tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51572884813574686352024-03-14T01:18:11.314-07:00Pitch TalkThis is the Official Pitch Talk Blog, accept no imitations, because we have no limitations, because the pitch is where we eat, the pitch is where we sleep, and the pitch is where we talk!!!Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-79576821065807141402017-08-27T12:14:00.000-07:002017-08-27T12:14:11.783-07:00A Straight Shootin' View on Liverpool 4-0 Arsenal - 27-08-2017What a game, as a Liverpool fan especially, but even the neutrals had to enjoy this one. I said to a friend of mine as the match started, that 'this should be fun' and that we (Liverpool) need a fast start, but also that there should be goals in it, glad I was right on the goals note!<div>
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Here are my thoughts on the match and a couple of other issues around the match & result.</div>
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In the first 20 minutes Arsenal were getting sliced open at will and could easily have been 2 or 3 but we still needed to be aware as Welbeck was troubling Lovren a bit, resulting in a yellow card which was a bit of a warning. At one point I did think to myself (and asked a couple of friends), 'How many times did Gary Neville use the word 'pathetic' in description of Arsenal's defending in the 1st 15 minutes on Sky Sports commentary?' Another thing I noticed, was that the referee seemed oddly willing to hand out cards for nothing though, especially Welbeck on Moreno which wasn't worth a yellow card at all, but that ended up as a mere footnote in this game, rather than a main talking point. The goal from Firmino that Arsenal conceded from open play, was like us (Liverpool) and the goals we concede from set pieces so often, a free header from a player ghosting in with a late run.</div>
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At this moment i'll quote a good friend of mine who said about his beloved Arsenal, 'We have been p*ss poor. Defensively we are a disgrace. No balance in midfield, Ozil, Ramsey and Xhaka are not up to it, We get exposed far too often and now it's 2-0, Wenger hasn't got a clue what he is doing' – Fair points as Arsenal started with a back 3 against a Liverpool side known for not only a fluid attack, but a lightning quick counter attack, which was shown in spades as this match played out. The other 2 points i'll reference again later about players not being up for it and Wenger not knowing what he's doing as this feeds back into a bigger issue, so stay locked for that.</div>
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When we (Liverpool) went 2-0 up, I don't think anyone could argue not only that it was coming, but that it was throughly deserved and even though people know about us on the counter attack, stopping it is a different matter altogether. In my view as a centre back for Southern Amateur League side Ibis Eagles AFC, Bellerin should have cleaned Salah's clock and did everything in his power to stop the counter, take the punishment (whether yellow or red card), but stop the goal.</div>
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Once again a friend of mine hit the nail on the head by saying about our counter attack 'Well it can be stopped if you tactically adapt to the opposition' and I definitely believe this is true as a statement. If you're playing against a side with a lightning quick counter attack, the 2nd goal Arsenal conceded showed exactly how you DON'T defend against it. Bellerin being the last man back was bad enough, but the fact he was inside the Liverpool half was legalized insanity, especially as he got left 1 on 1 with a man like Mo Salah, who to quote legendary WWE commentator Jim Ross 'Isn't quick, he's sudden', you could tell what was about to happen & Salah took a chance after fluffing his lines earlier in the match.</div>
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One thing that filled me with optimism for the season as a Liverpool supporter is that as irresistible as we're at that point going forward, we had really worked hard coming back, defending in packs and crowding guys out, especially Sanchez & Welbeck who basically had their supply lines cut and as I've said on Pitch Talk shows and videos 'starve a striker of service and he can't hurt you'.</div>
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Once again my Arsenal supporting friend was critical of Wenger, but of the players too as he said at this point, 'Wenger once again making the same old mistakes, nothing has changed at Arsenal, poor defensively, same old tippy tappy passes' and probably the most telling quote at 2-0 down was 'We look out of our depth.<br /><div>
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Personally in regards to Arsenal & their woeful first half, I think it's the players and Gary Neville was spot on in terms of laziness of players, not tracking runs etc, Xhaka trying to play back heels to Cech under pressure with a Liverpool player breathing down his neck, that isn't Wenger's fault, that's just lazy players. My friend did reply by saying 'But all of this happened last season, nothing has been done to address these flaws, this is beyond shocking from Arsenal but we have about 10-15 games like this a season'.</div>
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As much as I do agree with the sentiments expressed above, I feel that the Arsenal board extended Wenger's contract, so that for me is where the vitriol needs to be aimed. The Arsenal board (who've had a bit of bad press recently via Stan Kroenke) seem to just sign one big money player a year, just to temporarily satiate a fickle area of their clubs fan base (Ozil, Sanchez & Lacazette to name 3 examples), when just like us, Arsenal have defensive issues that are screwing them over more often than not and to coin another phrase, every great team is built on a solid defense.</div>
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'Utter naivety & being caught over and over again on the counter' was a problem my friend kept seeing during this match and I agreed, but felt that leaving no one else back against a counter attack as rapid as ours is insanity, bur again, that isn't Wenger's fault, those players on the pitch should be aware and should have learned from the first half.</div>
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An interesting roll of the dice came from Arsene Wenger in the form of taking Alexis Sanchez & Oxlade-Chamberlain off (my Arsenal supporting friend wasn't happy about Sanchez coming off) and I was similarly perplexed. I could understand Lacazette & Giroud coming on & Oxlade-Chamberlain off, but Sanchez coming off too was odd when chasing a game, as Sanchez had nothing to feed on at all. I thought Arsenal would offer more threat with Sanchez on if he gets service, and Ozil is a supply line, so could see why he wasn't taken off, plus he's another big money player, it was a shame (if you support Arsenal) that his performance was abysmal...</div>
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Martin Tyler at one point said on commentary what I said to my friend half an hour before, about players taking individual responsibility and somewhat ironically, Holding did to Henderson, what Bellerin should have done on Liverpool's third goal, cynical challenge, but stop the attack, but in terms of decision making during the match overall, it was too little too late.</div>
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Our 4th goal, to quote legendary wrestling manager Jim Cornette was 'slicker than whale sh*t in an ice flow' & Salah's ball was begging for Sturridge to bury it (which he did as he's deadly when he's fit) and also at that point I made mention of the fact that Roberto Firmino was putting in a lot of defensive work</div>
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Final thoughts on the match - Big game, big win for us today, all around brilliant punishing a woeful Arsenal side, there are the obvious standout attacking performances, but Firmino tracking back all game, Moreno doing well and Emre Can running things was tremendous, all helped shut Arsenal out. Sanchez got no service and Welbeck looked lively initially, but again, the lack of service as the game went on stifled him too. Post match thoughts - I said to my friend that the media will make a lot of the Sanchez reactions, (after the goals and after he came off), Ozil will get it in the neck again, Cech was the only one who can say he really did anything, but the 10 in front of him let Arsene Wenger and him down with an utterly limp, lifeless performance. Thierry Henry for me, in the post match analysis on Sky Sports tried to give the players an easy excuse, by basically saying no wonder players want to leave after a match like that, but for me, players are the ones who go on the pitch and make the impact, so that's a moot point. You can't say; oh, things are going wrong, but I'm not going to give any effort to help change things' and still complain that you want to leave because things aren't moving forward.<br /><div>
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Jamie Carragher (who yes, is a hero of mine) was spot on (in my view) with his comments on a lack of ruthlessness at Arsenal, spreading from the board right down to the playing squad and Henry did have a good point piggy backing on that about everyone at that club, from the players, to Wenger, to the board, being in a comfort zone and everything being 'nice' at the club.</div>
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To me, In regards to Arsenal if you look further than the repetitive (and in all honesty, utterly boring) Wenger out rhetoric that certain 'media outlets like to perpetuate, it's not hard to see what is really going on, but like in general life, most people are focused on the wrong thing, not saying Wenger isn't at least partially responsible, but there are bigger forces at work. The stagnation and/or decline of a club is never down to just one person, it's always a combination of factors & people. In regards to my beloved Redmen Liverpool, we looked impressive against an abject and abysmal Arsenal and our only real worry throughout the match was Lloris Karius on the ball, but fortunately, he literally had nothing else to do, but going into the international break after 3 games, things are good, but we need to tighten up at the back as better sides could really expose us at the back, especially on set pieces.</div>
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I'm Straight Shootin' LJA...And that's my opinion!!!</div>
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Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-29316475353668467942016-11-03T10:27:00.002-07:002016-11-03T10:27:08.844-07:00FIFA vs Poppies & deflection from a bigger issueFirst of all I'd like to say that my stance is that not being able to wear poppies on a football shirt or an armband, is a problem for 1 hr 30 minutes, is actually prohibited by rules of the game and for me is nothing but a deflection tactic to the real issues, which I'll go over below. <br />
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Secondly, this blog will discuss an issue where politics and football overlap, which (as i've mentioned on Pitch Talk Live #ptlive shows) is never a good thing.<br />
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Now, with that being said, the fact that homelessness is a real societal issue that can be so easily solved, but fact that the powers that be and their greed perpetuate the problem should be a massive source of consternation to all, not the wearing of a poppy on an armband or a football shirt for one match. <br />
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Homeless charity Crisis (http://www.crisis.org.uk) on their website define being homless as; 'At worst, homelessness can mean sleeping rough on the streets.<br />
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In 2015 Government statistics showed that 3,569 people slept rough on any one night across England - this is over double the number counted in 2010<br />
Local agencies report 8,096 people slept rough in London alone throughout 2015/16 - A six per cent rise on the previous year, and more than double the figure of 3,673 in 2009/10<br />
However, the problem of homelessness is much bigger than that of rough sleeping' (Source - http://www.crisis.org.uk/pages/homeless-def-numbers.html) <br />
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Soldiers off the Street ( http://www.soldiersoffthestreet.org) is a charity that tries to re-house ex service personnel and the Daily Mirror in 2013 claimed that 1 in 10 homeless people were ex-service personnel (9000 people) ( https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/9000-ex-service-personnel-homeless-after-2071049.amp).<br />
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This is a real issue that the government, especially Theresa May need to focus on, not whether or not armbands with poppies on are worn during a football match. <br />
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People like Theresa May need to focus on running the country instead of taking swipes at the powers that be in football. This isn't a new thing, the rules are there and have been there for a while that World governing body Fifa have a ban on political, religious or commercial messages on shirts, and poppies, (even though it's an emotive subject for some) count as a political message.<br />
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As said, this isn't a new issue, we discussed it on our #ptlive show back in 2011 - https://youtu.be/TCJqrJIJk1A<br />
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Sad thing is though, that most people don't read beyond the sensationalist #parisiticmedia headlines that only serve the purpose of deflecting from the real issues instead of informing and empowering people.<br />
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War is a horrible thing, but many countries are affected by it and if you open the floodgates for one, you must do it for all and a free for all situation is never a good thing. It's definitely an emotive subject, just look at the way James McClean is treated for choosing NOT to wear a poppy on his shirt each year, but rationale at some point must kick in.<br />
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In my view, People fighting this hard to wear a poppy on a shirt or an armband for a football match, should be fighting just as hard to help solve the problem of homelessness for troops and people in general. <br />
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If England, Scotland and Wales want to defy the poppy ban, then they'll have to take the consequences for breaking the rules that have been there for a long time, but for me, this is all deflection and once this is over this year, either we won't hear about it until next year, or it'll take another 5 years to become an argument again and more bandwagon jumpers like Theresa May will use it as a way to get themselves some public favour...<br />
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United, we are a force, divided we are nothing and the powers that be would rather keep us non-existent, than see us thrive & move forward... and as much as I criticise Fifa on a daily basis (on #ptlive shows & general conversation), they're right in this situation as the rules are clear.<br />
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I'm Straight Shootin' LJA...and that's my opinion!!!<br />
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Join us Live Every Monday Night from 8pm-10pm (UK Time) for Pitch Talk LIVE show @ <a href="http://www.youtube.com/pitchtalk">http://www.youtube.com/pitchtalk</a>Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-8557850697614641532016-09-26T18:31:00.000-07:002016-09-26T18:33:37.780-07:00Corruption in football, Allardyce & a broken English reputationCorruption in British football involving the English <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/fa?source=feed_text&story_id=1278977715467859">#fa</a> & the England manager, we've discussed corruption for years on Pitch Talk Live <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/ptlive?source=feed_text&story_id=1278977715467859">#ptlive</a> shows (links available upon request), so for us (especially yours truly) the Telegraph’s revelations of a sting operation involving England manager Sam Allardyce are not a surprise at all.<br />
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We've said on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/ptlive?source=feed_text&story_id=1278977715467859&hc_location=ufi">#ptlive</a> shows for years and discussed in detail about how corrupt FIFA, UEFA and our own English FA are (check out http://youtube.com/pitchtalk for numerous corruption in football special feature segments) and we’ve always said that sh*t would hit the fan at some point (I was waiting for the day personally). Hopefully this latest scandal is the beginning of the dissolution of the good old boy networks i’ve always been critical of at FA level…<br />
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FIFA were the first to get exposed but we knew it wouldn't be the last. Circumventing rules isn't new, when FFP was first suggested we said straight away that the bigger clubs would find loopholes to get around them, so Allardyce speaking on the Telegraph newspaper sting about circumventing third party ownership rules isn’t a new thing, it’s more of a who thing, as in, who are they talking about in terms of players. Remember, as we discussed on a #ptlive show in May 2015, agents have been deregulated by FIFA, so Allardyce's comments about getting agents on board plays into what we discussed about deregulation potentially leading to a 'wild west' of agents with any Tom, Dick & Harry getting into that sector and young players development not only being hampered, but neglected totally, but even that is only part of the problem.<br />
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Panorama bung scandal documentaries done on behalf of the BBC & Channel 4 Dispatches documentaries on buying football clubs (just to name 2 examples), these stings have been done before on multiple occasions. Harry Redknapp, Sven Goran Ericsson, Bryan Robson have all been stung at some point before and those are just in relation to British clubs/people, don't get me started on FIFA & UEFA or we'll be here all night. <br />
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Some say this Telegraph sting with Sam Allardyce hurts the integrity of our FA/English football’s reputation, i’d disagree on that because to me this is another in a long list of things that have damaged the integrity of English football. Our FA, those in & those around it have compromised the integrity of english football for many years, for many reasons including the callous destruction of the grass roots game, the loopholes in the homegrown rule, half baked rules for the development of the game including the suggestion of Premier League B-teams in English Football league, the very public brownnosing of Adnan Januzaj that was utterly embarrassing & sent complete mixed messages to young domestic talent, the lack of BAME representation at the top levels of the game, the list is endless.<br />
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As I said on one of our recent #PTLIVE special feature segments on our show, When you have corruption at the very top, don't be surprised if it's evident elsewhere and at every level of the game... From Claus Lundekvam talking about spot fixing during his days at Southampton in the 90s, to match fixing in Champions league matches from 2009 (see Debrecen’s GK v Liverpool fc), to El Salvador being approached to fix a game v Canada a few short weeks ago.<br />
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This is disappointing but nowhere near surprising because as we've said for years, to get rid of corruption in football, you'd have to literally stop the game, or to borrow the title of a tune from Nas’ 2001 album; Stillmatic... Destroy and Rebuild.<br />
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More stuff will hit the fan and more people will be thrown under the bus, but unless swift and decisive changes happen, it’ll keep happening. On Pitch Talk LIVE back in 2011 (and on other occasions) we called for Interpol to investigate FIFA and that eventually happened in 2015, hopefully that will happen in regards to this level of corruption in British football.<br />
