Mr Misery Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 57 minutes ago, Boey_Jarton said: The ball between the lines has done us consistently all season. Seasons. We don't play with a natural six. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingArthur Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 (edited) There is still 2v2 in the centre after that pass is played, so not total disaster, but fuck me Joelinton should be aware were Olmo is. But don't want to whine. We played damn well all game. They only had couple of half chances. Edited March 11 by KingArthur Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Novocastrian Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Shit happens, Thiaw had been great all game. We knew if we didn’t take our chances we were vulnerable to the sucker punch. I’m not going to criticise for pushing for the second, we are trying to win the tie not just the match. Howe and the players can hold their heads high. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gottlob Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Opponents have been finding that gap between the midfield and defence with regularity for three years now. We rarely seem to cause the same problem for other teams. I think the question is not whether it occurs but what benefits Howe thinks we accrue from sticking with our basic shape and the relatively flat midfield. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St1pe Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 I think we’re being a bit harsh with that ball through the middle. It’s Barcelona. I don’t think the positions were that bad especially considering the minutes on the clock. They’re just really good at finding those balls. Compare it to the City game for example… Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Icarus Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Waking up and feeling disappointed that we didn't beat Barcelona by the 3 or 4 goals we should have and could 'only' draw 1-1. How far we've come to be in that situation, particularly when it's in the context of a season where it's felt like absolutely everything is against us and another match where the officials were a disgrace. Imagine looking through the bookcase from Interstellar in 2021 and seeing us now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Prophet Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 (edited) The gap between the midfield and defence is one of those things (like the previous creativity stuff) that's massively overegged. I agree it has been a problem for us in past seasons and it has reared it's head again at times this season, particularly when the midfield flattens out, with Bruno and Tonali taking up similar positions. Quality players will take up positions between the lines though, that's one of the reasons they're playing for Barcelona, City, etc. You can shut off the passing lanes or track the runner, but sometimes the pass into them is too good, or the tracking player has just sprinted 50 yards due to a hospital pass from his team mate, it happens. Edited March 11 by The Prophet Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 15 minutes ago, St1pe said: I think we’re being a bit harsh with that ball through the middle. It’s Barcelona. I don’t think the positions were that bad especially considering the minutes on the clock. They’re just really good at finding those balls. Compare it to the City game for example… Olmo was immediately so much more dangerous than Pedri, despite how good Pedri is. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andycap Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 11 hours ago, gdm said: I mean that’s just wrong. It was 2 cards to 1. Hardly as one sided as your suggesting Three or four should've had yellows for them but he let them off a lot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Our defenders are meant to push aggressively when that ball is played between the lines. When we get scared or too passive the attacker can easily turn and then we are in trouble. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
black_n_white Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 12 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said: Olmo was immediately so much more dangerous than Pedri, despite how good Pedri is. Olmo plays in between the lines, something we’ve struggled with this season. Would actually love a player of his type at nufc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stottie Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 I thought we played really well. Incredible for us to hit that level with Gordon and Bruno missing. ,We were essentially 20 seconds off shutting out Barca, who according to a stat on the international feed commentary have scored in 21 in their last 23 CL matches. If they play that high line again, we'll get chances in the second leg. We had the three best chances last night. in 94 minutes and 25 seconds the closest they came to scoring was through BDB. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrone Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 One of the biggest clubs in world football with some of the best players around We went toe to toe with them and could/should have won My team ❤️ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK-421 Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 (edited) Slept on it and still feel disappointed about the late equaliser, as we played really well. Don't really have a complaint about the ref for the added time or the penalty decision, both seemed about right. However, I had forgotten about Yamal being suspended for next week had he been booked (along with another of their players), and at least one of his fouls on Hall was worthy of a yellow. Think the other player (forgot who) also avoided the yellow. That stinks, like. But, still dispapointed (as I said last night) that we just can't see games out. Last time I remember us getting the ball into a corner and keeping it there was the closing minutes of the Carabao Cup final. We jusy seem to lose composure - whether its trying for another, or just panicking, we end up lumping it or giving it away and it comes straight back at us. Still, onto next week, and hopefully we can put on a similalr performance, and we'll see what happens. Edited March 11 by TK-421 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Definitely more proud than annoyed this morning, massive shame we didn’t hold on but you can’t ask for anything more than what we gave. