We started our Champions League campaign with a win over Athletic Club, thanks to a brilliant goal from Martinelli and another one from Trossard. We go again today against Olympiacos, hoping we repeat the performance and keep our winning run. With the new format, it’s going to get complicated after the group stage when only the first 8 teams qualify for the next round, while next 16 teams would have to play 2 extra games among each other to qualify for the next round. We saw some big names eliminated last year in the group stage, and we certainly don’t want that for ourselves.
So, a win is a must.
Here’s the problem with Champions League though. Teams from other leagues do not necessarily play your crap possession based football. They can park the bus, play on counter, lose 2 players in the opposition box for whole 90 minutes, which creates a conundrum for the managers like Pep and Mikel. The possession based, high pressing football only works if the other teams play the same way – primary reason we have been able to play good football against the City and Liverpool but do not have any answers to the low blocks. Galatasaray stunned Liverpool last night and Tottenham had to share points with Bodo/Glimt – so it already has started.
So, what’s our options? Go and have fun with an attacking mindset and free Gyokeres from the defensive duty. Someone (I think Neville) pointed out that with a back 4 of Timber, Saliba, Gabriel and Calafiori, you don’t need your forwards to do the dirty defensive work. Now, this goes against the principle of Mikel but lets just try out.
Playing XI is out
MLS is back in XI, which was expected considering Calafiori is starting every Premier League game. Odegaard is back, while Rice sits on bench. I have changed my mind, I think Rice should be the one starting as DM instead of Zubimendi with Merino and Odegaard on either side. But, it is what it is.
Saka gets some rest, he still needs to get back his fitness. Martinelli starts at the RW, Trossard keeps his place while Gyokeres starts up top. It’s good to see Ben White back in the line up, hopefully Martinelli gets some support from him.
Right, I will keep it a very short one today, game is about an hour away. I will go with a 3-0 to the boys, Gyokeres grabbing 2 of them and Martinelli scoring the third.
See you in the comments.
this ref should be red…not hating it but WTF
Gyokeres could have scored a hattrick by now.
good run by VG, but there’s no excuse for not finishing that off, especially when their shit defender gave him his right foot
White is an average defender at best…he’s slightly more effective than Merino is as a DM
He does look rusty but he is back after a long injury.
he’s never impressed me…good cover piece, but not starting material…I must admit my thoughts on him have been greatly iimpacted by the fact that he’s not even a fan of the sport he plays…it just rubs me the wrong way
we’ve been saved a couple times by their heavy touches inside the box…not to mention Raya’s stellar save in the first half
nice intricate play but why not put that cross to Marts on the ground…our newfound love of everything header-related is fucking mental
if we were an effective countering side this match would be done and dusted by now…or if we knew how to fucking finish at a professional level
We need to up our game we’re pushing our luck at the moment.
that was closer than it looked at first blush…we were very fortunate there
TRVL
Captain Fuckwit is a more than capable defensive coach he couldn’t coach fluid attacking football if you put a gun to his head.
Marc—everyone knows we’re one of the worst finishing sides in Europe…why do you think this side didn’t come to park the bus…they’ve actually rolled the dice under the guise that they have better finishers than us…so far we’re winning that bet, but only by the skightest of margins
At this rate our man of the match is going to be Raya.
TRVL
Remind me how much did our squad attacking line up cost plus inherited players?
Marc—he should have made some adjustments at half once he saw how many they were committing going forward, as they were leaving large gaps between their midfielders and their defenders…I would have liked to have seen Ethan and Eze much earlier
TRVL
Arteta will always be reactive (with a delay) rather than proactive.
our time wasting antics are almost unbearable to watch
he needs to study Flick during his time with Bayern, when they won the CL…it was a masterclass in tactical tweaking on the fly…surely MA has a ruler and the money to pay for a tutor
We had a player booked for time wasting a few minutes ago and then repeat the process.
Its asking to be bitten in the arse.