3 minutes ago, andy said:

Very frustrating they were there for the taking. Frank said before the game we got to cut out little mistakes... well we need to cut them out a lot. I also think he was wrong to say before the game to say we cannot lose (or words to that effect)

The bigger picture is good though,  it was always a tough group and I didn't expect us to be that competitive in the CL this year, so beat Lille and it is a big bonus to me.     

Certainly agree with that as subconsciously send the wrong message to the players. 

52 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

I don't think Willian needs dropping I think Frank needs to make a decision in midfield so that we have two rather than three allowing us to have Mount back in.

Kepa worth a mention, made some good saves yesterday.

Thought James could have cut out the cross for the first, he didn't read the ball flight correctly after Christensen mis-timed his jump.

Agree on midfield as I’ve mentioned before. Weirdly that formation seems to work better for us defensively even though it’s more attacking on paper and we’ve played it with jorginho-kovacic tandem, neither of whom, as Scott Harris and others have pointed out, with reason, is great defensively. It could just be the (lower quality) opposition when we’ve played it: Burnley, Watford... reverting to 4-3-2-1 of course brings back the eternal headache of which two. With each passing game, Kova is proving to be the least droppable of the three, so for me it’s between Jorginho and Kante. I know it’s sacrilege but Kova and Jorginho does seem to work better. Maybe try Kante at left back :)?

4 minutes ago, Dean said:

Agree on midfield as I’ve mentioned before. Weirdly that formation seems to work better for us defensively even though it’s more attacking on paper and we’ve played it with jorginho-kovacic tandem, neither of whom, as Scott Harris and others have pointed out, with reason, is great defensively. It could just be the (lower quality) opposition when we’ve played it: Burnley, Watford... reverting to 4-3-2-1 of course brings back the eternal headache of which two. With each passing game, Kova is proving to be the least droppable of the three, so for me it’s between Jorginho and Kante. I know it’s sacrilege but Kova and Jorginho does seem to work better. Maybe try Kante at left back :)?

Funny isn't it Frank in a way faces a similar dilemma to the England managers with incorporating him and Gerrard.

It will be interesting to see how he handles it.

Worst refereeing performance in the Champions League since Ovrebo.

Fell for every dive and the crowd's noise.

It was a crazy game, Lampard got it all correct in the press yesterday, he said the correct things.

We could win that, I wouldn't say we deserve but we could and had to, we have a better quality. Their second goal is just luck, they missed some big chance, so we did.

Overall it was a fun game to watch, but we still were lacking a lot in our defence. I feel much more comfortable when Tomori plays with Zouma to be honest. Christensen and Zouma weren't in a good game.

Joke penalty was given, I think Garay's landing on Abraham was penalty as well. Kepa saved that perfectly. 

Depsite our control with our midfielders, we're lacking creativity of chances. James was the best one for this, Willian had a poor night, Pulisic had moments of brilliance but he needs to do that more.

Kovacic except his goal, was fantastic. Kante and Jorginho weren't at their best as well.

Feel bad for Abraham, he had a good game and I hope this injury will not take him out for a lot, hopefully one or two weeks.

We still can go far, victory against Lille and we will celebrate.

1 hour ago, JMaher94 said:

Worst refereeing performance in the Champions League since Ovrebo.

Fell for every dive and the crowd's noise.

11-22 fouls...really telling of how he fell for their antics.

1 hour ago, JMaher94 said:

Worst refereeing performance in the Champions League since Ovrebo.

Fell for every dive and the crowd's noise.

Kante's yellow card made me want to stop watching football. Add VAR to the ridiculous refereeing of tackles and the modern game is being really badly managed.

The ref was terrible - I was at the game and he let the crowd and their player antics affect his decisioning from the first non foul onwards. We know many players now go down with a Yelp and hold something in agony then once the ref gives the decision they recover really quickly and move on. The penalty looked dodgy from where we stood too.

the game was brilliant attacking football and we were on top form going forwards apart from final decision. Their 442 caused problems for us as front two movement and cleverness on the ball was top level. But tbh the fullbacks were poor and our crossing not up to scratch.

enjoyable game though, our fans were great and Valencia a great city.

COYB

On 27/11/2019 at 15:00, Frankie8Lampard said:

Valencia players kept going into the ref's face about everything. I don't watch la liga often but is that how it is there?

I refer to it as the La Liga Gang Bang. It happens in other places, but it's the worst in Spain

It's disgraceful

 

The refereeing was terrible but the penalty was 50:50 and many referees would have given it. Batman just doesn't do it for me as a striker despite the odd goal. He did set Kante up perfectly. Batman is often offside which irritates the crap out of me. The odd mistake sure but constantly killing attacks with un necessary offsides. And he doesn't put any real effort or conviction into his defensive efforts. Finally I don't think he has the required pace or alternative skill set. I'd rather see Giroud for some of those final minutes

And its a shame we can't squeeze mason mount into the side because his work rate and energy are great. Does he add more than Kovacic? That I'm not so sure. 

16 hours ago, Dean said:

Too much picking on Willian for me. He’s had a good season on aggregate. Two bad games in a row is still a blip in that trend and not a new trend, so we should reserve judgment. He adds poise to our attack, is really good on the ball (our best according to Tammy, and let’s not forget that flick on for the goal v Palace) and has a great engine. The squandered opportunities and poor final balls are frustrating but it’s his engine/work rate that get him in those positions in the first place more than the average player of his type, exposing him to more criticism than most players. He is at the very least a really important squad member, has earned a starting place, now in doubt admittedly, but either way we should definitely hang on to him till end of the season. 

Usually I would agree but he was awful against Valencia, it just has to be said, and he was awful against City. That's two games in a row now and sadly Willian has been known for purple patches during his time here, I can't blame fans for saying it. 

5 hours ago, Slojo said:

Usually I would agree but he was awful against Valencia, it just has to be said, and he was awful against City. That's two games in a row now and sadly Willian has been known for purple patches during his time here, I can't blame fans for saying it. 

I think I am just generally just more ‘glass half full’ than most on Willian. So where others see a player that isn’t good enough for the most part, but ‘purple patches’ here and there, a perfectly reasonable position to hold, I’m the other way round and think his contribution over the years has been a net positive. I didn’t think he was THAT bad in the last two matches. 

Willian wasn't that bad to be honest, expecting him to score or assist a goal every other game is asking a bit much for him. The real difference was on ineffective Batshuayi was, literally every attack we committed numbers in, he ended up losing the ball and we were immediately under pressure from the counter. Although holding up the ball wasn't his strength, you expect a striker at this level to have a bit more all round game rather than just being a pure poacher.