DANILA

If that's the case PSG should get an automatic win

Would be fantastic for RBL to beat UTD and send them to the Europa League. RBL put up a good performance against Bayern so definitely can see RBL pulling through

What's the deal with registration though? Can we even play these aforementioned academy players? Not sure many of them are actually registered for UCL?

I think Pulisic Giroud CHO should be the three up top for this. Ziyech has been brutal his last 2 apps and Giroud, well, doesn't need explaining. After that depending on Giroud performance put Werner back in the ST spot - Abraham should go on loan in Jan.

No chance Gilmour starts, will probably get 5-10 mins though

I don't understand the mindset a lot of y'all have with this game regarding resting players for Leeds... this single game can shape the rest of our UCL campaign whereas we still have plenty of games in the PL. I think we should go all out to win this one to secure the group and have a much better chance of getting an easier opponent in the next round.

Me too, lucky we have the weakest group. We'd struggle in a strong group.

Did Sevilla and United put 10 men behind the ball? No goals there. How many goals have we scored from a passing combination? Very little - most of our goals have come from a cross -> couple bounces/passes -> and then goal or the opponent cheaply gave it away in the final third. I get what you're saying, but we don't even try to make one-two plays anymore. Hazard leaves and 2 years later we can only attack with crossing? It's getting silly. Another 0 goal performance here and serious questions should be asked. City predictable? no, definitely not. They pass with purpose and know what they're doing around the box versus us who when we get the ball on the box, no one has a F*cking clue what to do with it! I can tell that all FL wants is for us to cross it because every time James touches the ball he will cross it no matter what - does he ever think "hm, maybe I shouldn't cross it this time and look to cut in and drop the ball back?" - no. How many times has a RB/LB or LW/RW ran deep into the area and pulled it back for someone to actually be there waiting? Maybe once when Kovacic dropped it back? I get some of your points, but we're not even trying anything else. Why did we spend so much on Havertz, Werner if this is how we're going to play? I'm honestly put off by this and since I'm in Toronto, probably won't even try to sneak the game in during work because I can almost guarantee we won't score today. Pathetic.

@Jason Look at how Inter play here... why can't we do anywhere close to the same sometimes?

Probably 0-0 lol

Just an example off the top of my head - watch highlights of Lazio vs Zenit in their most recent match. We are nowhere close to that, and before you say "Zenit is not a strong team.." we couldn't do anything against the likes of Rennes.

One-two, quick passes rather than the slow, predictable build up we have. Look at Spanish/German/Italian teams in UCL and EL. We have great talent - we shouldn't be resorting to crossing 90/100 times to score

Best ball mover on our team, by a long shot

Ive been calling out FL and somewhat the team for a majority of this season even while winning because I could see through it and realize how poor we are in attack - this game really showed it. The only games against decent clubs we've got four 0-0 results with very few chances. Seems like FL only attacking play is crossing and was absolutely ridiculous to see how many we attempted this game (also, if all we do is cross then why not start Giroud?). Do we not practice attacking through the middle at all? Can't even make a single unpredictable pass... embarressing

Same shit all season, only attack is crossing. At 42', WHY THE HELL ARE WE STILL CROSSING ON A 4 on 3??!?!

pretty bad performance tbh lol.. didn't have a single chance from 30' - 87'. I'll leave it given our players are tired. Even when we had a good chance from open play / good passing, CHO literally stopped the ball and passed backwards for a cross - can't make this stuff up

Like: CHO starting, James rest, Kovacic playing Dislike: Giroud not starting, Havertz not starting, Werner starting, Silva starting, Mount starting, Chillwell starting

Can't confirm or deny unless I go back and watch the highlights of the games, but James crosses, or crosses in general, have driven 90% of our threats stays true. Most open play goals have had lucky bounces / touches here and there as well. All of this is to say I really expect more from the talent we have on our team and think we'll get exposed against a run of good teams. Lampard has done well to fix up our defense (also really a function of just signing 3 good players at the back) but really hopes he adds some flair into our attack

Mendy James zouma christensen chilwell kova kante mount Ziyech Werner CHO

90% of our threats come from a James cross whether we score or not; more recently though it has been Ziyech cross leading to actual goals

That aspect has improved, but I can't see us being successful long term with crossball as our main attack; it's also a massive waste of talent we have. What happens if/when James can't play? We have no plan B as attack through the middle is non-existent

We haven't played any strong teams other than Liverpool (guess put in Sevilla as well although they're doing terrible in la liga) yet - unless we continue to improve our attack we'll be found out soon enough against better sides

Our whole attack is extremely predictable which doesn't help him (couple of passes then pass to James who crosses it in)

I think Abraham should be sent on loan / sold and Giroud stay remainder of the year. Don't see the hype around Abraham at all

In one of the recent games (think it was burnley but feels like a while ago), he missed a chance and started wailing his arms and stopped moving. If he had not done that he would have scored on the follow up opportunity