The First Big Match of the Season!
posted by The Blue Devil @ 10:25 AM
Lakenheath Old Boys
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
Sunday, September 20, 2020
Lakenheath Old Boys
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
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207 Comments:
I'm back after a refreshing Sunday shower with a cuppa for the match. Lovely sunny fall day here in WNY.
Team news out of Stamford Bridge this afternoon:
Chelsea (4-3-3) Kepa; James, Christensen, Zouma, Alonso; Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic; Havertz, Werner, Mount.
Substitutes: Caballero, Azpilicueta, Tomori, Barkley, Hudson-Odoi, Abraham, Giroud.
Liverpool (4-3-3) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, van Dijk, Robertson; Wijnaldum, Henderson, Keita; Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Substitutes: Adrian, Thiago, Milner, Jones, Minamino, Tsimikas, Origi.
Referee Paul Tierney.
Tim Howard is giving Kepa a right raking over - and for good reason. I reckon that he's the worst goalkeeper in the Prem.
Good morning, Bob. Here top join you and another day with a lot of goals. Long may this continue
Earlier today Saints 2 Spuds 5
Number One Son with a Barber Shop Quartet of goals ALL assisted by Harry Kane and Abel to chip in with the fifth goal. Danny Ings with both Saints goals
Interesting that Klopp hasn't brought either of his two new signings. Thiago is on the bench. Diogo Jota doesn't even make the squad. I expect that Jota will be a bigger loss to Wolves than he'll be an addition to Liverpool.
Toon 0 Seagulls 3. Neil Maupay with a brace of goals and an assist
Morning, David. So, I believe that Son is now tied with Dominic Calvert-Lewin at the top fothe Golden Boot charts now.
Potters 0 Bristol City 2
Bristol City second and Luton third. Believe it or not that's not idle gossip
You're right - loads of goals in the Premier League this season. Great to see.
But which side has scored the most? Yep - that's Leeds United with seven goals in two games. Of course, we've also conceded seven (gulp!)
Hello, Bob. That is correct. Harry Kane and Ably the leader in assists . I would be shocked if anyone predicted that
Dave will be delighted that Pompey has just taken the lead at Rochdale
It’s really warm in west London, around 25 degrees. That, and the short pre-season, will probably impact upon the tempo of the game. The commentator was predicting a lot of goals. I doubt it. I think it'll be cagey.
Saints second from bottom and Hammers third from bottom. I would be surprised if anyone picked either of those
There won't be a water break . There can only be one if it's 30 degrees Celsius or higher
They're off from SB
We're away in this one - I hope it will be a cracker.
In terms of Thiago and Jota they will probably play next week since they haven't had a chance to train with the team yet. Jota is there for depth which may come in handy the second half of the season
FOTMOB changed the score at Rochdale to 0-0 . Sorry Dave
Definitely hoping for cracker. My expectations are not so high for the late match
Werner reminds me a bit of Hazard in this new look Chelsea line-up. And if he does much the same, he'll be a big hit at the Bridge.
That's what I'm thinking, too. Jota, who was a key starter for Wolves, will merely compete with Divock Origi and Mini Me for the first spot off the bench in a pinch. Not a great career move for him.
I think that Werner is more of a striker than Hazard and definitely has more pace. He looked sharp at the AMEX.
First big match? Us stuffing Chelsea 2-1 in the Chairidee Shield isn't enough for you aesthetes?
Morning. I'm coffee and bagel fueled for this one.
Liverpool have started like the home team, with lots of possession.
He may have gone for the money and the silverware. Not sure though
Welcome, Steve! Great to have you on board for this one. Apologies for slighting the Community Shield. I meant in league play.
Good morning Steve. Sounds like an energetic morning. Hope the goals continue to flow in
Jota moved to L'pool? What are Wolves playing at? That's a suicidal move for Wolves.
Andy Robertson wins the first corner of the match
That was my impression of Werner, too. But he's not playing like that today, maybe because of the way that Liverpool are defending deep. He looks a bit left-sided, wanting to beat men, short of stature. A bit Hazard-esque.
Havertz heads away the corner from Robertson
I agree; it's a real loss for Wolves. He and Raul Jimenez had a great chemistry up front.
Agreed, Steve. Pool the winners on the Jota move and Wolves the losers. They did sign a couple m,ore Portuguese players, so one of them will probably replace him
Was it a shed-load of money for Jota? I'm still a bit stunned by that.
I've been spoiled by watching my Leeds boys week in week out. This one is boring me. Where's the suicidal defending? Where are the penalties? The disallowed goals?
If I were Klopp I would tell the players to shoot on sight. Lamps will counter that by packing the midfield as he is so far
£45 million. A decent amount.
