Tomo

Why is this thread so quiet? If RLC ever plays half as good as Ross did yesterday his thread would explode.

He isn't an attacking mid, he plays deep, the few times i have seen Brentford he never entered the final 3rd outside set pieces.

That's a mild way of putting it. https://www.skybluestalk.co.uk/threads/player-ratings.91841/ I haven't seen such a sheer amount of negative reviews on any of our loanees since PVA and Bruma went to Leicester.

Chalobah while a top guy is a bang average player, even more so than Drinkwater, he couldn't get a look in at Napoli or even Burnley, if he was owned by another club and we signed him people on here would call him the new Papy. As for Ruben, Drinkwater is totally irrelevant to any discussion with him, they were fighting for different positions under Conte and the same is true under Sarri.

Which talent did we give up to allow him to play 5 games?

The fact he's been loaned out despite striker problems and a decent goalscoring record says everything to how crap an all round footballer he is. I don't know what the answer is but it definitely ain't Batshauyi.

I think there's a higher chance of that if Derby don't go up, if they do Frank will almost certainly want Mason for his shot at the PL and unless he's given borderline contractul guarantee's of game time from Sarri he will almost certainly go back. In an ideal world they just miss out this season, Mason returns here to challenge the big three in midfield while we send Ampadu and maybe even CHO to Derby, they piss the league spend a season there in the PL then return at 20 ready for regular football at Chelsea. Thinking well ahead but yeah

It's surely going to be Kovacic.

Never did i think a day would come where we go to Anfield and have more Scousers in our side than Liverpool do.

Just looked he (Noble) is only 31 I could swear he's been around since the early 00's.

For all of David's faults one thing you can't question is his mental strength, although you could argue with him it works against him aswell, he could make the biggest mistake in the history of football and carry on like it didn't happen. It's a shame he didn't get Sarri or even Conte as a manager during his first spell here, imo part of the reason he didn't furfill his unreal potential (and when i say potential im talking changing perspective on the way people view a CB potential) as his managers either didn't really know much about defending (AVB and RDM) or couldn't be bothered to developed him (Jose and Carlo, both reverted to the "safe" options after a bad couple of games). Imagine Sarri getting his hands on the 23 year old David Luiz that arrived from Benfica? My word that could have been quite something.

Im a massive fan of AC but that Barca goal clearly affected him, he was second guessing himself all the time and our defense went from being much more solid with him in it to even more shaky with him in it, i hope and think he will mentally recover but it affected him badly no question.

The only thing that worries me is the preparation time. From a pure footballing perspective this is our most suitable away game of the season now we are part of the attacking football crew, a large pitch against a vastly inferior side who can't defend is a dream, look at Liverpool and City's results in that stadium for evidence.

Last year he stood up well at the back end of the last season when AC lost the plot and helped us to a solid end to the season (too late for top 4 but still) and helped us win the FA Cup. Im far from a Cahill fan boy, infact if i had it my way he would have never been more than a squad player, but he did well last year after winning his place back.

Sorry to piss on the fireworks but i swear he scored in THAT 5-3 at White Hart Lane. Still an excellent record nevertheless.

He earcupped the Kop after scoring at Anfield a couple of season's back.

That's where manager skill comes in. That's what Fergie mastered, for example according to Ferdinand he would have regularly made an example of Giggs but praise Scholes to the heavens even if he had a Bakayoko vs Watford esque game, it's all about dealing with the characters in your care. Not just in sport either, for example my job is helping young adults with needs, some can take a bollocking while others would go as far as crying if i do as little as hand out a bit of a bit of banter their way, it's my responsibility to be aware of who falls into what category just like it is with managers.

This is the extent of his tactics, his speech at the very start you'd expect in the pub between fans.

Bats seems to have this incredible manipulation talent, the more he doesn't play (for Chelsea) the better he seems to get.

I know you are jesting a bit but heavy rotation should never be used in a PL game with the possible exception of a game thats the meat in a CL knockout tie sandwich. Even at home to Cardiff it would be a massive massive gamble, remember that home game vs QPR (the whipping boys of that season) when Rafa benched all the top players?

Just thought i'd note than in his post match interview vs Arsenal Warnock said he was going to have a go at teams this season, his logic being if he sat back against Arsenal he would have lost 3-0 anyway so why not have a go? He may make an exception for us, but thought i'd put it out there.

I don't follow?

The end of the season will be time to judge. If he gets 10-15 games this season then it's excellent.

He would cost a lot, but like with the Courtois/Kepa situation any Alonso sale would subsidize the fee if not cover it. He has been dropped for Schurrle and played at LB in the cup at Fulham this season, it wouldn't surprise me if he's back there full time before long.

Pedro is a system player, give him the right tactics and environment he will shine.