Basel (H) Post Match Thread

I picked the right match to travel back
3,000 miles to watch on my birthday. ;-)

Disappointment with the result and the overall performance aside, we are through while managing to rest a few key players, give run outs to Foden and (to a lesser extent) Diaz, learn about some things we can work to improve, and (as far as I know) not pickup any injuries on the way so all-in-all I am content.

Really can’t believe the booing and jeering at the end. I understand the frustration with some of the play but the booing was well out of order.

Special mention to Foden, who, along with Sane, was the best player on the pitch. He is a real talent and I am very much looking forward to seeing him grow into a world class player with us.
 
If I was going to make a list of leaders in our team, In no order, I would probably say Kompany, Otamendi, Fernandinho, Silva, KDB and Aguero. Players who when the going gets tough, will demand the ball, take on responsibility to try and win the game. Sterling also has a habit of coming up with big contributions in those games (see his many winners this season), but he isn't quite at the same level as the others.


Pep picked a side tonight like he was almost trying to take out all of those leaders on the pitch and see what would happen. Not really a surprise we looked rudderless and spent a lot of the game just passing for passing's sake.
 
Just got back , last eight, Foden getting a full game more or less , Diaz getting twenty minutes, thanks for the memories Yaya , key players got a rest , one trophy in the bag , a second within touching distance , it’s not a bad outlook is it .
 
KnaresboroughBlue said:
Fortunately Guardiola isn't daft enough to base it on tonight.
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Wholly agree - it’s more disappointing realising some fans (if they are genuine blues) have very little understanding of football - Stones will be a world beater, and soon. Part of his football education is taking no notice of people who, ridiculously, right him off at this stage of his career- they are the losers who don’t deserve the players we have.
 
For the first time in a long time I left before the final whistle. Admittedly, it blew as I was going down the steps to the concourse, but I made my stand!
OK, so it was a dead rubber again, but I've not seen such a lack of urgency since Pep took over. I was even shouting for them to inject some lethargy into their perfomance to speed it up. Very nice, very neat, but toothless and apathetic in all departments.
A good job we'll meet a decent side in the next round (or the rags) and will show some urgency.

Cheer up, though, we could support the Harry Kane team. ;-)
 
SebastianBlue said:
I picked the right match to travel back
3,000 miles to watch on my birthday. ;-)

Disappointment with the result and the overall performance aside, we are through while managing to rest a few key players, give run outs to Foden and (to a lesser extent) Diaz, learn about somethings we can work to improve, and (as far as I know) not pickup any injuries on the way so all-in-all I am content.

Really can’t believe the booing and jeering at the end. I understand the frustration with some of the play but the booing was well out of order.
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It was a bit weird but in a way I think Pep will be OK with it.

It represents the rising standards at the club, and that's part of what Pep is trying to do here. Barcelona and Real would have booed that performance and voiced their displeasure, because they were really poor for long parts of the game, and at the very elite level clubs, knowing the fans demand you to play well is a driving factor for the players.
 
If Pep had played Merlin, Ginger Kev, Eddie, Kompany,Kun,Otta ,Walker and Delph and we had picked up injuries everyone would be going ballistic.
He gave a run out to Foden and Diaz and a few more experienced players so it was never going to be a classic.
Yaya did a few good passes but he's past it unfortunately.
As long as we beat Stoke next week then it was worth resting our key players.
 
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Dreadful. Danilo, Stones and Zinchenko were very very poor. No surprise they managed to get passed us with 3 of our 4 defenders playing so badly

But we didn’t give ourselves a chance going forward with Yaya a total passenger and not being able to create anything at all for himself or any of our attacking players. It’s quite painful to see an all time legend a million miles from the maestro who used to rip it up

But... that was almost predictable and at the end of the day it doesn’t matter in the slightest. Onwards and upwards
 
paulchapo said:
Everyone was happy with that team at the start. We gave much needed rest to our key players and over two legs we are comfortably through which is all that matters.

