OneMoSalah

Hardly as it Ruben has done anything to put tree ups under Frank. I get he was injured but even Callum after a long lay off had a foot in and did much better at the start of the year. Ruben is the same sort of player as Pogba or an Ozil, not playing style wise or stature wise but he is effectively a luxury player and only useful if you have the ball. If he doesnt affect the game in the offensive actions, what does he do? Really? When we don’t have the ball he is liable to be a weakness highlighted by other teams in terms of his languid style and lack of effort or intensity off it, be it pressing or getting back into position. It may be a bit unfair to brand him as this but even under Sarri I felt the same, he was an issue if we pressed teams because his intensity wasn't the same as the others and he would be on his heels as opposed to going on the triggers. Little things like this can affect your pressing hugely. Its all good everyone has to go together but its got to be coordinated. The links to Southampton is weird also because they are a high line, pressing sort of team....

100%. Or selling Loftus-Cheek full out. When Havertz gets up to speed in the 10 role and Mount keeps earning his spot in the team Ruben wont play. He will get less time than Ross. Why are people celebrating this? He is a huge improvement on Xhaka and the fact Arteta, who was at City when Pep wanted him, wants him would indicate that he would very much be a key signing for them. Even more seeing how they are playing with the ball, it baffles me people think selling our only controlling midfied player is a good idea also? Would rather watch Arsenal with Xhaka play, where he slows the game down than give them someone who can play one and two touch through the lines as well as dictate the tempo. Selling him to sign Declan Rice would also be typical wouldnt it? Are we trying to turn into England? We have got enough HG players, why are we chasing severely overpriced players? Rice is decent as is Chilwell but both 40m players top. In a much more realistic market these days, that would be their max fees.

Jesus christ. Barkley 🤣 Stevie Wonder would of scored that one for fuck sake or even worse, Fernando Torres would of. Great play though. Mount so much better centrally than outwide.

Tomori-Silva v WBA please. I know its only Barnsley but after Liverpool and tonights performance Tomori warrants a start for me.

Individual pressing is pointless though if your not gonna do it as a unit. Wouldnt matter if it was Taz the Tazmanian devil or roadrunner doing it if nobodies gonna do it with you your gonna get passed round 99/100 times 😂. So dont see how his pressing being on another level will be a positive if we decide to sit off teams and be passive.

Mount’s work rate there was great. Tammy s awareness there too, very good. Havertz hattricks on. Hudson-Odoi falling over and staying on the deck after giving the ball away tryna knock it over somebodies head though 🤣 doing his best to try make an impression, not working out too well

Good goal Barkley. If he could learn to play with his head up every now and then thought he might actually be a half decent footballer on a regular basis despite the standard of opponents tonight. Wait and see starts v West Brom and just puts the head down running into folk 24:7.

Bit of a daft comparison, no offence. Hazard had achieved something here and also in France, he had shown he was potentially an outstanding player who would be world class with a little push or two after he led Lille to a league title and even after 2 seasons here it was so so clear to see Mourinho would help him get to that level. Comparing Callum to him in this situation or any would be a disservice to Eden. Even then, on hard work and desire, considering Eden played in a Mourinho team for 2.5 seasons which required hard work that someone of his ability obviously didnt necessarily want to be doing to focus more on offensive actions higher up the pitch. Even then the game plan was sit deep and pass to Eden to let him do it all which obviously required a lot of hard work as he was the look to guy if Cesc or Costa didnt do anything. Conte free’d him up and so did Sarri but not because he was lazy as such, because he was undoubtedly the best player in the PL and earned much more freedom but he still had to work hard in some games particularly without the ball also. Its not the work rate and desire in games either I was meaning, its the willingness to put the work it in training and fight for his place. Frank wouldnt be saying Callum has to keep training hard if he was already doing so IMO. Plus Callum isn't good enough yet where he can afford to throw the toys out of the pram after not playing regularly 2 games into a season and request a meeting over his future due to playing time for the 2nd season running and third time in 3 seasons hes been talked about leaving. He has potential yes but if that means he thinks hes earned some sort of god given right that he should start every week he is sadly mistaken. If he wasnt an academy player there would be a lot less leniency towards this in my opinion. Just as there was a bit of dislike with the whole will he go will he stay shit Eden had sort of pulled in an interview with some Belgian journalist midway through the season betore he left. Or it annoyed me anyway. Alongside the several interviews that same dickhead journalist had done with Courtois also about maybe leaving etc. And thats two guys who were world class, who had been key in 2 title wins, won a few domestic trophies and others etc. Not somebody whos played under 50 times and luckily managed to pressure the club into giving him a huge deal.

