OneMoSalah

Does it matter if we manage to get the results? I mean you read this or social media and it doesn’t matter who starts, theres always a bang averages player in the starting XI so I am just at the point of if we get decent performances and win games convincingly enough regardless of who starts, it will do for me And thats a prime reason why Alonso is in the team....

Was Chilwell playing well from November onwards? Because I dont think he was and dont think Alonso has really put a foot wrong despite the masses of complaining but wouldnt be Chelsea without this. Same with Mount, Jorginho and whoever else will get it this season. And dont start on the whole position thing again, hes basically playing the same position with TT just he comes into central areas a lot more. He still starts on the left just drifts inside and runs in behind teams more. And yes you were saying about playing him so he could eventually end his goal drought IIRC... Anyway, lets get a result here. Mount booking already, out of 2nd leg. 1:22 in. Some people will be happy though 😂

Good to see Southamptons season petering out. Just shows those calling for us to go for Hassenhuttl was a bit premature, still need to improve that team a great deal.

Its a bit ironic because you sat defending Werner for months when he was on his very poor spell, playing every week, where he did next to nothing for 2/3 months and wanted to keep him in the 11 despite the fact he was offering next to nothing. Cant have double standards. Anyway, I get it Alonso isnt everyones cup of tea but it says more about Chilwell than it does about Tuchel if I am honest. If he was playing so poorly it was unbelievable I would see why people are concerned but he has been alright. I get thats nothing spectacular but I suppose we will always find something to moan about.

Okay 2 assists in 7 games. And a video from against WBA? Cmon, they were probably the worst team in the league at the time considering it was over 2 months ago. But still, Grealish’s best and most common positions on the left side and thats why the comparison with Mount is annoying and stupid if you ask me. But people will still make it. Also yes I realise that he is playing as a more offensive player but his role is still not exactly as that of a winger or a striker either, hes played more like a number 10 with Tammy and Werner playing as split strikers. If anyone who has watched the games under TT so far hasn't noticed Mason has been one of the better players despite a lack of goals and assists, then they are deluding themselves, he was dropped and within the cameo he made it was inevitable he would he reinstated to the team. Its no surprise Mason playing well has all of a sudden corresponded with other attacking players starting to improve also (CHO and Werner especially), he knits things together, bringing others into the game in the final third. Not necessarily with assists but watch him tonight, he drifts to the left and the right to play with the wingbacks and other attacking players a lot. I get it, he doesnt have great stats but which young English player had over 10 goals and assists who played this position aged 22? (Picked these values as this seems to be minimum requirement as it was for Oscar when he was here who played same position). I get people will irrelevantly compare him against someone who predominantly plays as a winger because other than Maddison there aren’t any other young English player in that position whos even close to Mason and Maddison (who is superior to Mason ATM but it took him time to iron out consistency issues that he had at Aberdeen and Norwich and arguably you could say Rodgers appointment has elevated him to another level) but if we are going to compare him to Grealish we may as well compare him to Sancho, to Rashford etc as well - which would be even more stupider than comparing him to Grealish already is. For all the talk of Grealish also, he has got 6 goals and 10 assists in the PL (which is better than his previous returns) but considering 11 of those were in 2020, his output has significantly dropped off also (understandable when you get 5 goal involvements in 1 game that its always going to drop off). He’s contributed to 5 league goals this year but Mount has contributed to 3 which considered the change in management after Luton, hopefully he can produce more because thats the only thing that is frustrating about his game but at age 22, its to be expecred that he isnt the final product. I mean Grealish didn’t get double figures in the league in goals and assists in his career until the 2018/19 season (which was in the championship, playing for the best team in the division at the time). Also overall in their careers Mount has more goals than Grealish.. in 50 or 60 odd less appearances if it means anything. Although as I said the comparison is stupid to begin with. I can see why people would compare Maddison as him and Mount will undoubtedly be going for the same/a similar position, but Grealish will be competing with Rashford, Sterling, Sancho, Foden etc so he should be compared with them.

