OneMoSalah

Was this as bad as Sarriball? Or is it worse? I think its worse if I am honest. I think this season in terms of performances we generally couldn’t have started any worse. Suspect in every game defensively. No real cohesion in attack either, everything’s down to individual qualities as opposed to being worked upon by looks of it. Jorginho, Werner, Tammy and Mount will be taking 4 of first 5 I would imagine.

Cant say it hasn’t been coming. Theyve been much much better than us this half. Genuinely have had some quality in the final third unlike us. Regulion making a decent contribution every time he gets within 30m of our goal.

Hudson-Odoi there. Had to hit the target at least with that chance. Or pass to someone else who will. Fanny. Also Mount SMH telegraphed that pass to Werner.

Emerson for Chilwell? such an underwhelming substitute. Need a change in midfield or attack.

How was first half? Second half so far looks very much like we want them to get back into it. Bergwjin looking likely to cause us issues everytime he gets it.

I had seen Something on twitter from before the season ended. Maybe misread it. So he passes left 4.6 percent more than forward. And 2.3% more forward than right. Still. Stats aside. I cant imagine our build up play and getting into the opposition half will be better with Rice there holding than Jorginho if we go for Havertz and Mount as the advanced 8 like everyone seems to believe Frank wants to line up with. Rices tackles, interceptions, recoveries etc would be a boost maybe but again anything over 40-50m and weve been had because he doesn’t particularly offer anything particularly good with the ball and we will have the ball the majority of games, lets be honest. Kante when he’s on song - albeit he’s struggled and needs a back up - he does all that and more also. Rice would add height to the team.

Obviously. All midfielders do at some point but the high percentages of Jorginho’s passes are forward and he normally plays one or two touches when he can. Plus when he plays our ability to get up the pitch quicker is clear to see. Rice’s passing isnt as progressive and quite frankly dont see how he improves our team in all reality. All he does is add height but still, take more than 11 6 ft plus players to sort our defending set pieces.

If we are going to move Jorginho on for Rice that is probably as close to undoing some of the good work of this window in terms of squad building we will get. Personally I know many wont be thrilled to watch Rice passing it sideways 90% of the time and small teams just letting us have the ball because he isnt progressive enough to play through the lines. Also under pressure he isnt great so imagine him v a City or a Liverpool? Unlike Jorginho. Unlike Kovacic. Even unlike Kante. So if Frank goes to this heralded 433 like City played last season, which many believe with Rice holding, Havertz and Mount more offensive, does that mean those two will have to come a lot lot deeper to get the ball out of our own half into the more forward players? Unlike at City where De Bruyne and Silva where always positioned in half spaces because Rodri and Fernandinho could find them further up and find other players also?

Disagree. In recent times: Diego Costa, bit of a prick for opposition teams but on song, ice cold and we probably got the best football of his career out of him with Mourinho for 6 or 7 months and then another 6 months with Conte. Although he was also v good at Atletico prior to signing here for a season and a half. Fabregas - one of the best midfielders in PL history IMO, just look at his stats his career will always be underrated but he has 350 PL games, 50 PL goals and 111 PL assists (2nd highest behind Giggs IIRC). Pretty much tells you everything you need to know, CM player getting that much assists is rare, more than Lampard and Gerrard also. De Gea - arguably best GK in Europe for a few seasons regardless of how you look at him now David Silva - wasn’t a flashly player but top top player, spacial awareness, final pass, close control everything Azpi - rock solid and that fee makes it even harder to argue how good he is and the buy, not many better defenders over the period hes been here. Torres (Liverpool) - no words needed he used to score against us and United for fun every time we played them. Xabi Alonso - another hugely underrated MF when he was here IMO, top top player and his successes at Real and Bayern proved that. Just a pity he didnt play under a more offensive minded manager in the PL. Pepe Reina - love him or hate him very good for them cunts for a period, not everyone’s cup of tes or world class as such as some in this list could be considered but pretty good. Santi Cazorla - another underrated buy, two footed, excellent in close areas, final pass, very good signing maybe if he was a few years younger people would of realised how good he actually was. Mata - pre United move one of the best playmakers in league and Europe. Just a pity he lacked pace or the ability to keep the ball better under pressure at time as he could have adjusted to playing as a wide forward or wide 10. be a few others who did well but not as well as those.

