[Albion] Wembley a Disappointment

[Easy 10]

This, a lot of tourists there. Most of the people around me couldn't be arsed even though I was cheerleading and telling them to get behind the team. It made no difference. It was a good performance but for any neutral a complete non event I would think. One day we may have belief we can actually beat one of these top sides and play from the start accordingly

Indeed. Nobody was expecting us to turn them over or go gung-ho against them, but I do wish we'd upped the intensity a notch. We had nothing to lose by going at them - I'd much rather we got beat 4-2 or 5-2 so we'd at least have had something to shout about. And we CAN do it, look at the displays against Man Utd and Arsenal at the Amex. But there was almost a meek acceptance against City, and sadly that tone was pretty much set by CH's comments in the buildup.

Unfortunately you're never going to give yourself a chance if you play with fear.

 

[Hastings gull]

Indeed. Nobody was expecting us to turn them over or go gung-ho against them, but I do wish we'd upped the intensity a notch. We had nothing to lose by going at them - I'd much rather we got beat 4-2 or 5-2 so we'd at least have had something to shout about. And we CAN do it, look at the displays against Man Utd and Arsenal at the Amex. But there was almost a meek acceptance against City, and sadly that tone was pretty much set by CH's comments in the buildup.

Unfortunately you're never going to give yourself a chance if you play with fear.

I was very critical of the performance against the Stains, but reluctant to criticise the tactics against Man City, because they were two very different occasions, but you right in that we so often seem to play for 0-0 security, and then open up when we go one down, when we then have a real go - so why we can't we do it from the start?

 

[Simster]

Indeed. Nobody was expecting us to turn them over or go gung-ho against them, but I do wish we'd upped the intensity a notch. We had nothing to lose by going at them - I'd much rather we got beat 4-2 or 5-2 so we'd at least have had something to shout about. And we CAN do it, look at the displays against Man Utd and Arsenal at the Amex. But there was almost a meek acceptance against City, and sadly that tone was pretty much set by CH's comments in the buildup.

Unfortunately you're never going to give yourself a chance if you play with fear.

I don't get this. After going behind after 4 minutes, we re-grouped and when City failed to score again from the half hour mark, it was obvious to everyone it was all about getting to half time without conceding again. Had we gone gung-ho prior to half-time, we could well have gone in 2 or 3 down, from which there'd be no coming back.

And then guess what? We DID up the intensity a notch - right after the break for 15 minutes there was only one team playing football. The reason we lost was entirely down to Pep's luxury subs. He sensibly made two of them just when they were wobbling a touch. Worth pointing out that those subs - Fernandinho and Stones - cost more than an entire squad. Let that sink in a minute: Two of their subs £££ > OUR TEAM £££

 

[Guinness Boy]

Had we been drawn against Watford or Wolves then there would have been 10x the atmosphere. As it was, we knew we were going to get beat it was just a question of how many, and they knew they were going to win, hence the occasion falling quite flat. I still enjoyed it, but I really regret us getting City in that semi. I'd have felt FAR more up for it had it been either of the other two, as I suspect most of our fans would have been.

Agreed, but had we have got a different draw and won, we'd only have ended up with City in the final. I suspect that would have turned an even bigger potential occasion in to an even bigger anti-climax.

As [MENTION=232]Simster[/MENTION] correctly points out, we may be in the same actual division as City but in terms of ability and finance we may as well be in a pub league, comparatively. When oil-rich nation states can go around buying sports clubs as vanity projects it's only going to get worse.

 

[ROSM]

I don't get this. After going behind after 4 minutes, we re-grouped and when City failed to score again from the half hour mark, it was obvious to everyone it was all about getting to half time without conceding again. Had we gone gung-ho prior to half-time, we could well have gone in 2 or 3 down, from which there'd be no coming back.

And then guess what? We DID up the intensity a notch - right after the break for 15 minutes there was only one team playing football. The reason we lost was entirely down to Pep's luxury subs. He sensibly made two of them just when they were wobbling a touch. Worth pointing out that those subs - Fernandinho and Stones - cost more than an entire squad. Let that sink in a minute: Two of their subs £££ > OUR TEAM £££

I agree entirely.

Pep made 3 subs all of them more defensive than who they replaced (ok Danilo was forced on him by walker hamstring or walking a rightrope).

I would suggest if anyone can, watching the game back. We were much better on replay than I recalled at the game.

 

[Easy 10]

I don't get this. After going behind after 4 minutes, we re-grouped and when City failed to score again from the half hour mark, it was obvious to everyone it was all about getting to half time without conceding again. Had we gone gung-ho prior to half-time, we could well have gone in 2 or 3 down, from which there'd be no coming back.

