Kolarov

[Boff]

Without his goal we would have lost, simple

 

[Comrade Buka]

Without his goal we would have lost, simple

With faster fullbacks challenging their defenders we could've won, simple.

 

[scenecreamer]

even with faster fullbacks they would have still outnumbered us in front of goal

 

[Comrade Buka]

even with faster fullbacks they would have still outnumbered us in front of goal

Check the replays of the yellow cards. And THEN tell me faster fullbacks would not have made a difference.

 

[scenecreamer]

even with faster fullbacks they would have still outnumbered us in front of goal

Check the replays of the yellow cards. And THEN tell me faster fullbacks would not have made a difference.

The difference being fewer yellow cards for them. Your points valid, certainly.
I'm only saying faster FBs does not necessarily equal goals, especially when their defense has completely congested the box. Say Clichy got down the line, there's still the matter of delivering a quality cross, and winning it in the air and then finding room to shoot.

pulling them out of position was the key, but one pacy FB isn't going to pull 3 defenders.

 

[Comrade Buka]

even with faster fullbacks they would have still outnumbered us in front of goal

Check the replays of the yellow cards. And THEN tell me faster fullbacks would not have made a difference.

The difference being fewer yellow cards for them. Your points valid, certainly.
I'm only saying faster FBs 1.) does not necessarily equal goals, especially when their defense has completely congested the box. Say 2.) Clichy got down the line, there's still the matter of delivering a quality cross, and 3.) winning it in the air and then finding room to shoot.

pulling them out of position was the key, but 4.) one pacy FB isn't going to pull 3 defenders.

1. Nothing equals goals necessarily.

2. Well, I guess it's better to keep trying the middle then. Since we had done that so successfully the entire game.

3. Which makes it really logical to take off Dzeko for Tevez, after putting on Clichy (wing) and Johnson (wing), so they can aim for that giant figure of El Apache in hte middle.

4. He doesn't need to pull anything. All he has to do is get to the byline and provide a cross or a cut-back. As per the yellow card attacks. A failed cross most often means a corner. A failed attack though the center means the goalie collects the ball. Which makes more tactical sense looking at the game yesterday, three Napoli yellow cards into the game?

5. That a manager of Mancini's stature does not exploit two yellow cards on the same side (RCB & RM) is simply beyond me. David Platt admitted in half time: "We lack width." It only took 29 minutes to correct that.

 

[MC ID]

I like him and in it says so much about his character that even with a broken nose he wanted to get straight back onto that pitch and continue playing. A team needs people like that and he's right up their with my favorite members of this squad.

 

[schfc6]

It was a mistake not playing clichy as I think Nasri works well with him.

He did save us though so not going to be too harsh.

It was crying out for Clichy I agree. I think we would have won if he'd have started, and also if we brought Tevez on earlier.

It's a shame Kolarov can't just come on for free-kicks and then go back off again.

Fully agree that Nasri works better with Clichy, but Kolarov was no weak link last night. He played well and scored. Yes he was out of place for their goal, but if Barry had just played the ball down the line to him where he was stood in acres they would not have scored. Yes he will be out of position if the guy charged with giving him the ball loses it cheaply. I know Zab is very popular on here, but he was a weak link if there were one last night. He struggled forwards and backwards, I'm not singling him out as I think Micah would have struggled too. They had us very well scouted and seemed to mark space not players. 3 centre halves & two holding midfielders put 5 players in the spaces we normally expose. My guess would be that we played Kolarov because Mancini knew that they would be almost impossible to break down and his set plays my prove crucial, and hey they did. I thought Barry looked off the pace but I'll attribute that to his ankle. For Grand Master to suggest that Tevez should have come on earlier?? What?? Dzeko was outstanding and about the only forward causing them a constant problem.
In my opinion ourselves and Napoli will make it out of the group. We drew with a very good side who were playing without the burden of expectation. I agree Munich will be better suited to us, a slow high line and under pressure to out perform us. Munich & Napoli away for that matter will be different games.

 

[Grand Master Ram Rod]

It was a mistake not playing clichy as I think Nasri works well with him.

He did save us though so not going to be too harsh.

It was crying out for Clichy I agree. I think we would have won if he'd have started, and also if we brought Tevez on earlier.

It's a shame Kolarov can't just come on for free-kicks and then go back off again.

Fully agree that Nasri works better with Clichy, but Kolarov was no weak link last night. He played well and scored. Yes he was out of place for their goal, but if Barry had just played the ball down the line to him where he was stood in acres they would not have scored. Yes he will be out of position if the guy charged with giving him the ball loses it cheaply. I know Zab is very popular on here, but he was a weak link if there were one last night. He struggled forwards and backwards, I'm not singling him out as I think Micah would have struggled too. They had us very well scouted and seemed to mark space not players. 3 centre halves & two holding midfielders put 5 players in the spaces we normally expose. My guess would be that we played Kolarov because Mancini knew that they would be almost impossible to break down and his set plays my prove crucial, and hey they did. I thought Barry looked off the pace but I'll attribute that to his ankle. For Grand Master to suggest that Tevez should have come on earlier?? What?? Dzeko was outstanding and about the only forward causing them a constant problem.
In my opinion ourselves and Napoli will make it out of the group. We drew with a very good side who were playing without the burden of expectation. I agree Munich will be better suited to us, a slow high line and under pressure to out perform us. Munich & Napoli away for that matter will be different games.

I would have brought Tevez on for Nasri, I too thought Dzeko was one of our better players. I said bring Tevez on because I was thinking about last season's Tevez, however he's obviously still not fit yet so I suppose it's fair enough he didn't come on earlier.

 

[scenecreamer]

I like him and in it says so much about his character that even with a broken nose he wanted to get straight back onto that pitch and continue playing. A team needs people like that and he's right up their with my favorite members of this squad.

Mine too.
;)


ComradeBuka- I agree with what you're saying about the need for width and crosses into the box (you make good points); perhaps my respect for Kolarov wants to push any blame away from him, but I think the width should have come from the midfielders not the FBs. That is the system we use, but perhaps we should be more flexible and try other tactics when necessary.