Blue Armour

Dang it Brighton...stop being useless in this match and at least prevent City from thumping another 4 past you. Home game too.

DP

Don't care how crap the opposition was. We NEEDED a game to pad our stats and raise our goal difference., and this was perfect. Liverpool and City constantly do this against the lower teams. Also I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembered the Carlo days. Remember that time Drogba had to leave for the AFCON and everyone feared for our attack? Ended up thumping Sunderland (or was it Villa) by 7 goals with Anelka, Lampard & Malouda combining beautifully. Shades of that match.

Malmo would like a word with you.

It keeps Arteta there and allows them to take points off opponents. Win win.

Agreed...but also have to keep in mind, Malmo offered nothing. Azpi was practically playing as a striker. Would like to see how the fullbacks play against a PL side.

After Ancelotti and the Torres transfer, I've come to the conclusion that there's really no such thing as 'board signing' or a 'manager signing". They're both in on it.

2-3 weeks according to Simon Law, but not entirely sure because the ankle is still swollen. They will have to do another scan.

Exactly. Never got the idea of 'resting' a keeper unless solely for the purpose of preventing injury ahead of a big cup game or just to give your highly rated 2nd keeper some game time. Kepa will start in the cup game midweek., no doubt.

I was actually hoping Man Utd would return to form mid-week....given their next fixture 😉

Shitty Norwich side on a run of clean sheets.., and we're without two key attackers. Hope Havertz can step up.. Besides our defenders, he's the only one likely to score.

Listening to RLCs post match comments raises more questions than answers. He also acknowledged that he has played in several positions throughtout his career.., and he said that CM is just a position that he's played in for most of his youth career. Nothing about what he prefers. Tbf, it's a problem with a lot of 'utility' players. No specialization, and therefore they are just a good squad option. Mostly there as a support option. Maybe that's what RLC is going to be? Every good squad needs a good support option. Anyway, just glad he's fit and playing again after that injury hell.

Oof.

Out of curiosity how does his injury record compare with Robben during his spell here?

Timo's confidence has been shot ever since the midway point last season (kind of like Morata). I don't think his conversion rate was ever the best, even in Bundesliga, but he was a much different player when he joined the club. Played on the wing, still worked hard and used to attack the goal with ferocity. Not the same player now. His shots are just so timid these days. Just hope Lukaku isn't a victim of that bug.

Yes...it needs to be a slow acting poison. Too fast and they will look for a cure

I agree that he isn't a target man and that's the part that's a bit confusing, the team seem to play like he's a target man. They use him to setup attacks for runners playing along side, kind of like how Giroud was used. And yes, agree that the 352 has got to go. We look much better with 2 attackers playing alongside Lukaku.

Not sure what point he's trying to make. Is he seriously trying to judge performance of a makeshift back line?

Please don't play 3 CMs in this game. Unless it's with a back 4. Want to see more fluid attacking football.

Encouraging performance yes, but what do you think of Tuchel's utilization of him? As the holding midfielder? Seems like Tuchel really saw the Ballack comparison and decided to give him a Ballack type role. A lot better than the false 9 role Conte tried to give him, but I would still like to see him further up the pitch like he played under Sarri. Remember the chance he created early on in the game, when he drove into the Brentford box? That's the stuff I would like to see more of.

Wonder whether Tuchel will expirement a little in one of the upcoming fixtures..like say drop the back 5 and maybe play Havertz-Mount-Werner behind Lukaku. Doubt it though..since our play from the back and beating the opposition press is built on our back 5 system.

Definitely not, but doesn't mean he can't improve some aspects. Like becoming more mobile, moving to the wing to draw out defenders. Attacking -the fullbacks..or just use his body better. I've seen a lot of instances where Mendy or someone lumps a long ball at him, but the defender gets to it first because of his mis-timed jump.

Rom needs to adapt. He can't always expect the ball to be played to his feet, and he should do better in the air. You look at this performance from Didier in 2010/11 season and you see what I mean.

Regardless of a static Lukaku, I hope we play more attack minded lineups in upcoming fixtures. Today's lineup may have been influenced by 3 things...a high flying Brentford, the international break & missing players so we could ignore this one. And after all it allowed us to remain top of the table. That being said, not a fan of playing 3 risk-averse CMs behind Lukaku & Werner. All the onus is on the fullbacks and Werners movement. As someone said, I would have swapped one of those 3 for a Mount (who sadly is currently below par) or Havertz for Lukaku-Werner to work. Maybe also compliment with a more attack minded fullback (looking at CHO or at least James.)

Good to see him show some courage and actually make the sub, but have a feeling that his reasoning will be that it was because of the international break and hence the excuse.