simon23
Well-Known Member
Agree with all thatIn my opinion it was a fascinating game of football which in many ways was a perfect European away game result. We set out to control the game as Leipzeig are on a good run of form and we have lots of testing away games in a row. The result though should have been better, I thought Gvardiol climbed all over Dias for their goal and we were somehow denied the clearest penalty I have ever seen. As away goals no longer count there was no need to go gung ho for extra insurance and we were pretty comfortable all night. Its HT and we have home advantage which will hopefully count in our favour. I would not underestimate them though as they can play and will be dangerous.
The conundrum though is Haaland and how do we get the best out of his talents. At the moment its a learning curve. We are simply not used to having a centre forward like him and he is not used to a team that plays the game based on possession. I think Pep is trying to solve the conundrum as he tried playing Mahrez inside last night and maybe it could be said the threat posed by Haaland allowed Mahrez the space to score from a position we don't often see him do. Ideally we would have a David Silva in there but sadly we do not and Foden's career trajectory appears to have stalled for the time being and Bernardo is used more in a 6 role nowadays (one i think that suits btw). I do get peoples frustrations that Haaland is not found and we play square balls, last night though I thought control was more important than trying to find Haaland because of their ability on the transition, which to be fair is pretty fucking good.
Before the game I would have taken a draw, a draw was what we got and now the onus is on us at home to put them to bed and with hopefully Kev available we will do just that,
However dont you think as good as Bernardo has been he is wasted as the 6 - his talents are better further forward and can add that bit more of a creative spark.
Foden has stalled slighty but again he is not being used to his full potential and is scared of losing the ball
Dont agree on their goal but i do agree on the penalty incident
The other issue is (and I get what you are saying about getting a result away at a difficult place and team as that is what Pep has said as well) but its still risky as Leipzig are perfectly suited to playing on the break and defending deep if they want....I dont see it being any different in the 2nd leg and they could easily score a couple on the break - plus they will have Nkuku back who is even better in those scenarios....If it wasnt for Ederson and poor finishing they could have had at least 2 more