Europa Conference League 2023/4 | Page 249 | Vital Football

Europa Conference League 2023/4

Having slept on it and looking at other English teams results, I'm grateful for the win last night in what was a difficult game against a very decent team.

For some reason, I'm feeling confident we will see out this tie in our favour, however our leaky defence needs tightening up by Unia with some adjustments like putting Konsa alongside Torres and hopefully Cash or someone else as the full-back.

Carlos simply isn't commanding enough in dealing with crosses into our box which, given his size, is surprising, but he just can't seem to head a ball properly.
 
Pangloss said:
I don’t really get the mentality of some of the posts. At this stage of a competition European football is often a very cagey affair where you have to ride your luck. The main thing is that we won. These lot are no mugs.

I see Liverpool getting obliterated at home by Atalanta and realise that Lille vs Atalanta is a pretty even game. We did no where near as badly as some are making out.
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Agreed, a quarter final win in Europe, must not be scoffed at.
 
Pangloss said:
I don’t really get the mentality of some of the posts. At this stage of a competition European football is often a very cagey affair where you have to ride your luck. The main thing is that we won. These lot are no mugs.

I see Liverpool getting obliterated at home by Atalanta and realise that Lille vs Atalanta is a pretty even game. We did no where near as badly as some are making out.
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Nothing cagey about last night's game. Two sides that played in a very similar fashion. I think the mentality as you describe it is probably a reflection of the fact that it's been a long season with a terrible injury list to key players and it's beggining to show. Bench looked a bit threadbare last night and we looked more vulnerable after the substitutions than before. Don't think we have any alternative to going there to win the game next week because if we try to defend our slender lead we will lose.
 
Pangloss said:
I don’t really get the mentality of some of the posts. At this stage of a competition European football is often a very cagey affair where you have to ride your luck. The main thing is that we won. These lot are no mugs.

I see Liverpool getting obliterated at home by Atalanta and realise that Lille vs Atalanta is a pretty even game. We did no where near as badly as some are making out.
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Interesting post because all I have seen is the goals and spoken to junior who was there. Checking the score when we landed I was good with that. Said pre match the aim was to 1- still be in the tie and 2 - win.

Then I read the match thread. Doesn't seem like we did either. But we did.

Then I looked at the other conference scores and the europa and champions leagues results this week as it all seemed similar . And yes i was right because ( ironically given what we bloody needed for 5th!) out of all the European ties this week only 2 games have a score of more than 1 goal between the two teams after the first leg. This is what happens.

Could be been better, could've been worse. We were never going to go sailing through like some seem to think we should .

Junior 1 said we looked leggy second half. I'm hardly surprised. It does feel like things might be catching up now. When I look at the bench beyond the 3 subs made last night it's just not a bench for where we are . And tbh two of the three subs in Tim and Zaniolo are not fit for purpose at this stage either.

Good to here from Junior 1 that the old place was rocking last night up until their goal when the obvious nerves came in.

Nothing not to like here. Big European quarter final, leading and going away next week with a big chance to progress.
 
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Agreed, I think Langlet would be a better option than Carlos, we are missing Cash at Right back. I think a concession v Arsenal Sunday by resting the likes of Emi, Pau, Digne, Bailey and Watkins obviously Dougie is out. Its going to be a tough night next week, you feel that we have to score to stand a chance as we now look so weak in defence. What is clear to me, stop dreaming of CL, our next step up will be Europa and that's tough! I would give last nights performance 7/10 with a ' could do better' and we know we can, problem is, we're constantly looking tired!!
 
villasince67 said:
It was farcical, unbelievable, incompetent, game changing and a complete travesty. Many people, in walks of 'life' would be sacked. It is all so avoidable as well by adopting the TMO approach in Rugby Union. By not giving that penalty that idiot 'ref' from Norway has probably fast tracked himself to promotion in the eyes of the goons who are ruining our game.
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The Lille defender had no intention of getting the ball, which he didn't anyway, so it was a clear foul which should have been given as a penalty.

The referee was from Norway, and my son is a season ticket holder at Tromso FC in the north of Norway. https://www.til.no/english

He said the standard of referees in the country is poor and a lot of the refs are prone to making absolute bizarre decisions, and we definitely saw one last night.
 
Thomas Holte said:
The Lille defender had no intention of getting the ball, which he didn't anyway, so it was a clear foul which should have been given as a penalty.

The referee was from Norway, and my son is a season ticket holder at Tromso FC in the north of Norway. https://www.til.no/english

He said the standard of referees in the country is poor and a lot of the refs are prone to making absolute bizarre decisions, and we definitely saw one last night.
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Awful ref .Clearly decided he wasn't going to card any of their cheating whinging niggly players , but felt it ok to brandish yellows at us for the slightest touch.

