feltmonkey

I'm not sure about this experiment with Weghorst in midfield.

We're giving the ball away so easily.

Oh yeah, I didn't think you were against it. It is crazy stuff, and it's also absolutely brilliant strategic thinking.

Absolutely! It's especially annoying when they bring up the actual law in a graphic on Match of the Day and then completely ignore it.

It was a very early declaration, but you can see the logic in it once again. That session with the pink ball at the end of the day is the best part of the day to bowl. Why bother sending Jimmy Anderson in, in order to squeeze out another five runs when you can give yourselves an extra couple of overs to bowl in those conditions? It's clear thinking, to be honest. Maybe Jimmy and Olly Robinson could have hit a purple patch and smashed a quick 50 partnership, but it's not very likely, and a strange thing to pin hopes on when denying yourselves the opportunity to swing the game your way. And of course once again Stokes and McCullum been proven right by the results. England are very much on top now. The interesting thing might have been if England had reached that same point in the day 7 down instead of 9, for the same score. They might have made the same decision.

City look ominous. Arsenal have started shooting themselves in the feet. Be honest lads, you'd take a draw right now, wouldn't you? 😬

Will they remember to draw the lines?

Absolutely. That annoyed me too. Giving Man City a massive benefit in order to not ruin the game? What? Fortunately, it was just some nonsense from a pundit. I think the verdict that it was careless rather than reckless is a bit better, although I disagree and think he should have been sent off. What is the difference between careless and reckless? Why are referees suddenly professors of semantics?

I've got a horrible feeling that botched decision in the Arsenal vs Brentford match is going to end up deciding the title in Man City's favour.

I don't think I've ever played a Sims game. How do I make a SIM guy piss himself 10 times? A question I never saw myself asking. edit - Made 5 completely random sims, started the game, locked the bathroom door, and sped time up as far as possible. Those poor, traumatized, stinky sims.

I was hoping Gerrard would take over at Leeds.

We looked much better when Ten Hag made the substitutions, moved Shaw back to left back and we went 4-2-4 with Weghorst playing as a number 10 behind Rashford and Bruno on the right wing. That was a bit of a master stroke, really. Weghorst deserved the goal that was hurriedly and probably incorrectly disallowed by VAR. I've been on Reddit and there are people making some bizarre interpretations of the laws of the game and trying to argue that Weghorst was offside even if Maguire didn't touch the ball. There's someone arguing that "playing the ball" doesn't mean touching it! People are saying that if an attacker pressures a defender into playing it back an it's intercepted by a forward then the forward is offside. Amazing. 😂

It really didn't feel like we were going to win that. Thank god for that bit of quality from Shaw and Rashford.

I don't think Maguire touched that for the disallowed third.

Garnacho! I tell you what, Weghorst playing a bit deeper has really worked well in the last few minutes.

Rashy you beauty!

What is Maguire doing? How many times has he just given it to Leeds?

We're going to concede any minute. We're just giving them the ball in dangerous areas. Why can't we start a half properly at the moment?

Tough game. Leeds are just kicking us all over the pitch. Malacia is getting wound up. Bruno has been ineffective. Weghorst moves in slow motion. They're doubling up on Rashford and Sancho because they know we don't really have anyone else to create anything. Our midfield has been awful. Someone is definitely going to get sent off. The important thing is to come out ready after half time, not half asleep like last week.

That back four worries me.

That's a real shame. Not in any footballing sense, but because he gave the most entertainingly batshit interviews we've seen in the Premier League in years. Whether claiming he was one of the best managers in Europe on the basis of Luton's xG, or rambling about Welsh women, he always said something stupid. Even in such a crowded field of oddballs and intense maniacs as the current crop of Premier League managers, he stood out.

It is funny to see Burnley mentioned in the context of wanting Man City's Champions League spot, but Guardiola is referring specifically to the nine teams who wrote to the Court of Arbitration for Sport a couple of years ago when Man City were banned from the Champions League. The ban was overturned, but despite what City fans (if you can find any) will tell you, their name wasn't cleared. The CAS simply said that UEFA hadn't sufficiently proven their case, and reduced City's punishment to a fine for obstructing and refusing to cooperate with the investigation. Of course, this obstruction is the reason why UEFA apparently didn't have enough evidence. It was a dark day for sporting justice. The same will likely happen again here. They're too good at knowing how to wriggle out of charges. They'll use loopholes and tenuous technicalities, and hide and destroy the more damning evidence. They'll get away with it again. Then Guardiola will most likely demand another apology.

hello

I think it might be a difficult few weeks for us, yeah. We've got a small squad, are in four competitions, and have a lot of injuries. We knew we weren't going to be the finished article this season, so even if we wobble we shouldn't start to panic.

Oh good grief