DMAA

Just now, Rousseau said:

76% possession, yet they've had more attempts (2 vs 5) and shots on target (0 vs 1).

The lack of any urgency whatsoever to get players and the ball in the opponents box is shocking, and typical. The narrative during the week that the problem is Ross Wilson and not GVB just doesn’t fly, the tactics are dreadful. 

And why do we never make changes when we are clearly going nowhere? This is awful, as predicted. 

Another puzzling selection. 4 centre midfielders, two who are more comfortable as defensive midfielders. Night and day to Celtic approach in games like this. 

I think you can tell when a manager/team could go to the next level with better players. You can see a style of play and you can see players improving and outperforming their abilities. Better quality players would clearly bring better results and allow the system to work even better. We are the opposite of that under Gio, there is a total reliance on having better players to get results. 

Gio record doesn’t tell the whole story. He doesn’t have what it takes in the league. I think we are looking at handing them another title and free access to the Champions League. Many of us had worries about his track record and although at times he has proved us wrong, he generally hasn’t. The football we play is every bit as dull and predictable as it was at Feyenoord. We should be speaking to guys with a good track record who are looking to take the next step like Knutsen. 

Aren’t they asset strippers? Apparently there is a Duff & Phelps connection. It’s the last thing we need. 

Great running from Sakala there but poor final ball unfortunately 

Maybe being harsh, but I’d have liked a bit more awareness from Barisic there in terms of offside. He’s yards behind the rest of the defence.

4 minutes ago, Sutton_blows_goats said:

Forgot Kent was playing 

He’s been poor, Matondo should be brought on, and should get a run of games. 

38 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

He played a large part in us getting to Seville.  

 

He has hardly played since he got injured.

He played his part, not a particularly large part. Scored 2 of our 10 goals in the 4 knockout games he played in, he was injured for the quarter final and semi final ties and we got there without him. 

1 hour ago, Rousseau said:

I feel like Kent and Morelos will sign new deals. I would like to keep Morelos, but wouldn't mind seeing the back of Kent. 

Morelos is paid far too much to be kept, we don’t get anything like value for money. He’s had pay rise after pay rise while his performance has declined. Colak will be on significantly less and has been a significant improvement. I’ve said for years a natural goalscorer scores for fun in this team, and we’ve finally got one starting and he is scoring for fun, despite the fact that we aren’t even creating much for him. 

2 hours ago, Rousseau said:

I don't agree with this 'we're outmatched financially, so that's that' stance. 

 

Club Brugge beat Atletico 2-0 last night, to record their third straight win in the CL (Leverkusen and Porto are the others in their group). They are not on a level financial playing field. 

 

Brugge sold £50m worth of talent (three star players) in the summer, and replaced them with 4-5 players for £4-5m each. We're not far off that. Going by the rumours, we were in the market for the same player (Skov Olsen). (They did spend £13m on one player, who didn't play last night.) 

 

Brugge didn't go into the game against Atletico thinking, 'oh - Atletico have several £50m+ players, so we've got no chance'. No. They did the basics right, they set up to nullify Atletico's strengths, and, crucially, had a tactical plan to actually cause problems and score a goal. 

 

I would - and do - blame the manager for the majority of it. 

 

However, we did beat Dortmund and Leipzig last season. They are CL teams. Frankfurt held Tottenham last night in the CL. Again, Frankfurt are not so much better than us, and have taken a point from a side with vastly more financial resources than them. 

Exactly. A large portion of our fan base have incredibly low expectations. We should just be happy to be playing at stadiums like Anfield is the attitude of some. Not a Rangers attitude at all, there is a way to lose games that many of us wouldn’t complain about. We don’t have the ambition of clubs like Club Brugge, from the boardroom down to the fan base. 

7 hours ago, Gonzo79 said:

Morelos didn't get a sniff tonight.  Not his fault.  

When the ball did come to him though he was wasteful or easily dispossessed. The midfield was poor but our front three were also definitely part of the problem, offered nothing. 
 

5 minutes ago, Frankie said:

Ultimately well beaten as Liverpool eased off in the 2nd half. The usual caveats over resources aside, we didn't really offer any decent quality on the ball until far too late in the game. You can play better teams but you can't afford to be so poor on the ball. Not good enough.

 

Obviously there were a few exceptions to that. McGregor was excellent, Goldson was largely solid whilst Matondo and Sakala provided a work-rate and threat that was missing previously. However, we're clearly well short overall and that goes further than a few bad passes.

 

Before bed, our season won't be defined by dropping out the CL group stage. However, the manager really needs to find a system and an XI that provides a lot more consistency and quality domestically and in Europe. As it stands I'm not seeing much progress but no white flag yet.

