Match Thread Coventry City vs. Arsenal U21 Match Thread - Wednesday 12th Sep (2 Viewers)

Nick said:

They were when they had kids picking on them and leaving their foot in on tackles

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I wasn't there last night and was only listening on radio (which isn't always the most useful way to get a handle on proceedings) but they did seem to mention a lot that Arsenal were getting a lot of free kicks for practically nothing but you're suggesting that in fact Arsenal were doing a lot of stuff which they weren't pulled up on.

If that's the case it wouldn't really surprise me as a lot of the top teams seem to get favouritism this way - getting a free kick the second pressure is applied but go in for some tackles extremely hard themselves and the ref just says play on, almost like they think the only way the 'lesser team' can get the ball is by fouling and conversely why would the bigger team need to foul?

Madrid and Barca are experts at it, although it's definitely noticeable with Bayern in Germany too and the likes of Man City here.

Magwitch said:

Shipley perhaps, but Bayliss is a different type, more of an attacking midfielder in the Frank Lampard mould. I was hoping Ogogo would step into Doyle’s shoes but as yet hasn’t. Don’t know what Westbrooke offers either. Our midfield issues could be addressed within.

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I don't think Bayliss is a Lampard type player. For me Lampard was the type of attacking midfielder making the late run into the box rather than pinging the ball about as Bayliss wants to, but with a nimbleness of feet to beat a man from time to time. I think he's more of a cross between Gary Mac and Joe Cole in his playing style (I am not comparing him to the actual ability of said players, just the way he plays)

Nick said:

Ha really? Where do they come from?

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Going by some of the comments I heard last night I think a few people were let out for the evening.

I expected last night to be a goal fest - I thought their ability on the ball would run rings round our defence (even if we'd played first choice) but if we put them under pressure we would force errors from them giving us chances, especially late on with mental tiredness. Instead as the game went on they looked the stronger team. To use a Robins buzzword, this was a game I expected us to be more 'streetwise' but we were seemingly still outdone in that respect by a bunch of kids. That is exceptionally disappointing (even though the ref didn't seem to help as I've stated above)

When our team was revealed I thought Arsenal would win as we'd compromised our one advantage of experience to a certain extent (though the team still had a fair bit) but with bit part/fringe players involved they'd have the bit between their teeth and really try to make an impression and get stuck in. None of them really did that and it seemed like they weren't bothered. None of them (except possibly Camwell) could be knocking on MR's door demanding selection at the weekend.

From the radio commentary I was most disappointed in the likes of Ogogo and Andreu who should've managed that game from the middle and were shown up by a group of kids. Hiwula I'm not going to get at because I still think he's not had a game in his most effective position and Baka is another that I feels MR doesn't understand his strengths and is trying to make him something he's not.

All in all disappointing but not worth getting too bothered by.

Sky_Blue_Dreamer said:

I wasn't there last night and was only listening on radio (which isn't always the most useful way to get a handle on proceedings) but they did seem to mention a lot that Arsenal were getting a lot of free kicks for practically nothing but you're suggesting that in fact Arsenal were doing a lot of stuff which they weren't pulled up on.

If that's the case it wouldn't really surprise me as a lot of the top teams seem to get favouritism this way - getting a free kick the second pressure is applied but go in for some tackles extremely hard themselves and the ref just says play on, almost like they think the only way the 'lesser team' can get the ball is by fouling and conversely why would the bigger team need to foul?

Madrid and Barca are experts at it, although it's definitely noticeable with Bayern in Germany too and the likes of Man City here.

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It’s always easy, as a fan, to feel your team is getting treated unfairly by the ref but last night was ridiculous. The slightest contact meant a foul to Arsenal. Even to the point when they made the tackle and near the end there was a moment where one of their players tripped over the ball with no Cov player near him and got a free kick for it!

The linesman on the far side from where the home fans were sat made some awful decisions as well.


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Nick said:

Nah, it's shite.

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Players do get snapped though early on. They do get crunched and stuck in. Have you ever been to a live game out of interest?

JimmyHillsbeard said:

Yep course they did. In fact that’s just the number who were in the WesternTerrace.
And we never lost HR and there were no restricted views caused by steel girders. And the Bovril was worthy of a Michelin star. And all the local kids supported the City rather than Liverpool or Man Utd or Leeds. And the band played believe it if you like.

I understand why people don’t feel at home at the Ricoh and why many of us regret leaving HR but the mythology abt the place is astounding. Regularly 10k fans for a central league game? Behave

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Just to clarify, I meant some games had upto 10k and not what you said "Regularly " so you Behave.

Travs said:

He's correct though. I was a regular at reserve games as a teenager in the mid 90's. Most games only got a couple of thousand. When I was going up it was only the Main Stand that was open. But on odd occasions, "big" games, there was a fair crowd. Perhaps not 10000 though.

Of course when we played West Ham upin the youth cup (final or semi, I can't recall), there were loads there and the whole stadium was open, probably 15-17000 if my hazy memory is correct.

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I was talking about the late 60's early 70'.