FFS, thatās why he shouldnāt have played and at the very least should have been hooked at HT, he is incapable of making his own chances in big games, if we had Stokes, Watt or even Miku up there tonight they would have caused the Juventus defence some problems. Iām absolutely disgusted at Lennon. Hooper is lazy, he doesnāt want to press and is not interested in competing aerially, he is one dimensional and is not very good technically. But thatās not my main gripe, Lennon persisting with him irrespective of the circumstances is galling.
This needs to be stressed to the likes of fingal raven. Sure Ryan Giggs probably has as many champions leagues medals as the whole juve team put together.
The inclusion of ambrose and the loss of samaras decided the match
Think Forster is right not to over commit for the first goal but his starting position was poor. Heās only a tiny bit to blame but he needs to be off his line anticipating a mistake the same way Wilson should have. Not miles off but 5 yards would have done.
Why do the Brits get so uptight about tight marking at set plays? Excellent defending by Juventus tonight on set plays. The British game is soft. Brian Kerr is destroying Hartson here.
[quote=āPiles Hussain, post: 736920, member: 363ā]Is Hooper the tubby lad who was pissing around with Liechtenstein for the 65āsā
Gulf in class too wide lads. Celtic have been good value in this competition but its time for the serious teams to conduct the serious business.[/quote]
Besides Traore on Liverpools run to the champions league final in 2005 I cant think of a worse player than Ambrose to play at these stages of the champions league.He is beyond useless.
Efe, Efe, Efe, Efeā¦ignorant comments questioning his ability - it was simply a case of Neil Lennon making a serious error in selecting him but heās a talented player. What do you want at this stage in this elite competition from your central defenders? Maximum concentration and focus. How could he possibly be mentally, never mind physically, ready having played the AFCON final in Johannesburg on Sunday night and having arrived back to Glasgow this morning? Culpable for the first and third goals and missed a sitter at 0-1. This isnāt a question of being wise after the event - I didnāt include him in my preferred team and registered my astonishment at his selection. To sum up, it was a gamble that we didnāt have to make - we could have played Mulgrew centre back instead of him with Ledley in midfield or Matthews right back and Lustig centre back instead of him. We had other options.
I thought Juventus were really really good this evening, they are such a well balanced team and very adaptable to whoever they play. I also happen to think Conte is probably the shrewdest tactician since Sacchi. The temperament of this Juventus side is also something to behold, guys like Barzagli, Pirlo and Buffon are ice cool and donāt feel pressure. itās a North Italian thing. Lesser teams like Barcelona have come to Celtic Park this season and been bowled over, not thing classy Italian outfit however.
+1. Mourinho had Chelsea defending in a similiar fashion. Vidic does the same at United. Contrast that with how Agger lost his man against West Brom on Monday night.
Thought Izzy was our best player tonight with Commons not far behind. The absence of Samaras was keenly felt and I find Tottiās persistent criticism of Hooper beyond bizarre.
I found the fact that you and Rocko thought Hooper played well in the first half flabbergasting. Rockoās response to what Hooper was contributing was āoccupying defendersā. Thatās like the kind of rationalising some inbred politician from South Kerry would come out with. Itās not the first time Hooper has seen out a game where he has been beyond appalling, my main gripe would be with Lennon on this one as well. Lennon has persistently stuck with Hooper over better strikers like Stokes and Watt, irrespective of injuries, form, tactics, conditioning.
