A team Florian Wirtz used to be the best player for so they must be shit vs Eddie Howes 70 minute mags

[wykikitoon 28482]

5 minutes ago, Gemmill said:

Wissa has been struggling with an illness apparently. That's why he didn't come on sooner. 

 

So leave him on the bench then?

[wykikitoon 28482]

or Leave him out the squad and say he's ill.

[Gemmill 62983]

Just now, wykikitoon said:

 

So leave him on the bench then?

 

Why are you the fucking substitute police?

 

[Gemmill 62983]

Just now, wykikitoon said:

or Leave him out the squad and say he's ill.

 

I dunno, maybe Eddie Howe is privy to better information than you and me? 

[Dr Gloom 26309]

Another frustrating end to a match we should have won on balance. Shit first half but whatever was said at half time worked because we played much higher up the pitch. Gordon, who was shit in first half, suddenly starts receiving it in more dangerous positions and going on the outside instead of cutting inside every time.

 

Our struggles to break down a well organised low block were exposed again in the first half. loads of sideways and backwards passes. Only Bruno looked to play a brave forward pass but couldn’t find his range.

 

Joelinton is currently our weak link in midfield. He’s been quality since his reinvention as a midfielder but was a passenger most of the game and he’s had too many games like that this season. We looked loads better after Miley came on. He gave us so much more control. 
 

Gordon is right about the mentality. There’s a reason we keep throwing away leads at the death. I’d like Howe to make more positive changes when we’re ahead to mitigate it because we’re shit at defending a lead.  

[Dr Gloom 26309]

Having said that, a point in Germany is a decent result and the second half performance was encouraging. If we beat PSV at home we qualify for the playoff round and the PSG game is a free hit which could still get us into the top 8 if we pull off an upset 

[Gemmill 62983]

Us getting through in the top 8 wouldn't even have been considered at the start of the season. We've got a really good chance of getting through via the playoffs, and that's class. 

 

Howe is once again the victim of his own success to an extent here, because people started to dream, and that dream became the expectation for some. 

 

[Gemmill 62983]

And btw the negativity in the match threads on here is off the fucking charts at the minute. And not just if we go behind. If we start a game and things don't immediately go our way, it's toys getting flung all over the shop. And if we do go behind, fucking hell. I was watching the match and flicking through here yesterday and thinking wtf am I bothering reading this for. 

 

Fine if that's the way it is now, but I think I'll stop bothering when the games are on. It used to be decent craic on here during matches, people joking on and being able to cope in the absence of absolute gameday perfection from minute 1 to minute 90.

[spongebob toonpants 5181]

Wierd watching experience for me yesterday. First half was utter torture I hated every second, to the extent I was going to skip the second half. But then I had a word with myself, remembered we were playing in the Champions League and resolved to just try and enjoy the experience. 

Worked for 40 minutes

 

YMMV but for me after so many years of drudgery Im just going to try and appreciate the journey we are on

[spongebob toonpants 5181]

7 minutes ago, Gemmill said:

And btw the negativity in the match threads on here is off the fucking charts at the minute. And not just if we go behind. If we start a game and things don't immediately go our way, it's toys getting flung all over the shop. And if we do go behind, fucking hell. I was watching the match and flicking through here yesterday and thinking wtf am I bothering reading this for. 

 

Fine if that's the way it is now, but I think I'll stop bothering when the games are on. It used to be decent craic on here during matches, people joking on and being able to cope in the absence of absolute gameday perfection from minute 1 to minute 90.

I agree with this. If people want to use the match threads to vent and moan fair enough. It's not for me though

[Holden McGroin 9864]

31 minutes ago, Gemmill said:

And btw the negativity in the match threads on here is off the fucking charts at the minute. And not just if we go behind. If we start a game and things don't immediately go our way, it's toys getting flung all over the shop. And if we do go behind, fucking hell. I was watching the match and flicking through here yesterday and thinking wtf am I bothering reading this for. 

 

Fine if that's the way it is now, but I think I'll stop bothering when the games are on. It used to be decent craic on here during matches, people joking on and being able to cope in the absence of absolute gameday perfection from minute 1 to minute 90.

Wykiki is going to miss the Sunderland match so  you should be okay

[Gemmill 62983]

Just now, Holden McGroin said:

Wykiki is going to miss the Sunderland match so  you should be okay

 

 

I'm missing that one anyway. 

[Craig 12325]

32 minutes ago, Gemmill said:

And btw the negativity in the match threads on here is off the fucking charts at the minute. And not just if we go behind. If we start a game and things don't immediately go our way, it's toys getting flung all over the shop. And if we do go behind, fucking hell. I was watching the match and flicking through here yesterday and thinking wtf am I bothering reading this for. 

