Didn't watch the game, but will catch the highlights later. Good win though.
Spurs not winning came as no surprise - they tend to struggle after European games. Fortunate for them really that they haven't got a game next weekend after their trip to Basle.
No Bale either is a big blow for them. They arent a one man team but theres no doubt Bale is playing very very well at the moment and adds to their team massively.
Agreed that it may not have been pretty but the result is what matters. I suspect we will have to grind out a lot of results in the foreseeable future... still think fourth is very dodgy right now... I think we will have to beat Spurs in our home game if we want any chance of top 4.
I don't think Everton have it in them to get enough wins for top 4, as witnessed today.
Weird goal to equalize. Good run from Nando, awful touch from Oscar.
If Everton had had a halfway decent player budget they could be a very dangerous team.
Torries coming on changed the game.
The amount of games did look like it was showing.
Think if we get a point from our game against Spurs (at this rate it be played during pre-season) if we dont f up any other games to badly it should be enough
18 goals is not attrocious though and thats a FACT as your manager would say
im well aware hes not playing well but for a striker to net 18 goals in a season saves him for attrocious tag imo
hes doing ok, not great...just ok
fully expect him to get 20 at least by end of season
Yep he doing decent.
Its funny we accuse Spurs/Arsenal/Liverpool of being a one man team yet we want to become one of those ourselfs.
The league is all that matters to Arsenal,Spurs and Liverpool etc but thats because the only thing they have to play for is to finish aas high up the league as possible and thats it.
We have scored something like 120 odd goals this season shared amongst the whole team.
What would people rather have? A 25 a season league goal scorer like Spurs and Liverpool have and no trophys?
Is he the Torries of Liverpool, Nope of course not because if he did not score the goals nobody would have, Take yesterdays game he would have had to try and score instead of passing to Oscar because there would have been nobody to pass it.
He going to break the 20 goals mark this season (if we go though in both cups) and double figures in assists. That to me is a decent return considering we have not been anywhere near a decent level this season
The media want a 25 league goal a season player while what we need is players who can add more to our current tally of goals from across the pitch and players who can make tackles and who's first touch is not simular to childrens TV presenters from the 80s
I wouldn't be too worried about Torres only scoring 15/20 goals a season if his all round contribution was good. But that's not always been the case, has it ?
From what I could see from the brief highlights yesterday he was very much involved, that's great. But can we expect the same in the future ? Far too often, we've seen him contribute very little, and looking as if he'd sooner be somewhere else. I guess it depends on which Torres turns up on the day ? He's lost that dynamic pace, but as I've said many times before, if he is willing (and able) to adapt his game he could still be a very useful player.
18 goals is not attrocious though and thats a FACT as your manager would say
im well aware hes not playing well but for a striker to net 18 goals in a season saves him for attrocious tag imo
hes doing ok, not great...just ok
fully expect him to get 20 at least by end of season
Like I said in a later post, the majority of his goals have no effect on results. He can't be relied on to score important goals - we've seen him choke far too often this season. Usually, the ball gets to him and he runs into defenders or passes it back to their keeper...it's horrible to watch..
The overall goal total masks a very poor season but, as long as they don't bother to look a little deeper, it might be enough to convince someone to take a punt.
I don't care who scores as long as we win. My issue with Torres when he doesn't score is the chances he wastes, same with any other striker.
Torres has had a 4/10 season - he's been completely missing in so many matches that part of the reason we haven't sown up a CL spot is down to him, also he cocked us up in the FIFA World Club Championship by failing to score from 5 yards out, and in the Carling Cup semi 1st leg when we pissed all over Swansea and lost 2-0.
That said I'll still maintain it's 50 mill well spent due to a) his Barca goal and b) him winning the corner for the Drogba header. Two major contributions to help us win our first Champs League.
Three wins in a week! In the FA cup semis, in control of the Rubin game and a nice win over Sunderland for some Premier League points.
Fully expect a few players to be left out for the Rubin game. We've got a two goal advantage to defend so can see Rafa taking a defensive stance.
Do we know what's happening with De Bruyne? Apparently Chelsea want him to return from Werder Bremen at the end of the season, so that he can go out on loan again to a bigger team.
Surely we should be looking at keeping players like him in the squad. Don't mind players going out on loan to get some playing time but De Bruyne has looked good this season and could certainly add to the squad. Does he really need to be loaned out again to another club.
De Bruyne should definitely be in the squad next season. Benayoun will have gone and Marin should be shipped out, so space shouldn't be an issue.
