AC Milan 0-0 Newcastle United (19/09/23)

[STM]

Also..... if anyone bar City had gone to Milan and got a point, you'd say "good point", simple as that really.

 

There's only Real and City, who might look at that as a bad result.

[nufcjmc]

Way I see it if you just looked at the result and only the result against that side your pleased. The stats and in game play was so sloppy at times we struggled to keep the ball headers and lobby the ball forward doesn't allow you to control the game and increases the chance of losing possession. Early attacks near the end of our half were quickly snuffed out and in the first half we sat deep but also seemed to leave alot of space in the middle for them to roam and break forward. 

 

If they had anyone who could put the ball away we would have lost but we just didn't look like scoring. 

 

A point on the board and we didn't embarrass ourselves. Hopefully can give teams more of a game at home.

[Vinny Green Balls]

3 minutes ago, Cronky said:

 

I don't think our players are as good as Milan's, and Liverpool's are miles better. We've got ourselves into this position through great management and team spirit. We have to be realistic and not expect too much. 

 

We had Murphy, Longstaff, and Schar starting, with Miggy and Wilson coming on for major roles. All players who two years ago were in a side heading for relegation with 20 points.

I don't always agree with you, but well said here, buddy.

[Beren]

Just now, STM said:

 

Mate, don't ruin the magic. 

 

 

To be fair, I should say I thought Newcastle did much more than just graft hard tonight. I don't think there was much cutting edge, but for decent spells we had good possession and composure in other areas of the pitch that at least half the other Premiership sides are incapable of doing. There was also enough threat of a threat () that kept AC Milan honest too.

[Kid Icarus]

Could have been 5-0, could have been 0-1, will happily take 0-0.

 

We rolled with the punches and, read this back, competed and got a result in the Champions League away to AC Milan. So proud!

 

Pope: 8.5

Trippier: 9.5

Schar: 7.5

Botman: 7.5

Burn: 7

Bruno: 6.5

Tonali: 6.5

Longstaff: 7

Gordon: 6

Isak: 6

Murphy: 6

[AJ9]

I know they're collectively not particularly great, but it does make me smile thinking of Burn, Longstaff and Anderson playing in the San Siro. Local lads taking on AC Milan, living out all our dreams. Makes me very proud!

[Chicane]

top of the group as it stands

[nufc123]

1 minute ago, STM said:

There's only Real and City, who might look at that as a bad result.

Dont think anyone in here has said its a bad result. Its just that since the Villa game we havent looked like ourself.

[Lush Vlad]

Hard watch at times. Rode our luck at times. A bit naive with some of our play and certainly got a lesson in the dark arts and shithousery from the wiley Italians, tonight. No end of niggly fouls, shirt pulls, the same player fouling over and over from them and getting away with it. We barely made a tactical foul after the first 10 minutes and just seemed a bit too ‘nice’ all round for my liking. A far cry from our usual cuntish behaviour. Didn’t like all the checking on their players and handshakes at half time, I must say. But that’s just me. An aggro charva. 

I think we we were really careless and sloppy on the ball at times, too. Which was understandable when they put so much in. But also resulted in quite a few attacks dying on their arse and also quite a few chances for them from our own fuck ups. 

 

All that said. I’m buzzing with the result. Thinking objectively, I thought we’d get beat comfortably to nil prior to the game. But bar a couple of moments. We defended really well and limited them to long shots and half chances that just fell kindly for them in the box. 

Pope was brilliant. Botman was a Colossus. Trippier was probably the best player on the pitch.   

A long way to go. But a solid start. 

[Mountain]

I'm glad for the new prem rules regarding giving yellows for petty fouls when a player bursts past. Milan fouled the hell out of us and we did the same back as it's not penalised.

[Shadow Puppets]

Fucking brilliant day in Milan, capped off by a really positive performance, barring some sloppy nervous play in the first half.

 

Opening 10 mins we were great, for about 20 mins after that it was very tough, and then after that I thought we played really well considering the size of the task.

 

The San Siro, in person, is a really fucking intimidating place to play, which I’d say significantly affected our play in the first half.

 

The second half was a tremendous away performance at one of the hardest stadiums in the world.

 

Very very proud of the lads. What a day!

[Sean]

20 minutes ago, Mahoneys Tache said:

Fucks sake man. 0-0 away in the San Siro after 20 years and about a decade out of European football. What a bunch of fannies. 
fucking brilliant result. 
the change from ‘we just want a team that tries’ to unrealistic expectations is breathtakingly fast. 
‘Concerning performance’. Are you fucking kidding? 
 

"We demand a team that tries"

 

I think every football fan should be allowed to want a team that wins tbh 

 

Not excusing the completely over the top takes if there is any mind.

 

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by Sean

[Shadow Puppets]

Also, I thought Bruno had his best game in ages. Botman was amazing, Schar class, Trippier class, Burn class defensively but poor in possession.

[Lush Vlad]

4 minutes ago, Mountain said:

I'm glad for the new prem rules regarding giving yellows for petty fouls when a player bursts past. Milan fouled the hell out of us and we did the same back as it's not penalised.

I dunno like. There was about 5 shirt pulls from them that went unpunished and Loftus Cheek committed 4-5 shitty fouls in a row and not even a talking to. 
 

I didn’t think the ref was bad and the game flowed ok, considering. But they got away with murder, I thought. Way more savvy than us. Thought we were shy in comparison. 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by Lush Vlad

[The College Dropout]

17 minutes ago, Beren said:

 

Yeah, feel much the same.

 

Heard about some study a while back about people being essentially the same people no matter what happens to them. A curmudgeon will be a curmudgeon if they win the lottery. And a happy-go-lucky character will be a happy-go-lucky character if they break their leg.

