What a hero Ocampos was! I’ll pray to God every day of the transfer window that we get to keep him for 1 more season. I’d also like to see him feature more on the left, so he can rediscover his scoring touch from that side. He said he’s come to prefer the right side this year, but since Suso will likely become the starter, it’s best he got stationed there.
Navas with a bit of improv, and delivered a lovely ball with his left foot. Been waiting to see him put some height on more of his crosses. When he got to the byline moments after the goal, he put in another low cross. Maybe De Jong just lets himself get bullied too much in the box to profit. Yes he’s under-utilized, but he also shows little-to-no gumption.
Munir had a subdued evening, but rarely had any supporting partners. While Escudero was more or less a passenger, i’m struggling to figure out what Óliver was supposed to offer. He’s really beginning to frustrate me. I’m starting to think Porto had no problem letting him go due to his inconsistency. Too much is left to Banega to work through, and we wonder why he’s making errors. He can’t always do it all alone. We often see Fernando take the initiative to drive forward, but it’s not his natural game. I wouldn’t be ready to give the keys to Óliver, whether Campaña comes or not.
Finally, in defence, Gómez isn’t trusted, and thankfully Lope took him out before he pulled a Kjær. Still can’t believe how that game ended, but the 3 points are here, and we’re that much closer to the CL.
Vaclik confirmed as a sprained MCL. Just had a quick look and looks like that type of injury usually takes about 8 weeks to recover from, so probably fair to say he won’t be back this season.
I encourage everyone to look at the goal again with regards to the cross from Navas. The cross was from his left side which he avoids doing (if at all possible) because it is very limited in power due to various injuries in his career. If he can hit the ball on the volley it is quite powerful but for a centre it is like a golf swing, his leg being the golf club. The leg doesn’t flex at the knee and consequently can’t impart the power for a shot or a long cross.
But he got under the ball using almost a side-foot action (on a side-foot the knee doesn’t flex), getting under the ball allowed him to get just enough lift to get the ball over the defenders. The point is, he seems to have adapted to the injuries and never ceases to amaze.
I just happen to know about this because I have the same problem and had it diagnosed by a sports physician.
A massive win last night and a huge step to securing 4th. I feel that one more win will probably be enough for us. Mallorca at home looks very winnable in particular.
Villareal and Getafe have to play each other and Villareal still have to play Real Madrid.
Not particularly what you want to hear when supposedly we have Banega, Vazquez, Jordan, and Oliver as creative Midfielders, and then a whole plethora of Wingers in the Squad too.
I don’t think Lopategui is a bad manager, but I don’t see a clear style or tactic for this team that I can get behind. We seem to owe a lot of “luck” to our victories and over rely on Ocampos which isn’t great.
I was just saying yesterday that we don’t score any easy goals other than from the spot. We don’t find ourselves in 1v1 positions very often in or around the box.
Seems like Vaclik has sprained his MCL instead of ACL, which fortunately will not keep him longer than a month or less out of the pitch. I think he’ll be ready to go for the match vs. Roma for EL.
Same - I doubt we see him this season. That’s preliminary as well. I think they have to wait until the swelling goes down to do a full scan of the damage. Not sure if that is true or not.