Regarding Torres, he's often criticised for only scoring 7 goals in the Premier League this season, and rightly so. I do think though that Oscar has got away scott free from much comment when he has only chipped in with 1 goal (a penalty) in a similar number of games in the league. Granted he's not a striker but he is an attacking midfielder so you'd expect a better return.
Comments
Great block, Luiz.
I don't know, Everton are a threat as well. A draw would be best.
Now we're a goal down, not looking good.
Weird goal to equalize. Good run from Nando, awful touch from Oscar.
*you can't see me*
Haha PMSL!
Great win today! Ivanovic's form seems to be picking up again which is good to see.
Bertrand looks so much better when he's slotting in to replace Cole than he does when he is thrown in to a heavily rotated team.
I don't know. He was struggling after a nasty challenge by Gardner. But it's not too serious, I don't think.
I'm not going to tempt fate by saying what we could end up with if we managed that. But it would end up being a pretty good season.
At least we have a comfortable lead for Thursday. Wouldn't be surprised to see Moses-Benayoun-Marin.
Spurs not winning came as no surprise - they tend to struggle after European games. Fortunate for them really that they haven't got a game next weekend after their trip to Basle.
Agreed that it may not have been pretty but the result is what matters. I suspect we will have to grind out a lot of results in the foreseeable future... still think fourth is very dodgy right now... I think we will have to beat Spurs in our home game if we want any chance of top 4.
Needed to win today to get the 3 points,and spurs dropping points was a bonus.back up to 3rd
If Everton had had a halfway decent player budget they could be a very dangerous team.
Torries coming on changed the game.
The amount of games did look like it was showing.
Think if we get a point from our game against Spurs (at this rate it be played during pre-season) if we dont f up any other games to badly it should be enough
18 goals is not attrocious though and thats a FACT as your manager would say
im well aware hes not playing well but for a striker to net 18 goals in a season saves him for attrocious tag imo
hes doing ok, not great...just ok
fully expect him to get 20 at least by end of season
Yep he doing decent.
Its funny we accuse Spurs/Arsenal/Liverpool of being a one man team yet we want to become one of those ourselfs.
The league is all that matters to Arsenal,Spurs and Liverpool etc but thats because the only thing they have to play for is to finish aas high up the league as possible and thats it.
We have scored something like 120 odd goals this season shared amongst the whole team.
What would people rather have? A 25 a season league goal scorer like Spurs and Liverpool have and no trophys?
Is he the Torries of Liverpool, Nope of course not because if he did not score the goals nobody would have, Take yesterdays game he would have had to try and score instead of passing to Oscar because there would have been nobody to pass it.
He going to break the 20 goals mark this season (if we go though in both cups) and double figures in assists. That to me is a decent return considering we have not been anywhere near a decent level this season
The media want a 25 league goal a season player while what we need is players who can add more to our current tally of goals from across the pitch and players who can make tackles and who's first touch is not simular to childrens TV presenters from the 80s
From what I could see from the brief highlights yesterday he was very much involved, that's great. But can we expect the same in the future ? Far too often, we've seen him contribute very little, and looking as if he'd sooner be somewhere else. I guess it depends on which Torres turns up on the day ? He's lost that dynamic pace, but as I've said many times before, if he is willing (and able) to adapt his game he could still be a very useful player.
Like I said in a later post, the majority of his goals have no effect on results. He can't be relied on to score important goals - we've seen him choke far too often this season. Usually, the ball gets to him and he runs into defenders or passes it back to their keeper...it's horrible to watch..
The overall goal total masks a very poor season but, as long as they don't bother to look a little deeper, it might be enough to convince someone to take a punt.
I don't care who scores as long as we win. My issue with Torres when he doesn't score is the chances he wastes, same with any other striker.
That said I'll still maintain it's 50 mill well spent due to a) his Barca goal and b) him winning the corner for the Drogba header. Two major contributions to help us win our first Champs League.
Fully expect a few players to be left out for the Rubin game. We've got a two goal advantage to defend so can see Rafa taking a defensive stance.
Do we know what's happening with De Bruyne? Apparently Chelsea want him to return from Werder Bremen at the end of the season, so that he can go out on loan again to a bigger team.
Surely we should be looking at keeping players like him in the squad. Don't mind players going out on loan to get some playing time but De Bruyne has looked good this season and could certainly add to the squad. Does he really need to be loaned out again to another club.
Regarding Torres, he's often criticised for only scoring 7 goals in the Premier League this season, and rightly so. I do think though that Oscar has got away scott free from much comment when he has only chipped in with 1 goal (a penalty) in a similar number of games in the league. Granted he's not a striker but he is an attacking midfielder so you'd expect a better return.