Having said that some players tonight were very poor to say the least. The whole defence, Ya Ya, Gundogan, Bernado, Jesus, although he is coming back from injury. The second half we were awful. No real urgency or tempo and on eighty minutes we had had ONE shot on target. I have no idea what that side ways/backwards passing was all about when we were losing, totally clueless.

Pep will have found out about a few players tonight and trust me reputations count for nothing with him, a couple there will probably find themselves getting a harsh word in the earhole tomorrow!
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This!
 
jrb said:
8 first team players rested.

Dead rubber.

Quater finals.
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And nice to see Foden Diaz zinchenko in champs league and not entirely out of place. Had the more senior lads played better those kids may have looked even more impressive
 
domalino said:
It was a bit weird but in a way I think Pep will be OK with it.

It represents the rising standards at the club, and that's part of what Pep is trying to do here. Barcelona and Real would have booed that performance and voiced their displeasure, because they were really poor for long parts of the game, and at the very elite level clubs, knowing the fans demand you to play well is a driving factor for the players.
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So you think we CAN compare ourselves with Barca & RM?
 
ChicagoBlue said:
Well, apart from the experience a group of young players got, and the good run out against a half way decent team, and 90 minutes int9 the legs of the likes of our two CBs, Foden, Jesus, I guess you’re right...no positive take aways from a dead rubber CL game.

Thank god we haven’t lost too many games this season, otherwise the Manchester Suicide Hotline would be overwhelmed.

Pep will use this as an excellent teaching moment, which is what it was. Nobody likes to lose, but when you can play all your squad players, get good minutes into some very young youngsters in a Champions League Round of 16 game, you HAVE TO see positives.

Put it this way...Spurs only needed to draw less than 2-2, they put out their absolute best team, and couldn’t pull it off. We just strolled into the CL QF (top 8 teams in Europe) with 9 changes to the team.

Context is everything.
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We should have taken our foot off the gas two weeks ago, then we could have had a proper game tonight, like Spurs! I do despair of the critics sometimes. Had only one or two of the ‘shit’ players been playing with a full team, their performances would have been much better. To assume making 9 changes won’t affect the performance is naive at best. As you said, Foden, Diaz and Tosin all got game time, as did LaPorte (he’s only been here a month). If everyone is fit, it might be that none of the 11 that started tonight, will start the next CL game!
 
Newquayblue said:
So you think we CAN compare ourselves with Barca & RM?
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Considering the entire reason Pep is here is to elevate us to that level and there's absolutely no domestic competition at the moment, I think frequent comparisons to Real and Barcelona not only can be done, but should be done.
 
domalino said:
It was a bit weird but in a way I think Pep will be OK with it.

It represents the rising standards at the club, and that's part of what Pep is trying to do here. Barcelona and Real would have booed that performance and voiced their displeasure, because they were really poor for long parts of the game, and at the very elite level clubs, knowing the fans demand you to play well is a driving factor for the players.
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I’m not sure this booing is the same thing, though. Had we played like that in a series of games we weren’t already winning 4-0 from the first legs, with all of the first team on the pitch, then I could possibly understand booing as it would be a signal of something really wrong with the team (as tonight was really more about just doing the bare minimum to get over the line than driving on for a resounding aggregate score).

But tonight was not that sort of situation and, for me at least, the booing was completely counterproductive and indicative of the wrong kind of “support” we can offer the team.

Maybe some were angry as they thought the team wasn’t honouring the effort and expense the supporters put in to attending the match but, as someone who literally spent a small fortune to come back to see the match (on my birthday, no less)—and who was admittedly frustrated with some of the play tonight—I still think that is rubbish.

It’s a one-off game where we didn’t play particularly well but didn’t need to—context is everything and I think many missed it tonight.
 
Highlight of the night has to be the halftime music, absolute class, Goove Armada, Superstylin is an absolute classic. As for the game the less said the better
 
Gundogan continues to frustrate the fuck out of me.

He should be capable of taking a game like tonight by the scruff yet he barely ever broke the lines and moved with the ball.

Very irritating.
 
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