We have a selection of your lovely Mails. If you want to contribute, you know what to do: Mail us at [email protected]

 

Enjoy the hate, Liverpool fans
As an Arsenal fan I remember the club being hated by pretty much everyone in the late 90s and early noughties because we were either winning the league or coming second every season.

Now that we are a pathetic also-ran that wins the odd cup, people don’t mind us so much (ignoring local rivalries of course) and even Man Utd fans sometimes say nice things about us.

I much preferred it when we were roundly hated and all our titles were down to luck or cheating. What people actually meant when they said that if it wasn’t for Pires diving we would not have gone unbeaten, or that refs were too soft on Vieira, or that Bergkamp’s goal was a fluke, etc, was that they were jealous of how good we were.

So my message to all you Liverpool fans is enjoy the hate. Don’t bother replying to the fools that say it’s all down to luck and cheating, just laugh in their face because it means that finally, after all this time, this might actually be your year.

I for one am rooting for you because I bloody hate City.
Adonis (Do you see what I did there?) Stevenson, AFC

 

New trophies
With news of Liverpool’s financial success I think it’s time we introduce some financial trophies, because let’s be honest as football fans, this is the important stuff.

Liverpool the Net Spend Cup
Man U the Revenue Trophy
City the Dodgy Spend Shield
Arsenal the Matchday Revenue Medal
Spurs the No Spend Bottle
Graham Kirk, Sunny Manchester

 

Hazard: Perfect for Man United
It’s strange Eden says he wouldn’t join Man United if Zidane came. Truth be told, Ole is the perfect manager for him. For a man who claims to irritate his managers, playing for Ole would free him up from any such responsibilities. Plus, he would not need to play up top starving for service.
Sudarsan Ravi

 

Penalties come to those who risk
Tried to put this in the comments but alas, it has travelled to the land of moderation where just one drink really is just one drink, Degsy gambles responsibly and, presumably, everyone supports Switzerland.

It was a response to Bill and his reverse bias hypothesis based on the statistic, among others, of Palace receiving more penalties (10) than the teams in 2nd, 3rd and 4th combined. This being due to the idea of referees giving less penalties to big clubs because of an inherent bias toward them, and favouring the underdog.

Here it is with a few extras just for you (Explicit Content Warning):

Bill, my view of the same statistics would be that the teams which get the most penalties are the teams which create situations where a penalty is most likely to be given.

A team that dominates possession (top six) is usually facing a defence that is set behind the ball, instructed to stay on their feet and concentrated on limiting opportunities with ample cover provided by their team mates. This kind of setup naturally lends itself to less panicking at the back, less rash/ last ditch or last man challenges and therefore less penalties. Burnley – a perfect example of this kind of defending – has given away the least penalties this season.

The teams that concede the most penalties also receive the most penalties (Man Utd, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Leicester) with one or two exceptions addressed later. These teams are counter-attacking units so the stats make sense. Counter-attacks involve committing lots of players forward quickly in a transition regardless of their defensive responsibilities outside of a transition.

If the counter-attack works, teams isolate opposition defenders putting them in a situation where they must make a split-second decision and, by nature, a rash one. If the counter-attack breaks down, teams have tired players, out of position and high up the pitch leaving themselves open to a counter-counter attack. Their own defenders are now isolated, forcing them into making quick decisions (close down the man on the ball, get tight to the runner etc etc).

So teams that are transition focused (counter attack/counter press) create more panic in the opposition box, and more panic in their own box. It is a high-risk, high reward strategy which leads to a roughly equal amount of penalties conceded and penalties won (see Leicester, Liverpool, Palace, Bournemouth.) The outliers are Brighton and Hove who have conceded seven more penalties than they have won (12 to 5) and Cardiff who have received 2 and conceded 12. I’d put that down to the Championship defences of those two clubs.
Liam Gabriel Hoskins (Never won a penalty) AFC

 

Two simple answers to diving and fouling
If the general consensus is the diving is now part of the game then the penalty should be of similar severity to what they are trying to achieve. The only time you see a dive is in the box with the intention of winning a penalty. Don’t know what the stats are but leads to an almost certain goal. So if the forward “feels a touch” and decides to perform the full works, but is then deemed to have dived, the penalty should be a goal to the opposition. Let’s see how this effects their stability.

