Monaco - Post Match thread.

[northstandgiveusasong]

If you can't trust to play Yaya in your biggest game of the season so far, it's not worth keeping a bit-part player on £200k a week.

The sad reality is, we are likely saying goodbye to our greatest group of players in our history.

Is there more to why he was left out? I know he subbed him at Boro but I still cannot believe a player of his experience was left out of a game as important as this.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Agree with pretty much everyone else's assessment, shocking first half, can't defend, KDB awful, missed Yaya, Monaco deserved it overall.

However I just want to say the amount of chances we miss v how many goals we concede is just mental, and has been for years now. We seem to have to create four or five clear-cut chances, not even half chances, to score a goal, yet regularly concede from the oppositions first shot at goal, either in the match or the half. It's been this way for years. I keep telling people "when it clicks" we will score 10, but it rarely (if ever) seems to "click." Even in comfortable wins we have three or four "how the f*ck did he miss that?" moments.

Yes we are wide open at times this season and we need to be better defensively, but I honestly think we would be battling for top and in the CL QF if we could put away our chances. Suppose the positive is how many chances we create, but we give teams confidence not putting these chances away.

To be honest last night, we didn't need to give them confidence. They saw how crap our midfield and defence was in the first game and filled their boots.

Whilst we did miss chances, I wonder had we scored earlier, the let's settle for this mentality would have kicked in and we may not have created as many. After we scored, did we have any more chances as I can't remember any.

We made a mistake taking our foot of the gas in the first leg at 5-3 when they were on the ropes

 

[BLUEMATT23]

Sorry but Pep's ego got the better of him last night.
We had a 2 goal advantage and we were away, instead of being more pragmatic and conservative he went the opposite and got it totally wrong. How can you score 6 goals in 2 European games and get eliminated?. it could only happen to us.

The board also have to accept some of the blame for not addressing things in the summer. We have two Arsenal full backs way past their best days in the full back positions, a left back who is being shoe horned in a centre back and our best goalkeeper is in Italy. Also what on earth has happened to KDB?, he needs dropping for a few games as his head is up his arse at the moment and he went missing yet again in a big game.

These players should be giving us more in these big CL games now on a more consistent basis instead of waving the white flag for 45 minutes. Simply not acceptable.

 

[abu13]

The problem we have is fitting the players up front into a system that gives balance.

If we said that we play with our best front 5 and then allow for the keeper it leaves 5 positions to fill, if we go 4 at the back then we can only have one more midfielder who really needs to be defensive minded.

I would be more inclined to go with 3 at the back myself with one holding midfielder and one all rounder, I still think that Mangala would have been an asset for us this year and we cut our losses too soon.

For me this team would have been better suited for the game last night

Keeper
Ottamendi Stones Mangala
Fernando Fernandiniho
Silva KDB
Sterling Kun or Jesus Sane

 

[Kenny - 111 Seatkicker!!!]

mate we scored 6 times against a high quality side, that aint the problem

And if it wasn't poor finishing (Aguero x2, poor pass by Sterling when he should of scored or given sergio a tap in, also Sane hitting the side netting when should of squared it) it would of been 7, 8, or even 9! It we had took our chances we would be through instead we didn't and the obvious thing is to criticise are defending, which yes was shambolic at times but this is probably how it will be under Pep. We will score more than you me mentality. Big summer ahead!

 

[kaz7]

Sagna: "We forgot to play in the first half. We forgot to fight and defend as a team. We forgot to press. We gave them too much respect."

Sagna: "I expect a reaction from the team (against Liverpool), I expect more desire and to show more passion."

 

[Shirley]

Is there more to why he was left out? I know he subbed him at Boro but I still cannot believe a player of his experience was left out of a game as important as this.

I thought he would have come on the second half, he is a big game player not as mobile as he was but he has goals and assists in his game.

 

[gomer27]

There has to be a question mark over Gundogan. Different injuries and everything considered, can we consider him a first team player that we can rely on?

I thought about this a few times last night, we severely missed him in the midfield. Miles ahead of how Fernandinho had been playing. I think he overcomes his injury

 

[CrownPointBlue]

Just in case it gets overlooked in the hurly burly,John Stones had a good game & Leroy never stopped looking for the ball.

 

[creditunionhero]

Pep got it wrong in the first half, you can't attack if you don't have the ball, we never had the ball in the first half. Silva or Kev should have played deeper until we got a hold of the game. Kev played deeper in the second half and we played a lot better. However I think that was also because Monaco sat back a little and didn't go chasing a third. At two one down we should have just kept the ball, maybe put Yaya on to help with this.
Very poor defending on the free kick that led to their third, no one attacked the ball, Kolarov got no where near it, he got dragged underneath it and Stones was just not strong enough, the high line didn't help.
Very poor first half but Pep didn't change our shape, we never got near the ball, he should have changed it after the first goal. We needed to get a foothold on the match and we didn't, as I have said you can't attack if you don't have the ball.