Youd think so but you could easily question Callums work rate and his desire, which Mount has clearly shown since coming in even if his limited ability is there (and that pathetic attempt at closing down the Brighton player for their goal). Every time he’s not playing these stories come out and they are obviously coming from somewhere, either his agent or someone close to him. Why else would they report that he is considering his future here for the 3rd time in a very very short career? Hes already handed in one transfer request under Sarri, who again could have not played him at all. He must of expected when he renewed he would be given a automatic spot - it doesn’t work like that - even more so when you change your manager again so everyone starts from scratch and gets a chance to prove themselves. Its only 2 games in to the season also which sums him up as a person in my eyes, a spoilt brat who expects everything handed to him and expecting more and more without doing anything in return. Franks right, work hard in training, get picked. Look at Tammy, Tomori, Billy, Reece... Frank could have easily stuck with experience last season as most others probably would but those guys earned their shot and alongside Mason attained lots of minutes. Callums like 19 or 20 and yes hes on 120k a week but hes not done fuck all yet to be making these sort of power plays like he did for contract or the okay im considering my future as Im not playing and you strengthened the area of the pitch I play in. Do you think Mason Greenwood would do the same if United sign Sancho? Or a bit further off topic do you think Lucas Moura, Son etc at Spurs are doing something similar because they signed Bale? Or the young guys at Arsenal such as Saka and Martinelli at Arsenal because they signed Willian? No they arent.

Wish this guy would just stop and put the hard yards in. If he is good enough, works hard he will play regardless of who is in the squad. Linked with leaving now for what the third time in two or three seasons as he is said to be “considering his future”, even more ridiculous after the shit show prior getting 120k a week on a 5 year deal when Lampard came in after making maybe 20 first team appearances. Spoilt brat if you ask me. Yes we’ve signed some top players but that is how top clubs progress and how top players improve, with competition. If he wants to go let him go, I dont see him ever eclipsing Pulisic or Havertz at all. He would only get better here I think playing with the various types of attacking players we have also. Plus Bayern links? He doesnt start ahead of Muller, Coman, Gnabry or Sane in any of those attacking positions. So a waste. Also the KDB comparison? Their situations are different because De Bruyne had 100 games in Belgium, a season in Germany, played for his NT regularly before we sold him. He was further along in his development and needed regular games to push from a talented player at an established level who was also pretty experienced for his age to progress to the player he was for Wolfsburg for 18 months before he left. I dont think Callums got that level of experience or consistency yet where hes waiting to bridge that gap and go from a talented player at an established to a top top player like Kevin did in 18 months (although he is a surprising example). In fact none of our academy players are at that level where they are a season or 18 months off turning into that sort of top top level players unfortunately but they have time still and it doesn’t necessarily take 1, 2 or 3 seasons.

I think going back to Juventus may do him some good. He did well there first time round. His manager is his former teammate, he will know his faults, Buffon also said he was shy and if he changed his mentality he could be a top top player at the time. Time to see if he can.

Would say I am happy we are getting another GK but we are still going to concede big chances from set plays and transitions. As mentioned last season and in that guardian article on Kepa also, its a recurring theme of Lampards teams. Lets hope Mendy - or Kepa if this pushes him on to improve tenfold and re-establish himself (doubt it but never know) - can make a difference but wont pretend that I know who the guy is or what he is like.

