Jase

IT'S THE CURSE OF THE NEW KIT! @Milan

Yikes! Only 20 minutes in as well...

At least the Women team already have one major trophy in the bag...

God knows! As Jype alluded to, Kepa isn't great at saving shots from distance. If opposing players see him in goal, they might as well try their luck and try to get a strike off. And why did Tuchel want to give the cup keeper more minutes? Because it was Kepa? Would Tuchel have done the same had it been Caballero instead? Compared to yesterday, I don't think anyone really blamed Kepa for that Arsenal loss. That was all on Jorginho and Zouma if one looks deeper.

Roman is at the game apparently.

Ha! Would say the luck is deserved considering the number of times we have been screwed over by decisions (e.g. the Maguire foul on Azpi at Old Trafford).

It's bizarre that no one seems to notice that Kepa likes to skip/hop a little before attempting to make a save against a shot from distance. That split second action can easily be the difference between him making the save and not making it. I seem to remember The Athletic did a piece on analyzing this and among other things with Kepa...

That is why Tomo said what he said. It wasn't an obvious error but there's a reason why a top keeper in such moment could be the difference. They could be the difference in a final between two equally matched teams. Moreover, as I pointed out in the Tuchel thread, we have always switched to the #1 keeper in the domestic cup competition once we get to the latter stages and Tuchel did the same when he was at Dortmund and PSG but he stuck with Kepa for the FA Cup final. Why? Is it because it's Kepa and his price tag? Had Caballero been starting our cup run instead, would Tuchel have selected him for the final? Probably not going by history. Let's not also forget that Tuchel has randomly decided to start Kepa in league games just because he did well in the cup game prior to that. When is that ever normal? Usually you play your cup keeper in the cup game and then you go back to your #1 in the following league game etc.

I'll just leave this Tomo post here...

No clue. Shame I no longer have access to that stats site. lol But Mendy's save % is higher this season compared to Kepa last season - 71.2% to 54.5%.

There's that from Kepa and there's this from Alisson, for example...

You lot have really jinxed it...

Never mind Werner, you said it as if Havertz or Pulisic have been performing/scoring consistently when those two went AWOL against Arsenal last week, which the defeat has led to hole we're in now. The fact is, none of our attackers are reliable right now. They take one step forward and then two steps backward.

That Liverpool winner doesn't really change anything for us, does it? It just meant that we need to win both games instead of being able to win one + draw one. Better off just knowing what we have to do instead of being caught in two minds.

Aaaaaand Dortmund have qualified for the Champions League...

lol Having one isn’t suddenly going to turn Alonso and Azpi into WC wingbacks…

We wouldn't have won the FA Cup because our whole attack malfunctioned. None of the front 3 turned up and then we had Alonso and Azpi as the wingbacks. We didn't even create any chance of note.

Also wonder how much of advantage Tuchel gave Leicester by announcing Kepa will start the cup final 3 days early. Practically gave them time to work on their shooting from distance. They didn't get to take many but the one they did flew into the area where Kepa is most weak at.

That is true but think there are different ways to build a team. You can build it around one player like Spurs have done with Kane or you can build a more all-rounded team. I know which one I prefer.

All fair. But that's a few from like almost a decade. Can the club suddenly pull one out of the hat this summer? Wouldn't consider Alonso to be an unknown considering he had played for Bolton and Sunderland before we bought him from Fiorentina.

Fair. But what about outfield player?

Tell me about it! They only started showing the Chelsea fans on camera after we conceded. They so wanted Leicester to win it!

Sorry, my memory isn't working now. When was the last time we made an unknown signing that turned out to be successful?