Portsmouth (H) Post Match Reaction

[rage]

well you must have watched a different game to me and the rest of the kop that were pretty much groaning for 90 mins and breathed a collective sigh of relief at full time

we had most of the ball, they never really threatened, but we didn't batter them - far from it - yes we won, and i'm glad we did, we did what we had too but I didn't walk out of anfield last night saying, greta performance we battered them should have been 3 or 4 nil.

I have walked out of anfield at times when we have say lost 1-0, even though we battered the opposition but just could score, I have walked out of anfield aand it's been 1-0 win to us and we literally leathered the *******s and could have won 10 nil

last night was not one of those nights

but we walked out relived and glad that even though we played a weakened team against a potential bogey team we still got 3 points.

for the life of me i still don't know what that idiot was doing playing volleyball in the penalty area but long may our good fortune continue

[PTP]

but we walked out relived and glad that even though we played a weakened team against a potential bogey team we still got 3 points.

for the life of me i still don't know what that idiot was doing playing volleyball in the penalty area but long may our good fortune continue

exactly - the walk to the car drive home literally summed up in that one sentance before we had got out the ground, the rest of the journey was spent talking about plans for the weekend which was nice - makes a change from walking out and arguing over tactics

[MrMichael]

I realise this doesn't contradict your stat but didn't we have 30 out of 36 one year under Houllier? Two wins in the next two games or we won't have beaten that.

Yeah, I reckon we did... (and promptly exploded with non wins in 10 games or something), and if I remember correct we were still behind Arsenal with that total. Either that or I imagined an entire season.

[MrMichael]

god we were screaming at babel in the second half - it's why he frustates me as sometimes he just looks like he has switched of and becomes dosile. He has the ability - ive seen it

Maybe I am being harsh, he isn't an out and out left winger - but at times during the second half he had just stopped - so much so that aurelio was playing as the left winger - what annoys me with babel is he can beat a man on the outside - i have seen him do it, once every now and then(say once in 15 games ), he will be outside the box left handside, shapes to cut inside on his right, step over and he goes left - every ****ing time he has done it he rapes his man, granted 9/10 he gets passed them and falls over trying to kick it with his left (which is another annoying thing) but it works and causes problems - he just doesn't do it enough - he only has to try it once or twice in a match and then the next time he gets the ball the defender won't know which way to go - at the moment as you say it's to predictable - in fact I don't know whether i am critisicing babel, or rafa for playing him there or the tactics/coaches in training but....we are playing babel as a left mid/winger, no questions asked, yet there is a whole area of the pitch he never uses, never even gets too - so much so i have gone to the trouble to show the area with a nifty little diagram - but for a left winger it's bad - but we literally never get in the area.
The yellow shaded area just doesn't get used - babel gets to where i have placed him and then either cuts inside or stops. If ur a right back marking babel you can more or less forget about that area

flmao

Quite simply for me, Babel. as yet, is a 45 minute player. I'm not sure if he's ever completed 90 mins for us (perhaps like, once), I can think of countless times last season when people were stunned by Rafa's decison to sub him early in the second half after an impressive first half display, but I really believe Rafa knows Babel simply is not physically capable as yet (or mentally perhaps, idk) of playing at a consistent level for 90 mins. The rest of what you say has a point, but when he's really on his game and fresh he's still a danger from the left, when he's played much more than 45 mins he starts to lose that danger, and then the points you make about positioning etc come into their own.

[Craig_H]

flmao

Quite simply for me, Babel. as yet, is a 45 minute player. I'm not sure if he's ever completed 90 mins for us (perhaps like, once), I can think of countless times last season when people were stunned by Rafa's decison to sub him early in the second half after an impressive first half display, but I really believe Rafa knows Babel simply is not physically capable as yet (or mentally perhaps, idk) of playing at a consistent level for 90 mins. The rest of what you say has a point, but when he's really on his game and fresh he's still a danger from the left, when he's played much more than 45 mins he starts to lose that danger, and then the points you make about positioning etc come into their own.

I know it's a different league, but surely Holland isnt THAT much easier to play 90 mins in, than england is?

[TheStig]

It's a tricky balance because if you're going for the title, you have virtually no margin for error.

Otherwise you turn into Arsenal.

[Neil Young]

I know it's a different league, but surely Holland isnt THAT much easier to play 90 mins in, than england is?

When it comes to fitness, it's an entirely different league.

Oh hang on...

[Shaggy]

Didnt Chelsea win their first 9 games in one of their tite-winning seasons?

That's what I thought to be honest but this morning's Metro claimed ours was the best start ever.

[Neil Young]

Yeah, I reckon we did... (and promptly exploded with non wins in 10 games or something), and if I remember correct we were still behind Arsenal with that total. Either that or I imagined an entire season.

Yes we did - or we had a collective imaginary experience.

[saj]

flmao

Quite simply for me, Babel. as yet, is a 45 minute player. I'm not sure if he's ever completed 90 mins for us (perhaps like, once), I can think of countless times last season when people were stunned by Rafa's decison to sub him early in the second half after an impressive first half display, but I really believe Rafa knows Babel simply is not physically capable as yet (or mentally perhaps, idk) of playing at a consistent level for 90 mins. The rest of what you say has a point, but when he's really on his game and fresh he's still a danger from the left, when he's played much more than 45 mins he starts to lose that danger, and then the points you make about positioning etc come into their own.

He has once in the league

[Rix007]

Good win but very very lucky.....Pennant is ****e

[PTP]

flmao

Quite simply for me, Babel. as yet, is a 45 minute player. I'm not sure if he's ever completed 90 mins for us (perhaps like, once), I can think of countless times last season when people were stunned by Rafa's decison to sub him early in the second half after an impressive first half display, but I really believe Rafa knows Babel simply is not physically capable as yet (or mentally perhaps, idk) of playing at a consistent level for 90 mins. The rest of what you say has a point, but when he's really on his game and fresh he's still a danger from the left, when he's played much more than 45 mins he starts to lose that danger, and then the points you make about positioning etc come into their own.

haha the picture was the only way i could express my words

right ok, surely now, what is it over a year since he has been here, he'd have developed a bit, - i know i read recently that rafa said, with a player like babel he is a sprinter and as such he has different stamina levels to other people like say gerrard who just has an engine on him. But i'm not asking babel to sprint full pelt for 90 mins non stop. - Just asking him to do it more than once for 15 seconds.

yesterday, first half early on, he got the ball out wide left, near half way and just opened his legs and left three portmouth players for dead. - that was it, he didn't do it again, he teased us with this glimpse of unreal raw power combined with brilliant control and looked like he was ice skating on the pitch. And that was that. - If he is only capable of making two or three runs a agme then whats the point?

[dww]

That's what I thought to be honest but this morning's Metro claimed ours was the best start ever.

Sadly they were clearly misled by that guy on the BBC text thing like everyone else:

http://www.chelseafootballclub.net/fixturesandtables06.htm

[The Erectile Banana]

I know it's a different league, but surely Holland isnt THAT much easier to play 90 mins in, than england is?

I agree.

I don't understand how a strong young player like Babel can go through two pre seasons in England and still not be fit enough to last ninety minutes. It's not as if he puts in a Kuytesque shift when he's on the pitch.

Is it mental? Maybe? But surely your mental state shouldn't effect your physical capabiilities so much that you're knackered after 60 mins.

[The Erectile Banana]

Sadly they were clearly misled by that guy on the BBC text thing like everyone else:
http://www.chelseafootballclub.net/f...ndtables06.htm

Never trust a texter.