Football is being ruined by all this over analysis VAR etc etc.
Just read some of the posts during the game which are probably influenced by the pundits. At the ground you are free of all that stuff. I’m no expert but watching live you get in the mood of it generally. I admit I was stunned by Liverpool from the moment they ran out. They are really fit strong athletes. When Dyke scored his header I felt no bad towards our boys he just left them for dust and the header was a bullet. They were awesome. In a different league. For half an hour they were Champions elect. Then it was 2-0. No one commented on any offside never saw from the Arthur that ludicrous new offside rule that would have made their man off.
Then it turned Olise started working his magic. I saw him run round Dyke and but for their keeper would have scored. Then Mateta.
In the Arthur you are up down from the seats all the time. I half saw a couple of great chances at the start of the 2nd half. Then I saw Schlupp run half the length of the pith before threading an unreal pass for Mateta to control like he was Pele and slip it to Edouard to fire into an empty net. We were running rings round the scousers and we were going to win!!!
Now I know it wasn’t really like that cos I’ve seen the replays but at the time we were up in the clouds. The singing was awesome etc etc.
I realise I probably only take in/see half of it cos the Arthur has posts etc to deal with but the atmosphere was immense.
Then the scouser in the black saw to it that we were going nowhere. He had been biased all match (all refs always are when your there!!!) but then he turned it up to a different level.
Then Olise nearly scored the goal of the season with a lob. I sit nearer the Homesdale.
Then their centre forward lost the ball and fell over. Couldn’t see much more cos of a post. After about 10 minutes (probably 3) the ref came to look at some tiny screen right in front of the baying Palace. After another endless wait he gave the pen.
Other memories. When Mateta Edouard Hughes and someone else went off I knew our day was run.
For me it’s all a bit of a haze live. Always has been. I make my own mind up based on my limited vision from the Arthur and I love it.
In my mind we were awesome might immense. Should be in the top ten safely.
Then I read on here we are close to relegation not sure about Vieira and I’m thinking what match were they at?
Then I realised it’s the difference between live sitting where I am and the telly. With all those pundits voicing off.
Give me live any day. I like my fantasy world. Keeps me coming back

Edited by dreamwaverider (25 Jan 2022 10.39am)

Two great posts, many thanks. Watching on tv never brings the same atmosphere which was just brilliant as Palace pressed for the equaliser - and you hope for the moment of magic that will make it happen. However even in the Holmesdale Upper I knew almost at once that the pen decision was rubbish, because both my sons were watching tv and WhatsApped their own opinion, plus that of the Sky team. So we knew very quickly it was an abysmal call. Best of both worlds, in a way. Once I got home I could not face watching the match recording because I was already so annoyed. When I finally did so later that evening, it confirmed everything I had been told.

Edited by peterg (25 Jan 2022 1.30pm)

The right place at the right time

The telling thing for me was my 'Pool supporting mate messaging me just after the final whistle saying "we got away with one or two today"

"I don't think it's a penalty. It always looks worse when they slow it down, when I watched it in real time, there wasn't a problem for me," he said on Sky Sports' commentary.

"I think the ball has also gone too far away from Jota. I think it would be very harsh on Crystal Palace, I really do.

"There's definitely a coming together, of course we can see that, but I think it would be very harsh. When I watched it in real time, it just looked like a coming together.

"When the referee goes to the monitor, it very rarely stays the decision on field. It's very ominous for Crystal Palace, I've seen it a lot of times and I'm not convinced but when the referee is sent to watch it again, I don't think it's happened this season where the referee has stuck with the decision.

"I think the ball is too far away, I think he's lost control of it. I think it's really harsh, I also get frustrated when you look at VAR and everything is in slow motion.

"The only thing I can think is maybe it's not how big the foul was but that he thought Jota could get the other side.

"I thought the ball had ran too far away from him and that it was a coming together. But as soon as you see the referee go to the monitor, it's curtains."

It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.

The tell tail was he had lost the ball but it went off at an angle to Guita, Jota, didn’t follow the ball, which is the natural thing to do ,whether it was lost or not, in fact he turned slightly into Guieta. A very poor cheat attempt. Sucked by two so called top refs. Lord help this game of ours.

The two refs were bad enough, but the assistant, was the same in both half’s. First he missed the one that turned into a goal, in the second half he gave Benteke, off when he was clearly half a yard on side. Just an appalling indictment of refereeing in the premier league. As someone has said the whole world watching, yet what gets done about it? Nothing, and nothing will be,