robsblubot

Football is funny sometimes. Everybody knows it's a team sport, but after a strong team performance, away from home, and against the strongest opposition, folks will remember Werner's miss (really good save by Courtois too). They will not think the zero-sum game it actually is: when you replace Werner with someone else, you lose what Werner does (regardless of your personal preferences). Regarding the comparison with Pedro, I think Werner is quite different and has the potential to become a much better player than Pedro was.

It's not that simple (responding to OneMoSalah's point actually): Werner's movement opens up spaces and creates opportunities for him and his teammates. I'm going to say something a bit controversial here, but I'd not replace Werner with Aubameyang, for example. Aubameyang can finish, but he just takes too much from the team - I really dislike him as a footballer. Werner needs to improve his finish, but he is still young and even a slight improvement will make him an even more dangerous attacker, again because of his pace and movement.

I disagree that he does not show anything special. There are glimpses of excellent technique esp controlling the football in tight spaces as well as vision. It is just very erratic and moving him around is not going to help esp as a false 9, where he lacks the basics (make runs without the ball). Obviously he needs to improve, but his inconsistent form matches his young age.

Giroud came in too late and Zouma should never start in my book, but especially in a game where we need to keep possession and attack. Other than this, it was just an insipid performance undeserving of a win. Ziyech was particularly poor today.

does anyone else want to 🤮 every time Florentino Perez opens his mouth? Wonder if he actually tries to sound like an arrogant prick, or is it something that comes naturally to him.

that's exactly why Zouma isn't a solid defender. He's solid defensively, but he's very poor on possession.

Timo's miss was really embarrassing, but then again Macedonia defenders were very big and physical and he's just not used to that at all. (all over twitter haha) The story is really how the hell did they manage to concede twice?! Watched France game instead, which was not great, but at least competitive. There was a clear uncalled penalty for Bosnia IMO tho.

yes, niggling injuries can play a part in muscle injuries, but I guess the question here is how much. Personal opinion, not a whole lot. And it's not just the training, or lack thereof, but stuff like this "confessing that he was carrying an extra 5kg in weight when he touched down in Madrid. "It's true," Hazard told L'Equipe. "I'm not going to hide it, but when I'm on vacation, I'm on vacation." Carrying extra weight (being unfit) is the #1 reason for muscle injuries. Hamstring is known as a the "coming back injury" for ex.

Agreed. When I hear about Oscar, it seems like he came, missed a pk in CL final and then left us to join Arsenal at his peak. When in reality, he was an important player to win 2 PLs and then left on an excellent deal for both him and the club and very far from his peak. (and to china of all places) Regarding mount, I am happy to have been right about him. Thought some of his attributes were very underrated around here. While I understand that folks have personal preferences about style, and what they expect an attacking mid to do, it's a team sport and we need AMs with very different characteristics to make it work. Mount IMO is actually very unique in the squad: hard to replace him when he can't play.

oh definitely mendy made a huge difference: technical and mental. However, there were times when Frank's suicidal starting XI made it really hard to keep a clean sheet.

And tactics 😉

Neymar injury list is vast and mostly caused by actual tackles as opposed to Hazard, who had far fewer injuries (serious or not) with the vast majority of them muscle injuries. Needless to say, his work ethic, or the lack thereof, is likely to play a much bigger part than rough tackles. Always thought Hazard did not expose himself too much, which matches his demeanor on and off pitch. e.g. "when I'm on vacation I'm on vacation" thing.

one difference between Pulisic and Werner is that one of them is not made of glass. Pulisic is in danger of dropping a tier... he needs to stay fit. Injuries take a toll, esp muscle ones.

It was just one bad call, the penalty, but what a bad call that was. Porto's attacker actually fouls the defender, which is made even clearer in slow mo. VAR is all over the place. It's not underserved though, as Porto looked like the sharper side from the get go. Cuadrado did well, but he's such an undisciplined player... Morata was a joke and Ronaldo looked like a retiree. Juve does not look like CL contender to me. Neither does Porto, but they don't care.

That's looking at half of the picture. Werner's biggest strength imo is his ability go get into positions due to his quickness. His quickness (as in blinding pace) will also make him look bad at times, as he will make himself available more often and often without proper balance. Yes, he should do better, and I think he will; again, because he's a good player. Good player who is contributing to our current good form - that's really all there is to it.

Kai was really good and got most votes here, but I really like what I saw from Odoi, so gave him mine. Tuchel must be happy with the quality he's got - can make small swaps and shift the characteristics of the team without losing sleep. Which is especially important during these times. BTW, I thought Jorginho was massive as well. Really glad to see him playing his best under Tuchel.

ah I don't disagree. The point being, is that he is fully aware of the situation and so is the club. They might even be working on him to strengthen muscles and what not, which would def affect his form - they wouldn't disclose that info. So, I'm afraid the priority for him isn't the season, but his Chelsea career.

Having followed players with the same recurring injuries as Pulisic, my take is that his fight isn't for the season, but for his career, at least, in top-flight clubs.

regardless of the outcome, Mount is easily MotM for me. Complete player today.

I rest my case 😂 what a goal! great long ball by Kante!

Thought same line was onside... wtf indeed!

He seems to like the "dead zone." no compromise... worrying. doubly worrying... I too get the Ozil vibe from him. Hope to be very wrong here.

As discussed before, Chilwell plays like a "proper" wingback, which makes this formation a tad overly defensive. Reckon it was very much intentional for the united game. Maybe Tuchel wanted to block the sides, or simply thought United is in a better form than we are atm. For me it is clear as day that Alonso plays as a left midfielder, same as Odoi on the other side. They both cut inside and join the other mids in the midfield line, while James and Chilwell will mostly roam the flanks. James does a bit more of the cutting inside, or making those nice crosses, but he's def not a mid. Alonso fits better in this formation and our best games since Tuchel took over have been with Alonso. There is a lot more to a left mid than taking on players, or defending. Passing for example, becomes far more important. Alonso's many weaknesses are not as exposed in this formation, while his strengths are much needed to bring balance esp by populating the midfield.

I disagree regarding younger players. With that mindset, no younger player will ever get minutes. Abraham got a lot of minutes (and starts) under Lampard and I don't see any quality in him (wish I did), but that's information. Folks at the club clearly see attributes in mount's game which warrants investing in his development. I think he gets to start because he's good tactically and has a lot of intensity to his game, aside from his good technique. In short, no, don't think he will be good enough if he does not develop, but the club (myself and others here) think that he will, and what he does right now is already good enough, hence why he starts regardless of manager.

eh yeah that depends on how you look at it, but I'd definitely consider him a goal threat. And at 22, I honestly think we are way too demanding on him.