Funny to hear Slot complain all season about boring football then tonight he sets up with a back 5, drops Salah, wasted time, tried long throws whenever possible and pumped free kicks from the halfway line in to the box for Van Dijk

I'm pretty sure he is being told to play deep. Noni isn't the best defensively, and neither is White on current form, and Ødegaard doesn't have the best recovery pace and is also struggling to get back to his best. Rice was also very deep. Sporting are no mugs we know how badly these games can go if the home team and crowd get their tails up.

It's frustrating (and makes the forwards look bad) and not pretty. But keeping it tight until Sporting began to tire was very astute. Another Xg against of less than 1 in a Cl away game is no mean feat.

I hope to goodness Ode, Saka, and Timber are fit enough to start on Saturday. I think we'll see different Ødegaard in a game where we have to win, where Mr Reliable is at RB, and where he can link up with his old mate.

My feeling is he is a deep lying playmaker not the number 10 that we need and that a midfield of Rice, him and zubimendi isn’t balanced enough for enough attacking virtues in the final third. This is a major problem for us in creating chances

I’ve said this previously but he’s the Bernardo Silva in our set up not the Kevin de Bruyne. When we play Eze in the 10 I feel we are more likely to create chances. I agree his final third overplaying is nuts and I don’t really care for any stats that show his ball progression into the box it’s not good enough and 1 goal in the league this season simply isn’t enough threat for a team who wants to win a title. Difficult decisions need to be made here now and I wouldn’t mind seeing a midfield of him Eze and Dec.

Martinelli is an enigma isn't he. Blistering pace and capable of producing those moments of absolute brilliance, just not enough of them. The little dinked ball into Havertz was a real moment of magic that basically won us the game.

Seems to be better as an impact sub but such a shame he can't be more productive as a starter.

Same could be said of Trossard really. I thought he looked unfit against Sporting and struggled to track back which left us wide open a few times.

Two things can be true. Slot rightly thinks the football in the Prem is more boring than it was and he needs to be ultra defensive to avoid getting a hiding in Paris.

Slots quote earlier in the season when talking about how teams set up defensively against his Liverpool side was.....
“My football is Paris Saint-Germain vs. Liverpool, Liverpool vs. Paris Saint-Germain. That is how I would love to have every single game, but you need to have two teams to have an open game of football and not all these things [long balls and low blocks] that don’t make a game of football nice."

Clearly he was bemoaning defensive football and wanted teams to come and play more openly because it suited his team and that is his enjoyment and philosophy on football. He actually cited PSG v Liverpool as a great game clearly suggesting they would both play attacking football and go toe to toe, but when it came to it he did the thing he's been criticising teams and the league for all season.

For me you can't be on your moral high horse moaning about boring football supposed lesser teams do to his team to then do it to a better team when it suits you. Hypocrisy of the highest order. So it can be true that Slot doesn't like boring prem football and also that he went defensive to avoid getting embarrassed, but the fact both of those things are true doesn't allow Slot to escape the hypocrisy of his criticism earlier in the season

Martinelli is a bit of an enigma, he's definitely struggled versus deep blocks in the PL - the stats show this, his record in CL is awesome this season and he gets more space which suits him

More broadly I think it demonstrates just why we've had to develop different ways of playing, in particular the development of the set piece variety, it is essential when the other team 'parks the bus'

I'd personally keep Martinelli as he's only 24, and I think it's key to have a variety of attacking styles - Trossard isn't getting any younger and won't be around for much longer, Jesus is dusted - I'd definitely be looking to replace Jesus this summer and Trossard within the next 14 months

Madueke has really impressed me, he has improved in terms of decision making, his set piece delivery has also been excellent and he really improves our depth hugely

It is not hypocritical it is pragmatic. He doesn't have the luxury of sitting anonymously behind a keyboard, his job is on the line. To be honest every manager would like to play like peak Brazil but are realistic enough to know football is a game where winning matters. I'm sure if you asked Arteta if he'd prefer we scored goals like Barcelona under Pep as opposed to bundling the ball over the ine at corners he'd say yes.

Which match was it where the tackler cleanly took the ball and brought the player down on his follow through? I thought it was harsh first time I saw it but totally agree with VAR that he got the ball first. That was def a penalty imo and according to the rules?

But the point is Slot was suggesting those tactics are beneath his team, that he only plays attacking football. Until it suited him not to.

In my book you can’t talk down to certain teams and tactics and then employ them yourself when it suits.

If Slot had said ‘teams can play however they like, of course it is hard to play against and fans would like more entertainment and less focus on set pieces but teams are only responsible for themselves and getting results however they need to’ then no problem. But he did the opposite

Btw I'd like to see the 3 front players that finished the sporting game with Eke and Victor on the bench and ready to come on.
The 4 that score most goals to start against Man City.

I'm surprised and not surprised that there has been criticism of our 1-0 win away to Sporting. It is a results business for us, more than anyone.
So I took a look back at the results in the knock out rounds of the last 3 Champions Leagues for the teams that reached the final.
Not including PSG's play off round win v Brest last year that gives you 18 away knock out games - 3 tournaments, 6 finalists, L16, QF and SF

8 wins
8 draws
2 defeats

Of the 8 times a team won the away knock out leg they did so by only 1 goal 6 times.

When Man City won the Champions league their away knock out games were 3 x 1-1 draws.