Comparing him to Grealish is different. Grealish is a wide player. His games in a central role this season he has 0 goals and 0 assists. Not his position again but gets frustrating how when everyone mentions Mason Mount, Grealish is one of the the first names used to compare him. Or Foden. These guys are used as wingers. Also as you said, they are more flair players (although would say Maddison and Grealish have both worked on their end product and being more reliable) but lets also not forget Maddison took a bit of time to look at home in the PL and is 24 now. I seen him play up at Aberdeen and could tell he would always go and play at a very high level but it took time for him to establish himself as a top player consistently in that position he plays and also Brendan Rodgers deserves huge credit in helping him develop as he has. Also was Jack Grealish a better player than Mount aged 22? Still don’t see how some people cant see Mason’s value to this team though.

True but what I like about him is he takes responsibility in the final third. He doesn’t always have the final pass but he’s wanting to make things happen and takes risks. Once he irons out his final output in terms of final pass and his shooting, people will appreciate his value much more. His general play is good though, he is pretty well rounded, he also works hard and I know people don’t see that as a huge quality but in modern day football pressing the ball when you lose it is so common and so important now. We wont see him being subbed off like CHO was for something to do with poor energy in counter pressing or whatever TT said it was.

Poor in the air is a bit off in my eyes. I would say he is quite strong in the air, the marking point I agree with though.

Best player for us again by a mile. If he could just be a bit more proficient in front of goal and take a wee bit more care with his final pass his place in the team wouldnt be in doubt. Although he does many other things that helps the team and he will probably always be under appreciated. He will go from Lampard’s son to Tuchel’s son in some peoples eyes...

Haha I know. Still saying you jinxed it 👀 Watched their second half so many chances just poor. Anyway Fulham-Sheffield on now, wait and see Fulham somehow get beat

Atletico are strong at set plays. If there’s ever a game Alonso will feature, its this one.

In the thread where we were discussing Bayern and the Bundesliga due to them signing their rivals players last week IIRC.

Aye Bayern fucked mines. Thought Hibs would but was Bayern of all teams. Not long after @Jason said the gap between them and other teams is massive, jinxed my coupon!!!!

Alexander-Arnold conceding a penalty. 2-0 Everton. Things you love to see 🤣 Ancelotti masterclass.

I agree with Werner and for his price and experience the expectations are different from the others but he has struggled. He still has it in him to turn it around and has shown considerable improvement with TT bar today. Although why he couldnt deliver some of the things weve seen such as his assist for Mount v Newcastle under Lampard I dont know because it was good play, in a position he found himself in with Frank out on the left. Chilwell has been poor since the turn of the year, offensively he hasnt been as bad as you make out for me but defensively he has shown weakness in certain games but some of us expected that signing him. I still have no doubts in a flat back 4 he is better than Alonso and Emerson considerably. I think again, he can only improve and up to late November/December people would of been happy with what they seen from him. Believe me, there were people who felt Eden could have done more, particularly when we played bigger teams. Stats are good but also, in the CL he was virtually anonymous the whole campaign and the only really good team we played was Juventus. He was poor in both legs v Shakhtar and only really performed well against Nordsjaelland. Also in the super cup, against another big team, didnt do much. Plus the club world cup final, again, felt he was poor as most were and that Rafa infamous substitution of Ivanovic for Azpi in the latter stages of that game summed it up. Oscar maybe also got the same criticism and although he was less talented, he showed also that after a season, he improved. Eden did have impressive stats overall but lets not forget that stats aren’t exactly everything and as ever, people expected more from him in key moments as he had the talent. Kai will be held in the same regards if not worse due to his price. The point being that it takes time. Writing him off is dangerous as we have seen over the years with KdB and Salah who didnt do much here in a short space of time and were eventually let go. Not saying we would be so daft to let Kai go but sometimes you have to accept there will be teething problems and he may need more time. I always think for players of this talent and age maybe we should give them a season although I have been initially disappointed with the games he did play due to basic things such as giving the ball away too much and running into people. Should really wait until end of the season before writing people off. Maybe even see what happens in the summer because I have no doubts Tuchel will want to make his own additions and its not a well hidden secret that we lack a top clinical CF who would arguably take this team up a notch.

