Sideshow Luiz

I don't necessarily think it's Jorginho. When he gets man marked, other players have to change their movement, so Kante and Kovacic/RLC/Barkley need to help out. Teams in Serie A have man-marked him, but Napoli weren't a work in progress, so they could counter that. https://spielverlagerung.com/2016/12/03/sarris-napoli-in-rampant-home-victory/

I thought he got his pocket picked too many times, and gave the way away a bit too much. I don't think he was shit. Just everyone played really well, and I thought he was just okay.

Whole team played well. Kante looked a little shaky in the first half, but he showed up with the goal, and was rock solid in the second. Kovacic did a great job defensively, and keeping the ball when we had trouble playing out. Alonso and Luiz were both really soli defensively today as well (yes, I acknowledge they've been shit recently). Hazard was probably our worst player. Pedro showed his footballing IQ today as well.

Ahem....

Thanks, Sarri.

Giroud on for Hazard, please.

GET IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is interesting. RLC at False 9? Nope

All day. He's been getting his pocket picked by everyone.

Not the way you wanted, obviously. But, you've got it. 25 yard banger incoming.

Nothing against Barkley or RLC, but I think Kovacic has been really good today (so far).

Hazard's been poor. And i't snot the false 9 thing. He's given the ball away or been dispossessed too many times. Also, not moving the ball quick enough. The high balls, he's had no chance with, but the other stuff is on him.

Think we got one against Newcastle as well. Alsonso, if I'm not mistaken.

That's a fair point.

Please stop showing Ederson. That neck tattoo is hideous.

Okay. I know it's been disjointed, and our build up play looks so far away from where we want it to be. But, c'mon...compare this to how we looked in the community shield. It's not even the same galaxy, and we're still a ways from the finished article.

GET THE FUCK IN, LITTLE MAN!!!!!!!!

The chances we're conceding are coming from giving the ball away in the build up. We need to hit the training pitch, hard. Players need to start make themselves an option before the player gets on the ball. Too many touches.

Exactly. How's the false 9 worse than having a striker is is always offside or on the ground, or Giroud who's just not good enough to be our starter? Jorginho is going to get pressed. City are going to mark our options from the back. Having our striker come deeper may well help us play out. We'll see what happens. I can't see where we would have had time to work on this, but let's see.

I agree. I think he and Kante should be rotated at that position. If we're going to have 70% of the ball, Kante's ball winning ability is less useful. I think the reason he's playing as the AMF is mostly down to RLC and Barkley, and their defensive deficiencies. Sarri will not trust either of them to start a big match (and he's not wrong, IMO). Next season 4 midfielder of RLC/Barkley + Kovacic/Kante is pretty good (as long as RLC and Barkley keep improving). If we want to improve, it's got to be either one of RLC or Barkley out and a better attacking player in. Considering that we haven't had much time on the training pitch, I'm going to reserve judgement until Feb/March. We won't get any real time at Cobham until January. Hopefully we can see the same kind of progression that we saw at the start of the year. It's gone a bit stagnant since playing twice a week.

One of the constant things (IMO) has been that when everyone is writing us off, that's when we show up. Remember the match against Spurs at the start of last season? I hope this carries over.

Well, that's football. We had some results earlier where we over performed our xG (Hazard was way above his). Goals change matches, have to score when you get the chance (and look at those chances). Lose tomorrow, and we become the new "crisis club" (which means we'll win the next match comfortably). Positive spin.

He hasn't been amazing. At the start of the season, he was much more natural than Barkley or RLC. But, those 2 have really come one, and their overall awareness has increased. Having said that, for 30M, he's a great option to have. We have no cover for Kante, and in our squad, I think he's the best option.

I think Pedro and Giroud will start. I think Wednesday's match was as much rotation as Sarri could handle. I hope that includes Alonso, but it won't. CHO - Hazard - Pedro Kovacic - Jorginho - Kante Emerson - Luiz * - Rudiger - Azpi Kepa *I know how you feel, but AC isn't better right now Get the XI best players (at the moment) on the pitch.