You guys need some cheering up! [video=youtube;jy8r4-gW1SI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy8r4-gW1SI[/video]
Winning the Europa guarantees nothing. The first year the winner qualifies for the Champions League is in next years Europa League. If we won the Europa but didnt qualify automatically, the FA would have to grovel to UEFA.....but there is allowance for it in the rules.
I take it that you're referring to making Dai look very silly then. That cheered me up and I see Norway had a chuckle too
If we had won tonight our fixture list at the end of Oct would have been: 24th - Kuban Krasnador 27th - West Ham 29/30 - Capital One Cup (Stoke?) 3rd - Cardiff 7th - Kuban Krasnador 10th - Stoke 6 games in 16 days. Now I'm glad we're out!
Feeling better about things now As long as we can dish out a lesson in football and see the red hordes leaving after 65 mins
Took my time because I didn't want to post a knee-jerk reaction following last night's debacle. The first thing I noticed was the lack of disappointment on this board to the result. Many claim, and they have a strong case, that it was a blessing in disguise. But Michael Laudrup WAS disappointed and I share his feelings. It wasn't the defeat that sickened me, it was the manner of it. There was no doubt that we fielded a team that was capable of winning. We had the experience, the quality, the class. And we had impetus. We failed miserably to translate total first half dominance into goals then were outplayed in the second half by a team that wanted it more. Yet again, we were out-muscled by a limited team that deservedly came out on top. What does that say about the character of our lot? Not much!!! We fielded a team of players who SUPPOSEDLY are pushing for starting places in the first team. Didn't sound like it to me. And it wouldn't have to Michael Laudrup. Brum had more possession than us and the shots on target were 8-2 to them. Think about it. 8-2!! Where was the quality? Where was the character? Where was the fight? We went out with a whimper to a lower league team and this sort of result will have Laudrup questioning his medium term future with us. It underlined our limitations in an unpleasant and startling way. Different commentators also underlined a point I have long been making when they remarked that Brum's conditioning seemed superior to ours. How can that be? What are our players doing in training to justify their mega salaries? One thing I would guess they are not doing is shooting practise. No, I am not panicking or being a merchant of doom. I'm expecting us to bounce back and give Arsenal a hell of a game, even if we don't beat them. But serious questions now have to be asked about the credentials of some of our second choices. Are they even good enough to be that? The second half might have answered the question. Based on that, it would seem, no. Of course the players have quality but do they have the mental toughness to go with it? Again, it would seem, no. This was capitulation on a shameful scale, given the euphoria and momentum of recent results. The fact that we now have an easier fixture load, seems to have blinded some people to the fact that we were badly beaten by a team currently struggling in a league below us. There's no putting any gloss on that. The resultant fixture "breather" is merely compensation. The real questions to ask are, what went wrong? Why did it go wrong? Who didn't perform? Winning, we know, is a habit. It's a great habit and we threw that out of the window last night. Okay, I know that the COC is the least important of our objectives but we should have shown more desire to defend a trophy we so proudly won last season, a trophy that was responsible for us playing in Europe now. I'd happily bow out of every competition to preserve our Premier League status but there's bowing out with pride and there's slinking out with our tail between our legs as we did last night. It's bad for the club and bad for the fans. Not good enough! So, it's on to Arsenal and a chance to redeem ourselves but I suspect that Laudrup is going to have minimum tolerance for any easy chances that are not put away and I pity the player that doesn't put in a 100% shift. Quite right, too.
I think it's what bothered me too. When you're on the bench and then get to play 90 min. and show yourself off to the manager you'll expect the players to be highly motivated. The game might not be important to the team as a whole, but it should be important to the individual players. But then again Burmingham had a great game and switching the entire team does come with a price. I do think that most of the 2nd choice players have more to offer individually than together.
Ivorals post goes to show one big point: Swansea are a MID-table team, only the top Clubs can field 2x11 top-class, and top motivated players... The first 11-15 players in Swansea have the quality required, the rest have a potential, or struggle, for various reasons...
Agree Mikra, but we shouldn't forget that trying out a completely new line-up that the players aren't used to can make the players look worse than they actually are (all though I didn't see the match mind you)
Its not just that, match fitness will also have surely played a part, I mean when you look at it, Monk hasn't played, Taylor just back from injury, Tiendalli not really featured, Amat has had a couple of starts. So defensivly, these guys haven't worked together in a fully competitive environment. Even the top teams can struggle with 1 or 2 changes at the back, we made 4. Think of Man Utd without Vidic, Liverpool without Charagher, Man City without Kompany. These teams struggled losing their 1 main defensive player. 1 player in can cause problems if they are not working in tandem like defensive units get used too, which we are lucky that we have 4 good-uns with Chico, Ash, Rangel and Davies. Id say I am more disappointed we didn't put out chances away that the fact we let in 3. I mean other than Lamah, our midfield was still strong, and with Bony up front too. Why didn't it work? Maybe not having a proper out and out winger on the pitch didn't help, I know Lamah, but hasn't had any real game time. These things all play a part in the final outcome. And tbh I am not overly bothered about it.
Ivor,re your post No.215. Excellent stuff,so good in fact,I'd like you to ghost write my future offerings,if you have the time that is !!!
