They got beatan 2-1 by Kaunas of Lithuania and are out of Europe for the 2008-09 season. For some reason they played ultra defensive football against a inferior team. Discuss.
Well...ultra defensive did get them to the UEFA Cup Final last season. Fortunately for the sport, they lost there and lost again against Kaunas. I don't get the ultra-defensive mentality. There is just so much that can go wrong with defense. If you miss in the attack, at the least the ball is on the far side of the field and the opposition has to go a distance to get a goal. If you are playing with 8 or 9 defending, if you make a mistake, the opposition is likely on goal or your defensive structure has been busted wide open and there won't be much between goal and the ball. Organizing and maintaining an ultra-defensive structure in football is probably the most difficult thing to do in sports. Why would anyone try it for 90 minutes?
