One more bad thing about our CL defeat is that now people will be able to post any theories and we won't be able to test it.
For the next 12 Months we will read how Arthur could have saved us.
Maybe it is true, maybe it isn't.
We can't test it.
We will get the answer only in March and April of 2020' when we will play new Cl matches.
Until then, majority of our players will look like a World class in La Liga matches, in Cdr matches against Celta and Espanyol and in a Cl meaningless semi friendly group stage matches againt Roma, Psv and a champion of Estonia.
My point is: La Liga is really weak lately.
Smaller teams are horrible, Real and Atletico are weaker than before plus they lost (or they will lose) Cr7 and Griezmann.
Sevilla is way weaker than 5 years ago when they were winning in Europe.
Cdr is a Mickey Mouse trophy.
Cl group stage is also usually played with 70% of intensity.
So, unless if a player plays horribly against smaller teams, we won't know how actually good he is.
Dembele is injured all the time.
He hasn't played too much on a World cup.
He hasn't played CL knockout matches in the last two seasons.
We have no idea whether in a CL he will be a world class guy or a guy from the last 5 minutes against Liverpool where he screwed 3 actions in 5 minutes.
Arthur hasn't played on a World cup, and played 3 KO matches this season.
Against Man U, by neutral ratings, he was our worst midfielder.
My point: La liga is turning into a slow motion, lower intensity, lower pressure, lower quality league.
Busi looks good in La liga, yet in Europe he is eaten alive.
Our players are getting used to that slow tempo of La Liga, Cdr and CL group stage semi-friendly matches.
And we aren't tested at all in against high intensity sudden death matches, unlike EPL teams.
Plus, we can hope that Dembele or Arthur would have played awesome against Liverpool, but in this moment, you guys don't have any proofs for that since they never played in similar matches.
So, as said, we won't know the answer till the next March.
Then it will be either:
1) we won, these guys are a true material
2) or, oh... we lost 4:0 again even with them on a field. Let's find a new scapegoat.
There is an element of truth in what you say, but there is also exaggeration. Lots of it.
First of all, yes, La Liga games, simply do not compare with CL KO games. CL group games also do not compare with KO games, even if they are against some very big teams. But even in La Liga games, our weaknesses have been showing for at least 2 seasons. Remember when we used to destroy 75% of teams at home by half time? How many times did this happen in the last couple of seasons? Also, this newfound hyping of the EPL is now going too far. If EPL was as awesome as you are suggesting, then Liverpool and City would not be able to reach 100 points with massive goal differences to boot. Even during this season, the EPL's best, both Liverpool & Spurs only luckily made it out of the GS. Liverpool lost all 3 of their away games, and needed a nervy 1-0 win over Napoli to go through on goal difference, a goal difference made possible by a ghost Millner penaldo against PSG. Spurs needed our & PSG's help to get out their group. Had we not fielded a second string side in the last game, Spurs would be out in December.
So, what you say about us not knowing how good players will perform in the crucial games of the season, is always true, irrespective of how weak/strong a league is. CL KO games are just in a league of their own, in terms of intensity, quality and pressure.
I was just rewatching some plays from our latest debacle, and at some stages, VVD (hailed by most, perhaps rightly, as the world's best CB) looked stupid. This is exactly what makes the CL so special, it can make even the best players look rubbish at times. Just look at Jordi Alba in the Anfield game, the world's best LB was transformed into a joke.
The LL, CdR, and CL GS games can only provide us with some general idea of how things can turn out, nothing more. But to be honest, the weaknesses of Biscuits, Rakitic, Roberto, Coutinho etc, were evident in several LL games (Bilbao, Leganes, Levante, Getafe, Betis, Atleti away, Girona, Sociedad etc etc) In fact, this year our best games and scorelines came at the CL KO games, but unfortunately, only at the Camp Nou.
