Atiba vs. Manchester United (R)

[curtwpg]

Atiba certainly did not look out of place in today's match. I do not recall one bad pass on his part. In fact, I would say that he was one of the better players for FC Copenhagen. Unfortunately, you could not describe his play as dynamic in any way. This type of play will, most likely, not attract any interest from better teams.

Any word on the possibility of him returning to play for TFC?

[Robino]

I thought he looked strong against man utd. Honestly I don't see a TFC return for him.

[CanuckFan]

I can see him coming back to TFC.

In about 10-12 years maybe.

[jpg75]

I'd like to see him move after this season is over. Perhaps a top Dutch club or a mid table French or German club. I think he still has room to develop, especially his tactical awareness as he's been in a long ball environment in Sweden and Denmark for the past few years. A move to England right away would stunt his growth.

[Grizzly]

I'd like to see him move after this season is over. Perhaps a top Dutch club or a mid table French or German club. I think he still has room to develop, especially his tactical awareness as he's been in a long ball environment in Sweden and Denmark for the past few years. A move to England right away would stunt his growth.

I agree with this completely. He looked capable of much more today but didn't have teammates capable of providing the necessary support. He needs to get on a team where there are more players at his skill level without going to the top level where he could get lost in the shuffle of top players.

[Googs67]

I can see him coming back to TFC.

In about 10-12 years maybe.

If you could play in a champions league game at Old Trafford or in front of 5,000 on a Thursday night in Kansas City what would you choose?

And as a Canadian, I'd rather see any of our boys play in a game of that quality than in a minor league like the MLS. Our MNT just gets better when a player gets game experience at that CL level.

I thought he did well. Good pace. Good work rate. Looked like he belonged and could show much much more.

[jpg75]

I agree with this completely. He looked capable of much more today but didn't have teammates capable of providing the necessary support. He needs to get on a team where there are more players at his skill level without going to the top level where he could get lost in the shuffle of top players.

I don't want to knock all his teammates, because some of them are capable of playing at a higher level too. From the 4 games i've seen of FCK (2 Ajax, Benfica, ManU) it is apparent that there's too much emphasis on long balls to create instant offence and rely too much on skin of their teeth defending. I remembered after writing the first post that Atiba has had two trials with Udinese in the past, but never stuck with them. I wonder if they're still checking him out, that might be a good move too. The tactics in Italy would be a good learning experience and he'd be playing at a high level without getting lost in a crowded squad with little playing time.

[CanuckFan]

If you could play in a champions league game at Old Trafford or in front of 5,000 on a Thursday night in Kansas City what would you choose?

And as a Canadian, I'd rather see any of our boys play in a game of that quality than in a minor league like the MLS. Our MNT just gets better when a player gets game experience at that CL level.

I thought he did well. Good pace. Good work rate. Looked like he belonged and could show much much more.

Maybe you should read my post arsehole. I said in 10 to 12 years, when he is on the downside of his career and wants to return home.

[batch]

I'd like to see him move after this season is over. Perhaps a top Dutch club or a mid table French or German club. I think he still has room to develop, especially his tactical awareness as he's been in a long ball environment in Sweden and Denmark for the past few years. A move to England right away would stunt his growth.
One of the English papers today says that Paul Jewell was at the game against Manchester United with a view to bringing him to Wigan in January.

Then again we were linked with him last season too but nothing happened then.

[jpg75]

One of the English papers today says that Paul Jewell was at the game against Manchester United with a view to bringing him to Wigan in January.

Then again we were linked with him last season too but nothing happened then.

What's the personnel picture look like in midfield at Wigan? Would he be a starter coming in? Is the club a long ball style team, or do they like to keep possession?

[batch]

Well at the moment we have Dutch international Denny Landzatt and Austrian international Paul Scharner* as our centre midfield.

After that we have Australian Josip Skoko who made his first appearance in 9 months this weekend. Then after him there is Andreas Johansson who hasnt really ever played regularly since being here.

