Wow, what a nail biter. Props to fighting spirit shown this game. Resilient effort by the defensive line. Neustädter, Ayhan, Fuchs, Höger giving it their all. Fährmann huge presence in net. Boateng bouncing back with a strong performance. Draxler and Huntelaar beasting. Even Obasi made a clutch tackle near the end. Bravo guys, a well deserved draw and point!
"I don't get it" he checks the starting 11 again, begins shaking head and again mutters "I just don't get it." How the hell did that happen? Congrats on the unbelievable result...that I still can't understand...That's a really good way to start this group which could be tricky.
Draxler really elevated his game, such a joy to watch. Draxler v #CFC: 4 attempts, 1 assist, 32/37 pass, 3 chances created, 11 recoveries, 5 take-ons, 4 dribbles @StatsZone pic.twitter.com/CvGT9GkXzB— Alex Chaffer (@AlexChaffer) September 17, 2014 512335744782721024 is not a valid tweet id
Good game. That was some great heart from the players, especially with so many starters out. I wish we could see it more often. I'm actually looking forward to Frankfurt.
2-0, go for the clean sheet victory. More goals the better of course for Schalke. Full 3 points is a must from this match.
Full time. Schalke U19 win 5-0 over Maribor U19 Goals by: Multhaup (20), Boyamba (26), Boyamba (41), Platte (69), Platte (83)
I agree...assuming that by "doesn't work hard enough" you mean "doesn't work at all!" And is CL on ESPN3 in the US a brand new development? Seems like it would impede the sales of ridiculously overpriced Fox2Go subscriptions, but I was thrilled in spite of the result.
No one was buying FoxSoccer2GO because all the big games are on FS1, FS2, Fox, ect. Fox realized they could make more money by selling them to ESPN.
Sporting just got robbed... you know that feeling when you get rewards you don't deserve :/ Still, not Schalke's fault, the official behind the goal is visually challenged. With regard to the game. I don't think at any stage, even with Sporting have 10 players, did Schalke look like a threat from open play - regardless of whether sporting had all the defenders back, or if they where being subject to a counter - there was just no ...imagination? fluency? speed? I don't know, but there is something seriously lacking up front.
I think in the beginning of the game, that slow pace was intentional. Towards the end, we looked really tired. Covered 117 km, which seems like way too much running. Lot's a little errors and miscommunication often means extra running which can add up fast. Overall, I'm not surprised. Di Matteo hasn't even had a full week of training with this squad yet.
Expecting some hostilities, both on and off the pitch, after the ref's massive fluff up in the last game. Going to be interesting
Everything I touch turns to utter shite. It happened at the BMG game against Frankfurt - and last night at Veltins ...well, that was plain aweful. Here is my perspective from ground-ish level. Uchida & Choupo-Moting looked like they were trying there asses off, they did so much running off the ball - esp. the former up the right side of the ground - to get into some great positions only not to be found by our, frankly, shit midfield when we got possession, because they almost always insisted on holding things up (literally, getting the ball, and turning to face back at our own goal almost like a reflex action), and passing it around to consolidate with some time on the ball...which is an okay idea, if you don't turn the damn thing over 100% of the time in the middle of the park in the process. Kirchhoff certainly seemed the most guilty of doing the above, and it was for that reason 50 000 people started giving it to him (even before he tried to give Kramer a run for his money in the own goal of the year stakes), and probably why he had that massive tantrum in the middle of the pitch whilst in possession and started arguing with ..I think Höger (who wasn't much better). I wonder if Di Matteo took him off just for that fact he was aiding the enemy, to appease the fans, or just to save what little self-esteem he may still have. Anyways, Clemens came on in his place, and it looked a lot more positive - he started running at defenders. Likewise with Meyer and his fresh and exuberant legs. Nothing overly threatening came from either of them, but at least it gave everyone at the ground something to smile about. This is just what I was seeing. And take nothing away from Chelsea, they are amazing. And as frustrating as it was to watch Schalke, I'm very glad I got to see some stunning football I was very fortunate to meet a few Chelsea fans travelling from Berlin, before the game, because they took me to meet a few players (Hazard, Schurrle, and a few others whose names I am not familiar with, as well as god himself - Mourinho) around midnight. Anyways, I'm heading back to Gelsenkirchen on Saturday for the game against Mainz. ..sorry about that A couple of things from before kick off; http://www.schalke04.de/en/news/141125_chelsea_players_reaction/page/1279--86-86-.html Roman Neustädter: We’d like to apologise to everyone for tonight’s performance. It didn’t go to plan. It’s difficult to find the right words to say soon after the full time whistle: It’s difficult to analyse the game so quickly. We never really got into the game. If we hadn’t conceded the third goal on the stroke of half time things may have been different after the interval. It was a bitter pill to swallow. We now need to work on what went wrong and get back to winning ways on Saturday against Mainz. I understand the way the fans reacted. They arrived in the stadium full of hope and have left it disappointed.
Starting line up. Höger <-> Meyer ..don't know how I feel about this; everytime I've seen Meyer he has been brilliant. Got to keep half an eye on the Chelsea - Sporting game; I mentioned in the bayern thread I've got a terrible feeling sporting will beat chelsea based partly on form but also because it would be sweet revenge for them to kick schalke out of CL after the Veltins ...mishap.
Well, Meyer came in and had a good game, but Hoger also played well. Huntelaar really stood out as the worst player today. That's two sub-par games as of late. Hopefully he recovers his form.