7 years since we last played a Champions League knockout game! Luck has favoured us a bit, we are visiting Porto in couple of hours and I’m all excited for it.
Mikel Arteta in his pre-match conference acknowledged the experience Porto have in Champions League, that we haven’t played a CL game in two or three months and the other teams are well prepared and can beat anyone on a given day.
In the team news, ex Porto man Fabio Vieira and Thomas Partey were back in training but remains to be seen if they make the bench. Jesus, Zinchenko and Tomiyasu are out for the game while Timber is not yet recovered. If I have to guess, we would play with our strongest playing XI, Havertz in the middle with Declan Rice, and a front three of Saka, Trossard and Martinelli.
There’s something exciting about today. We are playing Porto on the back of two big wins 5-0 and 6-0 in PL and the confidence of the lads would be touching the ceiling. With a 2-legged system, you can always make a comeback if things don’t go in your favor at first, but I don’t want it to happen. I would love it if we bury the tie today with a 2-0/3-0 win and make sure we don’t let the 2nd leg come in the way of our Premier League run.
Premier League has a very certain way of play. Most of the teams prefer playing from the back, the movements and player’s position can be read in advance and Mikel or anyone for that matter can plan their strategies accordingly. Everybody knows how Pep is going to play and how he is going to set up the team on the field. It’s not going to change. He can tweak the system a bit but on a high level, it remains same. Teams from other leagues are not that predictable. You know very less about them, they can just sit back and keep a wall, or play on counter, or play a quick one touch football. And for some of these clubs, winning a game against Arsenal or Madrid is all they want. That’s what make them dangerous and that’s why the results often in CL (or Europe) are random. It comes down to “who put their body on the line”.
Can we do it today? We will get to know soon. Short one today, game is too late for me (1.30 AM IST) but I can manage a 4 hour sleep after a 7 year wait. See you during the game.
Cheers to all who held Aitcho accountable for his Havertz apologist commentary…even our MIT couldn’t honestly suggest that what we’ve seen thus far was the intended objective of this clearly boneheaded off-season move…many from within the fanbase have spoken for years about our need for more investment, especially when it comes to our recruitment practices, but when it goes horribly awry it has a trickle-down effect…not only does it hinder future investment, especially in the very position where the failure occured, it likewise has a stifling impact on the developmental process, which is what we witnessed when MA was shoehorning Willian into the lineup…to make matters worse, especially when you have a manager with an inlated/fragile ego, it’s incredibly unlikely that they will simply bench the player in question, even when that would serve the greater good, as they fear the obvious implications…so in the end it negatively impacts the product on the pitch, which is the most damning consequence…like I’ve said on mutliple occasions, this wouldn’t be so significant if MA hadn’t paid well above the number, from both a fees and wage perspective, as Havertz could be sold on or simply benched and there would still be ample monies in the coffers to seek a more viable solution…Cheers
Aitcho
I thought your synopsis of Eddie Howe was brilliant. I enjoyed reading that. Much more eloquent than me saying his face belonged on a Toby Jug!
The recent form has left me scratching my head as to why we were so god awful in Portugal. Ponderous, and tentative passing didn’t help but I wonder if the team has a mental block about performing away in Europe?
If we see only 80 percent of that first half performance against the Geordies, then we’ll surely have enough. I think it’s clear that Jorginho has to start. His presence makes Rice and the front 5 even more potent. I’m seldom caught up in the stats of games but the amount of touches we had in their penalty area in the first half must have been some kind of record.
Oh and thanks too for the description of the atmosphere in the ground. Clearly a night when the fans fully played their part as they always seem to do in away games.
We’re looking properly dominant at home again.
Interestingly I am being bombarded with e-mails from AFC at the moment (well quite a few) . I havent been a season ticket holder since the 92- 93 season and have only attended games when invited by friends or as a corporate guest.
I also have seen a fair number of away games as a corporate guest.
The e-mails range from the new training kit designed by an up & coming designer to availability of tickets etc.
