At first glance, when José Mourinho’s ‘I am the one to blame’ comment is the Portuguese stepping up to take the bullet for the loss. Now, few things in life get me riled as fast as the old ‘so what you’re saying is’ line, but one doesn’t need to approach this post match presser from a deliberately meddlesome point of view to see that José is fuming over what his boys did to him last night.
No courage, no honesty, and no loyalty. Very few of our players appeared to have even a pinch of self worth about them, and the gaffer must be not just raging, but fundamentally let down by people he had placed his trust in.
The sole saving grace from last night’s game was that this misfire happened in a competition were small indiscretions can to a certain extent, swept under the carpet. As long as we don’t serve up any more incoherent football in the Europa, there’s no reason why we should’t progress as planned.
“Cutting and pasting? What has decorating got to do with computers?🌚 remember back in the days of wallpapering ceilings? (Fold the paper like a fan) just skim it over nowa days
Yep. They let him down badly.
Completely agree but Hojbjerg does need a rest , he cant play every game
I don’t rate Lo Celso or Bergwijn on what I’ve seen so far. Not good enough.
You make some good points,the players are not all bad but were not strong enough to play together,we underestimated Antwerp.
Never pulled the trigger, almost like we were doing it purpose, tactical perhaps I think we went out for a 1 – 0 win and it backfired, pretty sure you will see a different team on the weekend
Yes exactly, he’s no Roy Keane, although he can lead by example. he’s been captain before. And he was the biggest leader we had out there yesterday! That team was always going to lose.
Regarding softly spoken Davies you would hardly call him an inspirational leader in the Roy Keane mould (Ouch!!)
Welcome.
JM is without doubt a great manager/coach but he cocked up last night.
That midfield was shite as soon as I saw it I posted on here it was too weak/unbalanced (still expecting us to win).
Ali is a luxury player now and Winks is a nothing player. Bergwijn/Moura – the Powderpuff Girls. The list could go on but I now expect us to smash Brighton.
Hi Eddie
Muchas gracias!
Until I did a IT computer course years ago I was still using a quilt pen!. Now that I have since dispensed with it and understand what cutting and pasting is all about, whilst like yourself by no means computer savvy I have come a long way!!
I sort of agree, but I also think it doesn’t matter so much who is designated captain but more important the character of the players on the field. You need good character and leadership through the team to make sure everyone does their jobs and set the right example. Last night we only had Davies, who unfortunately fell over at a crucial moment.
DD do you not know that when you post a comment there is an edit option below it.This enables you to modify without posting a separate correction.I hope this helps.Believe me I’m not a tech wizard.
*IMO
Some of the best captains we had in the past were:
Dave MaCkay, Steve Perryman and Gary Mabbutt.
IO making your goalkeeper captain is non sensical in the circumstances.
Yes it may work with some clubs but not ours!!
For me, this performance highlighted how important it has been for us to have Hoijberg bossing the midfield and setting the tone. Without him, there was a lack of leadership in midfield and Jose was right in saying the tone was set and it was hard to get back.
You cannot underestimate the effect that someone like Hoijberg has on the rest of the team: standing up to be counted, barking orders etc. When I saw the team sheet I was worried and said to my mates we have no steel in midfield. Players like GLC and Bergwijn can have a role to play in our team, but it’s clear they need someone around them with a dominant character. In fact if you look throughout that starting line up, where was the outfield leadership?
Sanchez: not much
Davies: has some leadership
Aurier: none – needs instruction
Reguilon: new, young, language barrier
Winks: very little
GLC: very little
Bergwijn: very little
Dele: very little
Bale: still settling in
Vinicius: new, language barrier
Almost all of these players needed a leader to look to for inspiration and instruction last night, but they didn’t have it. That doesn’t make them terrible players, but you can only afford so many in a team.
I’d say this was a failure of Mourinho not to recognise this. Even just Sissoko for Winks could have made a big difference.
When the margin of defeat could have been greater, it was a truly woeful disjointed performance, it really was. Lett’s hope it’s minor blip in what has currently been a generally upbeat season which could all come crashing down should we lose to
Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal respectively severely testing our title credentials
Hand the captains armband to Hojbjerg for starters.