[Albion] AEK Athens (least bad) Man of the Match

[Kalimantan Gull]

Blimey what's up with the state of this thread - who was our 'least bad' player? Lets give the team some support - that wasn't easy last night, that was toe to toe with a big, strong, committed team, a team who is used to winning week-in week-out and were champions of their country last season. What, we expect they're going to be scared of us, to retreat, to let us walkover them? No, this is top level European competition, who cares that some people thought it would be easy, thats not the reality, it was hard. So sure we didn't have lots of players finding it easy to waltz around a disjointed, poorly-motivated team like Man Utd, getting 10/10 scores, but can we please not have a universal dumping on our players of 'he was terrible', no he was shitter', 'no he was the worst'. We're better than that.

 

[AZ Gull]

Blimey what's up with the state of this thread - who was our 'least bad' player? Lets give the team some support - that wasn't easy last night, that was toe to toe with a big, strong, committed team, a team who is used to winning week-in week-out and were champions of their country last season. What, we expect they're going to be scared of us, to retreat, to let us walkover them? No, this is top level European competition, who cares that some people thought it would be easy, thats not the reality, it was hard. So sure we didn't have lots of players finding it easy to waltz around a disjointed, poorly-motivated team like Man Utd, getting 10/10 scores, but can we please not have a universal dumping on our players of 'he was terrible', no he was shitter', 'no he was the worst'. We're better than that.

I'm with you on this, @Kalimantan Gull. Some people on NSC seem to be on a real downer about last night - maybe because they all got soaked!

Interestingly, the AEK Athens website, in their match report, state this:-

 

[SeagullsoverLondon]

On the TNT highlights clip I saw this morning Gross was clearly asking hard questions of JPvH after the third goal.

And so he should, it was his man, but Lamptey also should have held his position and not gone for the interception. An avoidable goal

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I think we might've been unlucky that he was on a hat trick at that moment, and therefore (you would assume) very determined to complete it.

A simple sideways pass would've seen Mitoma in front of a completely empty net.

Or punted it instead of leathering it as Owen suggested.

 

[Poyningsgull]

Pedro scored 2 pens but was otherwise pretty crap.

 

[Flagship]

Gilmour all day.

 

[um bongo molongo]

I genuinely have no idea.

(Poll includes players who were on before the 80th minute)

I’m with you. Couldn’t pick one. Don’t think anyone had a good game really. Steele made one very good save and couldn’t do much with the goals

 

[WhingForPresident]

I've only just managed to look back at the highlights after a few drinks.

Their third... f***ing hell. Mitoma needlessly losing it, Lamptey attempting to challenge for a header, Van Hecke getting sucked in then Igor well out of position and not even close to covering. A comedy of errors.

Great header for the first but how the f*** we ended up leaving someone totally unmarked in the box is beyond me.

Had Dunk/Fergie been fit, I reckon we would have won that game comfortably. I still can't understand why Veltman didn't feature.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

I've only just managed to look back at the highlights after a few drinks.

Their third... f***ing hell. Mitoma needlessly losing it, Lamptey attempting to challenge for a header, Van Hecke getting sucked in then Igor well out of position and not even close to covering. A comedy of errors.

Great header for the first but how the f*** we ended up leaving someone totally unmarked in the box is beyond me.

Had Dunk/Fergie been fit, I reckon we would have won that game comfortably. I still can't understand why Veltman didn't feature.

I can’t bring myself to rewatch it, and probably won’t until the commemorative video: How Albion Won the Europa League. Then I’ll watch the goals from last night, grinning, and thinking "God, yeah, I remember how shit we all felt at the time. If only we knew how it would end up!"