The Round Ball Game

[EdgeleyRob]

How did Liverpool get on? Playing Arsenal, weren't they? Or is it tomorrow?

Naughty.

[antongould]

Naughty.

Beyond Naughty.....

[EdgeleyRob]

Round up time.

Tuesday.

Wrexham 1 Dover 1. Let a 1st half lead slip,safe in mid table.

Wednesday.

Coventry City 0 Leyton Orient 1. Conceded a late goal,2 points clear of danger

Friday.

Brighton 0 Norwich City 1. The goal came in the 2nd half,remain well clear of danger.
Wimbledon 2 Northampton Town 2. From 2-0 up on 62 minutes let it slip,all the goals in 11 2nd half minutes,12th.
Newport County 2 Hartlepool United 2. Points dropped after taking a 2-0 lead,remain just outside the relegaton zone.
St Mirren 0 Celtic 2. Both goals conceded in the 2nd half,now 7 points adfrift.
Bristol Rovers 5 Chester 1. Super win.2nd place just a point off the top.
Barrow 1 Stockport County 0. Season over.

Today.

Arsenal 4 Liverpool 1. Conceded 3 in the last 8 minutes of the 1st half,losing touch with the top 4.
Everton 1 Southampton 0. A poor game by all accounts,the goal came on 16 minutes,6th.
Leicester City 2 West Ham 1. Late winner and a missed penalty,just 4 points adrift.
Manchester United 3 Aston Villa 1.Straightforward win,last minute goal sealed it,now look set for a top 4 finish
Chelsea 2 Stoke City 1. Hard fought victory,remain on course for the title
Sheffield Wednesday 1 Huddersfield Town 1. Took the lead on 86 minutes only to be pegged back,mid table.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1 Dundee 1. Took the lead on 55minutes and conceded 2 minutes later,3rd.
Elgin City 0 East Stirlingshire 0. Remain in 5th place.
Wrexham 4 Alfreton Town 0. Stormed to a 3 goal lead by half time,super win after recent disappointments.
Sutton United 1 Chelmsford 0. Conceded in the last minute,safely mid table.
Redditch United 0 Truro City 4. Great away day,2 goals in each half,remain 3rd and probably out of the title race

Newcastle play tomorrow.
Crystal play on Monday.

[Alison]

It's too late for the Foxes sadly.

Hadn't realised St Mirren so adrift.

[jayne lee wilson]

More misery on Merseyside. Sunny day spoilt...

I recall saying a while ago that we were scoring only spectacular goals, not many make&takes, so what happens when Henderson fluffs (again) or Coutinho's off target? When the final ball in is so poor? Etc...
With such a palpable (palpitating, for the watchers) loss of confidence (it should have been 3-0 after 20 minutes), we've regressed to last autumn. Flashes of shape & ability amid too-easily generated panic and disorder.

Sticking with the three-man defence after United's skilful attack had shown its limitations, AND without kingpin Skrtel, was to say the least foolhardy. So if the midfield is so often overrun (who was playing there again apart from Henderson? not yet consistently the leader he aspires to be ... Oh look, there's Chan as a right sided striker late-on...)

I've had enough of Markovic's speed and youthful promise..his touch is terrible, and the absurdly overhit pass to Sterling was just the worst of many this season. Then Sterling himself proved, not only that he isn't a natural striker, but how unwise it is to give dilettantish agent-led interviews "pondering your future" & emphasising your desire to er, win things, just before a big game. You won't win much if you don't play for the team, on & OFF the field. During his treble season (2000-2001, happy days ) Houllier was fond of saying - you can't win anything "if you're not together. If you're together, you always have a chance..."

It's more worrying to have gifted individuals in a team whose systems fall apart too easily under pressure, than average abilities in a resilient, less flexible formation. Rogers is indeed intelligent, flexible and open to new ideas, but why do his choices so often come spectacularly to grief?
The team needs to say - look, we CAN WIN THE FA CUP! Let's get on with it, even without Skrtel, Chan and Gerrard (for which relief - oh sacrilege etc). Play together, focus on this season, not future ambition or regret...

