Atalanta CL (H) Post Match Thread

[borassic]

Thought Mendy was really good last night after a shaky start

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Walker was absolutely dreadful last night.

Yes he was. In my original post I caveated the intensity reference by saying he is an injury or red card waiting to happen.

 

[OB1]

I obviously can't agree with the prophet of doom, as even Pep has highlighted concerns when we are still winning games.

There were positives in my post for Raheem, Foden Ederson, even Walker's intensity.

Outside of that, the scoreline masked continued deficiencies at both ends for us. The success of the two previous seasons were predicated on having total control of the game.

I've not felt we have had control for a while this season, even when Laporte was fit.

That's down the 'boxes' issue Pep has raised. Sergio missed two clear chances last night before we went a goal behind. At Palace, we miss chance after chance (same as Everton) and Ederson is needed to come to the rescue.

Things like I'm pointing out are only where I think we still have improvement in us. The deficiencies are there, they will only become more apparent when we play better opponents.

At least we can see Mendy is a problem.

We had plenty of control at Palace. Yes they had an inevitable late flurry because we had not out the game to bed with our finishing but their best chance was from their only corner and Eddie did his job.

 

[David Kloppesh]

Yes he was. In my original post I caveated the intensity reference by saying he is an injury or red card waiting to happen.

Watch his movement and reaction when Atalanta had their chance in the first half, header over the goal chance...
So non-fucking-chalant, it made my blood boil.

 

[Burtonblue]

Thought Mendy was really good last night after a shaky start

Well you must have been watching another game mate.
He was a complete liability in possession and without the ball.
Other than that he was pretty good.

 

[dadnlad]

Cant be offside from a goal kick either, just to add to your increasing wealth of knowledge.-)

sorry i knew goal kick one and only Ederson can kick it that far, but the corner one thought same rules applied so i stand corrected :)

 

[Parisian]

Congratulations on your game. I am just catching up on all the highlights.

A pity from our respective point of view that all the top clubs are going through, but it's always the way in the group stages.

Thank you.
It sucks that the games were played on the same time.
It was not really a good performance. We were very average for like 60 min and Mbappé substitution changed the game completely. They were tired and chasing the score which is the perfect scenario for Mbappé.
Anyways, PSG is often/always the champion of the groups with many records but falls flat when it really counts. Hope this year will be different as we have more depth (Neymar and Cavani still don't have a single minute played in CL). We won't have a team this strong, at least offensively, before long. We do have a big problem of physical preparation though : Kherer out since the start of the season and no sign of improvement, Draxler too but he is coming back, Gueye who is never injured is already with us, Mbappé got is first big injury in September, Dagba injured but is coming back, Cavani injured since the start, Neymar injured for one month, Meunier injured yesterday, Herrera injured yesterday. Most of them are muscular injuries. The staff should be accountable.

About the top clubs going through, it highlights the financial difference between the big clubs/big leagues and the rest. Only Ajax is breaking that pattern. It is essential to finish first in the groups to avoid getting the best of the "top teams" immediately. The only big clubs who are second now are Liverpool (Napoli can keep the lead), Barça (but i expect them to go past Dortmund in the standings), and Atletico (but better Atletico than Juventus).

Since you are the only british club in the top position, you would avoid any PL club finishing second in their group and would likely have an easy opponent in the next round. The only difficult ones would be the spanish clubs if they pick up form.

 

[somethingelse]

Mendy was struggling to play 2 games in 4 days so he needs protecting from that because his strength on the ball and his passing and movement are brilliant,Walker is coming back from injury and looked rusty ,so what

 

[cookster]

I obviously can't agree with the prophet of doom, as even Pep has highlighted concerns when we are still winning games.

There were positives in my post for Raheem, Foden Ederson, even Walker's intensity.

Outside of that, the scoreline masked continued deficiencies at both ends for us. The success of the two previous seasons were predicated on having total control of the game.

I've not felt we have had control for a while this season, even when Laporte was fit.

That's down the 'boxes' issue Pep has raised. Sergio missed two clear chances last night before we went a goal behind. At Palace, we miss chance after chance (same as Everton) and Ederson is needed to come to the rescue.

Things like I'm pointing out are only where I think we still have improvement in us. The deficiencies are there, they will only become more apparent when we play better opponents.

At least we can see Mendy is a problem.

From my perspective a few tweaks and we will be back to our best again.

Palace and Everton are tough places to go, ask the Dippers.

 

[Zenmanc]

Thought Mendy was really good last night after a shaky start

I think you were watching the game with shark tinted glasses mate.
Mendy is clumsy in defense at best... He has the turning radius of a cruise ship and once he's headed in one direction... If he needs to cut back, the play is past him. Yes... He can bomb down the wing and rocket crosses in and forces D to respect him... But the deficiency in D makes me cringe every time the opposition breaks toward that portion of the field.
IMO he's best suited to play wing back where D is not as vital a requirement as a fullback.
I want him to succeed... I hope in a few weeks I'm eating crow after he destroys Liverpool with pin point crosses and possibly putting Firmy or Salad on their arse with a clean tackle.
It feels like we haven't had a proper LB in many years and a Pep side thrives with proper full backs. I hope he rounds into form but I can't help but think he plays as if his healed injuries are made of glass which is totally understandable.