OhForAGreavsie

Have to admit I'm far more often frustrated by Mas than I am happy with his contributions but, as I implied earlier, I also often feel we're a better side when he plays than when he doesn't. I see this as being despite not being accurate enough in what he does, often enough he does other things to compensate and to balance the team. Things we miss when he does not play. What I want is a player offering balance and greater accuracy and such a player would relegate Mason to the bench. My takeaway is that Mas should get starts but only because our forward players as a group are not good enough. No problem at all on the different emphasis we put on Mason's attributes. Everybody gets it wrong sometimes, or at least I do anyway. For example, I did not spot Salah's quality when he was here.

Well, yes, this is a different question to whether Mas is the long term answer for us. I think he is an enigma in our current squad. When he plays we see that we need more from the player in that role but, when he doesn't play we see that even so he can offer more than some of the alternatives. My view is that we try to find the player who can provide a long term answer.

Getting on for ten-and-a-half years ago, when I told people Romelu would be stuck with his limitations for the rest of his career they replied with comments like this. Many absolutely would not accept my analysis that players not only do not improve their basic level, they cannot improve it. Even last summer people were telling me Rom had done extra homework with Conte and he was all new and shiny. I had not watched Rom play even one minute for Inter but I knew those people were not right, that they could not be right. Perhaps you will disagree with me now but Mas will not make the improvements you hope for. I agree with you. This is the correct approach but it must be accompanied by correct judgement. In order to get the judgements right we have to understand that players cannot improve their talent level. They can only learn to make better use of the talent they have. When I watched KDB while back at Genk on loan after signing for us, I posted (on CFCNet) to say that I loved, loved, loved the way he played football. When he eventually joined our squad, barring a simple but beautiful assist on his debut, he struggled to find his level but it was there to be found. Time should have been given. Mas on the other hand is already playing at his level. The 'more' we might hope for from him is not there. A squad player is all Mas can be for us but, given the start he has made to his career, I don't believe that will be something he can accept. Kai however is not yet playing to his maximum potential so it is at least possible that his output can increase.

I'm afraid my opinion has hardened that we need someone better than Mas in the role he plays. What you've described is exactly what I think the problem is with him. He nearly got it right. As usual. In the phrase I coined, about a year or so ago I think, "Mason nearly always, nearly gets it right." We need a player who can actually get it right more often.

Two takeaways from today: - We were out sung again. No news there though I'm sorry to say. We must, must, must stick with TT and back him to the max. He's good enough, his squad isn't. Let's fix the one which needs fixing.

Interesting but I'd like to be sure I understand please. Do you mean it's impossible to buy a better LWB than Chilwell because you're saying there just isn't a better one out there, or do you mean it's impossible because you believe replacing Chilly is a bad squad building move? My own opinion is that we should be looking to recruit a player who, at the least, will compete to be the starter, not arrive to be the backup.

The 18s take on Blackpool tonight in the FA Youth Cup quarter finals. We haven't won this trophy for four years but, although this group isn't as strong as previous ones, most of the usual suspects in academy competitions have already been eliminated. The game is being staged at Stamford Bridge but, unfortunately, I won't be there. Before its date was set I had applied for tickets to a Chelsea Foundation event taking place at The Imperial War Museum also tonight. Tickets are still available if anyone fancies getting down there. It's a 6:00pm k.o. however which could make it a bit awkward.

That's brutal.

Love Bellingham but I have the feeling that he just isn't interested in us. Even if I'm wrong about this the competition will be fierce when he decides it's time to leave BVB. Think it's a very long shot we get him.

Or he was previously being overrated. Sadly, I think that is the case. That performance Vs Liverpool was decent but the most memorable moment was a fluke and the display against England, which drew rave reviews, was an exercise in absolute ordinariness. Seldom have I seen so unspectacular a showing so lavishly praised.

Although I was initially impressed with his power I soon decided that there wasn't enough technique in his game for me to want him here. That was back when he was being linked with us a handful of seasons ago. I haven't watched him since but, based on that impression, I wouldn't be surprised if all of these links now are nothing more than an active agent doing what agents do.

Yes, they were granted special permission to wear the badge against Wolves on 29/12/2019 but they did not wear it in the actual game against Chelsea. Only for the trophy lift afterward. I really didn't care before reading this but I do now. If we are not allowed to wear it this will be far from the first time it has been one rule for Chelsea and another rule for everybody else.

