‘Bumbling apologist’ and ‘ultimate fraud’ Pochettino out as PGMOL hand title to Liverpool
Send your views to theeditor@football365.com
Poch out while Liverpool given head start
So Jurgen’s “funeral parade last hurrah” is all going to plan – excellent.
Lets for a moment not pretend that the appalling Pochettino deserved anything from that game before we start but I must commend the PGMOL for once again coming up trumps with the choice of officials for last night’s game.
Emergency Generator
Paul Tierney, the man Klopp wanted to have banned from ever officiating a Liverpool game ever again, was in no mind to spoil the celebrations and managed through dint of cheating to make it up to the greatest manager the world has ever seen for any prior misdemeanours.
Booking Caicedo for complaining when he made a clean tackle and was penalised, booking Gallagher for the same offence, taking out two of Chelsea’s midfield three from the off.
Denying Chelsea two penalties and then giving Liverpool a softer one to compensate for his previous errors, when MOTD are askance at the decisions you know something rotten is afoot.
Imagine if you will that the boot was on the other foot and Liverpool were denied two penalties and Chelsea were given the softest one in football history? Klopp would be incandescent with rightful indignance, that’s one of the things that marks out a top tier coach from a bumbling apologist like Pochettino.
Related video: Pochettino - 'Better' Liverpool 'deserved' to beat Chelsea (SNTV)
If anyone laughably “running” the show at Chelsea was watching that performance from the corpulent frauds side then surely Pochettino has to go and go today, his side cannot score goals, his side cannot defend, there is a disconnect between defence and midfield and midfield and attack, he sets the side up where wingers have to beat three men when they have possession as Pochettino frowns on his full backs overlapping in case they leave the defence open to the counter, even though when they’re all back in position it makes no difference to the outcome, the players at his disposal are getting worse by the week, not better, he’s making great players look bad and average players look worse.
And to top it all off, he’s coming out after a game where the referee has had a major say in the outcome and waffled on about maybe this and maybe that when he’s presumably got his mind on the next kebab he can stuff into his fat face.
Congratulations to Liverpool for winning the league and Carabao cup, I’d say it was written in the stars but it’s actually being written by the PGMOL.
Lastly of the six penalties that Chelsea have been awarded previously this season , five of them were from VAR review where the referees “never saw – lol” the offence , Pochettino said nothing.
Get him out, shut your eyes, run your finger down the Premier League table and stop at a random name and employ their manager, they’d be better than the man who couldn’t win the league in France with Neymar, Messi and Mbappe as a forward line.
Mark Kelly
…Will Connor Bradley win man of the match for every game from now on? Perhaps, the way he looks. Among everything else he’s good at, never seen such a good 50/50 ball winner. Always sure to come up with it. Like the bookies have fixed it as a proposition bet.
And…
…is there anybody at any level of football stealing a living more than Mauricio Pochettino? My god, it’s embarrassing at this point. I only wish United had taken him. (They probably will yet.) The ultimate fraud.
Scott, LFC Toronto
…At times ownership proves terribly destructive to a football club and this is what Clearlake are doing to Chelsea.
The current financial-innovation model may maximize “long-term shareholders value” but it has so far resulted in a team of confused kids who cannot win diddly, “aiming” for the upper half of the table.
The Clearlake management approach suits neither soccer nor England. Alas, if it at least were effective.
But it’s quite very unclear how clear Clearlake’s judgement is. Replacing all legacy staff and structure in one grand overnight stroke? This would destabilize operations at a McDonalds, let alone the finicky modus-operandi of an EPL club.
Or take personnel decisions: how is Chalobah worse than whoever the club has brought in? The ridiculous buys of Jackson and Mudryk, etc
And how about the role of the manager? A great manager inspires and motivates his team. He defends players and goes to the bat for them, which is precisely what Poch, straight-jacketed as he is by Clerlake cannot do. It doesn’t look he can even pick his nose without an OK from management.
No wonder players seem detached. I am sure they respect Poch, a decent manager by any yardstick. But fight for him on the pitch like Liverpool for Klopp or City for Guardiola? No way.