The thing is regardless of yesterday the playing style isnt obvious to see, weve spent almost all of 2020 watching the ball go out wide slowly and getting pumped into the box by either Azpi, James or Alonso. When there is about 2 players in the box. Other than that or let Pulisic dribble and do something we were predictable. Even going wide and cross aimlessly and poorly, predictable. Now for yesterday, yes he went more pragmatic and I did wonder after last season if he had it in him because we were too top heavy in games but when you get the ball you’ve got to have a clear idea what your team is going to do in those moments you counter attack. We didnt. Okay the plan was kick it aimlessly for Werner to run onto or hope Havertz will do something. No real coordination or pattern of play that indicates any sort of style for me. Just relying on individual qualities not any teamwork or coached movements. It Werner didnt play 2 of the chances dont happen (his shot first half and the penalty). It was his individual quality as opposed to any outstanding play. Also Frank totally went against what he was implementing the first 6 months of last season and it has to be down to he didnt believe we were going to be good enough to beat Liverpool playing how he wants us to play on the day, even missing some players that 11 consisted of majority of players who played regularly last season, which if thats the case he shouldn’t be trying to get us to play that way. If this was Mourinho or Conte after spending 200m it would be a meltdown. Even if these players weren’t all available. Its very inexcusable. If it was due to unluckiness we lost or didnt do anything offensively, yes different story but the only positive from that game was Timo’s individual quality and Tomori’s performance which makes me wonder why he marginalised his minutes last season when we struggled defensively?

Your missing the point. Blatantly. Was Lampard only appointed 2 matches ago? No. He has had a full season to implement a structure and playing style. First half of last season it was obvious to see what we were doing and since then it hasnt been clear to see what we are trying to do. You dont buy 200mn on players a season after being appointed and try change your style, you buy the players to fit into your structure and playing style that you should have previously put in place. When has Guardiola ever changed his playing style even for personnel issues? Hasn’t done that anywhere. Even at Bayern he was taking over a top team who won a treble playing a more aggressive style of football that was different to his own but instead of adapting and taking some things from it, he kept his style and even when getting beat by Real in the CL in humiliating fashion as well as never making it to the finals with them, didnt change. Even at City year 1 they played the same way he has always done even with Zabaleta and Kolarov as full backs and while they got killed defensively at times he kept his style to implement it and improved his squad next season with players who fit his style. He’s not a manager who adapts his philosophy if he has missing players or not the right players, City without Aguero or Sterling or Rodri or De Bruyne etc still play the exact same way. If you don’t see that then I don’t know, couldn’t have picked a worse example of someone who’s playing style is so set and will be the same at every club. Even then look at Klopp at Liverpool and even Pochettino at Spurs after a year you seen what they were trying to do, it wasn’t perfect but the structure was in place and it was so clear to see. Then they bought better quality players to fit the playing style which enhances the performance levels. If you cant see why people are concerned or have said about the playing style and how unobvious it is to see what sort of team we are building towards you can't have been watching too many of our games since December last year.

Probably sat thinking they sacked me for Sarri and then him for Lampard, wanting different styles of football but yet Lampard was trying to set his team up like how he did 😂

I think so. He has got the attacking players to really go and be a more progressive attacking team. Son, Lucas Moura, Bale, Bergjwin, Lo Celso, Harry Kane - you’d think he would. But as you’ve said it is Mourinho. If it goes tits up and they get rid of him, getting a manager in who could be more progressive and utilise a more attacking style theyd do well.

Only positive from today alongside Werner.

Kane and Son were outstanding earlier by looks of the highlights. Add Bale into that and if Mourinho can get more from Ndombele or starts Lo Celso (their best midfielder by far), their going to get a good amount of goals against teams as long as they dont play with the handbreak on like they did v Everton. That Matt Doherty penalty’s fucking hilarious though what the tuck is he doing just stand there and tackle him no need to out your arms up like that 🤣

Well technically he still had other options. He could have played Werner on the left with Giroud upfront? Or Callum on a wing and Havertz more centrally, its not as if Havertz, Mount, Callum and Werner are restricted to having being used in one position. I feel like the selection of not playing any natural wingers although due to unavailability with Ziyech and Pulisic, limited us going forward. Even if he picked Giroud today with Werner off the left and one of Havertz or Mount on the right hand side, that would of worked better for how we tried to play at times when were just hooking it up to Werner. There's plenty of variations he could of gone for still but he went for what looked like a false 9 at times and it didn't work because we played on the counter attack. False 9 is effective in a position based team but if your playing on the counter or want to go more direct in my eyes you need to go something more.