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I wouldn’t hold my breath on that happening though, because just like i’ve said about FIFA & UEFA, too many people are making kickbacks on this corruption to want to ruffle feathers and they’ll do everything to stop proper investigations & nothing will change as it’ll blow over and the #parisiticmedia will move onto the next story and leave this in the rear view, which is why i’d like to see an independent entity clean this utter mess up, because how can you take the FA seriously, when they won’t take the scourge of corruption seriously…<br />
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One of the other sad things about this for me is the fact that us fans are the ones getting constantly shafted, whether directly or indirectly, immediately or eventually, whilst those at the top generally get off scot free in these situations with a slap on the wrist and a giant payoff and us fans are again left questioning our love for a game riddled by corruption and greed. <br />
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Unless people are brought to justice and held accountable for their actions, they’ll keep on happening and if all our FA do is come out and make a ‘statement’ about this and don’t take swift, draconian action, then i’ll have to quote HBK Shawn Michaels again and say ‘If I wanted crap out of you, i’d pick it out of your teeth’ to FA Chairman Greg Clarke and co.<br />
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Some serious sh*t is about to hit the fan and on a personal note, don't say we didn't warn you :-)<br />
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I'm Straight Shootin' LJA...and that's my opinion!!!<br />
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Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-90054854381137652422016-09-24T11:29:00.000-07:002016-09-24T11:47:42.794-07:00Pedestrian buildups & sloppy defending = Defeats<div class="p1">
<i>Straight Shootin’ LJA would like to take a few of minutes of your time to focus a bit on 2 of the big games this past Saturday (24th September 2016), Manchester United 4-1 Leicester city & Arsenal 3-0 v Chelsea.</i></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Manchester United 4-1 Leicester City - </b></span></div>
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Just for the sake of full disclosure, I was hoping Man United would get beaten soundly as you know that Jose Mourinho would have had a bitch fit, but I digress. The reigning champions were humbled at Old Trafford and it wasn’t by accident. Like I said on a recent Pitch Talk live show, for the money paid for Paul Pogba, I’d want him influencing every game he's in, helping his team get back into the champions league in the process and i'm expecting a ballon d'or winner inside 2 years, because if world record fees are being paid, i’m having world class expectations.</div>
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Credit to Pogba though as he was impressive in this match…at last, he pinged a quality ball that Ibrahimovic blasted high, wide & butt ugly, was defending in the 2nd half and scored a quality header to reopen his Man United account, this is the start of the sort of impact most are expecting for £89m.</div>
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The Smalling header for the 1st goal, free header and a very poor goal to concede because if you're man marking you have to stay tight to your man, looking at Robert Huth as directly culpable there.</div>
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Generally, Leicester looked sluggish as hell as they were sitting deep and letting runs happen rather than closing down and stopping United from playing, already in direct contrast to last season and a repeat of what happened recently v Liverpool who put 4 goals past them. 2nd and 3rd goals, again, sloppy defending, Morgan and Simpson switched off, 1 on marking and the other from a quick corner and Pogba’s header for the 4th, as good as it was, was icing on the cake in a comfortable victory for United and looking at all 3 goals, 3 of the back 4 have to hang their heads in shame at how poorly they were defended.</div>
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This season Leicester (so far) haven't got that surprise factor any more, the onus is now on them to break teams down and because of this, teams now expect what they’re bringing. Also, they now lack the infinite energy of N’golo Kante running their midfield from deep, which allows other, more attacking players to unleash themselves creatively. Mahrez & Slimani looked lively in flashes early on, but Vardy was starved of service, which will cause any striker problems.</div>
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Demari Gray got an absolute belter as a consolation goal but to quote edge and christian from the WWF Wrestlemania 16 post show interviews - 'it's a lot easier to get to the top than it is to stay there' and ironically, that was said after their first title win (WWF tag team titles), so I thought that would be an apropos #OWR to drop here. Leicester have already lost 3 games, which is all they lost last season, so it’s crucial for them that they get it together, or they could end up like Chelsea last season…an awful title defence.</div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea - </b></span></div>
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The omens looked ominous considering Chelsea's recent record against Arsenal but in hindsight, it looked like Wenger's 20th anniversary in charge of the side was the perfect ammunition for the Gunners to blow Chelsea away.<br />
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Even though Arsenal were dominant in the early exchanges in terms of possession & attacking intent, poor defending comes under the microscope immediately as Gary Cahill dithering on the ball for the 1st goal (similar to the game v Swansea) & Eden Hazard not tracking his runner properly on the 2nd goal shows how sloppy Chelsea are at the back against stern opposition.</div>
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About 36/37 mins into this match, Steve McManaman had a proper go about how slow Chelsea were building up and to me I thought… fair do’s. Playing across and back is easy to defend against as it allows your opposition to get set again, 3/4 backwards and/or square passes before you get into the opponents half is really easy to read and defend against. Also, looking further up the field, your striker/s could be in acres of space, but if the ball takes 5 minutes to get forward the space gets closed down before that ball ever gets played, so you basically end up nullifying your own attack, making it easy for your opposition and just like against my boyz Liverpool, Costa got isolated.</div>
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For Arsenal’s 3rd goal, look how quick that break was, forward passing all the time and more importantly, quick forward passing. Arsenal got onto the front foot and had the Chelsea defenders turning back towards their own goal, which (speaking as a centre back for SAL side Ibis Eagles AFC) defenders hate doing.</div>
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2nd half, Arsenal looked like they could have got another couple but players were getting in each others way, players were in acres of space but delivered poor crosses, but because chelsea were sitting so deep, there was no real chance of Arsenal getting caught on the counter attack, again, pedestrian buildup, allowing Arsenal to get their shape back ended up meant Chelsea not only had to be intricate, but absolutely postage stamp accurate in terms of passing to end up getting in a position to test Petr Cech. One example that finally happened was a great pass from David Luiz that set Michy Batshuayi in around 84 minutes in but unlike Alexis Sanchez, the young striker couldn’t finish the job, 1 shot on target all game has to be concerning, even at this early stage of the season for Chelsea & especially Antonio Conte.</div>
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Food for thought for the last 2 Premier League title winners, on a day where both were shocked and humbled in equal measure and were both beaten by 3 goal margins.</div>
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Don’t get me wrong, both winning sides deserved their victories and the margins of those victories were fair reflections of the games. Arsenal were ruthless and slick to say the least and i’m taking nothing away from them or Manchester United (as a Kopite you know that burns me lol) but I always look at the defending first on goals.</div>
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I'm Straight Shootin' LJA...and that's my opinion!!!<br />
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Join us Live Every Monday Night from 8pm-11pm (UK Time) for Pitch Talk LIVE show @ <a href="http://www.youtube.com/pitchtalk">http://www.youtube.com/pitchtalk</a>Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-63428951491440403892016-08-30T08:20:00.001-07:002016-08-30T08:20:39.849-07:00Call it Right... But get it Right<div class="Body">
We are only two weeks into a new season, and
already, the mistakes are still being made by match officials. They are making
easy decisions look very hard and it is affecting the outcome of the games. I
have always believed that a good referee is rarely seen during the game and
does not bring problems on himself. A lot of the referees I have worked
alongside over the years, always told me to never go looking for trouble, as it
will always find you if you do. I am not a lover of the showman referee and
never will be, as it is a trait in a referee that I hate.</div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Like many other supporters I sat down to watch
all the live football over the past weekend and in fairness I really enjoyed
the games. I cast my eye all over the games to pick topics for my usual weekly
blog for the boys at Pitch Talk and I was not to be disappointed. I have picked
out two referees and two big decisions to discuss and try and unravel where I
see it was called wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
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<span lang="EN-US">The two men involved in the decision making were
Craig Pawson and Mr.Showman himself Mike Dean. What you have to remember with
these two, is the fact that they’ve been around along time now and should not
be making these mistakes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span lang="EN-US">I will start off by having a look at the
ultimate showman of referees; Mike Dean, and his performance in the Stoke City
v Manchester City game. Well not so much his overall performance but one
utterly unbelievable decision he gave when awarding Stoke City a second half
penalty when Sterling was adjudged to have fouled Ryan Shawcross. Now I know
there is a directive to players this season about holding players in the
penalty box. Referees have been instructed that if this happens they are to
award a penalty and it is something that is long overdue. The pulling and
pushing has been going on now for a few seasons and it is about time it is cut
out. But on Saturday Mike Dean got it totally wrong and awarded a penalty when
in fact it should have been a free kick out. At no time in my opinion did
Sterling foul Shawcross, it was clearly the Stoke player who was the aggressor
and the referee called it totally wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<span lang="EN-US">You can always tell from players reactions and
in this case, the reaction was utter astonishment showing on their faces. As I
said earlier, as a referee you should not going looking for trouble but on
Saturday Mike Dean brought his problems all on himself by trying to be center
stage on the penalty decision, totally bad refereeing in my opinion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Craig Pawson is another official who has come
under the microscope before and on Sunday in the West Ham United v Bournemouth
game he had a big call, that I feel he got totally wrong. Sam Byram in my
opinion should have been sent off for two yellow cards in quick succession.
Byram was guilty of first barging his opponent to the ground and within seconds
took down another Bournemouth player, the first foul was a yellow card and so
was the second. Referee Pawson only blew on the second foul as he was trying to
play an advantage, but in my opinion he should have shown Byram two yellow
cards. If he was going to book the player for the second challenge there is no
way he could close his eyes to the first challenge. Trying to play an advantage
was ludicrous as it was always going to get him into trouble, he should have
just blown on the first foul and no one would have had anything derogatory to
say or write about. Whilst reading this you have to remember Craig is a FIFA
referee, and in my opinion this was a decision that he should have got right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span lang="EN-US">Well there we have it, only two weeks into a new
season and the bad decision making continues. It is really now imperative that
the powers to be take the referees aside and have a strong word with them as
bad decision making costs games. It is a real worry that it is guys who should
no better are making such ridiculous decisions. We may have to look for divine
intervention this season so that things are put right, but please do not hold
your breath. It is going to be a long season and I am looking forward to
enjoying every game as we roll along. What we do not need to see is bad
refereeing on a regular basis, which causes controversy. It would be great if
one weekend we are talking about great refereeing and not the total opposite.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="Body">
<span lang="EN-US">So until I blog again for the boys at Pitch Talk
enjoy your football and let us hope next week I am not blogging about a bad
refereeing decision made against your team. Until then " Ciao "<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-85155194264909966082016-08-15T03:08:00.000-07:002016-08-15T03:08:43.361-07:00The end of the road for Alberto Moreno?Arsenal 3-4 Liverpool, sounds in theory like a rip roaring game and it was an entertaining watch, but as a Liverpool supporter there's 1 person I have to focus on... Alberto Moreno. Myself and one of my housemates were saying (literally 24 hours before this match) how disappointed we were that Flanno (Jon Flanagan) has gone out on loan (to Bournemouth as mentioned on #PTLIVE August 8th 2016 episode) as Flanno is miles better in terms of positional sense, composure and basically every area that's important as a full back. <br /><br /><br />The only bad thing was his injury last season, which sadly, has slightly hindered his progress and probably resulted in the decision to send him out on loan to get regular game time. For me, Al Moreno is our version of a David Luiz, liability who shouldn't be played at the back as he's as bad positionally as Micah Richards (another player i've criticised on #ptlive shows before).<br /><br /><br />I'm maybe a bit over critical/harsh on defenders (in the eyes of some) generally on the Pitch Talk live shows that I cohost, BUT Moreno embarrasses me as a Kopite and a defender at Southern Amateur League level with ibis Eagles AFC as he gets the utter basics wrong.<br /><br /><br />In the 1st half of this match he went up for a header he should have left to Ragnar Klavan and yes he recovered to slide in on Ramsey and concede a corner, but that was a warning. Later in the 1st half he gave away one of the clumsiest penalties you'll see this season by fouling Walcott, who fortunately had Mignolet pull his fat out of the fire by saving the penalty Moreno gave away. That was a second warning and basically foreshadowing what was to come shortly thereafter.<br /><br /><br />The Walcott goal, is sadly perfect case in point and a damning indictment of Moreno's shortcomings. As a back line (no matter what level you play) when you clear the ball, you press out as a unit, as a back 4, not you press out and are 10-15 yards further forward than the rest of your back line and leave a gaping chasm behind you, that can be (and in that case was) exploited.<br /><br /><br />Gary Neville came out with a spot on quote 'having Moreno in your side is like starting a goal down' and in all honesty, it pains me that I totally agree with that statement. I said to friends of mine subsequently on WhatsApp and on Facebook (somewhat in jest) that Moreno tried twice to give Arsenal the advantage deliberately!<br /><br /><br />If there's 1 thing that drives me up the wall (apart from Jose Mourinho's public persona) it's poor defending and Moreno (as much as I hate to single out and bury individual players) needs replacing and sharpish.<br /><br /><br />I'm glad we beat Arsenal on the opening day of the season, but frailties are still clear for the world to see and hopefully Jurgen Klopp, like Vince McMahon in relation to Stone Cold Steve Austin in the WWF in September 1998 going into the Break Down: In Your House pay per view event (yes I had to crowbar in an #OWR), has a master plan in regards to our left back position, and I don't mean having James Milner (as versatile as he is) play there all season!<br /><br /><br />I'm Straight Shootin' LJA...and that's my opinion!!!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Follow me on Twitter @sslja - http://twitter.com/sslja<br /><br />Give me a like on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/straightshootinlja<br /><br />Our official website - <a href="http://www.pitch-talk.com/">http://www.pitch-talk.com</a><br /><br />Follow Pitch Talk on twitter @pitchtalk - http://twitter.com/pitchtalk<br /><br />Add us on Facebook - http://facebook.com/pitchtalk<br /><br />Join us Live Every Monday Night from 8pm-11pm (UK Time) for Pitch Talk LIVE show @<a href="http://www.youtube.com/pitchtalk">http://www.youtube.com/pitchtalk</a>Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-38650660571909924642016-06-29T16:58:00.000-07:002016-06-30T04:13:44.594-07:00England, #Euro2016 Elimination & a 25+ year problem<div dir="ltr" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<span style="color: #999999;"><br />Now that the dust has settled...just a touch, let's look at England v Iceland and why we were dumped out of Euro 2016, by a side from a country with a population comparable to the amount of people you see at Champions league winners parades for individual domestic sides in England.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">I could go with what I like to call traditional #parisiticmedia rhetoric, blaming players for not performing, blaming the manager for selection and poor tactics etc but I'm not going to go for the easy fix...why? More on that later.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Fact is, as we've discussed on Pitch Talk shows and videos, the latest major tournament elimination for England goes so much deeper than just an overrated but underperforming squad, or a manager not utilising the players correctly, it's the good ol' boy networks that aren't letting talent be developed and coming with half baked ideas to try and win tournaments.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Case in point, Mr Greg Dyke, the head honcho at the FA (or to give him his official title, Chairman of the FA) coming out in 2013 and saying his targets for England were to get to the semi finals of Russia 2018 and win the Qatar 2022 world cup, which is all good in terms of having targets, but like we discussed & asked on Pitch Talk live, how was he going to get to that ludicrously overly ambitious target, (that in all honesty, probably sounded like delusions of grandeur even to a tabloid headline writer) and the ideas were abysmal.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">First, was the Premier League B-Teams in the football league idea, utterly terrible and does nothing but keep even more of a monopoly at the top of the game, which of course would be music to Richard Scudamore's ears as he hears cash registers ringing, but is like nails on a chalkboard for the rest of us fans.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">The second half baked idea was more recent and was Premier League academy sides being allowed to compete for a season (as an experiment/1 year trial) in the recently rebranded Football League Trophy (now called the EFL Trophy).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">To me, these 2 ideas are bad enough in terms of showing the utter ineptitude and narrow mindedness that needs to be totally eradicated from the powers that be in football, but these are just recent examples and I believe the mediocrity of the England team at major tourneys has gone on for 25+ years, and by mediocrity I mean the fact that the last time we reached a semi final of a major tournament was 20 years ago this summer and we've missed out on 2 major tournaments in that time (yes i'm including Graham 'Do I not like that' Taylor's tenure leading up to missing out on USA 94).