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But really... Do you give everything to qualify for the next stage of champions league or accept a relegation tepidly? If I were a Marseille fan I would be proud for an all out effort for the win
If you saw the last goal, the counter attack lead to a 3 on 1
If they knew that a draw would at least secure them EL, they would have had 1 or 2 more defenders staying back while the rest attacked.
There are even some players who were walking instead of running to defend. There is talk about the referee out running a Marseille player during the last counter
The players stopped seriously running on attacks for the last like 20 minutes. They looked gassed as well. Also likely saving energy knowing that a draw was enough, and we have Liverpool at the weekend.
There were multiple times in the last 20 minutes or so where a genuine counter attack could have been on, but basically no one was running up in support.
Their 2nd man back was ahead of Hojbjerg but put his head down and quit when Kane won the ball. Imo that is why their manager was screaming on the pitch.
It's not just the fans though. The club loses out on additional revenue from Europa and now enter a winter transfer window unable to dangle the lure of european football in front of prospective players - nor use it to retain players they've already got who might be considering leaving for a club in europe.
Marseille could realistically win the Europa League. They are not serious contenders for the Champions League.
If I was a Marseille fan I would be furious that the entire team risked defeat by bombing forward in search of a winner because they didn't fucking know a point could keep them in Europe.
I admire the realism here, but that's a pretty damn defeatist approach.
Plus Marseille could always get a weak group winner in the RO16. Follow this with the most favourable QF draw and they could have made it to the semis.
Strange things can happen in knockout tournaments but City and PSG have both been regulars in the CL for 11 years. Neither has lifted the trophy.
In recent years we've seen unfancied teams like Rangers, Dnipro and yes Marseille in the Europa League final. The EL and the Conference League is the pinnacle for the likes of Marseille, Porto and Sevilla these days.
If you think a lucky run to the last 4 or last 8 in the CL is preferable to actually winning the EL fair enough. I think I'd prefer the trophy.
The odds of scoring in the 1 minute left must have been very low. To then commit 9 players to an attack and essentially commit football suicide if you lose the ball when a draw would see you still in Europe is just plain stupid. It isn't defeatist to take a bronze medal instead of going home empty handed.
Frankfurt went ahead in the 72nd minute. How absolutely nobody on the coaching staff for a club like Marseille could figure out how to get a message to the players as that game was ending and they were still level is just incompetent imo.
At the start of the match they were one point behind the Europa League spot. Everyone could see that gaining a point on Sporting would see them climb into third!
Sporting lost to Arouca at the weekend and sit sixth in Primeira Liga behind Casia Pia. It was not a big surprise that they lost to Frankfurt.
You have to remember that at half time sporting was winning and Frankfurt had zero shots
I’m sure at half time Marseille knew where things stood in the group at that point
You’re assuming that they knew sporting would lose, but at that point they themselves were winning, and dominating at that
When 90 minutes were up in Marseille, the final whistle blew in Lisbon. Marseille's bench should have known for the duration of stoppage time that they were third in the table.
The four added minutes were played plus one additional minute so the whistle was going to go any second. When Spurs won possession the entire Marseille defence was AWOL as if they had nothing to preserve. That's pretty poor. I'm sure everyone in Marseille would have enjoyed Europa League success or even a run into the latter stages.
Clearly they didn't so collectively Marseille fucked up. The coaching staff and the subs should have known going into stoppage time that a point was enough for Europa League as the whistle had blown in Lisbon.
On the other hand, the income should be a factor worthy considered, because the money for teams qualified in the knockout of UECL > the winner of the Europa league, let alone the number of matches in a very hectic schedule. And it is not like easier for Marseille to win the Europa League, when Arsenal, Mu, Barcelona, Leverkusen, Roma etc looming there
Marseille sent their whole defence forward for their last attack when all added minutes had been played. They had maybe a 250/1 chance of finding a last-gasp goal against a Spurs team parking the bus and scrapping for every ball. Meanwhile their bench knew that they could claim a place in the Europa League as Sporting had lost. It was madness to risk what they had.
Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern, PSG, Napoli, Liverpool, Inter, Milan and Chelsea are among the giants competing for this season's CL.
There are some strong teams to avoid in the Europa League but Marseille would fancy themselves against the likes of Union Saint-Gilloise, Ferencvaros, Qarabag and Ludogorets.
