Sparta Praha (H) | CL | Post Match Thread

Inca Roads Bert said:
Really did enjoy the match, although I have to say that after the first 25 minutes our players wer somehow in another gear, Rico the main culprit slowing the game when chances were there if he'd just passed it forward.

But, then again, a couple of times we tried it, we lost possession, that's why -i'm wondering- Pep's instructions were to keep the ball; obedient lad is our Rico. Later on absolutely brilliant for Erlin's second, a piece of quality art the team goal.

Second half was way better, and with the Hempoesque goal of Haaland, we finally clicked. Chuffed to bits for all the lads, especially the 4 academy players.

get in!
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I'm calling this tactic Park the Bus in the opposition third .

Pep can't afford any more injuries and we have a slower lightweight midfield without Rodri so we need to save energy and reduce risk of chaos . Otherwise this squad will self destruct by Christmas ..Keep the ball, slow the pace , keep the ball, slow the pace keep the ball.

Parking the bus in their camp is less risky for injuries than facing an aggressive press closer to our own goal as the opposition has to play a perfect pass or have a stroke of luck to beat us ( in theory ) .Notice when we have a counter attack opportunity we often see the most forward player hold the ball so that we can get back into shape before advancing . It's all about the shape and the pressure and makes me think of a squeezing a gas into a smaller volume .when you release the pressure it's a chaotic explosion that dissipates .

If teams want to put ten men behind the ball let them . We're going to score anyway . No other team in the world is as versatile as ours . But favourite CL game so far was InterMilan , who gave us a real game of football. Or Fulham in the PL.
 
Blue Maverick said:
Was the previous record held by someone who ultimately lost in a penalty shoot out, I do think it’s not right this record unless that’s the case, we lost to Madrid whether it’s 90/120 or penalties we did lose. However if the previous holder also did this then I agree.
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But that doesn't make sense.

What If we lost on the night but scraped through on penalties?

What If we won 4-0 but still went out?

Under which of those scenarios are we still unbeaten?
 
Gareth Barry Conlon said:
Yeah but he should have headed it.

It's ridiculous that he scores these goals. The ball was head hight, just head it.
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Actually thought it was there for a right foot volley at first, but yeah, maybe header the best option.

Leftfoot backheel volley would probably have been my third choice, but what do I know....

Should have headed the one v Dortmund for certain, but he's over reliant on his left. Nice to see the team goal finished with his right foot, and finished well.
 
Lots to enjoy about last night. Love seeing Lewis thrive. Nice view of an outstanding fourth goal from the family stand. Kids loved the light show. The ucl stay-aways missed the fun.
 
SSBlue said:
But that doesn't make sense.

What If we lost on the night but scraped through on penalties?

What If we won 4-0 but still went out?

Under which of those scenarios are we still unbeaten?
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Neither.

If we won 4-0 but went out, we must have lost the first leg by more than 4.

If we lost on the night but went through on pens, we'd still have lost.

We drew with Madrid and went out on pens and that is classed as a draw, so we are still classed as unbeaten.
 
its a Barm said:
Was as easy as it gets last night we did make them look poor well done to all the team solid performance
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It was in the second half. I thought the first half was as good as it got for Sparta, but we've got to put teams like this out of the picture inside half an hour. I don't know why we don't test them with a little bit of the Rag repertoire of pumping balls into the penalty area for a change. it puts pressure on a poor defence who have to get it right. Poor teams can't get it right all the time!
 
SSBlue said:
But that doesn't make sense.

What If we lost on the night but scraped through on penalties?

What If we won 4-0 but still went out?

Under which of those scenarios are we still unbeaten?
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If we had won 4-0 I’d would suggest we got beat in the first game!
 
SSBlue said:
But that doesn't make sense.

What If we lost on the night but scraped through on penalties?

What If we won 4-0 but still went out?

Under which of those scenarios are we still unbeaten?
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Using the first scenario you are not unbeaten, you have lost the game but drawn over the two legs, you have then qualified on penalties.

The second, we must have lost heavily in the first leg so again you are not unbeaten but have qualified in aggregate.
 
I like Lewis a lot and want him to succeed, but the first half performance left me frustrated. Got a pass in space - turn back, going forward - turn and wait for more colleagues. It would appear after watching his second half performance, that it was a clear instruction. For some reason, Pep took the leash off for the second half and what a change.

My apologies Lewis, for doubting you. Just ignore the guy in the jumper and play like that all the time.
 
I found it interesting last night when Akanji started standing on the ball and not progressing it forward to try and lure them out, at first I thought it was odd and time wasting but after 15 seconds or so I think it got into the opposition heads and they started to press and come out of the 11 at the back they were settled into. Not sure if this was a Pep instruction or just very clever by Akanji, but it worked as Haaland's second came from luring them out and hitting at pace. However, is this a tactic we can use in the PL? I am not sure, we are facing more and more 11 behind the ball and long clearances to fast players, so it could be used but I am not sure the PL teams would come out of their defensive setting. Could be a pretty boring spectacle if we are 1-0 and just stand on the ball waiting on the opposition to try and press :)
 
Wretched Vengeance said:
I know the score line makes a difference, however, not once did we see the Sparta players feigning injury or lying on the grass with fake cramp.

The Wolves and Arsenal players should take note.
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We scored after 3 minutes. Why would they feign injury/cramp when they needed to score?
 
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