OneMoSalah

Lets hope Kepa’s performance hasn’t made Frank rush him back for this game. Seen how many recurring injuries we had last season rushing boys back in. If he isnt 100% play Caballero because Kepa’s confidence is gone.

Perhaps but he’s instantly at a disadvantage because Zouma’s pass is so bad and whoever it is out of Che Adams/Danny Ings are instantly on him. Okay, yes, he has to get it yeah but think he’s more likely to foul the bloke with his hands than his feet there if I am honest which would of probably caused a worse meltdown because playing as 10 men v them would of been brutal given how they run the game in the second half. Its a horrendous goal in general. Why Zouma hasn't just hooked it or stuck it out for a throw is beyond me. Especially when Southamptons game plan is always those balls in the channels between the fullback and centre back, it is such a common trait in their play so just stick it out for a throw or sling it. Kepa with his feet looks as if he’s committed then thought he isn’t going to get it so tries to pull out although he probably would of got it if he doesn’t (lack of confidence and poor judgement I think). Maybe thats why he went for it with his feet and not his hands as well as hes misjudged it but horrendous by all accounts. Stop it at the source beforehand, put pressure on the ball, which we didn't. Stop it in the second chance with Zouma by putting it out/hooking it (really baffling why he didn't, its so simple nobody would of blinked if he did that and doesn't try to pass it to the GK). Then stop it at the third chance, which Kepa doesn’t. Then fourth, Christensen blocks the ball after and then Kepa fucks it again. Realistically 4 chances there. Kepa had made a few decent saves as well in the game but Lampard has killed him as a player I think, continuously playing him last season when he still struggled before he finally dropped him. Yeah Mendy is injured but Kepa, he clearly isn’t confident so why is he playing him? Conte got so much stick for continuing to play Andreas Christensen after that Barca game for the same thing, he was clearly affected. I know its elite level sport and you have to be prepared to take stick but the decision to play someone who is so unsure of his own ability is going to severely affect your team. If your not sure in your own ability and it shows, how will your teammates feel? Look at Morata here as well players wouldnt even pass to him because they didnt trust him. These things affect so many players more than it seemed to do so when Lamps, JT, etc were all players. Players are softer in the way that generations in general are softer than previous ones. And then while I believed Kepa had huge potential when he signed he has regressed in the last 14 months or however long Franks been in charge be it through to a lack of confidence or just generally not being as good as he showed he could be in the first year. Precisely. But because people thought he was a cunt and had a bad season with Jose/Guus (who didnt?) they thought he was finished, which is the usual on here sometimes I suppose. No idea why. Courtois had a top mentality as well he was so confident in his own ability all the time, even when making mistakes he knew it wasn’t good enough but he was just so confident in himself and turned it towards the end of the season and continued to play very well for Conte. £35m probably will look like a bargain when you consider he was probably one of the best GKs in the world and was only 24 or 25 when Real got him.

Its not even that. I don't think he's as hugely biased, just lacks any genuine knowledge bar the usual saying teams ran about and showed 'desire' like he must of said about Huddersfield under David Wagner 1000000 times despite the fact they played arguably the worst football that I think I have seen in the PL, honestly and I am sure like many on here, have seen a tonne of shit football in the PL from recently promoted teams bar Wolves, Swansea, Southampton arguably. Danny Murphy 100% played against JT, Vidic, Ferdinand, Sol Campbell, Desailly, Carvalho over the span of his career, who were all better for longer periods also in the PL. Suppose though his usual analysis consists of "they run about, showed passion and desire" then that's it because he knows fuck all about football. Similarly to Jermaine Jenas also although he maybe isn't half as bad but again, there's a reason these guys are sitting in a studio on the BBC and aren't coaches/managers, especially guys like Jenas going by the way he talks or does analysis for BBC thinks he was some sort of top top player who achieved a lot in football at the top level. I still piss myself thinking of that time he said Spurs should of beat us in that semi final under Pochettino when Conte was our coach and we won 4-2. Shearer and Lampard ended him there and then. While I know it doesn't necessarily apply to everyone I think Carragher and Neville (that Valencia job is laughable but again he was never ready for that although he was a coach with England IIRC) are the exceptions and Roy Keane is brilliant for me because he doesn't hold back but he has previous managerial/coaching experience even if it wasn't hugely successful. 1 because they know what their talking about and 2 because you know they played at the top level for that long and won big trophies, so they've experienced a lot of these bigger games which they tend to cover more often than not.