U even contradict yourself in this comment. Fancy the likes of Saint Gilloise, Ferncvaros, Qarabag...wat? Did u just google those teams? You think sitting in 4th place earn a place in the conference league? And you called a team playing attacking football vs a parking bus, in their home 250/1 chance? Did you know shortly before Spurs scored the winning goal Kolasinac just missed a 250/1 chance not a goal, oh god, what is this 250/1 where do u got it did u just fancy that number. By your logic, a team fighting for a place in the top of the group let their fans down and the fans should expect them to play like coward in their home field to got to the knock out of an inferior league
Kolasinac had a free header in the 86th minute while Sporting were desperately trying to find a goal in Lisbon.
The likelihood of them getting such an opportunity after the regulation 90 minutes and added 4 minutes were up was very unlikely. They couldn't get near Tottenham's box at that stage never mind find a winner.
The defender who stood and watched as Hojbjerg ran past him to knock Marseille out of Europe was a disgrace. Simply running back would have been enough to stop Hojbjerg scoring.
It would not have been cowardly to have a couple of defenders on the halfway line holding onto what the team had.
Union Saint-Gilloise, Ferencvaros, Qarabag and Ludogorets are all still in the Europa League are impressive campaigns.
It wasn’t and or. Their holding midfielder was closer to the ball than Hojbjerg but he put his head down and quit, which allowed Kane to find him free. I’m fairly certain that’s why the coach was on the field screaming, not for the ref to blow time.
I guess the manager wanted them to fight for their lives so to speak... Backfired at the end but not necessarily a bad approach.
*edit: now that I think about it, shouldn't the players be invested enough to know what they need to do as a team?
What?
If i were a player in that situation, I would sure as hell be fighting to win the match and qualify for champions league, rather than put the brakes on and ‘hold’ a Europa league spot.
I think there is a difference between not settling for a draw and putting 9 players into the opponent's final third. They basically turned the tie into Russian Roulette at the end and thankfully for us they got their brains blown out.
That is what I meant. I can see how it's confusing though.
As a manager you don't want your players to feel safe, you want them to fight for glory and secure the Europe spot. Champions League or Europe regardless. Now it makes sense to motivate them but had they known draw was enough they could have focused more.
My point is the players should be invested in the team and know what is going on. No need for manager to tell them where their career is going.
You're right, that's why I said it was a manager's decision, it backfired but it was meant to motivate. Easy to judge in hindsight but I think he had best intention in mind.
Through communication from the bench? Because of the amount of injury time in the 1st half the sporting game ended like 5 minutes before. Plenty of stoppages and substitutions where Tudor could have communicated this to the players. Just something like "don't only leave one man back when attacking" would probably have sufficed.
The manager and coaches could have literally just shouted it to them? Why are we acting like the players were isolated in a vacuum chamber with no access to the outside world
Because those results affect their own position, and therefore how they should play out a game? Im genuinely stunned that people cant seem to grasp this
And they thought they would have been last with a draw as well. The only way they finished 3rd was a Frankfurt win. And at halftime, the only time the players would have know them score , sporting was winning.
Actually no. Tudor, the coach, was yelling to his players to not go that hard on the attack and to secure the defence. He said in the post match itw that the players couldn’t hear his instructions because of the noise in the stadium.
On the 2nd Spurs goal, when Kane has the ball, you can see Tudor was 2-3 meters into the pitch
>On the 2nd Spurs goal, when Kane has the ball, you can see Tudor was 2-3 meters into the pitch
lol when I saw that I thought he was going to do [something like this](https://youtu.be/XUMITh-lpc4)
I am of the opinion players need to follow coaches to the letter. Meaning, even if they knew a draw was enough, BUT, the coach said - i don't care, go all out for the win, then they need to go all out for the win.
And if that turns out to be a bad decision, the coach faces the music. Else if the player doesn't do whats asked, he faces the music, regardless of result. if the coach says, just go have fun, they better make sure to have fun.
I think we're of the same mind here.
Players need to follow the coache's direction but what I'm saying players should be self-aware and not blame the coach saying 'I didn't know'
Well, is he though? He's saying if they knew draw was enough then they would've played differently. Not a direct blame but he does imply lack of clarity impacted the way they approached the game.
We have a different interpretation of the interview. Neither is correct and neither is wrong.
Let's leave it at that mate.
Have a lovely evening/night wherever you are.
I think you'd be amazed at how much players pay attention to stuff like that. In most sports, players are so hyper focused on doing their job while at work and blowing off steam in whatever manner while not at work, that the only big picture stuff they get is what coaches tell them.
