Results could have been worse Iribar,but would have loved Villarreal to have held on to their lead...3 points would have left them on 40 and may have deflated Zaragoza tomorrow.

We are the fittest team on the globe!!..fact..just goes to show if a side is managed properly and sustain peak fitness,a small squad can overcome.

 

Do you expect anybody to rest after having played that tough game on Thursday, and with Real Madrid going to San Mames just 3 days after this game? It would seem as though this is the most winnable game, but at the same time, perhaps that means you play the full strength team here and just resign to defeat against Madrid.

 

Bielsa almost never rests players (and when he does they end up coming on in 2nd half). Pretty sure it'll be the usual players for both games.

 

We never lie down before RM.

One game we always want to win although I expect sense to prevail.

We have blown 13 points this year after conceding after minute 90.

As I keep saying,these were not "if only" points..we had the result secured only to blow it late on...again and again..we even let on against Mirandes in the Copa in minute 92 for good measure.

Tomorrow will be full strength I would imagine and take it from there.

We have to rest players before our biggest game in 40 years...I still like us to beat Getaffe and Levante.

We have history against Levante in the last game of the season...big brown envelope again!!..lol!

 

6. Ander HERRERA Agüera 4
-. JAVIer MARTÍNEZ Aginaga 4
-. Jon AURTENETXE Borde 4
8. Igor GABILONDO del Campo 3

I think that Gabilondo should be in 9th possition

 

1-0 down, Edu Oriol.

 

HT: 1-0 down.

We're playing with: Iraizoz; Iraola, San Jose, Ekiza, Iñigo Perez; Iturraspe, Herrera, De Marcos; Ibai, Toquero, Gabilondo.

 

Bad effort from Ekiza on the goal. And de Marcos had a great chance stopped on the line by Alvarez by accident! Think we are a little better than Zaragoza, but this is not the most inspired Athletic team I have seen.

By the way, we are playing without Javimar, Amorebieta, Aurtenetxe, Muniain, Susaeta and Llorente.

 

Not quite sure what to make of that.

We are pretty comfortable but have missed two complete sitters and let an average player waltz through our defence and score.

This game is very important and affords some of the lesser players a chance to shine...that message hasn't got through yet.

I still belive we can win this but need changes at HT..FL,JM into midfield (they will sit now and counter) and Susaeta onto the right flank.

Fascinating to see how this goes.

Onwards and upwards.

 

Down 2-0, this is likely over barring a minor miracle. I hate to say this but unless we win the rest of our Liga games, CL is gone.

And that worries me in terms of incentives for our Big 3 to stay (Llorente, Muniain, De Marcos).

 

Thats about it in a nutshell although I believe we can rescue a point from this.

We should be in front after those 2 glaring misses.

Btw...our best player is Javi Martinez by quite some margin.

 

2-0 mistake by Gorka from a long range free kick.

Not sure it was a free kicktbh,yet another dive from Postiga.

His antics are disappointing,to put it mildly.

 

Come on, be fair. We were diving and timewasting all over the place against Sporting in the last 5 minutes + injury time. That's the pot calling the kettle black.

It was just a poor performance by our subs. I know they haven't had much time to play as of late, but you know what, good players make the most of the limited time they get.

As I stated in the other thread, this game is a glaring indicator of how bad our depth is after the starters--which means if our Big 4 is gone (Llorente, Javimar, Muniain, De Marcos) at the end of the season, we better go ALL IN for the Europa League final and the Copa Del Rey.

Hell, not to sound like a Debbie Downer, but this might be our last shot at hardware for a long time if we can't keep our starters for next year. Those guys are irreplaceable given the cantera policy.

 

I don't believe there will be a point for us after the match.

And... timewasting is not that sympathetic as Zaragoza should know..

 

Postiga has spent his lengthy career doing this...from the first whistle to the last.

If by your "pot" and "kettle" simile you are insinuating that our players behave like him,and therefore excuse his theatricals,then I strongly disagree.

We got what we deserved today and frankly should not be losing to teams like Real Z.They are the second lowest scorers in the division and average less than a goal a game.

In fact our record against the bottom seven teams is pretty poor.A look at the league shows how valuable 3 points were today.

My point about Postiga is merely an observation on one facet of the game.

Thought their fans were great today.Really got behind the team

 

No, it's an expression meaning that one person is accusing another one of something that he himself is guilty of doing. In other words, an Athletic fan (you) were accusing Postiga of diving (which he was in truth), but not mentioning that Athletic was guilty of the same thing late in the Sporting game.

But yeah, I agree with you that we shouldn't lose to a team struggling so badly this year in RZ. Again, though, I think it shows the lack of quality in our bench right now as a whole.

I love Toquero's enthusiasm and will, but he's best as a sub off the bench, not a starter. But we're forced to start him when Llorente is out because we have no one else.

Same with San Jose. He was downright awful, and Ekiza has regressed, too. The fact that we don't have at least one or two consistently dependable centerbacks outside of Amorebieta means Javimar HAS to play CB. Can you imagine how much more dangerous Javimar would be if he could play further up the pitch at holding MF? You can move Iturraspe to the bench and our bench instantly becomes better.

Even attacking midfield is thin once you get past the starters. The foursome of Susaeta, De Marcos, Herrera, Muniain is one I wouldn't trade for ANY other Basque, including Arteta or Xabi Alonso right now. They are that good together. But again, what happens when one has to sit out because of cards or because of injury? Who is dangerous enough to score and carry the team? Aside from Ibai Gomez, that's it. Maybe Inigo Perez, but he's only been solid and not spectacular.

Can't complain too much about Gorka but he is a step slower in recent years, but that's just a function of age. Don't really know what Raul brings to the table in his stead, but the fact that he doesn't play either makes you worry as well.

Bielsa has milked everything he can out of this team. Now it's up to Urrutia & Co. to lock up our Big 4 and add some reinforcements so that this team will have enough depth to withstand anything, from injuries to cards to the demands of having to play European and domestic football simultaneously.

If not, then enjoy this month, boys. Because we won't see anything like it until the new wave from Lezama comes a decade from now AND (AND!) we have a top-flight coach like Bielsa on the bench to guide them.

 

Anyhow..the best team won today and given our "6 pointer" against Levante,plus the results this jornada,we have blown an unbelievable opportunity against a pretty poor team.

Credit to them though and their supporters..we were in the s*it end of the division recently enough and know the stresses

Nothing else to say...except c'mon Betis!!

F*****g ridiculous.

 

Yeah,I completely agree and been articulating much the same over the last few months.