TomC

5 minutes ago, ben1505 said:

West Ham’s success came at a cost of league position.. ours hasn’t…

Exactly...you said it clearer than I did...

I've defended Olsen's shot-stopping, but Jacob Tanswell made a good point in the Athletic...one of the things that we really missed about Emi last night was his sweeper-keeper ability. They played a lot of early balls to the front runners. (Ironic, the Greek team looked more like an English team and the English team looked more like a continental team.)

8 hours ago, ben1505 said:

I know that Wet Spam won this but their league form really suffered and they were lucky not to get relegated.. 

We've proven that we can handle Europe. Whether we win, lose the final, or lose in the semis, we've made it most of the season and finished 4th in the PL. We're not West Ham (though we could use some more depth).

7 hours ago, romavillan said:

Maybe at home we might have, but the atmosphere over there will be madness, be a much more hostile environment than the Lille game.

Legia in Warsaw was pretty hostile. (Or even Legia at VP, LOL.)

Just now, rodders129 said:

It’ll be sorted next season. We’re currently missing out only aerially dominant CB and our only tenacious DM…it’s a player/squad issue

We're still going to need another reliable DM to cover until Kamara comes back, which probably won't be until November at the earliest.

That's an even higher priority in my book than getting another RB.

16 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

At what point are we going to have a serious discussion about the amount of goals we concede. This can’t go on. 

You have a point...

Arsenal 85 GF 28 GA

City 82 - 32

Liverpool 77 - 36

Villa 73 - 52

We're scoring enough. Tighten up the defence and we have a serious chance at the title.

Just now, GingerCollins29 said:

Yeh you're right. He was class, sell Emi and stick him in nets next year

You missed my entire point. He's a backup. Don't expect world class from your backup.

Just now, GingerCollins29 said:

Heroic??? 

If olsen gets his palm behind that 4th goal instead of his thumb, he saves it. A championship level keeper saves it

His body was moving the other way based on the ball's original path. It's hard to shift back the other way in real time (don't let the slow speed of the replay fool you). He did well just to get a hand to it.

8 minutes ago, GingerCollins29 said:

First goal was goes past olsens hand by about an inch - Emi saves it. 

Second goal rolls unde olsens body

The deflected goal went in because olsen didnt have a strong enough hand. 

He's a huge part of why we lost. 

Brighton will score st least twice if olsen plays

There's a big difference between saying "Olsen made mistakes that a competent GK wouldn't make" and "Olsen failed to make heroic saves that the best GK in the world might have made."

Maybe, maybe Emi would have saved the 2nd and 4th. Most GKs would not have. You can't expect your backup to be Emi-level. Even if we could afford two Emis, a second one wouldn't want to be a backup.

We were outplayed in the first half because Olympiakos had a good tactical plan; they kept cutting off passes from back-to-the-goal midfielders to the wings. This disrupted our attack and also led to their second goal. We deserved to be behind.

We were much better going forward in the second half. Unai made some adjustments and we had much less trouble with their press. Two goals plus a (missed) penalty is a pretty good haul for a half. I gave Unai a "good" mark because of it.

Both their second half goals had an element of luck to them. Doug should not have had his hand in the air on that 3rd, but most of the time nothing would come from it. Olsen was well positioned to save the 4th if it hadn't deflected.

That said, to get lucky, Olympiakos needed to be in good positions in the first place. This match and the Chelsea match are a good reminder that Doug and McGinn can't play together in the double pivot unless you don't have a choice. I'm not inclined to put Tim in, but, as someone pointed out in the match thread, why not roll the dice when you know that Doug and McGinn aren't going to get it done. Maybe Rogers needs to stay a little deeper to help out despite his attacking instincts.

No player was a standout, but I thought that Watkins, Bailey, Cash, and Diaby played reasonably well. Olsen isn't Emi but he was not primarily at fault for any of the goals and made a couple fine saves.

Play how we played in the second half and we can turn this around.

Fiorentina 2 Brugge 2 in the other semi.

Not sure if it's for the handball or if he fouled Duran...

8 minutes ago, Leeroy said:

Well I guess we wouldn’t be winning the Greek league if we were in it. Olympiakos are third in their league currently and have battered us.

Actually they're 4th in their league.

3 minutes ago, Reivax_Villa said:

Competition over

NOT. 110 minutes to go, and we won't be as unlucky next week.

2 minutes ago, AshVilla said:

We still need to win at least one more game this season for 4th imo.

Can you see us beating Brighton away this weekend with only 3 days rest if we play like this?

The way Brighton have been playing recently, yes. Last 5 league results draw, loss, draw, loss, loss.

1 minute ago, AXD said:

I would like a similar DM

Done.

1 minute ago, srsmithusa said:

umm, what US feed is that?

Can't comment in the thread because of the rules but sending you a direct message.

4 minutes ago, Troglodyte said:

Not been following the thread, but would I get crucified if I said that objectively I think the ref has been quite strong?

I thought has good until the denied penalty. That was clear as day.

4 minutes ago, AshVilla said:

Luiz is so shit.

No he's not...

3 minutes ago, maqroll said:

Luiz has no fuel in his tank

This is closer to the truth. Not to mention that he plays better with Kamara next to him.

13 hours ago, CVByrne said:

I think Buendia is more the 10 / second striker role than midfield. We are short a CM that's for sure. I think LM is covered by Rogers / JJ as it stands. 

Good point...he can play both roles though...

Either way, we agree that we're short a DM.

Ball don't lie

2 minutes ago, VillanousOne said:

McGinn is utterly ineffective in a deep midfield role just as Diaby is wherever it is he is meant to be playing

Doug and McGinn in the double pivot didn't work under Deano. They didn't work as part of a 3 under Gerrard. They still don't work in a double pivot under Unai.

Unfortunately, we don't have much of a choice with the injuries right now. Playing Tim would bring its own risks.

It's a 180 minute match. Let's not panic yet.

Just now, Awol said:

No Pau was a bad call. Hope he’s got the bollocks to change it 

Agreed. The threat of Pau dribbling out makes would draw someone from the press and open up one of the passing options that they're cutting off.

They know that our back line likes to play it out to either a midfielder or Watkins with his back to goal who then plays it off to the wing. They're cutting off the passes to the wings. That's how we lost the ball.