"Alisson (Liverpool): He was the only goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet. Liverpool were all over Manchester United from start to finish."
Extraordinary reasoning! Did this guy actually play football, or just go through the motions?
Jesus, if it comes down to it, Areola should be in, because he made an out-of-this-world save from Kev. Hart kept many clean sheets, so has Ed, because they were/are both protected by a superb back four. On their own admission, there were matches where they had nothing to do.
As for his second sentence, it is brain dead: it is like pitting Muhammad Ali against a featherweight, seeing him knock him down five times, and then saying that he boxed brilliantly.
Up till now, I was not badly disposed towards Deeney, simply because a few years ago I heard him interviewed in a radio programme by Louis Theroux. Theroux (who is the son of the writer Paul Theroux) clearly knew nothing about football (and was proud of his ignorance), and had a number of prejudices about footballers which were barely concealed, if at all. He was studiedly condescending, and Deeny kept his cool with him and remained civil. Also, like a number of black footballers (not all, by any means) he came out of difficult family circumstances and sort of saved himself through football.
I'm afraid his stock with me has just plummeted. These guys take the shilling from BBC, Sky and the rest without asking themselves, “Can I actually do this job?”
