Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbooooooooooooooooooooyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttttttttaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
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Bo Selecta!!!
Commons came on for Ciftci and Boyata headed home his corner.
I feel partially vindicated. And a little robbed tbpfh.
Forrest sounds like he has been rubbish.
The late goal and fatigue was always likely, pal.
Hereâs the goal for you to enjoy:
https://video-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hvideo-xpt1/v/t42.1790-2/11755253_10153523457751310_1758657714_n.mp4?efg=eyJybHIiOjc1NCwicmxhIjo1MTJ9&rl=754&vabr=419&oh=73ff4a7b04ec6fb9c6369eea0f7f0526&oe=55B95E7F
That defending was as shoddy as the camerawork.
What kind of a sad cunt goes to a match, records a corner, then uploads on the spot. FFS spent the whole match recording no doubt.
So the forum has been waiting all evening for my thoughts.
We started that game really well. Dominated the first 20 minutes, had a few half chances, nothing clear-cut but we owned the ball and had a decent tempo, just unlucky with a few breaks not falling our way and a few passes poorly executed. For the second quarter it was more even. We were still the better team (we were on top for the whole game really) but the pace was a bit slower. And a few performances went to shit during this period.
After the break we picked up the pace again and caused them a few problems before letting the tempo drop as it went on and again it became more even, though we were making all the chances and had all the useful possession. Couple of very good chances in the second half for Ciftci and the one for Van Dijk that was a fantastic save from their keeper.
The goal came after the subs came on. Forrest added a bit of direct running on the right (no harm for him to come off the bench when at least he can get direct instructions into his head because heâs often braindead). Commons came on, whipped in the corner and Boyata ghosted in to bury it.
After that we seemed to settle for 1-0. Griffiths ran it into the corner a couple of times, and we actually looked a bit confused on whether we were trying to kill the game or not and that confusion nearly gifted them the ball in dangerous areas once or twice.
Summary:
- Result isnât great
- Clean sheet was very important
- Deserved to win
- A 2 goal victory would have been a much fairer reflection on the play
They are a reasonable team but not much more. They had a baldy lad Almeda in the middle of the park who was useful in keeping the ball. They had a little Spaniard, Quintana who dropped off their Brazilian striker and looked to play a few passes but didnât achieve much. Two wingers drifted in field lots but didnât really create much from there.
Neither full back looked much use at all. Their younger centre back made a few very timely interventions. Older lad wasnât great. As a team they are very small. We won every kick out from either keeper pretty much and had the goal, the Van Dijk chance from corners and a few knock downs from Lustig and Griffiths that might have caused them problems.
Player Ratings:
Gordon - 6. Not much to do at all. Only tested once and that was a very unorthodox save from a free kick that dipped in dangerously (might have been a cross).
Lustig - 7. Much better. Kept the ball well, dominated his man and was a threat going forward
Boyata - 8. Strolled it. Took his goal well.
Virgil - 8. Strolled it too. Silly enough but probably harsh booking. Unlucky not to score at least once. Hit one cracking shot from 30 yards+ that fizzed just over.
Izaguirre - 5. Very worrying. He was infinitely better in the second half while still being poor. Picked up a stupid booking that wasnât far off a red card. Far too slow to get forward and yet still managed to get caught ahead of the ball whenever they had it. Brown overhit 4 passes to him in the first half, all because Izaguirre wouldnât make a run. A bit better second half but not great at all.
Bitton - 9. Best player in the world, bar none. A class act.
Brown - 7.5. Drove forward impressively, kept the pace up, passing let him down a few times. Good performance though.
Armstrong - 6. Not awful, just didnât happen for him. Few good runs but the ball just didnât reach him and he was crowded out much of the time.
Johansen - 6. See Armstrong
GMS - 7. Bit more lively than his partners and did some really good defensive work near the end.
