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Champions League Matchday 3+1 saw us top the group with a 1-0 victory at home against Sporting Clube de Portugal. It seems bad form to complain about a victory, but the match was frustrating in parts, and the ratings reflect that:
Manager:
Thomas Tuchel 5.5
I'm not sure how I feel about TT after this match. That tiff with Aubameyang (and later talking about it in the press conference) was a bit weird - but I guess the coach has a right to impose discipline.
The bigger gripe I have with TT is his complete formation change in the second half. It killed all momentum, took Pulisic out of play when he was having a good game, took Götze out, moved an out-of-form Guerreiro into the center of the action, isolated Castro and killed all deliveries to Ramos - basically stopped our attack completely.
His substitutions didn't impress me much either. Schürrle for Dembélé was the right move, but the other two substitutions were really defensive. I don't like this approach of defending a one-goal lead - especially at home. Have we really become the "defense first, play the game out" type of team?
Starting XI:
Roman Bürki 8
His passing choices still scare me sometimes (like that comical fumble in the first half), but he was totally solid overall and saved us quite a few times.
Matthias Ginter 8
RB Ginter is the best Ginter. His crosses were so beauitful (like the goal).
Sokratis 8
❤
Mark Bartra 7
He's such a great tackler, but his passing is still abysmal.
Raphael Guerreiro 6
He's not stellar as a LB, and doesn't link up well with Dembele.
Julian Weigl 8
This match showed how dangerous he is when you give him space.
Christian Pulisic 7
Well, he definitely won the crossbar challenge. He played more like Reus this match - on the negative side this meant he made more mistakes, on the positive side this meant that he had better chemistry with Mario.
Gonzalo Castro 6
Once again, fairly invisible, but important in keeping possession/hold up play.
Mario Götze 8
This could be his best game yet. It's almost scary how much we depend on him already.
Ousmane Dembele 5.5
TT really needs to teach him to track back and defend when he needs to. He let Schelotto slip past him a couple of times when he shouldn't have.
Adrian Ramos 9
Great tracking, great passing, great work rate, great link up, great chemistry with the other players.
Substitutions:
Andre Schürrle 7
Effective supersub, as always.
Lukasz Piszczek NR
He was a good defensive sub, and did well.
Sebastian Rode NR
Once again, a reliable defensive sub.
That's it for me. What are your ratings?