Hutchinson plays in the centre of midfield as far as i am aware and i would deffinately say we need an extra player in that area sooner rather than later.




* he's actually just quit internation football because he believes the set up is amateurish but otherwise would be playing.

[Ceres]

I'd like to see him move after this season is over. Perhaps a top Dutch club or a mid table French or German club. I think he still has room to develop, especially his tactical awareness as he's been in a long ball environment in Sweden and Denmark for the past few years. A move to England right away would stunt his growth.

I don't want to knock all his teammates, because some of them are capable of playing at a higher level too. From the 4 games i've seen of FCK (2 Ajax, Benfica, ManU) it is apparent that there's too much emphasis on long balls to create instant offence and rely too much on skin of their teeth defending.


I couldnt disagree more, since ther is much less long-ball going on in the danish league than e.g. in the Scottish PL or at a mid-table English side... and tactically, Danish teams are light-year's ahead of the EPL and the German Bundesliga. (The main reason Danish teams have knocked out 9 German teams, while German teams only have managed to eliminated 5 Danish teams in the Europa cups the past 20 years or so)

The fact is that so far you have not really seen Atiba play his favorite/usual position in central midfield for FCK, because Grønkjaer is injured, meaning that ther was alot of unfortunate changes being made in central midfield, attack and left wing position just before the CL kicked off.

FCK had just sold their shared topscorer from last season, the Brazilian, Alvaro Santos, to sign a new and more talented Brazilian, Ailton Almeida, (paying €3 million), but it all happened right before the CL deadline and unfortunately his club said no to all further offers to let Ailton go in time for him to be eligible for the CL Group stage. Allbäck (62 caps and 27 goals for Sweden) is no doubt a top class striker, but he's more of a hardworking goal poacher, while Fredrik Berglund (10 caps and 2 goals for Sweden) was only suppose to be 3rd forward in a kind of squad rotation and not suppose to play CL. So without Ailton in attack and then suddenly also Grønkjaer getting injured and Atiba being moved away from central midfield, it's hardly all that surprising that their attacking play has not looked all that impressive so far in Champions League.

However, would a EPL team like Wigan (who seem to be interested in Atiba) have looked better in CL than this somewhat decimated FCK team ?... I seriously doubt so, but then a team like Wigan is probably happy just to survive in the EPL, while it's no secret that FCK got the declared ambition to become one of the 25 biggest teams in Europe, both financially as well as on the pitch. FCK are already well on their way financially and btw now also have in mind to buy a 2nd level English side and add it to their business.
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[jpg75]

I know what i saw. In both games against Ajax and the Benfica game they would constantly blast the ball forward from the back, bypassing the mids completely. I'd say the ratio was less than 50-50 between long ball and possession thru the mids. Now, in the game against ManU they tried to hold the ball a little more, but i think that was more for their own survival and knowledge that those tactics would not work against a top team.

Now, if you tell me they play possession during league play, fine. But there's a difference between playing "ole" with Vejle than there is holding the ball up 50% possession against Ajax or Benfica.

As for comparison to EPL or SPL, well let's put it this way. There's a reason i said top Dutch or mid Bundesliga/Ligue 1 club because the tactics in EPL and SPL are neanderthal. I would rather see him at PSV, Udinese, Hertha Berlin or Marseille than see him at Rangers or Watford.

[Ceres]

I know what i saw. In both games against Ajax and the Benfica game they would constantly blast the ball forward from the back, bypassing the mids completely. I'd say the ratio was less than 50-50 between long ball and possession thru the mids. Now, in the game against ManU they tried to hold the ball a little more, but i think that was more for their own survival and knowledge that those tactics would not work against a top team.

