Obviously two grown men having a punch up in the context of a physical game is directly comparable to a teacher belting a minor who’s under his authority.
Stop being soft.
Game has definitely gone soft. I'd like it if on-field punch ups made a return to the game, not this rolling round on the floor clutching your face trying to get the opponent sent off. Refs should let players have it out ice hockey style.
Don't know about last night, but I thought he looked very lively in his 15-20 minute cameo on Saturday. It was his whipped cross into the corridor of uncertainty that the Man U defender was forced to put out for the half-cleared corner that we scored the winner from. Certainly earned his place...
I don't think I've ever seen a keeper look so out of place as Pickford in the current England team when we try to do a bit of keep ball or play out from the back.
I remember a specific occasion of @Dougie telling us with confidence that Sully KaiKai, in Palace's U21s at the time, was a far better player than Solly March who ws just breaking into the BHA first team squad. Guess which player spent the majority of his career playing in the Premier League...
If he was he’d have been starting every week. He was involved in a couple of late-late goals, but don’t think he was a major factor in their success last year.
United seem to be having a similar effect on talented players as Chelsea.
Much as we take the piss out of Maguire being a donkey, he was brilliant for Leicester (and England) before Utd ruined him.
Are there still doubts about Baleba’s stamina over 90 mins? I’d have thought that starting him would be a no-brainer, even if did need replacing for the last 20-30.
That deliberate handball first half was a thing of beauty. If the ref had had the same view as the entire west stand, it’d have been a definite yellow.