QUOTE (Danny @ Sep 19 2023, 10:20 PM)
They're in sticky form domestically, yes, but they finished fourth last season for a reason - and methinks they'll put most of their effort this season into the CL. They don't yet have the resources/squad or more tellingly, experience yet to push on all fronts.
They came to San Siro to sit back - and it worked. As me and X have been ranting about - if our side is complacent v Bologna, not pushing fully, what happens when a decent side comes to us?
Well, Inter and Newcastle are what happens.
Well that's like saying we won the scudetto in 21/22 so we were still just as good in 22/23 even though that was far from the case
I think they over achieved last season because teams like Chelsea and Liverpool were terrible. Otherwise they wouldn't have gotten a look-in. Like you said, they are not there yet. And I thin that showed against us. And I disagree that their plan worked because they allowed a lot of chances. They were just lucky we were sh!t in front of goal. 9/10 times we win that game.
I disagree that Inter and Newcastle are anywhere near the same. Against Inter we have been getting outsmarted for years now. Pioli lets the stupid bone take over when he faces them.
Against Newcastle we were the much better side throughout. Had Giroud taken that chance, had Leao not tried the most ridiculous backheel, had Leao scored that free header, and so on and so fourth. It's not like we struggled or could have at any time lost that game. Because not once was I worried that they would get through. That's how bad they were. We were just wasteful in front of goal. I wouldn't attribute that to complacency. Just my 2 cents there. Sometimes you just have one of those nights.
Complacency is what we did against Inter once they scored their 3rd. We were just done.
QUOTE (X-Offender @ Sep 20 2023, 10:52 AM)
I'll go out on a limb here and say he'll be gone by next summer. I got fooled by all the hype prior to his signing, but after carefully re-watching his highlights on YouTube, the guy doesn't strike me as anything impressive. And we're talking YouTube highlights here, where even Krunic looks like Rodri.
He did absolutely nothing last night. Leao idem. Pulisic tried but was too mediocre. Once again we're being let down by our attack.
We'll see. I'll hold my judgments for later. I thought he was much better yesterday
Against Verona on Saturday, he should start. Same goes for Musah and Okafor/Jovetic.
QUOTE (X-Offender @ Sep 20 2023, 10:58 AM)
I don't care about stats. Sometimes they will take a half-*** chance and consider it a scoring opportunity.
When it comes to concluding on target, we are donkey sh*t. Always have been. With Leao on top. The guy can't shoot to save his life.
Yeah, the only way out of this group is hoping for PSG to win them all (except against us obviously) and try to make the most out of our games. Starting with Dortmund away next leg. Gotta aim for the 3 points in that match.
xG is measured based on how good a chance is. I think it's a pretty accurate way of determining how efficient a team is. For example, iirc, last season we outscored our xG while Inter underperformed on it. I think that says a lot about how much a team is creating and how dominant they are.