Jamie Carragher is correct. Mo Salah ‘is not dependable’ for a three-year contract, and this past week has restored Liverpool's negotiating leverage.
Most successful teams?
Maybe the term Paul McDevitt seeks is ‘most accomplished’ instead of ‘most winningest’.
Additionally, it is important to note that Manchester United (assuming that is who he means) does not hold exclusive rights to the suffix ‘United’, just as Manchester City lacks any ownership of ‘City’, and similarly for others. It's arrogant and uninformed.
A, LFC, Montreal
The avians and the insects
I’ve seen/read in various places (including the mood rankings here) confusion regarding Brentford’s strange ‘all points at home in the first half of the season, and now all points away in the second half’. This website remarked, "We’re novices and don’t fully grasp the broader message Brentford is conveying through this season-long work of art, but we intuitively feel it is something deeply meaningful that addresses the stark futility of human existence and the harsh indifference of nature."
Their initial 8 home games are against Crystal Palace, Southampton, West Ham, Wolves, Ipswich, Bournemouth, Leicester, and Newcastle. (They began with away matches against Liverpool, Man City, Spurs, and Man Utd…). It feels as if in the latter part of the season those matchups have switched, with Brentford excelling against teams on par or below them, but struggling against teams that are somewhat superior.
Gary AVFC, Oxford
Would you prefer?
“…Therefore, I repeat my question: would Arsenal supporters exchange their past 4 seasons without trophies for 1 FA Cup and 1 Carling Cup?”
And once more, my thoughts remain unchanged. If you're inquiring whether I would trade Arsenal's past four years for United's, then absolutely not. United are in complete disarray. They are the greatest failure in football history regarding the money invested over the past ten years.
I continuously need to mention this to you, but here we are once more. We secured the FA Cup on two occasions while placing 5th and 8th. It was not pleasant. I would have likely felt quite unhappy last season as a United supporter after winning the FA Cup, as I would realize how poor we would perform in the following season. I overlooked that United fans don’t act this way. They are misguided and believed they would get better. I recall that they had a remarkable record this season, with just one victory in ten matches, and they continued discussing how Amorim has transformed them, haha. Courageous underdogs, keep wasting foolish money and you’ll likely finish in 17th place.
Dion
Carragher is correct
Liverpool ought to be concerned about granting substantial 3-year deals to two 34-year-olds who couldn’t perform against the top competitors globally.
Salah cannot be relied upon for a 3-year contract if they aim to win the Champions League.
The sole purpose of retaining him is to contend for the PSL once more. He remains skilled, but the only direction from here is downward. Picture Liverpool facing Barcelona or PSG once more in three years, with Salah still part of the squad. He will certainly be a passenger once more. At this moment, he is struggling with confidence since even Newcastle was able to keep him from scoring.
It is indeed a catch-22 situation, but everything deserves reconsideration now that the team faltered in the two cups.
Perhaps securing quality players now and allowing either Salah or Virgil to remain is the optimal choice. I believe that Virgil is more difficult to substitute, and his leadership skills are crucial.
I would also contend that a Liverpool forward, be it Darwin or a new signing, cannot achieve significant stats as long as Salah is part of the squad. The same reason explains why our midfielders find it difficult to provide assists and score goals too.
Fortune smiles upon the courageous. A decision needs to be reached, and this is the ideal moment for Liverpool since contract talks depend on timing and momentum.
Salah maintained momentum throughout, but it has now shifted back to the club.
Rashford had a fortunate season with over 30 goals and signed a renewal; otherwise, he would likely be making £100k less. Regrettably, Man U faltered first and ended up losing the match.
Labson, Plk, Zw
Is there anything good about the Nations League?
You may think I’m old-fashioned, but I believe that the purpose of competitive sports is to ensure that teams that excel are rewarded more than those that don't. I'm sure many fans are aware, but for those unfamiliar, the Nations League rankings for World Cup play-off positions automatically places the 16 group winners in the top 16 positions. Winners of groups at every tier – whether he's upper or lower.
This signifies that San Marino, victorious in League D1, finishing before Gibraltar and Liechtenstein, holds a higher ranking than Italy, who, embarrassingly, lost second place to France in Group A2 – due to goal difference.
What enhances the absurdity of this situation is that the knockout rounds are irrelevant to it—meaning Italy could secure the Nations League title yet still be out by San Marino.
Teams placed 5-16 are overlooked, just like those positioned 21-32 and 37-48. Simply overlooked.
This is a) rewarding teams for poor performance, and b) encouraging relegation.
This anti-meritocracy measure has existed since the start of the Nations League, permitting the lower divisions to pursue their own route to the Euros in both 2021 and 2024.
I have no issue with underdogs getting their moment to shine, but this system is terribly unjust to all teams except for the one or two fortunate ones that gain from it.
Why in the world should teams that are not as skilled qualify before teams that are superior?
This is far from the Nation’s League's only flaw—altering the rules constantly, making things extremely confusing for everyone, featuring two-legged knockouts, including a 3rd/4th place playoff, and overall being much more troublesome than it’s worth.
I’m eager for the upcoming edition, which will certainly feature a 3rd leg for the knockouts and relegation play-offs, with all neutral third legs occurring concurrently in Riyadh—halftime entertainment sponsored by Mastercard.
There must be a superior system somewhere—because there simply can’t be a more ineffective one.
Bryan
Additional irritations
Building on my email from yesterday, and also partly because I finished Yellowstone and there's no football on TV this week that interests me, my grumpy old mind wandered back to my ongoing list of football annoyances last night, so I figured I’d share a few more;
1. Team numbers.
Not really your Quansah 87’s or Foden 47’s, but athletes who choose a first 11 number when it’s obviously far from their actual position. Do you recall William Gallas during the Arsenal 10? That Wolves goalkeeper (I can't recall his name and my Google isn't working) who was permitted to wear number 11 a few seasons back? No, absolutely not. Cut it out. Oh, and since I'm mentioning this, full backs should wear the opposite numbers, meaning RB in 3 and LB in 2. It's incorrect and has to be halted (I can somewhat tolerate 4 at CB and 6 at CDM, but we all recognize it should be reversed).
2. Club announcements when a manager is fired.
If I have to go through another “The club wishes to express gratitude to Joe Bloggs for his contributions, yada yada yada” press release, I worry I might be driven to something absurd like veganism or hitting the gym. I’m not suggesting that clubs be harsh and label the departing person as “every useless c*** under the sun” or anything alike (though if any club press officers see this, I challenge you), but surely those at the club tasked with these announcements could inject some originality, instead of repeating the same old meaningless over and over.
3. Television analysts sporting black sneakers with white soles.
They all actually wear them, don’t they? But why? I believe TNT/Sky, among others, provide you with a pair on your first day in the role.
4. Micah Richards and those utterly annoying We Buy Any Car commercials.
I understand it rhymes with We Buy Any Car, but no soccer crowd ANYWHERE EVER has yelled “you're offside by far” during a match. And since I'm discussing Micah, can anyone verify how he was able to maintain his hair so perfectly groomed during lockdown while the rest of us resembled Frank Gallagher from Shameless? It seems as though he concluded that being wealthy and famous exempted him from the rules that apply to us ordinary folks.
Andy FTM (truly indifferent about what's written on Tommy T’s passport since I'm an adult. But Jordan freakin Henderson? Seriously? Conor Gallagher might be weeping into his paella.
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