Spartak Moscow (A) - Post Match

[Paninistickers]

3 minutes ago, Tanya said:

 

I hate to be so negative after a much needed win, but that defensive performance was so poor. Goodness knows what would have happened if Evans wasn't on the pitch. When we finally earn a clean sheet I'll celebrate as hard as a goal. We will get nowhere in this competition and in the league if we continue to let in slack goals. None. We are damn lucky we scored four because to let in three is shameful.

 

That said, The positives: Daka is the real deal. So is Soumare (Vestergaard is a dud and perhaps Bertrand too but can't argue with the recruitment when it comes to the other lads). Very chuffed to see Maddison returning to form and Tielemans was a maestro, dictating play from the base of midfield. Also, I am always pleased when Luke Thomas plays well. He's such an incredible talent.

 

I am still incredibly concerned about our chances going forward. We cannot gloss over how easily we are conceding goals. But right now I just feel relieved about the win. We're still in with a shot of qualifying out of the Group of Death.
 

 

This has got to be a wind up!! 

 

 

[shen]

4 hours ago, deanolegend1989 said:

 Soyuncu Evans all superb yet still struggled to see it through. Fantastic performance and heart to turn that around but bloody hell we have some real shockers in this team.

 

I have never seen worse signings than Vestergard and Betrand it’s embarrassing.

The hyperbole is so real.

Granted, both Vestergaard and Bertrand have been poor so far, but you and the rest of the harsh critics need to get a grip. The scapegoating is getting ridiculous.

 

How do they get called out for a 10 minute cameo while Soyuncu gets praise despite being entirely at fault for the second goal? Amartey, Schmeichel and Evans for the first goal? Soyuncu and Amartey were hacking away balls when Evans was on the pitch, despite pressure being very modest.

Edited 20 October 2021 by shen

[Tanya]

I thought Evans was pretty good, especially with such a quick turnaround, but I think any fairminded person would say the defensive unit as a whole was poor on the night (the only slight mitigating factor was that Spartak are a pretty defent side). We were bailed out by our attack for sure.

[SpacedX]

4 hours ago, deanolegend1989 said:

The fact Vestergard and Bertrand are 2 of the worst signings ever made 

[shen]

56 minutes ago, MonmoreStef said:

I’ve just watched the second half again. Can’t believe the blatant cheating from the six foot plus geezer who scored their first. Deliberately runs into Ricardo from the kick off in an attempt to get him booked and sent off. I’m convinced this was planned at half time.  Goes down pretending to be hurt hoping the ref thinks Ricardo as intentionally blocked him.  

Spartak were a bunch of thugs - well their Russian contingent anyway. 

We were on the end of so many bad or questionable decisions today, to the point where I would question the integrity of the referees...

[The People's Hero]

How bad must Benkovic be that Vestergaard continues to be in front of him in the pecking order.

[MarriedaLeicesterGirl]

1 minute ago, shen said:

Spartak were a bunch of thugs - well their Russian contingent anyway. 

We were on the end of so many bad or questionable decisions today, to the point where I would question the integrity of the referees...

All three matches have been badly officiated.

[Mikw]

Daka amazing today. let's not forget Ianacho, he's playing great at the moment.

[Ric Flair]

48 minutes ago, sylofox said:

Muppet we won. Ever thought Evan's needs a rest and game time ffs be adult.

To be fair those subs were grim. Hamza, Vestergaard and Bertrand were poor. Unnecessary 

[when_you're_smiling]

10 minutes ago, shen said:

Spartak were a bunch of thugs - well their Russian contingent anyway. 

We were on the end of so many bad or questionable decisions today, to the point where I would question the integrity of the referees...

The VAR checks on the goals were incredibly lengthy as well. Spent ages looking for a reason to rule them out. 

[Nod.E]

Regarding the Vestergaard scapegoating...

 

The kindest thing I can think to say is he might be unfit, or carrying a knock.

 

If this form is representative, the negativity is warranted. He has been consistently rotten for us so far, there's no two ways about it.

 

And while we're at it, the second goal was more Thomas' error than it was Soyuncu. Hospital ball.

[shen]

1 minute ago, Nod.E said:

Regarding the Vestergaard scapegoating...