Good information. Thanks. The Wiki article I read said that UEFA gets eight qualifiers but didn't break down how those places are allocated.

Presumably the denial is based on Premier League rules. As long as the rules have been applied consistently, i.e.. that Liverpool and Man Utd were also denied permission, then I don't care. Let's wear it when it's allowed and not fuss about it when it's not. On another issue. Is it next season that the format of this tournament changes and, when it changes, will the current holders automatically qualify? Edit: According to a Wikipedia article the reigning champions will not qualify.

ET

Be fair that was just a slip by Callum.

Never a foul but it seems refs, particularly outside the UK, do tend to buy those.

Worst thing likely to happen now is that they realise they have been paying us far too much respect so far.

Sadly, that's the story of his career up to now.

54 minutes later, finally a bit of quality. From the player most guilty of failing to deliver that quality up to now. Well done Callum. One bit of good output every 54 minutes won't even get you a gig in the 23s however.

Embarrassing was the word I used at the end of the game. The quality difference should have been stark and clear but it wasn't.

That may be but he wasn't today. Today his poor showing was against a League One side.

The players are what they are. The problem is the decision-making of the people who sign them. For a while now The Bridge has been turning against Rom. That process is moving all too quickly towards its conclusion. His name was not chanted once today and the groans were very, very clear every time something went wrong for him. No booing yet but I think it's coming soon. Not least because of the way he moans at his teammates when he doesn't think they've played the ball he wanted. Add a ponderous, lumbering display today and a move which, up to now, would have to be labelled "unsuccessful so far", may soon have to be accepted as disastrous.

Really interesting post. I am the generic person you referred to who watches youtube highlights and forms opinions from them. Once I would start with the highlights then, if I liked what I saw, move on to all touches packages. If I was still on board after that I would watch full games if they were available on any platform I had access to. Sooner or later I'd catch up with any player I found interesting. That stopped in 2017 however when I bought a CFCW season ticket and started following them all over the country. 'Going away' is something I never did with CFCM and it turns out that it takes up all of the time I used to spend watching other football. From highlights I confess I do really like Sosa but I'm aware of the danger. A danger well illustrated in a highlights video of Reece James I watched recently. People might remember that I championed Reece as a future first teamer since his youth team days so I hope no one will take it lightly when I say that my reaction to those highlights was, "Reece isn't that good." He looks an absolute world beater in that package but we all know this is at least a little bit over the top. Even if I didn't know it before, watching that video of Lauren's brother would make me very aware that Sosa isn't going to be as good as he looks in his videos either. Here's the thing however. To my eyes at any rate, Sosa looks even better in his videos than RJ does in the over the top one. Both are capable of producing sumptuous deliveries into the box and of being a factor going forward. Sosa's pace is good and that gives him more confidence to try one on ones. Where Reece is more likely to check back, find a pass and look for another way to progress, Sosa accepts the challenge to break through. Among the the questions to answer if researching the player further would be do those adventures go wrong? Does he loose possession and put his side in trouble? Is he as useful defensively as he looks going forward. In raising reasons to be cautious, your observations about Sosa are really good ones, especially the age:caps ratio. They bring me back down to Earth about him but he is definitely someone I would want the club to run the rule over.

I'm not necessarily arguing against your overall opinions in the post I extracted this sentence from but, I don't think that this one narrow point is true. In fact I'm certain that it isn't. Granted, a youtube video will present a player at his best, so there is an ever present danger of overrating him but if that player has no special talent there can be no demonstration of special talent to put in the vids in the first place. Two topical Chelsea examples and a high profile non-Chelsea one that people might want to argue with me about. I dismissed Kennedy as a Chelsea level prospect after just a couple of minutes viewing a highlight reel. Even though it showed him succeeding at things you have to look at the input, not the outcome. Just because something good happened does not mean the player who did it must be special. Although I obviously wish him well, Mason Burstow's very limited highlights video makes him look like he has a great deal of work to do to graduate to the Premier League. Viewing it would not have made me want to take a closer look at him. I'm stunned that Real took Camavinga. As I commented somewhere here, watching his videos I saw a player desperately trying to make it seem like he meant to do whatever fortuitous, but uncontrolled, thing just happened. Naturally, the fact that Real did take him causes me to consider whether I was right but that was my conviction and I stand by it. Even if time proves me wrong in this case I think it still disproves the claim that highlight videos make everybody look good. I say this simply because the video did not make Camavinga look good to me. Nor was I alone because at least one person liked the comment after I posted it.