[Teak_]

Sunday in De Kuip, 14:30.

Expected lineup:
Bijlow
Pedersen, Geertruida, Hancko, Hartman
Kokcu, Timber
Jahanbakhsh, Dilrosun, Paixao
Danilo

Szymanski out injured so I expect Dilrosun to get his starting spot. I also notice that on soccerway, they show the Feyenoord lineup as 4-2-3-1, so that it looks like 3 advanced midfielders supporting a lone striker. Not much different from 4-3-3, I suppose, if you consider the middle three to be two holding/box midfielders and one attacking midfielder. Whatever.

My only prediction is that Cody Gakpo will NOT score against us in this match. 🤣

 

[Wally]

Some less good news late last night. Bijlow also out as he has a fractured wrist. Wellenreuther comes in.

 

[Clocker]

Ouch, that is bad news. Wellenreuther should be decent though right? Thank goodness we have him; Marciano never inspired much confidence. Though even he is much better than AC Milan's back-up, Ciprian Tatarusanu. I don't know if any of you have ever seen him in action, but how he's ever become a professional goalkeeper is completely beyond me. Or perhaps he was decent at some point of his career, but he's like a worse version of Timmer: decent reflexes but no awareness, but Tatarusanu also fumbles a lot. Anyway, I digress. I may actually be able to watch the PSV game this afternoon...

 

[Wally]

Tatarusanu Milan derby tonight. Time to see if Milan can rebound after their surprising home loss to Sassuolo.
It's indeed a relief that Wellenreuther is around. Strange unexpected things happened too often when Marciano had to stand in for Bijlow.

 

[Wally]

Hartman also out. He's ill, so Lopez might a start at LB or we could see the Hancko or Rasmussen at LB option.

 

[Wally]

Wellenreuther
Pedersen - Geertruida - Hancko - Lopez
Wieffer
Timber - Kokcu
Dilrosun - Gimenez - Paixao​

is the starting line-up

 

[Wally]

Created too little. Scrappy play till now. Need to find our wingers sooner and would go for Alireza on the right in the second half.

 

[Clocker]

Yeah. Dilrosun has looked nifty but ineffective. Their left flank does look vulnerable. We've had some golden opportunities, especially the one by Timber. Can't win with this finishing.

 

[Clocker]

I'd basically sub off Gimenez, Dilrosun, and Paixao. All look like they're tiring.

 

[Teak_]

Feyenoord are in a good position to finish third again this season.

 

[Clocker]

Yup. Some half-hearted defending and a fair bit of poor finishing. Not that we've created that much anyway tbf.

 

[Clocker]

ALIREZA!!! 💪💪💪

 

[Teak_]

Idrissi and Alireza spare Feyenoord major embarrassment and combine for the two match-tying goals. Did you see the shot totals: Feyenoord 34 - 7 PSV, but theirs were clinical. Alireza needs to teach Timber how to shoot the ball where the goalkeeper isn't.

 

[Clocker]

Well, Jahanbakhsh managed to turn that into a draw, against all expectations after 0-2. A great header and a well-taken shot. Best substitute appearance of the season thus far, don't think anyone in the squad has made that big of an impact from the bench. Anyway, what a relief as well. We're still topping the table. A few observations.

Indeed we have a finishing problem, but I continue to see potential in Gimenez. Danilo did come very close scoring a spectacular goal with a surprise shot from just outside the box - alas, bounced the wrong way from the post. The midfield is alright, and I actually sort of think Wieffer is the most stable performer there. Köcku is suffering from the Berghuis syndrome a little bit. He's taking - and he is being given - too much responsibility on the pitch. Tries too many hopeful shots at the goal as well. It's hard to put our wingers into order...I'd probably favor Alireza over Paixao now, but continue to like Dilrosun better than Idrissi, who has been looking better than early in the season.

What else? Lopez is about as good as Hartman in my book. A safer option but isn't always that clever going ahead. Might be lack of game time too. Pedersen I think is our best option for right back, period. Fast, relentless, has an inexhaustible engine, and is a decent enough passer, plus times his runs well. Wellenreuther did alright, though I think it looked possible Bijlow might have saved one of the goal attempts. Still I wouldn't put them on Wellenreuther.

But yeah. With our difficulties in scoring goals, I can't see many easy victories in the coming spring. The possibility of a frustrating draw looms in the horizon each week...

 

[Wally]

Good thing Jahanbakhsh didn't go to Panathinaikos for 50p. On-form he's our most capable winger. Can shoot and also head a ball.

Kokcu is indeed trying too much. Do hope Timber manages to find his spot in the team after his injury. Wasn't that great yesterday. Bulluade's stint was too short for me to judge, but maybe we'll see more of him midweek in the cup.
It wasn't easy to play against PSV who played on the break, but we will have to learn to be more effective. Had enough shots in the second half which was a lot better than the first, where we seemed shocked after the PSV goal.