In American football, plenty of players don't know you can even tie. In football, obviously players aren't too aware of table position. In every sport, there is too much on the line to worry about someone else's job
Donovan McNabb didn’t know you could tie and he was a quarterback that led the eagles to 4 consecutive NFC championships and a Super Bowl appearance smh
The manager, the staff, the players, the fans, the media all have easy access to the table. They have been spending all day every day this week preparing for this game. It's frankly astonishing that they didn't as a squad discuss the various permutations that would see them stay in Europe.
Ofc you can take some risks, but not to the extent of defending with just 1 player. Going full attack with one more guy doesn't increase a lot your chances to go through while it increases a lot your chances to be out of every european competition as you'll end up with only one player to defend.
Why? Realistically, they're not a top team. It's likely they would get knocked out right away. What's so bad about knowing your limits and settling for a competition where they might have a chance to do well.
I think folks should watch the video when Victoria Plzen players saw their CL draw. They were ecstatic.
What some football fans see as "embarrassment" when weaker teams play stronger teams that'll likely trash them, majority of pro players see as an honour and a challenge to prove themselves. Maybe if some of them stands out they'll attract some interest from more ambitious clubs.
It shouldn't be that hard to imagine for anyone that's played the game. If I was playing professionally in a smaller league, I'd be ecstatic to earn the opportunity to play against the best players in the world. Hell, you even have teams like Maccabi Haifa beating Juventus or Sheriff the other year beating Real Madrid. Those players will never forget those matches for the rest of their lives.
Comparing those teams to Marseille is unfair. I doubt that any good team playing in a European competition cares about who they are playing against. It's another story for teams coming from smaller league who have barely played against important teams in their history so it's more reasonable they are enthusiastic to play elite teams.
And not just the players. I would think management would feel the same. Pretty sure you get a bunch more money for qualifying to the CL knockouts than you are likely to get if you finish third and move to the EL.
Financially wise, qualifying for knockouts in CL beats even reaching the EL final. The financial disparity is brutally in favour of CL. They'd have to win the EL so that it's worthwhile playing there for them.
Better than knocked out of Europe completely but fighting for the win here was always the better strategy for Marseille than to play for a draw and maybe lose anyways in the end.
Exactly. It's baffling.
Look at Rangers, they were so close to win the Europa League last season, is that better to get destroyed in the group stage of the Champions League this season? I don't understand this mentality unless you're an accountant of the club.
I mean it would explain their weird defense in the end, but no shot this is true.
This is about multible Millions, how would they not know, something that was super obvious and everybody else knew?
The quote from the coach in the article says he didn't want them all to push up forward so much. Seems he wanted to protect their Europa spot while still going for the win to a degree.
He says the bench knew but it wasn’t communicated to the players on the field. They had chances near the end so perhaps the manager purposely didn’t tell them because he thought they could get a winner and didn’t want them to drop off and settle for a draw. Makes him running onto the pitch to stop our last counter even funnier tbh.
Sporting was winning at halftime and Frankfurt had 0 shoots, it was probably the last time they heard about the other game
so they probably just assumed Sporting kept the lead or at least was drawing
Why would you ever give up a chance of winning the European Cup to compete for the Europa League? It was 1-1 so there was always a chance of progressing. They needed to win, full stop. If the players actually gave up and settled on Europa League surely there should be serious questions asked.
They needed to win sure, but keeping only one guy to defend when you still have something to lose is just moronic. No one is saying they should have been conservative and time wasting, going for it was obviously the play, but not with just one guy to defend your EL play-off spot.
Winning the European Cup? Come on man no one is that delusional.
Right but they believed conceding was inconsequential. If it was inconsequential, then at 90+4 minutes you'd take any gain in chance of scoring, regardless of how small.
>Right but they believed conceding was inconsequential.
>Well thanks captain obvious.
Try to read and follow the context of the comments you are replying to. The argument being made was that going for CL was what they should have done at all costs. Your comment about them thinking conceding was inconsequential is irrelevant to this particular discussion.
>The point was that they believed they had nothing to lose, not that they were correct in going all out attack.
Where are you getting this from? The manager said in the article that it was an inability/lack of communication that led to the players going all out attack with only 1 defender left behind.
then why did their manager physically run out on the pitch at the 94th minute calling for the game to end when Marseille lost possession from an attack? it would have made no difference if they conceded another by that logic
I can't think of any other explanation for how they opened up for the Hojbjerg goal. One player stayed to defend, 9 were up. If it's not this, that's just straight up stupid.