City getting Ruben Dias will be a good signing for them. Potential to be an excellent CB with a bit of fine tuning. Also Arsenal going after Aouar is also a good signing for them. Very gifted technically and will provide a more offensive threat to their midfield. Spurs getting Skinriar will also be a good signing. Mad Man United haven’t looked at him or even us earlier in the window. Both of us are crying out for a long term CB with potential to grow into a key figure in the team and already at a very good level. Interested to see how Koeman does with Barca too. Depay, Dest and Garcia would be decent signings as well as the refreshing of their squad getting rid of Vidal, Suarez and Semedo among others and focusing more on building their midfield around De Jong in a deeper position compared to where Valverde played him. Actually think Koeman will do a good job there and may tempt them to hold off on appointing Xavi, I know Koemans not exactly a top top manager but his experiences around various leagues with varied levels of success and his past experiences as a player there will give him a good platform to go from. I really think they are too driven on this Pep approach of football and also the promoting from within, footballs moved on from Pep’s style then, he has slowly altered it and became more tactically flexible to the point where City look different to his Bayern and his Bayern looked different to Barcelona while also retaining the basic principles of his philosophy.

Barkley maybe. Hes made an impact in every game hes featured this season. Ruben hasn’t. it is only like the 4th or 5th game of a season, lets hope Frank doesnt heavily rotate as our new players clearly haven’t gelled yet. If we were 20 games in and had played the same guys week in week out for weeks on end yes can see why he would rotate but 4 or 5 games in I hope he doesnt rotatet too msny players. Hopefully see a few swaps maybe but nothing crazy. Mount has to play based off tonights performances as does Havertz, Thiago Silva and Werner because they still need to fit into the team and accumulate minutes. Pullisic and Ziyech if fit would he nice to see some minutes for also as well as Callum who probably showed with his goal tonight he can do more. But hopefully the team will be similar bar maybe Jorginho in for Kovacic or Kante as I feel he will give us more control and maybe see Callum start.

Barkley and RLC? No thank you.

Hopefully they do rotate in attack but again, I don’t think they will change that frontline too much plus predominantly they have Lucas Son Kane Alli Lamela and Lo Celso with Bale out injured so it will be a strongish attack somehow compared to a team of kids. Even if it is mainly a B team in other positions attack theyll be relatively strongish. And yes Frank has outdone Jose but if we play anything like Brighton and today Spurs will exploit those weaknesses and tactically naivety. Sunday league teams would exploit those mistakes thats how bad some of them are. Even with a back 5 as weve done both times we beat them. These are the sort of things Mourinho’s teams analyse and look to exploit in their game plan and based on how proficient they were v Southampton who played a extremely high line I wouldnt be surprised if its same again v us because they will entice us to have the ball and dictate the game so we will push up and play into their hands. Was same when he was here both times round as well as at any other club. We need to tighten up a big deal. Or we really do risk them putting us out. Franks set up and tactical naivety is arguably looking worse. From last season I didnt think it was possible.

Bet Mourinho cannot wait to play us on Tuesday after watching that. Bale against Alonso if hes fit. Fuck me. Could be a cricket score

The plan is rely on individual quality hut we don’t have a Hazard or even a Cesc or Diego Costa to make it work and Pulisic and Ziyech arent fit yet. He will be found out if he cannot make a team with players like Havertz, Ziyech and Pulisic play effectively as a unit as opposed to individuals. And the he needs more time argument is an even worse excuse. He’s had almost 10 months of us playing football which is so predictable in attack and relies solely on individuals doing stuff off the cuff as opposed to coordinated patterns or movements. We never even went for Thiago. And would not because of his age. Bar Silva when have we ever signed anyone 29-30 or over in recent years?

Give the guy a bit of time. Even for his age its still a change. Even then, what do you want a 36 year old guy to do in a team thats continuously exposed without the ball?

I dont know. A squad full of hugely promising young players, for me he would be the obvious choice. Just look at the players he improved during his time in England, like 10-14 players made NT debuts for England having worked with him. His brand of football may be slightly overrated but its an improvement on what we are seeing, definitely defensively. Only issue for me is his disregard of domestic cup competitions. If he were ever to work here at any point that has to change.

This continues next month or two and he’s gonna be getting sacked. 100%. Horrendous.

Would of liked to have seen Jorgi-Kovacic today. WBA gonna pack the middle of the pitch dont see the need for Kante as much. Suppose never know. They did look alright on counter v Everton but still Mount Kova and Jorginho last season at beginning was really good and fluid.

Tbf the pressure is on him to perform if he likes it or not. If he has a shite start the pressure will get worse because the expectations is that he should be much better than Kepa. If he doesnt start well, the pressure will be intense.

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.