Jase

Matt Law is/was pro-Lampard.

As you alluded to there, the difference between Kepa and Bakayoko is that Bakayoko wasn't bought for 70 million, didn't get a 7-year contract and isn't the most expensive player in his position.

Am not excusing Werner for his misses. Just stating facts. All title winners have at least a few players hitting at least 15 goals or even 10 at the very least and of course Werner should be one of them. And doesn't matter Ziyech and Havertz haven't been fit this season. We're not going to win it anyway. But going forward, if we want to win it, then they also need to produce. By saying "still somehow 2nd on the list despite going 2 months without a goal", I meant it to illustrate how bad the others have been. Abraham is just only 1 goal ahead and no one else has even overtaken Werner during his drought (Jorginho did before yesterday but all his goals are penalties). It's not as if the likes of CHO, Pulisic, Mount do not get chances to score.

The difference between now and then is that Werner is playing a lot higher and operating in the half spaces, allowing him better opportunities to attack the space in behind while also not have many players to beat. Under Lampard, he was playing as a winger and operating in wider/deeper areas. Also has less emphasis on defensive duties and can focus on going forward. Our passing then was also slow and ponderous, thus giving the opposition so much time to get back into shape and deny the space that Werner likes to get into. Put that altogether, he has to dribble past players and beat them - which we know it's not his strength - and that's different from simply beating players for pace like he did yesterday. Also has more room and space to do that against Newcastle. And not to mention, it also helps that we have much more coordinated movement with the players under Tuchel than Lampard. Previously, it looked as though as the players were just moving into random positions and not creating space as well as options for the others.

He was the **** one of the good bunch.

4-4-2, as the second striker behind the #9. And since Klopp wanted him as well, I'd imagine him in the left side in a 4-3-3 is a possibility but obviously, more of an inside forward than a winger. Let's not get carried away with the Jorginho-Kovacic midfield combo just yet. Yes, on the ball, they can be good but at the same time, we also know they are far from best defensively, especially Jorginho. In a back 4, they just have to do as much work defensively as they do offensively. In a back 3/5, there's perhaps a bit less to worry defensively because we will have at least 3 defenders behind them. Also, we have a lot of tough teams coming up - Atletico, Man United, Everton, Liverpool etc. Let's see how Tuchel's midfield setup will fare against those lot. Tuchel tried to sign Kante at PSG but the ironic thing is, he's barely played him so far. So... 🤷‍♂️ At the moment, it's hard to tell what exactly Tuchel wants because he's come in right in the middle of the season and has to work with what he has for now. At the same time, it also feels like he's trying to keep everyone happy for now. So he may make his decision regarding the players with the board once he sees enough of them come May. He's also played CHO further forward recently at Sheffield United and I don't think Werner and Havertz require the back 3 specifically to operate. And here's a breakdown of the formations and the number of times he used them in league games at Dortmund and PSG: Dortmund 4-2-3-1 = 24 4-1-4-1 = 15 3-4-3 = 13 4-3-3 = 6 3-1-4-2 = 5 PSG 4-3-3 = 26 4-4-2 = 14 4-2-2-2 = 10 4-2-3-1 = 8 3-5-2 = 7

I guess this is the problem when we have so many players in their early 20s in the attacking areas. We are used to having finished articles in the attacking positions to score/create goals. Now, we have all these early 20s players and they aren't great (yet, hopefully) at creating/scoring regularly. Only Ziyech is at that peak age but even he is more of a creator than a goalscorer.

Given Tuchel's history of playing different formations, I don't think the current back 3 will be our main formation. In the long term, I suspect we'll alternate between both the back 3 and 4. He likes his teams to be able to play different systems. One of the reasons I think Tuchel has gone with a back 3 is because he hasn't had the time to properly work with the players on different systems - he's picked one and just focused on it - and he's just gone with the safest - if you like - system to help us achieve what we want to achieve this season. As we saw under Lampard, there are numerous problems with the back 4 because of players' defensive deficiencies - e.g. the midfield. The back 3 currently offers a bit more defensive protection. Heck, we have players who look better in a back 3 and players who look better in a back 4. Playing the back 3 also means we have one less space for the attacking players. So, we need to find a good balance here. And worth remembering that Tuchel did switch to a back 4 in the second half against Barnsley. I did say Werner is not a winger or a #9 but IIRC, I believe he's played in a back 4 before at Leipzig. When we do play a back 4, I'd trust Tuchel more than Lampard to find a role that suits Werner. As for Haaland, well, I'd not get my hopes up at all on us signing him when the likes of Man City are also interested in him. We will also likely have to sell players to generate funds to have a chance of getting Haaland.

If we want to win the title, then we also need others to chip with the goals, not just Werner TBH. You look at our league goalscorers this season and the numbers...and it's kinda miserable. Abraham - 6 Werner - 5 (still somehow 2nd on the list despite going 2 months without a goal!) Jorginho - 5 (all penalties) Zouma & Giroud - 4 (each on 4) Mount - 3 Chilwell, CHO, Silva - 2 (each on 2) Azpi, Pulisic, Ziyech, Havertz, Alonso, James - 1 (each on 1) Never mind Werner, we're never going to win the league if the supporting casts - e.g. Abraham, Havertz, Pulisic, Ziyech, Mount - are posting that kind of numbers. Gonna likely need at least 3 players to hit at least 15 goals each.

Considering we face Atletico all the way in Romania next Tuesday, I suspect there will be a few changes for this game from the Newcastle game.

What are the odds we give them the win? 😂

Tuchel revealed that he's given the players 2 days off. Will be back training on Thursday.

Southampton 1-1 Chelsea PRE/POST-MATCH DISCUSSION, LIVE CHAT AND ANALYSIS 2020/21 Premier League Match 25 20th February, Saturday 2021 St. Mary's Stadium 12:30 Kick Off (UK time)

It's 2021...how are people still spelling Atletico wrong!?

Apparently Alaba will announce his decision to leave Bayern later today, Tuesday.

CHRIST! LET US CELEBRATE FOR ONCE!

Also this... It's nothing big but it's nice to see a manager barking out orders again on the touchline after what we saw with Lampard.

Looking forward to the inevitable Tuchel v Marina fight! 🤣

Nobody has anything to say about Werner? 🤣 Super delighted that he finally ended his goal drought and got the goal that he deserved. Said it before and will say it again, has looked so much better recently playing in his natural position. Even when he's not scoring, he's impacting games in other ways way more than in his previous winger role. Already contributed a number of assists and won 7 penalties this season. Also, any comparison with Morata and Torres is fucking stupid and lazy. Yes, Werner has missed chances but unlike those two, Werner has always kept going, kept getting at the end of chances, kept trying to impact games. He's never hid like those two and unlike Morata, he doesn't fall over easily, moan to referees about decisions going against him or moan to the media about how he's not loved/why no one is passing to him etc. If you have seen Werner's interviews, you can tell that he has a good mentality, attitude and humility about him. Those personal attributes can go a long way to helping a player become successful.

TBF, De Bruyne was quite young back then but I definitely don't agree that Mourinho should have binned of course. Otherwise, I agree with you. Think a lot will come down to what happens in the summer really because we definitely need to reshape the squad a little.

Said it before, Kovacic is one frustrating player because I believe he has the ability and talent to do so much more than what he has shown pre-Tuchel. If Tuchel can make him be more decisive going forward - feels like he's already played more forward/dangerous passes into the attacking third under Tuchel than before - then he might actually become a world class player.

While Kepa did not make any blunders tonight, not sure if we should be praising him for simply doing his job, the most basic stuff against Newcastle. Not when he's the most expensive keeper in history.