Has there been a drop off in sales? The attendance figures have always differed from the actual number of people through the turnstiles.
Perhaps recessionary times are starting to take their toll though we must be a few months away from renewals.
KP
I would put the Porto performance down to ‘game plan’. All of the players surely couldn’t have chosen last Wednesday to have an off night. Perhaps they had too many custard tarts that were past their sell by date.
Pasteis de Nata….Even the stale ones probably knock chocolate éclairs into a clocked hat. I used to live in Lisbon about 15 minute’s walk from a place in Belem where they sold them.
Do you share the general confidence that we’ll prevail in the second game? I still have trauma from when Sporting Lisbon came and Amorim gave Tets a managerial masterclass.
Clocked? Cocked!
KP-I likewise agree, in the main, with Aitcho’s assessment of Howe…it appears that, much like our present manager, Howe’s unable to get the best out of his players when the pressure is on and tactical flexibility is required…the one advantage MA has had over Howe is that he inherited some vastly better prospects, even though if it were up to him several of these blue chippers might have been elsewhere by now…ironically Howe might have been better option here early on, if the youth project was in the offing from the get-go, as that seems more in-line with his MO, whereas MA would have been right in his wheelhouse with the Newcastle chequebook-based initiative…of course, Howe would have been a stop-gap hiring, due to his managerial limitations, but he might have shaved off a couple years from what has become a 6-7-year plan before getting suitably replaced by a better manager
been “a” better option
Trvl, ifs and ands. You’re making up things to get yourself worked up. Tets isn’t coaching Newcs and Howe isn’t here. We can only speculation how they would have fared.
The team’s doing well, Tets is the coach, it’s not complicated. We can berate the manager for wasting cash on Willian, and in fairness he’d put up good numbers the season before he joined, or we can move on. We can also get upset about Cedric or just be content he gets minimal game time.
Havertz adds something positive to the team, that’s all I ask of signings, value for money is for someone else to worry about. I don’t think the purchase of Havertz blocked us from signing Haaland, Mbappe or Oshimen so we don’t need to get worked up over his purchase.
You’ve used the product on the pitch as the indicator for the recruitment process. The product is good. It suggests the recruitment is good. Havertz is part of that.
NORG, the collections have become a regular thing. Some are decent and usually sell out. The Wrighty, Maharishi and women’s third kit, all sold out. All clubs rinse the fans these days. We’re not any different and sales seem to back up the Club’s confidence in our desire for more new stuff. I was miffed when they stopped doing home/away alternate years, then when third kits became a thing and now I see teams with fourth kits. I’m probably not the target market but clearly someone is.
I don’t think the emails are an indicator of drop off in tix sales. Trying to get extras for friends and family has become near impossible over the last two years, before Covid I could always bank on someone having spares to shift. Even the ladies team has a waiting list now and their games at the Ems have been record busting attendances too.
There’s a good buzz about the team, well see if the latest price hike has an effect come May.
I knew you would show your true colours as soon as I laid waste to your ridiculous Havertz banter…you really think that paying upwards of 70M, plus making him the highest paid player, has no impact whatsoever on our recuitment practices?…wake up and smell the coffee…you’re not worth my time because you constantly move the goalposts whenever things don’t fit your particular narrative, which is why you’re a perfect Kool-Aid crusader…as to my speculative comments regarding Howe/Arteta, I was simply stating that Howe seems to excel more when his locker room is chock full of potential up-and-comers, whereas Arteta clearly loves to throw money at a problem…unfortunately, he misses as much, if not more, than he hits
looks like Davies is leaving Bayern for Real, where he will play on a side with VJ, with Bellingham in the middle and Mbappe up top…like I said earlier, everyone else will be playing for second best in Europe…now there’s a team who understands when a window has closed and a new one needs to be opened, then they go all in
Trvl, if your ambition was to lay waste the facts are against you.
It doesn’t appear that the purchase of Havertz blocked any other potential signing, you’re indulging in make believe. Again.