Even if they didn't know, it's still stupid because Guendouzi tried to play it into an area of the pitch with more Tottenham players than Marseille ones as opposed to a long ball forwards, it was just dreadful play.
Because the real explanation (imo) is that they just stopped playing because they thought the ref would end the game as soon as they lost possession, which is way worse.
They did, but the coaching staff didn't inform the players for some reason. Why would they lie about this though? This is a very very bad look for them.
he is talking about real time changes, during the game. in the 62' Marseille were tied, and at that point theyd be 4th. but then in the 72' when frankfurt scored, they moved to 3rd.
The players on the field, did not know about these live group changes. He isn't talking about before the game
This cunt and other cbs were actively trying to leave something on spurs players in every 50-50. He got both Kane and Son in their face. Dumb fucks deserve what they got.
I bet a draw on this match and these dumbasses lost it for me because they can't do basic math. Also Hojberg, can't you just miss the net on basically the last play of the match asshole?
Saw the highlights of the final goal and assumed hy what I was seeing that Marseile were already out as they didn't seem too fussed about chasing the ball down.
Tbf going in the next round of ucl is a way bigger achievement than going to El. They had it in their own hand and played at home. If you don't give everything in this kinda situation you never will. For them it was win or nothing and they ended up up nothing.
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This is why the Portuguese always carry calculators
Sporting have a lad on the bench refreshing the livescore tables
Assistant coach desperately using an abacus
Would have thought he learned a thing or 2 these last few years.
Guess he didnt Mbemba to bring one.
Lmao
For most of the game, it wasn’t. The position of every team in the group shifted multiple times over the course of the game.
Now this actually makes sense. I can’t imagine that a CL team couldn’t figure out the math to understand what they needed to qualify.
The match isnt difficult. What's difficult is that you get all minutes a new result.
But really... Do you give everything to qualify for the next stage of champions league or accept a relegation tepidly? If I were a Marseille fan I would be proud for an all out effort for the win
If you saw the last goal, the counter attack lead to a 3 on 1 If they knew that a draw would at least secure them EL, they would have had 1 or 2 more defenders staying back while the rest attacked. There are even some players who were walking instead of running to defend. There is talk about the referee out running a Marseille player during the last counter
well i mean Kane was barely jogging up after passing to hojberg. could have given him an option but seemed to not be assed too much lol
I'll have to rewatch, but I will say Tottenham *knew* they were through with a draw. The win was just a "top the group" bonus.
The players stopped seriously running on attacks for the last like 20 minutes. They looked gassed as well. Also likely saving energy knowing that a draw was enough, and we have Liverpool at the weekend. There were multiple times in the last 20 minutes or so where a genuine counter attack could have been on, but basically no one was running up in support.
Their 2nd man back was ahead of Hojbjerg but put his head down and quit when Kane won the ball. Imo that is why their manager was screaming on the pitch.
And there was always the possibility of Sporting equalizing.
Game was already over for almost 5 minutes
Get them back on for another 10 then
They saw Atletico’s match last week
It's not just the fans though. The club loses out on additional revenue from Europa and now enter a winter transfer window unable to dangle the lure of european football in front of prospective players - nor use it to retain players they've already got who might be considering leaving for a club in europe.
Players like Sanchez Payet and Suarez, probably cost the most. Even Suarez and Sanchez might leave this club, if no champions this season.
Marseille could realistically win the Europa League. They are not serious contenders for the Champions League. If I was a Marseille fan I would be furious that the entire team risked defeat by bombing forward in search of a winner because they didn't fucking know a point could keep them in Europe.
I admire the realism here, but that's a pretty damn defeatist approach. Plus Marseille could always get a weak group winner in the RO16. Follow this with the most favourable QF draw and they could have made it to the semis.
Strange things can happen in knockout tournaments but City and PSG have both been regulars in the CL for 11 years. Neither has lifted the trophy. In recent years we've seen unfancied teams like Rangers, Dnipro and yes Marseille in the Europa League final. The EL and the Conference League is the pinnacle for the likes of Marseille, Porto and Sevilla these days. If you think a lucky run to the last 4 or last 8 in the CL is preferable to actually winning the EL fair enough. I think I'd prefer the trophy.
The odds of scoring in the 1 minute left must have been very low. To then commit 9 players to an attack and essentially commit football suicide if you lose the ball when a draw would see you still in Europe is just plain stupid. It isn't defeatist to take a bronze medal instead of going home empty handed.