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Another couple of examples of reason why we can't develop and thrive as a footballing nation are politics/good ol' boy networks, and football development (or lack thereof).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Politics, in my view, never mix well with football, just look at the Pitch Talk Rant of the Week where we discuss David Cameron talking about Sepp Blatter & murky politics years ago, hell, look at Sepp Blatter just in general, but i digress, the politics i'm referring to are all internal at the FA/Premier League level.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">I've always maintained that Theo Walcott was on the plane to the 2006 world cup in place of Darren Bent purely because David Dein had stroke (to borrow some pro wrestling vernacular & drop an #OWR) at the FA at the time, as he hadn't kicked a ball in the Premier League, but Bent at Charlton was one of the highest, if not the highest scoring Englishman in the Premier League and that was 10 years ago, remember, Dein was Vice-Chairman of Arsenal & the FA at the time... no coincidence.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Fast forward to Euro 2016 and similar situations in relation to selection (I feel) raised their head again as Jack Wilshire was picked in the initial 26, then the final 23 man squad to go to France, but Danny Drinkwater who was a major cog in the Leicester City title winning side missed out.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">This was made even worse not only by the fact that Wilshire had 1 single start for Arsenal (in the final game of the season) after being injured ALL SEASON, I repeat... INJURED ALL SEASON, but it was apparently stated that Theo Walcott (who is consistently inconsistent) wasn't included as he didn't play enough...</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">I'm not throwing people under the bus to scapegoat, i'm just saying that these decisions sound like they're being made and directives are coming from a lot higher up than the manager, but he's the face of it, so he takes the bullet for it, Hodgson quitting straight after the embarrassing Iceland defeat was somewhat of a surprise, but not much as he basically jumped before he was pushed as Greg Dyke, just DAYS BEFORE THE MATCH, basically buried Roy by saying he wasn't sure if he'd renew his contract. If I was in that position i'd have had my resignation letter drafted whilst thinking 'I can't wait to tell Dyke to s*ck it' as I walk out whilst dropping the microphone during the post match press conference.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Call me a conspiracy theorist if you want but I think the problems with our nation as a footballing entity (as well as a nation in general, but that's another story) run deeper than a 23 man squad and a manager making poor tactical decisions.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">The lack of quality we're producing is a major concern and this is about football development. The grass roots game, by which I mean football you aren't paid to play, for example; park football, Amateur football (For those who don't know I play for Ibis Eagles AFC in the 14Fourteen Southern Amateur League) etc has been disgracefully betrayed during this period, with the closing of open areas, free/municipal pitches where young players (especially those from impoverished backgrounds who can't afford coaching classes) honed their craft. If kids have nowhere to experiment and hone their skills, how can you produce the next generation of talent? Nathaniel Essex aka Sinister genetically producing the perfect footballer from the dna of the legends of the game? (I loved the X-Men animated series from the 90s & Wolverine & the X-Men from 2009).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Anyway back to the story, to me, this is completely backwards considering guys like Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Paul Gascoigne, Paul Scholes, David Seaman, Gary Lineker etc, who are considered some of England's greatest ever players, started by honing their skills in schools, kicking a ball against a wall, or at a local park/rec ground with jumpers for goalposts or an open/free pitch, but the FA gives minuscule amounts of money and support to help that game not just survive, but thrive and progress, and development is all about developing talent, nurturing and making the talent better isn't it?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">I could go into facts and stats behind the decline in the grass roots game and the paltry, patronisingly small amounts of money divided around a huge cross section of the game by an obscenely rich elite in football but we've done it on many Pitch Talk Live shows and the fact is until the above 2 reasons are sorted and huge cultural shift happens, the same failings will continue to happen.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Sadly, until the powers that be cure their own seemingly terminal case of rectal cranial inversion, get rid of the good old boy mentality which predicates short termism over having a long term plan and sticking to it, we won't succeed as a nation, which is why I am such a fan of what we mentioned on Pitch Talk Live about China's 34 year plan to become a football superpower by 2050.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">We need a long term plan because the powers that be running English football don't have one, any manager going into the England job is basically hamstrung because there is no plan and because there is no plan we're doomed to fail.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">As 2 examples of potential solutions, as much as I am ultra critical of Sepp Blatter, his 6+5 rule if implemented right, in theory may have helped, but there are so many other rules that would need closing as well, it's a legal and administrative nightmare. The home grown rule in the Premier League would need closing as that contains a gaping hole, making it about as useless as a chocolate teapot, just like FIFA's residency rules to me are as useless as making a condom out of tissue paper.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">In terms of a proper solution, a long term plan including PROPER FUNDING for grass roots football and proper support (as we've discussed on Pitch Talk Meets interviews) for that area of the game need to be implemented and monitored in terms of where the money is going. The term 'grass roots projects' (that is thrown around more freely than the words 'world class' and 'legend') is so vague that it means bugger all to anyone but to those running & ruining the game, whilst lining their own pockets and keeping their friends in positions of power.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Scudamore and the Premier League could give less than a damn about the future of the England team because the Premier League is all about cash and greed, in my humble opinion, but the FA need to work with them to help the England team succeed, but to do that, they need to change their own culture to focus on the we we we, rather than just me me me. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">England as a football team at senior level really remind me of a lyric Barry White song that my old friend Spoonface and Black Legend did a cover of 'You see the trouble with me' and like the last part of the chorus, England... 'this girl's gonna drive me crazy'.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">The FA on the other hand (especially Greg Dyke, who I've never been overly impressed with), remind me of an HBK Shawn Michaels line whenever they come up with a 'plan/s' to revolutionise English football, and that line is 'If I wanted crap out of you, I'd pick it out of your teeth'.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">As much as I could go into more detail, I don't want to send anyone to sleep, so let me clear my throat and encapsulate.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">In terms of long term planning & execution, Spain have reaped the rewards, Germany are currently reaping the rewards (after we gave them the kick up the backside they needed in 2001 to start it off) and England aren't beyond repair, but it'll take a complete culture shift, committal to the formulation & execution of a long term plan (20+ years ahead) to repair the damage done over the last 25+ years.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Football is my microcosm of society as i've said for many years and just like in wider society, we're a lot stronger as a unified force, than we are as a divided one.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">I'm Straight Shootin' LJA & that's my opinion!!!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Follow me on Twitter @sslja - http://twitter.com/sslja</span><br />
<span style="color: #999999;">Give me a like on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/straightshootinlja</span><br />
<span style="color: #999999;">Our official website - <a href="http://www.pitch-talk.com/">http://www.pitch-talk.com</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #999999;">Follow Pitch Talk on twitter @pitchtalk - http://twitter.com/pitchtalk</span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Join us Live Every Monday Night from 8pm-11pm (UK Time) for Pitch Talk LIVE show @<a href="http://www.youtube.com/pitchtalk">http://www.youtube.com/pitchtalk</a></span>Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-21198223018579531722016-05-18T16:29:00.000-07:002016-05-18T16:29:48.275-07:00SSLJA's 2016 Europa League Final thoughtsBeen a while since i've blogged but with the dust barely settled; the banter flying about the 2016 europa League final between Liverpool and Sevilla (which the latter won 3-1) i thought i'd chime in with my thoughts.<br />
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As i've said before on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/ptlive?hc_location=ufi">#ptlive</a> shows and to others too, it'll take a good season and a half to see the true Klopp effect as he'd have a full preseason and get in the players he feels he needs to implement his philosophy rather than some square pegs in round holes, he's done well with the parts he had but it's underlined the necessity to strengthen in the summer, Matip will be a welcomed addition but even if we'd have won tonight there'd need to be a clear out as well as major additions.<br />
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Hand ball appeal in the first half, would have been harsh to give, Lovren's goal disallowed, correct decisions given on both in my view and of course as a Kopite it hurts me to say.<br />
Looked like like we ran out of energy 2nd half as we didn't get touch tight with any of the goals, as much as I hate to play the blame game Moreno was at fault twice for the 1st goal which was the momentum shifter, then majorly (not the only one) at fault for the 3rd goal as well.<br />
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Gladly in his post match interview Jurgen Klopp didn't start throwing people under the bus, criticising his players, or trying to bury the referee, he took responsibility for the performance and the defeat, stated the fact that he'd been in charge 7 months and that he'll use the experience to spur on the players going forward, use the heartache as a boost as you won't want to feel it again. In some ways it's a blessing in disguise not to have european football next year as similar to 2013/14 we can have 1 goal, 1 focus (to quote WWE superstar HHH from mid 1999) so it'll be interesting.<br />
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That final is why (as i've said to numerous people) I didn't want Sevilla in the semi finals as they have pedigree in the europa league and i'm not dropping a HHH <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/owr?hc_location=ufi">#owr</a> this time (Obligatory wrestling reference for those who join us for PTLive shows). The fact is congratulations Sevilla have 3-peated consecutively and deserved it, imagine how p*ssed they'd have been if they'd lost after winning it twice and the new provision of a champions league group spot being brought in as a prize...<br />
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It's a real shame really but this is the beginning, not the end for Klopp's reign and his building of the squad.<br />
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I'm Straight Shootin' LJA, I am a proud Kopite & that's my opinion!!!<br />
Come on you Redmen!!! #YWNA<br />
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Follow me on Twitter @sslja - http://twitter.com/sslja<br />
Give me a like on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/straightshootinlja<br />
Our official website - <a href="http://www.pitch-talk.com/">http://www.pitch-talk.com</a><br />
Follow Pitch Talk on twitter @pitchtalk - http://twitter.com/pitchtalk<br />
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Join us Live Every Monday Night from 8pm-11pm (UK Time) for Pitch Talk LIVE show @<a href="http://www.youtube.com/pitchtalk">http://www.youtube.com/pitchtalk</a>Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-36235169271722349052016-02-26T04:30:00.002-08:002016-02-26T05:06:31.962-08:00@DaGman's Top Ten Funniest names in Football<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The beautiful thing about the game is it’s not just the football side of things that keep us entertained and you can clearly see/hear this on our lives shows (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/Pitchtalk/videos">Pitchtalk Live every Monday night</a>). We have so much fun and cover all aspects of the game, we like to tap into the serious topics of debate but also let our hair down (we'll for me it's my beard) and incorporate the side of the game that gives us giggles. The following segments “funny tweets and funny quotes”, “stuff of the week”, “What’s up with That!” These are all segments which tend to show the lighter side of the game and trust me we've been left catching our breaths on many occasions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now if you’re keeping up with all the FIFA stories, scandals and the upcoming elections, you will have heard of a candidate called TOKYO SEXWALE…. Looooool! Like Really??? Yes Really! #TEARS<br /><br />Today this blog will be dedicated to those who bring so much joy to the footballing world with their well thought out/unfortunate names. I will be naming my Top Ten Funniest names in football! And please feel free to add any names you feel that are deserved to be on my list, just drop them in the comments section below. If you could also help to share this blog that would be appreciated too. The list is in not particular order of favourites to be fair anyone of these names would give me sh**s for giggles!<br /><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1. <span style="color: orange;"><b>TOKYO SEXWALE</b></span> – FIFA presidency candidate (could be president by the time you read this blog). He’s best known as a South African businessman, politician, anti-apartheid activist, and former political prisoner. If he was a player I'd bet LVG would want him in his Horny team!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2. <b><span style="color: orange;">PAUL DICKOV</span></b> – Has to be a personal favourite, Ex Arsenal, Man City, Blackburn, Leicester City player among other sides. Best known for his spell at the Sky blues… but he’s best known to me because all them years back then in school his name was used as replacement swear word (“Why don’t you Dickov?”, “Dude you’re a Dickov!”).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3. <b><span style="color: orange;">ROD FANNI</span></b> – First thing that comes to mind is DEPOL, do i really need to explain why?, Let’s just say just imagine being called Vagina or Pum Pum! It's got to be a hard one to take. (There’s a joke in their somewhere and in their too… Oh stop!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4. <span style="color: orange;"><b>LARS BENDER</b></span> – German International who let’s just say probably doesn’t like bending over!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5. <b><span style="color: orange;">BERNT HAAS</span></b> – former Sunderland and westbrom right back, having played for those two team I guess there were occasions where he lived up to his name.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">6. <b><span style="color: orange;">DANNY DRINKWATER</span></b> – When I first heard a commentator pronounce his name all that popped to mind was “Danny drinks what?” Ingenious I think not but at least I found it funny.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">7. <span style="color: orange;"><b>DEAN WINDASS</b></span> – Just looking at that facial expression, it's not smelling good! :p</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">8. <b><span style="color: orange;">DAVID SEAMAN</span></b> – Former Arsenal legend played in goal and fortunately for the gunners, the former goalkeeper wasn’t as slippery as his name may suggest!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">9. <b><span style="color: orange;">BRIAN PINAS</span></b> – Signed for Newcastle from Feynoord and never played a game for 2 seasons! Say’s it all really!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">10. <span style="color: orange;"><b>CHARLES N’ZOGBIA aka INSOMNIA</b></span> – Not exactly a funny name as such but when your manager quite flippantly miss pronounces it, it becomes hilarious as hell! Joe Kinnear did exactly that when talking to the press about Charles N’zogbia and this didn’t go down to well with the player or those close to him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="color: orange;">This Blog of Events has been brought directly to your screens by Gavin 'Gman' Henry</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs1LsrGT-TVgJbEg6EhCg6g-DfvBUSQ3PNUcGSrbqB81jB0WtWA_WFQufn0tTfAjbKcxYbd4ksuf8jEnNu2jrOKBTN4l95Ho48M4NiS_3uw6040EpeWkDlXKLAHSPb4PO6LWQkeZbZLPMz/s1600/sexwale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs1LsrGT-TVgJbEg6EhCg6g-DfvBUSQ3PNUcGSrbqB81jB0WtWA_WFQufn0tTfAjbKcxYbd4ksuf8jEnNu2jrOKBTN4l95Ho48M4NiS_3uw6040EpeWkDlXKLAHSPb4PO6LWQkeZbZLPMz/s1600/sexwale.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Toyko SEXWALE</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvY-gQbYnTXkvVBth9bZbo6udGB6M32DqI7ZSffeSvClWC8kL_ulb2sbGKtH4IFiVnzZd2l3Rck87nQjQC_DYs0aycjeDWbNvTrXzXF1V4blxrx8jmYOmWpGJpu92rAe2KMhNj9Nz4yrVS/s1600/dickov.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvY-gQbYnTXkvVBth9bZbo6udGB6M32DqI7ZSffeSvClWC8kL_ulb2sbGKtH4IFiVnzZd2l3Rck87nQjQC_DYs0aycjeDWbNvTrXzXF1V4blxrx8jmYOmWpGJpu92rAe2KMhNj9Nz4yrVS/s1600/dickov.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul DICKOV</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_psG5X_wfgovQhec0J9cUwhAzZkULD5tkNebGvfPYQscsiIsVkIckT2DrXlYAS3XRf6tajnDuVQ4bmRcxGt1yKyTCjltokAlLyZNg4PNY5Bpcd7J2GIZL4ER6AR30w6z5PK6IYi6cDoZ/s1600/fanni.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_psG5X_wfgovQhec0J9cUwhAzZkULD5tkNebGvfPYQscsiIsVkIckT2DrXlYAS3XRf6tajnDuVQ4bmRcxGt1yKyTCjltokAlLyZNg4PNY5Bpcd7J2GIZL4ER6AR30w6z5PK6IYi6cDoZ/s1600/fanni.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rod FANNI</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG2K0p14TtUnEUujgWi5YOc_wo4yPe8jTW_6WxMFW-q-ir-TxG-lRMnN3lK5WK4H8P-ObPrly7xsNFjb-yCBIKwoGNmeAXaTtOjjEaSWvdkrg7PSbzcLYRYaQrAd2mUbxIDrgtkD2Nca8k/s1600/bender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG2K0p14TtUnEUujgWi5YOc_wo4yPe8jTW_6WxMFW-q-ir-TxG-lRMnN3lK5WK4H8P-ObPrly7xsNFjb-yCBIKwoGNmeAXaTtOjjEaSWvdkrg7PSbzcLYRYaQrAd2mUbxIDrgtkD2Nca8k/s1600/bender.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lars BENDER</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbpoEaKzqN5pi3mr5eDWDV-VjCTOlgcmM4n60QgTPzN8NmPsqG7VUXY3tWnDgpQxfqFarKa64FK37dxr29UJ7dTBX_nfWDWNAV0l0ia_3S4gTD6CWJ6WTxFPXUe4_QakePPUZH_C62hSlh/s1600/haas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbpoEaKzqN5pi3mr5eDWDV-VjCTOlgcmM4n60QgTPzN8NmPsqG7VUXY3tWnDgpQxfqFarKa64FK37dxr29UJ7dTBX_nfWDWNAV0l0ia_3S4gTD6CWJ6WTxFPXUe4_QakePPUZH_C62hSlh/s1600/haas.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bernt HAAS</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTzLFCyJfWpc3h0avTpa2dtMrS7KHtqUgR9QzSa6s4jmV6B2Ep1lUbKVMgY73iScxv6-15dQ1VXE2jZgOEe92qqp_F2JDsithJd-Wl5O3FWFnzjeU6Nb6ErDTniBPgxnAscVxPk3kMROAy/s1600/drinkwater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTzLFCyJfWpc3h0avTpa2dtMrS7KHtqUgR9QzSa6s4jmV6B2Ep1lUbKVMgY73iScxv6-15dQ1VXE2jZgOEe92qqp_F2JDsithJd-Wl5O3FWFnzjeU6Nb6ErDTniBPgxnAscVxPk3kMROAy/s1600/drinkwater.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danny DRINKWATER</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTj42Z3UvCuSDTrcZNOJQhpi4lismTaQsZjJXSblHa5CPeCsC2Ymnb3zAkp-yANPmdk-VdJ-WZ7AFAKZqFANXZmEyPJE9LdUO2J79GVNPnbJ5uO882nGs5MIs5H66o1QRhKu27dt_UsvY/s1600/windass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTj42Z3UvCuSDTrcZNOJQhpi4lismTaQsZjJXSblHa5CPeCsC2Ymnb3zAkp-yANPmdk-VdJ-WZ7AFAKZqFANXZmEyPJE9LdUO2J79GVNPnbJ5uO882nGs5MIs5H66o1QRhKu27dt_UsvY/s1600/windass.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dean WINDASS</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqTQBk_8dY5z11RJ_DBho1dRdStPb3sRKpJrUmGqlUUn1HnaDVxJLk07pzdvBfpditKwQLC8TiRv_NmEdxcu5vEelrmsB6-DsMlRfVNQCLTz4_z4rSiSzye3dq3KGRj01aVG5_jtxDDGEb/s1600/seaman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqTQBk_8dY5z11RJ_DBho1dRdStPb3sRKpJrUmGqlUUn1HnaDVxJLk07pzdvBfpditKwQLC8TiRv_NmEdxcu5vEelrmsB6-DsMlRfVNQCLTz4_z4rSiSzye3dq3KGRj01aVG5_jtxDDGEb/s1600/seaman.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David SEAMAN</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxHhGwfC_vkiA54W9vyiLOgPGFd19kcOHOkW0CFRjGsQ-rvQU3r6WGheq9bZZPU24KSU6MM4UMqQf7cqXdGZ1cChbzyvOtWDE-l8pzonGdVjKw_-fZangJAaO-mJtJbjsZ0CVZX6VLQzyB/s1600/pinas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxHhGwfC_vkiA54W9vyiLOgPGFd19kcOHOkW0CFRjGsQ-rvQU3r6WGheq9bZZPU24KSU6MM4UMqQf7cqXdGZ1cChbzyvOtWDE-l8pzonGdVjKw_-fZangJAaO-mJtJbjsZ0CVZX6VLQzyB/s1600/pinas.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brian PINAS</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy78pZGacLUaXpcxgXZO6E2Tt_P_5po1wyX08zBEvWwcGUPy33bxYXQsHA77EF9UkPvtotM3YyXo1PY2e5PZ5Uvlolj1KVtR6f0Kli1iHGDvyxXphavweCSzKmTofywrvKyA-xwSNgcwMF/s1600/n%2527zogbia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy78pZGacLUaXpcxgXZO6E2Tt_P_5po1wyX08zBEvWwcGUPy33bxYXQsHA77EF9UkPvtotM3YyXo1PY2e5PZ5Uvlolj1KVtR6f0Kli1iHGDvyxXphavweCSzKmTofywrvKyA-xwSNgcwMF/s200/n%2527zogbia.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charles INSOMNIA</td></tr>
