Jase

Still looked slow. lol

Are we running on empty? Or have the players taken their eyes off the ball due to the upcoming finals and/or after all the recent praise?

Havertz looked so slow when he was running through on goal for THAT chance miss. And looking at the goal again, Zouma really shouldn't be playing at all...

This should serve as a warning ahead of our final after all the recent praise...

Are you saying that this team isn't good enough to beat Arsenal? Barring 4 players, this is pretty close to our best XI. We have had chances but never took them while Arsenal have created zilch and we gave them a goal.

JFC!

We're just playing everything in front of Arsenal...

He has hardly started in any of the recent games. What makes you think CHO will suddenly start in a major cup final? Tuchel rates him but doesn't seem to be 100% convinced by him just yet judging by his comments yesterday.

Kepa starts! Werner on the bench while Kante and Rudiger are completely rested, I assume.

We might also wear it in the Champions League final. If history is anything to go by, we'll lose both finals...

All the talk about the Top 4 and no one has mentioned that this win will help give Leicester confidence and ease their Top 4 worry a little before the cup final...

LOL That actually turned out to be true...

I brought up their goals conceded stat because you mentioned Howe's attacking football style, which was non-existent. As I said, there's no point in a team playing pretty football if they keep conceding goals. It's also like with Lampard, who tried to make us play attacking football but had no care for defensive solidity.

Sacking Lampard last summer would have been harsh, I think, and had we done so, the signings might have turned out to be different signings.

Howe did not have any help? He was basically the Sir Alex Ferguson, the Arsene Wenger of Bournemouth because of what he achieved with them. He made the calls on the signings and a lot of them were not great. That's on him. Did I downplay what Howe achieved at Bournemouth? All I basically questioned is his playing style. His attacking football is a myth and there's no point in playing nice attacking football if the team are conceding goals at an alarming rate. Bournemouth conceded at least 60 goals in each of their Premier League season. He was able to spend more than the likes of Sean Dyche and only managed a Top 10 finish once. And not to mention, Dyche even got Burnley finish in one of the Europa League places not too long ago. And no one said what Lampard did at Derby is better than what Howe did at Bournemouth. The point was Lampard at least maintained the same finish as his predecessor at Derby, considering they went into freefall after he left.

LOL

They weren't that at that point of time and it's not like Phillip Cocu didn't have the chance to bring in his own players.

Am surprised you have chosen to mention Eddie Howe (again) considering what happened with him at Bournemouth. Was Howe's attacking football really that great? Because for whatever good football they played, they always conceded A LOT of goals and were always in the bottom 5 for the most goals conceded in each Premier League season. Howe and Bournemouth only turned into some sort of genius and peak AC Milan side whenever they played us. Also, it's funny how you keep on downplaying what Lampard did at Derby, considering they went into a freefall after his regime and only just survived relegation by the skin of their teeth at the weekend (could still go down due to issues off the pitch). One season or not, Lampard, at the very least, maintained a 6th place finish and got them into the play-off final. Sure, it did not work out for him and Derby in the final but he kept them up there at least.

We hired Lampard because it was a marriage of convenience. The fans were not happy after the whole thing with Sarri and the club were under a transfer ban and had to rely on the academy players to boost the squad. So, what better way to appease the fans by bringing back a club legend in Lampard as well as the former academy coach in Jody Morris? Every manager makes mistakes, inexperienced or experienced. The biggest questions are how quickly they learn from them and can they fix them. In the 18 months that he was here, Lampard never showed that he was a quick learner and capable of solving those mistakes. In less than 4 months, Tuchel has been able to do that. He has been able to turn those weaknesses we saw under Lampard into strengths. And that is without a pre-season or much training time between matches considering we've been playing every 3-4 days. There's a reason why the big clubs have never hired a club legend or former player, one who is inexperienced as a manager as their manager until very recently. We know what happened with Lampard. Juventus took a gamble with Pirlo and it looks like they might sack him at the end of the season. Arsenal hired Arteta, who is not even a legend there, and they are getting worse but he could well stay on because of their lack of ambition. Not everyone will turn out to be a Guardiola.

Yes, we still want to win trophies (and we haven't won anything yet) but given the profile of the current squad, there has to be progress and improvement. This isn't a ready made squad like 11-12 years ago. The problem with Lampard was that there was no progress made during his 18 months in charge. Yes, we had that long unbeaten run earlier this season but by the end of his reign, it became obvious that the problems we saw last season were still there. There was no clear playing style and tactical idea, the pressing was all over the place, the team kept conceding on the break, he didn't seem to have any idea how to use the new players effectively and among others. We were either good or hopelessly bad. There was no middle ground. And this after spending more than 200 million on players in the summer. In less than 4 months, Tuchel has not only turned those weaknesses into strengths, he has also made progress with the team, collectively and individually. Plus, he has also made better use of the resources at hand. Yes, there are some deadwoods in the squad that we would likely sell (e.g. Emerson) but he has kept everyone on side and helped form what seemed to be tight-knit group among the players. Notice how the players seem to be mentioning the word "team" a lot these days. Obviously, the club will judge Tuchel on trophies but at the very least, he has put us on the right track again.

UEFA are also exploring Portugal apparently.

No one said he shouldn’t be timing his runs better but this is why I said that this didn’t become an issue until the last game or two. Were there any complaints before this? Don’t think any of his offsides before were as blatant as the ones at City. He has scored only 6 league goals because he has missed tons of chances, not because he has been caught offside. He has been caught offside for 20+ times but it hasn’t stopped him from missing 20+ big chances at the same time. As you alluded to with the other examples, had he been more clinical with the chances, no one would be talking about the offsides.

Yeah but having 26 players now gives the manager a bit more room for backups or to manoeuvre. What's the harm in bringing Gilmour anyway? Are there any other genuine Scottish talent that would have missed had only 23 players been allowed?

If Christensen is out, then 1 of Silva or Azpi will play.