They didn’t know because at the start of the match, a draw wouldn’t get them through. It’s the Frankfurt v Sporting result that changed things
Frankfurt went ahead in the 72nd minute. How absolutely nobody on the coaching staff for a club like Marseille could figure out how to get a message to the players as that game was ending and they were still level is just incompetent imo.
At the start of the match they were one point behind the Europa League spot. Everyone could see that gaining a point on Sporting would see them climb into third! Sporting lost to Arouca at the weekend and sit sixth in Primeira Liga behind Casia Pia. It was not a big surprise that they lost to Frankfurt.
You have to remember that at half time sporting was winning and Frankfurt had zero shots I’m sure at half time Marseille knew where things stood in the group at that point You’re assuming that they knew sporting would lose, but at that point they themselves were winning, and dominating at that
When 90 minutes were up in Marseille, the final whistle blew in Lisbon. Marseille's bench should have known for the duration of stoppage time that they were third in the table. The four added minutes were played plus one additional minute so the whistle was going to go any second. When Spurs won possession the entire Marseille defence was AWOL as if they had nothing to preserve. That's pretty poor. I'm sure everyone in Marseille would have enjoyed Europa League success or even a run into the latter stages.
Well clearly the bench didn’t communicate that with them because Mbemba himself said the players didn’t know
Clearly they didn't so collectively Marseille fucked up. The coaching staff and the subs should have known going into stoppage time that a point was enough for Europa League as the whistle had blown in Lisbon.
On the other hand, the income should be a factor worthy considered, because the money for teams qualified in the knockout of UECL > the winner of the Europa league, let alone the number of matches in a very hectic schedule. And it is not like easier for Marseille to win the Europa League, when Arsenal, Mu, Barcelona, Leverkusen, Roma etc looming there
Marseille sent their whole defence forward for their last attack when all added minutes had been played. They had maybe a 250/1 chance of finding a last-gasp goal against a Spurs team parking the bus and scrapping for every ball. Meanwhile their bench knew that they could claim a place in the Europa League as Sporting had lost. It was madness to risk what they had. Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern, PSG, Napoli, Liverpool, Inter, Milan and Chelsea are among the giants competing for this season's CL. There are some strong teams to avoid in the Europa League but Marseille would fancy themselves against the likes of Union Saint-Gilloise, Ferencvaros, Qarabag and Ludogorets.
U even contradict yourself in this comment. Fancy the likes of Saint Gilloise, Ferncvaros, Qarabag...wat? Did u just google those teams? You think sitting in 4th place earn a place in the conference league? And you called a team playing attacking football vs a parking bus, in their home 250/1 chance? Did you know shortly before Spurs scored the winning goal Kolasinac just missed a 250/1 chance not a goal, oh god, what is this 250/1 where do u got it did u just fancy that number. By your logic, a team fighting for a place in the top of the group let their fans down and the fans should expect them to play like coward in their home field to got to the knock out of an inferior league
Kolasinac had a free header in the 86th minute while Sporting were desperately trying to find a goal in Lisbon. The likelihood of them getting such an opportunity after the regulation 90 minutes and added 4 minutes were up was very unlikely. They couldn't get near Tottenham's box at that stage never mind find a winner. The defender who stood and watched as Hojbjerg ran past him to knock Marseille out of Europe was a disgrace. Simply running back would have been enough to stop Hojbjerg scoring. It would not have been cowardly to have a couple of defenders on the halfway line holding onto what the team had. Union Saint-Gilloise, Ferencvaros, Qarabag and Ludogorets are all still in the Europa League are impressive campaigns.
Yeah you might wanna go watch Hojbjerg's goal back.
It wasn’t and or. Their holding midfielder was closer to the ball than Hojbjerg but he put his head down and quit, which allowed Kane to find him free. I’m fairly certain that’s why the coach was on the field screaming, not for the ref to blow time.
I guess the manager wanted them to fight for their lives so to speak... Backfired at the end but not necessarily a bad approach. *edit: now that I think about it, shouldn't the players be invested enough to know what they need to do as a team?
What? If i were a player in that situation, I would sure as hell be fighting to win the match and qualify for champions league, rather than put the brakes on and ‘hold’ a Europa league spot.
lots of people in the 2-1 goal thread are saying they should have settled for a draw to get europa. hindsight is really 20 20
I think there is a difference between not settling for a draw and putting 9 players into the opponent's final third. They basically turned the tie into Russian Roulette at the end and thankfully for us they got their brains blown out.
