OneMoSalah

Considering James played RB and is a RB I dont know what you mean on his weakside.... Anyway. The game. I've said it about plenty of other teams so its no different for us but if you concede 4 goals in under 60 minutes, you probably dont deserve to win the football match. Same could be said for Ajax looking back at it too. Draw is probably a fair result, they were good first half and we were good in the second. Sure we had a disallowed 5th and missed chances but like I said, a draw is fair. We cannot expect to outscore teams in games if we cannot defend better. We did excellently to get back to 4 all but on another day we wont score 4. Frank made a good change at HT and hopefully Masons injury isnt too bad although he wasnt great tonight. More VAR shit, starting to get sick of it, its becoming more of a talking point than the actual games themselves.

The goals theyve scored havent been anything spectacular and thats what worries me about us. Stupid fouls and a poor defensive set up from freekicks/set pieces. Every set piece most weeks I still feel we are going to concede from them. We were very lucky to get the penalty to bring it back to 1-1 as well I think, looked soft but cant complain about getting it as we needed it and need other goals to get back into it.

Unlucky there for Kepa I feel. Bad freekick to concede and as usual we end up conceding from it. Big turn around needed to get anything from this game.

Mounts final pass has been disappointing in 2 or 3 very decent half chances he has had to free his man. Think Ajax look as if they will score everytime they deliver from outwide or at set plays...

Zaha and Ake signings would be a waste of time and money I feel. If we want wingers and a central defender go for top quality. Simple as. Okay Zaha maybe be a better fit than Ake as hes at a higher level but hes hardly an outstanding player that will get much better. Hes at a age and level now where he will more than likely remain at a similar level for the next 2 or 3 seasons. Also doubt we will honestly get Sancho, so perhaps Mikel Oyarzabal is a worth while alternative.

Mourinho wont get the Bayern job. Their president Uli Hoeness doesnt like him one bit and has criticised him numerous times. Max Allegri would be the most logical and smart appointment. Or they could make an approach for Pochettino or Nagglesmann but think that wouldnt be easy for them midseason.

I still think his decisions in the final third can improve, 100%, I felt this watching him play for Derby as well last season but even then he still has a big impact on how we play in the final third. What strikes me is though, he isnt afraid to take responsibility and have a dig as well. After a season of watching Ross get into similar positions and deciding to try play a cute pass through 5 or 6 people or playing safe instead, it is a welcome change. Goals was always gonna be a concern this season but between him, Tammy, Callum and Pulisic so far theyve accounted for 17 goals and 8 assists, which means the young guys have all had an involvement in 25 goals weve scored this season in the PL (if I am reading this right). https://www.whoscored.com/Teams/15/Show/England-Chelsea All the info is from there.

Still curious as to what will happen next season as this season was always going to have a bit of leniency regarding where we finish due to the transfer ban and the sale of Eden. When we can resign players and if we get a few top ones in, in key positions, the expectations will undoubtedly be higher and probably similar to what it was under Conte and Jose. I dont think this expectation will ever change here. Roman and the board have seen a lot of success and will want that to continue so the demands will be the same again next season I would imagine. I think Frank will know this from his time as a player here too so its nothing new.

Played better today than in other weeks I felt. Goal and an assist will give him a bit more confidence but over the last few games I am still concerned with his hold up play. Although it has continuously improved but against a higher quality of opposotion like a City or a Liverpool it needs to stick because there will be times he will be the outball. Cant fault his workrate though and his performance was good.

If Kante comes back I think we will manage. Kovacic maybe have to take the mantle a bit and not burst forward as much and dictate the game like Jorginho does. I dont think he cant do it in all fairness, he has got a good passing range and understanding so he should be able to continue on his performances and maybe just be a bit more conservative with his role next week, allowing Kante to be a bit more free to get between the boxes.

Yeah it would be nice to see and going from Christian spending some time in the Bundesliga where the wide players coming in off the touchline, getting in the box is a very common thing then hopefully he will continue to do this. Thomas Muller (I know hes more of a 10 but even then he fits the bill) and Lukasz Podolski are probably two players who have done it regularly over the period of their careers that I can think of in recent times, making those runs across and getting taps in. Even Raheem Sterling is doing it now for City with Pep. Then obviously Ronaldo, Messi, Sanchez and Pedro all over the years too. This is what frustrated me about Eden at times when he was here, he wouldnt always be on the move to get across for low centres which would of got him plenty of tap ins. As a whole, it infuriates me watching any match or level of games, seeing crosses go in across the box from a winger or full back and the only person being in the box is the striker and maybe another midfielder. Whats the point in the other winger standing out on the touchline if hes not involved in the play? Get in the box...

Great sign of a goalkeepers concentration is that for the few chances he had to save, he did and the last save was brilliant. Ben fucking Foster has almost scored a few headers over the years hasnt he? Maybe hes playing wrong position.

Thats hardly an excuse he played right wing almost every game he played under Sarri. Hes just maybe not done as well as he did last season but even then Pulisic and Willian are playing well so thats another reason why he isnt featuring from the beginning and rightfully so. Where as last season the wingers didnt play so well which is why people were desperate to see him start every week. Other than his Europa League performances in the PL last season he didnt exactly set the world alight either.

