Napoli H Post Match Thread 2-2

[Pliskin]

                            Kasper

 

Ricardo       Cags        Vestergaard.    Thomas 

 

                            N’didi

 

              Soumare.             Youri.  

 

 Albrighton.                                          Barnes 

 

                            Vardy 

 

 

 

Start with this I think.

[Ric Flair]

Vestergaard was very poor last night from the bits I remember, I kept abusing him anyway.

[moore_94]

Just now, Ric Flair said:

Vestergaard was very poor last night from the bits I remember, I kept abusing him anyway.

All of our centre backs just got bullied by Osimhen, don't think they quite expected how fast he can be

[coolhandfox]

1 minute ago, Ric Flair said:

Vestergaard was very poor last night from the bits I remember, I kept abusing him anyway.

To be fair, Victor Osimhen was a real handful, his going to cause a lot of problem for CB's in his career. 

 

I though he gave all 3 CB a tough time, he had the beating of all 3 for pace and power.

 

Hard for Vesty, still coming back form injury 

[Ric Flair]

4 minutes ago, moore_94 said:

All of our centre backs just got bullied by Osimhen, don't think they quite expected how fast he can be

Vestergaard already has previous thought for being bullied. He got put on his arse on his debut vs Wolves too by Traore. For a bloke that's 6ft 6 he seems somewhat lightweight.

[The boy Linacre]

1 hour ago, Hammo said:

'Morning after' reflections

 

- Napoli were better than us in every aspect apart from shooting at goal.

- Rodgers' decision-making (tactics and personnel) is beginning to look shaky, to say the least.

- The atmosphere was wonderful (apart from that squeaky horror film kid's voice on the PA - wtf was that?!).

- We have a lot of players struggling for form. Not one of them is one top of his game right now.

- Can we stop persistently trying to play it out from the back against a team that hems us in with a collective press (basically every visiting team nowadays; the blueprint is out there, they've all got us sussed) when around 50% of the time we lose the ball, leaving our defence out of shape and under immediate threat? Without Fofana the current defenders (and the goalkeeper) are just not good enough on the ball to pass their way out with any degree of reliability.

- We've played two very good teams in the past few days; the next five opponents are no pushovers but these are games that, given our ambition and quality of personnel (if not current form), we should be winning.

- The referee was a w****r.

Think aside from the Rodgers point totally agree with the rest.

Feel so up for the team and the club again.  Atmosphere was great, been so dead down the KP for a while (and don't mean over Covid!!!).

Probably our best performance of the season against a very good side, probably should have nicked it, will now do well to finish top.

Soumare was excellent, Castagne, Bertrand, Barnes, Schmeichel V Good, Nach & Daka good.

Have to say the ref must have come on their coach, couldn't get the card out quick enough and it wasn't a dirty game.  Yellows could come back to haunt us later if it gets tight. 

Well done to the fans, it was great, lets make this Europe thing regular (more than 2 seasons in a row) and sort our league position out and get up to 5/6/7th for another challenge.

But also lets hope we are are good enough to go far, Thursday night European football is looking good!!!  And I fancy a trip to Seville in May

[The boy Linacre]

4 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

Vestergaard already has previous thought for being bullied. He got put on his arse on his debut vs Wolves too by Traore. For a bloke that's 6ft 6 he seems somewhat lightweight.

He thought that bodying Osimhen off the ball would be enough, if the ball is not there (i.e. you cleared it) he ain't gonna score.

[Pliskin]

4 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

Vestergaard already has previous thought for being bullied. He got put on his arse on his debut vs Wolves too by Traore. For a bloke that's 6ft 6 he seems somewhat lightweight.

It similar to super tall players not jumping. I imagine he’s been a lump for most of his career, so he probably hasn’t really needed to actively use his strength as his size has probably always allowed him to just get away with it. 
 

Obviously the older the you get the further advances everyone else gets, the less you can rely on your natural attributes and have to apply some effort too.

 

I don’t think he was poor, I just think we lost control of the midfield and that exposed them, which it never good. Without Evans or Fofana were so limp at the back. 

[The_77]

13 hours ago, Zaphod Beeblebrox said:

Probably because it is clearly a 2nd yellow and thus a red. 

That’s not the point, though. The first yellow was questionable and the referee had a miserable game all night. I can’t imagine any other top manager would just stand there and not give the officials an earful.
 

It can fire up the side when they see a little fight in the manager, especially he is putting his neck on the line for his players. 

[DennisNedry]

14 hours ago, tom27111 said:

 

Really?

 

The vast majority of calls he made were right if you look at the replays on TV.

 

Easy to blame the ref.

 

Maybe look at our inability to see out a game.

 

Easy to blame others when the fault lies with yourself.

The ref was awful. The Napoli #99 in particular had him wrapped around his little finger. Heavy breathing was sending their players down and the ref bought it every single time. I think our players cottoned on to this and started doing the same tactics (going down too easily, manufacturing contact etc) and the ref never gave us anything. And he loved waving his cards around. Proper typical shit ref you get in Europe.

 

But yeah, you can't blame the ref for the result. None of his shit decisions really affected any major moments in the game. We defended poorly and Napoli played very well.

[foxinsocks]

we need a settled back 4.  Evens is not reliable back 4 - cags and vestergaard will have to carry us this season

[RonnieTodger]

I loved it. 