Didn't Lampard get his free pass last season? How many free passes are we going to give him? Not that 2 games into a season we should even be talking about changes which nobody is but a free pass after spending 200 million on players he particularly wanted? A year after getting a free pass because he couldn't buy anyone and had to rely on academy players/use deadweight that he isnt necessarily keen on? No offence but do yous realise how daft that sounds? Is it going to be the same next season as well? I get he needs time still to gel these players and they do need to adapt but with this group now, I don't think finishing in the top 4 should be the minimum expectation or get him pass marks with this squad this time around - although we still have glaring weaknesses but now you cannot really say that it can be down to lacking players when Mendy comes in which was the reason for some of the issues last season arguably. He's just got 2 top level German internationals who start in the NT most games, England's first choice LB realistically, one of Ajax's standout players in the last 2 seasons in the CL, Brazil and PSG's captain and getting another GK on top of the other younger players who did well in patches last season, being another year more experienced and progressing for that experiences. If this was Klopp, Pep, Mourinho or whoever who had spent this money on these players it would be okay they should be trying to be competing for the title at least. That is going to have to be the idea this season, be actively competing in the title race for a period at least or the full way and if not, closing that gap significantly. Finishing 4th would be a disaster. Finishing 3rd and 30 points off the winner again would be a disaster too in my opinion because that would indicate the gap has gotten bigger instead of smaller. Whether I believe we can compete in the title race or not, with guys like Havertz, Pulisic, Ziyech and Werner upfront, that should be more than enough to get us more chances, more goals ultimately more points in games and get results against teams we struggled to break down last season also. Now I think we've seen already in 2 games the similar issues we had last season, teams finding it too easy to play in between our lines, in behind our full backs, looking more likely to score from set plays. All of these which was still a coaching issue in my eyes last season so it must be improved and that has got to be on Lampard and the staff now because even with Thiago Silva I don't think he is going to be able to sort all of that out himself or the whole defence still. Good defensive and team shape help all defenders. Even van Dijk. Even Sergio Ramos. Even Koulibaly. If the structures not organized it doesn't help. For a bit today we were organised but we sacrificed a lot more of our attacking play to do this. We have to manage some sort of balance. At times we were top heavy last season and didn't worry about defending as much and we suffered from it. We talked about Conte and Mourinho's team sets up where they were too much in terms of just sitting off and remaining organised then when they had the ball struggling. We seen a bit of that today, just give it to Kante/Jorginho/Kovacic/Mount and let them try and punt it over the top to Werner or Havertz. Every time. Frank has to find the balance. Also must give credit to Fikayo Tomori today looked very good and I wouldnt be surprised if he gets a chance next to Thiago Silva at some point when hes ready to play. He has missed one penalty throughout his spell here and this shit starts. Fantastic.

One positive. Fikayo has looked good since coming on.

Hmm while I can see the point. I also think back to when we played like this under Antonio Conte against City and half of Sky Sports called it absolute criminal for the way we played. As well as numerous of the people on here but we do it again v Liverpool and its not a problem because they are champions and its a different manager? Even now you see us trying to play out and while it hasn't worked every time we have to do that in certain moments to lure Liverpool in and get behind them. Instead of trying to just sit off and expect Werner to run onto hopeless 60 m punts. Well played Werner. Fuck sake lol.

Fucking shambles there. Got 10 men, he's under pressure, why the fuck are you trying to find a pass there? Yikes. Also even before that Tomori just try and find the line and get it out of there? Like Zouma does on the left side a lot? Its not an issue for him as the pass was still on but still if it were me wouldn't be passing it back to my GK under pressure from Salah, Mane and Firmino.....

Has Lampard kept us playing 4 3 3 basically but without a 3rd attacker? Because thats what it looks like. Yikes. Alonso, Kante and James there at 5s and 6s for that play. Too easy.

Tbf Kepa was there just about at the right time, maybe not maybe just a few seconds too late but for me if he is out much quicker he's gonna end up taking Mane out himself or Mane would probably knock it by him if AC doesn't touch him so dont really get that one. Love the sky sports HT analysis from Ashley and Jamie Redknapp there "Liverpool have just defended really well" .... well technically they haven't had to do too much because we haven't done fuck all bar the two plays involving Werner and Havertz but the rest of the players have done fuck all in the oppositions half because we've sat behind the ball. Werner has to go upfront through the middle now even with 10 men. The false 9 shit has backfired. Also Thiago coming on for them. Staying compact is gonna be difficult now because he can play through the lines and play even more balls over the top. Hmm, Havertz off interesting, would of said Jorginho/Mount first. we need more productive attacking players and Havertz is someone youd expect to affect a game more than Mason or Jorginho in the attacking sense.