MD11: Huesca vs Sevilla [20/21]

I wouldnā€™t add any more to this.

2 Likes

I cannot lie, yet again that game today was a real hard graft to sit and watch.

2 Likes

Are we the new Atletico?

3 Likes

I wish we were at this point, but Iā€™m afraid we still donā€™t have the a-la Simeone winning mentality instilled. Also they often win and have won games comfortably when they are by far the better team (with 2 goals margin at least) while we donā€™t.

2 Likes

Iā€™d certainly take that right now haha! :smiley:

2 Likes

True point. We have a long way to go but are on the right track. Iā€™m impressed with how we bounced back in the league. We now have 3 straight wins and back in the top 5.

We just need that consistency Atletico have and the killer instinct in the attacking third to kill off teams when we dominating.

In the first half we played decent but we didnā€™t have enough punch up front to punish them.

Having Kounde and Diego Carlos together is vital and fernando sitting in front is when we at our defensive best.

YEN is improving and starting to play with more confidence. He took his goal well but it was also due to the great work by Ocampos. Iā€™m pleased to see that and his unselfish play to set YEN up.

Itā€™s a big win and overall we have to be satisfied with our season so far with 10 points from 12 in champions league and already through and 16 points from 27 in la liga and in top 5 again.

I just hope we can remain consistent now and a win against Real Madrid next week would be a massive step forward. As we still need to beat one of the big boys under lopetegui in la liga. Hopefully itā€™s next week and we can push on more.

I do hope if the vaccine news continues to go well that maybe at some point in 2021 we can have the fans back as that would be awesome. Especially if we near the top places in la liga and with last 16 of champions league it would have the fans buzzing especially after last season Europa league and la liga success.

5 Likes

Another thing that I think is slightly overlooked is that we still have a game in hand on most teams. Real Madrid currently losing to Alaves. :joy:

We should have beat Barcelona and I believe we can win next week against Real Madrid. Another thing to bear in mind is we have yet to play Sociedad, Atletico, Villarreal or Real Madrid at all. Win a few of those and we are right back in the race. It is going to really piss me off if we miss out on top 2 or 3 by a point or two, because all we are going to think about is that horrific little run we had in October otherwise.

I think we are still a solid team, we just need maybe a tweak here and a tweak there, but we are still on the right path. Would love us to at least make the CL Quarter Finals this season, and win the Copa del Rey.

3 Likes

To a large extent yes, but in reality no.

At 10 games in, the outcome is predictable from goals scored and conceded. Atletico are 19 for, 2 against Sevilla are 12 for 8 against.

Just multiply that by 4.

The goals represent points/position more and more as the season proceeds. Atletico will win la liga.

3 Likes

Yeah I think atletico will win la liga as well. They have the best team this season and awesome in attack and defence.

However, I really think we can finish 2nd and above Barca and Real Madrid this season. They both have problems and we are a strong team and hopefully have the squad and quality to take advantage of that.

2 Likes

If we beat RM next week, things will be awesome. They lost to Alaves tonight at home, but they played very well against Inter. In fact, I havenā€™t seen them play that well in a long time. Not sure if Inter was too weak or RM was too strong lol. Hopefully a weaker RM will turn up against us and weā€™ll take the 3 points. Still early to talk about that as we have the battle for the 1st position in our CL group vs. Chelski.

3 Likes

If Sandro ran track:

4 Likes

The old cynic in me just noticed that r madrid play in the early CL slot on Tuesday and we play in the later slot on Wednesday.
Giving them far more rest than us before the game on Saturday @ 16: 15.

2 Likes

They were always due to play Tuesday and us Wednesday anyway. Not sure the times on either day really make that much difference would they? If we played 17:55 instead of 20:00 the difference would be miniscule.

I canā€™t see us beating RM, especially with our left flank pretty dead. For us to stand a chance, both Rakitic and Ocampos must step up their game. Ocampos very disappointing this season. He has been vital in our attacking game. The reason we canā€™t score as many goals as last yearā€™s is because Ocampos has lost his magic.
As for Rakitic, he hasnā€™t been on par with the performances of Banega. He isnā€™t as effective as Banega in helping out the defense.

3 Likes

Aleix Vidal was also quite disappointing in those approx. 30 minutes that he featured. He was still ok defensively, but was totally lost when trying to go up front. Rekik didnā€™t contribute anything up front either, so youā€™re right, our left flank is practically dead at the moment. Hopefully Acuna will recover quickly.

Iā€™d still field Vidal over Rekik though, any given day. You can still expect something from Vidal with his pace and agility, while not much can be expected from Rekik. He was totally exhausted by the time he got subbed, and often was completely out of position. If it was for any serious team, like RM for example, weā€™d be killed over the left flank.

Hoping for the best until we get our pure LBā€™s back - while I think we should definitely go for a full back that could operate in both sides when needed come January, along with another striker - itā€™s urgent.

1 Like

Why when we have this man?

4 Likes

Yep canā€™t see us going for a striker unless CF gets loaned out. YEN kicking ass lately.

2 Likes

Thatā€™s the idea, to loan CF out and get another striker. YEN is doing amazing lately, but one injury/suspension and weā€™re screwed. Same goes to LDJ, even though Iā€™m not impressed by his latest performances, heā€™s still vital for the team, especially in tough matches. We need that third striker who we wonā€™t dread when he comes in - CF not providing any value so far, but things might change of course.

1 Like

The trouble is AcuƱa is injured and Navas is the only one who puts the ball where LdJ wants it. It pains me to say it, but Luuk would probably actually thrive more with Suso available as he puts the ball in those areas. Idrissi looks like he can too, but the couple of times he has come on lately has been after LdJ has already been subbed off.

2 Likes

Yeah I really want to see a half with Idrissi and Suso and DeJong.

2 Likes