Champions League 2017/18

Leo · Oct 19, 2017

Dirk said:
I really hope that Celtic will reach #3 spot for the EL knockout rounds. Anderlecht shouldn't be a big problem..

Even before the first game was played, the Celtic fans I know were all basically saying 3rd spot and into the Europa League would be the aim. Should get it imo.

Pagnell · Oct 19, 2017

Good to see its not just against Liverpool that United play dour, insipid, shit looking football. But at least away in Europe they have an excuse, I suppose.

Stevencc · Oct 31, 2017

Stevencc · Oct 31, 2017

De Gea's hair is a complete and utter disgrace.

SALTIRE · Oct 31, 2017

Celtic had a sitter that was missed early on and its cost them. Bayern have just scored through Koman.

Super_horns · Oct 31, 2017

Oh dear - not a good night for Chelsea so far!

Dirk · Oct 31, 2017

SALTIRE said:
Celtic had a sitter that was missed early on and its cost them. Bayern have just scored through Koman.

It's Coman, Salty

. You still have the former Everton manager Koeman in mind, right?

Looked like a bit of a hand-play by Coman. Anyway. Bayern without Lewandowski, Müller. So no real striker. Kimmich and Hummels out too (resting for Saturday's Dortmund match?)

Pagnell · Oct 31, 2017

Roma ruining Chelsea's night.

mistermagic · Oct 31, 2017

Chelsea aren't very good but I'm not sure it's the players' fault. The formation simply doesn't fit the players. Fabregas is still completely and utterly useless in this 2-man midfield role he's having tonight with Bakayoko. Fabregas stays deep (very deep, he looks like a 4th CB at times) while Bakayoko is making the runs forward. It should be the other way around Antonio!
Pedro is also rubbish while anyone who's watched a bit of German football wouldn't be surprised at Rüdiger's shitness on Roma's second.

Chelsea need to replace Matic in January. It's that simple. Kante and Drinkwater aren't going to fix this. Saying this, I'd bring on Drinkwater and Willian at half-time. Azpilicueta almost got subbed by Zappacosta (who's also looked shit so far) but looks like the Spaniard is going to be ok.

Stevencc · Oct 31, 2017

https://streamable.com/hvwu4

The anus-fingering is towards the end.

DarkSithLord · Oct 31, 2017

Poor Mile Svilar..terrible luck. 1-0 United. This group is tragic.

SALTIRE · Oct 31, 2017

Dirk said:
It's Coman, Salty . You still have the former Everton manager Koeman in mind, right?

Looked like a bit of a hand-play by Coman. Anyway. Bayern without Lewandowski, Müller. So no real striker. Kimmich and Hummels out too (resting for Saturday's Dortmund match?)

I noticed that later on, but couldn't be arsed editing the post!

Celtic had two very good chances and restricted Bayern pretty well that half, though the goal they conceded was shoddy. Hope they can give them a game in the second half.

epic73 · Oct 31, 2017

Unlucky from Svilar, he's had a tough couple of matches.

Modernist · Oct 31, 2017

Roma was my banker tonight. Think Napoli will do Man city tomoz.

SALTIRE · Nov 1, 2017

Modernist said:
Think Napoli will do Man city tomoz.

That's a fair shout, City are due a bloody nose and Napoli at home are certainly capable of delivering it.

mistermagic · Nov 1, 2017

SALTIRE said:
That's a fair shout, City are due a bloody nose and Napoli at home are certainly capable of delivering it.

Really? City have shown no sign of regressing and are looking like the best team in Europe at this moment in time. Napoli showed their limitations at the game at Eastlands. Would be very surprised to see Napoli win tonight.

Chelsea's humiliation was complete yesterday. Conte still doesn't want to ditch the 343 and his subs were ineffective (if anything it made their overall performance worse). Perotti missed a sitter after his goal while Courtois made two very good saves to deny a even more serious rout.
I was thinking what kind of formation Conte could play and then realised that Chelsea don't have a proper left-winger. I would go 4411 with Hazard playing behind Morata/Michy with Willian on the right but have no idea who could play on the left. Marcos Alonso was good last season but this season he looks like Del Horno more than Ashley Cole. I still think that pairing Bakayoko and Kanté doesn't work as it's essentially the same player. Pedro and Fabregas need to be sold, they're just not good enough anymore (and Rüdiger never should have been bought but it's a bit early to get rid of him).