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tisd09 Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 2 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said: Definitely more proud than annoyed this morning, massive shame we didn’t hold on but you can’t ask for anything more than what we gave. Agree with this. Also I seen someone mention on here it could help our mindset out at the Nou Camp, if we took a 1-0 lead over there I am sure we would have seen an ultra defensive set up which may have played into Barca's hand. I still think we will be more on the back foot than we were today but will look to counter them a bit more than we would have had the game finished 1-0. It is a massive task to go over there and get something but I don't think it is totally out of the question. Maybe I am clutching at straws? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abacus Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 I'm quite amazed we put in that performance after the number of games we've played. I'll whisper it quietly but I'm secretly quite glad we're out of the FA Cup now as the schedule would have been brutal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilcline Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 In terms of overall quality, I think the two games against these have easily been the best two we've played in all season. Maybe Man City in the league and first leg are up there too. Real high-level football matches that should give the players, the manager, the coaches, the club, and us lot plenty of confidence and belief they/we belong at this level. Just need to try and make sure we're present more frequently than every other year. Not asking much Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earp Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 1 hour ago, Novocastrian said: Shit happens, Thiaw had been great all game. We knew if we didn’t take our chances we were vulnerable to the sucker punch. I’m not going to criticise for pushing for the second, we are trying to win the tie not just the match. Howe and the players can hold their heads high. I thought it was the correct decision to push for a second. They were there for the taking and a 2-0 lead would have made a huge difference in the second. These things happen - we were superb and made them look ordinary. Wont criticise Thiaw, he was excellent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffee_Johnny Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 30 minutes ago, andycap said: Three or four should've had yellows for them but he let them off a lot. Yamal definitely should. Little shit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPERTOON Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 6 minutes ago, Abacus said: I'm quite amazed we put in that performance after the number of games we've played. I'll whisper it quietly but I'm secretly quite glad we're out of the FA Cup now as the schedule would have been brutal. Assuming we lose to Barcelona (not certain by any means), after the Sunderland game, we will have 3 weeks off I think. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
54 Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 5 minutes ago, Abacus said: I'm quite amazed we put in that performance after the number of games we've played. I'll whisper it quietly but I'm secretly quite glad we're out of the FA Cup now as the schedule would have been brutal. It was our 48th game of the season, the most of any team in the top 5 leagues in Europe. Our schedule has been insane, i'm knackered by it and looking forward to the international break, fuck knows what the players and management are feeling like Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lush Vlad Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Such mixed emotions about it all. To a man, I thought we were excellent. Executed the gameplan to perfection until basically the last kick/foul of the game. We didn’t just rely on physicality or shithousing (they did all that). We matched them or even outplayed them for large spells of the match. Our best performance of the season. But also just so deflating to concede such an avoidable goal that I think now kills any chance we had of getting through. Yet another lead we couldn’t see out, another late goal and the quest for a clean sheet continues. Also incredibly angry at the pathetic refereeing. It wasn’t even snide fouls. A headlock takedown and a body check to stop counters. No yellow card. Bought their play acting and diving all night. He’d buy Trump coin that cunt. I might be wrong. But I heard Fermin and Yamal would miss the next game with a booking? So that makes it look even more questionable. Atmosphere was one of the best I can remember for a while. But not a high bar, granted. Got back home at 2. Now on the train to go and do a site survey. Would have been a lot easier without that undeserved equaliser for those fucks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 1 hour ago, Novocastrian said: Shit happens, Thiaw had been great all game. We knew if we didn’t take our chances we were vulnerable to the sucker punch. I’m not going to criticise for pushing for the second, we are trying to win the tie not just the match. Howe and the players can hold their heads high. Yeah I was quite happy to see us pushing for a second up until the final whistle, 2-0 would have given us a great chance, and we aren't good at sitting deep these days anyway. Although once we got into injury time with only 4 mins left we should probably have closed up shop. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Thought we were absolutely brilliant last night and couldn't be prouder to support this team and manager Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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