02 Nov 2026 12:39:37
I thought we acquitted ourselves pretty well yesterday.
Positives were:
- Trey Nyoni was absolutely brilliant again and is making a case to be our first midfield pick now
- Jacquet had a really different type of battle with the awkward and pointy Kai Havertz and came through again
- Love Araujo running around kicking people
- We seem to be much better at set-pieces
- We seem to be much fitter
- The coach showed bravery in selecting Trey.
Negatives:
- Kerkez is really struggling on the ball. Arsenal actually left him to have the ball.
- I have no idea what we are doing with throw-ins. The lack of movement/options from throw ins, especially on the left-hand side, is concerning.
- These goal kicks aimed at drawing out the opposition press by building from our 6 yard box seem to be worthless, and if anything, an unnecessary risk
- Our forwards just don't get enough touches and as a result, look like strangers playing together
- Barcola seems a bit shocked by the intensity of the game. Hopefully it is just period of adaptation
- Szobo coming on in the midfield two was probably not the right choice at that moment in the game. But at the same time, Trey's minutes are probably being managed, so I can understand that
- Would have liked to see Rio come on earlier and possibly even switch with Barcola.
And lastly, given the referees just get worse, we might just have to up our dark arts game now. Sad situation to be in but we've now had 3 high profile officiating errors costing us anywhere between 4 and 8 points already.
02 Nov 2026 13:12:29
FPF, my biggest issue with your post is the last one- AM and DS were embarrassing yesterday.
Isak shouldn't have to flounce to the ground for VAR to look at the pen incident, even if the ref missed it. But if AI could see it from the touchlind, why couldn't the ref or the linesman?
02 Nov 2026 13:26:09
PD - I was reading Tomkins latest blog where he talks about how biased toward the visitors the refs are at Anfield on fouls and pens. Even without a tin hat on, the numbers are wild. Check it out.
02 Nov 2026 14:21:17
FPF, thought he was behind a pay wall these days? Used to enjoy his articles.
02 Nov 2026 14:49:08
I think maybe this last one is a freebie.
03 Nov 2026 10:35:39
FPF, the first time I knew of or even heard of Paul Tomkins was in 2019 and he was already talking about this stuff.
Like you, I advise people to check out his stuff because the numbers are staggering.