Jase

He will become a top manager once he knows to organize a defence. We have largely the same group of players as last season and we look even more porous. Lampard has the right philosophy and understanding? That is debatable since the restart. Tomo has mentioned about the philosophy bit and if Lampard really has understanding of the game, he wouldn't be trying to shoehorn Kante into the XI for the sake of it.

If you think teams only defend well because they play defensive football, then it is pointless having this discussion.

But have you seen how weak our defenders are?

I said that because Lampard always changes to the back 3 after a bad result and it wouldn't surprise me if he does it again. He might also think having an extra defender would help deal with Deeney etc.

Could care less about what Klopp and Guardiola do. The point is defensive issues has been a problem for Lampard since last season and when you listen to his post-match comments, it is concerning. Every time, he'll almost just brush off the issues like they are nothing and/or blame it on something else. He's almost showing the same negligence or ignorance towards defending like Brendan Rodgers did at Liverpool. Poor defending issues will be Lampard's downfall as a manager if he doesn't sort it out.

Teams with worse defenders than us have defender better as a unit than us.

So Havertz can't play at the back then? Useless...

The defence doesn't inspire confidence in the keeper. The keeper doesn't inspire confidence in the defence. The entire backline is a ticking time bomb in every game.

This would have been a valid point if the defensive issues hadn't been a thing with Lampard since his Derby days. The defenders are bad, the keeper is bad and Lampard as well as the coaching staff seem clueless in making sure we look competent defensively at the very least.

lol Tomo, this isn't a competition about to see who is right, certainly not from my side. My issue is the wages CHO was handed rather than whether he'll turn out great.

I could care less about what United fans are talking about Greenwood or what they are gonna do with him because he's not our player. Maybe I am being old school but my point on this subject with CHO is that paying someone so much at a young age because of potential is nonsensical, even more so when he hasn't done anything consistently at the highest level. Imagine a fresh graduate looking for a job and he or she tells the potential employer that they should be paid say $8,000 because they achieved A+ in university and have the potential to be a great CEO! Furthermore, let's not pretend like the club wanted to pay CHO 120k per week or whatever the amount is had they not been back into a corner by CHO's transfer request and Bayern's interest. If the club really valued him that highly, they would have given the amount to begin with. And I am not sure CHO being our "biggest attacking academy talent" is a universal opinion. It is the opinion of few people or just you. Not saying CHO hasn't contributed in the first team but with all due respect, Tomo, I am not sure how seriously to take this because I know you have a tendency to exaggerate things like this. Sorry. It is debatable that we would even pay Sancho that much but would he deserve a big wages say somewhere around 200k? Based on what he's done at Dortmund for two straight seasons now, yeah.

Was just thinking, could Lampard switch to a back 3 in this game?

Like performing week in week out. Scoring goals. Providing assists. You're being very kind if you count showing glimpses here and there as something notable.

An elite prospect...who hasn't even done anything of note or consistent yet. Different case if he had been doing a Sancho with us.

Abraham should really be looking at himself first. He is like, what others have been saying, a bambi on ice. And his Bakayoko-esque ability in controlling the ball is so painful to watch!

The thing is, can we even find a buyer during this pandemic? It's one thing wanting to sell Player X, Y, Z and it's another finding a buyer who is willing to pay the money.

100 million on a left back, center back and keeper?! People (not you) are crazy if they think we have a bottomless budget all of a sudden.

We probably made a mistake in giving the big wages to CHO. It's one that shouldn't be repeated. The good form Abraham showed earlier this season is nothing more than a purple patch based on how things have turned out and every player will go through a purple patch. It is a matter of sustaining it. The injuries haven't helped but the least Abraham could do is doing well with the basics and he isn't doing that.

After yesterday, I feel like our best chance of qualifying for Champions League is (1) Man City's European ban sticks + (2) Leicester continue to sink + (3) Wolves slip up in some of their upcoming games. It's still in our hands of course but at the same time, it feels like we will have to shit our way into the Top 4 again!

Really? Do people still want us to spend nearly 100 million on Havertz after the defensive debacle last night?

We are not going to buy CBs, are we?

If in-game management and passion are the criteria now to be a captain, then no wonder we're fucked in this department.

Giroud didn't do much at all, IMO, against Villa and City. Scored the winner against the former but outside, his contribution has been minimal since the restart. Giroud and Abraham have done almost nothing to suggest they would be ahead of Werner in the ST pecking order.