I'd go (4411): Courtois - Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill, Marcos Alonso - Willian, Bakayoko, Kanté, Morata - Hazard - Batshuayi.
And Chelsea need to buy a B2B midfielder and a left-winger in January. Otherwise Conte is on borrowed time.

Stevencc · Nov 1, 2017

That formation/lineup would be absolutely awful.

SALTIRE · Nov 1, 2017

On Napoli they started shoddily but as the game progressed they got better, more into the game and by the end City were hanging on. I think they can get at City tonight for sure.

mistermagic · Nov 1, 2017

Stevencc said:
That formation/lineup would be absolutely awful.

What great points you make sometimes, Steven. I bow to your superior footballing brain.
I miss the good old days when we could actually discuss tactics and views on the game and not every single thread was a morgue unless St Juste posted in it. This thread makes for horrible, horrible reading.

SALTIRE said:
On Napoli they started shoddily but as the game progressed they got better, more into the game and by the end City were hanging on. I think they can get at City tonight for sure.

Disagree. Napoli were outplayed for the first half hour and should have conceded much more. City just stopped playing which enabled Napoli back into the game.

Stevencc · Nov 1, 2017

mistermagic said:
What great points you make sometimes, Steven. I bow to your superior footballing brain.
I miss the good old days when we could actually discuss tactics and views on the game and not every single thread was a morgue unless St Juste posted in it. This thread makes for horrible, horrible reading.

Disagree. Napoli were outplayed for the first half hour and should have conceded much more. City just stopped playing which enabled Napoli back into the game.

We can discuss it if you like.

You've got David Luiz in a back four which is just complete suicide and fundamentally wrong. You are expecting Cahill to be superman.

Playing your best striker not only out wide but wide in a 4 man midfield line (therefore deeper than a wide player in a 433) is a baffling decision that seems almost completely designed to nullify his threat.

Besides that you reckon Chelsea don't have a decent left winger when Hazard is one of the very finest left wingers in world football. Him also being fantastic when deployed centrally doesn't change that. Pedro isn't finished, he has been one of Chelsea's best attacking threats so far this season. I personally prefer Willian but Pedro is an excellent option.

You are also playing the same central midfield pairing that isn't cutting it as of right now - in one of the most important areas of the pitch.

Finally, you've got the definition of an all-out wing back on the same side of the pitch as your striker that is being shunted out wide. Willian tracks back well and Azpilicueta is basically a centre back now, but an excellent defensive full back nonetheless. It's very lopsided and would invite attack after attack.

mistermagic · Nov 1, 2017

Stevencc said:
We can discuss it if you like.

You've got David Luiz in a back four which is just complete suicide and fundamentally wrong. You are expecting Cahill to be superman.

Playing your best striker not only out wide but wide in a 4 man midfield line (therefore deeper than a wide player in a 433) is a baffling decision that seems almost completely designed to nullify his threat.

Besides that you reckon Chelsea don't have a decent left winger when Hazard is one of the very finest left wingers in world football. Him also being fantastic when deployed centrally doesn't change that. Pedro isn't finished, he has been one of Chelsea's best attacking threats so far this season. I personally prefer Willian but Pedro is an excellent option.

You are also playing the same central midfield pairing that isn't cutting it as of right now - in one of the most important areas of the pitch.

Finally, you've got the definition of an all-out wing back on the same side of the pitch as your striker that is being shunted out wide. Willian tracks back well and Azpilicueta is basically a centre back now, but an excellent defensive full back nonetheless. It's very lopsided and would invite attack after attack.

I would have put someone else but just reckon David Luiz is an even better CB than Rüdiger is (yes, Rüdiger is that bad). Saying this, I do rate Christensen so I'd probably put him next to Cahill. That wouldn't make that bad a CB pairing would it?

