Too cautious - and it cost us

[bigfooty]

The Pennant sub was the strange one for me. Babel is the greater goal threat. Crouch would have added an extra dimension to the attack. Either of those coming on would have been a positive move. Pennant for Yossi just left me bewildered because it meant that either Babel or Crouch would not get on and they are both more of a danger than Pennant.

I have said many times in the past I think Rafa is very, very poor at making pro-active subs. He tends to react more to something that happens in the game rather than attempting to move the play in our favour. I think this season it has manifested itself in the number of draws we've suffered, particularly at home, in games where we've been leading but not really gone to kill teams off.

[Craig_H]

The Pennant sub was the strange one for me. Babel is the greater goal threat. Crouch would have added an extra dimension to the attack. Either of those coming on would have been a positive move. Pennant for Yossi just left me bewildered because it meant that either Babel or Crouch would not get on and they are both more of a danger than Pennant.

I have said many times in the past I think Rafa is very, very poor at making pro-active subs. He tends to react more to something that happens in the game rather than attempting to move the play in our favour. I think this season it has manifested itself in the number of draws we've suffered, particularly at home, in games where we've been leading but not really gone to kill teams off.

Bringing on Pennant, when Crouch wasnt on the field, was bizarre.

[Exiled_red]

I think Rafa would adopt the same mentality regardless of what players he has.

I hope not

[Craig_H]

I hope not

He had good attack-minded players at Valencia, but have a look and see how many draws they had when they won the title.

[Reece]

I think Rafa would adopt the same mentality regardless of what players he has.

Would you say we have the same mentality as his brilliant Valencia team?

[rage]

we fought till the end

[Craig_H]

Would you say we have the same mentality as his brilliant Valencia team?

I'd say we adopt the same 'rather not lose than risk it for a win' approach.

[Reece]

I'd say we adopt the same 'rather not lose than risk it for a win' approach.

But they won the league no?

[Craig_H]

But they won the league no?

In a league where 75 points wins you it, yes.

[saveferris]

Agree with you to a point syd. However we werent really that good today, only from the goal to the end was where we showed the most tempo. Passing and ball possession was really bad before that.

People can go on about tactics and subs but no one stood out for me today.

[bigfooty]

But they won the league no?

They won the league 75 and 77 points. The teams who finished 2nd had 68 and 72 points.

Last season Real Madrid won with 76 points, tied with Barca. Man Utd got 89 points and they pretty much gave up against West Ham on the final day of the season, whereas Real had to win on their last game.

This season Real Madrid will probably need just 76 points to win the title, and maybe not even as many as that.

On average the winners of the Premiership get about 8-10 more points than the winners of La Liga.

[Craig_H]

They won the league 75 and 77 points. The teams who finished 2nd had 68 and 72 points.

This season Real Madrid will probably need just 76 points to win the title, and maybe not even as many as that.

On average the winners of the Premiership get about 8-10 more points than the winners of La Liga.

You can afford to be cautious and draw plenty of games and win La Liga. Not so in the PL.

[Joe King]

The benchmark has been pushed with the injection of cash of Abramovich. We cannot afford too many draws otherwise we are out

[Manofthebog]

The benchmark has been pushed with the injection of cash of Abramovich. We cannot afford too many draws otherwise we are out

Give Rafa proper Abramovich money, no comparisson.

[Joe King]

Give Gary Megson Abramovich money and he will win the title.