 

The kindest thing I can think to say is he might be unfit, or carrying a knock.

 

If this form is representative, the negativity is warranted. He has been consistently rotten for us so far, there's no two ways about it.

 

And while we're at it, the second goal was more Thomas' error than it was Soyuncu. Hospital ball.

Wasn't it Maddison? And either way, Soyuncu had time to clear the ball but lost out twice on the challenge. Of course he carries blame here.

 

As for Vestergaard and Bertrand scapegoating, just why? This fanbase is known to do it - singling out players like this, especially new ones. 

 

Even Daka and Soumare have had their critics as late as this game! Just get a grip and trust these players will come good.

[sacreblueits442]

4 hours ago, jayfox26 said:

If we have any money available in January we should get Lingard and Tarkowski. Both would be reasonably cheap with their contracts expiring and would massively improve us. More likely Newcastle go for these kind of deals in Jan. Justin and Fofana will be like 2 new signings and getting Ndidi back should hopefully help the defence.

...bringing in Jlinz would be a bit of overkill.......!!!

Unless we are looking to get rid of Youri or Madders we really cannot  justify him sitting on the bench getting the occasional 10 minutes here and there. You would only be encouraging Rodgers to be shoehorning players  to get his favourites in the team.

[Nod.E]

4 minutes ago, shen said:

Wasn't it Maddison? And either way, Soyuncu had time to clear the ball but lost out twice on the challenge. Of course he carries blame here.

 

As for Vestergaard and Bertrand scapegoating, just why? This fanbase is known to do it - singling out players like this, especially new ones. 

 

Even Daka and Soumare have had their critics as late as this game! Just get a grip and trust these players will come good.

Pretty sure it was Thomas. And yes Soyuncu is partly to blame but you get the impression that thumping the ball upfield isn't an option in a Rodgers side. Thomas stitched him up with a bobbling ball.

 

If fans were booing the players in question, I would share your point of view. As it stands it's basically a group of people on a forum justifiably voicing concern for signings looking some way off the mark. Are you telling me you're not concerned at all? Not even about Vestergaard? 

 

Edited 20 October 2021 by Nod.E

[cruzFOX]

I get the feeling this is how we're gonna be for a while. Ferocious in attack some good midfield and patches of good defending with a dollop of dodgy individual mistakes leading to goals conceded. maybe Rogers has accepted that until he can have his ideal back line in place. We just have to outscore the opposition! Gonna make for some nervous viewing but if it ends in a win I'm cool with that for now. Atleast pundits can't say we're not entertaining.

[shen]

1 minute ago, Nod.E said:

Pretty sure it was Thomas. And yes Soyuncu is partly to blame but you get the impression that thumping the ball upfield isn't an option in a Rodgers side. Thomas stitched him up with a bobbling ball.

 

If fans were booing the players in question, I would share your point of view. As it stands it's basically a group of people on a forum justifiably voicing concern for signings looking some way off the mark. Are you telling me you're not concerned at all? Not even about Vestergaard? 

 

Yet Amartey and Soyuncu booted it out several times. We know Soyuncu is liable to take gambles and let the striker get close before brushing him off. Today, and many times this season already, he was caught out. He should know by now when to take the risk and when to play it safe.

 

Of course I am concerned about the form of Bertrand and Vestergaard, but I've seen enough of both in the recent past to know they are players that have good quality in general. The lapses we have seen so far are a bit surprising to me, but I am not worried long term. You look at Man Utd with a very settled defense, and even they are leaking goals. As a team we need to defend better and it takes time for key positions like fullbacks and centerbacks to bed in.

[fuchsntf]

4 hours ago, ealingfox said:

Spartak are awful, how did they beat Napoli away

 

We win..the opposition are, crap, awful, shit, Championship level...throwing in a Smiley confirms it.......

 

Burst the balls,cut up the nets,Chop up the posts, shred the shirts...turn the stadium into a Shopping center....

 

How many individuals Score 4 fking goals in Europe....Rather Talk shit, than honour the moment.....

But everybody including 24 carat plonkers have a right to an opinion.....!!

There just hasnt been an emoji created, for cringy,Hand wringing FT posters...

[jayfox26]

27 minutes ago, sacreblueits442 said:

...bringing in Jlinz would be a bit of overkill.......!!!

