Send your thoughts for the afternoon Mailbox to [email protected]…

 

The Solskjaer effect
We’ve been hearing from many a pundit about how Solskjaer has given Woodward a problem with his stellar performance. Two more outcomes of this success come to my mind which will be interesting to explore.

The first is about Solskjaer’s future. No matter who United appoint, Ole has probably demonstrated that he’s well cut out to take a premier team and manage them well. So in the event that Woodward decides to go to Poch, Levy could grab Ole on the cheap and get him to manage Spurs. What if Ole then outperforms Poch? Now that should give EW the nightmares.

The second is about Solskjaer’s past. He was clearly a flop at Cardiff, whatever the extenuating circumstances in terms of club or talent he was working with. And yet he has demonstrated well beyond expectations that he can work with a top end team and do well with them. Is it possible therefore that there might be many others like him who are better with elite squads and poor with average ones? The opposite of Sam Allardyce or Pulis? Rather than a linear evaluation along the lines of good coach/ bad coach, it might be about good fit/ bad fit. Which means G Nev, Roy Keane, Henry & co may just have made the wrong choices. Might this tempt this group of former players back into management?
Ved (I lie awake and think these thoughts) Sen

 

Reffin’ hell
Whilst referee’s seem to be the hot topic at the moment, I thought I’d offer my thoughts. I’d like to know the % of people backing up the referee’s who support a team in League 1, League 2 or below. Seriously, pick any game in League 2 this weekend, go watch it, and you will not believe your eyes. The referees are awful! Whilst it may not be a deliberate act by them, it’s hard to not become frustrated. It’s hard to believe until you experience it, but it’s almost as though the referee’s flip a coin to decide which team to be biased towards (I am well aware this isn’t the case).

As a Lincoln fan, I can’t actually think of many times we have been sold short by a referee this season. However, some of the referee’s have been incredibly sh*te against our opposition! We played one game earlier in the season, I think it was Notts County at home, and it’s hard to comprehend how poor that referee was for them. You may be wondering why I’m complaining about referee’s giving the team we’re playing a hard time, but it’s easy to sit back when you’re watching your team and see what a neutral sees and realise it is wrong. As aforementioned, I know that referee’s do not go out there with a deliberate conscience to be one-sided to a certain term, however there are examples, particularly in L2, where this could be a genuine case.

What’s the solution? First and foremost the referee’s below the championship are not full time. The FA need to give these referee’s a full time salary so this is a job that is their sole focus, rather than a builder who fancies it every now and then on a Saturday. Secondly, the training referee’s get is questionable. My friend is a referee and he did a live broadcast in one of their meetings during their training, and it beggars belief how tinpot it all is. The trainer admitted that he wasn’t entirely sure on the majority of the rules, and so if the referee’s made a mistake during their assessments then it probably won’t be picked up and they’ll pass anyway. What?! Shocking.

I want to stress that refereeing is a difficult job and they will not get everything right. However, there are plenty of incredibly easy decisions that they simply don’t get right. If they make the correct call for the easy decisions, then that’s 80% of their job done. I don’t think it helps that there are so many grey areas in football. Those who set and edit the rules need to start ironing out the grey areas into black and white, because some referee’s must be so confused at points during a 90 minute game. Also, managers and players have to do interviews after a game, I’m yet to see one valid reason as to why referee’s can’t. If I’m a referee and I make a bad decision then I want to go to the cameras and justify what I saw and why I made that decision. Is it a case of referee’s showing a bit more character to admit they’ve made a mistake rather than just go and hide after a game? His name escapes me but when Gerrard dived vs Sheffield United in 2006, the referee came to the cameras and explained what he saw and apologised. Great. That’s what we want. Transparency.

We had Mike Dean refereeing our Lincolnshire Derby the other week vs Grimsby. All I can say is, if he is a premier league referee, then it says quite a lot about the state of the officiating in this country.

On a side note, and I know I’m not the only one to think this – do F365 ever think about emailing the journalists that they talk about in Mediawatch? Not sure about anyone else but if I was a journalist and I saw me getting absolutely rinsed by F365 for effectively lying I would die a little bit inside and not do it again. Just a thought. Would be funny to see their responses as well.

As you were.
Rick. (Lincoln).

 

…I enjoyed reading all the different thoughts on ref abuse. I’m not sure it can be stopped. I am sure if you watch players over the course of a few seasons, there are players who never argue with a ref and those who will argue that the grass isn’t green enough. The abuse they get is truly awful. Abusing a referee is something that is either allowed or stopped dead in its tracks when that player is very young.

I remember when I started playing at 4 or 5. The coach I had had a one track mind when it came to referees, no one on the team but the captain talks to the ref, ever. He didn’t care what happened to us, no one was to ever argue with the ref. His logic was it never does you any good. If we did, he would pull us off the team, right then and there. I never said a word to a referee other than when I was a captain. To be honest, I agree with his logic, we got know as a team who wouldn’t argue and would get a lot of calls that I don’t know we would have gotten if we had yelled like every other team.