How many games has he started for us? 7 or 8? And hes been involved in 9 goals? He is just finding ways of affecting matches from if he starts or comes off the bench and this sort of thing is only good for us.

Bar the penalty (although it was soft and ridiculous to be awarded), he was brilliant again. Loved that he gave Delefou a bit after fouling him 5-10 mins after the penalty because it was very very soft the way he went down. Kovacic edges MOTM for me out the two but again, just between the two of them that wee incident not kicking it out and trying to play in our own box was their only fault for the two of them.

I know but there was still plenty we could of done. Plus VAR overturning that decision was ridiculous. Anyway 3 points in a game that got a bit frayed toward the end. All that matters.

What for the penalty? I hope you are joking. If Jorginho or Kovacic just kicked it out of play or up the line instead of trying to be too clever in the box it would never have happened. Only fault for the two of them today I would say. Azpi got done yes but we had ample chances to deal with it after that. It was one of the softest penalties I have ever seen given as well.

Well needed 2nd goal. Pulisic. Well in.

Alonso may of gave them the penalty but be honest, we were pretty shite allover and lacked a creative edge. It says it all when Michy, who is usually a penalty box striker, created his goal from absolutely nothing. It wasnt anything to do with brilliant team play or whatever, it was down to a United mistake and he had a lot to do. But yeah nobody seems to want to have mentioned this and refer to the good old Alonso cost us the game bullshit as if it was the only reason we lost when in a stark reality it wasnt. We werent really in the game at all and they just sat deep and managed the game well. I am shocked Bournemouth managing to lead United and have a cleansheet just now. Bournemouth and clean sheet in the same sentance.... not very often.

Doesnt mean it will happen still FFP neutral or not. I think expecting us to spend even 300m in the one window is going pretty much into fantasy land. The money may be there as you explained but I severely doubt we will spend all that. Plus 500m is how many new players realistically if its spent wisely? We only need maybe 4 or 5 players in the summer if Frank is going to continue with using our youngsters so I cannot realisitcally see us spending half a billion in one window, I dont think anyone can, thats more the point. Just seems like something people dont seem to get, which is why I referred to the real life running of a football club being nothing like FIFA career mode....

Just modern day football. Same with social media becoming a more recurring theme at pressers too as well. Its embarrassing. Just think what it will be in 5 or 10 years from now.

Exactly. Suprisingly quiet thread since the Newcastle game. Although if it was Willian who played as beyond avergely as he did last night or v Burnley and Ajax, it would be a different story. 120,000 bangers a week or if you believe some other reports 180,000. He needs to do a lot lot more. I know Alonso played bad but even then when he plays good or does okay, his thread still gets absolutely topped til the rims with continous slaggings too. Cant hold one player to different standards as everyone else. Some people need to take the whole academy player so he can get off with it shit out of the equation at times. He basically had a gun to the clubs head as youve said for a huge new contract after playing maybe 20 games last season, to the likes of which Mount, Ruben, Andreas and Tammy didnt as theirs were earned and given more as a reward through hard work at other clubs in lower leagues/lesser teams. Not saying CHO hasnt worked hard to get in here, he obviously has but the hard work cannot stop and the whole contract and transfer request still leaves a bit of a sour taste personally. Performances in the last 3 games havent been anywhere near good enough from him, he looked half the player he was last season at times. Regardless of long term injury or not hes been back fit since September, his fitness isnt in question, he has played well v Newcastle but again doing it in one game in 4 isnt enough.

Regardless of the competition, we arent Spurs, weve never not taken the cups seriously in recent seasons. We got to the league cup final last year, won it a few seasons ago with Jose, won an FA cup with Conte and got to the FA cup final the season before that and lost it in the final with Conte. No point turning our nose up at it, the league cup and FA cup are gonna be our best chances of winning trophies until we bridge the gap with City and Liverpool in the league, so using its "only the league cup" as an excuse to defend losing to Man United is quite ridiculous.

I am sure the same was said of Nicolas Pepe and many other players from the French league but in the end it means fuck all. Lets be real. The only step up Mbappe can realistically make from PSG and in his career where he is a WC winner at aged 20, who cost 180m euros, is probably Barca or Real. Or Juventus maybe. Or Bayern on the slimest. I keep seeing people say on here and also twitter, Roman should spend 500 or 600m with the transfer ban and Morata/Hazard sales but lets be honest, this isnt FIFA and the days of clubs spending 500m will never happen due to FFP. I doubt in the next 5 years we will ever spend 100m on 1 single player yet alone over 250-300m which would be Mbappes minimum price at least.

Personally feel the lack of minutes he has given the likes of Batshuayi, Giroud and Pedro didnt help tonight. If theyd played more in the run they would of been more useful tonight as opposed to being rusty and in the next upcoming amount of games (although Giroud didnt play tonight he would of been a different proposition to Bats and even Tammy). Also think not subbing one of the MF players and Callum at HT was a mistake but hopefully he will learn from these things as he has from the other mistakes hes made. Mount just brings something different to the team, more understanding of when to play simple or complicated, much more urgency and the aggression without the ball. Never thought Id say it this early but he looks like he may be a key cog for us this year despire it being his first season in the first team squad.