Braga Post Match

[gurru991 1,396]

16 minutes ago, JamesfromlondonLCFC said:

Youri is genuinely our most important player. Everything we do goes through him. His influence is insane.

He is very, very good !  When you are playing alongside Kevin De Bruyne and get man of the match you are top drawer.

Hopefully we can win something to convince him to stay forever.

I keep forgetting that he is only 23

Edited 26 November 2020 by gurru991

[Gerard 6,702]

3 hours ago, The whole world smiles said:

I think we should rest the Fulham starting 11 against zorya. Leaving a lot of them back in England. The 7 subs can play as they need the game time and we still ideally need something then go full strength if we need something at AEK. 

 

We are in a good position though cause if aek win we are already champions and if Braga win we play an aek side last who have absolutely nothing to play for and will probably play the reserves. 

 

Agree with this 100%.

 

Not much fun being in Ukraine in December so I'd leave at least Kasper, Evans, Tielemans and Vardy at home to put their feet up. I'd also look at resting as many current first team players as possible. It would be nice to win the group but it's not essential and come the draw for the last 32 in a fortnight the seeded pot may look no stronger than the unseeded pot. 

 

We will still have plenty of chances to win the group and 1pt will probably be enough, we can certainly gamble and send the squad players over to Ukraine as there is only a small downside to losing.

 

                   Iheanacho

           Under             Perez

Thomas Choudhury Praet Albrighton

     Fuchs     Morgan    Justin

                    Ward

 

Good to give some of the injured lads coming back some minutes if possible.

 

[foxaholic 32]

3 hours ago, sacreblueits442 said:

...we are not that good!!!

Allbrighton noproblem had his one bad game a year  his knockers must be embarrassed again

[melrose 221]

8 minutes ago, foxaholic said:

Allbrighton noproblem had his one bad game a year  his knockers must be embarrassed again

He's still the best crosser of the ball we have!

[gurru991 1,396]

31 minutes ago, foxaholic said:

Allbrighton noproblem had his one bad game a year  his knockers must be embarrassed again

He has very nice knockers, small but pert.

[Peterorange 28]

4 hours ago, Carl the Llama said:

I closed the stream after they cleared that corner in the final minute of injury time.  You're all welcome  

So did 1! 3.40 gone of the 4 minutes on the clock and Braga had the ball.

[StriderHiryu 16,960]

1 hour ago, JamesfromlondonLCFC said:

Youri is genuinely our most important player. Everything we do goes through him. His influence is insane.

That's my biggest concern about this game... no one else can play that position in our squad like he can. Praet can deputise for Maddison, but he's not as good when further back. I think we need someone else in the squad that can play there, maybe it's something to think about in the summer window as Youri will be knackered at the end of this season.

[honeybradger 604]

6 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

That's my biggest concern about this game... no one else can play that position in our squad like he can. Praet can deputise for Maddison, but he's not as good when further back. I think we need someone else in the squad that can play there, maybe it's something to think about in the summer window as Youri will be knackered at the end of this season.

Dewsbury hall is kind of in that mold of player isnt he? Also wouldnt mind trying luke thomas in midfield to see if he could play that deep mf role as well.

[fuchsntf 5,684]

9 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

That's my biggest concern about this game... no one else can play that position in our squad like he can. Praet can deputise for Maddison, but he's not as good when further back. I think we need someone else in the squad that can play there, maybe it's something to think about in the summer window as Youri will be knackered at the end of this season

We could try Leshebela...hes been here long enough, hes had Good cameos, Now Deep into the season,Time to see if the guy can cut it...with some decent

Bench & game time. 15-20-30 minutes Off the bench,gives Tielemans breathing space...

[Leeds Fox 1,521]

Was it only me who had to look twice every time they showed the managers. 
 

Braga’s manager looked like a pound shop Brendan Rodgers (or the other way around). 
 

 

[Genesis1 37]

5 hours ago, knitro said:

Kasper has a potty mouth.

Was it him who said at the end of the first half, referee you said 20 seconds 40 fu**ing seconds a go? Haha I was trying to work it out but didn't recognise the voice.

[UpTheLeagueFox 9,527]

2 hours ago, Nick said:

We simply won’t get away though with the back five we played today in the later stages.

They are young and need experience I know but they are not all ready yet

They're getting experience now which is great.

Luke Thomas has come out of nowhere and made 9 apps so far - he won't even be 20 by the time of the final.

James Justin, age 22, has made 29 apps (26 starts) in under 12 months.

If it wasn't for injuries, Thomas probably wouldn't have made his debut by now and Justin would have made a handful of apps.

With a fully fit squad, neither player is a regular starter, Thomas not even on the bench.

What we've seen is that they can come in a 'do a job' now and again - likewise squad players such as Albrighton, Fuchs and Perez.

You just don't want too many of them in the side at the same time (and players out of position too) but we've had to do that because of the horrendous injury list.

 

14 games played in all comps this season: Won 9, Drawn 1, Lost 4

Out of the league cup yes but 4th in the Prem and qualified in the UEL with two games to go.

Especially with the backdrop of last season's poor finish, we should be bloody delighted.

(But maybe that's just me with my positive glasses on!)

[sacreblueits442 1,040]

16 minutes ago, fuchsntf said:

We could try Leshebela...hes been here long enough, hes had Good cameos, Now Deep into the season,Time to see if the guy can cut it...with some decent

Bench & game time. 15-20-30 minutes Off the bench,gives Tielemans breathing space...