Ciftci - 6. Decent chance in the second half on his left foot that came unexpectedly and was unlucky to hit the keeper on his spinning shot. Good headed chance too that he put a couple of yards wide. Worked hard, did better pressing than expected. Just didnât really look like scoring.
SUBS
Forrest - 6.5. One of his better cameos. Lost the ball a couple of times but actually won it back each time and tracked back impressively in his time on the pitch. Ran at his man and looked like he was causing them problems
Griffiths - 6.5 Looked sharp again. Few touches that were close to creating chances. Won a bit of ball against their smaller defenders.
Commons - 6.5 Didnât get long but still got the assist and had another shot - not a great one, but we probably lack that a bit when itâs Johansen in the hole.
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Izzy tends to start seasons off slowly, we definitely need another left back though, I donât think either Lustig or Janko will be at all comfortable covering there and Mulgrew is too slow to play full back.
Lee Chinâs cousin more than likely, open a fucking takeway and weâll give u a game
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Boyata kinda took out the ball boy with his knee slide celebration:
@Rocko, consensus elsewhere doesnât have us as being that dominant. I also heard Forrest was pathetic. Please comment.
People elsewhere arenât as savvy as I.
I approached the game with a feeling of nervousness based on their pedigree. I didnât think weâd just steamroller them. We didnât. But we created all the good chances in the match (3 really good chances - 2 headers and 1 for Ciftci) and most of the half chances (Ciftci header, Ciftci sliding shot, Commons shot, some scrambles around the goalmouth). They had one half chance - a shot from the edge of the box that went high and wide. They had one free kick that nearly fluked in but wasnât really a chance and they had an opportunity in the first half where they had numbers on us after a deflection broke for their winger but his cross was overhit.
Aside from the chances, Bitton and Brown were dominant in midfield. Their Almeda lad played well but they had a #2 playing as his midfield partner who was sitting almost in line with the centre backs and Almeda wasnât much further forward. So they were useful on the ball in a containment way but they werenât threatening. And some of that was from our high work rate. We did let the attacking tempo drop a few times but generally we were quick enough on the ball and we were careful about not getting caught ahead of the ball so we were quick to retreat any time they got it - hence they didnât really do an awful lot.
It wasnât a magnificent performance. It was better than either leg against Legia or either leg against Maribor last season. Also better than either leg in both years against Icelandic opposition. There was a bit of caution about our play, and I think that frustrated some people but a clean sheet is really important. Our away performances against Legia and Maribor were appalling so we need to avoid that, but I think it suits us to go there with a clean sheet and not with the false hope of a return leg to come. We simply arenât going to be overturning 2 or 3 goal deficits at home. The Karagandy game a couple of years ago has probably given people false expectations on how these ties should play out.
Forrest wasnât a superstar when he came on but he beat his full back 3 times, once leaving him for dust. He had one poor cross but it was a bouncing volley type cross he had to execute. Couple of other crosses that didnât connect but they werenât bad - just pull backs that didnât pick anyone out. Importantly, he did some defensive work which is rare for him. He won the ball back each time he lost it and even got back when he wasnât at fault and helped Lustig out a couple of times. I still donât think heâll recover to be a decent player for us, I just thought he was ok last night. And more effective than Armstrong who did make good runs but who just didnât get the run of the ball at all and never caused them any problems as a result.
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Is the second leg confirmed on tv? After Celtic pulled the plug at the last minute for the first leg I hope they havenât pissed off the host broadcasters too much.
After yesterdayâs game Deila said that Mulgrew wonât be ready, Lustig should be ok - heâs just limited to one game per week, Bitton and Griffiths should be fine, Commons canât start but will be in the squad.
BT Sports @ 5.15pm
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Mulgrew hasnât travelled with the team. Bitton and Griffiths havenât trained but are still expected to be ok.
Their pitch is apparently in awful condition and the game is in a bit of doubt. Iâm sure it will end up going ahead but sounds like weâre going to be playing on very little grass.
Hail Hail