General Premier League Thread 2023-24 Mod Note in op 27/6/23 And 21/05/24

Everton are so bad.

This is the oddest 3-0 I've seen in a while.

Utd have been fine, but they've just been utterly clinical, while Everton are utterly incapable of being so.

A Garnacho wonderbastard of a goal and two bits of quality no.10 play by Fernandes (his ball sets up Martial to be fouled, and sets him up perfectly for the third) have won it comprehensively.

But Everton were dangerous throughout.

..

Agree completely. These VAR rulings are an absolute joke. That was never a penalty pre VAR as there was absolutely no intent by Young.They must change this law. Penalties shold only be for deliberate fouls and deliberately handling the ball.

It was not a penalty. There was minimal contact and no intent. Laws that make that a penalty (an almost certain goal) are a joke and bring the game into disrepute.

It was a penalty. There's no discussion to be had about it.

All I'm getting here is the whiff of sour grapes tbh.

Never been relevant? It was once. How often did I play in games when the shout "Accidental ref" went up to avoid a free (never mind a penalty). Anyway, let it be. Maybe I'm wrong but I'm certainly disgusted with the mess created by lawmakers, refs and VAR so any little touch (or ball glancing off an arm) is a penalty. Honest tackles get penalised more often than not. VAR has made things worse, not better, because slow motion replays or (worse) stills cannot capture the real event.

Only just finally saw the goal - bloody bell that was some strike! Definitely better than Rooneys alright, Garnacho’s is right up there with Bale’s in the champions league final. Would still just about give Bale the slight edge purely for the stage he did it on, but Garnacho’s might have been even more difficult to pull off.

A good bicycle kick is always great to watch. Great skill. Garnacho’s was brilliant but for me Trevor Sinclair’s for QPR was the best as it was outside the box.

others that come to mind are Benteke’s v Man Utd, Crouch had a couple (hilarious still pics given his build) and Rooney’s.

Zlatan's one versus England was well outside the box too, a cracker. I think it was his 4th goal of the game!

Lads, if you are looking for competition for Garnacho - he'll have competition in this month's GOTM, not to mind GOTS.

I feel genuinely sorry for Pablo Sarabia, as I feel that his goal against Tottenham took a lot more skill, but in any public vote, there is no way he is getting more votes than Garnacho. Both are super strikes, but in Sarabia's case, he receives a pass across his body, controls it with his right and buries it with his left, without the ball touching the ground. For control and skill I'd rate his higher, but the % chance of Garnacho scoring with his effort would make some people think that's the better goal. Its down to personal opinion I'd say, but I'd hate to see the Sarabia one get lost in the hype.

I don't know how the GOTS gets organised but if its just a collection of GOTM winners, then I fear just me and him will be remembering that goal in May.

Isn't there an extreme level of luck with a bicycle kick? Not denying its great when it comes off, but its never my favorite type goal.

The luck is a lot to do with the circumstances where/when you can actually do one. How often do you see somebody attempt one and fail? Far less than you might think, because its not that common that getting a good connection is even possible.

For myself I think Bales was the greatest ever. Not only was it a harder kick to make, but the stage matters and he did it to take the lead in the CL final. That is a different level of performance than having a go in a meaningless league game between also rans in November.

Your back is to goal and your kicking a ball over your head behind you, definitely luck involved. Keepers are stood still for these goals too as they dont expect it as the strikers back is to the goal.

Not an overhead kick but Zidanes CL Final goal in 2002 is my favorite goal of all time. That is skill and perfection in a strike.

They appear to be stood still because most of those kicks unexpectedly reverse the direction of the ball.

Personally, I prefer the team build up goals that are just tapped in at the back post via great movement and passing, but in terms of individual moments of brilliance, that Garnacho goal was certainly one of the best this season and will sure to be a staple for PL highlights for years to come.

The Cole goal vs Barcelona is my favourite United goal for similar reasons.

I agree 100% - those team goals are total football. Arsenal seem to be the main purveyors for some reason. This is what they are training on day in day out. The other goals are rare things of beauty, but in the end, most of this is down to people's preferences, I guess.