 

Feels much the same on the forum. Some are just happy to be here, and a point vindicates that positivity. Even thought a loss would have been managed within the context of it being against CL opposition, first game in CL in ages etc etc.

 

Some want to see us play the best they are capable of doing, even if that isn't always possible for a variety of very credible reasons, and having only one 94th-minute shot on goal vindicates their desire to see team's talent showcased more effectively.

 

While appreciating the players are giving it their all, I'm probably closer to the second of the two ends of the spectrum, but you've nailed it tbh - a different result with the same performance often yields a complete re-framing of how people spin the game to their own natural predisposition 

Aye. I’m more of a process than outcome person. I’m happy we got the point. But I would have more positive things to say had we lost and played well. I’m shouting about all the good things I saw from individuals… but we were bad so I have to shout about the bad things too.  
 

But I also don’t get as down on players or managers. They tend to be doing what they’ve always done. 

Also some people can’t separate result from performance. Everyone is delighted at the result but some think others are unhappy at the result because others have critiques about the performance. 

 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by The College Dropout

[Palestoon]

Great point away at the San Siro.

 

As far as the lack of creativity in the side, I don't think anything has changed in personel. 

 

We didn't have a lot of creativity last season, but we created chances through our high press and intensity. 

 

We don't seem to playing with that same style this season. I don't know if it's because of the level of opposition we've faced this season which has been historically tough, or if Eddie is trying to preserve legs with all of the extra games this season. 

 

I think this favorable run of games coming up will prove telling. Hopefully we look more of the side from last season

[Jesse Pinkman]

How does Maguire start ahead of Tomori…

[Armchair Pundit]

Great result tonight, a point away with all the pressure, I'd take that all day long after our start to the season. If anyone's actually moaning about that they've got to be away with the fairies, in my opinion.

[Joelinton7]

Not concerned about result but I am concerned with bad habits and negative patterns that have crept into our play. We’re going back to Pope far more than last season and he’s a liability.
 

Too much standing still. Too much “safe” passing which encourages the oppo onto us (pushes us back) then leads to sloppy passes and giving the ball away in dangerous areas which then drops the confidence which then leads us to being too “reactive” because we’re always trying to make up for the last sloppy pass, the bit of ground because a pass isn’t fast into feet. Too much of what we’re doing atm is giving encouragement to the opposition.

 

We’re not proactive enough in our pressing and we drop back too much into this 4-5-1 shape. Players are getting too far away from each other. We look 25% less fit than last season. We’re aren’t creating enough high percentage chances. Not controlling the midfield. And Burn needs to be dropped, it’s time. 

[The Prophet]

14 minutes ago, Beren said:

 

Yeah, feel much the same.

 

Heard about some study a while back about people being essentially the same people no matter what happens to them. A curmudgeon will be a curmudgeon if they win the lottery. And a happy-go-lucky character will be a happy-go-lucky character if they break their leg.

 

Feels much the same on the forum. Some are just happy to be here, and a point vindicates that positivity. Even thought a loss would have been managed within the context of it being against CL opposition, first game in CL in ages etc etc.

 

Some want to see us play the best they are capable of doing, even if that isn't always possible for a variety of very credible reasons, and having only one 94th-minute shot on goal vindicates their desire to see team's talent showcased more effectively.

 

While appreciating the players are giving it their all, I'm probably closer to the second of the two ends of the spectrum, but you've nailed it tbh - a different result with the same performance often yields a complete re-framing of how people spin the game to their own natural predisposition 

 

Pretty much. Last season was one of our most enjoyable in decades and the amount worrying, panicking and pants-pissing was unbearable at times.

[SiLvOR]

Back in the big time, and we didn't look totally out of place. Didn't look like world beaters either, but we all know we've got so many more gears to go through. Once we click again, we'll dismantle teams and it'll be glorious.

[STM]

8 minutes ago, nufc123 said:

Dont think anyone in here has said its a bad result. Its just that since the Villa game we havent looked like ourself.

 

Since Villa, this is how I've seen it:

 

City: Dogged, conceded from a great strike against the best side in the world. 

 

Liverpool: Were excellent for 45, and decent for 70. Absolute car crash in the final minutes.

 

Brighton: Was poor performance as a direct result of our confidence being shot after Liverpool, also, Brighton are excellent.

 

Brentford: Classic game where the oppo tried to shithouse us and we struggled to break them down. We are still regaining our confidence and again Brentford are a tough outfit.

 

Milan: Rode our luck but defended with valor, attack still not firing. Some chemistry missing.

 

Again, I will say, we've had one hell of a fixture list.

[andycap]

16 minutes ago, Theregulars said:

Sign of a good team is winning and keeping clean sheets when not playing well. Great result in our current context. If we aren’t clicking then we can at least be solid and grind out results. Good coaching.

What's solid about poor finishing? They should've had atleast two goals and that's been stingy on my part. 

[The Bonk]

I and I think most on here are expressing frustration knowing that this group of lads has played better than what we're currently witnessing on the pitch. A point away to AC Milan is fantastic, they did well to earn that in a tremendous amount of pressure on the grand stage. 

 

We'll start clicking at some point and I trust Eddie to have learned from this and make the adjustments needed going forward. It's absolutely brilliant seeing us talked about on a Tuesday in the Champions League. You could tell Hoddle and a few others were rooting us on or glad to see us back after 20 years.

 

It's really some trajectory to be even having these conversations from two years ago.  

 

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by The Bonk

[Vinny Green Balls]

2 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

Pretty much. Last season was one of our most enjoyable in decades and the amount worrying, panicking and pants-pissing was unbearable at times.

I think the most irritating thing is this self congratulating "realism" followed by artificial victimization. "Everyone laughed at me when I said..."