The way forward

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Solid_Air 2 said:
Have to say i was staggered by the naivety of the RB Leipzig game plan against us in the recent CL tie . Considering the rep Nagelsmann has garnered it seemed odd that he seemed to think playing a high line was the best tactic against us , despite all the evidence , leading to us comfortably winning the tie despite being in our worst run of form for years .
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I thought the same. But there is a lot to be said about the fact that this season was only RB's 3 time in the CL and Nagelsmann's 2nd with the club (he had one season of CL football at Hoffenheim. Could have been 2 but you lot knocked them out in the qualifying rounds in 2017.).

Our first CL campaign under Poch was disastrous. 'Naive' would have been the politest way to describe how we meekly crashed out of the easiest group imaginable, then blow it in the EL to a mid-table Belgian side.

Our second season in the competition was so much better. We did superbly to qualify top of a difficult group, but then naivety more than anything was our undoing against Juve. We outplayed and outfought them, they were just much smarter than us.

Less said about our third season the better <whistle> but my point is: the CL is a totally different beast to any domestic competition and it takes a long while for a manager and team to learn how to navigate it.
 
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C. Kane said:
I thought the same. But there is a lot to be said about the fact that this season was only RB's 3 time in the CL and Nagelsmann's 2nd with the club (he had one season of CL football at Hoffenheim. Could have been 2 but you lot knocked them out in the qualifying rounds in 2017.).

Our first CL campaign under Poch was disastrous. 'Naive' would have been the politest way to describe how we meekly crashed out of the easiest group imaginable, then blow it in the EL to a mid-table Belgian side.

Our second season in the competition was so much better. We did superbly to qualify top of a difficult group, but then naivety more than anything was our undoing against Juve. We outplayed and outfought them, they were just much smarter than us.

Less said about our third season the better <whistle> but my point is: the CL is a totally different beast to any domestic competition and it takes a long while for a manager and team to learn how to navigate it.
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An "easiest group imaginable" which included that season's semi-finalists Monaco who squad was promptly strip mined with the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Benjamin Mendy, Bernardo Silva and Tiemoue Bakayoko spirited away to the monied clubs...
 
I think that a lot of English clubs find it hard in the Champions League because the domestic fixtures are virtually all tough.
City have been very dominant for months and have a comfortable lead in the table, yet they were found out this week.
Rest a few players against a newly promoted side and get beat at home by 10 men.

The likes of Barca, Real, Bayern, PSG and a lot of the other regulars simply don't face that problem as often.
This can be especially true in the group stages, where you'll have sides that walk their league every year and rest their entire team.
Chopping and changing is a tough skill to master and too many managers try to be clever with it and fail.
 
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C. Kane said:
...

Less said about our third season the better <whistle> but my point is: the CL is a totally different beast to any domestic competition and it takes a long while for a manager and team to learn how to navigate it.
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AFAIK, the three seasons it took Pochettino to get to a CL final
is the fastest done by a PL manager with no previous experience
of the CL as a manager.
 
Dier Hard said:
Managers will have good and bad games though, to define a manager based on one game would be naive of us. Jose saw us tank Utd 6-1 at Old Trafford and has beaten City twice in three matches since he’s been here, yet overall he’s been a very poor appointment.

Poch had a tendency to **** up spectacularly in big matches too but overall was a great appointment for the most part.
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oh i fully accept the points you and DH make and agree with them with the caveat that the way to play against us is pretty well known so to play into our hands so easily would worry me .
PS Should also point out that i don't rate the standard of the BL that highly .
 
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Solid_Air 2 said:
oh i fully accept the points you and DH make and agree with them with the caveat that the way to play against us is pretty well known so to play into our hands so easily would worry me .
PS Should also point out that i don't rate the standard of the BL that highly .
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To be fair we’ve tried various tactics against you lot in recent years and always seem to lose, lol. You lot are a massive ****ing bogey team for us.

100% agree on the latter point though, Bundesliga is overrated and a stat-padding haven for players who’ve proven they couldn’t cut it in the Prem but I think with managers, if they have a particular philosophy and style, it doesn’t matter what league they manage in, so long as they have the support from above (cue Levy joke) and backing from players then they can do well in the environment they’re in.
 
