charlierc

Maybe the decisive moment wasn't so much Rashford's injury being exaggerated so much as Casemiro getting sent off one game too soon. Indeed that was a factor when they lost at Arsenal when Casemiro was suspended.

The attack has definitely been a problem since the World Cup break. All those draws since then have been the sign of us lacking something in comparison to the team that scored 4 at Fulham, 4 against Villa and 5 v Brentford. Equally, concede 2 soft goals and you give yourself a hard task to overcome that. I don't think Karius was necessarily the worst part tbh. For me, the defence didn't have a good game - Trippier's set-pieces weren't the best plus Rashford is just bloody good, Schar looked rough after his head injury, Botman had a day of misfortune and Burn has looked in need of a rest for a few games.

Played the lottery this week? With predictions skills like that, you might be on to a win.

Tbf, he took it better after our 0-0 at Old Trafford a few months back than Mikel Arteta did when we properly shithoused our way to a point at the Emirates.

I know there's talk of a 90's revival now and then but an exact replica of the 1999 FA Cup final scoreline isn't quite what I had in mind.

Was just about to say as such. That's probably the bigger barrier to a Foals Werchter slot, non?

True but given The Killers were charging north of £70 for lots of tickets on their dates, they could fill up the gap by themselves. To say nothing of the fact that if Milan i-Days is similar to the Milano Rocks event where I saw The National and Franz Ferdinand a few years ago, it'd probably just be the one stage whereas Pukkelpop seems to have quite a few more scattered around. To my knowledge, anyway, and judging by last year's Clashfinder. Italy seems cheaper for gigs in general though. Arctic Monkeys and Muse's shows there seem to be at less expensive price points in comparison to their UK concerts.

Rashford apparently went off injured near the end of the Man United v Barcelona tie on Thursday. I don't like hoping someone is injured, but it would make our lives easier if Newcastle don't have to face him given how excellent he has been since the World Cup. Saying that, they found goals from other sources when he drew a rare blank in that game, so... might be one problem taken away but still have to deal with the others.

Zak Brown has already said that McLaren missed their development targets and are betting the farm on an upgrade package to come in from around round 4 (which will be Baku). Mercedes also seem to still be behind RB+Ferrari, though Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo seem to have had good spells in this run of tests, and Williams also look like despite their behind-the-scenes problems, they might have got something better. But then I'm not getting carried away as to what all this means, mind. It's still testing with different teams doing different bits at different times, though it has been noted these times are generally faster than the equivalents at this track last year. Could make it interesting for next weekend when this all starts up for real.

I thought Liverpool's defence looked fragile against Newcastle despite our attack being out of form and the fact we had to play most of the game with 10 men. But wow Real Madrid do not fuck around.

I'm not sure if we'll get that much definitive, given both that McLaren were fastest on some days in testing last year but were nowhere near wins, and the fact that 3 days of running is arguably too short to test these. I think while we'll get some clues, the actual Bahrain practice sessions will be more representative of what we'll be seeing for the first few rounds. And yeah totally. There were decent races last year (Silverstone, COTA and Brazil being the best 3) but Ferrari's assortment of mistakes before the summer break, Red Bull being borderline unstoppable after it, and everyone else being nowhere near, including Mercedes in something of a surprise, cost us a proper title fight. Obviously not every F1 season is going to be a 2021-style nail-biter that goes right to the end - for better or worse - but at least a title fight not settled by July would be a start.

Sounds like the reverse of Chris Moyles' heavily debated comments claiming most unsigned bands are crap.

It's like what T in the Park used to be except it's not.

Glastonbury Friday in the Netherlands and Glastonbury Sunday in Czechia. I count both of those against the possibility of him turning up at Glastonbury this time.

I mean, that poster design follows the aggressive branding strategy of Popworld to a tee. Even if I last went to one in 2019. Though I doubt it'll be the one and only chance to see Chesney Hawkes this year ... sorry.

Not been before - believe first time it was held in that location was last year after doing some initial research.

I mean, it's quite the left-field pick. Saying that Gracia managed a whole season at Watford without being fired. Bit of a novelty that. Can't exactly hold his difficult time at Valencia against him as Peter Lim has made that club a walking disaster.

Quite something to think that Frank Turner is playing this little festival round the corner from my home village

Looked like a lucky one to escape. Tbf I was semi-hoping for a key Man United player to be ruled out through suspension but that didn't work. Maybe burnout from going hell for leather against Barcelona on Thursday is also our best hope.

Hmmmm... I know Lance Stroll isn't a popular figure in F1 circles but this feels like a definite bad start to the year, particularly as there's a risk he might also miss the season opener in 2 weeks time. We saw Ricciardo on the backfoot last season after missing testing and it took Vettel a little bit of time to get going after his covid diagnosis meant he missed the first two rounds of last season.

It's an odd situation to be in. We're entering the cup final in ropey form, and now have a pretty unique goalkeeping absence situation, so it's less than ideal. But saying that, cup finals can be strange things, so maybe there'll be odder twists to follow. Well I can hope so at least, anyway.

I mean, I was talking about Chelsea losing to Southampton, but as far as Leeds go, they are in trouble. They don't seem any closer to replacing Marsch and seem lost until they do.

Never say never. I knew it was going to be difficult - Manchester United maybe arriving at Wembley for that tie a few days after a big Europa League tie with Barcelona, but Rashford has been in brilliant form since the World Cup and they look to have ironed some of their shit out. The draw with Leeds indicates not all of the kinks out of their system, mind, but that's not quite the same as the rabble getting demolished by Brentford in August. Dubravka's loan was poorly thought out, sure, and in retrospect, so was Darlow's to Hull, leaving us either with Karius - who last played a competitive game for Union Berlin during a loan spell in 2020 - or Mark Gillespie, who I forgot we still had and also hasn't played a competitive game since 2020. Bruno's return is a bonus, as was a hint from Howe that Willock should also be available, given that's 2 of the first choice 3. But I'm aware something hasn't quite clicked since the FA Cup defeat at Sheffield Wednesday, which exposed a real lack of depth in the first team bubble. Too soon to hope for a similar rush of blood to the head by a Manchester United first team player against Leicester tomorrow?

I'm aware that they are - we're still a work in progress, and the miserable display in defeat at Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup demonstrated our back-up is a hard step below, even before the decision to sell Jonjo Shelvey to Forest and not bring in a replacement. Even then, doesn't always, and before the Merseyside Derby, there was no guarantee Liverpool were about to suddenly reboot back into, if not quite the machine they were even last season, at the very least closer to it. I wouldn't be 100% happy with the defence if I was a Liverpool fan, especially as Real Madrid in the Champions League is looming, but they seized the day here.

I mean, this feels unsustainable. Chelsea have spent most of 2023 so far just looking kinda clueless, not helped by a confused hyperactive transfer policy or the fact they seem to change formations every game. Losing to the bottom club under caretaker charge is certainly not going to help your job security.