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Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-88782407978002460902015-09-20T07:19:00.000-07:002015-09-20T15:59:29.643-07:00Help the Refs<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you’re a regular to our blog page you may know that we have a dedicated writer by the name of Dave Meiers aka <a href="https://twitter.com/meiercy" target="_blank">@meiercy</a> (twitter handle) who tackles the subject of referee’s, with him being a referee an ex-professional referee and all. However this weekend I feel compelled to chime in on the situation of refereeing after seeing the comical acts of Mike Dean and his officials yesterday during the Chelsea vs Arsenal London Derby. This isn't an attack on Mike Dean as such, as having done refereeing myself (level 8 ref, passed the basic course back in 2013) I know what sort of pressure he is under as a ref and how overwhelming situations can become especially when incidents explode as they did on Saturday Afternoon. In saying that I haven’t actually seen the full game yet but I have seen the highlights of key incidents and I’m absolutely dumbfounded by what I’ve seen, all that comes to mind when looking back is "One rule for one and another rule for others".</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So to start let’s just say YES! Gabriel's red card was deserved, there can not be any arguments levied here! He had already been shown a yellow card for reacting with his initial clash with the Despicable Costa, he allowed his aggression to get the better of him and understandably Mike Dean carded him (I assume hoping to diffuse the situation) but after Gabriel back heeled Despicable Costa in front of the referee, he's given Dean no option but to Red card him. It was also deplorable seeing the Chelsea players surrounding the ref, with Fabregas even acting out a back heel gesture in hope to help the referee make the decision. Yet as said there is no denying at all, it was a clear sending off. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However using that logic Costa should have been red carded as well if not at the same time, before that incident. Three Incidents clearly seen by teammates, fans and most importantly video cameras show the Brazilian born Spanish Internationals misdemeanours. Hand’s in Boscielny Face, Chest bumping the Boss to the floor and slapping both Boscielny and Super Gab were rewarded with telling offs. We've seen players being sent off for lesser offences yet it seems whenever Costa is involved it’s never him and he’s always the victim. I’m starting to feel that Mourinho speech about Chelsea being the <a href="https://goo.gl/8eFnVG" target="_blank">Little Horse of English football</a> has affected the way Referee’s approach Chelsea games. It’s almost as if Costa specifically is getting an easy ride being that he plays for the little horse of a team called Chelsea Football club.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On a real note and getting back to the issue, my thought’s are as follows. The way referees are fulfilling their jobs is of a bygone era. An Era where technology wasn’t available and everyone was expected to respect the referee's final word. As he was the ultimate official of the game, the Judge Dredd so to speak. Romanticist of this era may miss this type of logic but now with multiple replays, in game stats and multitude of camera angles the referee's are not the all seeing eye anymore! In fact viewers see more than the referee does and they are not even physically at the game. In my opinion referees now need more help, they are struggling out there. The way the game is being watched is progressing on all fronts, yet the referee's are still subjected to post 90's tech to officiate games and they no longer need to struggle with just making split second decisions. They have a 4th official, so why not use him sufficely. He should be sitting or FIXED at a monitor sweeping up all the decisions the referee has missed and reporting it back into the ear of s/he and their officials. (All decisions). People claim doing something like this would take away from the game (I used to claim this) but thinking about it now, how can it, it can only improve the game and improve the standard of officiating. Taking away from the game would be to allow big errors to be made week in week out, which therefore ends up costing teams.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It seems so wrong that the 4th official only steps in when he wants and basically leaves the ref & his officials in the quagmire of ill decision making! I'm pretty sure if players and fans knew there was someone on the sideline who was assisting the referee, judicating from the sidelines. Helping the referee make the right decisions and the decisions end up being right. I’m pretty sure fans would not object, players would not object and neither would managers or clubs, so much of the game would clean up. Just imagine the incidents of yesterday, with an active 4th official, who is using this tech to assist the referee, he could have interpreted exactly what he saw on video play back to his on field officials, giving them second by second accounts of what had happened. The ref would have been instructed about the face grappling incident, the face slapping and neck squeezing! (Read that sentence alone and it sounds like a kinky sex game but believe me it was nothing of the sort) By having someone who’s actively involved, watching the game, seeing the things the referee couldn't have seen would be of so much help. It would allow the referee to be that all seeing eye again. Would help the referee make his mind up about key incidents because the case right now is referee’s are looking rather incompetent and silly. Especially when Sky, BT sport, BBC, ITV etc are broadcasting images across the world which show a referee making what is seen as blatant mistakes. Compared to other sports Football is starting to look like somewhat of a joke, Rugby, Cricket, Tennis & NFL to name a few all use video official to assist them in decision making and what it seems to do for those sports is provide consistency in officiating. </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There is no excuse to have all this tech, the monitors, access to replays, ear pieces for communication etc... and not a make 100% use of it. It could help with so many incidents like diving, fouling, etc as it does with Goal Line tech. </span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Again I repeat the argument against has always been that tech will ruin the game and I was once a believer of this, however after the introduction of goal line tech I can't see an argument for not having or using any tech that will improve the game. Goal Line tech has proved It works and helps the referee massively, to the extent that once the Goal line Tech has made the decision, players don't even bother remonstrating… The technology has actually empowered the referee’s when making those decisions.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But you know what that just my views. You’ve got your own. If you wish to share them then please do! </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This Blog of Events has been brought directly to your screens</span><br />
<span style="color: orange; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by Gavin 'Gman' Henry</span></div>
Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-26594342938521236122015-08-10T09:00:00.003-07:002015-08-10T13:33:45.331-07:00Too much playing, not enough conviction!<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s fantastic to see the Premier League back, God knows how much I’ve been suffering since Arsenal's last real competitive match on 30th May 2015. My life was left with somewhat of a void and the desperation became so bad that you almost had me convinced I was a lover of Golf, Tennis and Cricket (EWWWWW!). </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8GZKEg4vZdUPQfk8Av0PvixCnpWGuhAxyb0dv_Vlfw236JWaqNMPUdLV79u_WUiq2Ww3qFwGArLUWVmH2hSK0NkCo9t08IMc-lpkDk8qrr12V9D54iqx-CEDVT10z94VFD8l-dIllraQ3/s1600/image3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8GZKEg4vZdUPQfk8Av0PvixCnpWGuhAxyb0dv_Vlfw236JWaqNMPUdLV79u_WUiq2Ww3qFwGArLUWVmH2hSK0NkCo9t08IMc-lpkDk8qrr12V9D54iqx-CEDVT10z94VFD8l-dIllraQ3/s320/image3.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><br />All I could envisage was the start of the new #EPL season, when the Fixture list dropped in June I like many other Arsenal fans had high expectations for this opener against Westham, I’d be lying if I were to say I wasn’t expecting nothing but a win. My prediction on Saturday as posted on <span style="color: red;"><b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/northlondonguy1?fref=nf" target="_blank">North London Gooner Lawro</a></b></span> Facebook wall was a confident 2-1 victory. I felt my prediction was justified not only by the fact that in the past 6 games of which both Arsenal and Hammers have met, Arsenal have gone on to win all of them but also I was riding off the steam of the FA CUP win against Aston Villa, that victory was so brutal that I could only imagine a repeat performance. However that just wasn’t to be, wasn’t to be at all!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><br /><b><span style="color: orange;">First Half:</span></b><br /><br />Whilst writing this I’m finding it very hard to fault Arsenal in the first half, we didn’t do too much wrong, not that we done incredibly much right either however we showed flashes of our usual game, slick 1-2 passing, triangles and movement into space yet these moments were too far and few in apart for my liking. The OX had a few opportunities on goal, not quite on target, Rambo clipped the bar with a deflected shot and Santi also had a few slinky runs, which were blocked off just as he looked like he was going to pull the trigger. The Hammer too showed showed their sturdiness and flashes of their counter attacking ability. Sakho and Zarate worked their bollocks stretching Mertz and Boscielny all over the gaff.<br /><br />The actual turning point came as a surprise, I wasn’t actually expecting things to go down the way they did. Westham Free kick, taken by Payet who lofted it in to the box. Now the decision making of debutant Champions League winning experienced keeper Petr Cech has to be called into question as he came dashing off his line to punch the ball away from the head of Kouyate, but for what I saw live he had more chance of punching the moon. What Petr was thinking I’m not sure but what he must of been thinking after he totally missed the ball I bet I could Imagine <b>(SH^%! I DONE F*&% UP!)</b>. This goal came on the cusp of the end of the 1st half which was so disappointing but at this point my belief was, not to worry we got this man!! <br /><br /><span style="color: orange;"><b>Second Half:</b></span><br /><br />The second half didn’t bring too much joy for Arsenal. For a 25 minutes spell they looked like the better of the two sides. Giroud and Ozil having some really good chances to get the boys Level. Yet Westham were doing everything in their power to shut us out, honourable shout out to Adrian who I believed had a wonderful game and was most certainly man of the match. Westham’s second goal is all about perspectives. Either you’re an Arsenal fan and you saw what was an absolutely crazy goal keeping howler or you’re a Hammer and you saw a classy well determined goal by Zarate. Again from my point of view, 10+ million pound man Petr Cech has to take full responsibility for this error here. He may say his sight was slightly impeded but really and truthfully it wasn’t enough for him to make that sort of misjudgement… (Szczesny at this point in time was at home sipping tea like Kermit, I’d assume). After this goal went in the game was effectively over, the lads had no one to blame but themselves. The came in to the game full of confidence but I’m starting to think maybe over confidence made them lazy and unconvincing. <br /><br /><b><span style="color: orange;">Summary:</span></b><br /><br />I would love to be able to just sit here and play the blame game, however that’s very hard to do. The only real bud of light which was revealed from yesterday was the performance of THE OX. He was exceptional, seemed like the only person who wanted to keep going for 90 minutes. Even after he was reduced to playing a right back once Sanchez had come on the field! Everyone had their moments of just dire commitment, concentration and conviction, I’ve pointed out Cech earlier for the goals but it would be harsh to blame him only as Boscielny, Ramsey and Ozil had lapses at key times. But I’m going to end by saying, it’s not the end of the world, yes it was a poor loss to London rivals and it was made worse by the fact that we were at home however put all into perspective, it’s only the first game of the season. As we know things change quickly in the premiership so let’s not jump to conclusion to hastily. Wishing the lads all the best in their next game vs Crystal Palace, hopefully we will show up and get a result.<br /><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;"><b>THE 3 Word Reflection: </b></span>POOR, LAZY & DEPRESSING<br /><br /><span style="color: orange;"><b>Arsenal Player of the Game:</b></span> With out a doubt <b><span style="color: red;">THE OX! </span>(Chamberlain)</b> All of his efforts went to waste today.<br /><br /><b><span style="color: orange;">West Ham Player of the Game:</span></b> Adrian made some fine saves and was the all important factor that kept Arsenal at bay.</span><br />
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<br />Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-70756629272754097322014-08-19T15:49:00.000-07:002015-08-10T09:11:41.762-07:00<div class="p1">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Never have I felt so confident about Arsenal getting a victory in my life, especially after the last 4 months we’ve had, winning the FA Cup; Community Shield plus making the huge signing of Chilean Alexis Sanchez, surely I can be forgiven for being a little cocky. I’m not trying to disrespect Crystal Palace either then I say that, you just have to bare in mind that the south London club had literally parted ways with their manager Tony <b><i><span style="color: orange;">“Manager of the Season”</span></i></b> Pulis two days earlier. Once hearing this my mind was fully made up <i>‘This is going to be a big victory’ </i>I told myself. I was 5-1 to the Arsenal maybe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Full line up was:</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><span style="color: orange; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Arsenal 11:</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Szczesny, Koscielny, Gibbs, Chambers, Debuchy, Wilshere, Cazorla, Arteta, Ramsey, Sanogo, Sanchez</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">Subs:</span> Martinez, Monreal, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Coquelin, Campbell, Rosicky, Giroud</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><span style="color: orange; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crystal Palace 11:</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speroni, Dann, Ward, Ledley, Hangeland, Kelly, Bolasie, Jedinak, Puncheon, Campbell, Chamakh</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">Subs: </span>Hennessey, O’keefe, Delaney, McCarthy, Bannan, Gayle, Murray</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I went to this game and as you do, discovered the starting line up by TWITTER. I was expecting a strong team to be out even without the availability of the Germans and I wasn’t disappointed. Wenger had opted to start with 3 debutants in Chambers, Debuchy & Sanchez. All three players enjoyed a decent preseason which lifted the confidence even more. You could sense this when walking to the ground from the station, a lot of chatter about who will perform, will Sanchez play on top and can palace cope. I have to say I was a tad surprised Wenger had chosen Sanogo over Giroud but after the young Frenchmen performance in the Emirates Cup he’s obviously done enough to get himself the nudge over his French counter-part.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><span style="color: orange; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Game Review:</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This first half saw us dominate even though at times it looked as if we were scared to commit to our usual free flowing forward play! Some would say it was down to Palace’s deep back line and insistence to have 10 behind the ball. However for me it wasn’t just that, you could see there was also a clear lack of movement from the forward players. Jack, Ramsey and Cazorla make feeble attempts to run behind the defensive line to help the lone striking Sanogo. Palace gifted Arsenal with a lot of possession but the possession which was wasted far too often; there was far too much sideways and backwards passing and not many attempts at goal. Bar Jack Wilshire’s effort from outside the 18 yard box which forced Speroni into making a good save.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However it was Palace to struck first and you have to give it them, they toughed it out. Put that defensive wall up and waited for the gunners to make a mistake and when they did Palace took their one and only chance and made it count! Hangerland used his height to tower over all the defensive players around him and direct the ball past Szczesny. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Atmosphere changed in the emirates after that goal, you could sense the air of desperation starting to settle in. Being that last season Arsenal went down 3-1 to Aston Villa in the opening game of the season and that was something us fans and players alike did not want to see happen again. So when Koschielny bagged the all and important equaliser just at the end of the first half, the pressure lifted. There were shouts by the palace defence for offside but it never was a fully deserved goal! The first half ended one goal apiece.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: orange;">Second half Happenings</span></b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the second half things didn’t improve by much, It's actually fair to say </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Arsenal made that f***ing hard for ourselves!</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Palace again set up to restrict the boys from playing their crisp free flowing football but just like in the first half this wasn’t helped by the fact that our midfielders were making too many mistake. I’ve got to be honest, Santi Cazorla was absolutely sh*** today! Disappointing in every area for me, his short passing S***; long range passing S***; keep ball S*** and strength on the ball ABSOLUTELY S***! Everything about him was below par! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hopefully that was his worst performance of the season as I'm not too sure the home faithful will stand for that again. But in saying that Palace barely had any real chances, a few runs from Bolasie being the main danger. The game swung in Arsenal favour when Puncheon got himself sent off for a second bookable offence, a challenge he didn’t really have to make on Nacho Monreal (Who came on for Kieran Gibbs just after half time). This effectively rejuvenated Arsenal who then went on to steal the match minutes later when Rambo fired in from close range. The Emirates erupted and Arsenal were victorious, it may have been a stiff test but the boys got the job done.</span></div>