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Solid_Air 2 said:
oh i fully accept the points you and DH make and agree with them with the caveat that the way to play against us is pretty well known so to play into our hands so easily would worry me .
PS Should also point out that i don't rate the standard of the BL that highly .
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The Bundesliga? It seems very weird this season. The crowds have had some impact, but a lot of the teams are all over the place.
Leipzig don't have a quality striker, while Dortmund's defence is terrible and they've got a hell of a lot of youth in the team.
The rest of the bigger teams have been either mediocre or shocking, barring Leverkusen, perhaps.
 
PleaseNotPoll said:
The Bundesliga? It seems very weird this season. The crowds have had some impact, but a lot of the teams are all over the place.
Leipzig don't have a quality striker, while Dortmund's defence is terrible and they've got a hell of a lot of youth in the team.
The rest of the bigger teams have been either mediocre or shocking, barring Leverkusen, perhaps.
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It's also a managerial merry-go-round, with Dortmund using an interim coach before Marco Wolf heads their way in the summer, Leverkusen having an interim manager until the end of the season meaning that A German Club will be in the market for a new coach, Schalke and Mainz chopping and changing managers all season, and now the DFB are looking for Joachim Lowe's successor
 
PleaseNotPoll said:
The Bundesliga? It seems very weird this season. The crowds have had some impact, but a lot of the teams are all over the place.
Leipzig don't have a quality striker, while Dortmund's defence is terrible and they've got a hell of a lot of youth in the team.
The rest of the bigger teams have been either mediocre or shocking, barring Leverkusen, perhaps.
Click to expand...
not just this season but for some time i've thought it flatters to deceive , I'm not a stat person but would guess when PL & BL teams have met in recent years the PL has much the better record .
 
Solid_Air 2 said:
not just this season but for some time i've thought it flatters to deceive , I'm not a stat person but would guess when PL & BL teams have met in recent years the PL has much the better record .
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I think they've got a serious problem with Bayern's domination.
The fans are far too accepting of them tapping up everyone else's best players and getting them to run their contracts down, then sign up.
Some of the "next best" teams are also appallingly run, much like the SPL.
 
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Didn’t see the game but just saw the stats from Brighton - Everton: 23 shots (to Everton’s 8) but just 3 on target, 10 corners as well.

I’m yet again reinforcing my point that if Potter had a good striker at his disposal or the money and club stature to buy one, Brighton would be so much higher in the table. Imagine what he could do with a 25-30 goal a season striker... <whistle>

You’re welcome to jump on the Potter train with me, guys. Tickets are free.
 
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We need a massive clear out starting with Mourinho. He has struggled to motivate the players and we have seen no improvement. We need to clear out the squad. Its become acceptable for players to not perform but still remain part of the squad. They look tired and unmotivated, 5 or 6 fresh faces would completely change this.
 
Dier Hard said:
Didn’t see the game but just saw the stats from Brighton - Everton: 23 shots (to Everton’s 8) but just 3 on target, 10 corners as well.

I’m yet again reinforcing my point that if Potter had a good striker at his disposal or the money and club stature to buy one, Brighton would be so much higher in the table. Imagine what he could do with a 25-30 goal a season striker... <whistle>

You’re welcome to jump on the Potter train with me, guys. Tickets are free.
Click to expand...

All aboard!

Woooooh wooooooh!
 
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Dier Hard said:
Didn’t see the game but just saw the stats from Brighton - Everton: 23 shots (to Everton’s 8) but just 3 on target, 10 corners as well.

I’m yet again reinforcing my point that if Potter had a good striker at his disposal or the money and club stature to buy one, Brighton would be so much higher in the table. Imagine what he could do with a 25-30 goal a season striker... <whistle>

You’re welcome to jump on the Potter train with me, guys. Tickets are free.
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Brighton actually have quite a few good attacking players though and some competent strikers.
That they're averaging just above one goal per game despite that is a real concern.
Lewis Dunk is their joint 2nd top scorer, FFS.

They'll stay up and they deserve to do so, but I doubt things will change too much next season.
 
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PleaseNotPoll said:
Brighton actually have quite a few good attacking players though and some competent strikers.
That they're averaging just above one goal per game despite that is a real concern.
Lewis Dunk is their joint 2nd top scorer, FFS.

They'll stay up and they deserve to do so, but I doubt things will change too much next season.
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I think they have decent players but no one that pulls up any trees.

Yeah I don't think they'll change much next season either, they're held back by finances and stature to go much further. All the more reason Potter should look for a new job... <whistle>.
 
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