Blue Armour

Now that United are seemingly a good team again, maybe NOW we'll break our winless record against them 😄

Now can I call it an Arteta masterclass?

Lol to be fair, I just started watching from the last 10 mins.😛

United still need another quality CM. With DeJong they would have really threatened.

Arse all at sea. Arteta masterclass?

I've been thinking about that too. But I hope Mount doesn't just react negatively to it. He's produced the best attacking stats in the team for the past two years, but we're all waiting to see if he can take it up a level. It would be a shame if he would throw toys out of his pram at this stage and act like he's being undervalued. His performances need to speak for itself. One would hope that he looks at James situation and see how the club values performances like his. It's tough though. Especially when he wins player of the year accolades for 2 years, is a year older too. All that could be weighing on his mind.

From the outside, James seems to be the one talking to all the new players (Koulibaly, Fofana, etc.) welcoming them to squad. Maybe it's just him gelling with fellow defenders, but there seems to be some leadership qualities on show there. If not captain, at least a good team vice captain in the making.

Now that the transfer window is closed and that he has a more settled squad, hopefully he can concentrate on getting them to play better football with more spirit. Because it's been mediocre so far.

Agreed. Although we needed some luck based on the law of averages. Also, another terrible performance for the majority of a game. Hope Tuchel sorts it out.

Probably...and he should. But Tuchel always gives priority to the CL, and will likely play his 'strongest' 11 to start the tournament with a win. Meaning his favorite Mendy will start the game.

Needs to start the CL game midweek. Would also like to see if him and Havertz can combine with each other.

I'll give Fofana a pass because it's only his first game with us, but he doesnt seem to be getting tight enough to attackers to block crosses coming in from his flank. A prime example of this is for the West Ham chance that cannoned off the post in the 2nd half. The cross came in from his flank, and Koulibaly was woefully out of position to prevent the shot. I'm hoping Fofana will improve, and KK settles in, but we really need to go in for another world class CB or two next season. And hope Colwill has a good loan at Brighton.

That just makes me more pleased about the VAR decision

Surprised we never went for him. Club relying on the 'safe' option as always.

I said at the start of this thread that he needed to be dropped. Clear favouritism from Tuchel.

Cowardly subs. Still keeps 3 CBs on. Leaves RLC with a yellow card on the pitch. Tuchel keeps shoehorning his favorite players in to unnatural positions instead of playing players in positions of strength. If Abramovich were here he would be walking a tight rope.

In 3 months, it will be time for the world cup. But agreed. This is about Kovacic. It really depends on the nature of the injury though. If Kounde could put it off till end of the season, there's a chance this could wait. Anyway, its all conjecture. No one has really confirmed if he even needs surgery. Until it becomes official, I wouldn't worry. Too many other question marks in the squad already.

Basically continue to play but risk having niggling injuries from time to time., or have surgery and sort it out once and for all. I don't know what type of knee injury it is., but hope if they decide to do surgery, the recovery time is more like what Kounde had as opposed to what Chillwell had to go through In any case, I doubt he will go under the knife soon. Else Tuchel wouldn't have proclaimed him ready for tomorrow's match. No way they decided on a surgery in a matter of minutes.

I remember Chelsea seemingly being his first choice over Arsenal before he moved to England. Even posing in blue (or was it his car) when hinting at his next club. 3 years too late, but let's hope he can bring it.

Don't forget the treatment home for central midfielders, like Kante, Kovacic and RLC

And the contract length. Ostensibly not that long either.

Seems to be full of energy, and is a Drogba fan. Hope he can bring it to the pitch. We've been lacking that since Rudigers departure.

Upside to me is better movement off the ball, and more effort in pressing the opposition. If Pulisic is not on form and beating players (hard to say when he decides to turn up) then we gain little else. To me, Broja is the one who really needs a crack at starting the game. Pulisics little cameos have looked unimpressive so far. Plus, he seems like a really disgruntled player at the moment. It should have been him instead of Odoi going out on loan.

A DM with less ball playing ability than Kante is asking for trouble, But.......I Hope this guy can handle the pressure and play a quick pass if nothing else. If his job is only to sit in front of the defence as a Makalele type player , I don't see why we can't switch to a 433 and play our attacking midfield players in their right positions (looking at Gallagher/Mount).

Fair points, and whilst I do agree that Tuchel seems to be on a short fuse these days, I'd argue I've seen the same with Arteta too. He practically drove Aubameyang out of the club (despite advocating for his contract extension initially), and also put Xhaka on the spot (rightfully so in this case) when he went on a red card spree. Maybe Arteta is a calmer head behind the scenes, but I haven't seen Tuchel behind the scenes so can't compare. @blahblahblah what's your take on Arteta v Tuchel? I saw you like the Blues11's post so surely you must have an opinion. Personally for me, the jury is still out on Arteta. He's done a great job so far this season, but at the same time he was given a lot of time for his ideas to take hold, costing Arsenal even Europa conference league football along the way. By that token, Tuchel, while largely disappointing so far this season, has earned more time to bring his vision to fruition.