LOL, Bob. The Leeds type match was the first one , surprisingly. I only saw the second half, but it was a crazy half
Aye, I made a fortunate decision to have a second cup this morning or I'd have been napping by now.
That 's a fair amount of Bob shelled out, Bob.
A mare from Kepa as Salah squared it and Christiansen cleared for a corner
Oh - almost a suicidal moment from Kepa. He was never getting to that and Salah nearly profited.
Another example of Kepa as the worst keeper in the Prem.
LOL, Steve. A wise move
WTF was Kepa thinking there?
Steve will be interested to note that the Charity Shield rematch is a week from Monday at Anfield with kickoff at 3:15 PM
Either of you know the Thiago that Pool just bought? Is he just another water carrier?
Karius back with Pool? Kepa no longer the worst keeper in the Prem. What happened top Adrian? Rocky wants to know
Good chance for Chelsea there but it fell to Kante, who is the most boring man in football. Chance squandered.
It seems that he's more than that based on what I have observed. I think he can be a water carrier, but can also play the Wijnaldum role
Well, perhaps Kepa is the worst starting keeper in the Prem. There's no chance that Karius, still known for that CL Final blunder, will nudged Alisson out of the way.
I just don't know why Chelsea lost faith in Courtois - a much better keeper than Kepa, IMHO.
Chelsea counter off a blocked shot from Salah. Nice run by Werner, but tackled as he as about to shoot
That was a chance for Werner to put the jets on but he didn't. Instead reverted to a Hazard-esque cut back.
Did Courtly want away . It seemed he wanted the big money move to Real. I'm not sure of the exact details
That's the Thiago from Munich. He's fantastic. A non-stop worker in the midfield, a great passer, and he pops up at the top of the area and pounds a shot or 4 in every season.
Is Pulisic injured or just not favored for this one?
There's too many Thiagos for me to keep up with - don't Brazilian parents have any other names to choose from? I ask you!
That could well be the case, David. I understand the value of grooming a young keeper for the long haul. United got away with that gamble with De Gea. But Kepa - he's not the guy.
Just checked . Pulisic out with an injured hammy
Case in point - Chelsea have signed Thiago Silva, the bloke from PSG. I can't keep up!
Agreed, Bob. Courtly may have wanted away, but surely Chelsea could have done a better scouting job. There's lots of better keepers out there
Pulisic ripped up his hammie in the Chairidee Shield. His return is late Sept early Oct.
Agreed. Brazilian mum's to be should be given a list of names to avoid. Thiago, Roberto, Stevinho, etc. Far to many of those.
That's a shame - with all of the squad depth, he needs to stay fit in order to keep in Frank's mind. Mason Mount seems to have that strategy.
Thiago Silva a central defender. Wonder if tat's curtains for Rudiger's Chelsea career
This one's tighter than a tick so far. No chances to speak of.
It has finished Rochdale 0 Pompey 0. Pompey have started with two 0-0 draws in L1 and were thrashed at the AMEX in the LC. Dave will be wanting improvement from Pompey
Rudiger has less to worry about Thiago Silvas arrival than Zouma who is particularly leaden.
Could well be - I've never been a fan. Not so keen on Kurt Zouma either. They could do better with all of that dosh.
Bob , are you saying that Pulisic will need to mount another challenge to regain the starting spot?
I hadn't even thought about Zouma. He was on loan at the Toffees and surely his agent should have talked to them about signing him on a permanent basis
Nice skill by Werner then a long range effort from him is not too far wide
So how many defensive midfielders is Frank playing today. By my count, it's at least three - Kante, Jorginho, and Kovacic. And I'm not sure about this new boy Havertz. Could be four.
No wonder Willian bolted for greener pastures at the Arsenal. Struth!
Christiansen pressured into conceding a corner
Flair Fwank has always been forward thinking.
Oh - great stuff from Salah, bringing a long ball down and squaring. Bobby Chompers should have been on the end of that.
Nice skill by Salah . Took down the long diagonal pass well and a nice pass across the box and Bobby Chompers couldn't sink his teeth on to that pass
LOL, Steve! Little Joe seems to have had the most influence on Lamps, whose side is showing not even the merest flicker of light other then Werner
Oh - Robertson was in at the back post but he got it all wrong.
Oh - that's a bad miss from Werner. It doesn't matter that they were offside. That should have hit the back of the net.
Kai Havertz well offside than Werner misses an open goal, presumably because he knew it wouldn't count
Why didn't Werner bury that? Off-side, but shocking lack of finishing nous.
Werner fouled just outside the box by Hendo
Werner's down and limping a bit after that last clash.