(**Special mention for Mamadu Sakho - much unsung, but saves us so often, keeps his head when all about etc. And you do feel sorry for Sturridge, still blunt after the long layoff but getting little service.)

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

and alas Suarez was not just all teeth eh jayne?

Chelsea continue to win with great diligence, some style and Jose's tactical nous .... Gullit on MoD pointed out how he played 4-3-3 with a strong and high pressing game; switched to a 4-4-2 holding pattern so that Stoke could actually move and then exploited the space this opened up, and, having scored reverted to 4-3-3 to nail the game down .... which all goes for nowt given the absolute thrill of Charlie Adams's goal from inside his own half - Courtois will never wander so freely again!

imho the new generation of MoD pundits and Final Score &c. are becoming appealing - Jermaine Jenas is an acute commentator on the game

Cheers EdgeleyRob
[there could usefully be a meat pie emoticon?]

[jayne lee wilson]

Yes that was a treat from Charlie wasn't it? Wow, yes...

I took rueful pleasure from this, Barney Ronay in the aftermath of the Arsenal-Liverpool (and the media week around Raheem, "flattered" by Arsenal's interest..)...

"Dear Mr Sterling. Thankyou for your interest in the role of attacking midfielder. Please be assured we will keep your details on file should a similar position arise in the future..."

It's only Sterling's second season really. He's 20. A No. 10 rather than a striker. "Promising, gifted" etc., absolutely not yet at the level of a Sanchez or an Ozil. And missing a Suarez to raise his game - Suarez was and is a great team player.

[teamsaint]

I have been lucky enough to see Suarez play live, and he is one of the very best team players I have ever seen.

A shame for Liverpool that he isn't there to work with their other players, quite apart from his obvious value to the team.

And what a goal from Rooney yesterday.


Thanks as ever for the excellent roundup, ER.
the less said about Saints inability to find the net, the better.

[EdgeleyRob]

Sunderland 1 Newcastle United 0. In a weekend of 'what a goal' goals,here was another,Toon already packing their suitcases

[EdgeleyRob]

Today's results.

Some of our teams now have little to play for.

Crystal Palace 2 their opponents 1. Guffaw ! Possible top half finish for the Eagles.
Norwich City 2 Sheffield Wednesday 0. Mid table.
Rotherham United 1 Brighton 0. Should be safe.
Notts County 0 Coventry City 0. Remain just outside the drop zone.
Dagenham and Redbridge 4 Wimbledon 0. Mid table.
Hartlepool United 0 Southend United 1. Other results keep Pool out of the bottom 2.
Kidderminster 0 Bristol Rovers 3. Remain 2nd,very close between the top 3.
Macclesfield Town 2 Wrexham 2. Mid table.
Chelmsford 4 Bishops Stortford 2. Mid table.
Stockport County 1 Oxford City 2. I don't wanna talk about this game.
Truro City 2 Wemouth 0. Look to be assured of a play off spot.

[gurnemanz]

Great night for the Eagles. Murray was amazing. Proud of the team to carry that off on 26% possession.

[EdgeleyRob]

Did I mention that Glenn Murray learned his trade at Stockport County ?

[gurnemanz]

Did I mention that Glenn Murray learned his trade at Stockport County ?

I don't know where he learnt to jump but he was taking all the balls with his head in the midfield.

[teamsaint]

great win for Palace. Punch doing the business yet again, we really should have tried to keep him. Very good player, very popular with our fans.
Funny that he should end up playing for Pards again, who pretty much rescued his career.

Edit: sorry about the result, ER. It shouldn't count, Oxford really isn't in the north, any way you slice it.

[gurnemanz]

It was a great kick by Punch, but the Sky pundits showed Toure in the wall actually lowering his head at the key moment. He probably should have blocked it.