Jase

Sack the manager again!?

Having him would just paper over the cracks.

Norwich? We beat them at Carrow Road. Other Top 4 rivals have also dropped points against smaller teams, TBF. So ours and their results may even themselves out come end of the season. BUT what we need to start doing is winning the six-pointers against United, Arsenal, Spurs etc. If we don't beat them or even draw against them, then we have no chance for the Top 4 because we have to rely on others to take points off them.

Could be that. Or could be that his game time needed to be managed better to get more from him at that age, similar to what Fergie did with Giggs IIRC.

We have alternated between a LOSS and WIN against Bournemouth in the Premier League: L 0-1 W 3-0 L 0-3 W 2-0 L 0-1

Ancelotti's second season? Would argue that Lampard was already going over the hill back then. So, it's not a surprise if he had tailed off. A lot of the players did that season. Otherwise, he always maintained and up his level in his best years and years approaching that.

I know Lampard is still inexperienced but aren't people beating him a little too much with that 'stick'? Like isn't that too convenient? I mean we had experienced managers in the past who made decisions that had no sense whatsoever, that were baffling etc. Ancelotti tended to make subs late on and tactically can be found wanting (this was a manager who got outwitted by Dalglish and Hodgson!). Benitez consistently made like-for-like subs and rarely changed formation. Mourinho kept sticking with Ivanovic, even when he was going downhill, kept on ranting against everyone else, kept playing defensively most of the time. Conte hardly changed from his back 3 formation. Sarri consistently made like-for-like subs (Barkley for Kovacic or Kovacic for Barkley, remember?).

I know Mount is still young but if that's the kind of mentality he has, then we will have big issues down the line. Some of the young players seem to have gotten a tad too comfortable after getting the recognition, new contract, NT call-up in last few months - Mount & CHO in particular.

Gonna get thrashed by Mourinho, aren't we?

I have no idea how Willian has continuously being allowed to take corners when he rarely beats the first man! And seriously, WHAT THE FUCK DO WE EVEN IN TRAINING WITH THE SET PIECES!?

Does Gallagher even play in the same position?

No one is asking them to be thrown back into the team at this point but the question is rather could we have made better use of them to begin with. We know they aren't great, they haven't been for years but we still managed to find some use from them in last 1-2 seasons. Could Lampard not have at least done that till January or next summer? We practically tossed them aside very early on and left ourselves a bit short in certain areas, which has become somewhat obvious at the moment.

lol Where did I even say that? Let's be fair, what has CHO done lately?

Speaking of full backs, I'm not sure why Azpi was chosen over James today, well knowing that Bournemouth will try to defend all game.

The one thing I'd question is could Lampard have made better use of Pedro & Giroud to begin with? As much as we try to play a high tempo game with lots of energy etc, Giroud could still have come in handy in certain games/situations. Even Sarriball managed to get something out of him. Pedro, although no longer consistent, has that knack of scoring goals, more so than a lot of our current players.

I don't necessarily disagree and while you could argue that CHO should have gotten more sub minutes in recent games, he has barely made any impact in those games, has he? He looked great when he came back from injury and then just completely went off the boil. Barely even doing anything on the pitch right now and this after getting 55 minutes across last 2 games.

I know he's still young and just came back from a long term injury months ago but after taking the club on a ride with his contract situation, I think it's fair to expect him to do a little more than what he has been doing of late. Can't be relying solely on smaller cup games to get the form up, because we don't have those every week!

Would have kept Pulisic on instead of Mount but hey ho!

We have not picked up a single point from losing position in the league this season. NOT ONE!

We have had a history of starting the season well and then completely falling away from November onward (or a tad later). 2010/11, 2012/13, 2017/18 seasons all come to mind. And this term has been no different either.

Not excusing the recent losses but the funny thing is we exceeded expectations earlier this season - and arguably even raised them - by winning matches, going on that 7-game winning streak etc. Now, we're at the point where most of us had expected us to be in, struggling for performances and results.

CHO hasn't done zilch in his last few appearances. Abraham hasn't showed much lately? lol He's been our main goal source. Hardly anyone else is contributing.