itt liverpool not winning things; sandbox i love football

I've only ever seen him be ineffectual for Spurs.

since most of his scant playing time for spurs consists of sub appearances as a teenager under a manager who doesnt trust him, yeah

im not saying he is amazing, it's more that redknapp doesn't use his squad properly

seems like every EPL centre back thinks he's Alex now whenever there's a dead ball opportunity.

Hold on, Pienaar hasn't played all season? He's a known quantity, only a few months after you offered him £90,000 a week - that's *almost* as wasteful a signing as the January window had to offer imo.

hes been injured for some of that time but hes managed a few appearances in the cups, suggesting some sort of residual playing capacity

that is former ailsa favourite danny fox rite

Pienaar is very good yes and a much more mystifying omission and more deserving cause.

I don't like the stripes on Spurs shorts. Looks like they have suspender straps hanging down.

      Sandro
Dos Santos  Pienaar   Kranjcar

midfield unit that should get a runout at least 4/5 times a season tbh

lot of wasteful play out there today from modric/bale

it's playing vdv rw that fucks this formation, as well as modric being less efficient at am

a proper manager would play one of pienaar/kranjcar/rose/dos santos rw, or shifting bale there

nice play there from adebayor and vdv

vdv could be ok on the right when walker overlaps tbh, if he'd stay out there

it's one of those fucking games where the ref will not get his fucking hole out the way of our passing lanes

that last clause is an impossible to imagine hypothetical though (xp)

yeah i'll admit that

corluka/walker right side imo

vdv is useless at rw cuz he is a total liability defensively and isn't very fast and always tries to cut inside

abd lo he was almost exactly in the middle of the pitch just outside the penalty area, ie his proper place, when he played the pass for ade

walker rw would be worth trying vs a weak team too

adebayor's pulled up there goes the season

was that ray wilkins' michael caine impersonation

urt iz bleedin buttock

finish worthy of Walcott right there ...

it's time for defoe pav in a 352 imo

Grand, some saving grace in this week.

lovely

raaah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY6BycKCD3M

Good win for Spurs. Took the edge off Anderlecht conceding in the 84th minute to balls up a 30-1 accumulator.

bale/modric/ade etc are awes to watch, especially enjoying kyle walker too atm

i guess their exhaustion-derived springtime slump will coincide nicely with redknapp's trial

:(

how much did you have on it?

Not very much. I only gamble for fun, really.

never trust anderlecht

I'm finding it difficult to pine for second-tier players when we're playing this well. Darragh OTM about Walker and Corluka on the right, would rather see Walker in more of an advanced role than any of the other options. Pienaar and Kranjcar are left-side cover really. We do seem freakishly left-heavy considering the paucity of real options on the right.

Anyway, three-horse race.

I dunno, I still feel it hasn't settled yet. You should be gutted if you're not top London club, but I wouldn't quite count it out. Spurs can't get much better I feel, whereas Chelsea obviously can.

Was going to add that you should be disappointed not to finish above Utd tbh, but who knows how they're going to go from here. It must be a little devastating to City's fans at least to have them right on their shoulder after all that's happened so far.

I don't think Man City fans have quite grown into that "entitled, big club" mentality yet so none of the ones I know seem all that devastated by only being top on goal difference.

And yeah, while Spurs should certainly feel like third is for the taking, actually challenging for the title? Umm....

Is it possible to slide tackle without endangering the safety of an opponent?

Indeed there is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqdxGI91Rbk

It's all about the instep.

why have I just watched that

wasn't all required viewing sorry, just the lace/inside of the foot bit at 2:50. i was thinking about slide tackles after that milijas red card. don't think i was ever actually coached how to do slide properly.

anyway, that milijas foul was a red all day obviously.

Not your fault at all, I had ample warning during the first 2:30 of what trousers to choose. It's quite a nice video in its way and I'm glad they're teaching it, it's just that the potential for use in my life is slim.

And yeah, while Spurs should certainly feel like third is for the taking, actually challenging for the title?

i don't feel any such thing tbh, still reckon that the away games at the other cl runners will see us pushed hard for 4th by the other london teams

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/27/robberies-napoli-footballers-mafia-rumours

And one question in particular irks Dalglish - a question he was again asked in the aftermath of another unfulfilling afternoon for £35m striker Andy Carroll. He may not like the question, but it will not go away until the giant Geordie at least hints at riches - not to mention value for money - to come.

just looked at spurs' run in

how soon til people start taking them seriously? if they're still within 6 points come april?

never

We'd have to beat one of the Manchester clubs for that to happen. We will never beat United no matter how shit they are on the day. While I think January is the best possible time to be playing City (and we REALLY want the Ivory Coast to get to the African Nations Cup final) I still think we'll be lucky to not lose.

That said, we keep possession amazingly well right now and Parker and Sandro are so quick at winning it back, it's just a case of getting as much daylight as possible between us and fourth while the going's good.

The run-in is really nice though, certainly better than two years ago when we had to play Arsenal, Chelsea, United and City within like six games.

Spurs are comfortably the 3rd best side in the league I think. The groupings in the top 6 as of right now are a true reflection of the state of the teams/squads. City, Utd, Spurs in one group. Chelsea, Arsenal, LFC in the other.

The way they finished last season I must admit that I was expecting Spurs regress if anything this season, instead they've moved steadily forward. Also the only team to completely outplay us this season, badly.

Starting to think that Chelsea are more than a year away from sorting things out even if they do stick with this manager. Kind of amazed at how close LFC are to 4th place given the amount of points squandered at home.

Spurs, City and Utd are averaging well over two points per game. Some years only one team manages that.

Was kind of amazed that Liverpool's home record is still no worse than any side below them, though it's still way worse than the top five. So many dropped points from day one. The away record's great though (though Utd's is something else), as is the defence. It totally reflects what the side has become though - bar Suarez and Bellamy, when he plays, I'd never fancy us to have the guile to break down defences. Faced with a top side, or playing away, we're much better.