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>My man of the match:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday's real stand out performer was Calum Chambers! The young defender was excellent, he barely put a foot wrong, making a number of interceptions and some great tackles. The best thing about chambers performance is that he looked like he had been playing in that back four partnership for years, if he keeps up those performances he could go on to become an Arsenal legend! An honourable mention to Sanchez there's a lot more to come from him once he gets up to the pace of the game! </span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This Blog of Events has been brought directly to your screens</span><br />
<span style="color: orange; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by Gavin 'Gman' Henry</span></div>
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Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-15669872325214559472014-08-15T17:41:00.003-07:002014-08-16T03:39:34.070-07:00A Straight Shootin' #BPL poem for 2014/2015TODAY IS THE DAY, Saturday August 16th 2014, the day where 9 months of BPL football heaven, begins again!!!<br />
From relegation dogfights to title chases, with people of all ages checking scores from all places, from City to United, blue, red, purple and more colour shirts will be sighted.<br />
Allegiances of every team represented by a shirt, every defeat will make a supporter feel like dirt, but the very next week the hope will be renewed.<br />
Wins and losses will be accrued and many a match will be viewed, whether by BT or Sky Sports, whether live or on a delay, we'll all watch our favourite teams and wear our shirts to support.<br />
From Liverpool to London, Southampton to Burnley, Norwich to Newcastle, rivalries will be revived, and passion will be alive!<br />
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Who will be the franchise, who will be the surprise? Who will be winners and who will be the losers on the premier league stage that leaves behind the smack talkers & the posers.<br />
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At the start of the season, everyone has a chance,<br />
then some teams fall, as others advance,<br />
The 2014/2015 season will be fun, SO LETS GET TO IT WITH DAY ONE!!!<br />
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I'm Straight Shootin' LJA & that's my opinion!!!<br />
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<i>Follow me on Twitter @sslja - http://twitter.com/sslja<br />Give me a like on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/straightshootinlja<br />Our official website - <a href="http://www.pitch-talk.com/">http://www.pitch-talk.com</a><br />Follow Pitch Talk on twitter @pitchtalk - http://twitter.com/pitchtalk<br />Add us on Facebook - http://facebook.com/pitchtalk<br />Join us Live Every Monday Night from 8pm-11pm (UK Time) for Pitch Talk LIVE show @<a href="http://www.youtube.com/pitchtalk">http://www.youtube.com/pitchtalk</a></i>Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-63640883241907394252014-05-11T16:49:00.001-07:002014-05-11T16:49:41.231-07:00Straight Shootin' final thoughts on Liverpool & Ibis FC in 2013/2014I'd like to start my breif musings on the 2013/2014 Barclays Premier League season by saying, thank you, thank you to Liverpool fc & Ibis fc for the memories you've given me this season. Leading the Ibis fc 4's as captain for the season was a huge challenge for me with new responsibilities in a completely new role but i've thoroughly enjoyed it even though we came close to avoiding relegation. Liverpool fc have given me a Barclays premier league season I won't soon forget as I hold my head up high and continue to be proud of being a Liverpool fc supporter. There were many turning points and many manic moments this season but the fact is for the domestic club I love and the club I play for there have been some truly emotional moments. <br /><br /><br />With Liverpool we may have thrown the title away but the fact is we've exceeded our own expectations by coming 2nd by only 2 points, which is made even more amazing considering the resources Manchester City & Chelsea have at their disposal and by the fact we were 33/1 outsiders to win the premier league in August. As i've said on numerous Pitch Talk shows, our defence was always going to cost us but the fact is you go rise as a team and you fall as a team. <br />Monday April 21st 2014 will be a day i'll never forget due to that being the 1st time I had the honour of visiting Anfield for a match and the fact it was the 'In celebration of the 96' match made it even more emotional. On the Ibis fc side I scored my first goal for the club at the right end in a 2-0 win v Old Actonians on April 12th 2014 which is another date i'll never forget. It's been a difficult season for us with a lot happening on & off the pitch but we've got through it, survived & next season we'll thrive.<br /><br /><br />I'm already feeling emotional writing this so i'll end with this, big thanks to Liverpool football club, Ibis fc & all those who work so hard to bring us the game we love every week for a solid 9 months a year and all of the Ibis fc 4's players who've put in great efforts this season. Both of the sides I love will be back, bigger and stronger next season.<br /><br />Well done you Redmen & UP THE IBIS in 2014/2015<br /><br /><b><i>I'm Straight Shootin' LJA & that's my opinion</i></b>Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-83949199857183399422014-04-25T06:55:00.002-07:002014-04-25T06:55:51.454-07:00In celebration of the 96; An emotional Anfield day for SSLJA<div class="" id="yiv6478087860yui_3_13_0_7_1398173491253_13" style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Where do I start, on a day that promised so much and delivered so much more my dream to visit Anfield for a match I was left with even more of a passion for a club I was already passionate about. Liverpool FC & the In Celebration of the 96 match was a 2-2 draw that left me wanting not just more in terms of the football, but wanting more in terms of the entire day itself, even though it nearly ended with a costly mistake financially.</div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_81"><img class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_170788" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000735317207/234d306ae8348fc9e1a9d18648fcc23a_normal.jpeg" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; background-color: #cccccc; border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #111111; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline-block; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 30px; vertical-align: middle; width: 30px;" /><i><b><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_170787" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="SSLJA">SSLJA</a> <a class="" datetime="2014-04-20T21:45:46" href="http://twitter.com/SSLJA/status/457998586211745792" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_167583" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: middle;" target="_blank">Apr 20, 10:45pm via Twitter for Android</a></span></b></i><div class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_87" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<i><b><span style="color: #eeeeee;">@<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_182" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="DaGman84">DaGman84</a> @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_168180" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="pitchtalk">pitchtalk</a> @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_167584" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="BBCMOTD2">BBCMOTD2</a>@<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_168026" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="jjmills_91">jjmills_91</a> yeah, national express at 7.15 from Victoria, 5 hr journey, know I won't sleep tonight!</span></b></i></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_89"><img class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_170788" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000735317207/234d306ae8348fc9e1a9d18648fcc23a_normal.jpeg" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; background-color: #cccccc; border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #111111; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline-block; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 30px; vertical-align: middle; width: 30px;" /><i><b><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_167728" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="SSLJA">SSLJA</a> <a class="" datetime="2014-04-21T04:49:00" href="http://twitter.com/SSLJA/status/458105092995284992" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_168028" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: middle;" target="_blank">Apr 21, 5:49am via HootSuite</a></span></b></i><div class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_167729" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<i><b><span style="color: #eeeeee;">About to make the pilgrimage to the footballing cathederal that is Anfield, In celebration of the 96 match, HERE I COME! @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_168027" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="LFC">LFC</a> @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_97" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="pitchtalk">pitchtalk</a></span></b></i></div>
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<span class="" id="yiv6478087860yui_3_13_0_7_1398173491253_77">5.30am was my wake up time on the morning of the match (but I actually woke up at 5.20am) and my coach was a 5 hour journey beginning at 7.30am, but I think i slept more on the coach up than i did at home (I woke up at least 4 times throughout the night) due to the excitement of rockin' up to Anfield for the very first time. Victoria coach station was the departure point and on my way i was, with the anticipation building with every minute that passed.</span></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_103"><img class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_170788" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000735317207/234d306ae8348fc9e1a9d18648fcc23a_normal.jpeg" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; background-color: #cccccc; border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #111111; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline-block; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 30px; vertical-align: middle; width: 30px;" /><i><b><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_171024" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="SSLJA">SSLJA</a> <a class="" datetime="2014-04-21T10:16:58" href="http://twitter.com/SSLJA/status/458187630577221632" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_168189" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: middle;" target="_blank">Apr 21, 11:16am via HootSuite</a></span></b></i><div class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_167871" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<i><b><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Only 36 miles til my coach hits Liverpool, the excitement levels are rising @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_171023" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="LFC">LFC</a> @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_167872" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="pitchtalk">pitchtalk</a> <a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_106" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="incelebrationofthe96">#incelebrationofthe96</a></span></b></i></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_68">The coach journey was supposed to drop me into norton street coach station for 1pm, but fortunately I had my first stroke of luck as the coach (which was supposed to stop in Manchester originally) went straight to Liverpool, so with that time in the bank I got some snaps of the Liverpool Empire & around St. Georges Hall.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><i><b><img class="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_171367" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_170788" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000735317207/234d306ae8348fc9e1a9d18648fcc23a_normal.jpeg" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; background-color: #cccccc; border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline-block; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 30px; vertical-align: middle; width: 30px;" /></b></i></span><i style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_171024" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="SSLJA">SSLJA</a> <a class="" datetime="2014-04-21T10:16:58" href="http://twitter.com/SSLJA/status/458187630577221632" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_168189" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: middle;" target="_blank">Apr 21, 11:16am via HootSuite</a></span></b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="color: #eeeeee;">It's official, Straight Shootin' LJA is in the hiz-ouse, Liverpool, where should I go before I hit Anfield? @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_171023" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="LFC">LFC</a> @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_167872" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="pitchtalk">pitchtalk</a></span></b></i></div>
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So onwards to Anfield and oddly enough I was going to get the bus up from Queens Square, but I ended up jumping in a taxi with 4 other people, 1 of which was a Leeds supporter which made for some interesting chat about the Cellino situation and more!</div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_120">As we turned the corner coming up Rockfield Road I caught a glimpse of Goodison Park and even though I knew the grounds were close, it really dawned on me how close they are to each other and how small Goodison looks.</span></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_127">Anyway, we pulled up to Anfield and I was in awe of the ground as we got out of the taxi, it was amazing being somewhere you've fantasized about going to for almost 20 years. One of the more emotional parts of the day for me was walking around the ground to the Hillsborough memorial, oddly enough we saw Jake Humphrey of BT Sport taking pictures with people and 2 things ran through my mind... 1. He's pretty tall and 2. He was wearing a lot of makeup!</span></div>
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The Hillsborough memorial was emotional, I've seen pictures of it on TV and pictures of the Shankly gates but seeing the scarves and flowers up close, seeing the amount of different club scarves hanging from the gates & the bouquets of flowers by the memorial on the corner of the Anfield road end really made the day even more real for me. The 2 clubs, 1 massive family banner really made me think, 'football unites'.</div>
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So, as I bid farewell to my new friends and entered the ground i've waited so long to sit in...ANFIELD and believe you me it felt tremendous. Finding my seat was pretty easy with the help of a steward but unfortunately finding a match day programme was impossible as they'd all sold out even though I got to the ground almost an hour & a half before kick off.</div>
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But still, an emotional moment was about to hit me and that moment was leading up to the match. The moment I speak of was when you'll never walk alone was sung in an opera style by a local youngster and I actually did shed a tear at that moment, hearing that song live at Anfield would have been emotional enough but knowing this was a day In celebration of those 96 who lost their lives due to a horrific tragedy just really hit home.</div>
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On to the match and even more emotion for me because even though they are older (and in most cases more portly, more on that later) it was tremendous to see some of the players who I grew up watching on tv in the flesh, live and in living colour!!! Seeing God aka Robbie Fowler & Steve 'Shaggy' Mcmanaman linking up gave me flashbacks of watching them back in 95/96. Seeing Fowler & Michael Owen linking up & having Dietmar Hamann & Sami Hyppia back on the Anfield turf gave me memories of 2001, which were especially fresh as I happen to be reading a hardback copy of Robbie Fowler's autobiography. </div>