 

Fine if that's the way it is now, but I think I'll stop bothering when the games are on. It used to be decent craic on here during matches, people joking on and being able to cope in the absence of absolute gameday perfection from minute 1 to minute 90.

It's on that basis I don't come on here during a match because they naturally ebb and flow. We're going to have periods of the game where we're not on top - it's unrealistic to not expect that. Against Marseille it was after the break; against Leverkusen, it was the first 20 mins or so. 

Far better to give a balanced view of the game once it's done than the microscopic disection minute by minute that seems to go on.

All in all getting a draw against this lot was a brilliant result. 

[Holden McGroin 9864]

1 hour ago, Ayatollah Hermione said:

Have we all discussed Pope being a far better keeper than Ramsdale yet? Because that’s what I took away from last night 

I’m trying to give him the benefit of the doubt as he hasn’t had much game time but he looks a notch down from Pope (I’m basing that on what I’ve seen over his whole career as well).

 

Turns out Eddie was correct. Funny that. 

[Dr Gloom 26309]

49 minutes ago, Gemmill said:

And btw the negativity in the match threads on here is off the fucking charts at the minute. And not just if we go behind. If we start a game and things don't immediately go our way, it's toys getting flung all over the shop. And if we do go behind, fucking hell. I was watching the match and flicking through here yesterday and thinking wtf am I bothering reading this for. 

 

Fine if that's the way it is now, but I think I'll stop bothering when the games are on. It used to be decent craic on here during matches, people joking on and being able to cope in the absence of absolute gameday perfection from minute 1 to minute 90.

I generally stay out of the match thread these days. For one it’s a distraction from what’s happening in the game. But also for the reasons you mention. Better analysis of the game comes later when everyone has taken a breath  

[Dr Gloom 26309]

31 minutes ago, Holden McGroin said:

I’m trying to give him the benefit of the doubt as he hasn’t had much game time but he looks a notch down from Pope (I’m basing that on what I’ve seen over his whole career as well).

 

Turns out Eddie was correct. Funny that. 

 

ramsey is a concern. he is better with his feet but pope seems to be much better at everything else. ramsey is rooted to his line every time a corner comes in. his reactions also seem slow. their first one last might was a fluke goal but it reminded me of the second we conceded against spurs where ramsey seemed to dive after the ball trickled past him 

[PaddockLad 22426]

1 minute ago, Dr Gloom said:

 

ramsey is a concern. he is better with his feet but pope seems to be much better at everything else. ramsey is rooted to his line every time a corner comes in. his reactions also seem slow. their first one last might was a fluke goal but it reminded me of the second we conceded against spurs where ramsey seemed to dive after the ball trickled past him 

 

[Dr Gloom 26309]

2 minutes ago, PaddockLad said:

 

 

fucking ramsdale

[Dr Gloom 26309]

it took me a while to figure out what you were getting at. 

[Craig 12325]

I'm not sure what the expectation is of Ramsdale for the first goal and there wasn't much he could do about the second either. 

 

The comments about him being rooted at times have validity - just as those about Pope being shite with his feet, Donnarumma not coping well with pressure in his box or Raya being too far off his line, but again it's a situation of balance - Ramsdale pulled of some important saves last night without which we may have come away from the game with nothing. 

He's competition for Pope, but neither of them are notably better than the other.

[Holden McGroin 9864]

It’s his positioning for this and the first the spurs goal. He was a yard or two away from where he should be. This makes a massive difference between making a save or not.

[Toonpack 15516]

There's also the fact he/the defenders are still getting used to playing with each other, I actually thought he looked a bit better last night tbh. Pretty blameless for both goals IMO.

[Craig 12325]

Yep, Pope isn't saving that first goal either. It was a freak goal. 

[Rayvin 8303]

3 hours ago, Gemmill said:

And btw the negativity in the match threads on here is off the fucking charts at the minute. And not just if we go behind. If we start a game and things don't immediately go our way, it's toys getting flung all over the shop. And if we do go behind, fucking hell. I was watching the match and flicking through here yesterday and thinking wtf am I bothering reading this for. 

 

Fine if that's the way it is now, but I think I'll stop bothering when the games are on. It used to be decent craic on here during matches, people joking on and being able to cope in the absence of absolute gameday perfection from minute 1 to minute 90.

 

I full on cheat with this now - if we score, I check in so that I can enjoy the shared euphoria, but then otherwise I just stay away until the end  

[Rayvin 8303]

One thing I think that comes up a lot in criticism btw is this bit about us giving the ball away too much etc. IMO that happens because we're trying to break the lines by moving it quickly and taking risks - it's the consequence of not just playing it sideways. Yes it fails sometimes, yes we could get better at it, but that's a calculated risk we seem to have decided to take. And tbh, I actually think we're pretty good at it. We could get better, but you can see that we're really trying to be direct most of the game.