manpe

Why? I think it was the Liverpool game back in September that we last lost with him starting? If so, that's impressive. If he was as bad as he's made out to be, then surely he would have cost us at least on game in 18?

Someone like Haaland would make us title contenders. By next season our new signings will have got accustomed to the EPL and Tuchel's ideas, we'll be stronger and more competitive. I also have a feeling Haaland won't need much adaptation time, he is a true generational talent and they don't need much introduction to start wrecking a league. Werner and Haaland up top is the stuff of dreams, hope it happens.

Mendy James - Zouma - Rüdiger - Chilwell Kante - Kovacic CHO - Mount - Pulisic Werner I would like 4-2-3-1 to be tested out for once, we struggle with scoring with 5 ATB. Adding Kante instead of Jorginho might make us defensively solid enough in midfield to drop the 3 CBs.

Great job! I was confused when I couldn't get in with my new logins, but then noticed that all the old posts are back so figured my old password works. 😀 Great to have all the content back.

Get over it

Spot on. I was excited to see Werner come on not for a winger... "maybe we'll finally attack through the middle" I thought... nope! High crosses still, the only high cross that almost got us something was that Chilwell volley. Reminiscent of when Hazard played striker and the team kept lumping high passes to him. Lampard doesn't understand we don't have Drogba in our team. If we're gonna persist with this high crossing shit then just switch to 4-4-2 and play Tammy and Giroud together, sell Werner as he has no use in such an archaic team. No need to work on attacking patterns or anything, just lump it high and keep tight blocks in defence.

It's not one or the other - both are made of glass. Pulisic will be out soon enough again unfortunately.

Hitting the bar is a shot off target, so no, he didn't to *everything* right. Should have kept the shot lower.

Mason is the real deal. With his work ethic he is bound to succeed. Similar to Lampard in that sense - not the most gifted player out there, but smart and pushes himself. There were question marks over him as he was being played out of position, but in 4-3-3 he is on his way to becoming a top box-to-box midfielder.

There is probably a lot of drilling going on at the training ground, but if it were that easy, then the veteran managers I mentioned wouldn't have struggled with similar issues. Let them learn and gain experience.

There you go, when Azpi leaves just promote that Livramento fella. If/when Livramento should decide to leave, then think about the next replacement. Until then I don't see why an academy player would reject playing for the first team for at least a few seasons. Lamptey was different, he had both Reece and Dave blocking his path. Azpi has become very slow, sad to say but in a year or two he'll be done at the top level. Anyway, by the time Azpi goes there might be someone else, it doesn't necessarily have to be guy you mentioned. Just saying that with the talent coming through our academy there is no point in signing a bunch of Zappacostas to play second fiddle, many youngsters would be happy with that role (for a while at least).

When was the last time we had consistent, systematic attack throughout the season? Probably Conte's title season after the formation change, but that's it. Under Mourinho, Conte and Sarri our attacking play was just as chaotic as you're describing, and they were considered world class coaches. Hard to expect that from a rookie coach with a young and naive team.

Do we have any serious RBs coming up in the academy?

He squandered two great close range chances yesterday - one straight at the keeper and one hit the bar. He'd easily have 15+ goals already and comfortably be our top scorer across all comps playing as a winger, but he's decided to turn into a Morata when it matters the most. Yes he's playing out of position all the time due to our wingers being made out of glass, but that is no excuse when he fluffs his chances a few meters away from goal. He needs to become much better at what he was bought to do. However I'm confident he'll bounce back, he has that strikery arrogance about him that I like and that all great strikers have.

Why are we discussing RWB? We don't play wing-backs...

If that is true then someone needs sacking. We have Azpi ffs.

Werner - Giroud Ziyech Chilwell - Mount - Kante - James Rüdiger - Silva - Zouma Wouldn't mind seeing something like this at some point. Just because we have better players now than last season doesn't mean we can't play 3 CB formations anymore to solidify defence and accomodate Werner better (especially when our wingers are injured, Werner and Havertz as wingers is horrid). Also Giroud is pretty good at link-up play, Hazard often got joy playing with him for that same reason, no reason to think Werner wouldn't.

Signs of an immature team, which it is. The performance was horrid yesterday. Havertz shouldn't be starting at the moment, we looked a better side with Kovacic and Havertz doesn't bring anything to the team currently. It is the first time I'm watching him play regularly and I don't see what all the hype has been about. Werner also, but he must be knackered since he's had almost no rest at all, and we have no replacement when our wingers are injured all the god damn time. It's clear as day he is a central attacker, which makes it even more baffling to me that he's being instructed to hug the touchline... Why? Not once did we see Werner drift central, try cut-in shots or runs behind. Always wide, far from the goal, receiving the ball to feet and facing 3-5 players... He is not the type to dribble past players and create chances, that was Hazard. He is there to FINISH chances. Fucks sake, I like him very much but he's being over- and misused. When one of CHO or Ziyech comes back he needs to be benched or moved central. I'm dying to see a proper pacey, technically proficient front 3 (Pulisic, Werner, Ziyech).

Yes, it's pretty apparent we are counting on crosses, especially with Giroud on. Maybe taking him off would encourage them to attempt something different than crosses. Hope to see Tammy and Kovavic on soon for Giroud and Havertz (he's being abysmal atm). Sent from my Redmi Note 9 Pro using Tapatalk

We will never get to play Werner, Pulisic and Ziyech together, will we? Werner is wasted on the wing, even more so on the right side. Fuck how frustrating those injuries are...

Makes no sense not to have him even on the bench if he's not injured.

From CFC website: "Mateo Kovacic comes in for injured Hakim Ziyech with Kai Havertz expected to move from midfield into a more forward role." It's gonna be Kai at RW.

Got nervous after reading the news that Kepa will start, but then calmed down after remembering it's a dead rubber game. Still would be nice to win tho, a bit more pleasing to go through on points than on GD (if Sevilla win and we lose). It would also be great to see youngsters and benchies play some good stuff and get the W... keeps the winning atmosphere going. Kepa... I just hope he doesn't fuck up in any way. He needs every bit of confidence he can get, 'cause we might have to rely on him if Mendy is ever out... And as we can see and have had countless examples before - a goalkeeper can make or break a season. I'm afraid a disaster performance here would irreversibly destroy him. So Kepa, no howlers please.

Vesper always posts in match threads.

Anybody else find it weird when stuff like this is done only AFTER somebody dies? As if they weren't worthy during their life to give that recognition, but somehow death elevates their contribution of the past.