Is this based on the fact two players we signed haven’t settled or got a consistent run in the team? And that Werner has been disappointing? Think Chilwell despite recent struggles has been a good buy, Thiago Silva on a free has been very good, a shrewd move and Mendy has been pretty solid. Worst transfer window in our history is a bit of a stretch. Not even close to the worst window in our last 10 years probably. The season Mourinho got sacked second time round was worse, Baba Rahmann, Papi Djib however you spell it, Falcao, Kenedy, Nathan, Michael Hector, Danilo Pantic etc. Then the January didnt get better, Pato and Matt Miazga. The return hasnt been great but considering Werner, Havertz, Chilwell are all under 25 and theres a huge chance that down the line we will be saying these signings were very good. I still remember folk being slightly frustrated at Hazard in his first season due to his inconsistencies at times. Look how that turned out.

Think it was more just because we wouldn't of had any more CFs on as Giroud was never going to be in on this one I felt and perhaps what you have said also.

I have to be honest, I am not surprised Werner survived the whole game, if Tammy didnt go off injured then maybe he would of made way but I get the feeling TT didnt want to put Oli on so thats why he kept Werner on. He did play very poor though.

All in all, for not playing overly amazing under TT, still unbeaten. Despite this the progress is still clear to see in the shape, in the way we play with the ball and without it. As I said in the Southampton game thread, I get the feeling he’s not hugely impressed with the striking options and the levels that Chilwell, Ziyech and Pulisic (fitness) are at yet also. I think the fact you look at the fact that other than Mount today nobody had a real desire to affect the game. That worries me, not so much from a coaching point of view because TT cannot singlehandedly control every player in the final third, but when I look at James, Alonso, CHO,, I just feel they lack a bit of care with their final ball at times. Mount is also guilty of this at times. Once we get that and a CF of real quality, I think we will be a different team completely.

This is arguably the same thing Frank was concerned about with him also though. Every time he talked about him he mentioned needing to keep working hard for his place. One thing I think we can admire about Tuchel is that he is clearly going to tell people what he thinks. He doesn’t dance around an issue, he didnt at Dortmund or at PSG and already said he isnt here to be liked as much so probably be more used to this. If it is warranted, I really dont mind it. It shows he cares more to be honest in the development of the players and the team. Its up to the players to take it in a positive way but if not it may become a problem. As with CHO, I have been concerned about him mentally since the whole contract situation but again TT has virtually played him every game hes been here.

I think its still premature to judge TT. He maybe got a few selections wrong today but this is the first time we have dropped points since his first game. We dropped points every week for about 2/3 months under Frank. So the improvements in results is already superior. I think hes probably not happy with some of the players levels, such as Chilwell, Ziyech, Pulisic - more fitness wise and striking options right now bar Timo. Should we be annoyed at dropping points v Southampton? Yes. Would we have got back into the game under Frank? Quite frankly, no and unfortunately right now that is the comparison we have to make because this group hasn’t really achieved anything to be held higher to right now. We have bigger games coming up, two legs v Atletico is arguably the toughest games for me. Said when we drew them and people sneered at the quality of them but they are everything our sort of team struggles against; physical, organised, disciplined, with quality in defending and attacking areas. I think the AVB mk 2 comment is a bit OTT also. If anything it would be more appropriate to Lampard no @Muzchap? Seeing as we looked tactically incompetent and Frank lost several of the players...

I think if that happens, I would be very surprised if we dont go on an endless cycle of sacking every manager after 12 games or so.

Think his final ball still leaves a lot to be desired. Be interesting to see what TT says.

Sacked? What drugs are you on?

No word yet but probably be performance related, didnt do a great deal in 30 mins.