no yaya, no vinnie....

[Nigels Tackle]

no fucking idea

discuss

[GhoulishZombie]

Only hope is the rags win to tire them

[phips]

I dont think the Vinnie loss today was as bad as the Yaya suspension.
Our defense did fine today......their goal came from a Joe mistake and a lucky backheel by a center half.

[Lee_R]

I dont think losing Vin tonight was the problem.. defensively we were fine besides the one goal. Seemed to have no attacking ideas though.. Balotelli should have been on for Dzeko much earlier and we missed the width Johnson gives us. I can see why Mancini wanted to try and keep it tight though.. We'll hammer them at home.

[Goaters 103]

Ya Ya the bigger miss for us. Sets the tone for our entire way of playing, from one end of the field to another.

With Kolo back we can at least cover Vinnie's absence, but Ya Ya is the only player of his kind in the club, our talismen in effect.

[Ted Hughes]

Yaya played in the away games last year and was the worst player on the pitch & was fucking pathetic v Bayern. We are shite in Europe full stop.

[Blue Since 76]

Yaya played in the away games last year and was the worst player on the pitch & was fucking pathetic v Bayern. We are shite in Europe full stop.

Mancini has a poor record in Europe, considering the clubs he's managed. He will need to improve to keep his job. Not this season and maybe not next, but ultimately it'd cost him, if he's seen to be the weak link. Here's hoping he's learning from these defeats.

[kinkylola]

it's so lazy to trot out the "mancini is shite in europe line" ... we were totally flat tonight from the get go and it's not down to tactics or team selection. The team we put out should have been enough to at least score a goal against a very average portuguese side. Mancini will take the blame, and in the end that's part of the job description, but that loss last night was not his fault.

We need to be able to rest yaya every once and awhile ... beyond that who can you say absolutely should have started that did not? Obviously balo made a huge difference when brought on, but starting with dzeko and aguero, it is not unreasonable to assume they will be able to do a job.

People are saying Johnson should have started instead of milner ... how many times has johnson played, looked decent for 20 minutes and then done nothing and been slated on her along with every one else? Who would you have played at RB if not clichey?

Joe did absolutely terrible for that goal by the way ... absolutely unlike him to have a lapse like that and it's shit like that that happens.

[mr_nool]

it's so lazy to trot out the "mancini is shite in europe line" ... we were totally flat tonight from the get go and it's not down to tactics or team selection. The team we put out should have been enough to at least score a goal against a very average portuguese side. Mancini will take the blame, and in the end that's part of the job description, but that loss last night was not his fault.

We need to be able to rest yaya every once and awhile ... beyond that who can you say absolutely should have started that did not? Obviously balo made a huge difference when brought on, but starting with dzeko and aguero, it is not unreasonable to assume they will be able to do a job.

People are saying Johnson should have started instead of milner ... how many times has johnson played, looked decent for 20 minutes and then done nothing and been slated on her along with every one else? Who would you have played at RB if not clichey?

Joe did absolutely terrible for that goal by the way ... absolutely unlike him to have a lapse like that and it's shit like that that happens.

I think mancio4ever hit the head on the nail (yes, really, I'm serious): it's the two leg curse. It's like our players enter the first game with a very nonchalant, almost arrogant attitude that as long as we don't lose big, we will just step it up a notch and take care of business in the second leg. The same goes for the group stages of the CL where you sort of get a second chance by playing the teams both home and away. This arrogance needs to be dealt with by Mancini sooner rather than later.