AS Monaco (A) | CL | Post Match Thread

[IcriedwhenTueartleft]

Some think this isn't a penalty

That's from the wrong angle & makes it look far worse than it was

 

[Burtonblue]

Turd referee.. not a pen at all. Face hits foot, not foot hits face!

Haaland awesome.

Gvardiol with a fucking mare.. and if we play Trafford, he saves Monaco's first goal!!!

No chance Trafford or any keeper stops that

 

[cookster]

View attachment 171124

From the start of the second half until the substitutions, Monaco had their most sustained amount of pressure. We weren't in control at that point - Rodri was isolated & lagging, our passing was poor. The subs improved us and brought stability - his issue was he didn't go far enough & change the system, and/or take Bernardo off. Even then, we had chances to score.

Improved us from 2-1 to 2-2.
Anymore stats that "improved" the scoreline?

 

[roach3]

I thought we controlled that completely, just the same old issue for us, the soft underbelly.

They just sat back knowing they can’t outplay us so they just waited for us to lose possession and break at speed.
The fact we mainly just knocked it one side to the other was a bonus for them.
Very disappointed with that performance
Had me believing recently that the side to side shit was finished.
Doku never got much change, Bernardo may aswell just be a wall as soon as you pass to him he gives it you back sometimes when the defender wasn’t expecting it.
Anyway no point in over anaylising it
Shit performance shit ref Monaco players diving cunts we move on.

 

[Craig]

I’d argue Ait Nouri is quicker than O’Riley. Not sure where this myth that Gvardiol is slow has come from. He’s not rapid but he’s quicker than CB’s we’ve had in the past who’ve successfully defending a high line

It’s not a myth, he’s just not quick. Might look a bit quicker next to Dias! Alt Nouri is a brilliant footballer but very suspect defensively. One of the reasons is he’s not got good recovery pace. Over any kind of distance more than 15 yards O’Riley blitzes him. Not truro say he’s rapid either

 

[Blue and still suffering]

Frustrating performance, enough chances to win it by three or four. Also Pep was wearing a jacket which is never a good sign.

 

[waspish]

He was poor tonight but the amount of space bernardo had, you give that to doku and we are creating multiple more chances

Silva has all the space because the world knows he goes backwards passes it back if you just close him down now if Bob was there they’d be worried! Silva is good if we up by 2 clear goals he is to safe passive like stones is Dias is

 

[Sleeping_Easy]

Statement of the obvious I'd say. A frustrating game because we should have won that but on the other hand, I thought we performed a lot better than we did last season in Europe.

I think some of you think we are Champions League winners, and PL Champions, and you expect us to win every week. The reality is we have to rebuild and there are lots of good signs this season.

100% agree with this. I understand the teams over the last 4/5 years before last season have set certain standards but we’re going through a transition. There’s a lot to be positive about with this group of players. 6 unbeaten with 4 wins from what looked a tough run of games before it started.

The players and Pep will know where we’ve gone wrong tonight and that’s evidenced by Haalands interview. It comes down to do you believe this squad is good enough to turn the corner and get back to where we were.

 

[I'm Blue]

Well said Erling.
A winners mentality right there.

 

[cleavers]

You've hit the nail on the head "safe". It's boring as fuck, Nobody willing to take risks with the ball. We were happy to pass it around at a very slow tempo and not go and kill them off.

Yet we played into their hands, clear as day Monaco just wanted to stay in the game up until the last 10 mins and try get a smash and grab which happened.

Without sounding entitled, Monaco are fucking gash, we should be beating these teams. Just kill the fucking game off and stop fucking about.

Trouble is at 2-1 up it's never "safe", it takes a moment.

 

[shemnel]

I'm not sure that Pep sees them competing with each other. Think he'll like Cherki out wide

I think if we had stronger options wide right, like Bobb kicking on, I think Cherki would be heavily considered for Reijnders position if fit, but I take your point.

 

[Earlyriser]

Give him a chance.

He has pace but not sure he can defend after WCC

 

[Citizen of Legoland]

Frustrating performance, enough chances to win it by three or four. Also Pep was wearing a jacket which is never a good sign.

Off to the casino straight after work?

 

[BlueMonkey79]

I reffed for five years. The discretion part is key and I disagree about Nico “ticking the boxes”. How the ref can rule that a foul AFTER seeing the replay is a mistake on nearly ALL those fronts IMO.

In Europe a studs up ankle height challenge is a free kick.

It's a huge risk raising your foot that high in the box. IMO you're running the huge risk of committing a penalty.

It's a poor decision by Nico

 

[dadnlad]

That's from the wrong angle & makes it look far worse than it was

cheers dermott :)

 

[Citizen of Legoland]

Trouble is at 2-1 up it's never "safe", it takes a moment.

Or a brown envelope.

 

[TonyM]

That’s true re shots, but tonight I’m more minded to blame the ref over our own manager.

I’d rank my “blame” for tonight in this order:
1.The ref
2.Their cheating, diving, faking, fouling players
3. Our players (not converting enough chances and a high kick in the box)
4. Our manager (maybe, though I’m not quite sure why)

I don't get it with the terrible /corrupt ref accusations. I'm sure we've had far worse many times.

A high boot is a free. If it was the attacker it'd definitely be a free out. So as it was our player defending then a penalty seems appropriate.

The ref gave them a lot but we were silly many times too with flailing arms to faces. Again we aren't averse to go down easy either.

I'd put most of this on Pep's tactics. The players didn't play badly but there wasn't enough desire and imo that is up to the manager to make happen.

Our season was always going to depend on whether Pep found a new approach. Some things seem better but some just the same.

I just hope that Pep at least is trying to fix the tactics and not just putting it down to the players eventually improving themselves.

 

[Kippax77]

It isn’t though is it? Doesn’t matter what it’s supposed to be because the rules are used differently in Europe and it’s not even something anyone can rationally debate. Ball touches a defenders hand in Europe and they give a pen almost every time. It’s bullshit but it’s what happens

Just to clarify then football is played with different rules dependant on which part of the world you are?

 

[Big Joe Corrigan]

He has pace but not sure he can defend after WCC

It’s too early to say really, hopefully he comes good.

 

[mattyads]

I disagree completely on Ait Nouri, he’s got good pace. Gvardiol isn’t rapid but he’s god a decent turn of pace. As for Khusanov not being a RB, no he’s not and his long term future is at CB but he’s good enough to play RB.

I think the defence needs work but to call it a mess is a bit of an exaggeration.

I guess speed is subjective to a point, I’ve never watched ait nouri and thought there’s a defender with pace and great powers of recovery.

I see player who’s nice on the ball in tight areas, who is regularly caught of position, and often struggles to recover.

Not slow, but not quick. Anyway he didn’t play, so it’s a mute point really.

The defence isn’t great, it really isn’t. CB’s at RB, CM at RB or LB, it’s not good enough.it won’t win you trophies.