robsblubot

Kepa for me. Far post would always be a foot race.

A LOT MORE?! that was a VERY poor decision to let is go cross the small box!

Kepa is BACK! 😞

the "we" part can be a bit nuanced these days. It may have been an agent in name of the club, and values initially used only to kickstart negotiations/draw interest of related parties. better option than the "changing our minds" which would've been bad indeed.

That's an opinion, and one I disagree with. For me, and me alone, it's still a simple matter of Tuchel vs Potter and I think their resumes say it all.

If you think players running down their contracts give 100% 🤷‍♂️ My opinion is very simple and you are welcome to disagree with it, evidently: Potter shouldn't have been given the opportunity to begin with. He's not ready (if he will ever be ready) to manage a team like Chelsea coming from a nothing club. I hope he succeeds, but I don't believe he will.

Not enough for me no... many other managers doing impressive things in different leagues and PL proven is only relative given the striking differences between the top clubs and the smaller ones. NT means little these days as the top managers stay clear of. Fofona is a question mark at best, but agree that important for depth. Agree to disagree on the rest there, because Tuchel had already lost Ruddier and Andreas in his last season (were they giving 100% the season before?). It's been discussed plenty around here. I myself, wrote that Klopp had similar issues when he lost VVD for a season... there was no coming back from losing Rudiger IMO. Kante fitness has been questionable for years now. James injury proneness also not new. Once again, many here hated Alonso, so Cucurella *must* be an improvement no? Others also hated Werner, and lauded Sterling as a huge improvement. I think that the bottom line is that some of us think betting on Potter makes sense while others think it does not. I'm in the latter group and think the current ownership are completely out of their depth.

Reckon if you look at Potter resume, a lot of managers would fit the bill. "No experience at a top club" in particular would broaden the scope quite a bit.

Fofana is important now? that's a bit of a stretch eh. The issue here is that most if not all issues with players and roster applied to Tuchel. I have my own idea about how much input Tuchel had in building the squad, but it's the same crop of players with the same injury proneness. Some here would say Cucurella is a huge improvement over Alonso (I'm not one of them); that koulibaly was a good signing, that Sterling is an improvement over Werner (again not for me). While managers get some leeway into building the squad, they also have to work with what they got. That was said about Tuchel, and it applies to Potter as well. I'm not going into Arteta once again; I believe everybody knew his school of thought coming from City and Pep's wing. Arsenal merely wanted that style of play and bet on someone who could perhaps deliver it. I'm not sure what Potter is all about at this level and so far I've seen nothing interesting about his work so far. Yes, it is early days, but once again I don't see the "intent." What is the key aspects of the football he wants his team to play? Is it all applicable to a club like Chelsea with its peculiar set of players? I for one find it interesting Potter gets so much backing around here because for me he hasn't done enough to be here to begin with.

I did not either. That's why I've been banging on "intent." you could see what he was trying to do from the get go: players would attempt a pass in dangerous positions conceding goals as result of that. He did not have the players to do that and tbf, it does take time to develop that style of play as it takes a lot of discipline and hard work. Player like Aubameyang simply do not fit in that system. They still depend on players doing their thing tho; they missed Jesus today I reckon... there was just some energy missing up front and newcastle are now a diffcult team to beat with Joellington and Guimaraes in the middle. While folks have pointed to numbers and performances, I did not, and do not see, what the intent is with potter. Perhaps he's also imply lacking the players to implement his ideas, but I honestly do not know what they are... like specifically as I did Arteta's. BTW, I'm actually not a big fan of that system (Pep's and Ateta's) as I think it's extremely fragile in cups, which happens to be what CL is.

yes, he does... looks really pedantic on the ball atm. I do have a slim hope it's just the pace of the league and how little time players get on ball. We've seen the same with players like ramires and many others, but it does not look good atm. He's essentially RLC slow pace minus skill atm. 😕

That makes two of us conveniently ignoring each other's points. 😉

it does look that way unfortunately, but it could also be the pace of the league. We will find out soon enough. 😟

I guess we know why he wasn't playing before--really struggling with the pace of the league. Needs to improve a lot to become serviceable.

