Soccer Talk: Now With More!

[Calibandar]

Have to think Madrid will recover and beat Wolfsburg by 3 next week.

Also expecting PSG to beat City in Manchester.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

20 hours ago, Jon AS said:

Hats off to Wolfsburg, that was pretty well done. I had this pegged as the most one-sided tie of the quarter finals.

Despite their terrible domestic season Wolfsburg is by no means some Mickey Mouse team. That team finished second at the Bundesliga last year and totally annihilated Bayern with 4-1, and they also won the German Cup. Granted they lost de Bruyne, but the team has enough quality to finish top 3 in Germany. That they aren't has more to do with their teams mentality/motivation. In the league they often seem to lack the will/determination to go into the tacklings, run that extra yard etc. Against Madrid they were obviously motivated enough to do that, Madrid on the other hand was not. 

Madrid still has enough quality to advance, but it won't be easy by any means.

[Jon AS]

5 minutes ago, Notone said:

Despite their terrible domestic season Wolfsburg is by no means some Mickey Mouse team.

Yes, I'm well aware of that. They're still not a team that consistently plays at the same level as Real Madrid.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Yes, but that's the thing about cup competitions. You don't have to perform as consistently as in a league. In a league Madrid would outperform Wolfburg, no doubt it about it. But Wolfsburg just needs two good games to advance. And if motivation is really the major concern of Wolfsburg, well, if you can't get a team motivated for a Champions League quarter final against Real Madrid, then something has really gone wrong. And a semi-final would be a somewhat nice consolation price. So those games are the golden opportunity to salvage something for Wolfsburg.

[Consigliere]

I doubt that Wolfsburg would have any problems when it comes to motivation. The biggest mistake they could make is going to Madrid hoping to sit on their lead. Doing that they could easily become stuck in a defensive shell and then find it very difficult to find any momentum going forward. I doubt that they will look to sit back though. Wolfsburg have some talented players in attack and thus every chance of scoring an away goal against a dodgy Madrid defence which, if that happens, would mean Madrid will need to score four. I think Real will win the 2nd leg; far less certain whether they can win by a big enough margin.

[polishgenius]

"I was shouting chip him, chip him"

Michael, you are aware we all clearly heard you not shouting that?

[Mark Antony]

Wow wow Origi should have really made it 2-0 right before the whistle  

[Iskaral Pust]

I'm pretty happy to be 1-0 up with Coutinho and Lallana anonymous and Hendo and Can giving the ball away so much.  It's risky but working so far.  If Hendo is struggling with that injury than Joe Allen should come on.

 

Edit: Damn! real life overtook my post.  Hummels just equalized.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Yep, it was kinda mystery how he got away with challenge without even getting a yellow card.

[Iskaral Pust]

1:1 is a pretty good outcome.  Annoying that we conceded a soft goal from a set piece yet again, but it sets up a really entertaining second leg at Anfield.  I hope the team earned some self belief tonight: they went away to one of the most in-form teams in Europe and were well worth a draw and even had the chances to sneak a win.  Despite some sloppy play in midfield (we really need an upgrade in CM), we acquitted ourselves pretty well despite being huge under-dogs.

[Mark Antony]

Hummels is so good. 

[Iskaral Pust]

It sounds like Hendo's knee injury will keep him out for a while.  Although he's had a poor season, and was poor tonight, he did look better against Spurs and we would have needed him with Can suspended for the next two league games.  Allen looks worthy of a spot ahead of Hendo but now we may need Milner at CM too.

[Nas!]

Really looking forward to this weekend's games. I love this time of season right up until May. 

Big test for West Ham home to Arsenal, who have been looking very good recently.  I think West Ham's performance in the game, win or lose, will say a lot about whether this squad has what it takes to push on and compete for European football.  We have almost no injuries currently, and this is the hard end of the season. 

What I'm looking for:

1) an energetic start. A confident start.  We need to assert ourselves early.  Wenger's Arsenal has always thrived on us showing them too much respect.

2) Wide play. We are moving the ball around so nicely this season, but I don't want us to play through the middle too much.  We are dangerous out wide and we have the speed and physicality to trouble Arsenal's back four.  I like Bellerin, but he may have trouble with Payet (who doesn't?).  And I suspect Tomkins will be back at right back, which means Antonio will likely play wide right. He's such a monster when he's on his game. So fast and so strong.  I would be terrified to face him if I were a fullback. 