Havertz swings the free kick in but there's no one attacking it. Boring.
Free kick from Havertz eludes everyone and is easily cleared
I bet there's a day coming soon when Fwank will be championed by the London press to take over from Gareth to coach England. Possibly when Chelsea end up 3rd and out of Europe without a prize again when England stumble against the ilk of Iceland.
Bring on the HFB and class this up a bit.
Could well be, Steve.
Anybody see the point of Keita in the Liverpool squad?
I'd forgotten that Liverpool also snapped up Ben Chilwell. Bloody hell!
Not at all. Klopp is another one who's guilty of playing far too many defensive middies.
Chelsea paid too much for Chilwell. I think he's a pretty average back.
Christensen should have gone off there. Rugby tackle as last man back. VAR reviewing it now. Should be off.
Christiansen rugby tackles Mane and denial of a goal scoring opportunity. Booked , but may be changed to red
Is that Christiansen tackle reviewable? That's a red for sure.
He is off! Chelsea down to ten men!
Changed to red and it will be an uphill battle for Chelsea as they have done little to try to win this match
Chelsea caught napping off a long ball from the back from Hendo
Yeah, Tierney the ref has been pulled up for that mistake. It's red. Oh Fwank, what's your plan B?
Now we've got the free kick with TAA behind it.
Free from TAA curled about a foot wide and it's 0-0 at the half, but Chelsea will be a man down the remainder of the match
That's half-time then. All a bit boring after the fireworks of yesterday and this morning. These big matches rarely live up to the promise because there's so much at stake.
Not far away. That take from TAA was miles high and wide.
Back for the second half that can't be any worse than the first
Thiago Alcantura makes his debut to start the second half.
Mane wins a corner off of Reese James that was taken short
Doubt Lamps ha s a Plan B. He's not exactly a visionary
Havertz is the man sacrificed by Christansen's red
Reese James fouls Mane about an inch outside the box
Back for the second half with a toasted sammy for lunch.
GOAL !!!MANE OH MANE ! POOL TAKE THE LEAD
GOAL! Mane nods home after a lovely move.
0-1 Champions!
It came off a long possession off a short corner and culminated in a slide rule pass from Salah to Bobby Chompers and Mane oh Mane. He bit into the cross from Bobby Chompers to head Pool into the lead
Great header from Mane. 1-0 Liverpool.
Great plan B, Fwank.
Pool will really vamp up the high press against the defensive ten men
In case we thought Frankie couldn't be any more defensive . I'm talking both on and off the pitch
Good vampire-Bobby Chomps pun, intended or not.
That's Mane off and running for the new season then. What do Chelsea have as a response?
MANE OH MANE! POOL TWO UP
Bloody hell - it's a howler from my chum Kepa and he's gifted Mane a second!
0-2!
An assist for the Chelsea Kepa as he got a routine back pass and passed to a wide open Mane for a tap in to a wide open goal
Mendy will have quite a bit of mending to do in that Chelsea goal
Kepa gifts Mane a second goal. Oh Fwank, save us.
I can hear Dave cursing modern football in this moment.
Over and out for Chelsea then. They're perfect record for the season is done.
A quiz question for Bob and Steve. I was doing something at the half that Chelsea will never do as long as Frankie is the Chelsea manager. What was I doing
Lee Dixon is seconds away from saying that David Seaman was worth 6 points a season.
Eating all the pies.
Chelsea behind Leeds in the table on goals scored. Bob will love that stat
Sorry. Steve. No eating at the half
Clough said Shilts was worth ten points a season. Does that mean he was better than Seaman
Slotting home a penalty and then running around pointing to the number on your back.
Here's a pun from the Guardian blog for you, David:
“Lampard and Chelsea have got the money but Liverpool have got the Mane."
How do you rate that one?
Second quiz question. Does Frankie Goes to Hollywood mean that Lamps next job is manager of the Galaxy or LAFC ?
Clough dreamed of a back-four that worked like Dixon, O'Leary, Sol, and Nutty.
Decent pun but in the Championship compared to my puns
Pool corner off of Jorginho for another
That Cough dream was after how many pints???
Fwank will be the England manager after Southgate, though if Rangers overtake Celtic, he might be pipped at the post by StevieG. Again
Sober he never had that level of back four after winning the second EC
LOL, Steve. I would pick Stevie G ahead of Lamps. If Lamps replaces Southgate then England is in huge trouble. He will be Wally in Brolly II
Definitely the Galaxy for Lamps. He's too Hollywood for LAFC.
Milner on for Keita
Any guesses to the first quiz question. The clue is that it has to do with cleaning/washing
Keita off to figure out what he does for a living. Milner on.