Havertz adds value to the team, much like your former bete noires, Jorginho and Trossard, from the previous window. Accept the positives and move on.
If you’re speculating that we could have bought Mbappe, Bellingham, Davies and VJ, I’m not sure you’re in touch with the current market Trvl
Aitcho-facts are clearly not your forte, as we were a worse team, in certain key respects, than we were at the crucial halfway point of last season…after 19 games played, we had 10 more points(5 point lead in the standings), 4 more wins and had potted 9 more goals, yet MA still felt it pertinent to spend come January…unfortunately we failed to secure our top targets and had to settle for lesser options who didn’t really fit MA’s preferred script and/or get us our the proverbial hump…so why do you think, considering our inferior statistical numbers this season, we didn’t spend a plug nickel this January, when expectations were even higher, in light of our off-season spending spree and the still fresh memories of our cocking up late last season?…keeping in mind that the myth about our potentially debilatating FFP issues were being greatly exaggerated by every apologist blogger/media-type, just in case MA couldn’t convince Kroenke to dip his hand in his own pocket for once…regardless, if we hadn’t wasted so much on Havertz in the summer, which was clearly a luxury buy, we would have undoubtedly had the resources to make a significant move in the winter window and any excuses related to FFP or the like would have fallen on deaf ears
unfortunately, albeit not surprisingly, you’re responses reek of recency bias…to even suggest that our half measure/luxury buys have turned our proverbial tide belies logic…the fact that Jorginho has the odd influential performance or that Havertz actually appeared to contribute something in a one-sided victory against a lethargic opponent, in no way justifies these purchases…I dare you to even suggest that if we had simply kept Xhaka, then bought Rice and Timber, our present position in the standings would have been any different…in fact, we would likely be in better stead, with ample monies to spend in the last window
furthermore, I didn’t suggest that we could have acquired all 4 players in question, but if we were a serious team, with a serious world-class manager, I have no doubt in my mind that the likes of Davies and Bellingham wouldn’t have been out of our reach…do you really believe that if we had a Pep or Klopp at the helm these players wouldn’t seriously contemplate coming our way if monster offers and wages were in the offing? as for Mbappe, your managerial overlord, just a week or so ago, spoke specifically about him being on our recruitment radar…so are you suggesting that he’s as daft as you’re implying that I am? all in all, I guess it’s back to the kid’s table for you, where short pants and nonsensical talk are all the rage
Trvl
Too many ifs and ands in comments. Imagination and speculation are your forte.
Three points off top. Beaten both the top two. Knock outs of UCL. These are good metrics. Try smiling.
Tvrl, your talent ID is in bits. Jorgie, he’s played in our biggest wins this season and played well. Because he’s a good player. To pick up a balon D’or contender for less than 20 mill is shrewd in anyones book.
No, he didn’t block us from siging Messi.
Leo was cheap as well, he’s also delivered.
You might not like them because they’re not (insert mythical transfer here) but they’re good players.
Raya is an upgrade. Not a dramatic one, I concede but my needs are simple, I prefer upgrades. You should top.
More often than not, our transfers are working out now. Don’t let the fact we didn’t steal Messi from under Miami’s nose or whatever imagined transfer you think they blocked cloud your vision.
Cheers
we may be third but with our spend we should be. Klopp has Liverpool at No 1 having spent less. There are over achievers and under achievers – is El B the generational talent some say?
Norg
El B is overachieving failure with an exorbitant price tag so as to make his tomfoolery impressive. So Havertz at 65 m , but an atrocious wake of 250 per week with add -ons . That last shit takes the cake and makes Havertz unsellable .
Hoopah
It is the business model of AFC. Pay good to middling players super star contracts that nobody else can afford.
What must Saka think when he is playing on the pitch. ‘That guy who just fluffed a scoring opportunity I gave him will earn £100K mor than me this week’. Havertz will be the breeder of discontent unless all the other players are brought into line.
New post.