Calling it banter, the rush of the moment, the energy of the game, or the heat of the moment is just plain chicken**it. If its ever accepted its always accepted. It will take years to stop, if anyone can even be bothered to try.

I guess what I’m really saying is I doubt you will ever rid referee abuse from the game, which is sad. The best they may be able to do is lessen it somewhat, but I doubt it will go away. Its bred into players from their parents, coaches, everyone. There seems to be a lack of decency across the board when it comes to referees. I have referred a few games here and there over the years in kids leagues, and the abuse I got was incredible. I can say you couldn’t pay me enough to do it at their level.

It looks such an easy job on TV, but believe me, it’s way harder to ref a game than It is to play in it.
Wade (never a ref no more) gunner 4 life.

 

Is the cup really broken?
Lots of people in Monday’s mailbox make reference to the FA Cup being damaged by big clubs failing to take it seriously in order to focus on the top 4 and CL. Dave, MUFC, is a prime example.

I think this myth has been busted in the mailbox before. A list of FA Cup winners since 2000 reads: Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Arsenal, Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Portsmouth, Chelsea, Chelsea, Man City, Chelsea, Wigan, Arsenal, Arsenal, Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea.

Two winners outside of the biggest clubs in the last 19 iterations of the tournament. Arsenal, Man United and Chelsea alone have between them mopped up 23 of the last 30 cups on offer.

If there is a problem with the FA Cup that needs fixing, it is surely this hegemony? Or perhaps there’s nothing to fix, and the FA Cup is basically fine?
Joe Rice

 

…In regards to the argument about whether it’s worth winning the FA Cup or not, I think it depends on your perspective.

As a player I think it would be great to win. Something to celebrate and a winning feeling. It’s not the league – but it’s a trophy. Look at the Chelsea players and staff celebrating last year. They were happy to win it.

As a manager though, you are subject to what the owners want. And they care more about money. So the FA cup becomes secondary.

This fact is illustrated clearly by how Van Gaal, Conte and Wenger lost their jobs immediately after or in the season after they won the trophy.

I do feel it’s a shame it’s come to this. I remember cup finals from when I was a kid and the day was special. You would have hours and hours of buildup on BBC and ITV to watch. There was magic in the day. And the only way for this to come back is indeed as others have suggested for more money to be made available for the winners and others who progress.
Nishul Saperia (still remembering when Mark Robins saved Fergie’s job in the FA Cup)

 

…Alan, Cordoba: The reason why some mailers are disappointed with Spurs is because of Poch’s comments about trophies or rather about how they “don’t necessarily take clubs to the next level” or how they only build egos.

Yes a lot of clubs will have to focus on main league campaign and can’t always field their strongest team but there’s difference between failing to win it and not wanting to win it at all and Poch’s comment was basically saying the latter. Perhaps it was just a poor choice of words, which happens to all of us but it was disrespectful to the competition.

Trophies aren’t everything yes, but as a sports team should always aspire to win them. Just saying they aren’t important or they only build egos is extremely disrespectful to the spirit of sports. I mean, bad for your ego? Come on……

Measures of success are far more than trophies, but saying things like they are bad cos they build egos are just so out of whack for a competitive sports team.
Yaru, Malaysia

 

…Currently watching Barnet V Brentford. This reminds of Blyth Spartans when I was a kid. I still love watching underdogs matching ‘superior’ opposition.

I feel the cup is still there for an entertaining watch.
Chris

 

Missed opportunities
No disrespect whatsoever to Wolves or Palace, but had Liverpool and Tottenham made a better fist of it, their paths to an FA Cup quarterfinal would have been Shrewsbury->Bristol City and Doncaster, respectively. One of Chelsea and Man United won’t be in the quarterfinals, likely clearing the path for the eventual Cup winner even further.

But no matter. Let’s definitely hear more justification from and for managers picking and choosing their silverware after 4+ barren years. Apparently, competing on multiple fronts is only something the other four teams in the top six need bother with. Thankfully, Spurs and Liverpool supporters will always have the memories of the days they clinched fourth and made respectable exits from the Champions League.
Grumpy Old Tim

 

Chelsea’s conundrum
I keep seeing articles saying that Chelsea are willing to take the hit on Hudson-Odoi by waiting until the summer to sell him.

I genuinely don’t think this is the case as we’ve seen players with 6 months left go for scandalous amounts, yet alone a year.

Chelsea are in a position where there is no need to sell and still seem to think that they can entice him to sign a contract with regular football.

If he does get a decent amount of football in the next few months, I think showcasing his talent will outweigh the time lost on his contract – as well as more teams likely to take an interest.

