Not sure about Strasser... Janku in the left of mid would be a good idea though if Zambro is back

I have finally reached a conclusion. If we pass this stage of the CL, it is thanks to the experience and quality of this team, not down to Allegri's brain-farts.

Yeah. It's weird how he shuts down during CL.

Agreed. But I seriously doubt it, especially if you try to open the thread again

@ Jack, I'd like to say it's because of inexperiance, but even an idiot would know that it's a 2 legged game and going all out on home turf risking the away goal when we still have the away game to play is not something that you should do.

It's simple really, a draw at home when we can easily go through with a score draw away from home should be taken, it's certainly better then trying to camp in their half and giving them the away goal as a result

I would not play Strasser in the middle for this one, him vs. Modric/VdV is not a matchup i see us winning. i'd rather Flamini/boateng there. This is my preferred ineup

Antonini should not be an option for LB for this game!

I think Strasser is capable of DM duties just as well as T.Silva would be

(so why waste him in MF when he perfected the CB role?)

There isn't any reason to judge Strasser harshly given his performances thus far this season

(other than lack of playing experience).

Please no that again!!

Thiao shouldn't play anywhere aside from at CB next to Nesta. Their chemistry is the real reason as to why they work so great together, they're still great individually, but take one of them out of the equation and the magic is gone.

Either Janku or Strasser would have to do, Janku is the better experianced player and his display against Napoli doesn't leave space for debates about this.

Am I the only one who thinks Antonini didn't let Lennon cross a decent ball in? also he offers alot more a in attack (we're down 1-0 on agg btw) then Zambrotta who hasn't played in months. Not to mention janku was slow agaisnt Maggio, Lennon will destroy him. Antonini is, like it or not, our best option. Also Strasser will not be playing in Midfield. without MvB2, Emanuelson or Pirlo we have no one in midfield that can pass. Thiago is our best bet, not to mention i'd rather have him against Vdv/Modric/Krancar then Strasser!!

That being said if we completely want to give up on CL now and not risk injuring starters we could always go with

could be cool

Are you for real? If I re-watch the first half, I can name you all the moments Lennon made Antonini sit down and cross to Crouch. I was at the stadium, behind our goal, and I was constantly swearing at Antonini for being dribbled like a buffoon.



Jankulovski was one of our best players against Napoli. He was anything but slow. And this is coming from someone who wants him out. Maggio didn't do jacksh*t.



Nope, Zambrotta is.

It'd be a waste. We score at WHL and it's pretty much advantage us, then they'll be the ones in a panic.

Agreed


Agreed.

@ Diavolo, Lennon in the first half pretty much smoked Antonini, he kept putting in crosses, and the only reason we weren't punished was because they weren't any good. As for Thiago in midfield, we got punished dearly because of it in the 1st leg, don't know why anyone would want to see that again, putting Thiago in midfield means reducing his effectiveness by atleast 50%, sure it works in the Coppa and teams like Cesena, but not in the CL against a team who imo have a top class midfield if nothing else.

Personally I don't want Strasser starting either, he's not experianced and hasn't played in a while that could lead to disaster. Either Janku if Zambro is available, or Seedorf. Let's face it, we only have 2 mids available, we'll be seeing Seedorf in this game at some point. And yes he was aweful in the 1st leg but seedorf works in moods and cycles. Also he wouldn't have played for a while so we could expect him to last for more then the 15 he did last time out when he had played 3 days prior.

We'll see. Personally I want Janku starting in the midfield, if that is not possible that Seedorf imo would be first choice, then strasser, Silva is the last resort

Hm, Seedorf as a regista could actually work. I know he was awful in that position against Udinese and a couple of other games in early January, but I'm sure he can do well if he really wants to. It's just one game after all, and it's not like he's tired.



Super offensive midfield, I know, but we need to win after all.

Not going to happen!

It could very well happen.

You think? I don't expect Allegri to come up with that formation.

yeah but it won't.

You guys seem too sure. But yeah, Allegri will probably play Silva and screw things again.

Agreed. We're going there with nothing to lose, playing Silva in the midfield would just mean that Allegri has not learnt his lesson. After last time I'm seriously hoping that he won't try it again.

We're short on mids, Seedorf is a mid, and I can't see Allegri keeping him out of this one and imo he's one of 2 actually reasonable options we have. Silva, Strasser or merkel would be problematic in the midfield if you ask me. Also Boateng could be asked to play a more defensive role, and holding his position in midfield if Seedorf is on, it's not really a super offensive midfield, it's not like playing Boateng, Pirlo and Seedorf or something like that.