Boehly may even be dictating Chelsea’s type of play, to maximize “the club’s entertainment value”. Watching us against Liverpool last night reminded me of a cat trying to outsmart a laser pointer – entertaining but utterly futile.
It stretches credulity that Poch would have played, unprompted, the same way against Boro at home and Liverpool away.
He looks resigned. His contract expires in 2025 with a one-year extension option. Like any sensible club outsider, he’ll stay within the drafted confines and pocket his contractual 10M quid a year. He may even take the extension if offered, 10M doesn’t grow on trees.
Come 2025 if not earlier expect Clearleke to sift through looking for yet another utmost-obedient management team with zero attachment or history with the club, ready to implement whatever Baldrick cunning-plans it conjures up. Identity gives resilience to a club. Sadly, Chelsea’s very identity is waning under our own eyes in the process.
The club Chelsea once were had navigated past transitions superbly, emerging every time intact if not better.
Not this time, apparently. Not this time.
Radu Tomescu, Taipei, Taiwan
Erm…
Reading 16 Conclusions, and can’t help but notice that there is no mention of the fact that Liverpool should have conceded a penalty and been down to 10 men in the first 10 minutes…
I suppose you can get away with it when you are VVD, and this means more.
James, Gravesend
Somebody has a theory…
I have to admit, I never check who is refereeing Liverpool games before they start. Mainly because I don’t really care, and don’t think it really matters.
However, over the last few seasons, reading articles, and watching games, it really pissed me off yesterday seeing Paul Tierney’s bald head walking out of the tunnel. He is one ref I would 100% back myself to pick out of a line up and to me, that’s saying something.
It might be the media influencing me, it might be Klopp and the various podcasts I listen to about LFC/Football (which I guess, is media influence), however it might also be the so-called eye-test. That man clearly seems to have it out for us, and my eye-tests plus stats seem to back that up.
Now yesterday, I was shocked at how things unfolded. The Tierney I know and loathe would’ve given the Gallagher pen all day, and may have been pushed by VAR to check again. Same with the VVD tackle on Nkunku. On the other end of the pitch, Jota being trod on I assumed would be waved away, with the potential of VAR intervening again, and yet, no such thing occurred. 50/50s were given Liverpool’s way and I often forgot Tierney was the ref until he was shown in TV.
It took me a while to try to find a ‘rational’ reasoning behind such ‘strange’ behaviour and during the night it came to me *puts on tin foil hat*: establishing an alibi. Now, for the rest of the season, Tierney and VAR can point to this game and say,’Woah, did you see the Chelsea game?? Obviously we cannot be biased against Liverpool, we just call it as it is’.
*takes off tin foil hat*
Any other referee I would have said, got some right some wrong (All 3 penalty shouts being the obvious ‘could’ve gone either way’). Tierney’s presence made me look deeper.
Nik (huh, the plumbing van with tinted windows is still outside my apartment…), Paris
p.s. 4 woodworks? At least he is in the record book. Never a dull moment with Darwin.
Liverpool could end Arsenal’s title challenge
Before last night’s game against Chelsea I was a little concerned that the two games against them and Arsenal may de-rail our title chances as I felt we would drop points in at least one of those games, if not both. Considering we hadn’t beaten Chelsea for quite a long time, it was pleasing to do so in pretty devastating fashion. Hopefully now we set a marker for the Carabao Cup final, in that it doesn’t go to penalties after a 0-0 draw over 120+ minutes.
Onto Arsenal away we go, a game I haven’t been looking forward to in all honesty. My mood has now changed towards that game with a lot more positivity.
Arsenal are the last team we dropped points against in the league in a very even game, and then managed to beat at the Emirates in the FA Cup in a good, if slightly fortunate win. However it feels to me that since that game, Liverpool have gone up a couple of gears, whereas Arsenal have improved slightly, but will have to be near flawless to win the game.
It is a huge game, and can seriously impact both or either team’s chances of keeping up with City. It feel’s like if Liverpool do win, then Arsenal are done in the title race. 8points and a large goal difference would most likely be too much for them to catch up. An Arsenal win tightens the top three drastically, and once Man City are level in games played (should they win) then Liverpool would be in our least favourite position, 1pt behind them.
