Sam Smith

Saw Sam Campbell live last night and I absolutely implore everyone to do the same

‘We have to book bigger rooms’: Green membership surge causes novel problems Party rides high with new leader Zack Polanski winning media plaudits and supporter numbers doubling to 140,000

New by me: A read on the Zack Polanski-spearheaded Green surge, what it might mean for Labour, and why even previous Zack-sceptics inside the Greens are onboard now.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

thick cobwebs to make a house look spooky, mysterious and untouched in decades? yeah. full on whacking great big spiders? fuck off

Feel like absolutely enormous fake spiders on front gardens as a halloween decoration is a totally new phenomenon and it needs binning immediately

Definitely agree. It just... wasn't very Palace.

v true

"we're the boys who will win your little game" though

19 unbeaten can so quickly become three defeats and no wins in four

YouTube video by PoliticsJOE Is this the end of Labour in Wales? | Caerphilly by-election report

kind of expected the guy who casually started a sentence "as they said in mein kampf..." to be challenged tbh

youtu.be/-IdA-rWzKXk?...

If we're the team having to control possession, I really prefer Nketiah as the striker. Whole system moves more fluidly around his movement.

Lots of the coversation regarding closing schools during Covid seems to revolve a lot around children being low-risk, and much less about the vulnerable people they would have spread the virus among. Children also aren't the only people in schools. It's very surface-level discourse.

"Liverpool last lost a game that mattered to them on 15 January..."

Bin off Drury

Been worried about today's game since Everton. It's a big test of character to respond positively to a first defeat in a long time.

Completely missed that. Think that's a good first step but I'd like to see it implemented a few more times across the season

+ More jeopardy for players who can currently miss the odd international break for spurious reasons. But if they miss one of the very few international breaks I'm proposing, they risk someone taking their place. Could lead to fewer drop-outs and probably incentivse better performance week-to-week.

and clubs can use those periods to take their remaining players to whichever random part of the world for a few friendlies. Everyone wins.

Is fewer but longer international windows not a possibility? Would mean national head coaches get more time with players, more consistency across more matches in shorter bursts, but we also don't have to break club football every three weeks at the start of every season

Second international break since leaving journalism and I've learned exactly why everyone despises them

Good man. Dont back down. Don't let these thugs intimidate you.

YouTube video by Owen Jones He’s Got Starmer Scared w/. Zack Polanski

don't think there's anyone on the left of British politics as interesting and refreshing as Polanski

youtu.be/SwZ0JcXsAhM?...

Love that. It's taken me three years to lose roughly 7 stone. Lot happier for it too.

Such a good performance that even Nketiah is receiving praise. What a time to be alive.

Also can't work out which part of Nketiah that wasn't his arm was offside

Bit silly from Sosa to throw himself into those two tackles but that's an extremely soft yellow card

Yeah, that is largely what I'm saying - apologies if it was poorly worded. Intriguing that the data has us playing that deep as anecdotally quite a few big chances seem to come from an interception as the opposition make their first few passes.

I've praised our direct play lots in other threads!

I'd only be willing to accept Guardiola, Slot and Arteta above him out of PL head coaches. I think Glasner can be a little more adaptable with his formation when we're dominating a game (esp in Europe this season), but otherwise he's walking into a top job in the summer.

Was going to add that it feels like more of a typically Glasner team with Pino over Eze but wasn't sure if people would think I was disrespecting Eze or just reaching a bit. But I think you're right.

I think that's definitely the reason. We really packed the central area of the pitch and knew we'd probably have more players around their two deeper midfielders. We're also just generally really good at going a bit longer because of Mateta, and I'm glad we have a manager willing to embrace that.

Don't have the data to hand but I imagine the high intensity sprints to get forward once the ball is won are also a lot higher. Mitchell struggled at that particularly up to around January but is now one of the best. Munoz looks fitter than he did after the Copa America. We're brilliant to watch.

One major difference in the way Palace play compared to the tough period 12 months ago is the intensity off the ball. It's leading to better opportunities to win the ball higher up the pitch and therefore more scoring chances.