ian1964 10,416 Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 27 minutes ago, buster. said: I think Aribo playing further forward is the type of player who could make a real difference is this type of match and his form seems to have picked-up, in contrast to Arfield. I'd also favour giving Aribo the European stage to shine and 'add value', opposed to an inconsistent Ojo (although the goal against Feyenoord might hold sway in managers thinking). Aribo certainly looks better the more forward he plays, more effective than when he is deeper 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buster. 4,808 Posted November 7, 2019 Author Share Posted November 7, 2019 Just now, ian1964 said: Aribo certainly looks better the more forward he plays, more effective than when he is deeper In the deeper role he often looks ponderous and is just happy to get rid of the ball sideways or backwards but he seems to come alive in the final third where he's brave on the ball, looking to make things happen. It's the latter that will make him into the type of player we currently need on the pitch and the eventual subject of very substantial incoming transfer bids. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buster. 4,808 Posted November 7, 2019 Author Share Posted November 7, 2019 (edited) Another historical stats angle to contemplate is our Home record in European group stages. It's not very good, although most of it is Champions League groups and the High Level that comes with it. My numbers are from a one off calculation (ie. inaccuracies possible) but I count a total of 38 Home ties in 14 group stages (including this season). Two of those group stages only had 2 home fixtures. Group stages CL: 10 ............................30 matches / 8 wins Brugge Zurich PSV Sturm Graz Stuttgart (x2) Porto Bursapor UEFA/EL: 4.......................8 matches / 5 wins AK Graz Maccabi Haifa Partizan Belgrade Rapid Vienna Feyenoord Combined Total Won: 13 Drawn: 13 Lost: 12 What we have to do tonight is win a second home match in this group. We've only done this once before, ironically in a group with only two games at Ibrox during the short PLG stay. SG&Co seem to be good at Europe and their record at home is relatively good with 2 wins in 4 group games. Make it 4 from 6 before Xmas and it would be special, as well as putting around 5M into the Ibrox coffers. Edited November 7, 2019 by buster. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,416 Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Nightmare when Rangers TV is not showing it and you don't have BT Sport! ?? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaffer 1,665 Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Is Barker injured? I suspect his pace up front will be useful. Ojo has the pace but is not as reliable at defending and I suspect we will have a lot of that to do this evening. Morelos and Kent need to be on fire tonight formus to have a chance. And of course our defence (including Jack and Davis) need to be rock solid. I suspect they will score at least one goal which is why our front three need to put in the biggest performance of the season. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannochsidebear 2,315 Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Barker made the bench on Sunday, so I guess he is available tonight. I cant see him getting the nod at home, but his inclusion in Porto surprised me also! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedell 5,329 Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 I don't see Aribo replacing Ojo. If anything, he'd replace Kamara and it would be Arfield who'd replace Ojo, depending on how Gerrard sees the game. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,247 Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Having Davis and Jack in MF will be immense, IMHO. The back 4 need to keep their act together and up front SG has us guessing as always. I wouldn`t be surprised to see both Kent and Ojo alongside Morelos, as they have pace and want to shoot. It would be interesting to see an attacking MF of Barker - Kent - Ojo as well, with Morelos it would be threat galore. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
26th of foot 5,836 Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Tonight is stick or twist for Stevie G. There will be a compulsion to move the team 20-30 yards up the pitch, crowd Porto, and hope we gain our just rewards. The disadvantage is the width and space available to the opposition behind our back four. I suspect it will be more of the match we saw in Portugal. We will be narrow and quite deep. If, like over there, we are competing in a tight tactical affair; we will open up a bit in the last twenty minutes. I hope for a victory, those three points are gold dust; but I think a draw is more likely. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
compo 6,141 Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 The two teams are evenly matched both having one domestic league defeat and one draw each one thing that sometimes bothers me is this need to pass the ball from defence and this is my personal opinion we have some bad passers of the ball at the back and in some game we are going to get punished sometimes your better doing it the old way , when in doubt lump it out but if we get our sleeves rolled up and get stuck in we can take the points on offer ,.. That word passers somehow doesn't look correct. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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