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Haaland isn't available. Werner skill does not concern me at all. He may lack skill and passing for a winger, the same way that if you'd give Silva the number 10 his passing would look like shit. Wenger is twice the striker Abraham is and should always play ahead of him. I am, however, concerned with Wenger becoming a de facto winger at chelsea (if not by trade, by accident) and that may make things harder for him, eventually affecting his confidence.

Playing on the wing is also more demanding. I also think it's unfair to expect striker-like effectiveness when he plays winger. He gets a lot more involved in other tasks as a winger (even inside striker), so naturally the focus isn't the same as if he were playing striker. Think that's clear when you watch him play for Germany. The fact he's been playing in the wing may hurt us when things get tighter and we need an extra class up front - Abraham ain't it. Werner should be playing more in the center with Odoi coming on to the left... dunno why that's not being done at all.

yeah maybe. I hope I'm wrong about Rice (given that we are really after him). He looks pretty inapt on the ball to me.

fair enough on Jorginho, but I feel that the point still stands as I think Rice looks too much of a defender-only to me.

ideally, we'd have a player with the technique and passing of jorginho who would turn into a Rice when the game demands it. That's easier said than found though. Vieira is retired and RM won't sell Casemiro.

Kepa should be looking for a new club if he ever wants to play again. Can always wait 5 to 7 years, perhaps then Mendy will be too old...

heh could see that it would be set pieces never mind Giroud just scored haha

Massive game by Mount. Silva's passing from the back is a joy to behold. Don't think the ball even bounces coming off of his feet.... crazy shit.

Having a massive game against Rennes. Assist aside, that control from Chilwell's pass was something else... high ball surrounded by 2 players and he manages to keep possession by lobbing the ball around with perfect touches. He can play anywhere - very rounded player. @DDA might be right about CM position, but I guess that depends on the system. Often he is actually a CM even if "on paper" his position is slightly higher on the pitch. Underrated!

Yeah good point. Strangely enough, Abraham is also not an aerial threat, which makes him a hard pick against Werner, IMO. Werner has all that plus some (more skill, intensity, and pace)... can't see Abraham starting a lot of games when everybody is healthy, but good option to have.

yeah he's just too good to be third option as he shows for France (and for us not so long ago). IMO Giroud is a lot better than Abraham right now, but I do understand why the club is betting on Abraham to improve and become a better player.

hmm 2018 run a bit of luck (good side of the bracket plus a Kane dive here and there), which I guess counts as overachievement IMO. The team is just not elite level esp in midfield and def. Sterling is the only WC player in the squad (Kane is good, but not elite IMO a bit too slow these days). This was blatantly clear against Belgium: England tries to move the ball around and play progressively, but they do it so much slower than belgium.

that is indeed what happens in the the vast majority of times when a team acquires a few players significantly changing the starting XI. I think I've seen, maybe a couple of times where the players just "clicked" and started playing together right off the bat, and it likely because they were experienced players. I think most of us were worried about Lampard's (seemingly) inability to correct the defense. Mendy corroborated a lot of opinions here that one of the biggest problems we had was indeed kepa. If you go back his thread, I was never a fan (to say the least), but his recent form was a constant liability.

I can see that. Pedro was more direct, like Mount is, which is showcased by his ability to score. On the other hand, I thought Pedro's defensive work was only at the level of Willian's in very special circumstances. Willian is very consistent in his defensive work. I'd say that it is his most obvious quality as he does not really have games where he's not tracking back, or not applying pressure to the opposition. His attacking deficiencies are well known though. And I see that consistency in Mount too. This is a very important role in football. You need to have the option to close down channels in specific games, and Mount gives you that with the added benefit of his ability to score. Mount is a bit underrated esp by England fans.

Reece IMO is the one academy player who is closest to WC. He's been improving a lot esp around his initial deficiencies: work rate (esp lack of urgency) and defense. He has the one characteristic that I've seen in the very best fullbacks over the years, which is the ability to produce good crosses from anywhere on the pitch. The vast majority of FBs need to get into good positions behind opposition's defense line to produce good crosses, while Reece can do that much earlier, sometimes even before the opposition has a chance to challenge him - very difficult to defend against that.

Heh if they got Willian expecting goals and assists, that's on them (they can't read stats apparently). It's apples and oranges though as they have entirely different roles, even if same position. When I hear criticism on Mount (Chelsea and esp England), it makes me laugh. It's really good for the manager to have Mount as an option for the tougher matches.

Willian is a very different player. The only thing they have in common is that both may roam on the right wing. It'd be as wrong comparing Ziyech Mount. (Mount has been doing Willian's job for us) A more apt comparison, even if from the other side, would be Mata IMO. Ziyech looks similar to Mata in terms of style of play, but with a much higher work rate, which will allow him to be influential in far more games, and tougher games at that. That has been my issue with Mata.

nah he's a decent/good player and that's about it. Need to improve a lot! For all his height, his aerial play is pretty mediocre. His far better games are against the weakest opposition. Mount is the better player (more influential in tougher matches), while Reece is the only one with WC potential, IMO. Youth bias playing a part here.