Danny Murphy just said that Van Dijk is the best CB hes ever seen on MOTD. Fucking hell 🤣

True but my issue with him still is in the decisive moments his decision making is usually wrong and sometimes in these massive games you get one or two big chances. Just things like shooting instead of passing. Passing instead of shooting. Playing the ball a touch too soon or a touch too late. Taking far too many touches. Not passing it quick enough.... He would be a good squad player here yes, better than RLC for me as he is capable of scoring the odd goal out of nothing as we've seen at times but if he wanted to play every week you can't blame Frank for letting him go out on loan because if he were to play here every week this decision making would affect our game and people would be crying out for us to replace him in the starting 11. Plus the guys we have now, Havertz, Ziyech, Pulisic they will be (should be anyway) the main starters behind the striker. So Mason will be the guy who plays in those minutes where others cannot.

Tbf how many times have we seen him shoot like that and balloon it 10m over the bar? Villa is his level. Or playing as a rotation player here yes. Starting material, no.

Found one. http://www.sportnews.to/sports/alt/football/Stream-1/ Not sure how it will work on iMac but going ok on my laptop, with my dodgy college wifi so fingers crossed works for you haha.

Anyone got a good stream for the VIlla game?

That own goal killed them, it was the decisive moment of the match. Then the 3rd one well there's nothing you can do for that, the first balls defended well then Winks gets the second ball from Kanes header but puts it right into that Lanzini's path but suppose been countless games where we have all seen shots like that in the 90th minute or added time and it is ballooned over the bar. Credit to West Ham as well because at 3-0 down you'd think it would be a 4, 5 or 6-0 based on how Spurs played first half. Also just sums David Moyes up, using Yarmalenko, Snodgrass when they are 3-0, 3-1 down, when you have nothing to lose from that position is ridiculous. I watched the Old Firm yesterday as well and Celtic were 2-0 down and they still kept 3 at the back, don't get coaches like that, if your chasing a game by 2 or 3 goals you might as well throw the kitchen sink at it. Top 4 and title race is going to be very very open based on the first 5 games I would reckon. I know its premature as nobody's ever won a league after 5 games but I get the impression there will be 5 or 6 teams who will be going for top 4 and then whoever from that will compete for the title (Liverpool, City). Think as well with the shorter gap between pre-season and the league starting there will be more injuries and some of the guys who came from leagues that ended earlier, will also require more time to get up to speed. Think it could very much be an up and down for another 5 or 6 weeks yet. Good for neutrals but not good if your a fan of any of these teams haha. Aston Villa have conceded the least amount of goals so far this season. Aston fucking Villa. Who were so poor defensively last season. Wtf is going on.

Thats absolutely incredible. First half Spurs played like a team who could be a shout for the title then second half after 65 minutes just started doing so many stupid things. Jose will be fuming 🤣 Bale missed a huge chance at 3-2 as well which you'd of banked on him to score. That Lanzini goal was unbelievable, even scarier Lloris got something on it but it was unsaveable as soon as it left that blokes foot.

