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It really is as simple as this: don't give players something new & different to think about during a game absolutely drenched in pressure. How is that *ever* a good idea? They're trying to remember new ideas while dealing with enormous expectation. It's a recipe for disaster.
Pep's an incredibly intelligent bloke. How he doesn't get this blows the mind. A cautious new lineup invites apprehension. If we can feel it as fans, so can players. We literally told Lyon that we fear them. After beating Real Madrid, a better side, we changed *everything*...
Why do this? What message does it send to the players? How are they meant to react to it? Where is the arrogance? With all due respect, this is Lyon. It's not peak Bayern. They're a good side, but we shouldn't be changing for them. Make them change for us ffs! Mind boggling.
Walker & Fernandinho are hard-working willing players. Neither of them tracked Cornet for the first goal. Why? It isn't laziness. It surely has to be confusion? A new system, not operating on instinct, dealing with everything else. These things were happening throughout the game.
Why put KDB essentially out wide in a front 3 too? A man who literally excels when people are running ahead of him with people to pass to had literally just 2 people ahead of him for most of the game. Give him runners! Setup to maximise our best player's ability! Not nullify it!
Once again, players are human. Bet they were on cloud 9 after that Madrid game. We won in a system we were relatively familiar with. Get into training a couple of days later, and Pep's got this mad idea. Guarantee a couple were thinking 'oh here we go'. Why wouldn't they?
I absolutely adore Pep, but he's ignored the simple human aspect of this in my opinion. He's asked too much of players in a game where we simply didn't need to make these kind of concessions. A cautious lineup lead to a nervy, cautious performance, which did the damage.
If fans and pundits and everyone else can say 'Pep overthinks it', there is absolutely no way that our players aren't aware of that perception. After Spurs first leg, that time at Liverpool, they could have immediately gone 'ah here we go again'. At that point we've already lost.
Of course I don't know anywhere near as much about football as Pep does. None of us do - but I do know people. I do know they're predictable beings. Mentality is everything. We should have been pumped up, aggressive, cocky and asserted ourselves on the game. We did the opposite.
Surely you've got to be thinking: 'what can we do to make sure the players are fired up and feel at ease and ready?'. Surely you'd spend all weeks reminding them of how good they are? How good our own strengths are? Play to our own strengths. All week we focused on our weaknesses
And finally I'm not judging the tactical setup. I'm commentating merely on the idea of trying something *new* and different in a game of that size. Play however the fuck you want, Pep, of course, but please make sure its something the players are familiar with. Cmon man...
And finally, yes, there were some poor performances. Of course - but once again, I think you can put that down to the approach. Self-confidence is *everything* in football. Don't invite uncertainty in a game where the thing you need the most is belief and conviction. Please.
And no, I'm not Pep out. I'm just Pep needs to have a long hard look in the mirror. Of course these thoughts are all my opinion. You're entitled to yours of course :)
The morning after this thread. Some more views from myself here in the cold, hard sobering morning light...