Jurgen has actually some team selection headaches for Sunday, and it’s a nice headache as we have too many players in form. Does he stick with Joe Gomez at left back or bring in Andy Robertson? At right back does he stick with Bradley or does Trent come back in?
Currently left back feels a no-brainer for this game. I would keep Gomez there, he is in fantastic form and deserves to keep the starting position. Right back is more complex. Bradley has been faultless, and defensively solid as well as dangerous going forward. He would handle Martinelli better than Trent, and really does deserve to keep his starting spot. However Trent is Trent, in the FA Cup match, he run the game, Arsenal couldn’t pin him down in his hybrid role and everything went through him.
I really can’t wait for Sunday now.
Kevin
What title challenge?
How can you support Chelsea over Liverpool?!
We’re not going to win the league. We’re short of a robust number 8 and a proper striker. Sell some squad players in the summer to raise funds and I think we’ll be okay.
Liverpool are the only hope of stopping the City juggernaut and I’m right behind them.
Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London
Klopp is leaving a healthy situation
Non LFC fans are quite right to point out (and laugh at) the distinct stages of grief quite a few of the online fanbase are going through.Just wanted to highlight that inverse to that, LFC fans are starting to notice some edge-lords online trying to argue that Klopp is getting out of a sinking ship.
You see, the potential departure of Salah is a sure-fire sign the side are on their final embers. Compounded with the departures of Matip and Thiago at the end of their contracts, and the potential departure of Van Dijk given his cryptic comments. (two potentials in there mind, but anyway. carry on)
This is just like Fergie’s departure in 2013, you see, with his maximising the value from, and then bequeathing to his successor a team of Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs, Rooney, Van Persie and Berbatov all 29-30+.
So let’s look at where Klopp will leave things: Diaz, Jota, Nunez, Elliot, Gakpo, Curtis Jones, Mac Allister, Szobozslai, Trent, Gravenberch, Konate, Joe Gomez and Tsimikas are all under 27, alongside Kellegher in goal. And that there’s potential in Quinsah and Bradley coming through; maybe Carvalho.
Now of course, in Badwolfenomics, whomever takes over from Klopp will of course need to buy an “entirely new team”, because Badwolf has repeatedly (and repeatedly) defined a whole new team as in fact meaning ‘manager has made signings’. That the LFC squad that won the league had over a quarter of all possible starts (let alone sub appearances) going to players Klopp inherited 3.5 years earlier isn’t in fact reality.
So yes, using that definition, Klopp has left a poisoned chalice to his successor. I suppose the difference would be if the newbie did want to splash out, they’d only have the unspent Caicedo money plus any Salah-related revenue, which when combined could potentially total over GBP 100-150 million already in the kitty. And as United fans tell us, that was not the case in a Glazers world for Fergie’s successors (despite them actually spending way above that in multiple windows…).
I think it’s fair to say Klopp’s decision to leave is in a substantial way a reflection of how hard it is to win the league, which would be a poisoned chalice his replacement would have. I would guess his energy levels would be higher if he’d actually been able to win more. And I’ve already written about how that fact makes the job potential undesirable.
But I’m just not sure how you can realistically argue where Klopp is leaving the club is in a bad shape, or his exiting ‘at the right time’. He has almost an entire team of players literally approaching their peak age in one go.
Tom G
Does anybody enjoy watching Man City?
Genuine question here, not trying to wind anyone up: has anyone ever actually enjoyed watching Pep-Era City play?As a terrible example, in my pub in North East London last night they had all three premier league games on — a sizeable crowd watching the Spurs game, an even bigger crowd watching the Liverpool-Chelsea, and then absolutely no-one watching the City game whatsoever. Of course, this is a selective sample, a London crowd would prefer watching games with London sides in it, etc, but I could see the City game as well and it was just boring as hell. No jeopardy. The only time anyone glanced over there was when it looked like there was going to be a punch up at the end.