 

Was a belter of a game and had a proper big night under the lights feel. We ought to appreciate these games more.

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, moore_94 said:

All of our centre backs just got bullied by Osimhen, don't think they quite expected how fast he can be

Difference with Evans is that he knows when to engage. There was the moment where Osimhen done Evans for pace but rather than dive in, he just slowed him. You compare that to Vestegaard who twice including the goal trying to physically out battle him rather than jockeying 

[coolhandfox]

9 minutes ago, RonnieTodger said:

I loved it. 

 

Was a belter of a game and had a proper big night under the lights feel. We ought to appreciate these games more.

100% this, too many taking night like this for grant.

 

Other than Atlético Madrid, Napoli are the biggest European team we have played for me.

[Koke]

Honestly, Napoli are basically a Champions League team. We are not gonna face a better team than Napoli in the Europa League. 

[Koke]

4 hours ago, Fox92 said:

I really enjoyed the game. One of the best I can think of in recent years given Napoli just came and attacked us, they were fast and willing to put everything into closing us down

 

Napoli were exceptional. Best team we've faced in Europe in recent years. Better than Sevilla and Atletico Madrid. We were unlucky to draw them in the group. 

[sacreblueits442]

15 hours ago, peach0000 said:

If you don't think Ndidi committed two yellow card offences in that game then I don't think football is the sport for you. You clearly don't understand the rules! 

....there were one or two Napoli players who should have had a booking but the Referee chose not to do so!!!

  The yellow cards may have changed their attitude to how they played for the rest of the game and this was in the first half.

  The Referee was inconsistent, and if you are on the end of those decisions it colours your judgment as he was also poor in run of the mill decisions such as throw ins and corners, for both sides.

[marbles]

With the ref we had, Hamza would have been red carded 8 seconds after being subbed on.

Maddison was the correct choice.

[StriderHiryu]

59 minutes ago, Koke said:

 

Napoli were exceptional. Best team we've faced in Europe in recent years. Better than Sevilla and Atletico Madrid. We were unlucky to draw them in the group. 

Agreed. I think they are probably better than anyone that drops down from the Champions League too. I'd be shocked if Napoli aren't top 4 at minimum in this competition, and could well see us playing again in a semi-final if we get that far.

 

The rematch will be interesting because 1st place in the group avoids a Champions League team. I could see that game being another draw, though I worry if our players can handle the occasion abroad.

 

In this game though we saw the value of European experience. We've got the quality to go all the way and win it, but Napoli went away from home and at times dominated another trophy favourite. I doubt we will be able to do the same to them in the return fixture. We also gave away a two goal lead, which does not bode well for when the going gets tough in the same competition.

 

As a club we continue to progress though! Nights like that are to be savoured. Well at least the on the pitch stuff anyway.

 

 

[LCFCbwoi]

As good as Napoli were and even though we didn’t win, I never really felt that threatened by them. Think it was a tale of how an early goal can have a negative effect on your game.

 

Either way, as much as I believe Champions League football would be insane. The Europa League is still a class tournament to be apart of.

[Larry_LCFC]

First half we dominated them and they offered very little. They were truly horrendous at finishing. Second half they dominated us. I cant help but think we are a more disciplined team with Evans on the pitch. It goes to rat shit when he doesn't play.

[Pliskin]

1 hour ago, Koke said:

Honestly, Napoli are basically a Champions League team. We are not gonna face a better team than Napoli in the Europa League. 

Very true, we’ve just gone for to toe to toe with one of Europe’s elites. 

[Guest ttfn]

14 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

Agreed. I think they are probably better than anyone that drops down from the Champions League too. I'd be shocked if Napoli aren't top 4 at minimum in this competition, and could well see us playing again in a semi-final if we get that far.

 

The rematch will be interesting because 1st place in the group avoids a Champions League team. I could see that game being another draw, though I worry if our players can handle the occasion abroad.

 

In this game though we saw the value of European experience. We've got the quality to go all the way and win it, but Napoli went away from home and at times dominated another trophy favourite. I doubt we will be able to do the same to them in the return fixture. We also gave away a two goal lead, which does not bode well for when the going gets tough in the same competition.

 

As a club we continue to progress though! Nights like that are to be savoured. Well at least the on the pitch stuff anyway.

 

 

The away game could be really interesting as it comes in the middle of a really busy run of fixtures.

 

Both of the previous times we’ve played in European group stages we’ve had the luxury of resting most of the team by the time we’ve got to December.

 

This time around the Napoli game is the 6th game of 11 in 38 days starting on 20 November (12 if we get to the QF of the league cup which is only 2 wins away). That run includes Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool, Spurs, and away games at Villa and Everton.

[StriderHiryu]

16 minutes ago, ttfn said:

 

This time around the Napoli game is the 6th game of 11 in 38 days starting on 20 November (12 if we get to the QF of the league cup which is only 2 wins away). That run includes Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool, Spurs, and away games at Villa and Everton.

[goose2010]

19 minutes ago, Larry_LCFC said:

First half we dominated them and they offered very little. They were truly horrendous at finishing. Second half they dominated us. I cant help but think we are a more disciplined team with Evans on the pitch. It goes to rat shit when he doesn't play.

Apart from the clearance off the line from Castange and the headed chance that Kasper saved but should have had no chance of saving.

 

No way should we have been ahead at half time.