3) strong spine.  Even though Tony Gale totally wet himself with excitement talking up Kouyate last week, I think he's been pretty poor lately.  We need he and Noble and Ogbonna and Reid to stay sharp and keep Ozil and (the centrally-moving) Sanchez out of the game as much as is possible.  Giroud needs to get the business from our centre backs, too.  I don't think Giroud plays well in nasty games.  If that's arguable, I expect I'll hear about it on this forum! Actually, if any of what I've said is arguable...

[Raja]

Giroud will not even play, Welbeck will start for us - As he has been for the past few games. Sanchez will be on the right, which makes him slightly less predictable than when he's on the left. He won't even be cutting in as much from the right. 

Iwobi's also the one to watch out for! Tomkins is coming back from injury, is he not? That could be something for Iwobi to exploit, if he can. 

[Nas!]

Ah, poorly researched, then. Sadly, I've not had any Arsenal games on tv here for a while, so I've only seen their results, not their play.

Tomkins is an excellent defender.  I wouldn't expect him to be easy to beat.  He may not be much threat going forward, but he's quick for a centre back and won't be easy to get past. 

[Raja]

Oh, I don't doubt his quality. He's been around forever, but him just coming back from injury might mean that he's slightly rusty. Well, I'm hoping for that anyway. Hopefully with a midfield of Coquelin and Elneny ( how good of a buy does he seem, btw?) we will be able to deal with the physicality of West Ham. 

It's unfortunate that we've finally found a balanced team but it's probably a bit too late to matter. I'm still keeping an eye on those Leicester results though!

[Spockydog]

2 minutes ago, Raja said:

Oh, I don't doubt his quality. He's been around forever, but him just coming back from injury might mean that he's slightly rusty. Well, I'm hoping for that anyway. Hopefully with a midfield of Coquelin and Elneny ( how good of a buy does he seem, btw?)

Well, according to Danny Mills, he's shit.

Quote

Elneny is a nothing player. He only passes the ball sideways and does nothing in attack. He's not even a proper defensive midfielder. Arsenal need better.

It beggars belief that hacks like Mills get paid for their opinions.

 

[Mexal]

I like Elneny. I think he's filled into the Cazorla role without any of the creativity but with the steadiness you'd want. He makes a lot of sideways passes but they're accurate and he's always in position to support because he never stops moving. I think he'll grow into more of an offensive role as times goes on but for now, he's exactly what we needed, a true partner to Coquelin who can keep the ball constantly moving while rarely giving it away. Just watching the balance of the team with Elneny vs Ramsey is all anyone needs to see to understand his value.

[Iskaral Pust]

You make him sound like Joe Allen.  I thought he contributes a bit more than that in tackling and attack.  

[Mexal]

25 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said:

You make him sound like Joe Allen.  I thought he contributes a bit more than that in tackling and attack.  

Not a massive amount. I'd say Elneny's positioning is better which is why he's getting more interceptions and clearances but he's not a big time tackler like Coquelin and he doesn't venture forward too often, at least in the PL. I think he's also more tidy with the ball than Allen and seems to be a lot more available (had 140 passes against Watford and completed 96% of them). 

Elneny was getting into good offensive positions against Barcelona but lately in the PL, with our current balance, he's stayed more level with Coquelin, providing support for Ozil/Iwobi/Sanchez and feeding them the ball in between the lines. Ramsey's issue is he was trying to occupy the same space as those players and we kept playing on top of each other (that and he gives the ball away multiple times a game). I think Welbeck also helps in this because he's more likely to move wide when one of the wide players comes inside.

It's really just a better balance for the team. Elneny isn't a world beater right now but he's the right type of player for Arsenal's current set up and every once in awhile, flashes offensive potential (see Barcelona). Give him an offseason with the team and another year and maybe he'll feel a bit more comfortable making those type of runs more often. His stamina is off the charts so he could theoretically do it. Plus, he has a wicked shot from distance so I'd like to see him take a few more of those from around 20-25 yards out.