We played well in the first half and I was happy how Maloney, Brown, Hartley, McManus, Caldwell and Samaras were doing. I was less happy with Wilson and Naylor. They aren't good enough for this level. I was fairly happy with McGeady and Nakamura.
Why Samaras slowed up as he went in on the keeper is beyond me. He gave the keeper too much time to set himself. One of Samaras's strengths is his speed and strong running. For some reason he didn't use it when he needed to.
I'm not sure what happened after 55 minutes, but from then on in it was desparate stuff. Hartley, Brown, McManus and Caldwell continued to do well but Maloney and Naylor were caught out too often, putting the rest under pressure. I thought Maloney should have been subbed much earlier than he was, and Nakamura faded badly.
I didn't come away with the impression that Villareal are world beaters.
A 1-1 against Aalborg may be our best hope this year.
I'm not sure about the goal. But is Boruc not at the top of his game anymore? I had a dread that he was going to score. Senna apart who looked exceptional Villareal look more of a team full of very good players. That bit quicker thinking, quicker passing than Celtic across the whole pitch. I wasn't convinced with their goal threat and maybe that will stop them going very far in the competition.
ReplyDeleteWe can't compete at this level if we have weak areas and both full back areas are weak. In the last games that I have watched diagonal balls always seemed to be directed over Naylor. So I'm thinking that its not just his tackling, distribution and lack of creating space that is the trouble with him, positionally he can't defend. Strachan's comments seem to suggest they knew he was the weak spot and they exploited it. I think his confidence might also be gone now.
I had been wondering if Robson could play left back but I feared he might be in the Alan Thompson mould - ok going forward but dodgy in defence. I wonder how he went today. I take it 1-1 gets us into the UEFA cup. I'll take that.
On Samaras he seemed also to get himself in a poor position which made it difficult to beat the keeper. Yes maybe if he had been quicker the keeper wouldn't have been so far out and there would have been more to shoot at. A bit like the chance he missed against Kilmarnock in the first half. Still he is something else to watch when he is bearing down on goal. I'm beginning to think he could be brilliant.
Robson looked OK at left back, but wasn't going to be tested against Hamilton. It might be worth trying him out for a while.
ReplyDeletePretty much agree with the comments about this game. Fullbacks are not good enough... but we know that. Also thought our creative players were largely ineffective (Naka, Maloney and McGeady). I suspect that this level is too much for them. I appreciate that they have had good many - but many more mediocre ones.
ReplyDeleteStill, overall a decent performance. One of our better ones away from home in the CL. But it leaves me worried that we may not achieve a single victory in this campaign.
Samaras looks good and he could work out really well if the appeal of Celtic doesn't wear off when we're out of the CL and facing St Mirren at Love Street on a cold Decemember afternoon.