Bob, great answer to the second quiz question
Decent kick save by the Kepa from Wijnaldum off a nice slide rule pass
Oh - Kepa saves from Winnie.
Testing the tensile strength of his replica training kit?
I reckon that you were doing some vacuuming, eh David? Well in!
Sorry. Steve. Another clue is that it has to do with winning things
Sorry, Bob. It's more along the lines of washing
Chelsea mount a rare shot that's just over. Closer to scoring than when they had eleven men
Decent effort there from Mason Mount.
Does anyone want the answer to the first quiz question
Yes, please. I'm guessing that it's a bit saucy!
Go on then.
Washing silverware. As if Chelsea will be doing that while Lamps is in charge
Thiago with 38 passes and 89% completion.
Pool, third behind the Gunners and Toffees. The rematch of the Charity Shield a week from tomorrow will surely be bigger than this match
I should do that too. My cocktail shaker is silver plate and quite tarnished from use.
Nice one, David - Frank shouldn't hold his breath on that one, for sure.
PENALTY CHELSEA . NICE RUN , BUT THAT SEEMED REALLY SOFT AS THIAGO BARELY TOUCHED HIM
Well then - penalty to Chelsea! New boy Thiago with the chop there.
Is he Rodrigo in disguise?
We have to silence Leicester in mid-week before we can worry about L'pool.
Uh-oh, Thiago with a clanger.
VAR CHECKING. IT DIN'T LOOK A PENALTY. FAR TOO SOFT.
WOW! JORGINHO WITH HIS FIRST EVER MISSED SPOT KICK FOR CHELSEA. NICE SAVE FROM ALLISON
Thanks Bob and Steve,. Thought you would appreciate that quiz question
Jorginho steps up - oh my that's a stupid pen, easily saved by Alisson!
Those Thiago stats sure look like water carrier stats, but not the challenge on Werner
Love it. One of those dancy-skippy-jumpy pens gets saved. Alison might have single handed (pun!) put those ridiculous efforts to bed.
That seems to be the new style of penalty, relying on faking out the keeper with the run-up and then sticking it down the middle.
Klich did it for us yesterday. Don't like it. Stick it in the corner for me, no messing.
That LC tie is a great one too. Some big matches to start the season for the Gunners
How many VAR's does this ref require to render the correct decision?
I don't like those either. Glad he missed and nice pun Steve
Free kick from TAA curled wide
I've just noticed that "3" seems to be the corporate sponsor for Chelsea. I thought it was the player number but all of them are wearing #3. A bit confusing.
TTA brushes off Salah's challenge and then curls it well wide.
Agreed. It's one of those modern footballer moves that exposes far too much time on the FIFA controls. Stick the penalty away like Shearer or leave it for someone who can.
The final tolls of the dice from Frankie Tammy Abraham for Kovacic and Ross Barkley for Kovacic. Much needed attacking changes but too little too late for Lamps
Kovacic and Jorginho make way after a long afternoon of carrying water. Ross Barkley and Tammy Abraham come on. I really do forget all of the bloody players that Chelsea have at their disposal. It's ridiculous.
The late match on NBCSN will be an opportunity for Steve to do some scouting duty ahead of the LC match
Pool third behind the Gunners and Toffees on goal difference. If Pool go three up then then they go top
and yet not a sighting of the HFB who came off the bench to save our bacon many times.
Thiago with an effort from distance - well wide. He's not impressing me yet.
Oh yeah - Giroud, of course. Kate will be crushed.
Great save by Allison for Abraham as Isaac comes down from the Mount
Do I have to remind you of how often Munich went on a rampage last year? He was the platform that gave Gnabry, Lew, Muller, Davies, etc, the license to not give a fig about what was happening behind them.
Olly will consider this a bad hair day????
Chelsea beaten more soundly at home by Liverpool than we were away last weekend. I rest my case.
Pass from Bobby Chompers zoomed out for a corner
Minnie Minnow on for Bobby Chompers
You tell Kate that he loves me the most. I won't have her as a rival. Back off.
Agreed, Steve. Thoiago will definitely be an asset for Pool, but not necessarily Chelsea
The jury's out for me - I heard the same thing from Chelsea fans about Jorginho and Kovacic when they came. They're just modern day footballers who focus on possession at the sacrifice of everything that makes football fun.
LOL, Steve!
LOL - will do!
I think Jorginho is more boring than Kante. Kovacic could be a difference maker, but he's been a flop
An LOB blogging trio of stoppage time minutes
Jorginho should have stayed in Serie A. It suits him better.
Lovely - Chelsea get to work out their anger on the Baggies next weekend. Luv it!
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