Unbelievable decision no to give the pen. I actually heard the contact , absolutely stonewall and a real head scratcher.
 
BigBadDave said:
Agreed, I think Langlet would be a better option than Carlos, we are missing Cash at Right back. I think a concession v Arsenal Sunday by resting the likes of Emi, Pau, Digne, Bailey and Watkins obviously Dougie is out. Its going to be a tough night next week, you feel that we have to score to stand a chance as we now look so weak in defence. What is clear to me, stop dreaming of CL, our next step up will be Europa and that's tough! I would give last nights performance 7/10 with a ' could do better' and we know we can, problem is, we're constantly looking tired!!
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Lenglet was injured but agreed , we need Konsa back in the middle asap.
 
Thomas Holte said:
Mthe refs are prone to making absolute bizarre decisions, and we definitely saw one last night.
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Saw a couple, Dougie and Youri picked up the softest most ridiculous yellow cards, yet McGinn went flying in to take a man out and didn’t get booked.

Awful referee, it felt like the win was in part a game between the man in black and the man in goal for us. Luckily Emi was world class despite the ref trying his best to even it up for the away side.
 
Melon Donkey said:
Interesting post because all I have seen is the goals and spoken to junior who was there. Checking the score when we landed I was good with that. Said pre match the aim was to 1- still be in the tie and 2 - win.

Then I read the match thread. Doesn't seem like we did either. But we did.

Then I looked at the other conference scores and the europa and champions leagues results this week as it all seemed similar . And yes i was right because ( ironically given what we bloody needed for 5th!) out of all the European ties this week only 2 games have a score of more than 1 goal between the two teams after the first leg. This is what happens.

Could be been better, could've been worse. We were never going to go sailing through like some seem to think we should .

Junior 1 said we looked leggy second half. I'm hardly surprised. It does feel like things might be catching up now. When I look at the bench beyond the 3 subs made last night it's just not a bench for where we are . And tbh two of the three subs in Tim and Zaniolo are not fit for purpose at this stage either.

Good to here from Junior 1 that the old place was rocking last night up until their goal when the obvious nerves came in.

Nothing not to like here. Big European quarter final, leading and going away next week with a big chance to progress.
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The 2-1 scoreline itself isn't the worry.

It's the fact that it took 3 or 4 absolute top draw save to keep it like that - throw in the fact that a very average Brentford scored 3 in 9 minutes against us recently and you can see the concern.

Hope we score early in the away leg - but the bigger picture is the defensive needs a bit of rethink for next season - we've struggled to keep clean all season even in games we've dominated.

Moreno for Digne was a bizarre substitution last night .. .how did that help us at all ?
 
remote said:
The 2-1 scoreline itself isn't the worry.

It's the fact that it took 3 or 4 absolute top draw save to keep it like that - throw in the fact that a very average Brentford scored 3 in 9 minutes against us recently and you can see the concern.

Hope we score early in the away leg - but the bigger picture is the defensive needs a bit of rethink for next season - we've struggled to keep clean all season even in games we've dominated.

Moreno for Digne was a bizarre substitution last night .. .how did that help us at all ?
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Clearly for fresh legs. We were out on our feet from 75 mins onwards.

This is where we are now suffering for all the injuries we've got/had.
 
Lille are a good side , they look after the ball and we need to avoid cheap turnovers.

Some people seem upset that they created chances and that Emi actually had to make some saves , but you'd be disappointed if he hadn't made some of those save and it's what you have the best goalkeeper in the world for.

We've got a lead though and that is priceless. Like I said last night I'd back us to score at their place , they are very open and with the onus on them to take the game to us , we can damage them on the counter.
 
sirdennis said:
Clearly for fresh legs. We were out on our feet from 75 mins onwards.

This is where we are now suffering for all the injuries we've got/had.
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Last night was the 1st time I've heard a commentary team talking about our injury woes. Full of praise for the job Unai has done despite such setbacks. Also heaping praise on our iconic ground.
Half time in the tie and we're ahead, the only English team to do that. All to play for in the 2nd leg. Bring it on
 
Old Trinity Villan said:
We need a full team back, it's as simple as that. Check our defensive stats without Kamara? I think it's 8 of 13 games without him we have let in 2 or more. DM is top priority in the summer if Unai thinks Tim's not ready.
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I think the loss of Kamara has exacerbated a problem rather than create one. We didnt keep many clean sheets before Kamara got injured.

IMO we are arent physically robust enough in defence.
 
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