another Newcastle win, and I couldn’t be more pleased about that, but for me the funniest incident of the weekend was what preceded Klopp’s apparent pulled hammy. I’ve yet to see it really addressed in the press, but it looked to me like Klopp ran up to scream something at the fourth official, realized it was a bad look, and faked an injury to cover his foul play as if he were on the pitch. What the heck was that, Jurgen?
Chris C, Toon Army DC

Suck it up
Sigh. Jota Jota Jota…..

No rebuke for Skipp’s ankle breaker at the half hour point.

Nowt for the 30 yard foul on Salah inexplicably given against Salah in the build up to the equaliser

I say this not to ‘shoulda coulda woulda’ or whinge or flail with whataboutary tedium

Just to politely point out in every single game there will be debatable decisions. That they are just that: decisions. Judgement calls from a guy in black trying to keep the game flowing.

VAR cannot make this a science. Having VAR does not and cannot make what is chaos ultimately subject to right and wrong. There is no right or wrong.

Get f*cking rid of VAR

Those utter bores and fanatics still lambasting ‘the implementation’ or ‘the individual’ on VAR are just wildly windmilling to find solutions to something that cannot and will not ever provide what they have been told Football needed which was “the right decision”

Incidentally: does anyone still feel this Computational bollocks has alleviated pressure on PGMOL or added to it?

What used to be whinging in the pub now has internet halfwits genuinely rambling on about conspiracy. Genuinely love to see arsenal fall apart just to give penance to their online legion of babies demanding an apology from all and sundry.

Sigh. Anyway. On to next weekends games and VAR yet again removing debate.
Tom G

Carry On Spurs
I am considering crowdfunding a new movie project, and wanted to know if F365 readers would be partial to a spot of investment.

It’s called “Carry on Spurs”. The manager is played by Kenneth Williams. And Charles Hawtrey. And Bernard Bresslaw. And Hattie Jacques. And Terry Scott. And Barbara Windsor.

Harry Kane is played by Sid James. Modern sensitivities mean that I will cast Son very carefully so not only are we behaving in the right way, but that investors’ interests are also protected. Daniel Levy does not appear on screen but is constantly referred to.

Can you help me get this greenlit?
Mark Meadowcroft

Winners and Losers: Leeds, Wolves and Selles blasted but Brighton, Bournemouth, Wilson and Man Utd hero praised

Lousy Leeds
Leeds are terrible. We are dreadful. Toothless in attack, no composure under pressure, a non-existent defence and no resilience.