I think at the start he improved the structure of Arsenal again but then it fell away as we all seen. They were getting like 1 shot on target and drawing 0-0 or conceding stupid goals etc. Wouldn't say that he has stripped the side of all creativity but he has made them more rigid and they are more stubborn in terms of playing his way or not at all in the build up. They aren’t creating a lot of chances I will agree with you on that but think that again, Arsenals key creative players over the years have been guys like Mesut Ozil who wont be involved now, Ramsey and Sanchez who are gone. Pepe is more of a goalscorer. Willian as we know very inconsistent and produced only his best season statistically last season so I don’t necessarily think they were blessed with huge amounts of creativity before with Emery either. They still have issues in defence but Rob Holding and David Luiz aren’t any use for a club wanting to be successful. Gabriel is good, still adapting obviously but he will improve and having watched Tierney since he was making his way at Celtic and playing for the NT, I think he is more than good enough but has probably not started this season as well as he finished last season. I don’t know if they will keep this 343 that seems to go to a 433 in possession. Arteta strikes me as a guy who will want to be like Guardiola or maybe a better comparison Louis Van Gaal, very much his way or no way, stubborn, he will be a 433 or 4231 guy more than likely eventually but probably realises he can't do it with that defence although they seem to go to that in possession. He is overhyped I do think that but think the same could also be said of a lot of the managers in these bigger clubs like Frank, Ole and Arteta in particular. I just think the ideas of what he wants his team to do and the effect he has had is clearer to see.

Jesus this is mental. Davinson Sanchez lost his marker for first and then an OG. West Ham fairly turned it round but why does Moyes need to go 3-0 down before putting decent offensive players on and taking the handbrake off? Also How has Bale missed that? 🤣

Think rubbish is a strong word. They struggled at times at the beginning but if you watch Arsenal under Emery and now the difference is night and day in terms of intensity and tempo. If that was there prior to Arteta’s appointment they would of made a better start. Also the styles so clear to see where as here I am still unsure what sort of team we are trying to be. If you want to compare the progression that we’ve made with Frank and what Arsenal have made with Arteta, theres one team who have definitely made the better progression where as we have gone backwards after a promising 3 and a bit/4 months at the start of last season. I think they will be up there as well. Its going to be incredibly tight regardless because City, Liverpool, Everton, Spurs, us and Arsenal will all be going for 4 places, be it a primary objective or a minimum requirement. I am really surprised that Everton look really really good because with Carlo last it was very similar to what Jose had with Spurs last season also. Didn't look great. I do think its just because of the instant change and improvement hes managed to get out of that group. Where as unfortunately we kind of went one step forward then 2 backwards, after a frustrating time with Sarri which you could argue lowered the fans expectations because it was seen as boring (although still think this style was always going to take time and you could see that with a decent CF and attacking players - much like we have signed now - that the goals would come) but really I would rather we had an identity which was clear to see and notice than being how we are right now. Which is I dont know what. Moments of quality from individuals has helped us but still very predictable.

Yeah I agree. I think with Hojbjerg (no idea on the spelling) who is a very decent player in midfield and Ndombele seeming to have a renaissance compared to last season, their midfield have stepped up a notch. But its closer to Liverpools than City’s for instance, they are dogged in there. Also the likes of Regulion at LB was a good move and then Bale uptop with Kane and Son means they potentially have 3 players who could get 15 league goals each as a minimum if all goes well. Mourinho looks like he has gone back to being more flexible as a coach as well, playing with a back 3 in bigger games and then a back 4 today. Plus Spurs have more intensity and play with a higher tempo than they did last season. They still have variations in their play and can go longer as they have guys willing to run in behind and stretch teams but I do think they are gonna be right up there for top 4 minimum and if Bale integrates well and contributes, dark horses, even if Kane gets injured, having Bale and Son, plus Bergjwin and Lucas Moura is pretty strong.

Fucking hell. Kane. What a goal. Said before last season finished Spurs would be a big big threat for top 4 and once Bale gets in that team too, if City and Liverpool continue to have these games where they arent winning, Spurs could be dark horses.

Spurs not fucking about. What a pass from Kane and Son does the rest. Interested to see how Bale interacts with them in that team, Kane dropping deeper and finding Son running in behind teams is already a common thing you see most games so Bale in there as well will be the same. Could be very dangerous.