I actually think Silva in the midfield would be much more reasonable in this game. And I don't think we need to play very offensively from the start, we only need one goal!

And play Yepes again for him to make a mistake like the one he did in the first leg? Also why reduce Silva to a position where he doesn't produce his best at? It's really not a good idea.

Also, it is just 1 goal, but if we go out with the mindset we did in the first leg then we won't be able to score, we cannot play with 3 DMs and expect the forwards to do everything from measly long balls from defense, and that is the way that we'd end up playing with Thiago as our "regista" because that is how Allegri plays him.

Yepes' mistake was made in a breakaway... if we play stupidly and leave that much space behind again then we might as well not make the travel to London, we'll get beaten, once more!

Anyway, about Silva, I think he'll be suited there for that game but you're right there's no reason to play him there as it would not change much regarding the outcome of the game.

I'm not saying we should play with 3 DM's, I'm just saying we must not play full attack from the very beginning.

I do agree with you on that one. I don't see such a big problem in posing Thiago as a DM. Having Yepes and Nesta in the back is as much a question mark as having Seedorf in midfield. Yes, he is a midfielder and he should be rested enough, but he made a good preformance for the last time against Brescia and that was a long time ago.

I cannot advocate the hard-liner insist on Yepes being at fault for the goal. For me it's a very shallow accusation. The childish gun-ho strategy lead to the goal, which could have been prevented, but in my eyes it was a 50-50 situation, and I really cannot be sure to say Thiago or Nesta would have prevented it.

If we open up with a gun-ho mentality, we'll crush in a wall instantly. I expect Tottenham to open the match with confidence and pushing forward, showing possesional superiority on home soil. The 15 minutes will be crucial to us and our defensive tuning. A Yepes-Nesta defense with Silva coming back and helping out seems to me the best possible solution for a starting 11.

I agree with this.

About Thiago Silva. I prefer to play both Silva and Nesta in central defense. If Strasser is fit to start, I would start him at holding defensive mid (Ambro/Bommel's spot), because in my opinion he is best choice there that's left (not counting Silva since he's in central defense already). If one youngster is mature enough for a game like this, it's Strasser.

If Strasser is/was not fit to start, I would have picked Silva, because then we are/were just out of options (that are acceptable - no way you put Seedorf there! Even at AM he hurts us every game nowadays with losing possession and so. No Seedorf for me.)

About the rest of our midfield and attack. I prefer to play with four midfielders. Basicly it will be Boateng instead of what mostly is Robinho. It makes us stronger in midfield and so we can conquer the ball more easily and so we can create attacks more often. Boateng in front of Merkel, Strasser and Flamini is an option. Jankulovski or Zambrotta as left-back, or maybe Jankulovski in midfield instead of Merkel.

We're lacking options, are behind, so it will be tough. And that we are playing away seems to make it even tougher, but if I look back at our recent away record in CL, it's maybe a good thing. Remember... ?

(This all is not pointing to dst, only the first line, and then I just continued in saying what I have to say.)

Playing 4 mids when we only have 2 good ones to start? Not such a good idea. Robinho will obviously be asked to keep to the midfield so we're more compact, but Boateng has to play in the midfield 3 imo. Flamini, Strasser, Merkel? Against Lennon, Modric and VdV? Not a good idea AT ALL. Merkel is not someone who can really hold his own when it comes to being physical or defending, I'd rather he not see the pitch at any point in time in this one. Strasser I think he's ready, but the fact that he doesn't have any experience at this level as well as havng been out for so long doesn't give me a lot of confidence. Seedorf has had some really terrible performances, but he's also had some good ones as well this season, but that's Seedorf, not like it never happened before. I think he'll play at some point in this match, it's inevitable we don't have a midfield and I don't want to see us compromising our central defensive strength by moving Thiago there.

Imo it's either giving one of the kids a chance (Strasser, Merkel) or leaving it to the experienced guys (Seedorf or Janku). Out of those 4 options I only see 3 viable ones (Seedorf, Janku or Strasser) All have their pros and cons as to why they should or should not get to start, imo looking at all those facts about them, I'd pick Janku, if he's not available then Seedorf or Strasser.

Um guys, shouldn't we be discussing this in the away return leg thread? It's less than a week away. R7, Han, Fillipo, do your magic, please, the luckiest member among you.

I thought I'd finally create one, though obviously a lot of us are still concerned about the Juve game prior to this!

True. Then again, there are just a few day's gap between Juve and Tottenham, and most of the things being discussed here should be in posted in the new thread. Oh, how I love these next few games, all high-profile, all quality challenges for the coach and the players to face up to.