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Dortmund was one the better teams we faced (good result too), different opposition and conditions, and I'm not even talking about consistency as it matters little now (better opposition tests limits, not consistency). I just don't see Badiashile ready to play at this level. I do see promise, but not someone who can deliver at the highest stage that is. Reminder that my original point wasn't even that one is superior to the other, but rather that the difference isn't what people are making it out to be. And on top of that I like Cucurella's pace for this particular matchup.... in fact wish he could play on the right side. 😉

Please let's not make Badiashile more than he is at the moment. He's got potential, but he's hardly going to matter at this level. I actually prefer Cucu doing "an Aspi" on the left given his speed to close down whoever gets behind Chilwell. I'd go back to basics and run a disruptive lineup at home and away: that's how you beat better teams. Gert Mount and Kante (both depending on fitness) to disrupt their movement. Pick one between Felix and Kai -- would prob start with Kai and replace him with Felix later (more more mobility vs tired legs). It's going to be difficult either way, but we can improve our odds by picking the right strategy.

Agreed that they are ahead of us in names, team setup, managing, but they have not been ahead of anyone this season. Football at this level can turn on dime. Look at Xhaka for ex: take a picture of him a few years ago and compare with today. I'm not a fan either way, but the difference in agility, pace, and esp quickness is night and day! He looks leaner and fitter, which was likely a requirement to play in this very mobile system implemented by Arsenal. yeah with the players we've got, unbalanced squad or not, the club should be doing a lot better considering the overall quality. Just a get a good manager and let him work... Seconded, getting rid of some deadwood is perhaps more important than signing new players atm.

Watching Arsenal and Liverpool today/yesterday it struck me: we currently play a different sport. Yeah it looks like football just a lot slower. Yeah liverpool is about the same level as we are, but they managed to rise to the occasion and match Arsenal quick passing thru sheer physicality in that second half (and a nice hand from the officials who were shit as usual). Ironically, the local fans were angry at the officials... go figure. They managed to tie against a much better team--no easy feat. Arsenal can do what City does, just not as consistently.

Gallagher in the middle and then a front 3 with only one player remotely able to press and defend... this team won't beat anyone. I'd expect Lampard to do things a bit differently, and slightly tweaking the formation is not fooling me as the free role players remain enjoying free roles... and that's 2 too many players in that role for modern football.

And he should be! like Mount or not, he's made it. He earns millions and moves millions, and is sought after by a number of top clubs. I know the last part may be incomprehensible to some, but not to me.

Lampard 2.0 is much better than the previous Lampard. He has now so much more experience having successfully managed big teams in the interim! If he sends Felix back, that's good enough for me tho. I'd not go for Benedict right now and just wait out for when Bayern to sack Tuchel and get him back. Maybe by then he had time to find another nice young German woman. Only manager who can sell relentless high press every freaking season is Pep; I don't know what he promises the players, but it evidently works.

hah yeah I realized at some point during the discussion that you were not making a point for them. 😅 Regarding the last point, it gets a bit nuanced in rural areas where police may take 30-40m (or never) to show up eh. Like written above, it's always going to be hard to get sensible legislation, when you have so much money moving around with gun sales.

Excellent player who will only improve once we start clicking. He does everything with easy, so I can totally see him upping the tempo and really causing trouble to the opposition... just needs more folks playing in the same wavelength around him.

I think I understand what you are saying, but once again think you are reducing the issue and ignoring the actual situations presented (Vegas and Uvalde); I was literally reporting what was said by the police in the audio--it's available and be listened to (if you have the stomach). The worst part of Assault Rifles here in the US is that many places ANYONE can buy them! You don't even have to know how to use them. Why do you assume the folks who committed these atrocities have had any level of training and could do what a trained individual could? Some of these folks were not even right in the head and were able to buy and use these weapons. Finally, on a personal note, I'd rather live in a place where I don't see folks carrying assault rifles in the streets. It just looks and feels like a third world military state rather than a place I'd want to live. I understand, like you said, that a concealed weapon in the wrong hands (or right depending how you see it) can be just as deadly if used properly, but I rather prefer if they were available only to a) people who knew how to use them and b) were mentally stable/no criminal record.

I'm not gun nut, but my father was a police officer, so I'm not unfamiliar with the subject. Yeah I can't agree with that. You are reducing the issue to the number of people that can be murdered within a time frame and in a particular location, in which case the firearm in question would indeed be less important, not entirely as people don't really stand still while being shot at. I will once again point to the Uvalde incident as an example: there were (young children!) fatalities *during* the standoff. Police rather face someone carrying a handgun than one carrying an assault rifle (a machine gun that can spread bullets in multiple directions due to the high firing rate)... the audio discussion from the cops talk about the weapon constantly. In outside areas, for example, an assault weapon would be far more precise and can cause a lot more damage than a handgun: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Las_Vegas_shooting Large-capacity magazines play a part as well, no? Why would the military give solders the far more expensive assault rifles as opposed to the much cheaper handguns if they were the same at killing?