If the general consensus is that those niggle type non-card fouls to break up attacks are part of the game then the fourth official should be keeping track of the number of fouls made either in the opposition half or first quarter of the attacking half (bring in a 25 yard line). A player then gets a yellow if they commit four or more fouls in this area, or if an opponent gets to be fouled four times in this area then the last player to do so gets the yellow.

I am quite happy for them to give as many fouls in their own 25 yards as they like as this gives the opposition a good position for the free kick.
Biggles Gooner

 

Punish the divers
I was going to let this whole issue slide but having read all the mails supporting and condemning diving, I thought I’d give my two cents.

Firstly, there’s a difference between diving and ‘going down’. Diving is cheating, plain and simple. Going down falls into a bit of a grey area.

What Salah has been doing is a little bit of both. When he fell to the floor from Sakho’s ‘challenge’ on Saturday, he dived. That ‘tackle’ wouldn’t have been enough for a man with two broken ankles to go down. It’s gotten to the point where he knows the referee won’t punish him, even for blatant diving where there’s absolutely no contact. Imagine what the British media would do if Raheem Sterling was diving consistently like Salah has been?

However, if Salah (or any other player) is running at pace and is clipped, it’s difficult to stay on your feet and therefore ‘going down’ is what it is, not diving. Sterling was denied a stonewall penalty at the weekend as he’s got a reputation for ‘going down’. In my opinion, Salah is 10x worse. Salah has dived and got penalties/frees as, for some reason, referees are oblivious to his diving (when he does clearly dive and not go down). For me, most logical football fans should know the difference between a dive and ‘going down’.

I’ll conclude by saying that I think referees and the FA have to start punishing players for diving more consistently. From the top of my head, Salah should have been banned for at least six games this season for diving (assuming the minimum punishment is three games)
Ryan, Ireland

 

What do Leicester fans expect?
In light of Leicester’s incredible achievement of winning the title in 15/16, and then a great run to the Champions League Quarter Finals the following season, it seems that the team has now settled in to its place after that, i.e challenging to be the best of the rest outside the top six. However, I am interested to know, that after that incredible period of unprecedented success, what do Leicester fans hope for when a new season starts? Do you guys want to see your team pushing for a top four spot? Europa League spot? Are you content with your league title win and the celebrations it brought, and are satisfied just staying in the Premier League? It would be interesting to hear from Leicester fans where their ambitions lie. They are such a unique club in football due to their totally random and unexpected title win considering where they started from, that I have always wondered where the fans go from the absolute pinnacle of English football when it comes to their hopes for the team. Would be interesting to hear from supporters.
Wickyleaks, Toronto

 

Wayne sending shivers…
Last night YouTube recommended I watched a video of an NFL fan watching Wayne Rooney’s best goals. *click*

Yup, still my favourite player ever, best goals ever, hardest shot ever (man I missed Thunderbastard Wazza when he started trying to place everything), I love that guy man, faults and all.

I hadn’t forgotten who he was in my favourite players ever list, but I didn’t expect to get goosebumps watching this. Not sure what my point is..anyone else LOVE Wayne ‘underrated’ Rooney? Are there any other underrated legends out there? Kanu? Lolz
Cortez (Wazza for life) MUFC, Botswana

 

Initially speaking…
In response to AJM, Australia’s initial XI challenge, here are the answers:
GK – David De Gea
DEF – Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil Van Dijk, Ainsley Maitland-Niles
MID – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kevin De Bruyne, Angel Di Maria (Ligue Un)
FWD – Cristiano Ronaldo (Serie A), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Heung-Min Son

Although it should be Son Heung-Min, really.

Also, I took the liberty to attempt a guess at what AJM’s initials stand for. He’s Andrew James Martin isn’t he.
LJS, Australia