I'd have to agree to a point. I think that's all well and good but developing players on an individual basis has to show results in improving the team as a whole through a good structure or tactical set up, so these players can maximise their ability and affect matches. There is clear signs we are very much a just give the ball to someone who is playing well (Pulisic last season) and let them do the rest still or give it to a fullback and let them pump it into the box. There isn't any coordination or patterns that are worked on like we would see with Conte or Sarri. Under Conte the season we won the league, overall as a team, we did have individuals improve (Moses, Luiz, Cahill, Azpilicueta, Matic, Hazard, Pedro, Cesc, Kante over the course of that season probably played some of the finest football of their careers) but not only that, as a collective we improved tenfold because we managed to find a way to utilize all these players strengths together within a set way of playing. For instance, individuals like Alonso, like Moses who weren't particularly great players but what they brought to the team in that formation helped and it dovetailed with the likes of Eden and Pedro being able to play much more narrower and getting closer to Diego Costa/the box. As well as Luiz being in a more central birth in a back 3 where he probably engages players less as he would do playing on the left or right sided centre back position in a back 4, has a bit more protection to the sides and in front of him with Kante and Matic but also, at the same time allowing him to come out and be proactive, intercepting balls into strikers feet or stepping into MF with the ball, which are strengths of his. The tactical side has got to come good somehow. I mean you can be as good as you want at improving players on an individual basis but if you cant find a way to maximise the actual teams performance you wont last long/wont be as successful.

Gomez is much better dealing against players in 1 on 1 situations in my eyes. Particularly when it comes to being dragged out wide. This sort of strength is essential now a days in teams like ours because we aren't going to concede low amount of chances a game. He isnt as strong in the air as Zouma but not many are. Positionally there is probably not much better them that's one thing that Zouma has improved upon and his use of the ball although Gomez is much more comfortable on it still. Obviously yes Van Dijk is there and he makes a difference but I think Gomez is more than good enough and a better player than Zouma. Ruben Dias will be very very good for City. I know the Portuguese league isn't particularly an amazing standard by all accounts but he was very very assured for Benfica since getting into the first team at a young age and in the European matches he participated in for them over the years that I had seen, he was pretty good. Typical modern CB, strong, not a slouch, reads the game well, can play with the ball. I would of liked to have seen us be interested in him, as City were, similarly with Aymeric Laporte, who is one of the best CBs in Europe without a shadow of a doubt and in the top bracket in the PL alongside VVD, who would of slotted in perfectly here on the lefthand side of our defence. Gabriel as well was a huge stand out for Lille and has made a seamless start to his Arsenal career. I have no doubts if he isn't better than Zouma now by the start of the next season he will be comfortably better. His make up is impressive, he has the height, pace, strength and is rarely caught out of position. Okay I don't know what happened for Man City's goal tonight as I haven't seen it so if he made a mistake, then he made a mistake but I need to watch it. Another one we were linked with alongside Everton as well as Arsenal and Napoli but nothing came off it which I am slightly surprised about. Good left footed CBs are a rarity these days, never mind young ones who are already at a very very decent standard and available for 27 million pounds. Kurt is maybe the most reliable one we have (wouldn't be hard even David Luiz would probably still manage to get a game here if Lampard didn't move him on) but that doesn't necessarily mean he is that reliable when you look at other teams and their CBs and the choice we have. I think because we are weak at defending crosses, it is essential that he plays just now because of his strength in the air and I do hope that he can progress more but he has a ceiling which he has pretty much probably closel to hitting already, although he is better than most of the other guys yes. The mistake was on him, he puts everyone in that situation. Kepa comes out and doesn't get the ball yes but again if he doesn't get the ball and takes the man out we probably go down to ten men and concede a penalty - which would then make people go off even worse than they probably did - which would probably be worse than what actually happened as we had players who got back in and well whatever the attempt was to prevent it, it was embarrassing. It won't be the last comical goal we concede either all season, without a shadow of a doubt. Not purely down to Zouma or Kepa but general organisation and structure and game management is going to affect us severely again which is depressing to think about. Saying that I would like to see Thiago Silva and Tomori tried together, think if one player is likely to learn more from Thiago Silva out of our current CBs it will be him. Christensen being this passing CB is 100% based on youth football, originating from the fact he was extremely comfortable on the ball but when has anyone ever seen him playing these sort of passes that everyone bangs on about for CBs? Here or for Mochengladbach? Most of his distribution is 10m passes sideways or forward to Jorginho/Kante. Thats not a dig either and he is clearly comfortable on the ball but I think people have this expectation that he has been playing these long 30-40m passes every match for his whole career. Even when he played under Conte when he stepped out he wasn't overly progressive with the ball as David Luiz or as some of these other CBs around Europe are.