Obviously, because they lost. Ask them in the 1-1 thread.
That is what I meant. I can see how it's confusing though. As a manager you don't want your players to feel safe, you want them to fight for glory and secure the Europe spot. Champions League or Europe regardless. Now it makes sense to motivate them but had they known draw was enough they could have focused more. My point is the players should be invested in the team and know what is going on. No need for manager to tell them where their career is going.
the situation was changing depending on the result of the other game, they had to rely on the manager to know
You're right, that's why I said it was a manager's decision, it backfired but it was meant to motivate. Easy to judge in hindsight but I think he had best intention in mind.
for sure they should try to win, but dont go all out like they did yesterday
How could they have known the result of the other game? If all games ended in a draw they would have been out
Nah poor form from the players not setting up score notifications on their smart watches. Game's gone
What they really needed was vibrating anal beads to tell them the scores
Ah, a chess player
No, *that's* not a pawn mate...
Get Hans Niemann to coach them!
Should have iphone's in their pockets vibrating everytime something happens
Through communication from the bench? Because of the amount of injury time in the 1st half the sporting game ended like 5 minutes before. Plenty of stoppages and substitutions where Tudor could have communicated this to the players. Just something like "don't only leave one man back when attacking" would probably have sufficed.
seriously the idea that a professional coaching staff can't get a message across to the team during the game is a bit funny to me
The other match ended 5 minutes before this one
The manager and coaches could have literally just shouted it to them? Why are we acting like the players were isolated in a vacuum chamber with no access to the outside world
Why would the managers and coaches be focused on another game and not their own?
Because there's a dozen of them and the other result matters.
Because those results affect their own position, and therefore how they should play out a game? Im genuinely stunned that people cant seem to grasp this
Tbf they would've been last with a loss regardless of the other game
And they thought they would have been last with a draw as well. The only way they finished 3rd was a Frankfurt win. And at halftime, the only time the players would have know them score , sporting was winning.
Actually no. Tudor, the coach, was yelling to his players to not go that hard on the attack and to secure the defence. He said in the post match itw that the players couldn’t hear his instructions because of the noise in the stadium. On the 2nd Spurs goal, when Kane has the ball, you can see Tudor was 2-3 meters into the pitch
>On the 2nd Spurs goal, when Kane has the ball, you can see Tudor was 2-3 meters into the pitch lol when I saw that I thought he was going to do [something like this](https://youtu.be/XUMITh-lpc4)
I am of the opinion players need to follow coaches to the letter. Meaning, even if they knew a draw was enough, BUT, the coach said - i don't care, go all out for the win, then they need to go all out for the win. And if that turns out to be a bad decision, the coach faces the music. Else if the player doesn't do whats asked, he faces the music, regardless of result. if the coach says, just go have fun, they better make sure to have fun.
I think we're of the same mind here. Players need to follow the coache's direction but what I'm saying players should be self-aware and not blame the coach saying 'I didn't know'
They couldn't know the other games were going on at the same time
he's not blaming anybody
Well, is he though? He's saying if they knew draw was enough then they would've played differently. Not a direct blame but he does imply lack of clarity impacted the way they approached the game.
hes angry at the bench but has personally accepted responsibility for the result. doesn't blame anybody.
We have a different interpretation of the interview. Neither is correct and neither is wrong. Let's leave it at that mate. Have a lovely evening/night wherever you are.
I think you'd be amazed at how much players pay attention to stuff like that. In most sports, players are so hyper focused on doing their job while at work and blowing off steam in whatever manner while not at work, that the only big picture stuff they get is what coaches tell them. In American football, plenty of players don't know you can even tie. In football, obviously players aren't too aware of table position. In every sport, there is too much on the line to worry about someone else's job
Donovan McNabb didn’t know you could tie and he was a quarterback that led the eagles to 4 consecutive NFC championships and a Super Bowl appearance smh
The manager, the staff, the players, the fans, the media all have easy access to the table. They have been spending all day every day this week preparing for this game. It's frankly astonishing that they didn't as a squad discuss the various permutations that would see them stay in Europe.
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Ofc you can take some risks, but not to the extent of defending with just 1 player. Going full attack with one more guy doesn't increase a lot your chances to go through while it increases a lot your chances to be out of every european competition as you'll end up with only one player to defend.
