Welcome to this week’s TWTWTW.
Everton manager Marco Silva’s relationship with Evertonians has become ‘difficult’ in recent weeks.
The Portuguese obviously knew of the importance of setting his side up to lose against Man City in midweek. And whatever he had his players working on last week in preparation for this game, it worked a treat. The loss may just be enough to keep Marco Silva in a job next week.
Master of excuses Jurgen Klopp had every right to be furious with the officials following Liverpool’s 1-1 draw at West Ham. Because let’s face it, if a side squanders golden opportunities to win a football match, the blame is automatically pointed at the referee and/or linesmen/lineswomen.
There were two decisions in particular which were downright bizarre. The first one was when forward Sadio Mane was the fortunate recipient of the linesman somehow ‘missing’ Adam Lallana being in an offside position when he played in Mane, who proceeded to score.
And the second bizarre decision was in what was literally the final kick of the game. Divock Origi missed a great chance to ensure Liverpool would still be top tonight. Yet again, the linesman ‘missed’ a Liverpool attacker being in an offside position as he received the ball.
Sorry Jurgen, you can’t use the poor standard of officiating as the main reason you failed to take home the three points. Although to be fair, West Ham’s kit was so claret and blue, that Liverpool’s players probably got too confused.
If that was really what Jurgen believed cost them the win, then fair enough.
With Huddersfield now virtually gone, it was quite callous of Chelsea to stick 5 goals past them last weekend. Where is your compassion, Chelsea? Gonzalo Higuain scored his first goals in a Chelsea shirt, with his second in particular being aesthetically pleasing.
It hasn’t gone unnoticed that Manchester United’s players have been given a new lease of life under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. And free from their shackles, Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba have benefitted the most from their new roles in the side. The duo combined beautifully to score the only goal at Leicester City.
After pouncing on a Ricardo Pereira mistake, Paul Pogba found Rashford with a ball over the top and the latter finished the move with a neatly taken goal. While the Red Devils are preoccupied with maintaining an unbeaten run, former manager Jose Mourinho is in Russia enjoying the ice hockey and slipping on red carpets.
I’m sure you have all seen the video that has gone viral.
Premier League clubs have voted unanimously to continue with the cap on away tickets that prevents them being sold for more than £30. And as they should. However, I’d argue that £30 is still far too steep for the working class football fan.
Sure, decreasing the price would obviously mean a loss of revenue. But it’s insignificant compared to the revenue they bring in elsewhere. The average broadcasting revenue alone of a Premier League club last season was £104m, so I’m pretty sure a Premier League club could afford it.
For a couple of clubs hoping to reach the Premier League, this is terrible news. Yorkshire giants Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United usually charge away fans upwards of £35 for a ticket. So they are probably mortified with the decision. Should either of them achieve promotion within the next three years, they would be losing a few quid.
Don’t be surprised to see Leeds replicate Derby and still be stuck in the Championship next year.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
