Away upsets are common, especially when their pitch is either **** or made of plastic but we dealt with Young Boys comfortably on our own turf. I think we'll be fine.
We should use Zenit as our benchmark for tonight. They finished with 0-1 and 3-0 (3-1 on aggregrate) . Given Spurs are already 1-2 up, we should be looking for at least a 4-0 win.
I really want us to go through...europa league and carling cup are usually the only games I can afford to take my 16 and 11 yr old daughter to...hoping to go to the forest match...am away in bristol today with them so couldnt go tonight (booked months ago) so if 3 go through we could get 4 matches in before xmas....so coys
RDBD, I said 4-0 three days ago, any more would be a bonus. Have you noticed how we score freely in the early stages of Europe and then dry up?
"I said 4-0 three days ago, any more would be a bonus. Have you noticed how we score freely in the early stages of Europe and then dry up?" In the last two seasons, that has been more due to AVB faffing about with starting XIs, and the squad having not gelled together. If Spurs are in the group stage this year, Pochettino is succeeding only if the attack are filling their boots.
I'd settle for 2-0 tonight. I presume Poch will go with a more reserve side and keep most of the guys who played Sunday fresh for Liverpool, so I won't expect a slaughtering but it should be a comfortable win. Though if AEL try and come at us, then it could be a much bigger margin. I reckon we'll see a team of: Friedel Naughton, Dier, Chiriches, Davies Sandro, Dembele Lennon, Paulinho, Townsend Kane Maybe Holtby for Sandro (dropping Paulinho deeper with Holtby playing in the 10 role) depending on how Poch views the players. Both seem out of favour at the moment so it's a question of who is further down the pecking order than the other.
We should field a second team not only to rest our first team, but to give the second team minutes and hope they can make the PL starters if they play well. Of course we can't do so indefinitely. If the opponent is good enough we'll have to field our entire, or nearly our entire, first 11. But we definitely ought to do so tonight and probably through the group stage. There really isn't much drop off between the first and second team. Friedel/ Vorm? Naughton, Velkjovic, Chiriches, Davies Dembele, Paulinho/Holtby Lennon, Holtby/Paulinho, Townsend Kane
We scored 4 against Inter, 4 against, Basel, 3 against Lyon and 3 against Benfica. I don't think it's a case of goals drying up in the latter stages, we're just playing tougher opposition. Our away form does suffer, even when we get the result the performance is usually still poor, considering the standard of opposition. I don't think the travelling and pitch conditions help but it's something we need to get used to.
The performances in the group stage last season were stuttering. More so given that Spurs were blessed with such a weak group. That is something I do not want to see this season, and it will IMHO be a measure of how well Pochettino is shaping the squad to his system (given these games progressively occur over the first half of the PL season) .
I'd be happy with a win and no injuries tonight. Get into the group stages untroubled and go from there. Hopefully we should have enough depth to progress without using our first XI after that. Give those involved a chance to challenge for league starts, keep their fitness at a peak level and stay sharp. We've got plenty of players available and it's a competition that's well worth winning.
I continue to want better football. Limassol should continue to be a hard nut to crack. I'd like to see more width and more attempts to go around rather than through. I doubt we'll have a flattering scoreline.
"I continue to want better football." We did better than Zenit (a UEFA ranking peer) away. We should have the mindset to also do better then they did at home.
"Zenit had to do well at home. We don't. Zenit also picked their strongest available team. We won't." So we should have the mindset that our 'weaker' lineup will perform better than Zenits' strongest.
We should be aiming to win and to win well, but we shouldn't expect a side that probably hasn't played together much with a new coach to perform miracles. Various players that I expect to see start this game have either had long-term injuries and/or not played any competitive football for months. Expecting them to dramatically outperform a side with some very, very good players is a bit much, for me. Getting through the round is the most important thing. Doing so without any injuries is next, then winning the game, then doing so comfortably. I'm not particularly bothered about giving the Cypriots a battering, to be honest. Great if we do, but I'll be perfectly happy if we progress and fringe players get good game time. I wasn't happy with the last section of our pre-season and I think it's left us with a chunk of the squad who are under prepared. Rectifying this situation is very important.
A night of EL action is already underway. Apollon Limassol have won 4-1, FK Qarabag have kicked off now and later we've got Zorya Luhansk, Astra Giurgiu, PEC Zwolle, Kardemir Karabukspor, UMF Stjarnan, FC Astana, Petrolul Ploiesti, Aktobe, IF Elfsborg, HNK Rijeka, Shahktyor Soligorsk, FC Rostov, Ruch Chorzow, Neftchi Baku, FK Krasnodar & Zimbru Chisinau to look forward to. Can't wait.
All of whom will play more European football this season than Man Utd. That really is quite an obscure group of teams though, isn't it? Elfsborg are Swedish, Zwolle are Dutch and Rostov are a Russian side that had Bentley on loan for a bit. The rest, though? Erm... pass.
Lloris; Naughton, Chiriches, Kaboul, Davies; Dembele, Sandro; Lennon, Paulinho, Townsend; Kane. Subs: Friedel, Dier, Rose, Veljkovic, Chadli, Holtby, Adebayor.
Plenty of flank pace there. Dembele hopefully to carry the ball to their box. Paulinho hopefully to do the box to box spade work. And hopefully done and dusted by 60 mins to allow Holtby and Veljkovic a decent run-out.