Also, with the threat of a potential transfer ban (lasting between 2-4 windows) why would they be getting rid of talented players they may need to maintain a top 4 squad in that time?
Adam (ironic that he was outplayed by Willian at the weekend though), Birmingham

 

A Belgian bargain
I know Arsenal claim to have no money, but if Leicester can buy Tielemans for £20m, Arsenal should definitely go for him as Ramsey’s replacement. In fact, why aren’t United and Spurs going for him too? It’s a bargain for such a young talent!
Néill, Ireland

 

Town planning
So I am looking forward to seeing how Huddersfield get on against Everton tonight. Jan Siewerts first game in charge. Watching Huddersfield it was clear they were simply retreating further and further back which meant zero support for the lone striker. Jan (as I’m hoping he is going to read this I think first name is appropriate) favours an attacking 4-3-3 formation. He will have analysed the Huddersfield matches and realised support in attack is key. Hard work, pressing are obviously boxes to tick too. Mooy is back but I don’t think he will make the starting 11 so will be on the bench. Billing is still out I believe so that’s a huge hole in the middle to sort out. Puncheon I sense will be up for it and Mounie will appreciate the support and hopefully the additional service. So I think the team to face Everton will be:-

Lossl

Zanka good engine, loves a cross
Schindler – dependable but lacks pace
Kongolo – should be better. Likes to keep hold of the ball too long so gets caught out
Durm – I think Jan will go for experience rather than Hadergjonaj (imagine that in Scrabble, triple word score….boom, goodnight Auntie Cath, game over…..)

Hogg
Bacuna
Pritchard

I agree it’s a little attacking but options are limited so they will need to be disciplined

Puncheon
Mounie
Kachunga

Personally once everyone is fit I would go 4-2-3-1 and put Kongolo into a defensive midfield position as he looks good on the ball and can do a job without getting caught out too often, possibly with Durm so Hadergjonaj can be unleashed but has cover. With Mooy, Billing and Pritchard free to roam with 2 central defensive midfielders they can help supply Mounie or Depoitre with the ammunition they need. If Mounie or Depoitre can’t fire get Puncheon in there in a free role to create space for Pritchard and Mooy to exploit. Jan if you are reading this think about it……

Huddersfield 2 Everton 1. Degsy you know I’m right…… 16/1 people, get on it !!
Ian (please write in with your thoughts Huddersfield fans, just my thoughts on what I have seen……) LFC

 

And now over to our Asian Cup correspondent
Japan are in the final of the Asian Cup! They beat a young but energetic Vietnam side in the quarter final thanks to a second-half Ritsu Doan penalty, given after referral to VAR, which was introduced from the quarter final stage. Last night they played Iran, who had won 5 from 5, scoring 12 and conceding no goals in the first three rounds of the tournament.

Unlike in their previous two knockout games, Japan tried to attack early, but apart from a Maya Yoshida header over, a Takumi Minamino toe-poke and a Ritsu Doan shot wide, didn’t create many clear scoring opportunities. Iran seemed to be trying to pressure Japan’s midfielders and play long balls to their striker Sardar, who I initially thought was called Sarada (Japanese meaning: “salad”) thanks to the frankly terrible 1980s-computer-game font used for the names on the Iran shirts. Anyway, it was 0-0 at half time but as the half went on, things got more aggressive, with Iran in particular throwing themselves into some hard tackles and getting niggly. Sardar and Hiroki Sakai had a few words with each other on more than one occasion.

Iran started the second half stronger, but Japan held firm, thanks to a couple of good saves from Shuichi Gonda – one after his poor pass had given the ball away – and a bit of luck. Japan’s first goal was controversial: Minamino was played through on the left side of the penalty area and went down under contact. Several Iranian defenders stopped to complain to the ref, but he’d waved play on and while they were complaining, Minamino chased the ball down at the by-line and kept it in play. He crossed and Yuya Osako, back in the starting eleven after injury, took advantage of the confusion and some space to head it in. We didn’t get a close up replay of the tackle on Minamino, so I’ve no idea if he was fouled or dived or if there was contact but not enough to warrant a foul. Osako added a second about 10 minutes later from the penalty spot after Minamino’s attempted cross hit the trailing arm of a sliding defender.

After the first goal, things got feisty, with Osako getting some rough treatment, mainly from Sardar but also from Ebrahimi. It got rougher after the second goal, and, when Genki Haraguchi scored Japan’s third in the 91st minute, there was a melee after the restart. We didn’t see what happened initially as they were showing replays of celebrations (that’s another thing that irritates me about football coverage), but when they cut back to live pictures everyone was pushing and shoving on the edge of Japan’s area and someone was lying down on the halfway line. Eventually replays showed that Sardar had kicked (I think) Osako as Iran were restarting the game. He got a yellow card, and plenty of abuse from various members of Japan’s defence. A few minutes earlier he had clipped Sei Muroya round the ear as he was lying down after both had slid for a ball.

The 3-0 result was a pleasant surprise, and Japan will play the winner of UAE v Qatar in the final on Friday. The main highlights for me, though, were Yoshida again showing his mastery of English swear words in the melee near the end, and the overhead shot of the captains for the coin toss, which allowed a beautiful view of the Iranian captain’s remarkable hairstyle – what people of a certain age might call “a Bobby Charlton” but what my wife calls “barcode hair”. The biggest disappointment was that Iran had several throw ins and didn’t attempt a single backflip.

Regards,
James T, Ishikawa, Japan