Again, you are mainly judging the FCK play in some very difficult away games (and the home game against Benfica), playing without their absolute Star player Grønkjaer and with a forward (Berglund) who was not suppose to play CL in the first place, and then with Atiba playing out of position as left winger while in some of the games being replaced in central midfield by a 21-yo inexperienced benchsitter. Ofcause this is bound to make the FCK play look somewhat unstructured and with more long passes to Allbäck... Though it did look a bit better against Man United, probably because the players (Atiba, young William Kvist and Hjalte Nørregaard) were getting more used to their positions in midfield.

So your quite wrong about the Man United game... This is how FCK were suppose to play in all their CL games, though still with much more punch in attack and better structure in midfield, that is if they had been able to play with Grønkjaer in left wing position and Atiba in central midfield, not to forget Ailton in attack... Fortunately Grønkjaer is almost fit to play, so he will either be ready to play against United or atleast ready for their last two CL games against Benfica and Celtic, then Atiba will be back in central midfield and their attacking play will look much better... Just wait and see...
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[jpg75]

Ok, i'll wait and see what happens when Gronkjaer returns...but if i don't see any improvement, heads will roll ;) :D

[Ceres]

Ok, i'll wait and see what happens when Gronkjaer returns...but if i don't see any improvement, heads will roll ;) :D

Well, ofcause Grønkjaer needs to be 100% fit. If he only get to play the last 20 minutes, only looking to be at 80% of his usual strenght, then it will not be enough to make much of a difference at CL level... Still, ther is a reason why Grønkjaer so far has won 60 caps for Denmark, used to play for Chelsea (120 games) and now is the by far best paid player in the Danish league...

Grønkjaer suffered very much from being homesick when he played abroad (especially in Spain and Germany) but after he returned home this season at an age of only 28 (now 29) he was actually looking better than ever, adding some class to the team and showing that he is worth all the money he gets.
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[Ceres]

Grønkjaer is not going to play against Man United in Parken. It's seem that FCK dont want to take the risk of a setback if Grønkjaer is not 100% in shape and then just get injured again, so they are going to wait a bit more to be sure he's quite fit for the last two group games against Benfica and Celtic.

However, the young FCK left winger Martin Bergvold (22) who has been warming the bench and is quite unhappy not being used in the games and now want to leave the club, finally got the chance to prove his worth against Vejle and got selected as Man-of-the-Match, both making the assist, when he put Fredrik Berglund completely through with a fine pass to score the first goal of the match and then in the 2nd half it was Bergvold himself adding the 2nd and 3rd goal. So it's very likely that Bergvold also get the chance to play against United and Atiba then get moved to his favorite position in central midfield where he belongs.
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[jpg75]

The game will be streamed on SopCast. No channel # yet, but it's Star Sports from China that will be airing the game and it can be found at the top of the list under sports channels. Enjoy :)

[jpg75]

Beautiful!! FCK win 1-0!

On the winning goal, Atiba headed the ball off the corner that VDS perried to the feet of Allback who knocked it in. Hutch had a pretty decent game, he started as the withdrawn striker and looked alright on the ball. He was called offside in the first half when he wasn't and beat VDS to the ball and rounded him before the whistle blew. That could have been a goal...he missed an open header on a break earlier in the second half also. Anyways, that's 4 points and they're tied with Porto for last spot, two behind Celtic.

[simon99]

Beautiful!! FCK win 1-0!

On the winning goal, Atiba headed the ball off the corner that VDS perried to the feet of Allback who knocked it in. Hutch had a pretty decent game, he started as the withdrawn striker and looked alright on the ball. He was called offside in the first half when he wasn't and beat VDS to the ball and rounded him before the whistle blew. That could have been a goal...he missed an open header on a break earlier in the second half also. Anyways, that's 4 points and they're tied with Porto for last spot, two behind Celtic.

Tough week jpg75.......it's Benfica, you should consider taking a week off ;)

Great result BTW. Considering that Benfica and Celtic have both one game remaining against Man U, FCK is still in a good position for the upset.