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On the Michael Owen side note, there were 2 hilarious things happening throughout the match. One was Michael Owen as the panto villain of the day as when the teams were being read out before the match Owen's name received a fair amount of jeers & throughout the match he was subject to a lot of cheers but a few jeers too. The other hilarious side note was Jan Molby being urged to 'SHOOT' every time he received the ball which was made doubly funny as I heard a couple of kids behind me say 'who's the fat kid' in reference to the honorary Scouser Mr Molby. </div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_159"><img class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_170788" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000735317207/234d306ae8348fc9e1a9d18648fcc23a_normal.jpeg" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; background-color: #cccccc; border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #111111; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline-block; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 30px; vertical-align: middle; width: 30px;" /><b><i><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_171374" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="SSLJA">SSLJA</a> <a class="" datetime="2014-04-21T13:16:02" href="http://twitter.com/SSLJA/status/458232694359724032" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_170668" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: middle;" target="_blank">Apr 21, 2:16pm via HootSuite</a></span></i></b><div class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_171373" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<b><i><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Jan Molby is massive these days, true scouse wit as the crowd urges him to shoot with every touch he has @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_171611" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="btsport">btsport</a> @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_171612" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="pitchtalk">pitchtalk</a>@<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_173" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="LFC">LFC</a></span></i></b></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_165">I did notice that the International legends generally were, let's say, 'leaner' than the domestic legends but on a beautiful day for football & with the International reds having a lot more of the ball (Luis Garcia looking especially lively) it was the domestic reds who made the breakthrough and fittingly it was native Scouser (Toxteth to be exact) Robbie Fowler who sold Sander Westerveld a delightful dummy & rounded him to score in front of the Kop End after being sent through by Jason McAteer. </span></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_195">Fowler rolled back the years and 1-0 is how it stayed for the remainder of the first half and one thing that most won't have seen on tv is the half time entertainment which came in the form of a penalty shootout involving Clare Balding (who scored both her pens), Liverpool supporters Russell Howard (who scored 1 pen and put 1 wide) & Colin Murray (who had the same conversion rate as Howard, 1 in 1 wide) and the special guest of the day John Bishop, who being another native Scouser, ended up being very involved in the main game (more on that later). All of those penalties were taken against the club mascot Mighty Red who tried valiantly to keep the net from bulging too often! On the subject of Mighty Red, his dancing as he went back down into the changing rooms before the second half was hilarious, he was shaking them tail feathers with no shame at all, this was after John Bishop got a mexican wave going around Anfield, which he actually filmed!!! Great stuff & we still had the 2nd half to go!</span></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_213"><img class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_170788" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000735317207/234d306ae8348fc9e1a9d18648fcc23a_normal.jpeg" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; background-color: #cccccc; border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #111111; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline-block; font-size: 12px; height: 30px; vertical-align: middle; width: 30px;" /><i><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_174180" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="SSLJA">S</a><b><a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="SSLJA">SLJA</a> <a class="" datetime="2014-04-21T14:03:31" href="http://twitter.com/SSLJA/status/458244643185238017" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_174172" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: middle;" target="_blank">Apr 21, 3:03pm via HootSuite</a></b></span></i><div class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_174173" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<b><i><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Gota love John Bishop getting a Mexican wave on film, gota love half time entertainment @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_178685" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="LFC">LFC</a> @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_174181" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="pitchtalk">pitchtalk</a> @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_219" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="btsport">btsport</a></span></i></b></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_202">So the 2nd half began and a good few subs were made and Luis Garcia's fancy footwork was involved in the buildup along with Hamann who set up Smicer who's shot took a huge deflection off Michael Thomas went flying past David James to level up things for the international reds.</span></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_229"><img class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_170788" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000735317207/234d306ae8348fc9e1a9d18648fcc23a_normal.jpeg" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; background-color: #cccccc; border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #111111; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline-block; font-size: 12px; height: 30px; vertical-align: middle; width: 30px;" /><b><i><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_178687" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="SSLJA">SSLJA</a> <a class="" datetime="2014-04-21T14:18:16" href="http://twitter.com/SSLJA/status/458248356691988481" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: middle;" target="_blank">Apr 21, 3:18pm via HootSuite</a></span></i></b><div class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_174463" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<b><i><span style="color: #eeeeee;">David James unlucky on the international @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_174464" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="LFC">LFC</a> equaliser, scoreboard took a while to update lol @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_178797" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="pitchtalk">pitchtalk</a> @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_235" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="btsport">btsport</a></span></i></b></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_220">When that goal went in I did feel a bit for David James, but more for Mark Wright as he'd been solid all match but never got the clean sheet his performance deserved, but part of that sympathy is me being part of the defenders union and defenders, like keepers love clean sheets, no matter what the occasion.</span></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_209">John Bishop came on for Luis Garcia and Bishop got involved in a match that all of us would give our left arm to be in and you could see the childlike excitement when he came on, he really got stuck in! Bishop actually nearly scored a dream goal at the Kop end, he smashed the post and Bruno Cheyrou smashed in the rebound, 2-1 international reds and the subs kept coming! </span></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_251"><img class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_170788" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000735317207/234d306ae8348fc9e1a9d18648fcc23a_normal.jpeg" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; background-color: #cccccc; border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #111111; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline-block; font-size: 12px; height: 30px; vertical-align: middle; width: 30px;" /><b><i><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_178798" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="SSLJA">SSLJA</a> <a class="" datetime="2014-04-21T14:42:01" href="http://twitter.com/SSLJA/status/458254332287545344" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_174769" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: middle;" target="_blank">Apr 21, 3:42pm via HootSuite</a></span></i></b><div class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_174770" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<i><b><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Its just like watching Ibis play @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_175081" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="ibis_football">ibis_football</a>with molby and mcmanaman coming back on lol @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="LFC">LFC</a> @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_178684" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="pitchtalk">pitchtalk</a> @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_254" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="btsport">btsport</a></span></b></i></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_245">The repeat subs kept the game fresh & lively and one of the subs who came on in the 2nd half was Jamie Redknapp who was pulling out some party tricks and silky skills, he's a lot taller than he looks on TV and I guess being on TV has made sure he's stayed in good shape. </span></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_281">Another side note was the running battle between John Aldridge & Sander Westerveld, there were a good few chances for Aldo but Sander was always up to the task denying Aldridge or beating him to a through ball, but it was great to see the banter between those 2.</span></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_278">2 penalties were given in this match, the 1st was given against David Burrows and John Bishop conspired to miss it, was a good save by David James though and it was all smiles afterwards from James & Bishop. There was a flashback to 97 and an infamous celebration when Mr Fowler looked like he was sniffing the penalty spot before Bishop went up to take the kick, which I personally got a chuckle from as did many of us inside Anfield who remember.</span></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_271"><img class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_170788" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000735317207/234d306ae8348fc9e1a9d18648fcc23a_normal.jpeg" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; background-color: #cccccc; border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #111111; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline-block; font-size: 12px; height: 30px; vertical-align: middle; width: 30px;" /><b><i><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_178800" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="SSLJA">SSLJA</a> <a class="" datetime="2014-04-21T14:53:53" href="http://twitter.com/SSLJA/status/458257320531988480" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_176046" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: middle;" target="_blank">Apr 21, 3:53pm via HootSuite</a></span></i></b><div class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_176049" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<i><b><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Great save david james from john bishop's pen, Robbie fowler gave us a flashback of 97 in the buildup @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_178801" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="LFC">LFC</a> @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_181016" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="pitchtalk">pitchtalk</a> @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_277" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="btsport">btsport</a></span></b></i></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_168">About a minute later another pen was given and Robbie Fowler ended up taking it, but there was a huge holdup after Hyppia brought down Fowler just inside the box. The holdup was because we saw that Kenny was going to come on and we all started chanting 'KENNY KENNY, KENNY'. Fowler was going to step aside as everyone including Owen & Redknapp and even Jan Molby of the international reds urged the King to take it but Kenny ended up letting Robbie Fowler take it and 'God' beat Sander Westerveld in what ended up as the final goal of the match, was a brilliant penalty and the game ended up staying as a thoroughly entertaining 2-2 draw.</span></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_264">2 Fowler goals (1 penalty), Cheyrou & Smicer (Michael Thomas o.g) were the goals scored but the memories i'll have of this day were many more than I could ever count, rarely are there moments that leave me speechless but my arrival at Anfield was one of those moments.</span></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_315">Margaret Aspinall's post-match speech after the trophy presentation was the final emotional moment of my day as she is a true survivor & a great campaigner not just for justice for her loss on April 15th 1989, but for the loss of 95 other lives on that day too.</span></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_322">On my way home I was on cloud 9 but now an new challenge presented itself...how to get home!!! (Well back to the Norton Street coach station) After taking the scenic route around the ground taking some snaps of the Paisley gates and the posters of King Kenny, John Barnes & more outside the centenary stand I made my way back the way I cam and following my instincts (as google maps was no real help) I made my way to the bus stop and ended up just making it to my coach (which fortunately left 10 minutes late) after i'd sweated buckets running from Queens Gate up to Norton street.</span></div>
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<span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_180589"><img class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_180592" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000735317207/234d306ae8348fc9e1a9d18648fcc23a_normal.jpeg" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; background-color: #cccccc; border-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #111111; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline-block; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 30px; vertical-align: middle; width: 30px;" /><b><i><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_180588" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="SSLJA">SSLJA</a> <a class="" datetime="2014-04-21T16:14:37" href="http://twitter.com/SSLJA/status/458277634531553280" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_180590" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: middle;" target="_blank">Apr 21, 5:14pm via HootSuite</a></span></i></b><div class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_180591" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; clear: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<i><b><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Just had a major touch that my coach left a couple of minutes late, trusting my instincts helped too, whew what a day! @<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="pitchtalk">pitchtalk</a>@<a class="" href="https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#" id="yui_3_13_0_13_1398240505802_334" style="-webkit-user-select: text !important; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="LFC">LFC</a></span></b></i></div>
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To quote/paraphrase WWE hall of famer the Ultimate Warrior (who recently passed away) from WCW back in 1998 - 'History tells us, that a mans legacy is built from the premise, that within his life, the moments lived, once lived, become a piece of his history'.</div>
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My first ever visit to Anfield on April 21st 2014 for the 'In celebration of the 96' match is a moment, a big moment for me as a football supporter, a Liverpool supporter and a big moment in my life thus far and will definitely stay with me as a piece of my history. To be in that great stadium makes me want to achieve greatness in my life even more, so in closing I say thank you to Liverpool Football club, thank you to the Hillsborough Family Support group (HFSG), thank you to the international & domestic legends teams & managers, because you've given me a moment which I will never forget.</div>
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<i><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span class="" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_178178"><span class="" data-ft="{"tn":";"}" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_178177"><a class="" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=597470914&extragetparams=%7B%22hc_location%22%3A%22timeline%22%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/liam.lja.angell?hc_location=timeline" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_178176" style="cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Liam 'Lja' Angell</a> via Facebook - </span></span><a class="" href="https://www.facebook.com/liam.lja.angell/posts/10152367050320915?stream_ref=10" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_178185" style="cursor: pointer; font-size: 11px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">22 April</a><span style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 15px;"> at 00.17</span></span></i></h5>
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<i><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">AKA </span><a class="" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=122577037786019" href="https://www.facebook.com/straightshootinlja" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_178180" style="cursor: pointer; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Straight Shootin' LJA</a><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> says 'In Celebration of the 96' was an amazing match to be at, THANK YOU </span><a class="" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=67920382572" href="https://www.facebook.com/LiverpoolFC" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1398240505802_178803" style="cursor: pointer; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Liverpool FC</a><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">, you've given me a life long memory that shall be passed down to my kids, and my kids kids, loved every second of my first time up at Anfield, April 21st 2014 will never be forgotten</span></span></i></h5>
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Justice for the 96 #jft96 R.I.P You will never be forgotten, today was in celebration of all of you!!!</div>
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I'm Straight Shootin' LJA & that is not just my opinion, but my first ever Anfield experience in words!!!</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Follow me on Twitter @sslja - http://twitter.com/sslja</i></span><div>
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Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-19960040710640293612014-04-06T18:31:00.002-07:002014-04-06T18:31:33.861-07:00Celebrity Influence, Good or Bad??<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I would like to consider myself a fair bloke; a respectful person; at times maybe a little out spoken but not one to ever begrudge anyone for their achievements, the things they own or the lifestyle they live. Two of my favourite sayings are "Each to their own!" & "It is what it is!" Which to me means everyone is free to do what they like; well to a certain extent. However another strong belief of mine is, "you are your own best example!”. To me this means you should follow no one’s example but your own or in other word if you feel what you’re doing is correct then continue doing what you are doing! My father always used to say “In life each man or woman has a responsibility to set the best example for those with in their community especially the younger generations”. He would always remark “As soon as you step outside you’re front doors, you are representing this family name” This is especially the case if you’re the focal part of a community, business or household you have a role as the role model and you basically have to set the right example and deliver the right sort of messages for those outside your circles. <br /><br />So it’s a long standing belief of mine that footballers should be expected to uphold such responsibilities; its their responsibility to show themselves in the best light, considering they are made to look like pillars of our community with some actually milking this fact through all the public exposure they get, those right at the top of the game; David Beckham, Christiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Robiniho etc reap the the finest of rewards from such exposure; mega sponsorship deals, television appearances, image rights these men are treated like kings, they are literally selling lifestyles. <br /><br />Millions of unsuspecting children are sucked into the rampant media onslaught of football marketing and merchandising and how can they not be, when everywhere you turn, news papers, magazines, footballing television shows, advertisements, computer games, even down to non sporting clothing, have allowed footballers to weed themselves into nearly every knook and cranny of our lives. The Paddy Powers advert can be seen as a chilling indication of this. Carlton Palmer startles an unsuspecting supporter as he takes a bath, by popping his head from under the water. Now I know this was not the overall message paddy Powers was trying to portray as they are a bookies and want people to buy bets, however it’s not far from the truth. Literally everything we do in life can be associated with a footballing personality.<br /><br />As a child I remember the influence of which such stars like Eric Cantona had over me; with the rolling up of his shirt collar and the famous phrase from the Nike advert "auvoir"; Faustino Asprilia, and my countless attempts of copy his half a cartwheel; Ian Wright and the numerous exuberant celebrations basically running around the pitch with a fat smile screaming and shouting. These Influences helped me decide on my next set of boots, shin pads even down to the studs. These players were played out like Gods before me, doing the wildest of stunts and tricks that any child would have been amazed by.<br /><br />However the very same medium that help build their stardom, also causes their downfall. Players and newspapers share a close connection, and unlike kids magazines like ‘The Matchmag or Shoot. Newspapers are not there to blanket players, the newspaper publisher just want to sell the news and will print any feasible story to do so. And with us living in a world where bad news makes good reading, footballers are not safe. So naturally you would have thought players, whom are seen as role models would not want to have their names dragged through the papers. Yet this doesn’t seem to be the case even though some would say, the exposure is not exactly down to their own doing and not exactly what the players wanted when their careers started. Some would say they just wanted to play football and had no intentions of being marketed as role models. For those who say that you make me chuckle!! That is such a ridiculous statement... Every player knows the pros and cons of being a footballer, before signing those contracts. Infact the pro's actually over shadow the cons so I doubt at the time of having to sign a £4 million contract over four years is going to be affected by the thought of press intrusion by most players, girls throwing themselves at their feet or the duty of being a role model.<br /><br />I guess what I’m getting at is players need to understand they have more than a duty entertain on the pitch, they also have role as role models. Being a celebratory and a high profile one at that almost guarantees their exposure to the world, so whatever is written or unveiled about a player is not just a reflection on themselves but also their employers (club), colleagues and family. I’m not saying players cannot make mistakes or go through hard times, as they are human and as humans we all make mistakes. We all have emotions and think differently about things. Yet players need to understand/over stand that Young impressionable children and even highly passionate adults are watching their every move. Through the out let of the media these days there is little that they can hide and what they do hide usually comes to light anyhow<br /><br />These views have been brought to you by<br /><br />Gavin C Henry aka Da G-Man</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