I suggest you read more about the Uvalde incident. Police with guns, and later with assault weapons themselves, were *afraid* of going in and were expecting heavy casualties if they did. Assault weapons are not comparable with pistols in terms of the damage they can do. There is a reason soldiers use assault weapons and not pistols when they go to war. Assault weapons are machine guns in practice. BTW, I know guys on the very right side/military who think Assault weapons shouldn't be easy to buy like they are.

Once again I do not agree with "your conclusion" from the algorithm data, and without knowing the details around the algorithm, I have no reason to trust any accuracy claim (I'm a software engineer btw). I do not see our players getting tap-ins. I see us creating a decent number chances that a confident team, and confident players *should* be converting (only some of them)... the team is not and does not play with confidence, and esp the attacking players visibly lack confidence. Does the algorithm also have a confidence factor added to its input? that'd reintroduce the human element making it questionable anyway. Another example: if you can press high, you can regain possession closer to the opposition goal, which means running less until getting into a position to score. That's vastly different (energy spent and concentration when applying the finish) from making long runs with or without the ball to get to the same position. That's one of the reasons city can relentlessly attack the opposition, and we can't. You are saying, or rather the algorithm is, that player X, Y, Z, have poor conversion ratio. I'm far more interested in why that is.

I'd say it's a bit more nuanced than that. I can enjoy very different styles of football as long as the team is competitive. If I were to define one quality I see in every form of competitive football (Tuchel's as well) is quickness! I don't only mean pace, as running speed, but the speed at which a team can move the football. Quickness also affects the quality of the chances created: how disrupted and out of position the opposition defense gets. Note that a team does not need to constantly play high tempo, but they have to have the ability to switch to a higher tempo to hurt quality opposition. Chelsea right now, and for some time, play way too slow. It just takes way too long to do most things, esp transition from D. Once in a while certain players manage to do very quick one twos (Reece did that today), which proves that most of our players have the ability to do that, but then it's all disgruntled. The why's would be a different discussion, one that includes the ownership as well. For ex, if your team routinely puts player A in front of the goal for a tap in, that does not only affect the team's confidence, but the player's confidence as well. He'd be more likely to find that space in a different, more difficult, situation. Sterling did not seem to have trouble scoring for City, but then City creates 10+ chances per game...some easy tap ins due to movement. Salah used to score for fun until his team stopped producing the chances and dominating games. It's all connected. Would one say that Salah can't score? or perhaps things aren't clicking for them either? I think the latter. Liverpool are just as pedantic and slow on the ball as we are. Again, that's no more than opinion based on personal observation, so I'm sure others may feel differently. * realize I did not even mention high press, or the lack thereof... that is also something we've not been able to do this season.

Please don't misquote me... at least that. I said that both we have been playing like shit (opinion) and that I'd not mind if we missed 10 chances per game (we don't create that many -- City does!) and missed them all if we were playing better football. We play slow.... uncompetitively slow. That's also an opinion based on observation. I do not care about the numbers you are presenting. We can all cherry pick numbers to corroborate any one point of view. Chelsea is a struggling team and your dear quack of a manager is part of that. I could quote N newspapers and claim this opinion as a fact, but I for one know it's just an opinion. I do not like the way we play. I think it's shit (opinion and personal preference). That's why I suggested we agree to disagree, because we clearly disagree on the most basic thing: like what is fact vs opinion.

Claiming opinions are facts tells me more about yourself than your opinions... you know, the things you call facts.

This is the time we agree to disagree.

Orthogonal point. I never claimed these attackers were good enough. In fact I was one of the few who hated the attacking signings esp the "agent deal" Auba. However, a top manager should be able to connect with this group and play competitively. Then we need to find better options up front. Chelsea play slow football. It may get a bit better with Kante back, but this is not way to be competitive at this level. Regarding someone who said play Auba... he won't even get into positions to score anymore.

I've been watching a different team playing then because the in blue on my telly plays like shit. Not to mention that last time I remember Potter lost a lot of games including Villa, again, as far as I remember you need to concede goals to lose matches. Potter is fucking gone and back to his level. Wanna bet when he's going to manage a top team again? I can put my money where my mouth is.

Think Felix is a good player... a little different from the ones we've got, but I really hate these loan type of deals. He's essentially undroppable until the end of the season.

I'd settle for missing 10 changes per and playing good football than the shit I've seen this year. Potter done what he knows: made us play like Brighton ✅

Think it was more important for both teams not to lose than win this match. Very cautious performance makes for a very boring football game.

OMG, that touch and turn by Mudryk is stuff for league 2

That's done, but the team still plays like Brighton 😉 It will take time and a real manager to fix this shit.

Forget guns... start "small" by banning assault weapons first. 😉 The arguments for assault weapon possession being allowed in the US are the the most ridiculous things you will hear. But then again, if even the Uvalde massacre wasn't enough to move the needle... 🤷‍♂️