I do realise that Morata wasn't bought to play on the wing but sometimes strikers do that to accomodate the squad (Rooney played quite a lot of game on the LW irrc). Hazard on the wing is ok but he's fundamentally too good to play there and should be the essence of Chelsea's attack. Playing in this second striker position would enable him to go where the action is. I think it's best that he plays there for the following reason:

Chelsea essentially have no one doing the link between midfield and attack. They have not one player who is able to play and get the ball between those two lines of the opposition. No disrespect to Morata and Michy but I reckon Hazard is the best player to do that. I concur that it forces Conte to play Bakayoko next to Kanté (two defensive-minded midfielders) but what other choice does he have? He can't play Fabregas because he's shit.

We disagree on Pedro.

I think we can agree to disagree on certain positions but I think we can agree that Chelsea need to be a couple of midfielders in January.

Stevencc · Nov 1, 2017

mistermagic said:
I would have put someone else but just reckon David Luiz is an even better CB than Rüdiger is (yes, Rüdiger is that bad). Saying this, I do rate Christensen so I'd probably put him next to Cahill. That wouldn't make that bad a CB pairing would it?

I do realise that Morata wasn't bought to play on the wing but sometimes strikers do that to accomodate the squad (Rooney played quite a lot of game on the LW irrc). Hazard on the wing is ok but he's fundamentally too good to play there and should be the essence of Chelsea's attack. Playing in this second striker position would enable him to go where the action is. I think it's best that he plays there for the following reason:

Chelsea essentially have no one doing the link between midfield and attack. They have not one player who is able to play and get the ball between those two lines of the opposition. No disrespect to Morata and Michy but I reckon Hazard is the best player to do that. I concur that it forces Conte to play Bakayoko next to Kanté (two defensive-minded midfielders) but what other choice does he have? He can't play Fabregas because he's shit.

We disagree on Pedro.

I think we can agree to disagree on certain positions but I think we can agree that Chelsea need to be a couple of midfielders in January.

I have to say that I haven't seen much of Christensen but I know that he is highly regarded and that a lot of Chelsea fans seem to want to see him integrated into the main side.

I've never been a Rooney fan but he is more versatile than Morata is - I'd play him upfront or nowhere really. I realise that he has played wide to accommodate better players before but if the only competition is Batshuayi than I don't see the need to shift him around.

I can agree with you on Hazard being played centrally, he's fantastic there and definitely Chelsea's best player. If Chelsea were to build a formation around anyone it should be him.

Chelsea definitely lack central mids for a Conte system, yeah - it makes the decision to sanction Matic's sale to United all the more difficult to understand. If he is still around in January he will almost certainly look to address that. Probably a striker as well - Batshuayi isn't bad but Conte doesn't seem to fancy him at all and Morata can't do it all every week.

mistermagic · Nov 1, 2017

Not sure what I'd do if I were Roman tbh. On paper, Chelsea look decent but that defeat will probably make a lot of people open their eyes on their lack of decent play in most of their games. I reckon Conte will still be there but they'll have a to grind out another few wins à la Bournemouth last weekend.
Oh and they need to see out qualification to the CL KO stage. Otherwise, he's on borrowed time.

snortingfrogs · Nov 1, 2017

Al starting tonight.

JoshBCFC · Nov 1, 2017

snortingfrogs said:
Al starting tonight.

You mean this fella?

Benji · Nov 1, 2017

Seems crazy how suspect Real Madrid have been this season considering the mood of Barcelona and Madrid going into the season. Why do all four of Tottenham's full backs seem to be the best in the world?

mistermagic · Nov 1, 2017

Their midfield has been rubbish. Modric, Kroos and Isco have had zero positionnal sense all of the first half and Spurs have been able to worry RM's backline without too much trouble.

Saying this, Trippier was offside on the goal.

Stevencc · Nov 1, 2017

I'm aware that I might be jinxing things here, hopeful even, but City are bloody good this season. Depressingly so.

Stevencc · Nov 1, 2017

Pep would kill for an atmosphere like this at the Etihad, though.

mistermagic · Nov 1, 2017

Stevencc said:
I'm aware that I might be jinxing things here, hopeful even, but City are bloody good this season. Depressingly so.

Not watching the City game but with RM being a bit shit so far this season and probably not that keen on winning it 3 times in a row, City winning the CL looks like a distinct possibility.

Then again, it's the CL so maybe a shit side like Liverpool may fluke it.

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Champions League 2017/18

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