Arsenal ‘bottled their title challenge before it even began’ as Liverpool conspiracy is nonsense. Plus Man Utd must drop three stars who are failing to help out Rasmus Hojlund…
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Inevitably bitter bottlejobs
Sixteen points clear(pre Utd v AFC)
Unstoppable. Relentless. Inevitable. Liverpool Football Club are marching towards their 20th league title, and there’s not a soul in the Premier League who can stop them. But while Arnes Army continues to brush aside everything in their path, something even more hilariously predictable has emerged in the background — a tidal wave of bitter whining, outlandish conspiracy theories, and sheer desperation from rival fans.
The Premier League has always been dramatic, but what we’re witnessing this season is utterly unprecedented. With Liverpool establishing a monstrous lead, the conversation has shifted from “Can anyone catch them?” to “How can we discredit them?” Rival fans, scrambling for anything to cling to, have descended into full-blown delusion — and their favorite weapon? Blaming VAR and the officials for Liverpool’s success.
Week after week, the narrative grows more laughable. Every decision that marginally favours Liverpool — whether it’s a tight offside, a handball, or a penalty — is instantly plastered across social media with cries of “corruption” and “Premier League scriptwriters at it again!” It doesn’t matter if the same calls are made for other teams; in the eyes of rival fans, Liverpool are being carried to the title.
The irony? Liverpool are obliterating the league with the same intensity and brilliance they displayed in their 2019/20 title-winning season — and if anything, VAR has handed them far more misfortune than fortune. Dubious ref decisions , soft penalties against them,clear penalties not given( yes UAE employee Mohamed Oliver I’m talking about you) and bizarre refereeing inconsistencies have plagued them throughout the campaign. But instead of acknowledging their superiority, rival fans have instead concocted wild theories about the Premier League “desperately wanting Liverpool to win the title.”
The truth is far simpler — Liverpool are just miles better than everyone else. Arne has tweaked a monstrous winning machine, capable of dismantling any team in the league. The 16-point gap isn’t down to favorable refereeing — it’s down to a relentless, ruthless, and magnificent football team led by a world-class manager. Oh , and coming up against Bottlejob FC LOL
Not only have Arsenal bottled their title challenge before it even began, but they’ve now resorted to the lowest, most pathetic form of coping: blaming VAR, referees, and the Premier League scriptwriters for Liverpool’s dominance.
It’s genuinely laughable. Every time Liverpool get a decision — whether it’s a tight offside or a penalty — Arsenal fans flood social media with cries of “corruption!”, “the league is rigged for Liverpool!”, and the most delusional of all: “the Premier League wants Liverpool to win it.”
But it’s not just the fans. Even Mikel Arteta, Arsenal’s supposed tactical genius, has subtly joined the pity parade. His passive-aggressive digs in post-match interviews about “teams getting fortunate decisions” are nothing more than veiled shots at Liverpool. Deep down, Arteta knows exactly what’s happening — his team has been exposed. OOOH we have injuries , so do every other team, get over it.
Again. Liverpool, a team once written off as “in transition,” have rebuilt, reloaded, and roared back to the top without skipping a beat. Meanwhile, Arsenal are still mentally scarred from their capitulation and now resort to tinfoil hat conspiracies to cope.
The irony is delicious. This time last year, Arsenal fans were writing open letters about “how football was finally coming home to North London”. Now? They’re reduced to refreshing the VAR thread on Twitter, desperately hoping for a moment of controversy to discredit Liverpool’s dominance.
But hey — if rival fans need to cling to conspiracy theories and VAR delusions to cope, who are we to stop them? In a few months’ time, Liverpool will lift their 20th league title — and the collective meltdown from the rest of the league will be just as glorious to witness as the trophy itself.
Enjoy it, Reds. Their tears taste sweeter than ever.
Perchy The Parrot, Anfield
Why Ruben Amorim’s Man Utd isn’t working…Watched an interesting tactical breakdown earlier of why Amorim’s United are failing so well, and the continued blame being shovelled at Højlund prompted me to send this in.
The TL;DR is, it’s not particularly his fault.
The video, showed how the movements are supposed to go, and where they are breaking down in the team. But suffice it to say, the principle of the tactic is for the wing backs and 10s to drive forwards to create space and then play the ball in to the 9 for a one touch finish.
Højlund is making his runs, he’s doing his part, but as we saw with Dalot against Real Sociedad (and in so many other games), the issue is the failure to make that pass and the runs from the 10s into the gaps.
There was an interesting couple of screens that show the passes by the wing backs and Bruno, in recent games. Literally none were played into the striker or the box generally. It is massively stark. They are passing literally anywhere else, and usually backwards, after they’ve laboured their way up the pitch.
The issue isn’t that the striker isn’t making the runs, as he actually is. But even if he wasn’t, still play the ball to where he should be so he can learn get comfortable that the ball is coming. He has the pace and strength to get to them. At the moment, he’s getting maybe one touch in the box per game.
The most irritating thing is that man for man there is no way you’re saying Sporting is a better side than United, even with the crisis state as it is. I don’t think *on paper* you’d say it of Forest either. But what both do have are players doing their jobs, and following the instructions. As a result, the team is far superior.
Is it Amorim’s fault? Not entirely, but he has a part. The manager can’t make the decisions for the players once they step on the pitch. But he can drill them on the training field and refuse to play them or take them off if they’re not following his instructions when they step over the white line. If Dalot or Garnacho or Bruno refuse to play the simple square pass to the free striker over and over, they shouldn’t be playing the next match, simple as that. Even if it means playing kids. At the moment, he’s tolerating these abject performances and so nothing is changing. Only some players get the stick.