In Portuguese, one would say that "Ziyech acabou com o jogo." Roughly translates to: he finished (destroyed with) the game, as in mortal kombat, "finish him." (I guess you could say "dominate", but it's really not the same heh) Just thought a player delivering such a performance fully deserved that sentence. I'm seeing things in Reece that I've only seen in the best fullbacks over the years. If he continues developing as he has, he can easily become a world class player.

Yes, perhaps the team is a bit soft, perhaps height is even more of an issue, but the idea was to keep possession given that most players are now skilled enough for that. We just haven't been able to do that yet. The whole team is doing better in defense and helping out closing down players and runs. You have those Silva moments, or a good header by zouma (good in the air), but defending is really the whole team. I hope that when we are discussing the midfield here, we are not only talking about Kante and Jorgino, because if we are, then we'd be the only team in the world who plays with a midfield duo... Yes they are the CMs on paper, but midfield is every player who roams in midfield during the game; and that's typically (at least) 5 players at any given time these days - possession sides tend to have even more players in that area at all times. When luiz played for us he joined the midfield often, even if most folks don't see that as important ability for a defender, it can help a side esp with transition. Zouma cannot do that, but I think Silva can and will be able to help more than "just defending." His passing is really good even under pressure (yes I worry about zouma's passing but he does bring height and power which we may lack atm). it's the same with Kai and the wingers.. they will learn how to move in and out the center midfield area and without spending as much energy. I'm optimistic that once the players trust themselves in the defensive tasks, and start jelling, these tasks will get easier and they will start producing more up front. They might be overtight with the effort to stop the bleeding right now, which was very important to do. I also don't understand what the mandatory Abraham sub brings, esp because despite his height, he's pretty poor in the air and at winning that second ball. Giroud would be a far better option to close out the game and/or just hold the ball up front as it is something he does often for france. Maybe Abraham is suppose to counter, but Timo is better at that. Oh well.

Silva: that tackle/block on his buddy Cavani at the end of the game was something else. Mendy looks like an excellent gk what a signing! He's twice the goalie Kepa is and that's completely unrelated to form. Patience... lots of new players who are also new to the league.

Eden, "But if I’m on vacation, I’m on vacation." when trying to justify showing up for pre-season carrying extra weight. And that's when playing for his "dream club." We sold him at the right time.

did not watch the game, but too many conclusions about players here. Yes I also think Mendy improves our defense tremendously, but the only point that I'm allowed to make today is this: It's presumable that defending, and our defensive weakness have been discussed ad nauseam (externally and esp internally) for the past few days. So, what likely happened today was that all players put an additional focus on defensive tasks, especially considering the strength of the opposition. That would have affected our attacking output without a doubt, as well improved our defending. The key is to find that so important balance: getting to a point where the defense line is well-protected without spending too much energy in defensive tasks. in football everybody defends and everybody attacks. A quick transition from the back can be the difference between winning and losing a match. We are just not there yet. Like some have said, the opposition is strong, so not a terrible result even at home.

Just commenting the highlighed text. Can't speak for everyone, but that's not at all my issue with Zouma. I agree that he is very consistent, and there lies the problem for me: he's consistently bad. Merely being consistent cannot possibly be good enough at this level... Once again, take the last 15 or so minutes of the game against Soton as an example. He made a few importance clearances, even a nice last-ditch one. The issue is that every time he cleared the ball, it went right back to Soton, and in consequence, they were right back at us. Every time he passes the ball, and has to adjust his body to make the simplest pass (bakayoko style), is a red flag. For teams that will apply pressure up front, closing down on Zouma will be the bread and butter to regaining possession close to our goal. "physical centre forward" Not sure that's as important as it once was. The top sides employ players like Aguero, Jesus, Firmino, Martial... We employ a pacy skilled forwarder now. Can say perhaps Kane has some strength, but that's about it. Honestly, we should be overwhelming the smaller sides by keeping the ball most of the time and that's an easier task without Zouma. Andreas is underrated here and IMO would have a much easier time finding a spot in a top side. He's a good footballer, which is something Zouma isn't. Zouma is the quintessential sub. The very limited CB that you put in when you are defending against those final set pieces, and that's about it.

My screen must be broken, because when I see (the good them of) France play, I see Kante pretty much fixed as a ball-winning mid. And, at least in last game, he even played on the left, something myself and others here have always wondered given our extremely attacking (poor at defending) LBs. Chilwell is pretty much an attacking FB as well... Does Kante have anything in his contract that states he must play b2b for us? because that's not his best role. Jorginho is a possession type of player: if your team does not keep the ball, then I don't know what he brings. And then if you do want to keep possession, you simply can't play Zouma and expect to be able to keep possession. It just takes one to send the ball to row z or right back to the opposition. I concur with above that Silva and Tomori, on paper, should be tried and they should complement each other's game well. Think Andreas is a good player to have in the roster and can produce good games when called upon. He usually falters when played often - possibly a physical weakness. Think I've already made my point about zouma. On the other hand, we are just too exposed at the back at the moment. I don't know if we can make it better with the players Frank picked today - looks like a pretty attacking-minded lineup to me. That's something Mount can provide though: that needed solidity by having that additional ball winner aside from the 2 CMs (being nice to Jorginho here). Little puzzle for Lampard to figure out.