dontcloseyoureyes
BARNES OUT
Yet again absolutely abysmal finishing costs us.
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***Official*** English Football Season 2020-21
- Thread starter Lillian Thomson
- Start date
dontcloseyoureyes
BARNES OUT
andruid
Cricketer Of The Year
The look of a man who assisted Jesus with the cross (should have cracked this last week)
We will go into 2nd leg strong favourites but given there is no home advantage wouldn't rule Porto out 100%. An early Porto goal and a red card and suddenly it's a very different game with Porto having their top 2 goalscorers back and a side that I thought were perhaps a bit unlucky to go into 2nd leg 2-0 down - keeper might have done better for Mount goal at a time when we were really unable to break Porto down and Porto carried a bit of threat themselves.
Niall
International Coach
Chelsea are the better side they will be fine.
I could be wrong and heh why break habit of a lifetime but would assume they and to a lesser extent Real should have the easiest second leg.
City did seem pretty dominant v Dortmund on Tuesday so bar Haaland having a screamer and City attackers turning into Shane Long overnight they should be ok also tbf.
Out of all the sides this week , I 'd only be worried about PSG as Munich are still such a good team.
I could be wrong and heh why break habit of a lifetime but would assume they and to a lesser extent Real should have the easiest second leg.
City did seem pretty dominant v Dortmund on Tuesday so bar Haaland having a screamer and City attackers turning into Shane Long overnight they should be ok also tbf.
Out of all the sides this week , I 'd only be worried about PSG as Munich are still such a good team.
We should be fine but you just never know and I do think Porto showed enough to not be completely ruled out - also hope players don't mentally think the tie is won - an FA Cup semi final v Man City on the weekend following Porto 2nd leg - easy to look towards that if everyone on the outside is telling you the tie is won near enough from the draw was made but especially after that 1st leg.
Didn't see the PSG game was watching Chelsea but sounded like a great game and indeed I feel like if it was anyone else I would probably be giving them a small chance of recovering but because its Bayern it still feels not a million miles from 50/50, Bayern winning by a 2 goal margin in France is far from impossible. I guess the only thing is if PSG stay tight then the more Bayern have to chase the game the more they are susceptible to Mbappe and Neymar on the counter.
Didn't see the PSG game was watching Chelsea but sounded like a great game and indeed I feel like if it was anyone else I would probably be giving them a small chance of recovering but because its Bayern it still feels not a million miles from 50/50, Bayern winning by a 2 goal margin in France is far from impossible. I guess the only thing is if PSG stay tight then the more Bayern have to chase the game the more they are susceptible to Mbappe and Neymar on the counter.
I don't know if it's a good thing or not but PSG need this more than Bayern - wanting to win a UCL to justify the project but also whilst PSG are far from out of a title race lose the 2nd leg and you could have no league table and no UCL. I don't think Pocchetino will be sacked after just a few months but it puts the pressure on him next season - will he have Mbappe next season is a key question too no new deal for him yet with just a year remaining...
Does 'needing' it more fuel desire or desperation is a key question. Also I guess Bayern can rest players for 2nd leg or try out tactical tweaks against Union Berlin with a dominant position in the league in a way that PSG might have to seriously think twice about doing. Add to that PSG have lost their last 3 league games at home so no pressure PSG!
Does 'needing' it more fuel desire or desperation is a key question. Also I guess Bayern can rest players for 2nd leg or try out tactical tweaks against Union Berlin with a dominant position in the league in a way that PSG might have to seriously think twice about doing. Add to that PSG have lost their last 3 league games at home so no pressure PSG!
Furball
Evil Scotsman
Depends if Pep does his patented CL knockout tactical nonsense or not.
Given the teams he's managed, his away record in CL knockout ties is pretty dire as well.
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This was a spectacular game. The CL knockouts rarely let you down.
Bayern were clearly the better team, if Lewandowski was playing they could have scored about 9. Their attack is so relentless that they always have a chance.
dontcloseyoureyes
BARNES OUT
City weren't that good. The last time we played a "first choice" side and played that badly (other than United) was probably back in 2020. We played awfully against West Ham a few months ago but that was a very rotated XI. They improved in the second half but were still plagued by the issues that always kill the side in knockout games - turning possession over in awful spots (Rodri) and missing key clear cut chances (Foden missed 3!! before scoring the late winner).
I think the away goal could be crucial. I'm not confident at all, as a fan.
I think the away goal could be crucial. I'm not confident at all, as a fan.
Yeah they were but you also feel like PSG are only ever one pass away from Mbappe running through and scoring. Barcelona also absolutely destroyed PSG in that second leg and didn't even win the game, they are such a weird team.
Niall
International Coach
To be fair crawling to victory against 2021 West Ham with Lionel Lingard is very much first world problems.
It would be interesting though how West Ham would do in the champs league, although obviously need to keep Declan Rice which seems a big ask.
duffer
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Yeah, I mean it's better than when I needed diapers due to the fear of impending relegation but being firmly entrenched in mid table again and seeing us look average in the Europa League is pretty awful.
The problems stem from the top but another season like this and they'll need a scapegoat.
The problems stem from the top but another season like this and they'll need a scapegoat.
I do feel sorry for Unai Emery if everything was the same but it was Unai Emery in charge instead of Arteta I think Emery would be under a whole lot more pressure, Emery got a 5th placed finish with a similar set of players and even during the poor season when he was sacked Arsenal were 8th. Arsenal seem to have gone from entertaining but flakey to just flakey - that was happening before Arteta joined but whenever I see them play they rarely seem all that fun to watch.
What has changed so much since Emery finished 5th? It seems like Arteta has more options at his disposal - Emiliano Martinez has left but he wasn't playing in Emery's first season. Effectively it seems Koscielny, Ramsey and Iwobi out for Martinelli, Pepe, Tierney and then include Gabriel and Partey this season.
Having said that Arsenal have turned a corner with results, since Christmas they are 5th, 1 point off the Champions League spots - having played 16 PL games since then so a pretty impressive record. Still much to play for this season - if they end the league on a high and finish 8th and win the Europa League its been a decent season for them in the end although I am hoping Villarreal win the Europa League myself!
What has changed so much since Emery finished 5th? It seems like Arteta has more options at his disposal - Emiliano Martinez has left but he wasn't playing in Emery's first season. Effectively it seems Koscielny, Ramsey and Iwobi out for Martinelli, Pepe, Tierney and then include Gabriel and Partey this season.
Having said that Arsenal have turned a corner with results, since Christmas they are 5th, 1 point off the Champions League spots - having played 16 PL games since then so a pretty impressive record. Still much to play for this season - if they end the league on a high and finish 8th and win the Europa League its been a decent season for them in the end although I am hoping Villarreal win the Europa League myself!
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Emery’s squad was miles better. The best players from when he was there have either left or aged.
Evaluating a manager purely based on results is just being dense anyway. They were really obviously badly coached under Emery and got worse and worse the longer he was there. I don’t have a strong opinion on Arteta but I’m not having that Emery was anything other than absolutely useless.