Unless we are looking to get rid of Youri or Madders we really cannot  justify him sitting on the bench getting the occasional 10 minutes here and there. You would only be encouraging Rodgers to be shoehorning players  to get his favourites in the team.

Yeh maybe but Tarkowski would be a great signing for us if we could get him cheap. I'd imagine there will be many teams after him though 

[sacreblueits442]

Just now, jayfox26 said:

Yeh maybe but Tarkowski would be a great signing for us if we could get him cheap. I'd imagine there will be many teams after him though 

....I am pretty much hopeful we have an agreement for him to come to us on a free!!!

If it wasn't for Evans on going problem I would love to bring in Chris Richards, everything about him screams Leicester to Man. United.

[Deeg67]

4 hours ago, FoxyLeon said:

At the start of the season I suggested a midfield 3 of Tielemans-Soumare-Maddison and a back 3/5.

"We would never play like that!" was the response.....Well, we've had 2 of our best attacking performances in 12 months using it.

 

I've said it once, twice, maybe even a dozen times, a double pivot of Ndidi+Tielemans just doesn't work.

 

Claridge was right with his comment post match, Rodgers looks to have found a system which suits us, and he also rightly pointed out that it has taken too long to find it.....

And lets be fair, he's found it luckily by having a key player missing.

 

We finally have some fluidity in our play and look far far better, than our previous tactic of just giving the ball to Barnes and crossing our fingers. 

But Rodgers really needs to find a way to improve us defensively, something that has been going on for a long long time now.

One way to improve us defensively is putting Ndidi back in when he’s available.  Which is the problem, really.

 

I would still contend that Soumare has some work to do to close the deal - I think he’s been pretty mediocre against PL competition.  But there’s no question he offers more going forward than Wilf.  Personally I don’t see any formation where using both is your best 11.  This continues to be a problem with our squad balance - we have a lot of players who don’t fit well together, which limits our flexibility with formations.

[DerbyshireFox]

Nice to come in from a long shift at work and watch the highlights. Patson Daka has arrived ladies and gents 🙌. What a great dilemma to have up top. Still need work defensively, but at least we haven’t been passive and timid the past couple of games 🤣. 

[UpTheLeagueFox]

5 hours ago, Spudulike said:

Don't know who the BT Sport co-commentator was today but so much better than the usual Steve McManamanaman. She made some thoughtful and intelligent comments and actually sounded like she was watching the game. 

Lucy Ward.

She's a former Leeds striker, also played for England U21.

Worked with her a few times for talkSPORT.

Always comes with pages of prep, very thorough, and she's bloody fantastic on air.

[tom27111]

1 minute ago, UpTheLeagueFox said:

Lucy Ward.

She's a former Leeds striker, also played for England U21.

Worked with her a few times for talkSPORT.

Always comes with pages of prep, very thorough, and she's bloody fantastic on air.

 

Out of curiosity Geoff, don't think I've ever asked you this, do you make those in depth notes about players with stats and things?

 

I'm sure you're always prepared.

 

I know the old school commentators used to do it perfectly by hand for every game.

 

And Arlo White regularly posts his commentary boards on Twitter, packed full of stats, although his are printed nowadays! 

[UpTheLeagueFox]

5 minutes ago, tom27111 said:

Out of curiosity Geoff, don't think I've ever asked you this, do you make those in depth notes about players with stats and things?

I'm sure you're always prepared.

I know the old school commentators used to do it perfectly by hand for every game.

And Arlo White regularly posts his commentary boards on Twitter, packed full of stats, although his are printed nowadays! 

For commentaries, the level of detail about the teams and individual players we do is insane - and most of it is never used.

Much less for just reporting at games - it's easier to google stuff during the match when you're not commentating.

[tom27111]

1 minute ago, UpTheLeagueFox said:

For commentaries, the level of detail about the teams and individual players we do is insane - and most of it is never used.

Much less for just reporting at games - it's easier to google stuff during the match when you're not commentating.

So commentary wise, is it all done by yourselves, or would TalkSport or whichever broadcaster it may be, have researchers for you? 

 

Or would that vary from company to company?

 

I'm sure you'd all be pretty clued up anyway.