And then guess what? We DID up the intensity a notch - right after the break for 15 minutes there was only one team playing football. The reason we lost was entirely down to Pep's luxury subs. He sensibly made two of them just when they were wobbling a touch. Worth pointing out that those subs - Fernandinho and Stones - cost more than an entire squad. Let that sink in a minute: Two of their subs £££ > OUR TEAM £££

I don't entirely disagree with you, but from being in a losing position basically for the entire game, we mustered a grand total of 2 efforts on their goal. You can try and focus on "seeing it out till half time" without conceding again, but thats OUR time we're wasting - keeping it tight while we're losing, running the clock down in the hope we can snatch something late on...why not just try to achieve the whole objective of playing football and try to score a cuffing goal ANY TIME, not just in the last few knockings.

Yes we upped it for 15-20 minutes after the break, but the pattern of the game had largely been set and City were cruising. The reason we lost was NOT because Fernandinho and Stones came on. We were cowed from the off, and spent almost the entire game more intent on not conceding than trying to get back into it. I'm not suggesting we throw caution to the wind, but being a goal down for the whole match, you HAVE to have more of a pop than we gave it.

If I was a neutral watching that game, I doubt I'd have made it to half time tbh.

 

[loco61]

just got back to Germany last night and i loved it before during and after
we had great seats and i wasnt aware of the empty seats above us and the Man City empty seats was no surprise
i used to live 800 Yards from Wembley Way in 1989 1990 and when i came out of Wembley Park Tube Station i thought wow!!
"Brighton And Hove Albion" lit up on the Stadium was a great touch but generally it all looked so much better!

I had a great view of the game, despite losing my glasses in the Albion HQ before the game
it was my first visit since 1991 and i wasnt disappointed at all:
it was a semi final and i am not convinced it should be at Wembley but i am very happy it was!!
Organisation and segregation was all very well done from my experience:
I am not sure if it needs a lick of paint : (as i said i lost my glasses after one too many pints in the Globe and the Box)

my next flight in is for the Wolves game and i hope we are safe by then
Sing your hearts out for the lads on Saturday and Tuesday
Get behind them! six points and i can enjoy my next trip too

 

[Easy 10]

Agreed, but had we have got a different draw and won, we'd only have ended up with City in the final. I suspect that would have turned an even bigger potential occasion in to an even bigger anti-climax.

As [MENTION=232]Simster[/MENTION] correctly points out, we may be in the same actual division as City but in terms of ability and finance we may as well be in a pub league, comparatively. When oil-rich nation states can go around buying sports clubs as vanity projects it's only going to get worse.

True. But at least the semi would have been one HELL of an occasion for us, knowing that if we turned up, then we'd have a fantastic chance of making the Final. I was absolutely buzzing after Millwall, but then couldn't help feeling a bit crestfallen when Watford and Wolves came out of the hat first. And Saturday duly played out exactly as I'd expected, albeit it was "only" 1-0, the sole consolation being we weren't embarrassed on the day.

As you say, they might as well be in a different League to us, the gulf is so enormous now. That was their 22nd win out of their last 23. Must really get quite boring being a City fan.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

I don't entirely disagree with you, but from being in a losing position basically for the entire game, we mustered a grand total of 2 efforts on their goal. You can try and focus on "seeing it out till half time" without conceding again, but thats OUR time we're wasting - keeping it tight while we're losing, running the clock down in the hope we can snatch something late on...why not just try to achieve the whole objective of playing football and try to score a cuffing goal ANY TIME, not just in the last few knockings.

Yes we upped it for 15-20 minutes after the break, but the pattern of the game had largely been set and City were cruising. The reason we lost was NOT because Fernandinho and Stones came on. We were cowed from the off, and spent almost the entire game more intent on not conceding than trying to get back into it. I'm not suggesting we throw caution to the wind, but being a goal down for the whole match, you HAVE to have more of a pop than we gave it.

If I was a neutral watching that game, I doubt I'd have made it to half time tbh.

Agreed again. Look we all know how much they cost but at the end of the day it was 11 men v 11 men, we were not playing the Avengers Infinity War heroes, they are not super heroes with super powers and they did not like it up them when we did have the audacity to have a pop at them like Alireza did, they did not like it one bit. Why not have a proper crack when there were no points to be won or lost. The only one trying to make anything happen was Knockaert, he did not give a stuff how much their price tag was. We needed more of that. It did not help when Hughton said the day before, more or less, we've got no chance

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

True. But at least the semi would have been one HELL of an occasion for us, knowing that if we turned up, then we'd have a fantastic chance of making the Final. I was absolutely buzzing after Millwall, but then couldn't help feeling a bit crestfallen when Watford and Wolves came out of the hat first. And Saturday duly played out exactly as I'd expected, albeit it was "only" 1-0, the sole consolation being we weren't embarrassed on the day.

As you say, they might as well be in a different League to us, the gulf is so enormous now. That was their 22nd win out of their last 23. Must really get quite boring being a City fan.

