It’s not just us
NOTTINGHAM Forest and West Ham felt, with some degree of justification, that they had been let down by VAR in their games with Brentford and Sheffield United respectively last weekend, but if Nuno and Moysie felt bad then all they had to do was watch Real Madrid against rockbottom Almeria on Sunday night.
After the Andalusians took a deserved two goal lead in Madrid, there were no fewer than four VAR interventions, all of which went in favour of the home side that saw Real win out 3-2, and I can confidently say every single one should have gone Almeria’s way.
This continues a pattern of the bigger Spanish clubs benefitting from iffy VAR (bit like Liverpool) and while we tend to think our officials are bad compared to their Spanish counterparts, they’re of Jack Taylor, Roger Kirkpatrick, Norman Burtenshaw and George Courtney standard (showing my age there).
MAGIC? WHAT MAGIC?
The great thing about the FA Cup is the opportunity it gives for smaller clubs to take on bigger clubs and not only beat them but trouser wads of the folding stuff while doing so.
It also gives the fans of those smaller clubs the chance to see some great players in action. So why were last week’s third round replays so poorly attended?
The answer is probably a combination of affordability and hostile weather. Yet many moons ago my mates and I would give up our much treasured vacation days to go to wherever Spurs were playing, and if the weather was a bit iffy on went the DMs, Levis, RAF jumpers, bunnets (think Peaky Blinders minus the razor blades), Parkas and gloves, and we were set fair for whatever result was thrown at us.
Must be a modern thing, helped of course by the availability of live TV and, whisper it, streaming.
OOP (S) THE BORO
On Tuesday I found myself debating with a couple of Smoggies on whether or not their beloved Middlesbrough could hold on to their 1-0 advantage from the first leg of their League Cup semi-final and win out over Chelsea to reach Wembley.
I pointed out they could if Chelsea’s finishing was as bad at the Bridge at it was up in Middlesbrough. That night Chelsea had at least eight cracking chances to score and blew them all.
I also said that having watched the Boro against Rotherham in the worst game I have seen this season just three days prior, I couldn’t see it happening.
Well it certainly didn’t happen. On the plus side Boro restricted Chelsea to just six shots on target, but on the minus side all six went in and the hapless Boro keeper didn’t stand a chance on any of them.
Which just goes to show that the Premier League is a long way ahead of even the best Championship sides in quality and why it is a massive ask for promoted sides, especially those without the comfort of parachute payments, to establish themselves when promoted.
TEAM OF THE WEEK
Alphonse Areola West Ham, Pervis Estupinan Brighton, Gabriel Arsenal, Ben Mee Brentford, Kyle Walker-Peters Southampton, Stuart Armstrong Southampton, Diogo Jota Liverpool, Darwin Nunez Liverpool, Ivan Toney Brentford, Gabriel Martinelli Arsenal, Dan James Leeds.
Manager: Thomas Frank Brentford. Player of the week: Kyle WalkerPeters.
THIS WEEK’S GAMES
FA Cup fourth round today 2:30; Ipswich vs Maidstone. 5pm; Leeds vs Plymouth, Leicester vs Birmingham, Sheffield United vs Brighton, Everton vs Luton. 9pm; Fulham vs Newcastle. Tomorrow 1:45; West Brom vs Wolves. 4pm; Watford vs Southampton. 4:30; Liverpool vs Norwich. 6:30; Newport vs Manchester United. Monday 9:30; Blackburn vs Wrexham.
Premier League Tuesday 9:30; Forest vs Arsenal. 9:45; Fulham vs Everton, Luton vs Brighton.10pm; Palace vs Sheffield United. 10:15;
Villa vs Newcastle. Wednesday 9:30; Manchester City vs Burnley, Spurs vs Brentford. 10:15; Liverpool vs Chelsea. Thursday 9:30; West Ham vs Bournemouth. 10:15; Wolves vs Manchester United.
Selected Championship Tuesday 9:45; Coventry vs Bristol City, Leicester vs Swansea. Friday 10pm; Bristol City vs Leeds.
Selected Scotland today 2:30; St Mirren vs Rangers. 5pm; Celtic vs Ross County.
GAMES TO WATCH
For those who still believe in the magic of the Cup, then it has to be Ipswich vs Maidstone and Newport vs Manchester United.
High-flying in the Championship, Ipswich will be wary of their National League South visitors but should have enough to see them off, as should Manchester United at Newport, where the League Two side are strictly a mid-table outfit but will be up for this game.
Also worth watching is the local-ish derby between improving Championship side West Brom and Wolves.
As for more mundane league matters, Palace vs Sheffield United looks interesting if only because the Eagles are in danger of being dragged into the relegation battle, while Roy Hodgson looks in increasing danger of being given his P45 should results not improve.
SIX NATIONS
Begins on Friday night at 10pm when the two favourites meet in Paris, which is an appalling bit of scheduling given that France vs Ireland would have had much more significance if they were meeting on the last weekend of the tournament.
These were joint favourites for the recent World Cup and, disappointing as their exits from that competition were, they are still very much the teams to beat in the Six Nations.
It’s fair to say that whichever team wins out in this game will in all probability be crowned champions in around five weeks’ time, and given home advantage that team will probably be France.
AND FINALLY
Last week’s question: name the largest English city to have never had a professional football club. That would be the hotbed of rugby league otherwise known as Wakefield, with an approximate population of 354,000.
Wakefield AFC can be found in level 10 of the English football pyramid and that’s just about it, leaving local footie fans having to venture out to Leeds, Bradford, Doncaster, Huddersfield, Barnsley, Rotherham and further afield Sheffield for their football fix.
This week: Berlin, Rome, Warsaw, Paris, London, Vienna, Prague – which is the odd one out?