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Showing results for tags 'to win again'.
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Work-rate. Incisiveness. Nous. I don't ask for much. This is how it's gonna be. Build from the ground up. A win in this one secures our place in the knockout stage. Note the time, as it's an early kick-off like all our European aways in the group. The last meeting in Toulouse between the teams was in the first leg of the 2007/08 Champions League qualifiers. Rafa had railed against the club's transfer market sluggishness already that summer (right after the defeat in Athens in fact), and the club responded by moving on the likes of Bellamy and Gonzalez, and also L'il Luis surprisingly. The latter did help smooth the negotiations between us and Atletico for Nando, as our No10 moved in the opposite direction in a separate deal. A tweak in our attacking approach would follow, with Nando being joined by Babel and Yossi. And our new No10 with his penchant for ponytails and shit clobber. Andriy Voronin had joined on a free and in the early weeks of the season was getting a few goals too. Like the 30-yard piledriver that won us the first leg on a scorching hot August afternoon in the south of France. His impact waned significantly after the first few months, but you can't tell me that you didn't think we might have nabbed a bit of a bargain after seeing that debut goal. Toulouse were defensively very suspect at Anfield in the last game, but going forward they looked to counter with pace and numbers. While it was refreshing and played into our hands, the fact that they need points to get out of the group suggests they might give it the beans in this one. They have nothing Toulouse and everything to gain here (sorry!). We have to be wary of that, and crucially (unlikely at Luton) be ready for it. Jurgen will likely go with his usual cup-team cast for this game, and keep our bigger names on the bench. Hopefully Curtis' knock is minor and he is available for this one. I'd be inclined to use Mac as one of the 8s, with Endo as the 6. We need to see what Mac can do for us there, and as he is suspended for Brentford next weekend, we might as well use him prior to the upcoming international break. Concentration, motivation, attitude and application from first minute to last please. 3 points and safe passage to the next round. Get it done!