You joke, but I've always thought Alonso's skill on the ball was underrated here. Slight improvement... there is hope yet for Cucurella. Chilwell is still twice the player, so we need him back asap.

I'm not as interested in results actually. When you make that jump, the most important aspect is level, and esp style, of play IMO. What worked at Brighton is likely not going to work for a big club. e.g. giving the ball to the opposition and counter (not saying that's all they did). yeah, I will have to disagree. Speaking for myself once again, I did see what Arteta was trying to do and it was fairly obvious from the get go (knowing his background). He did have deadwood and players who simply could not do what was required--Aubameyang was one of them--but I could see the intent. It's not about the result, or even the level of play initially, but intent. I don't yet see the intent in Potter's work at Chelsea and as I wrote above, I'm not sure how much of what he did at Brighton would be immediately applicable at Chelsea. On the other hand, I was one of the few here who thought our transfer window business was a disaster. I did not like a single signing: did not even think Sterling was a big improvement over Werner. For this reason, I do have to cut him some slack, but his formation and strategy are making things worse because he simply does not have the players for it, IMO of course. Zakaria, for example, is really struggling with the pace of the league.

The thing is that even when Arsenal wasn't quite competitive under Arteta, I knew what he was trying to do. I also knew that if successful, that style (very much Pep's) is really effective in long championships (not so much in cups). I honestly don't see the goal line just yet. Watched Brighton and they never caught my attention; yes, organized and intense team, like I've seen many others. At this point, I can only hope that the leadership detected something in his work and is betting on it. Not his fault Auba is his only striker option tho. What a joke of a signing.... one of the most predictable flops.

What I was most concerned about when we hired Potter remains the same: I am not sure the players are running for him. He's a bit too small a fish in this pond, and will get eaten by bigger egos and pay checks. The level of commitment I see today is very similar to the what I was seeing in the final seasons with Tuchel. Thought sacking him was a mistake before, because it empowers this group of players, and it may be a mistake now too, but the players are not delivering the level of commitment needed at this level. The high press in particular (more like it the lack thereof) is a fucking joke atm.

And the thing is that both goals were really Paes’ mistakes: first was all goalie’s ball and he had no business trying a desperate tackle in a non-desperate situ; the second is the opposite as he’s nonchalant and is surprised by the post bounce. A game for him to forget for sure. He must be wishing they don’t lose this, but I think their shot was in the first half… let’s see.

This Faes guy looks like a competent striker… keep an eye on

agreed. That was precisely my point with the music analogy: it's always evolving... carriages to cars (sorry 😅).

In many places, esp in Brazil, the word "Pele" is used as an adjective. Assuming you know your music... for me the best way to think about this is, Pele was Sebastian Bach. Who is Mozart (Messi for me eh) or Beethoven? that's very personal. Pele changed the game and popularized it. Yes, FIFA benefitted tremendously and used him quite a bit, which does not make his feat any smaller. As a player, very little else to be said. Just read about his life, his accomplishments, and do watch videos. Yes, the game was a lot slower then, but it was slower for everyone--not just him.

Porto Alegre (4mil grand population) is my hometown and I grew up going go Gramado (an hour drive from Porto Alegre) -- great food and entertainment there esp in the winter... they even get snow sometimes (more like a dusting, but eh). While I'm not ignorant of the history--what you posted is well known, I have to say that I have never ever met, or heard of, of a Nazi sympathizer. Yes, it's anecdotal evidence at best, but at the same time, it wasn't a subject that ever came up (not even in college where anything goes). I'm sure they exist, but it's just not something that comes up a lot down there. Perhaps it's unfair to compare, given how news moves these days, but I have a feeling that the Nazi sympathizers here in the US are actually more organized and vocal, if not more abundant. I've had someone literally mention Nazi writings to me at some point, which was cringeworthy, evidently... not only because of what it was, but also because it was presented as scientific evidence. 🙄 Now if we go into racism, that's a different story and there is a lot of that... and it deserves its own thread (or forum).

OK back to watching the other football... the game that is squeezed in between ads. 😅

That's true, but a LOT of migration took place before (even the first) world war. Germany was in shambles and people desperate enough that they would believe lies coming from places like Brazil's gov. My granny, for ex, was already born in Brazil soil before WWI.