RB Leipzig (A) | CL | Post Match Thread

Gundoggin said:
Pep was buzzing last night great to see him so relaxed. He is experimenting little things with players positions and tactics like he always does . Rico Lewis opened up a whole lot of options last night and Alvarez also had Pep purring like a Cheshire Cat ! Haaland is missing the service of Ginger Kev big time but Pep will find a way City are always evolving.
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He's getting the service tbf.
 
Alan Harper's Tash said:
Theres no point debating whether he should be dropped or not. He will never be, or not for quite a while at least. He has so much credit in the bank.
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I've been more than a little taken aback how many of last year's treble winning core team have been chucked under the bus this season. I saw someone say they were waiting for Grealish to prove them wrong. Ake and Akanji have been getting pelters too. I accept we haven't started the season as strongly as we ended it, but that's to be expected and not a terrible thing in my opinion. But we are top of the league and basically out of our CL group playing better than we started last season playing. And every single one of last year's squad has so much credit in the bank I can't believe we have to say it out loud.
 
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Dribble said:
I wasn't calling for Haaland to be dropped, but to be withdrawn in favour of Alvarez, because clearly last night wasn't his night.

In terms of credit, when does that run out? It was an awkward post match conversation, but Lescott & Hargreaves were trying to avoid answering the question of Haaland being found out by PL CB's.

I don't think he's been 'found out', but the PL evolves rapidly, & what was the case last season won't necessarily be the case this. I saw how frustrated Haaland seemed. I noticed him walking around head down & I felt for him, but we've got games to win.

Haaland is a supreme goal scorer, but if we're being honest he offers little else, as he's no Harry Kane. I feel there's a fear to criticise him, especially after his unbelievable first season with us.

How do you criticise a striker who scores 2 goals from 12 touches, or a hat trick from 22 touches? As long as he's banging em in, he's doing his bit, but what happens when he hits a dry spell, but unlike Kane he can't contribute anything else?

He's going through a dry spell at the moment as all players do, but after dominating against Leipsig, it was baffling to find ourselves level & we needed something different.

All I questioned is why changes weren't made earlier when it became obvious that Grealish & Haaland were having little effect?

Both subs provided a goal & an assist each, & Julian affected the game more in 20 minutes than Haaland did in 90. All I'm saying is it's a conversation which needs to be had.
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Hes getting into the positions, once he starts scoring again he wont stop.

But he wont get going if we drop him. I am sure Pep knows that, its a confidence thing.
 
I made a comment during the summer transfer window that G.Jesus was a similar player to Alvarez.
I would like to apologise for the absolute nonsense I spoken during the summer window .

What a player he is, his finishing is amazing
Loving Doku too, excites me every time he gets the ball.

We will get better as the season progresses, we have refreshed the team with allot of new young and hungry players. The future is bright once again.
We will kick into full demolish mode around December/January time I reckon.
 
I think its time for Grealish to be phased inside, he clearly has the tempo and ability to keep the ball that would suit that position more. Getting the ball, running at the defender and then turning to pass back or sideways just isn't cutting it when we have lost the directness of Mahrez and the late runs of Gundo. I actually think he could be a real player for us in the middle, maybe playing somewhere between Rodri and Alvarez?
 
Gundoggin said:
Who was providing the crosses ?
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KDB was providing them, so too was Foden, Alverez etc etc, They werent "on a plate". He'd be flying through the air.... Last night he couldnt score from 2 yrds. How does KDB make that easier?

Owen Hargreaves talked shite. Especially since Haaland is averaging 4 shots per game this year, last seaason it was less (With KDB). Different sample sizes, but to me putting KDB on the pitch doesnt suddenly make Haaland score those chances that he is missing.
 
Dribble said:
I wasn't calling for Haaland to be dropped, but to be withdrawn in favour of Alvarez, because clearly last night wasn't his night.
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The Tories aren’t scrapping HS2, they’re just rediverting the money into other transport schemes.
 
Gorton_Tubster said:
Hes getting into the positions, once he starts scoring again he wont stop.

But he wont get going if we drop him. I am sure Pep knows that, its a confidence thing.
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I wasn't calling for Haaland to be dropped.

It clearly wasn't working for him last night, so I was calling for him to be subbed when this became obvious to all. I was surprised to see a very good Foden withdrawn & Haaland left on. Why was this?

I get the feeling there's a fear that subbing Haaland without him scoring will cause too many awkward questions to be asked, hence he stays on whether it's the best for the team or not.

It's like last season. Commentators kept counting down the minutes in every match until Haaland scored. Regardless of the score beforehand, the anxiety was there until he did, & then everyone could breathe with relief. That is ridiculous pressure like I've never seen or heard of before.

Forgetting about last season, if this was Liam Delap playing last night, Pep would've hooked him earlier for Alvarez & left Foden on.

I suppose these are the superstar man management moments we keep hearing about. 12 touches & 2 goals we can swallow, but according to Sofascore, he's had 21 touches across 180 minutes of football in the 23/24 CL season so far, with 0 goals.

Which other player would be afforded not being hooked with those stats, especially as we had other viable options? \⁠_⁠(⁠⊙⁠_⁠ʖ⁠⊙⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯
 
shevtheblue said:
I think its time for Grealish to be phased inside, he clearly has the tempo and ability to keep the ball that would suit that position more. Getting the ball, running at the defender and then turning to pass back or sideways just isn't cutting it when we have lost the directness of Mahrez and the late runs of Gundo. I actually think he could be a real player for us in the middle, maybe playing somewhere between Rodri and Alvarez?
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I agree, having Jack playing on through the middle rather than the flank be a much better proposition.
 
Gorton_Tubster said:
KDB was providing them, so too was Foden, Alverez etc etc, They werent "on a plate". He'd be flying through the air.... Last night he couldnt score from 2 yrds. How does KDB make that easier?

Owen Hargreaves talked shite. Especially since Haaland is averaging 4 shots per game this year, last seaason it was less (With KDB). Different sample sizes, but to me putting KDB on the pitch doesnt suddenly make Haaland score those chances that he is missing.
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We don't have Rodri available against Arsehole, but if we go with a similar starting 11 & tactics & it's still not working for Haaland & we need a goal, what then? Leave him on in hope?

It'll come good for Haaland soon, I'm sure of that, but at what point do we put winning matches above playing a player back into goal scoring form?

It's not like Haaland has offered us much else outside of banging in insane amounts of goals.

It's a difficult conversation that needs to be had.
 
Dribble said:
Alvarez is his own man. He doesn't rely on Haaland for much. He put himself about & his effervescence pulled Leipsig out of their rigid formation from which we scored two goals, without any involvement from Haaland.

Add the jeopardy of Doku to the Julian mix, & the result was the welcomed goals which our dominance deserved.

Haaland had his chances. Last season, near enough everything he touched hit the back of the net. He's got 7 already this season, but more worryingly, it's the amount of clear cut chances he's missing which is causing me concern.

Tonight wasn't his night. We'd have been better subbing him around the 70 Mon mark for Julian & kicking on from there.

Just my personal opinion mate... )(
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Without Haaland occupying their defense Alvarez doesn't get the space to do what he does.
 
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