Slovan Bratislava (A) | CL | Post Match Thread

[East Level 2]

Rather play O'Reily than Nunes who for me for 55m is the biggest waste of money we have ever spent! Because we paid that much he starts before a couple of our youth players! Of the pitch though he looks a great guy happy guy who has gelled with the players!

Doku needs to be told when at the byline you can cross it in the air

And we got him from Wolves to rekindle memories of Steve Daley. Another waste of money, but not as bad as Nunes appears to be.

 

[Gingers Dad]

It’s the sort of game that Rodri would’ve given us a kick up the arse
Can never complain with a 4-0 away win plus we hits the post loads but felt like we were going through the motions at points, which I guess is expected.
Training match vibes

I doubt Rodri would have played

 

[Pingu the Penguin]

Over reaction on my behalf are you fucking kidding ,in fact are you even a blue ffs ? we won with a second team away in Europe with players coming back ,No your opinion is utter shite go and support the shite team down the road fucking corners ffs look at the big picture look at where we are ffs over entitled fuckwits everywhere .

Now THAT is an over reaction!

 

[mancboy]

Every single year its the same at this time of year, we look slow, ponderous, performances arent where they should be, everybody moans, we are going to be left behind etc etc, its like city bingo but with our own fans and then as time goes on we start to look like ourselves and nobody learns and then rinse and repeat.

 

[waspish]

Stones was excellent and we need him in this side for his passing range and his threat in the opposition penalty area for corners free kicks!

What I worry about is when stones goes on international duty Foden as well we can not afford these two players getting injured!

 

[Cellarite]

View attachment 133624
Every single year its the same at this time of year, we look slow, ponderous, performances arent where they should be, everybody moans, we are going to be left behind etc etc, its like city bingo but with our own fans and then as time goes on we start to look like ourselves and nobody learns and then rinse and repeat.

Guilty as charged your honour. You've just made me realise that this year, I'm one of them. I'll check myself from here on in.

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

Theres teams that should be nowhere near Europe's premier tournament and it equates to even more games so the format is kinda relevant.

The format is shite. UEFA have turned the CL into a club version of the meaningless Nations League. The old system was far from perfect but this new group system is a farce. McCoist and Fletcher told us at the start of the match they liked the new format then spent the rest of their commentary mocking Slovan and bemoaning the mismatch.

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

Guilty as charged your honour. You've just made me realise that this year, I'm one of them. I'll check myself from here on in.

Nothing really matters till after Christmas. That’s when we click into gear.

 

[cyan]

Thought I would try and figure out if Slovan Bratislava are one of the teams to have benefited from the expanded format. As it is their first time in the Group/league stage - you might think that it is. But, they have been steadily improving - from 1st Qalifying Round to to 3rd QR in previous years and in this years Play Off they played Midtjylland who were seeded above them, qualified as Danish champions - therefore finishing above Copenhagen who have regularly played in CL Group stages. That suggests that not only have Bratislava been improving but they worked their way to this stage on merit.

In the previous years the teams qualifying through the Champions path were Galatasaray, Copenhagen, Antwerp, Young Boys. - of which Antwerp finished 4th in group, Galatasaray and Young Boys 3rd and Copenhagen 2nd. Which might suggest that teams coming through that route deserve to be there. Of those only Young Boys have qualified this season.

This year the qualifiers are Young Boys, Dynamo Zagreb, Slovan Bratislava, Red Star Belgrade, Sparta Prague - of which, so far, only Sparta Prague have any points. Which suggests that these remain the teams who will fail to go any further in the competition. Yet, it can also be a chance for them to shine and improve - I'm sure Sparta Prague fans are enjoying it so far and wondering just how far they can go.

It's hard to know for sure - but I suspect Slovan Bratislava were playing well enough at the Qualifying Stage that they could have qualified in the previous format - but then they would have faced the same fate in a Group stage and found themselves the whipping boys. In this format they get to chances to play teams ranked similarly to themselves and four opportunities to see them play former European Champions. I suspect they will enjoy it whilst they can and then win their own league again to give themselves a chance a of improving for next year,

 

[laserblue]

The media pointed out that Vladimir Weiss was is City's academy and the 2008 Youth Cup winning team but I heard no mention of Robbie Mak, who came on as sub, being the academy at the same time and also playing in the Youth Cup winning team.