rantdeville

Don't blame him for feeling and thinking it, but I do fault him for voicing it in the public forum. Does nothing to galvanize an already fractured setup.

His mind knows where he wants to go, but that explosive step that carried him past tackles is completely gone...for whatever reason.

A little excessive, no? Gundogan would hardly be an idiot move.

Genuinely curious, what constitutes a "dribble"...I feel most of the time (when he receives it anywhere but inside the opponents area) he just runs as fast as he can to the corner flag and then holds the ball until one of the little guys come and then he lays it off. I really don't remember the last time he got the ball and actually beat a defender to put himself through.

I can see the yaya comparison. Except the one thing yaya has that makes him a cut above the rest is his ball-striking. He's a good finisher and when he finds space, he can certainly crack them. Still young. If he ends up making that change in his game I certainly would not complain if we found our own Yaya in the team.

I agree. For the life of me though, I just can't help but think of how much better he could be if he added the tenacity he shows on the ground to his aerial challenges. Maybe just spoiled having Drogba in the side for so long, but for a player of his stature I feel like he should be much more competent in the air.

Very fair assessment. Got in well a few times but it's hard to overlook that tackle on Ozil (likely would have been a penalty if not for the goal immediately after) and then Bellerin...for the third goal he beat Ake like he stole something. Hopefully he steps up and improves because he's a good player.

Haha sorry, bud. I should have included a smiley face to show the sarcasm initially lmao

'If you don’t have a minimum of five tall players good in the air, you are dead on set-pieces. When I play Azpilicueta and Baba, I have only three.’ -Jose This is the most deluded, appalling, ignorant thing I've ever seen. First off, that math isn't even right. Playing Azpi and Baba vs Azpi and Iva is a difference of ONE player, Jose. Genuinely concerning for me. Secondly, if it were THAT big of a deal to have 5 big players in the defensive area then put damn Mikel in next to Matic for a few games till we get our shit sorted. I suppose with Costa, that gives us 5 big guys. Plus the added benefit of not welcoming every cross in from our right side with Azpi there. Lastly, it's not frickin working, Jose. Stop doing it. Stop making excuses. Swallow your pride. So you gave him the vice-captaincy before the season, who cares? Bench the damn vice-captain. Putting on the shirt, making 150k a week...it's an insult to everyone. Sit his ass.

Let's buy him.

That was a dirty, dirty turn.

We're staying up.

...maybe not like a super serious injury. Maybe like an ingrown toenail or like a paper cut on his toe. That conveniently resurfaces the night before every game [emoji15] at least for a couple weeks.

I'm just so...baffled all around.

It really is criminal. The boy has done nothing but what was asked from him when we needed it most and he can't even steal a minute on the pitch. Is he the answer long term? Likely not. But he finds the back of the net and that's more than what we're getting right now.