Indeed, risk it for a CL spot or play it safe for a Europa spot isn't a contest.
Why? Realistically, they're not a top team. It's likely they would get knocked out right away. What's so bad about knowing your limits and settling for a competition where they might have a chance to do well.
Go ask these players and i guarantee 90% of them would take a a round 16 match against Real Madrid than a EL Semi final
I think folks should watch the video when Victoria Plzen players saw their CL draw. They were ecstatic. What some football fans see as "embarrassment" when weaker teams play stronger teams that'll likely trash them, majority of pro players see as an honour and a challenge to prove themselves. Maybe if some of them stands out they'll attract some interest from more ambitious clubs.
It shouldn't be that hard to imagine for anyone that's played the game. If I was playing professionally in a smaller league, I'd be ecstatic to earn the opportunity to play against the best players in the world. Hell, you even have teams like Maccabi Haifa beating Juventus or Sheriff the other year beating Real Madrid. Those players will never forget those matches for the rest of their lives.
Comparing those teams to Marseille is unfair. I doubt that any good team playing in a European competition cares about who they are playing against. It's another story for teams coming from smaller league who have barely played against important teams in their history so it's more reasonable they are enthusiastic to play elite teams.
And not just the players. I would think management would feel the same. Pretty sure you get a bunch more money for qualifying to the CL knockouts than you are likely to get if you finish third and move to the EL.
It’s not that binary though, some players will prefer the chance to potentially win something
On the other hand a EL trophy would probably be the high point of their careers.
Financially wise, qualifying for knockouts in CL beats even reaching the EL final. The financial disparity is brutally in favour of CL. They'd have to win the EL so that it's worthwhile playing there for them. Better than knocked out of Europe completely but fighting for the win here was always the better strategy for Marseille than to play for a draw and maybe lose anyways in the end.
Exactly. It's baffling. Look at Rangers, they were so close to win the Europa League last season, is that better to get destroyed in the group stage of the Champions League this season? I don't understand this mentality unless you're an accountant of the club.
I assume most teams in the CL would like to be better than a team from the scotissh league
Well that’s not good.
For us it is
Didn’t affect how many times they lost the ball from sloppy passes either way, couldn’t believe how many times it happened in the last 15 mins.
I mean it would explain their weird defense in the end, but no shot this is true. This is about multible Millions, how would they not know, something that was super obvious and everybody else knew?
If the coach didn't tell them the live results
Is the coach supposed to update the players about how the other games are going? Probably he thought that playing to win was the best strategy.
I mean yea, so they know if a draw is enough or if they should push for a win, in this case he didn't tell them which I think is fine
The quote from the coach in the article says he didn't want them all to push up forward so much. Seems he wanted to protect their Europa spot while still going for the win to a degree.
He says the bench knew but it wasn’t communicated to the players on the field. They had chances near the end so perhaps the manager purposely didn’t tell them because he thought they could get a winner and didn’t want them to drop off and settle for a draw. Makes him running onto the pitch to stop our last counter even funnier tbh.
> Makes him running onto the pitch to stop our last counter even funnier tbh. I thought Arsenal were the guys with stupid conspiracys.
[He's literally on the pitch yelling at the ref while we're breaking](https://i.imgur.com/Oerdl1l.jpeg)
Lmao, or yelling at his players? What's more likely? If he actually wanted to stop it hed run deep into the pitch not just half a meter.
I think it's more there were scenarios where a draw wasn't enough, and I think every team in the group was qualifying at some point during the matches
They'd have to have assumed the other match was a draw to think that. Weird
Its quite reasonable, no? Otherwise they will be out anyway
Sporting was winning at halftime and Frankfurt had 0 shoots, it was probably the last time they heard about the other game so they probably just assumed Sporting kept the lead or at least was drawing
To qualify for Europa. They should be playing to go to knockout stage.
Quick maths
Do you Mbemba? When Spurs beat Marseille in November?
Hah hah hah
This should be a chant if it isn’t already
Can't see us having many use cases for it, unless Mbemba joins the PL.
He already played for Newcastle before so you’re late
Tbf they don’t teach math in Marseille.
Shouldn't make a difference anyway, no club should be protecting for the sake of Europa League in that situation.
Why would you ever give up a chance of winning the European Cup to compete for the Europa League? It was 1-1 so there was always a chance of progressing. They needed to win, full stop. If the players actually gave up and settled on Europa League surely there should be serious questions asked.
