So plenty has been said and written about last nights defeat, some of which may or may not have been covered and discussed on various articles already, but hereās my take on it.
āIām proud of them.... they were heroes....ā
Heard Poch has come out with this last night... I canāt agree with this at all. Yes Barca were very good yesterday and Iāll come on to that later, but we are a good team too, with all due respect weāre not some minnow like Omonia Nicosia or Dundee whoāve qualified for the CL against all odds, so Iād hardly call narrowly avoiding getting hammered as some heroic feat. Our heads didnāt drop and we kept fighting, but those are prerequisites in my opinion, so less of that please.
Thereās levels to this:
If that wasnāt evident against City on both occasions last season then it was clear to see last night. Wanyama, Winks, Sanchez and Dier are too slow in thought and execution when it comes to receiving and using the ball, hence why they kept losing the ball or taking ages to spot and then play an incisive pass. Borderline criminal that we didnāt address this in the summer. Once again Kieran āmore potential than Walkerā Trippier flattered to deceive when it mattered. The acres of space Davies was left and failed to ever utilise said plenty, the 4 minute spell in the second half when nobody would or could get the ball out to him said even more
Lloris:
Facking howler for the first goal, that much is clear. But why does he get apportioned with the blame despite wherever he may be in the chain? If he gives the ball to the opponent, gets beaten at his near post or doesnāt punch it clear he gets blamed - fine. But yesterday he got blamed for the 4th goal because Sissoko lost the ball from Trippierās pass and our CBās left Messi with a one-on-one
Arthur, Rakitic, Busquets and Alba:
Class. Barca were chasing Arthur for several months and itās clear to see why, slotted in there seamlessly as if heād been there for ages as opposed to this summer, at one point in the first half he looked trapped by two of our players not too far from the touchline and deep in their half and he somehow wriggled out of it with the ball, had those around me all go āoooooh" and applaud him. Busquets? 67/67 passes completed although thatās hardly a surprise for him. On any given night, Rakiticās absolute stunner would get all the headlines while Alba has energy for days and quality to back it up. Far from just a one-man band that beat us, however...
... the master at work:
On the tube home I heard one bloke tell his mate that Messiās performance āmust be what bondage is like, because we got absolutely spanked but I kind of enjoyed it in a perverse way" which had me in stitches, but itās (probably) true! He just had his way with us and there was nothing we could do about it. Seeing him on TV was one thing, but watching him play live was a privilege. He was deep in the first half combining with the midfield, then went wide early on in the second half, then went central later on as we chased the game and it opened up. Wengerās playstation comment about him came apparent watching such brilliance at work. Definitely one of those āI was thereā moments for me. A timely reminder to the pundits and players who dared to state that Hazard is on his level now.
Lessons need to be learnt from that defeat and what we need to do to try and reduce the gap to the elite, time will tell whether Poch, Levy and some of the players were taking notes or not.
About last night...
posted on 4/10/18
comment by JustCallMeTed (U21528)
posted 13 minutes ago
If Lloris hadn't gifted them a goal after 2 minutes, and Danny Rose was playing instead of useless Davies, and Aurier was playing instead of snail-pace Trippier, it might have been a different game.
Even without Alli and Eriksen.
I think they had a couple of key players missing too.
So.... it was a good game to watch.
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Not sure about that. If we had all our top players playing then maybe. Aurier has started this season well but I wouldn't have put it past him to be made to look foolish by this Barca team.
posted on 4/10/18
comment by Edbo (U17933)
posted 1 hour, 10 minutes ago
That line about Messi
Completely agree though, people are saying that’s one of his best ever performances.
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Yeah, while I was watching I was wondering if I was making it out to be overly-brilliant just to fit my own agenda, so reading all the reports today online reaffirmed just how good he was last night.
posted on 4/10/18
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 4/10/18
I'm no expert, but why didn't lloris come off his line for the 4th goal when he was 1 on 1 with Messi?
posted on 4/10/18
Messi would have dinked it over him if he had. Or just feint and send him awol again and tap it into an empty net.
posted on 4/10/18
comment by Ledders the King - 2017/18 FF Enders league champion š (U20121)
posted 5 minutes ago
Messi would have dinked it over him if he had. Or just feint and send him awol again and tap it into an empty net.
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Just would have made him look more foolish.
Stop searching for what ifs spurs, you cane up against a truly great team and we’re beaten. No shame at all. You aren’t nearly as good..arsenal weren’t for many years either and got ranked. So did we. Completely tanked in one sided finals. A Barca with Messi are miles better than premier league opponents.
posted on 4/10/18
comment by Baz tard (U19119)
posted 15 minutes ago
comment by Ledders the King - 2017/18 FF Enders league champion š (U20121)
posted 5 minutes ago
Messi would have dinked it over him if he had. Or just feint and send him awol again and tap it into an empty net.
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Just would have made him look more foolish.
Stop searching for what ifs spurs, you cane up against a truly great team and we’re beaten. No shame at all. You aren’t nearly as good..arsenal weren’t for many years either and got ranked. So did we. Completely tanked in one sided finals. A Barca with Messi are miles better than premier league opponents.
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Although if anything the scoreline flattered Spurs we still managed to give them a bit of a scare without several of our top boys and I'd like to think that with Eriksen, Dele, Verts, Dembele and Rose starting we would of given a much better account of ourselves. I don't think thats searching for what ifs I think its a reasonable assumption.
I'm also pretty sure if Gaz had started instead of Hugo we wouldn't of given them a goal head start.
posted on 4/10/18
comment by PawlBawron (U1055)
posted 9 minutes ago
comment by Baz tard (U19119)
posted 15 minutes ago
comment by Ledders the King - 2017/18 FF Enders league champion š (U20121)
posted 5 minutes ago
Messi would have dinked it over him if he had. Or just feint and send him awol again and tap it into an empty net.
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Just would have made him look more foolish.
Stop searching for what ifs spurs, you cane up against a truly great team and we’re beaten. No shame at all. You aren’t nearly as good..arsenal weren’t for many years either and got ranked. So did we. Completely tanked in one sided finals. A Barca with Messi are miles better than premier league opponents.
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Although if anything the scoreline flattered Spurs we still managed to give them a bit of a scare without several of our top boys and I'd like to think that with Eriksen, Dele, Verts, Dembele and Rose starting we would of given a much better account of ourselves. I don't think thats searching for what ifs I think its a reasonable assumption.
I'm also pretty sure if Gaz had started instead of Hugo we wouldn't of given them a goal head start.
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Full squad, they’d still have won. They also had players out. Just accept a better team came and beat you. They are a level up from the premier league, and you have a good account of yourselves..
posted on 5/10/18
Absolutely would have been a different game with a full team out. Aurier, Rose, Verts, Dembele, Dier, Eriksen and Ali would have seen a different outcome I am certain of that. As Ace said Messi had so much room in the middle of the pitch, it was too easy.
posted on 5/10/18
just seen this. Good article, Ledders 5