Jase

#EmmaHayesIsGreat

Oh? Totally missed that but after checking the comments, he did say it! 😬 But still don't think it's anything too serious, especially after Berhalter's explanation for his withdrawal.

But where would Eriksen fit in though? Our midfield is already stacked as it is, even excluding Barkley - we have Jorginho, Kovacic, Kante, Mount and Loftus-Cheek - and there's already a tiny issue of how we do set up our midfield - Kovacic/Jorginho/Mount or Jorginho/Kante/Mount or Jorginho/Kante/Kovacic? And that's without even considering Loftus-Cheek. Mount seems to be the No.1 choice under Lampard and I don't think he's going to be dropped. If you move him out wide to the left, we would then have issues with Pulisic/CHO. Willian looks likely to stay (Lampard has been expressing his love for him) and IF we sign Sancho, then there doesn't seem to be any place to fit Eriksen in. Moreover, while we all want 2 world class players for every position, I'm not sure how sustainable that is in the long run. Squad management would then be a major headache because everyone would want to play in the XI week in, week out and at some point down the line, players are gonna start making noise if they aren't playing every week and keep on getting rotated. Only Man City and Juventus arguably can boast to have WC or great players for every position (barring City's defence) but other big clubs have a decent balance between the first team players and backups who can do a good job when called upon but also okay with not playing every week. We need to get what Lampard wants and not just buy players for the sake of it. Otherwise, it could cause confusion and muddle things up in regards to how we want to play, set up etc.

Whiniest player we've ever had. Keeps on blaming everyone else for his failure!

It's simply a reply to the notion that we defend set pieces better with Alonso in the XI when the stats don't suggest that. The set up, as you alluded to, is more of the issue rather than the personnel.

Assuming his hip injury was caused by him clattering onto the post for the goal, then I would to believe that it's nothing serious. Maybe a minor bruised hip or something. Celebrated his goal then and even in the dressing room later on etc. You're talking about his injury record? This was just an unfortunate one and it's not like it's a muscle injury or something like that. And besides, Dortmund always have players injured every week. Our injury record overall is a lot better than theirs.

If it's from Sky Italia, doubt it would be in English..?

Is that really a Sky Sports graphic? The font and image are completely off.

I know football players earn a lot of money but those fines are brutal.

How Chelsea beat the low block: Frank Lampard has devised clever way to beat defensive teams without being hit on the counter https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2019/11/11/chelsea-beat-low-block-frank-lampard-has-devised-clever-way/

Think it's a tricky one. Ajax have a specific style, way of playing and they get players who fit into that and ensure both the players and team flourish. Tadic, for example, looked bang average at Southampton but went to Ajax and has suddenly looked like a world beater. Also, players who come to the Premier League from the Eredivisie have struggled more often than not over the years. Might explain why PL clubs are reluctant to sign players from that league.

Okay, how many Dembeles are there in the footballing world!?

All the more important to rack up the points against the other sides.

It's not just his productivity, his overall general performances have been poor. He certainly has not been playing as well as he did in the past (not saying he's great/world class, mind).

You and your conspiracy theory!

James played well on Saturday but christ, why did they make out as if Zaha is Messi? Zaha has been crap all season. Bigger test for James will be Sterling at City, if he does play.

Uh oh...

There's also the FA Cup and UCL/UEL fixtures to factor in: Jan 21 - Arsenal (h) Jan 24-26 - FA Cup R4 * Feb 1 - Leicester (a) Feb 8 - Man United (h) Feb 22 - Spurs (h) + EITHER Feb 20 - UEL R32 1st Leg Feb 27 - UEL R32 2nd Leg OR Feb 18/19 - UCL R16 1st Leg Feb 25/26 - UCL R16 1st Leg We will also have the PL winter break - https://www.premierleague.com/news/1241248 - and so, we'll either play United on Feb 8/9 or Feb 15/16.

This period next year looks fun...

Liverpool's upcoming games...

They dealt with Wenger long enough, so they shouldn't be surprised with such. Arsenal have Southampton and Norwich in their next two league games (FFS!). If they don't get 6 points from those games...