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Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-65657026448267563652014-03-10T03:14:00.000-07:002014-04-11T16:25:52.975-07:00Pitch Talk @ COC final 2014 - Gezzie Fizzle & Da Gmans post match thoughts<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pitch Talk invaded Wembley Way again last week for the Capital One Cup Final. Here's Gezzie Fizzle and Da Gman's post match views of Manchester City v Sunderland in vlog form -</span><br />
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<br />Our official website - <a href="http://www.pitch-talk.com/">http://www.pitch-talk.com</a><br />Follow Pitch Talk on twitter @pitchtalk - http://twitter.com/pitchtalk<br />Add us on Facebook - http://facebook.com/pitchtalk<br />Join us Live Every Monday Night from 8pm-11pm (UK Time) for Pitch Talk LIVE show @ <a href="http://www.youtube.com/pitchtalk">http://www.youtube.com/pitchtalk</a></span>Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-44575668714384814822014-01-05T16:08:00.002-08:002014-04-11T16:26:22.829-07:00Mourinho, Cundy & the non-existent Anti-Chelsea conspiracy<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_29_1388620273651_13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-top: 0.1em; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On a blog on the La Footyettes website I got some inspiration for this blog which will probably sound like more of a rant than a measured piece of thoughtful writing but still, blogging with feeling is what the Straight Shootin' One is all about!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Personally, i'd like to open by saying that I don't think Jose Mourinho or 'Jose moany ho' as I like to call him was being light-hearted with his quips & bitching about the lack of Chelsea pundits on TV. He p*ssed me off to the point where I ended up having quite a rant on the last Pitch Talk show of 2013 (30-12-2013) which also ended up as a Rant of the Week about the fact that he seemed to miss the fact that Ray Wilkins (ex-Chelsea player) has been doing punditry with Sky Sports for a long time & that Glenn Hoddle (also ex-Chelsea) was doing punditry on Sky Sports for that very game between Liverpool & Chelsea. Mourinho's arrogant ways generally drive me up the wall on a general basis and it especially annoys me that the guy is basically a media darling, he is never gracious in victory or defeat but because some people like him he get's away with it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bear in mind I don't defend the media, I think our media (English media) is a disgrace with the way they brownnose, hype and do nothing but forward agendas, which is the reason why I call them the 'parisitic media' on Pitch Talk shows, so don't think i'm trying to help/defend the 'legit' news media outlets.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, with that last point said, Jose Mourinho is successful, no doubt about that but he's a short-term manager who likes to splash the cash, just look at how much he's spent at Inter Milan, Real Madrid & especially Chelsea and look at how long he stays at each team and you'll hopefully see my point. Jason Cundy, well, this nothing happening no name no account jabrone can say all he wants and he seems like another moron with a nonsensical opinion, he won't issue an apology and even if he does it'll probably only be at the behest of his employers as people like him & Mourinho tend to believe their own hype & b.s otherwise they wouldn't say it in the first place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a Liverpool supporter myself I found Cundy (replace that d with a t and you'll get close to my view on the comments he made) and his comments to be narrow minded & moronic, questionable decisions are rife within the game these days no matter what the ground, it's a sad fact but there's another issue there anyway, no-one deserves the kind of abuse or vitriol that Cundy aimed at Liverpool supporters, tarring everyone with the same brush is unfair and ignorant, there are a lot of keyboard warriors on twitter but there are more good folk on there than bad and in my view, as i've said on Pitch Talk shows, every club has a moronic minority of fans, Liverpool are no different, but neither are Chelsea. Mourinho also seems to have a conveniently short memory accusing Suarez of diving considering he signed Arjen Robben & Didier Drogba for Chelsea FC, by the way, 2 players diving in 2 games says you have divers in your team Jose, just thought i'd mention that.. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But still, even leaving that aside, f<span id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1388620273651_117562">or me, Jose Mourinho isn't the special one, he's the arrogant one and to paraphrase former WWE superstar Shawn Michaels back in November 1998 as I did on last Monday's Pitch Talk show (in regards to Cundy and Jose this time), 'if I wanted crap out of you, i'd pick it out of your teeth'. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm Straight Shootin' LJA & that's my opinion</span></div>
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Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-7504566780824467482013-08-16T12:02:00.000-07:002014-04-11T16:27:28.974-07:00<span style="color: orange; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Players as mercenaries & A jaded SSLJA</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's been somewhat of an odd weekend in some ways but it's been enjoyable in every way. The reason why i'd say its been odd is because from Friday night (August 2nd 2013) to the small hours of Sunday morning on the 4th of August one thing has come into my mind, well 2. The first one is, am I jaded these days & by jaded I mean, has football lost it's magic in terms of the premier league where nothing is really a surprise for me any more? This train of thought was started by catching a bit of the Premier League years in a pub (1996/97 for those interested in the year) with my co-host Da Gman & I asked him the question 'is it me or is football just not the same anymore? In 96/97 & 95/96 (both of which are tied for 1st place in my favourite season's I've watched) I felt an enchantment with football, specifically the premier league and part of that I think was down to the fact that I didn't have sky sports as a youngster (my family didn't get that until April 2001) so I had to rely on Match of the Day as my main source of football and I relied on it religiously and when I got to watch sky sports I took advantage of it, but as me and Gav watched the Premier League years it was like going back in time, remembering the matches and what happened next took me back to a time where all I knew of football was what I saw on TV and what I heard from pundits & read in the Mirror football pullouts & Match magazine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But now we have the internet, we can watch any games we want whenever we want and any 2 bit jabroni with an opinion on the social networks can add his/her 2 cents to an issue and make wild accusations with no rationale or factual basis and others are moronic enough to believe it or take it seriously which infuriates me. But I digress, my thought is that I have become jaded to the point of being cynical due to the previously mentioned points and I actually can't help it, my mindset is definitely to question everything and try & know anything but to paraphrase the words of Jim Cornette on a 2005 shoot interview with Paul Bearer, 'the more you know about something, the less fun you get out of it because nothing's a surprise any more' and I think those sentiments, are true for me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 2nd point I wanted to address relates in part to player loyalty & especially Steven Gerrard's testimonial. After watching that as I went to bed I thought to myself, at my club when Gerrard retires, (Carragher has already hung his boots up) Stevie G will basically be one of very few players in the Premier League, let alone my beloved Liverpool FC who came up/grew up in the 90s and has stayed at 1 club for his whole career and it kind of scares me that it's almost a changing of the guard from loyal soldiers in an army, to basically 'hired guns' who will follow the money instead of their hearts and pledge allegiance to those who pay the most at any given time.</span><br />
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For me, yes the mercenaries issue with players is nothing new but with a lot of players they'll be a 'fly by night/flash in the pan' kind of player who'll pledge allegiance one day, but turn tail and run when times get tough and for me as a fan/supporter I've just found this wholesale shift disturbing. For me, football is about playing where you're happiest, and I'm talking about where you've made friends, where you feel comfortable. Playing for Ibis FC in the Southern Amateur leagues has been a pleasure and maybe getting the captaincy of the 4's side after playing for them for 5/6 years has made me think a bit differently, but I see it as I'll stay at a club for a long time if I feel happy & comfortable. We don't get paid to play at our level, we pay to play & help run the club but I feel that the more I've learnt about the game as a whole, the more jaded I've become & I can't switch that off and just watch a game & not be analyzing it, same with transfer situations/stories, always looking at it cynically & for me the modern game & the modern breeds this cynicism in me. </span><br />
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It'll be a sad day when the last of the loyal soldiers retires from their respective teams, guys such as Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Ryan Giggs etc, these men who have been 1 club players because for me it'll be the last of the loyal footballers, who will be passing torches to people who'll be here today & gone tomorrow.</span></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm Straight Shootin' LJA & that's my opinion</span></b></i>Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-36510770792160860152013-07-18T14:02:00.002-07:002014-04-11T16:28:01.410-07:00England's disappointing football summer<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I feel it's always best to blog when the feelings are raw and fresh but watching all 3 England games in the Women's Euro 2013 made me sit back & think. But hasn't make me rethink my support for Women's football (as i've enjoyed the group stage of the Euros), because in my view, the women's game is still very much in a developmental phase and when you're in that stage you need support rather than chastisement. There will be other tournaments for our Lionesses to thrive at but this tournament showed me that England's lack of quality (especially in depth) knows no gender or age bounds.</span><br />
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Changes are needed at all levels but especially at Under 21's level with Glenn Hoddle's recent comments it seems like all some people want to do is talk rather than commit to actions, and yes that comment is aimed at Glenn Hoddle himself. The more we talk, the more we fall behind and for me actions do speak louder than words and we need to eradicate the greed & short termism that plagues our game and start focusing on the future of our game, forget copying other nations, we need to stamp our own authority onto the game we love and the game we arguably brought to the world. Women's football is getting more exposure and I for one am and will continue to be an advocate of that but development, rather than the pursuit of money needs to be our focus. Women's football needs our support instead of the FA making borderline moronic decisions & hampering the game and on the mens side, from youth all the way up we need to be looking long term, not at the money that can be made, new television deals and clubs raising ticket prices, but how our youngsters are developing. Something is missing from our youngsters and in general from English footballers and most would say it's technique, which in my view it is, but mental prowess is another glaringly obvious attribute our players seem to be missing and the chasm is getting bigger as each year goes by.</span><br />
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St. Georges park is a great idea & concept but as the powerful 'Football's Suicide Secret' documentary hosted by PFA Chairman Clarke Carlisle showed, the mental side is horribly under recognised & under utilised. To me it looks like players are badly advised and used by unscrupulous agents and clubs as money making machines that are to be discarded after they've outlived their usefulness which for me is borderline disgraceful. As a wrestling fan and as I have done on a recent Pitch Talk Live show i'd like to paraphrase Gordon Solie and say 'Football is half physical & half mental' and England are lagging behind the top countries in the world in both areas. Support, development, technique should be the key words & key aims to improve, not money and revenue as every area of the game needs help, Youth, Women and; especially the full Men's squad or the future won't be bright, it will be bleak & teams getting dumped out early is what we'll continue to see. </span><br />
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<b><i>I'm Straight Shootin' LJA & that's my opinion</i></b></span>Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-42443284077593242522013-04-15T07:23:00.001-07:002014-04-11T16:28:35.284-07:00A Hillsborough Monday<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For some the pain may never subside, but we the football family are on your side,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hold you heads up with much pride, we the football family put all rivalry aside,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Justice must forever be sought, so that the 96 deaths aren't for naught,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Those who perished will always be cherished,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And their memories will never be diminished,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Every April, the glass is half full, justice is coming so keep being hopeful,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tears and prayers are shared by family & friends,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This ensures the journey for justice will never end,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Liverpool FC are forever in my heart, Hillsborough will forever be a part of the collective LFC heart,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Honour & dignity is what the families have displayed, masking broken hearts that are still dismayed,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">No matter how many games our played, the memories of the 96 will forever remain,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In our minds, our spirit & our souls, as we try to reach the goal,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Of justice for the 96, JUSTICE FOR THE 96!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">By Liam Angell aka Straight Shootin' LJA</span></div>
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Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-29393054246448772322012-11-18T15:37:00.000-08:002013-01-01T17:57:46.387-08:00Football, the game we love<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPmuCBCaAmNzuEbBuKyh16U-9aBlK3LAWiiX-qQ97rXyg5Za5shI8v_0ellHQzCc3bv3nt6Y-ivX4NWk4Vli9zC1qgzNcNoLLhyphenhyphenFVoT-lFZBCcXFVcsU-IxDOI_jfBwZgaxKjp2kCgLZb0/s1600/football2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPmuCBCaAmNzuEbBuKyh16U-9aBlK3LAWiiX-qQ97rXyg5Za5shI8v_0ellHQzCc3bv3nt6Y-ivX4NWk4Vli9zC1qgzNcNoLLhyphenhyphenFVoT-lFZBCcXFVcsU-IxDOI_jfBwZgaxKjp2kCgLZb0/s320/football2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It gives the highest highs and the lowest of lows, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It can bring us up, only to let us down, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The team you support, the shirt you just bought, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The renwed hope, the managerial tight rope, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The title race, the final relegation place, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The look on your face, that wingers pace, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From espn & itv to sky and the bbc, From super sundays to motd, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Football is the sport for me, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I live and breathe, sometimes I can't believe, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just what this game can do to me, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It makes me scream and shout, even when my team is down and out,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Clear the schedule at weekends, my week begins as some come to an end,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whether playing, watching or talking about it,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Straight Shootin' LJA can never doubt it, football is the sport for me, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It unites he, she and we, as a footballing family,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sometimes it's like a gift from above,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whether it's called soccer or football, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's simply the game we love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i><span lang="EN" style="color: orange;">I’m Straight Shootin’ LJA & that’s my opinion.</span></i></b><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-13491768882768130952012-04-18T04:08:00.002-07:002012-04-18T04:11:12.079-07:00The English FA, UEFA & FIFA – The Moronic Trinity<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Those of you
who listen to Pitch Talk shows from 8pm (UK) LIVE every Monday night you’ll be
used to hearing my voice in terms of Rants & tirades about the state of
football but for this week I’ve got my ammunition. Straight Shootin’ doesn’t
generally relate to guns in anyway but for this blog entry I’ll have to make an
exception and point my guns firmly at the powers that be in domestic, European
& world football.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Let’s take
FIFA first and the fact they are run by a corrupt moron called Sepp Blatter,
the man who in 2011 had a coronation, not an election (because an election has
more than 1 person running for office by definition) to remain in power at FIFA
as the president, the man who thinks Racism isn’t a problem in football, a man
who if he had a brain he’d be out playing with it, as he’s borderline retarded.