They needed to win sure, but keeping only one guy to defend when you still have something to lose is just moronic. No one is saying they should have been conservative and time wasting, going for it was obviously the play, but not with just one guy to defend your EL play-off spot. Winning the European Cup? Come on man no one is that delusional.
Yep, all they need is two defenders between the halfway line and spurs' third rather than just one with everyone else bombing forward.
It is about the manner in which it occurred. They gave themselves a massively greater chance of conceding for a small gain in the chance of scoring.
Right but they believed conceding was inconsequential. If it was inconsequential, then at 90+4 minutes you'd take any gain in chance of scoring, regardless of how small.
>Right but they believed conceding was inconsequential. >Well thanks captain obvious. Try to read and follow the context of the comments you are replying to. The argument being made was that going for CL was what they should have done at all costs. Your comment about them thinking conceding was inconsequential is irrelevant to this particular discussion.
Which is the wrong thing to do. All out attack only works if you have nothing to lose.
Well thanks captain obvious. The point was that they believed they had nothing to lose, not that they were correct in going all out attack.
>The point was that they believed they had nothing to lose, not that they were correct in going all out attack. Where are you getting this from? The manager said in the article that it was an inability/lack of communication that led to the players going all out attack with only 1 defender left behind.
>Where are you getting this from? The literal article? The title is literally says that the players were not aware
The header they missed at the back post was so bad it was almost a criminal offence, really shocking
then why did their manager physically run out on the pitch at the 94th minute calling for the game to end when Marseille lost possession from an attack? it would have made no difference if they conceded another by that logic
Perfection.
Bullshit
I can't think of any other explanation for how they opened up for the Hojbjerg goal. One player stayed to defend, 9 were up. If it's not this, that's just straight up stupid.
Even if they didn't know, it's still stupid because Guendouzi tried to play it into an area of the pitch with more Tottenham players than Marseille ones as opposed to a long ball forwards, it was just dreadful play.
Maybe they wanted to stay in the champions league
Marseille never disappoint... NEVER 🤣
Explains a lot
Why admit that.
Players had already said it so denying it would look pretty stupid.
Because the real explanation (imo) is that they just stopped playing because they thought the ref would end the game as soon as they lost possession, which is way worse.
Is it? I think the coaching staff not informing the players is even worse, even a fireable offense if we're being harsh.
I love the fact that their idiocy not only fucked them but Frankfurt as well lol
There's absolutely no way that a teams own players don't know that.. calling bs
Why would they make it up? Even the coach took responsibility for not letting the players know.
Every fan and their grandma would check the table and know how many points are needed.. I just can't believe the players didn't know lol
They did, but the coaching staff didn't inform the players for some reason. Why would they lie about this though? This is a very very bad look for them.
he is talking about real time changes, during the game. in the 62' Marseille were tied, and at that point theyd be 4th. but then in the 72' when frankfurt scored, they moved to 3rd. The players on the field, did not know about these live group changes. He isn't talking about before the game
That makes more sense... thanks :)
This cunt and other cbs were actively trying to leave something on spurs players in every 50-50. He got both Kane and Son in their face. Dumb fucks deserve what they got.
No wonder dirty Spurs haven't won a thing in years.
Easy for you to say when none of your forwards are goal scorers your team depends on winning games
Why care about euro league
I bet a draw on this match and these dumbasses lost it for me because they can't do basic math. Also Hojberg, can't you just miss the net on basically the last play of the match asshole?
most sane gambler
lol who in their right minds still bets on sports
How dare Hojberg does what he’s getting paid to do for a living?
Most professional players are dumb af make sense
>Most professional players are dumb af make sense Just a tip: When calling other people "dumb af" try to form a coherent sentence.
And most fans think they are clever than them. People are weird.
And now you know what's like to be from Sporting.
Might have just tracked back on that last play had they known...
Saw the highlights of the final goal and assumed hy what I was seeing that Marseile were already out as they didn't seem too fussed about chasing the ball down.
Not even one of them looked at the table?
Ah i see. The ted lasso approach.
Always thought he was decent for us at the toon. Kept him around on FM as well :)
Kind of late now tbh.
All those former Gunners on the team, you’d think all they wanted was the win and nothing less.
Tbf going in the next round of ucl is a way bigger achievement than going to El. They had it in their own hand and played at home. If you don't give everything in this kinda situation you never will. For them it was win or nothing and they ended up up nothing.
tudor gonna tudor
Breaking: Marseille can’t math