What frustrated me most the other night was quite often Rice and Zubimendi were both ahead of him which seemed arse about face to me. Would much rather see him taking the ball on the half turn and feeding the front three.

what do we make of the barca result ?

we smashed madrid in october, hard to know what’s best

Gyökeres and Ekitike now have identical club records this season - 17 goals in 44 appearances. Both have 11 in the league.

They are ying and yang teams.
atletico much more like us. Barca always seem a bit kamikaze.
We obviously need to win our tie with Sporting first but I'd make us favourites against either. We could defend well v Barca and just wait for their mistakes, or against Atletico we play similar games but ours is just better I think.....set pieces could tell.

2 legs v Atletico will be a tough watch, plenty will moan how boring and tactical it is.

Hi TG.
I was hoping for an Atletico win.
I think we have more of a chance of getting past them should we get past Sporting.
We did tonk them in the group stage.
Though knock outs are completely different.

I wouldnt make us favourites v Barca Rich.
I just think Yamal and Raphina would trouble us greatly.

Eze back in training!

Red card followed straight away by a goal. Cup tie turned on its head in 60 seconds. Barca are much better than Atletico. They beat them at their own place only last week and are 19 points ahead of them in the league. I'd much rather face Atletico.

The bookies would have us as favourites I think. They've had us as favourites for the entire CL for most of the season.
Raphina is currently injured, due back May 10th (obviously approximate) which means he would miss both legs of the Semi-Final.
I agree that Barca have some fantastic forward players but on the whole this season our issue hasn't been not being able to deal with elite attackers.
Barca's defence is the reason I'd make us favourites, and how they are nowhere near as tactically mature or balanced as other top teams. They're capable of blowing teams away but equally capable of imploding 3-0 to Chelsea for example.

I think that sums it up nicely. Atletico aren't as good as Barca. I think Atletico tend to raise their game for one off games v the big two in Spain as without looking at all the results I think they have a good record in the one off games considering how far back they are in the league.

I will keep the faith with Ødegaard (with fingers crossed)

I hope Martinelli stays

Atletico do seem to have a knack of dragging teams into an arm wrestle and they are very good at it. I don't think they are as good as us and I think we can do them over 2 legs. What I worry about is the things we can't control like homer refs, diving, injuries etc.

Maybe an inappropriate time but with speculation as regards Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri - I'd look to move on Lewis-Skelly as he doesn't fit but I'd keep Nwaneri, and move Ødegaard on (he's 27, should get good money for him, his form has been patchy and more injuries) - I'd also definitely move on Jesus and White (the former is more past it than the latter), and I'd move Nørgaard on too, maybe Trossard

That would then leave space to replace all these squad spaces - Jesus, Ødegaard, Nørgaard, Lewis-Skelly, White and maybe Trossard

No the push later on.

I can see that as a penalty shootout. Excruciating, but I would definitely still prefer them to Barca.

The way the draw has panned out you wonder if this just might be our year. Avoiding having to play PSG or Bayern over two legs is a big bonus. In a once-off final anything can happen.

BBC going big with us being open to selling MLS and Nwaneri.
I really do hope they are wrong.
I wouldn't be selling Nwaneri under any circumstances.
Id actually rather lose Ødegaard because I think Nwaneri has the potential to be better if he is trusted.
I love Martinelli. Such a lovely humble boy and a team player.
Hate to see him go as I think we are not properly maximising his potential and we should be trying him through the middle. He is 24. He could be a world beater in another team.

I'm really trying not to get excited with the possible prospect of us getting past Sporting and possibly having Atletico standing between us and the champions league final......

Speculation about who we sell is a bit premature. Depending on what we achieve this year should influence such decisions. In the unlikely event that we fail to win the EPL or CL then the first decision is who will be the new manager for me. Let’s call the person a name , say Ces. That’s just out of the blue. Then consult that person about what system he wants to employ and which players he wants for a rebuild.

But if we win the EPL, then keep Nwaneri and MS who must be tried in midfield. Sell Ødegaard White and a few others. For me Zubimendi and Rice are both defensive midfielders and that’s part of our problem. We need a box to box midfielder. That’s why I would try MS in that position. We may avoid paying for someone.

Like I said 2 weeks ago …

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/ar ... 78kdymmvpo

.. what isn’t being reported in the public domain is that if we do sell Ethan his next club will boil the piss of our fans as it’s likely he would end up at Stamford bridge given his agents links to their academy, his age and being allowed to remain in London whilst still a teenager. That would be very hard to take.

I think there’s a few players we like but would consider selling if the right offer came in ..

Myles
Ethan
Martinelli
And surprisingly for some reason I get the feeling that if the right offer came in for califiori we might be tempted. He’s a decent player and I wouldn’t sell personally but I just get an inclination we might look at it for some reason

Maybe because we have to sign a left back every summer.

These are all the Barca and Atletico players who risk being suspended for the semi final if they got a booking in the second leg of the QF

Do we have any ?

A semi against against athletico would be hard on the eye. The sheer amount of sideways passing and shithousery would be nuts from the pair of us with a final spot at stake.

Well let's hope the second leg is spicy! Something like Cameroon v Germany in the 2002 WC would be just about right.

Zubimendi and Nørgaard.

Wow, I just saw that Konate one. The officials have really backed themselves into a corner by not giving those. Nonsensical.

The Konate one was a clear penalty for me

There is now way he can win the ball cleanly from that position as he proves! He makes contact with the striker's leg before contact with ball is made, clear foul