No way he gets a game at Liverpool. Joe Gomez much better. Okay he starts at Arsenal (actually questionable because the way they play I don’t think he would suit it like Luiz, Holding, Gabriel and Tierney do but in terms of defending he is better than Luiz and Holding out of their natural CBs) but is he better than Gabriel at Arsenal who looks their best natural CB? Would he start at Spurs ahead of Alderweireld or Davinson Sanchez? Questionable again, ok less so with Sanchez as he’s regressed a bit but Mourinho is the man to then around his fortunes as we've seen with Eric Dier somehow ending up a half decent CB for Tottenham after many probably thinking he would the first to get sold/left out. And as you said Zouma is competent, which is right but I would prefer if he was reliable. Which he isn’t necessarily. None of our CBs from last season are. No point in being competent if you cant be reliable most weeks. There were plenty of better options on the market. 2 of them went to clubs who will be competing for the top 4. Gabriel went to Arsenal. Ruben Dias went to City. One left Spurs to go to Benfica (would have taken Vertonghen for 1 year or 2 also). We signed Thiago Silva on a free.

Chilwell for me today looked just as suspect defending as any of the other LBs we have do. He has got quality in the final third and athleticism but yet to be impressed by him going back the other way in the games hes played so far and today was no different. Also think this indicate a bigger problem with the teams shape and organisation which I think we have all been discussing for months and months and months.

But it was... What is Frank supposed to do. Or you proposing us benching havertz? Okay its maybe harsh to blame it all on Lampard but if he watched the same game we did, he would of seen Southampton dominate it for 60 minutes essentially and he did nothing to change it. We had warnings before half time. He didn’t change his formation or make any adjustments to counteract Southamptons grip on the game. He is the manager so he has to he given some of the flack. Okay he made some subs, I, like everyone else, wanted to see Ziyech play but also removing Werner against a team who play such a high line was a huge error. Even more so when you look at how Pulisic looked shattered. Also as you put it in your words it was a ‘fantastic performance’ which if you think so yes he deserves some flack because if being a team that is not controlling the game against Southampton at home for an hour and ending up drawing 3-3, playing like this defensively is a fantastic performance after being 2-0 up and 3-2 up... then I don’t know. Individual errors or not, theres got to be a root cause we have made far too many individual errors since he came in. Indicating something else has to be contributing also.

Good job Walcott never scored that chance at the end after coming inside and shrugging off Chilwell as if he wasnt there. Again, defensively Chilwell needs to do better at times. Good going forward as mentioned before but needs to really wisen up his side was a weak point they seemed to get a lot or joy down, not all down to him but he contributed a fair bit. We’ve just shot ourselves in the foot. Again. Second ball from from a set play and then horrendous mistakes. What was so fantastic about that? Or the complete fade from how we played first 30 mins to the rest of the game? An hour of that game we were never in control.

Shite. If there results and whole tailing off in games keep happening, Lampards out of the job by Christmas. 100%.

Chilwell man wake up. Not even looking whos around him.

Really? What does Ruben bring to this side? I dont think loaning him out was a mistake he is very much a luxury player.