Bring back bielsa
Tom

City’s defences
Based on the Man City responder’s emails there seem to be three defences for the club’s financial doping.
1. Other people have done stuff, so we’re not that bad and no different – citing the egregious Liverpool scouting case – which impacted City while cleverly steering away from areas of financial mismanagement that are tarnishing City. I notice no bringing up Calciopoli and Juve being relegated for match-fixing, Leeds being deducted 15 points for financial mismanagement, Portsmouth deducted 10 points, and Rangers essentially getting kicked out of their league. What do these have in common? These were punishments wrought by the leagues and not UEFA. Finally, it was interesting that Juve, again, was not cited for their recent ‘false accounting’ related to false player swap evaluations. Much closer to home in terms of cooking the books. But hey, let’s focus on the scouting story that was resolved between the two clubs.
2. Look how altruistic City is and has taken a run-down area and spent oodles regenerating the area. At least this doesn’t shy away from talking about the huge wealth of the club. This argument brings a vision of a Victorian-era wealthy person giving a pauper a penny while negotiating laws to keep children out of school and working in their factories. Defending him by saying “Nice though, ain’t he, look he gives money to the kids.” City’s money becomes a drug that addicted City fans feed off. Meanwhile, human rights abuses abound back home but can be ignored in the same way those who are addicted. It’s not just the run if the mill (meaning easier to ignore) abuses we hear about in Abu Dhabi, like the mistreatment of LGBTQ or foreign workers but people being disappeared, tortured and flogging and stoning are still commonly used. Abu Dhabi has not signed the most recent human rights treaties. Will City’s management accept 80 lashes in public or stoning in Eastlands if found guilty? Just to show that they aren’t hypocrites like most of the City fans defending them.
3. The money isn’t what got City to this stage, it’s how clever they are. How clever to have brought in the people that kickstarted Barca’s early noughties return to fame. And there is no question that those Barca imports are well able to run a football club – something Boehly might have considered when he took over Chelski and spaffed squillions. I dare to say it but there have been many organizations and States that have organized the killing of many very efficiently. Their ‘cleverness’ does not supersede or negate the evil. But let’s go back to Barca and the current downstream situation they currently find themselves in. What if the EPL were to institute similar financial rules? Yes, there would be a few other clubs in dire straits (looking at you Everton) and whether Chelsea’s recent amortizing contracts like a house mortgage would/should be allowed. But City fans would say look at PSG who haven’t won the big one with all their money…oh! It’s easier to dope a league where the more expensive squad pays off than a cup tournament like the CL. And the fact it has been done so long ago and found ‘not guilty’ by UEFA (which is a complete Fox News rewriting of the actual outcome) should mean they are given a pass. After all, if not City then who? United? Hey, they went public and built a huge stadium and used their money to win trophies in the nineties and noughties. Disregarding that it was all legal AND clever of United at the time.
The point is that there is no defence if the club has used false accounting to financially dope to win trophies. It is not easy to uncover irregularities as UEFA would have to employ hundreds of accountants (as has been suggested) to pore over every club’s finances to the level of detail needed. And even then, it may be too well hidden unless blown open by a whistleblower or hack. Perhaps, at least only teams reaching the quarter-finals of the CL should be examined in the same way athletes reaching a final are tested post-competition. From the data that has been made public and the declarations from CAS and UEFA, City did falsely account for their sponsorships, it was simply stale dated. It still makes them guilty. Sure, their ‘cleverness’ in doing this AND running the club has helped them win trophies and spending on a run-down area won plaudits from the community, but I doubt this will be comforting the person being tortured for attempting ‘freedom of speech’, something City fans are allowed in England.
Paul McDevitt

Arsenal were at it
As much as I despise clubs ‘buying’ the league I haven’t really given Citeh a second thought until this season, as an Arsenal fan, we have been in competing against them.

However, as much as I want to complain about certain teams I have to take into consideration 1919. Arsenal finished fifth officially (actually sixth statistically) in the second division but were elected by vote for promotion to the expanded first division at Tottenham’s expense LOL, which apparently is the real reason for our rivalry with the Spuds rather than location.

Moving from the Manor Ground to our new home in North London doubled attendances and the promotion increased them further.

After the War, Herbert Chapman was recruited from Huddersfield for a record fee and that’s where the story begins.

Arsenal aren’t that innocent much as I love them.
Chris, Croydon

Into ’em
Currently enjoying Fulham v Man City… Maybe City aren’t cold, boring machines at all and it turns out if a team gets in amongst them then they can be rattled and get riled. So instead of whining about their teams not being able to compete, fans of the big six clubs should either a) encourage their teams to get nasty with City and not roll over to have their tummies tickled (Hi Liverpool and Arsenal!) or b) support their local team. Either way, stop moaning, you know you’d be defending the owners if it was your club.
John, Shropshire

Dirty washing
Matt Scouse and Proud Huyton: Congratulations, you’ve been well and truly washed.
If only you were allowed to visit the migrant worker areas in the Middle East to see where the money should be spent, improving the environment, health, rights etc of the workers that have truly paid for the shiny bright things in Manchester, maybe you might see things differently .
Maybe we could bring back the Lancastrian mills, so that generous owners can build a park for the children of parents who die young owing to horrendous conditions inside their workplaces
Steve Leeds

United’s response
The first half was good from United. Similar to the Spurs game where we were creating chances and having most of the possession. Malacia looked good in the first half which is good to see as he has been rocky recently but in the first half his tackling was on point and his overlaps and passing has been good. Casemiro has looked like how he was usually looking before the red cards with winning every challenge comfortably and his passing has been on point in the first half. Casemiro won the header which led to the goal before the half with Rashford timing a good run and getting his shot off which was saved and deflected to Bruno who finishes. It was good to get a goal before the half after playing well but this is very similar to the Spurs game. Hopefully, we have learned from that and come out prepared in the second half.

The second half was a competitive affair from both teams. Villa stayed in the game as there was only one goal in it so that meant United could not rest for a second until the end whistle. United improved from the game against Spurs and made sure not to give Villa any momentum and were still very much present in the game. Lindelof and Shaw continue their great partnership and continue to prove that Lindelof is actually a good defender he has just been stuck with Maguire next to him for 4 years. United made sure to stay focused for the game and made sure to walk away with the three points.