As pundits have said, Højlund at Arsenal would be scoring a hatfull because they would be feeding him on repeat.
And yes, Rashford and Antony are both doing good work in exactly the areas of the pitch that United are completely failing in right now. As was Mainoo when he played there once. So naturally, they should all be binned.
Badwolf
READ MORE: Arsenal favourite Andrea Berta’s top ten transfers from Bonucci to Griezmann
More Man Utd musings…
– There was a point last week where, despite United not having played football in days, the top 4 stories at the Guardian football coverage and indeed your hallowed front page had them front and centre. For a team that is 12th or whatever, it’s just weird. That environment would break most.
– Lots coming out of Mainoo’s ‘camp’ that he wants big bucks or he’s off. Obviously sad as he’s a local lad and had been rumoured to be a good egg, but this is crucial for INEOS to say no. Kobbie is pure potential. He’s a central midfielder with a questionable engine who has played 90 minutes of senior football a handful of times. And he wants top level wages.
– If Garnacho can sort his decision making, he could make it at the very top level. But nothing in the last 12 months hints at even a modicum of development there. It’s shocking really. Between him and Dalot it’s like a vacuum of footballing intelligence.
– Remember Luke Shaw? It’s been over a year since he’s played for his club.
– Thursday night was yet another example of why I’m hard on the Amor-IN camp. Despite having to field Dalot, a geriatric Casemiro in a two with Bruno (!?) and having Hojlund’s twin brother who can’t play football up top, United still utterly dominated and should have been out of sight. It’s not happening at the moment because there are only about 3 fit players and they’re not very good in this system.
– Will the powers at be ever fix penalties? Statistically a 80% chance of a goal, given for the smallest infractions these days. VAR took literal minutes to spot that one. And yes, by the letter of the law it’s a handball so well done chaps, but that law is idiotic. Penalties are ruining football, and no one can change my mind. A penalty should only be for a denial of clear goal scoring opportunity, at the decision of the ref. Nothing else. Touch a toe of a player heading towards the corner flag? Not an 80% goal. Ball bounces into your finger accidentally? Not an 80% goal. It’s plainly broken.
Ryan, Bermuda (Amorim has 1 signing under his belt. Let’s judge him with at least a couple eh?)
Forest trophy parade
Dear 365,
Will Forest fans be writing in to jubilantly celebrate a Fake Cup Final win against Citeh? Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work? Or does Nuno have to first blow £750m over ten transfer windows 🤔
Will be interesting to see if Forest fans get out the 2002 Vintage Dom Pérignon to celebrate (although one suspects they likely have higher standards than this). Interesting that Nuno looks likely to achieve Top 4 CL football without any “processes”, fake pickpocketing stunts or £65m ashtrays. Forest finished *59 points* behind Citeh last season recall, and are beating them and going for CL at Citeh’s expense. Their entire summer squad refresh of 9 new players cost less than one Declan Rice! And Nuno isn’t paid £15m a season is he? Weird.
Meanwhile, we witness certain mediocre frauds clearly regressing, at great expense, and we are told it’s “generational”. Ok! Yuuum that Kool-aid taaaaasty!
Stewie Griffin (What phase is Nuno in? Why didn’t the Forest MC play “Humble” by Kendrick??? Congrats Forest, excellent season)
READ MORE: All-time Man Utd, Arsenal Premier League combined XI: Ronaldo, Rooney over Bergkamp, Cantona
Frank needs time away from spotlightDear Con Kan (or should I call you Frank?)
The main reason there’s been no mention of how well Frank (you) is doing is because it’s the Championship, and 365 doesn’t give a lot of mention to that (for good or bad – that’s another conversation).
The negative press before was mainly because he seemed to show the worst traits of an ex player – mainly getting jobs on name as opposed to actual talent.
I think he (you) will benefit from some time out of the spotlight anyway to, you know, actually learn the job.
Hope everything goes well anyway – he (you) seems to be doing quite well!
Craig, Glasgow
P.S. I’d probably spend less time googling him (yourself) – it’s a bit weird.
Con Kan asks what the beef is with Lampard, and here is my Frank take. I claim no special knowledge or info other than being a longtime F365 reader.
To briefly sum up from my perspective: He was parachuted into one of the biggest jobs in football on the scantiest evidence, and after failing to impress twice got a further bite at the cherry. Whilst having vocal cheerleaders. So I guess it’s a reaction to that.
It’s great that he’s now garnering some respect and building his coaching reputation, probably needed a lot more of that at the start. But the fact we are talking about him and not one of the other 23 championship managers is part and parcel of the entire issue.
Collin (the less we talk about my team right now, the better) Hack
RE Con Kan – how many articles do you see on most football websites talking about Championship managers? Even ones doing well?
That’s why people dislike Frank Lampard, his sycophants seem to think he should be lauded for every single positive he does. Just because he was a world class footballer does not give him the right to have articles written about him left and right.
Where are the articles about Regis Le Bris? Liam Manning? Tony Mowbray? Even Daniel Farke?
I’d suggest if you want reporting on the Championship you perhaps go to websites that report on it regularly, rather than those that focus on the Prem and other top leagues. The EFL website probably has its fair share of Lampard articles that you’re so desperate to read. Or write some for the Lampard fan club you must be a member of.
Will