It was not a nice match to watch, part of the problem is that we had no ability to put any offensive pressure onto them, which meant anytime we won the ball the rest of the team had no reprieve unless it was very momentarily.
A lot of criticism was directed towards Giroud but he was our most dangerous player on the pitch and could have snuck 2 goals on any other day. Though we need him to be the target man, he was not the only player bullied off the pitch from Porto's intense pressuring.
Tomori played probably his worst game for us especially in the first half when he lost his head . Ballotoure will need a year or two to adjust with us and has showed promising signs going forward, he did not have anyone to work with him on his runs which often lead him running to good positions with no ball or support to him.
Tonali was ok but was bullied off the ball far too often and Bennacer who was everywhere did as many bad things as he did well, his diving was particularly aggravating as he was trying to get the referee to adjust to how he plays not adjust how he plays to the referee which ultimately cost us a goal for which his at fault with.
Tats was good for what he had to deal with and with Mike we might have got away with a nil all draw , considering Porto had 20 shots, he was also flattered with only 2 on target.
Kjaer was our best player and kept trying to rally us forward.
I have very worried about going into the season with our attacking half and though Leao has been immense this season my main criticisms was too often too Salaemakers and himself disappear into games after 10 good minutes, this was no different. It's all good Salaemakers to bully Venezia but he has to replicate that ability against top teams.
Krunic at times I did not notice he was playing and he seemed to very rarely pressure Porto or relieve Tonali & Bennacer. He should been supporting the other two to create some assemble of control or stability in the middle of the park.
Overall we lost and it was one of our worst performances for a long time but this is a very young and injury ravaged team playing in the group of death against very battle seasoned champions league teams.
I would have moved to a 4-4-2 in the second half with Leao upfront feeding off Giroud scraps and Krunic on the left and also required to help Tonali and Bennacer absorb the pressure.
My only goal for the group is to get a point, I don't want Europa League as it would only put more match pressure on a fragile squad riddled with injuries.
