@thedancingbaby was up with the suits that night, not with the Baileys swilling plebs behind the goal.
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Jeff Schlupp has a huge game tonight. Tierney will be a good back up for him next season all going well.
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That was tough luck on Glasgow Celtic. They were the better team on the night and should have advanced really.
Yep, Hatate was absolutely bolloxed. Although he got a second wind in the League Cup Final & was Celtic’s best player in extra time that day. That might have been on Rodgers’ mind as I don’t think he wanted to take off McGregor or Engels. A fresh McCowan would have offered more though. We didn’t really carry much luck over the tie alright with the Engels penalty incident & Kuhn’s offside goal in the first match too.
As long as we beat the huns I’m happy. That’s probably the wrong attitude. Great performance tonight. Outstanding. I’m sickened tbh.
Yeah he was brilliant.
That’s a very strong starting eleven. Idah was a fine sub to come on. Beyond that we need depth.
Tierney, another winger/striker and another midfielder would be big additions.
Not sure about defence - depends possibly on whether Tierney can cover centre back too. Scales is probably in the McCowan and Ralston (and Forrest) camp - good to have in the squad for domestic rotation and emergencies but can’t be playing regularly in the big games.
Probably harsh but Could Carter vickers have done better with clearance for the Bayern goal? Seems to get caught under his own feet
Aside from maybe lying on the ball to try prevent Davies from shooting I’m not sure there’s much more he could’ve done there. Strangely enough trapping that ball between his two legs may have prevented the goal or at least delayed it.
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I don’t think we trust anyone else to play his defensive role either. Although he doesn’t sprint much off the ball he presses the centre backs and then retreats all the way to sit in front of the back four. It’s quite a specialised role and McCowan has never done that. Engels probably can, but as you say I don’t think Rodgers wanted to move him because he’s part of a defensive duo with McGregor.
If we can’t bring McCowan on in a game like that then we need to add another midfielder. Not to say McCowan doesn’t have a role but it’s more a Scales and Ralston role as I astutely observed just above.
That was sickening. You just can’t get away with those missed chances at this level sadly
Think it’s complicated because it’s central and he’s coming back to the ball straight on. Bar doing a Cryuff turn or something I’m not sure he could do anything else other than try lash it away. He had a yard on Davies but he was maybe on his heels slightly & that was costly.
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Yeah he was a little flat footed but he didn’t know what way it was going to break in fairness. Another couple of yards out and he could have lifted it over the bar anyway. I think he was wary of an own goal I scored for TFK AFC before after you spilled a penalty save so he had to try and sweep it away to the side.
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You tucked that rebound away very calmly actually.
Yeah Hatate becomes the second forward when Celtic don’t have the ball & we defend in a 442 with him pressing onto the right centre back & then dropping back. But I think games take on a life of their own & the level of intensity & physicality & fatigue means you need to make changes, even if they’re not ideal. I think he only brought on Idah & Yang which speaks to the lack of sufficient depth alright. It’s still a bit mad that they didn’t replace Kyogo.
A Nat Phillips in the San Siro circa December 2021 like manoeuvre. As I said above, the first thought I had was that he nearly could’ve trapped the ball between his legs and forced Davies to have to kick him/the ball to force it in to the goal. In *GAA such a move would result in a penalty but I imagine no such rule exists in association football. A loophole as such.
*Unless you’re Dónal Óg Cusack in the last minute of the 2007 All-Ireland hurling quarter-final.
I think I get what you mean. Almost kneel down with the ball trapped between your arse & thighs.
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It would have been a hop ball on the goal line. Serious drama
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Fair play to Brendan Rodgers and Celtic. Overall an excellent campaign. They were unlucky against Bayern and overall somewhat lucky in the Atlanta result. Serious progression from the side and to compete against Bayern given the respective budgets is some accomplishment. I think you might be a bit harsh on Scales @Rocko considering his performance away to Atlanta? He (like Idah) is improving as a player under Rodgers and no reason why that improvement cannot continue.
Looking to the medium term I wonder if a breakaway league featuring some of Europe’s top teams (excluding the EPL) might be coming closer to fruition. The disparity in TV revenue between EPL and the rest is not sustainable. That’s been the case for a long time but I think change may happen soon.
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Lovely moments between the two former Man City keepers
Scales has had a huge improvement over the last 24 months and has been much better this season than last (apart from a horror show against the huns).
But I don’t think he’ll ever be at the level where we trust him on the ball on the halfway line with a huge space behind him in Europe.
I thought Trusty was very good last night. He defended really well and he was sprinting off the ball to make angles for passes to alllow us to keep possession at the back - first time I’ve seen him doing that but it was very effective.
I think McCowan and Scales are important squad players, and probably a notch above Ralston in fairness. But I don’t see them in our strongest eleven and that’s just a reflection of our improvement and where we want to get to.
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Agree re Scales. Also his distribution is slow still, predictable and he seems especially susceptible to an aggressive press.