• You may have to login or register before you can post and view our exclusive members only forums.
    To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Footy 11th Feb

Forums Unread posts
Status
Not open for further replies.
Ryan said:
Watched the build-up to the Chelsea game and noticed they do this thing were the turn all the lights out inside the stadium and blast out a montage of angry looking current and past Chelsea players on the big screen. Dennis Wise, Osgood, Terry, angry Costa face, the works. All the while some flashing neon lights blaze around the advertising hoardings at ground level.

Has anyone else seen this? I was watching it in bed at 6.30am so I may have been hallucinating.

They're a fucking ice hockey club those cunts.
Click to expand...

I think the lights-off thing before the League Cup second leg against us. Not sure if that's when it started. It's grotesque.

Although to be honest, I loved it when the Chicago Bulls first started it and ran it with Alan Parsons Project's "Sirius" as the mystical theme.
 
OptaJoe ✔ @OptaJoe
At Stoke James Milner scored one, assisted another & recorded the highest distance figure in the PL this season (13.56km). Machine.

Wonder if he will extend his contract with Man City.
 
Didn't watch the Soton-West Ham game but I thought Southampton looked a bit devoid of ideas against QPR. What a couple of Southampton fans' said after their 0-0 draw with 10-man West Ham.

I commented after out our last match (vs QPR) about how it seems we're now depending more on individual brilliance than a cohesive team approach to getting goals and while Mane came through to show that can work in that game, here we saw the limitations fully exposed.

Earlier in the season there was a real sense of purpose to our attacks, our three front men tearing the opposition apart while our midfield and fullbacks came forward to mop up what was left. Now the midfield component of that has largely disappeared and having to play a centreback on the left has taken much of the potency from our fullback play. That means it's basically up to our wingers and strikers to get all the goals... and they're looking underwhelming.

Pelle's holdup play and ability to bring others into the match is still there but his own scoring touch appears to have deserted him; he started the season with six goals in eight league matches he's now got two goals in 17 league matches. Ellia had an off day and while Mane still looks our most potent player there's a hint of his early season form about his play; lots of sizzle, not much steak.

To take the positives, at least we didn't lose and we kept a clean sheet despite Schneiderlin and Alderweireld still being missing in action, Wanyama getting back to full fitness and Yoshida being press-ganged into left back.

.... Our lack of goals can partly be blamed on who was missing from the pitch; with Long and Bertrand out we lost two attacking players who can make a difference, only for it to be compounded with Targett also not playing. But with Mane's return Long is basically an impact/rotation player at this point so it's not as if we were missing a guaranteed starter and while having to play a centreback on the left will hurt most teams should it really compromise our attack so much?

It can partly be blamed on the form of the players on the pitch; Pelle looks exhuasted and continues to snatch at chances while Tadic... the exact sort of player you want to unlock a disciplined defence who are sitting back and holding on... hasn't been that sort of player for a while.

But it also strikes me as tactical. Yes, we created chances once West Ham were reduced to 10 (and then nine) men but we largely made it easy for them, not stretching the play with enough pace and then largely resorting to crosses... pretty much the sort of play any team reduced to 10 men would like to see, as they can pack the middle and deal with the ball as it comes in. Earlier in the season the likes of Schneiderlin, Wanyama and Cork were pushing forward from midfield to snatch goals in tight games... now our midfield sits deeper and that threat's gone while our set pieces have been a bit off all season despite JWP's return.
Click to expand...

Pelle's pretty much our only striking option at this point and he's played virtually every minute of every match. Likewise Clyne at right back. But we were playing Pelle virtually every minute of every match even when Long was fit. We have a thin squad (and over the transfer window I noted how we should have been looking for new cover options in both those positions) but we also haven't managed it particularly well.

You could argue that with Alderweireld, probably our best single defender, out it's more important for out midfield to sit deeper and offer more protection then it is for them to get forward and get a goal... but we're probably the only team to play a rough 4-2-3-1 where the number 10 position (especially when Davis plays there) isn't a player we expect either creativity or goals from.

It's that lack of creativity that frustrates; Ellia and Mane both have a lot of flair and are wonderfully direct but their flair tends to be based around them having individual moments of brilliance that allows them to create chances for themselves rather than creating for others. Tadic's loss of form means we're pretty lacking in the creative department. Perhaps Filip Djuricic will be the man to correct that... and he had a fairly nice cameo here... but as good as our transfers have been it's still a bit much to expect a 23 year old who's only been with the club as few days and wasn't exactly setting the world alight for Mainz to hit the ground running.

.... We now have 10 days before our next match. That should hopefully be long enough for the likes of Targett, Alderweireld and Schneiderlin to return to fitness, Mane to get his legs back after returning from the ACON to be thrust straight back into the first 11 without much rest and Pelle to have a good lie down....
Click to expand...
 