Overall, It was a good result against a good Villa team after a poor second half against Spurs. Today showed we worked on the mistakes of the last game and brings into the game against Brighton with some momentum. Definitely worried about Brighton as they are in some fantastic form and are pretty much a perfect football club but hopefully, United can turn up and perform and keep the wins coming and end the season on a high.
Max of Whitegate

What Arsenal and United need
With United winning 1-0 in a tense game at OT yesterday against a very good Villa team in great form, I would more or less say United have secured Top 4 in playing Champions League football next season. United just need to get a result against Brighton this Thursday, and I would say its 100% done. The difference between United & Arsenal is that United are capable of winning these kinds of scrappy games 1-0 or 2-1 and its encouraging for next season providing United sign a new CB, CM & Striker. I say providing, given United did concede late on a few times this season against Palace & Arsenal in January this year when drawing 1-1 and losing 3-2 and recently against Spurs last week, and if they managed to hold on in those games, United would have an extra 5 points in the bag and would have finished 3rd this season.

Call me biased but if United finish 3rd or 4th this season and manage to win the FA Cup on top of the League Cup success, United will have by FAR had a better season than Arsenal. Yes, Arsenal have been involved in a title challenge this season for 7 months, but no one remembers 2nd place. Did Liverpool get remembered when finishing 2nd with 98 points in 2019 or United get remembered when Aguero scored the last-minute winner in 2012? Nope, thus why did Ferguson do something about it the next season and signed Van Persie and Klopp did a similar thing in maintaining his squad and make sure his team got off to a fantastic start during the 2019-20 season. Arsenal must do a similar thing next season and make one or two big signings and if I were them, it’s time to get a World Class CB, such as Rudiger or De Ligt, and someone like Rice as well as well as decent 2-3 decent squad players. Squad’s win titles, rarely the first XI as injuries will happen. Gabriel is good, but not world class, just a bit of a bull at times with little composure.

I was thinking about the potential Kane signing in the summer for United, but then had second thoughts on it. Don’t get me wrong, wouldn’t complain about Kane getting signed, as he isn’t a selfish player and has a great mix between teamwork and knowing where the back of the net is. But would it be worth signing a 30-year-old striker, probably past his peak, for £100 million? It just seems like a bit of a scam, and I think Levy knows exactly what he is doing. If I were Ten Haag, get someone like Tammy Abraham or Ivan Toney in for half the price, as United need money for other players in the summer, which all now depends on the sale of the club. Tammy doesn’t seem like a pure goal scorer, but United do have Rashford for that and Fernandes will chip in with 10+ goals in the season as well. Antony will get better too I am sure, but if United can sign Abraham or Toney for £40-45 million, then I would say that is worth it and a smarter signing.

Those striker signings instead of Kane would provide more risk, given Kane guarantees 30 goals a season, but he is 30 years old at the start of next season and maybe he just enjoys being at Tottenham due expectations being quite low, he is in his comfort zone so let him stay there. If it were 3 years ago, yes £100 million makes sense, but not now. United do need to strengthen elsewhere and if Untied can sell Maguire, Bailly, McTominay (Sign Sabitzer permanently instead) & Martial and generate around £50-60 million from that, use that money on a CB, another CM and use extra budget on a 15-20 goal a season striker United desperately need.

If United can do that given Ten Haag is actually attempting to coach and improve his players, I would be confident in United having a better season than this season, or one just as good. But United must improve the away form urgently for next season!
Rami, Manchester (Shaw has become a different player & animal this season, could probably play anywhere on the pitch!)

Undav’s watershed moment
We all know that VAR has impeded our goal celebrations sometimes. Watching Premier League games I’m sometimes slow to celebrate legitimate goals, thinking “maybe that one’s going to be ruled out”.
But Undav’s first goal for Brighton on Saturday was a watershed moment, it’s the first time I’ve seen a player not celebrate a goal because he wanted to wait for the inevitable VAR check. Which allowed his goal to stand. The flag had not been raised. But this is what it’s come to now. Sigh.

Beautiful finish for the second goal btw.
Paul in Brussels (if Klopp ever left Liverpool, I would like to see them approach De Zerbi or Thomas Frank)