Apologies for going slightly off point but as I type my blood is boiling on
this cold Tuesday evening, but it’s not Blatter I have my problem with today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">So, let’s
move on to UEFA and Michel Platini, the man who can see football is crying out
for video technology but this idiot doesn’t want to bring it in because he
doesn’t want the game to become ‘Playstation football’. This is the same idiot
who wants to bring down England’s champions league places down to 3, apparently
so that ‘smaller teams’ can get some European revenue, but he hasn’t heard my
idea of just bringing back the damn European Cup Winners cup, but anyway, my
venom isn’t aimed at the man trying to battle Blatter for the biggest moron in
football aka Michel Platini.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">My venom is
aimed squarely at our very own English FA and my reasons are plentiful and I
will call their decisions, ‘mong moves’ for the sake of this blog. My first
reason, the rule that dictates that taking your shirt off is a booking, what an
utterly stupid rule, you’ve got dangerous tackles and shirt pulling that are
bookings most of the time but I take my shirt off in celebration and I get
booked...mong move no.1 by our FA. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Mong move
no.2, undermining your own manager (Fabio Capello) to the point where he walks
out on you when you’re trying to prepare for a major tournament, well done FA,
another mong move successfully executed. If you’ve got someone managing your
national football team it would be wise to let the man actually manage the team
instead of making decisions and not even consulting him first before you go to
the media and tell them the news.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Mong move
no.3, going to bat for Wayne Rooney. The way the FA went to bat for Rooney was
embarrassing on many levels, the shameless brownnosing of UEFA to get his ban
reduced from 3 to 2 matches was an abomination, when Rooney clearly
deliberately kicked a Montenegro player, but another successful mong move made.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Mong move
no.4 is more recent, Shaun Derry of QPR having his red card that shouldn’t have
even been a red card upheld along with a 1 match ban. Let’s set the scene,
well, actually, the scene was set on the Pitch Talk LIVE show from April 9<sup>th</sup>
2012 (jump to http://<a href="http://t.co/1vja1ZtX" target="_blank">ow.ly/a37JZ</a> (itunes)
for the podcast, You can also hear the podcast on podomatic – http://<a href="http://t.co/sVoRdWpj" target="_blank">ow.ly/a37MG</a> & mixcloud
– http://<a href="http://t.co/YeSb3WzU" target="_blank">ow.ly/a37MH</a> ),</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> but
basically, Derry got a straight red card for pulling Ashley Young who dove to
the ground like he’d been shot, even though Young was clearly offside when it
happened, the Linesman was looking right at the incident at Old Trafford (of
all places) but didn’t flag. Anyway, the reason this qualifies as a mong move,
the FA have seen the footage, QPR appealed the red card and somehow in their
infinite idiocy the FA uphold Derry’s red card so he serves a 1 match ban
because of a red card that should never have been. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">But anyway as my blood boils
I have a final mong move, or a moron move, as it relates to the man I like to
call ‘Moron’ Mario Balotelli. The reason I cite this is because Balotelli
almost looked like he was trying to get himself sent off in the Arsenal v
Manchester City match on Sunday April 8<sup>th</sup> 2012 with a catalogue of
stupid and atrocious tackles, the least dangerous of which he got sent off for,
and the worst of which went completely unpunished, referee Martin Atkinson
deserves a moron of the week award along with Balotelli for not punishing the
tackle. The FA take this as a mong move because it was a leg breaker tackle in which
Alex Song was extremely lucky not to have his leg snapped in the 1<sup>st</sup>
half v Manchester City, that the FA looked at & reviewed the footage, but
because of this stupid ‘retrospective punishment’ thing where if the referee or
an official sees an incident but does nothing about it the FA won’t take any
further action, apparently because if they do take action it will undermine the
referee’s authority. Pardon me for trying to understand these morons, but how
can the ref/linesman/official see a leg breaker challenge and do nothing about
it? That’s bad enough but the FA not taking any action is even more of a disgrace.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">The FA need a wakeup call and the powers that be in football need to be ousted
and soon, because their moronic mentalities, disgraceful decisions and good old
boy network ways of working are ruining a game that we love. I would like to
put myself Straight Shootin’ LJA (Twitter - @sslja ) and my Pitch Talk co-hosts
– Da Gman (Twitter - @dagman84 ) & Gezzie Fizzle (Twitter - @apparentlyrich
) forward to run world football because I think the moron that was Jade Goody
& the moron that is Katie Price (who if they had a brain between them
they’d be out playing with it) could do a better job of running football than
the borderline retarded Blatter, the idiotic Michel Platini and our own joke of
an FA. Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups, because
these are the kind of people who seem to be the powers that be in football.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">I’m Straight Shootin’ LJA & that’s my opinion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-8231386132181987262012-04-11T05:25:00.000-07:002012-04-11T05:25:30.409-07:00Moron Mario, has his Blue bubble burst?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mario Balotelli has confused, amused,
bemused but not abused me, but all of the previous things he's done for me in
equal measure. As said I've been confused by him, especially recently in Man
City's game against Arsenal because similar to Matthew Brown of Leeds United 2
days before against Reading, 'moron' Mario (as I like to call him on Pitch Talk
shows) seemed to be trying to get himself sent off with 2 stupid challenges on
Bacary Sagna and an absolutely disgraceful challenge on Alexandre Song which
somehow the officials missed (how they did I don't know but I may have to blog
about officials and peculiar decisions). Now, back to senor Balotelli, another
thing that left me confused was in the game before against Sunderland where at
one point he was arguing with Kolarov about taking a free kick, Kolarov had
taken every other free kick so Mario, you should have left him to it. Now, some
say Balotelli is a 'firework'/firecracker of a player, which he is, his 2 goals
v Sunderland prove that, but for me I think the dream is almost over for Mario
and he seems to be burning bridges intentionally. As I said to Da Gman
@dagman84 & Gezzie Fizzle
@apparentlyrich and our other fans on the Live Pitch Talk show on April
9th 2012, Balotelli isn't playing in the shop window, because I personally
would be like how Gary Glitter should be when he's near a playground...stay
away from the kids & stay away from Mario in this case. Alan Hansen said
after the Sunderland match he's a magnet for the media & a divisive
character, which he is and to me he's definitely a character. Now, in football
we need characters but if i had a team that needed to focus when going head to
head with a team like Manchester United for the title the one kind of person I
wouldn't want in my side is a Mario Balotelli. As a manager it must be hard to
control him & as a teammate he must be more frustrating than not being able
to please your wife because you can't 'rise to the occasion'. Imagine having a
teammate as unpredictable and reckless as Mario Balotelli, you'd always be on
edge thinking 'is he going to let us down, is he going to do something dumb?'
and more often than not the answer to both of those questions is a resounding
YES! Now, with a dark cloud like that hanging over you it does distract you and
with Man City needing wins and their bigger players not performing well you'd
need someone like Mario to step up, instead of stepping into more controversy
but Mario does as Mario will and for me he's burning bridges daily not just at
Man City, but in the Premier League, as it almost seems Mario can't help
himself with doing silly things off the pitch as well as on it, sharing a
hooker with Wayne Rooney, going to a strip club/titty bar the night before a
game (which i still find hilarious) as well as his other misdemeanors just in
2012! Mancini in my view hasn't helped at times because like a flirty woman who
doesn't really fancy you he's been sending out mixed signals, one minute
Mancini is saying things like 'I don't trust him' & 'i wanted to take him
off after 5 minutes' after him scoring twice and repeatedly starting him in
games like he believes in him. But I digress, and the only 'Super' Mario these
days is the Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez as moron Mario edges closer to
his self created exit door at the Etihad stadium. Balotelli is a character and
a hilarious figure who does at times get a hard time, but to me most of it is
self-inflicted and on this April 9th when I'm writing this blog, I think
Mario's career at Manchester City is done, his blue bubble has burst & he's
been the architecht of his own demise, which leads me to ask the question, when
the sheikh's shake down City, will Mancini be following Moron Mario to the
unemployment line? Moron Mario, we’ll miss your antics, but it seems like even
after your apology for the red card against Arsenal, for City that enough is
enough and it’s time for a change & with that obligatory wrestling
reference i’d like to send a R.I.P to former WWF/WWE Tag Team, European &
Intercontinental champion Owen Hart and a thank you to Mario Balotelli for
contributing so much to the Pitch Talk show in terms of entertainment.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m Straight Shootin' LJA & that’s my
opinion<o:p></o:p></div>
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Follow me on Twitter @sslja<br />
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For Enquiries – Email: <a href="mailto:pitchtalk@gmail.com">pitchtalk@gmail.com</a></div>Pitch Talkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17659591185556517262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157288481357468635.post-70018855026244285602012-04-03T05:44:00.002-07:002012-04-03T05:44:26.925-07:00Are the 'Kenny Out' brigade morons?<br />
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<span lang="EN">The short version would lean towards not entirely, but my opinion is yes
they are, but let</span><span lang="EN">’</span><span lang="EN">s go through the reasons for & against.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Now, the 1st reason for,</span><span lang="EN"> is</span><span lang="EN"> Carroll</span><span lang="EN">,</span><span lang="EN"> Henderson & Downing. These guys did cost a staggering £75m or
thereabouts combined and in terms of end result there hasn't been much, yes
Downing was MOTM in the Carling Cup Final against Championship Cardiff </span><span lang="EN">City, but
let's move on before I</span><span lang="EN"> digress too much. All 3 of these players some would say are NOT Liverpool
players and will do nothing but castigate their every move on the pitch during </span><span lang="EN">every second
of a game and yes I</span><span lang="EN"> do admit they all need to do better,</span><span lang="EN"> but, Henderson generally plays</span><span lang="EN"> out of position in a packed
midfield, which some have asked, why sign him for £20m in the first place, but </span><span lang="EN">I’ll</span><span lang="EN"> come back to that. Carroll,
in the same way as Hen</span><span lang="EN">derson isn't really being utiliz</span><span lang="EN">ed in the best way, sometimes as an impact sub,
& we're not getting enough crosses into him </span><span lang="EN">to use his aerial
prowess to it</span><span lang="EN">s fullest, but sometimes the phrase 'when in Rome applies and as Vince
McMahon said on WWF Raw in 1998 to Stone Cold Steve Austin 'adaptation is key
in life' (Obligatory wrestling reference no.1) and that segues nicely into
Downing, who on a general basis needs to take a page out of WWE superstar The
Rock's play book and start beating 'jabroni's' on the wing (another obligatory
wrestling reference) to supply those crosses not just for Carroll, but Suarez
to with greater regularity. The money we paid for each of these guys, was </span><span lang="EN">inflated to
say the least, and I</span><span lang="EN">'ve often said that especially with Carroll we got raped on price, but
considering all 3 are English that was always going to be the case due to
Englishmen being technically inferior to most of their foreign counterparts,
but grossly superior (partly due to the 6 + 5 rule) when it comes to commanding
transfer fees & wages. Forgetting transfer fees for a minute these 3 men
haven't delivered, but whereas players always need a season (in my opinion) to
settle in, look at Drogba for Chelsea for instance or Ronaldo at Man United,
most people expected brilliance from these 3 men straight away, and I've said
on numerous occasions that this would be a building season after last years
salvage job where a cup would be nice as a bonus but 4th place should be the
focus.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Now, those 3 players the price wasn't their fault but at least with
Carroll & Hendo you can say they are young, 23 & 21 respectively (or
thereabouts) so they've got time to mature & develop and only a really special
breed of player such as a Lionel Messi can be a world class player at 24, so to
all the haters, i say give Carroll & Henderson time, and by time i don't
mean a year or 1 season, i mean potentially 3-4 years. Anyway, coming back to
the Kenny out brigade, for some reason even though Kenny has only been in
charge just over a year and bear in mind he's won a trophy, it may not be the
trophy we all want, but everyone starts from humble beginnings. As someone
mentioned on our Carling Cup Final video when we were on Wembley way (which can
be viewed here - <a href="http://youtu.be/VcN9-DQIblU"><span style="color: blue;">http://youtu.be/VcN9-DQIblU</span></a>
) Gerard Houllier started his trophy laden run in 2001 with the then
Worthington Cup Final win, also on penalties, against Division one side at the
time Birmingham City. This season we've still got the FA Cup to play for so we
could still end up with a cup double, which wouldn't be too bad, winning both
the cups we could, but if we do that, next season has to see a consistent
league push & more players stepping up to the plate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">2nd reason, In recent games against Wigan Athletic (the 2-1 defeat at
Anfield) & especially against QPR (the defeat at Loftus road) we've
stagnated and defended horribly at times (Da Gman @dagman84 , Gezzie Fizzle
@apparentlyrich & many of our Pitch Talk listeners will regularly hear me
castigating defenders on shows as i am an Amateur league defender myself for
IBIS FC <a href="file:///C:/Users/LJA%20PRODUCTIONS/Desktop/www.ibisfc.co.uk"><span style="color: blue;">www.ibisfc.co.uk</span></a>
for more info on them), with the latter we dominated a game for 75 minutes but
came out losers (which was embarrassing to say the least considering we were
2-0 up!!! And the Wigan defeat rubbed it in even more!!!), and it is after the
final score the points get dished out to the winners, not at 75 minutes and as
I've said on many a pitch talk match update 'possession is nothing without
penetration', so instead of fiddling with the bra, we need to be moving those
panties to the side and aiming for penetration without mercy (and yes I am
ready for the #ssljaisawrongun hash tag to be trending on twitter courtesy of
my Pitch Talk co-hosts Da Gman @dagman84 on twitter & Gezzie Fizzle
@apparentlyrich on twitter) but the fact remains that penetration is the key to
success just like in a titty bar where money is the key to success.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Anyway, to
me the Kenny out brigade needs to take a chill pill, shut the f*ck up and stop
getting fished in to the media hype as the media would love to get another
manager sacked, like Simon Grayson at Leeds or Lee Clark at Huddersfield Town,
of Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea (which i still think was a moron move) or Mick
McCarthy at Wolves, but remember boo boys, Rome wasn't built in a day and as
much as football is a short term sport for some, especially greedy owners such as
Roman Abramovic, remember, we are a club that built a dynasty, we are not short
term thinkers like Chelsea who now have succeeded Real Madrid in terms of a
revolving door of management where you pay millions of pounds to get a manager
out of a contract and then they get told like AVB did that 'we have a 3 year
plan for you' then a month later you get sacked after only being in charge for
8 months, we are a club that apart from Roy Hodgson (who had us in the
relegation zone just over a year ago) generally gives managers at least 3 years
to do what they need to do. Not everything falls into place straight away and
yes Kenny isn't perfect, some say he's misguided trying to build a British
looking core to the team, but i say, give a manager time to do what he needs to
do as a long-term project takes a lot of the worlds greatest commodity, and
remember this, mediocrity isn't excellence and time is what everyone wants more
of, but everyone is so unwilling to give it in this 'microwave' age where
yesterday is when everything is expected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">The Carling Cup was a start & could have been a springboard, but
remember, the players need to pick up the slack first, because like with
England's footballing underachievement, the manager & his tactics can only
do so much, then it's the players that have do go out there and do the job.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN">Passion, pride, pass & move, it's not the Liverpool groove (cos I'm not
singing), it's the Liverpool way, and instead of just ripping at our boyz, get
behind them, not like you’re in a club and trying to grind on a lady kind of
behind, but support them like a bra supports breasts, with positive
reinforcement things can get better and with penetration and a couple of better
players here and there (most notably on the wings for us) success isn't far away,
let the parasitic media say what they will say & look long term, instead of
short term like them & let the King do his ting!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">I’m
Straight Shootin' LJA & that’s my opinion</span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><br /></span><br />
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