We have to play our under 23 team in the game against Villia. Really poor by English football to fixture it like this. They are making one of their competitions more of a joke than it already is.
As a total nuetral I feel really dirty after watching that Chelsea vs Ajax game. Really really dirty.
If I were an Ajax fan I would be livid. The second Blind yellow card shouldnāt have been a yellow card at all. In the first place it should have been a foul to Blind only a second before, when he got clattered over by Pulisic whoād just lost the ball and committed a classic professional foul. Then, because the ballās rolled free Blindās just gotten up and lunged at it, as Abraham comes flying in from outside his field of vision and gotten between Blindās foot and the ball. Thereās no intent on Blind to contact Abraham. He canāt even see him until after heās moved his leg to kick the ball.
Then a minute later he gives a woefully poor penalty to Chelsea. Veltman clearly had his arm in a totally natural position down by his side. The only motion his arm is making is an attempt to get his hand behind his back. Futile given how fast that ball is moving.
I have no real problem with giving that second yellow for dissent. I think they should give cards much more often for dissent. We should never ever see referees surrounded by players. Butā¦ IT was brought about by that penalty decision. Only a second after a dodgy red card decision.
The whole situation makes me feel ā¦ I donāt really have words for it.
Empty. Like someoneās destroyed something beautiful.
If this involved a team I was invested in, I donāt know what I would do.
And all the talk after the game is about how amazing Chelsea were in the second half, and how great Lampardās half time talk must have been, and how brilliant his substititions were. Honestly, weāll never ever know. They certainly looked more likely after half time. But before the double sending off, Ajax had scored and Chelsea hadnāt.
I would love to have been able to watch coverage that included an Ajax supporter.
At least Ajax managed to hold on for a point.
Prague the over achievers so far
No offense but - boo hoo. Youāve got the squad to cover it. Wolves lost to Villa last round due to having to play a second string side with a crowded schedule. Iām sure your second string lineup will be ok.
Oh yeah, so we have the ability to play a game in England and in 24 hours also play in Qatar whilst the PL are not able to re-schedule a single fixture? Riiiiight!
The precedent was set years ago when the FA wouldnāt accommodate the WCC so we forfeited our FA Cup match
That was in 1999 from memory? Do recall that. We will be fielding a glorified youth side for the LC tieā¦
But the FA knew about this potential scheduling issue before the season. Their approach of āhopingā the scenario didnāt eventuate is completely amateurish. You build a contingency at the start not part way through.
Havenāt seen any of the highlights but was the crowd a factor in any of the decisions? I say this in the knowledge that Ajax fans were unable to attend.
I am not sure, to be honest. I just think that this ref was justā¦ not entirely impartial. Chelsea got two penalties, and if I was a one-eyed Ajax fan I could well have felt like the first one was a bit harsh too.
The second one was just outrageously wrong, and absolutely should have been overturned by VAR, but for their really terrible hard line āclear and obvious errorā it would have been.
It was a weird game for there being no Ajax fans. Perhaps the ref gets some consideration for that. Butā¦ Letās just say that I am sooo happy right now I am not an Ajax fan.
I still donāt see your gripe. Wolves played their under 23s against Villa with our wafer thin squad. The might of Liverpool have to do the same with their 550+ million pound squadā¦ and the two fixtures are the League cup and Club World cup, 22 hours apart?
Here is our Christmas schedule.
The 2 best sides in Europe, 44 hours apart. Oh and another league fixture 69 hours later.
This is life for a European club, enjoy it. I wish the Reds all the success in the world in their upcoming fixture against Villa in the QF of the Carabao Cup.
I still donāt see your gripe. Wolves played their under 23s against Villa with our wafer thin squad. The might of Liverpool have to do the same with their 550+ million pound squadā¦ and the two fixtures are the League cup and Club World cup, 22 hours apart?
Here is our Christmas schedule.
The 2 best sides in Europe, 44 hours apart. Oh and another league fixture 69 hours later.
This is life for a European club, enjoy it. I wish the Reds all the success in the world in their upcoming fixture against Villa in the QF of the Carabao Cup.
Not sure that quite compares to being fixtured to play 2 games in 2 countries 24 hours apart. We had to deal with your situation last year, but at least we remained in England. Given the amount of useless international breaks and the crammed Xmas-New Year schedule, this could easily be avoided if the powers that be thought of something other than TV money. They can re-schedule games quite easily for the purpose of TV coverage, but not for a situation where we are due to play in another ā ā ā ā ā ā ā country. I think Kloppās preference wouldāve been to lose the Arsenal game deep down.
Anyway, this isnāt Champions League related (although it involves the Champions of Europe), so probably best to continue this discussion in the PL thread.
Back on topic, big game for Spurs tomorrow morningā¦
2000
We were the reigning Cup holders and wanted to defend it. We were going to not go to the WCC as it was a bit of a gimmick but England was trying to bid for the WC at the time so the FA pressured us in to playing in South America so we forfeited the FA Cup
Iām glad the games are now at a decent time in the morning.
Itās all good we have solved picking our team
https://twitter.com/lukewoodyy/status/1191881988954894340?s=21
Spurs end up putting 4 past Crvena.
Good win. I think Poch is starting to turn things around for them now.
Agreed.