For opposition fans it’s very much, no: “Oh City have the ball, seemingly forever, pass-pass-pass – oh they have an overload, cross from wide into middle, goal’, repeat repeat.
But for City fans — the level of possession and endless recycling of the ball, is that fun? Is that more fun than Spurs coming back all the time and playing a suicidal high line — or the chaos that is Darwin Nunez? I don’t know. I’m sure City fans will point to goals like the quick thinking of De Bruyne at the freekick last night, or the Thunderb*** of Kompany a few years back, or even the comeback win v Villa — but isn’t it telling that they’re still remembered because they’re so rare?
Just a harmless Thursday morning question.
Dan, London
Still Team Ten Hag to turn this around
It’s widely accepted that in Fergie’s first few seasons, he was busy sorting out the club behind the scenes. For those that don’t know, United had a particularly bad drinking culture (bad even by 80s standards) which meant we were, at best, a cup team that could play when we weren’t pissed/hungover.It took a good few seasons for him to root out the ring leaders, even if they were some of his better players, like Whiteside and McGrath, so that the discipline, work ethic and team spirit he needed to succeed could be fostered. His results during this period were very mixed, with good spells and bad spells.
Fast forward to 2024 and the game has moved on; the players might not be on the sauce in the same way but few would argue that the United dressing room has been anything other than a cesspit for a long time. This will not be fixed in a day, month or single season. That’s why, certainly for the short and medium term, I remain fully behind Ten Hag. Root out the bad eggs, instil discipline and foster that work ethic.
I thought, due to the owners, fixing United was an impossible job for any manager, but if Ratcliffe and his team can put a proper structure around him, then it becomes viable. This work remains essential, even if he’s not the long term guy that delivers trophies, but some of these players have to go; partially to get the bad influences out and partially to scare others straight.
If Rashford is still in a funk at the end of the season and there’s any appropriate bid on the table, we should take it. If we can axe him; the local lad, golden boy, media darling etc then it sends the message to everyone that we’re absolutely not f**king around.
Lewis, Busby Way
That sweet Mason Greenwood profit? Really?
Couldn’t help noticing the seeming relish with which Ash Metcalfe anticipates the “pure profit” accruing to Man U when they eventually sell Mason Greenwood. Quick question . . . Given that most of the mailbox took the view that allowing Greenwood back in the Man U first team was morally wrong, does it not follow that selling him is also wrong? Shouldn’t the club just dissolve his contract thereby avoiding profiting from some other team doing precisely the thing that Man U found too morally problematic to do themselves?
Matt Pitt
Ballon d’Awful
I just want to touch on something in Lee’s mail about how Haaland has to leave to some how be considered the best in the world. He’s right. The Premier League has an image problem, not with fans, who love it, but for the other leagues and their journalists. They hate the Premier League. They hate that we steal all the young talent, and a way they can maintain any parity is by implying that the league and the teams are lesser than say Spain.
You prove, with numbers, how many players have won the award from either Real or Barca vs other clubs. Sure, probably skewed by Ronaldo and Messi who were generational players, but when I saw Henry not win the Ballon D’or in 2003 against Nedved, I knew he never would get it, even though he was by quite some margin, the greatest. That he never lifted that trophy told me everything about it. It’s bollocks.
Haaland may need to leave to get the award on his CV, but let’s be honest, that first season alone where he tore up all the trees and records, we know he’s the best striker out there. We don’t need validation from a bunch of journalists, we have eyes and can see it.
John Matrix AFC
…To Lee this morning about Haaland and the Ballon d’Or… who honestly cares about the Ballon d’Or? I sort-of watched a bit of the ceremony once, and it was horrific. A bunch of football egos on open display surrounded by football bureaucrats who were w@nking themselves to death to be in their golden company. It was horrible.
The Ballon d’Or is almost the personification of what is wrong with modern football. Pointless arguments about the greatest player, which we all know are incredibly biased, and an obscene display of money and sycophantic behaviour. It’s horrible. I genuinely could not give less of a toss about the Ballon d’Or. And I don’t know many others who care either.
Ted, LFC (still crying a little inside)