It was all sounding great until this:


".... We now have 10 days before our next match. That should hopefully be long enough for the likes of Targett, Alderweireld and Schneiderlin to return to fitness, Mane to get his legs back after returning from the ACON to be thrust straight back into the first 11 without much rest and Pelle to have a good lie down...."
 
Jack D Rips said:
We cant expect every game to go our way. This week we've made three points up on Spurs and two on Southampton who we play next. We just need to keep our nerve and the others will fall.
Click to expand...
We had our chance last week but bottled it against Everton, if we keep winning, like you say, we'll catch them up.
 
I had Utd as favourites for 3rd a few months back, but now I'm not so sure.
Instead of developing in to a better side they just seem to regress and look worse. Van Gaal cracking up a bit and the crowd were restless and impatient yesterday. A few bad results and things could turn ugly there.

Sadly though they got that lucky momentum going that could get them 4th but I wouldn't be surprised to see them finish outside of the CL spots.
 
Hansern said:
I had Utd as favourites for 3rd a few months back, but now I'm not so sure.
Instead of developing in to a better side they just seem to regress and look worse. Van Gaal cracking up a bit and the crowd were restless and impatient yesterday. A few bad results and things could turn ugly there.

Sadly though they got that lucky momentum going that could get them 4th but I wouldn't be surprised to see them finish outside of the CL spots.
Click to expand...
It's very wrong that I'd like to beat them to 4th on goal difference, more than a few points, but I really would.

I want them to think they've got it in the bag going into the final game only for us to win 7-0 & scrape past by one goal on GD.

They'd be positively suicidal.
 
studsup said:
I think the lights-off thing before the League Cup second leg against us. Not sure if that's when it started. It's grotesque.

Although to be honest, I loved it when the Chicago Bulls first started it and ran it with Alan Parsons Project's "Sirius" as the mystical theme.
Click to expand...


Don't Man City sometimes do a turn the lights out blue moon thing also?
 
Markeh said:
Don't Man City sometimes do a turn the lights out blue moon thing also?
Click to expand...

I have no idea; I seldom catch other teams' matches right from the start, so maybe they do/did. The Chelsea one is the first time I've seen it done in football in my life, and it sucked.
 
FoxForceFive said:
It's very wrong that I'd like to beat them to 4th on goal difference, more than a few points, but I really would.

I want them to think they've got it in the bag going into the final game only for us to win 7-0 & scrape past by one goal on GD.

They'd be positively suicidal.
Click to expand...

You're a braver man than I am. I'd like us ahead of them at the earliest possible opportunity. Let them eat our dust.
 
Frogfish said:
Villa vs Leicester (FAC)

Wretched match so far 🙁
Click to expand...

From the Guardian game cast:

62 min: Jon Beaven offers an answer to a societal issue. “Do you think this game could be an answer to prison overcrowding? ‘Instead of jail, I hereby sentence you to Villa v Leicester. You get injury time off for good behaviour.’”

60 min: Konchesky reminds me that Cleverly is playing by flying into a tackle about a week late and sending the anonymous Villa midfielder hurtling into the air. That was a dangerous tackle. He’s rightly booked. Could have been worse. This time Westwood plays a cross into the box. It is overhit. It is woeful. Rather like this game.
 
Awful game played by two awful teams but Kramaric looks total class.

Very good goals from Bacuna for Villa and Kramaric for Leicester.

Villa 2 Leicester 1 FT.
 
Who Scored gave MoM to Benteke - Crazy, he was shite throughout ! Even the assist was nothing, just happened to be the last pass.

Christian Benteke: MotM vs Leicester, Rating 8.64, Shots(OT) 10(5), Key passes 1, Assists 1
 
This Arse v Middlesbrough game should be a better one with Middlesbrough joint top of the Championship.
 
2 - 0 now, Giroud with both. Is this Boro's best team? Because they shouldn't bother coming up to the Premier League if they want to defend like amateurs like they've shown.

Not worth missing sleep for this game. Off to bed!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

rurikbird
  • Locked
Forwards’ race
2 3 4 5
Replies
133
Views
5K
King Binny
King Binny
Squiggles
  • Locked
Weekends Other Games 31-8-24
2 3 4 5
Replies
138
Views
4K
Mamma Mia
Mamma Mia
Squiggles
    • Love
  • Locked
Premier League | Week 1 | Other Games Thread
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Replies
255
Views
7K
darkstarexodus
darkstarexodus
bluebell
  • Locked
The Arsenal comparison
Replies
17
Views
720
tombrown
tombrown
Squiggles
    • Like
  • Locked
Other PL Games 24-25/08/2024
2 3 4 5 6
Replies
156
Views
5K
CueEye
C
Back
Top Bottom