Maybe I was just lucky, but all the City fans I got chatting to were long termers who were likeable, knowledgeable and took nothing whatsoever for granted. One told me they had a standard thing they said on the (increasingly rare - my words) occasions when things went tits-up for them. That standard thing? "Typical City ". Bless, they're just like us

 

[LamieRobertson]

I don't get this. After going behind after 4 minutes, we re-grouped and when City failed to score again from the half hour mark, it was obvious to everyone it was all about getting to half time without conceding again. Had we gone gung-ho prior to half-time, we could well have gone in 2 or 3 down, from which there'd be no coming back.

And then guess what? We DID up the intensity a notch - right after the break for 15 minutes there was only one team playing football. The reason we lost was entirely down to Pep's luxury subs. He sensibly made two of them just when they were wobbling a touch. Worth pointing out that those subs - Fernandinho and Stones - cost more than an entire squad. Let that sink in a minute: Two of their subs £££ > OUR TEAM £££

Totally agree ..people only have to see how many teams have been slaughtered by City ..we stayed in that and the result was in doubt to the end ...but will never convince some

 

[trueblue]

Wembley is a poor football stadium I think. Too much romanticism affected its design. The old Wembley was never a great viewing experience - the rake was far too shallow. By retaining that characteristic, they missed a huge opportunity. Even given the standards of the time, if they'd just built a bigger version of the Millennium Stadium - where even the furthest seats feel close to the pitch because of the steep stands - they'd have had a belter.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Totally agree ..people only have to see how many teams have been slaughtered by City ..we stayed in that and the result was in doubt to the end ...but will never convince some

This. 1-0 is no disgrace whatsoever. A bit like the 1-0 no disgrace whatsoever v Liverpool at the Amex this season. These are horrendously difficult teams to peg back. Not quite sure what people expect

 

[BRIGHT ON Q]

Absolutely love the millennium stadium, been there for football and concerts, no comparison for me .

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

This. 1-0 is no disgrace whatsoever. A bit like the 1-0 no disgrace whatsoever v Liverpool at the Amex this season. These are horrendously difficult teams to peg back. Not quite sure what people expect

I am not getting this. It was not a league game, damage limitation. It was a ONE OFF cup match, so a 1 0 defeat was never going to do was it ? It is a quite simple concept a lot of our fans seem to be missing

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I am not getting this. It was not a league game, damage limitation. It was a ONE OFF cup match, so a 1-0 defeat was never going to do was it ?

Behave Uncle! Man City and Liverpool are two of the top half dozen teams in Europe. Remote possibility to turn over either of them, even though, fair enough, footballing miracles sometimes do happen. Like us turning over Millwall in the previous round when we looked dead and buried...

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Behave Uncle! Man City and Liverpool are two of the top half dozen teams in Europe. Remote possibility to turn over either of them, even though, fair enough, footballing miracles sometimes do happen. Like us turning over Millwall in the previous round when we looked dead and buried...

I know but for a cup game losing 1 0 might as well be 10 0, either way you are out. We did well but I don't get all the back slapping for losing a knock out cup game and comparing it to a league match

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I know but for a cup game losing 1 0 might as well be 10 0, either way you are out. We did well but I don't get all the back slapping for losing a knock out cup game and comparing it to a league match

Well the common wisdom on here before the game was that we'd get stuffed 5-0 and the most wished for thing was that we'd give it a good go. Which IMHO we did within our obvious limitations. Those limitations being that altbough we've got a Premier League Top Ten level defence, we've got a flakey defensive-minded midfield and a - no disrespect intended - powderpuff attack. I'd say that within the scope of those limitations we're doing pretty damn well and probably punching above our current weight.

 

[Simster]

I am not getting this. It was not a league game, damage limitation. It was a ONE OFF cup match, so a 1 0 defeat was never going to do was it ? It is a quite simple concept a lot of our fans seem to be missing

No it's not "a lot of our fans" who are missing anything, it's you. If we'd played an attacking game, we'd have been SMASHED without question. To have any hope at all, we needed to keep it tight and hope to nick something from a break or a set piece. And it nearly worked - had the ball landed 3 inches closer to Murray from Duffy's header, we'd have squared it up. All this nonsense about going for it after the event simply ignores the reality of the situation at the time.

 

[Hastings gull]

No it's not "a lot of our fans" who are missing anything, it's you. If we'd played an attacking game, we'd have been SMASHED without question. To have any hope at all, we needed to keep it tight and hope to nick something from a break or a set piece. And it nearly worked - had the ball landed 3 inches closer to Murray from Duffy's header, we'd have squared it up. All this nonsense about going for it after the event simply ignores the reality of the situation at the time.

I can see what the poster was saying in terms of it being a knock-out and 1-0 equated to 10-0 in terms of advancing to the next round, or in our case, the final. And if it had been either of the other semi-finalists, then his point would have been very valid indeed. But surely the reality is when playing one of the best teams in the world is to try and stay in the game and hope to nick it late on, which we almost did when that header was hooked away. I just hope that these are not the tactics in the next two home matches, as they seemed to be against the Stains - lose either one of those matches due to perceived ultra negativity and the atmosphere could turn quite toxic