...he is just a bit too slow in possession and is closed down too easily!!!

Given the time and space he can hurt the opposition but the pace in the Premiership is a lot faster than the U23s. The possibility that he could adapt his game to move the ball quicker could happen, if needed to be but we are never going to find out, unless we drop him into a Premiership game.

  Set up Demarai's two goals recently and the run and subsequent lay-off for the first was perfect. 

[fuchsntf 5,684]

1 minute ago, sacreblueits442 said:

...he is just a bit too slow in possession and is closed down too easily!!!

Given the time and space he can hurt the opposition but the pace in the Premiership is a lot faster than the U23s. The possibility that he could adapt his game to move the ball quicker could happen, if needed to be but we are never going to find out, unless we drop him into a Premiership game.

  Set up Demarai's two goals recently and the run and subsequent lay-off for the first was perfect. 

Some had The same thoughts on Tielemans...he like you mention & I insuated, needs gametime..First Off the bench..

[Gamble92 1,252]

I'm not saying there isnt times when the long travelling and games can be an issue, but for the most part the Europa League being this huge hindrance that kills your league form and fitness is just a poor excuse. 

 

I can see why it ****ed up Burnley, but that's Burnley. Especially when clubs like Man United and Arsenal complain about it. If you actually negate it well, it can be a huge bonus to be able to give players much needed game time in a major competition. Ihenacho and Thomas have got goals and assists they wouldn't have come close to getting in the league, it'll do so much for them going forward. 

 

**** the naysayers 

[Nicolo Barella 2,654]

It would be a lot easier to rest Tielemans if Tavares would just sign a new deal already...

[Ceirboy 103]

9 hours ago, Col city fan said:

It took our first team to come on for us to look much good

Squad bang average. Nobody’s ever persuading me the likes of Iheanacho is good enough for a frequent first team spot

You are spot on there, looked awful first half. Iheanacho is just not this level. 
I really hoped he’d kick on a few years back, I was willIng him on but alas, he just doesn’t have it in him.

Edited 27 November 2020 by Ceirboy

[Ric Flair 20,344]

6 hours ago, honeybradger said:

Dewsbury hall is kind of in that mold of player isnt he? Also wouldnt mind trying luke thomas in midfield to see if he could play that deep mf role as well.

AND TAVARES

[Paninistickers 2,176]

4 hours ago, Gamble92 said:

I'm not saying there isnt times when the long travelling and games can be an issue, but for the most part the Europa League being this huge hindrance that kills your league form and fitness is just a poor excuse. 

 

I can see why it ****ed up Burnley, but that's Burnley. Especially when clubs like Man United and Arsenal complain about it. If you actually negate it well, it can be a huge bonus to be able to give players much needed game time in a major competition. Ihenacho and Thomas have got goals and assists they wouldn't have come close to getting in the league, it'll do so much for them going forward. 

 

**** the naysayers 

Totally agree. 

 

It's  kept the whole squad in regular game time  (choudhury wouldn't  have had a sniff otherwise) ....and also it's  allowed us to build momentum.

 

the bad results v west ham, villa and liverpool  weren't  allowed to fester. We could get the defeats washed out if our system  quickly 

Edited 27 November 2020 by Paninistickers

[Danny Clender 841]

No speculation on the context of this image from last nights game, but the moment did make me smile.

 

.

 

Yeah, proper great game that

Seems quite a while since we last had such a late equaliser in a game. 

[Danny Clender 841]

11 hours ago, Tuna said:

Was that commentator on commission for the amount of times he'd say Quarry during the game? Must have mentioned it about 600 times.

 yeah...and Syston. 

[happy85 549]

6 hours ago, StriderHiryu said:

That's my biggest concern about this game... no one else can play that position in our squad like he can. Praet can deputise for Maddison, but he's not as good when further back. I think we need someone else in the squad that can play there, maybe it's something to think about in the summer window as Youri will be knackered at the end of this season.

Dewsbury hall

[StriderHiryu 16,960]

6 hours ago, honeybradger said:

Dewsbury hall is kind of in that mold of player isnt he? Also wouldnt mind trying luke thomas in midfield to see if he could play that deep mf role as well.

 

6 hours ago, fuchsntf said:

We could try Leshebela...hes been here long enough, hes had Good cameos, Now Deep into the season,Time to see if the guy can cut it...with some decent

Bench & game time. 15-20-30 minutes Off the bench,gives Tielemans breathing space...

Tielemans is on a completely different stratosphere to those two, and they aren’t really the same type of player either. In fact in world football there aren’t many deep lying playmakers at the moment; only Thiago, Jorginho, Pjanic, Kronos, Veratti and Arthur immediately spring to mind. 
 

I think players like that are hard to find and even harder to develop. It’s true that even with Youri, he started off here as more of an attacking midfielder but has gradually been pushed back by Rodgers to his current role so it is possible to do that. But you need a phenomenal amount of skills plus the mental capacity to read the game to play the position. 
 

There’s a reason why he’s our club record signing!

[foxinsocks 1,516]

9 hours ago, UpTheLeagueFox said:

I'm sure in the match thread someone was slagging off Thomas and Albrighton (among others) but I'm guessing that was before Thomas scored and Albrighton set up another.

they both had a good game... Mark needed that - his school boy error allows a Liverpool cross for a goal - he wont do that again.  I always like his delivery into the box.

[UniFox21 7,322]

Once again however, the opposition took advantage of gaps between our outer CB and wing back which really seems to unlock our defence.