Sideshow Luiz

Yeah. We saw steady improvement, but once we started playing 2 matches a week, there's just been no real quality time on the training pitch.

Rudiger should never have gone down, but the ref didn't see anything. I don't know how he booked anyone if he didn't see it. Ref has lost this match a bit. Went too crazy with the bookings. Once he gave Mina that yellow for a good challenge, he painted himself in to a corner.

Bernard was lucky to not get a harsher punishment there, but c'mon Rudiger, you don't need to go down there....

That's a harsh yellow on Mina. Not sure it was even a foul, TBH.

That's shit, sorry about that.

Kovacic - Jorginho - Kante in midfield. I hope Pedro starts instead of Willian, I think Willian needs a rest. Backline is obvious.

Can't like that enough. I'm also partial to his heat map in his final match against united: https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/steven-gerrard-the-internet-reacts-after-liverpool-captains-shock-red-card-against-manchester-united-10125900.html

Another Statsbomb article. Half on Morata, the other on Torreira: https://statsbomb.com/2018/11/alvaro-morata-lucas-torreira-and-evaluating-imperfection/

C'mon Sarri. Just get CHO on, please. This match is bullshit, just play him.

Thanks, but it's okay. The quality is quite good. This match is kind of bullshit anyway. It's put my dog to sleep:

Wow, my stream is well behind.

Yeah, outside of this forum, there seems to be a massive call for RLC and Barkley, because Kovacic isn't really needed.

If Sarri said that Hazard would need about 45-50 minutes, can we get CHO on? Would at least give us something to be excited about.

Moving the ball to the edge of the penalty area, then passing backwards isn't helping either. Have to take some risks.

Way too slow. No one making runs. No 1-2s, no one making the 3rd man runs. Too horizontal, needs to be more vertical.

Yeah, I had your post and another kind of mixed up.

Responses above: Really, it's Dembele if we can do a swap with Willian (plus cash, obv) or Zaha. I'm surprised you never bring up Depay. He's really doing well at Lyon. Can play striker or either wing. Certainly don't have to worry about him losing confidence.

Yeah, but I'm not sure that Malcolm is better than Willian right now, so that's why I say that it doesn't make us better in the short term, even a little worse.

Yes, and no. It doesn't make us better. There's an argument to be made that it actually makes us worse in the short term. Sure, 3 years from now, it looks good. But, that's a downgrade in January, and Tonali is someone I'm interested in, but I'd be surprised if he was better than Cesc, right now.

I think it would be cheaper, we'd be looking at either a ready made player like a slightly younger Cesc, who is okay with being a back-up, or a younger player who can grow in to the role. I say cheaper, not in the sense that it won't cost us anything, but we'd be looking for a 1st team winger. That's going to cost us a lot.

While I agree that Cesc is important right now because we have literally no back-up for Jorginho and that position is so crucial for us, we really should be looking at getting a long-term replacement in. If Jorginho gets injured for any period of time, we are really screwed. At Napoli, Sarri had Diawara who he had no issues with playing against anyone. I also agree that it's importance is behind areas that you've mentioned, like our wingers, but it's also going to be a lot cheaper to fix than those positions (so, in theory, easier).

And Conte WON 13 in a row.

OMG, Morata. Stop thinking too much!

That was poor, Luiz. I stick up for him, but he's having a terrible game.