Totally agree. We aren’t using the squad we’ve got. A front three of Matondo, Colak and Sakala could do some damage domestically, with Tillman centrally behind them and Lundstram and Jack centre mid. We aren’t using our players and when we do the positions and system is wrong (Tillman wide). Champions League is very tricky to get right but we showed no ambition until the 80th minute. 

Matondo deserves far more game time than he’s getting. 

So with 10 minutes to go we finally decide to set up in a way to actually play football why not jus make those changes a while ago? What did we have to lose? So frustrating. Matondo robbed of a good goal there. Should have been on for Kent ages ago. 

Just now, Bill said:

Kamara for Lundstram?

Sarcasm, right?

Not at all, Lundstram has been very poor. 

Just now, Frankie said:

Kamara on for Davis/Lundstram please.

Davis was very poor when he let Diaz cut inside. He’s not the best defensively. I’d happily take Jack and Kamara on for both here. Barisic has been the worst defensively though, very poor the way he lets Salah cut inside every single time without a challenge. 

Showing too much respect and not showing enough ambition. I’d take Barisic off for Yilmaz and Lundstram off for Kamara, as a minimum. We haven’t held onto the ball very well at all in the final third either, hopefully Colak and Matondo will get on at some point. 

6 minutes ago, gisabeer said:

Morelos is the only one with any fight.  The rest are a reflection of gios personality.

Leon King has been very good. 

3 centre backs is a good idea but I’m unconvinced on some of the choices further forward. 

36 minutes ago, Rousseau said:

I love Salzburg. They have a phenomenal football department. (It's no wonder Chelsea were after their DoF. He seems to have turned them down, though.)

 

I especially like their managerial appointments. It's a who's who of some of the most innovative mangers you'll ever see: Schmidt, Hutter, Garcia, Rose, Marsch, and now Jaissle. 

 

They have a recognisable style that they want to implement and appoint young managers that can implement that style. Those appointed don't have track records with other clubs, their record comes from their ability to implement that desired style of play. Jaissle's record was as an assistant, their U18s and then their feeder club FC Leifering in the Austrian second division (he actually took over from Bo Svensson, another talented coach, currently with Mainz). Hutter, Rose, Marsch and jaissle were all involved with the Academy and feeder teams - and other Red Bull organisations. (It helps of you have a feeder club, or two... )

 

I hope that's part of the reason why we've brought in Bowley. Someone that can help us create and implement a style of play throughout the club, so we can then, ideally, promote managers from within. Perhaps not, though. It's certainly high level stuff. 

 

These managers have the ability to implement their styles on whatever players the club acquires. It's all linked up: The players they buy have to have certain traits, that align with their playing style, that the managers have a track record of being able to implement etc. 

 

That's the dream...

And crucially, there’s a proper link to recruitment too. They buy players who will flourish in the system, and their recruitment is ambitious too. 

2 minutes ago, DMAA said:

There should be decent money to spend next summer with all the contracts expiring. Because the other big reason to refresh the squad regularly is that it keeps the wage bill low. By holding onto guys and handing out new contracts we end up with a huge wage bill but with an ageing and demotivated squad. By selling regularly you are bringing in fresh players on low wages and selling before you hand out the big wage rises. 

On this point, I’ve just checked what RB Salzburg’s wage bill is apparently 15 million euros. I find that figure hard to believe, but it will still be significantly lower than ours and I have no doubt that they have better players, and loads of assets, and they are coping fine with the Champions League. We need to be more ambitious and starting following the example of clubs like that. 

19 minutes ago, Sutton_blows_goats said:

Very true, people don't like to hear it but we are not a massive draw to any potential manager. A massive rebuild ahead and no money to spend. 

There should be decent money to spend next summer with all the contracts expiring. Because the other big reason to refresh the squad regularly is that it keeps the wage bill low. By holding onto guys and handing out new contracts we end up with a huge wage bill but with an ageing and demotivated squad. By selling regularly you are bringing in fresh players on low wages and selling before you hand out the big wage rises. 

9 minutes ago, Rousseau said:

Theoretically, the next sales should be Kamara and Hagi. It'll not be Bassey levels, but we will still make a decent amount from them. 

 

(I agree that Morelos and Kent should have been sold by now. I wanted to accept the Chinese bid for Morelos - when was that?)

I kind of forgot about Kamara tbh. I’ve long felt he would fetch decent money but things haven’t been trending in that direction recently. Hagi’s injury has killed anything for now. Recapturing form will take time too. 
 

The China one was very early, that was his first season I think. The Lille one was the one that annoyed me, I remember posting on here about it. But we turned down £16.5m and they walked away. With Kent it was Leeds 2 years ago, the figures were never released although £10m was rumoured.