robsblubot

Yeah quite a shocker, but palmeiras is one of those “solid teams” that can pull that off. Yet, flamengo is really a notch above everybody else in SA atm. Atletico comes close, but now they only have the brasileirao. We will likely be facing Filipe Luiz in the final. While they lost their best player in Gerson (24yo CM) - his second and last chance in Europe at Marseille - they've got Adreas Pereira from United to replace him. They've also just signed David Luiz, so a lot of familiar faces too. 😉

That was incredible! At some point it can't be just luck anymore. 😉 Think City has a squad that is fine-tuned to win the PL, but will always have a hard time in the CL. Their strategy of relentless pressure gives them great odds with a large enough sample (in the PL), but it's a different story in single-elimination where that one bad game, when they can't control counters, will send them home. Real, well their starting XI just isn't that impressive; there are lots of good players in the squad, but no game-winning material imo.

Hulk has been amazing in Brazil - yes a tier or two lower than Europe these days - but he's indeed dominant, while others who made the same move have not been able to deliver as much. Costa hasn't played much, but he's already scored and looked like the thorn he is (on the pitch that is )

yeah he did not work hard enough, which was really disappointing to me at least. And I'm just waiting to see what he will do when subbed off -- throw a tantrum? Although it seems the only way he gets off the pitch is on a stretcher. @ZAPHOD2319 I hope you are right, I truly do. Just don't see us beating them in the PL, sorry to say. Think we lost what made us difficult for them. One could say that the players who sit for lukaku are better than him... better footballers. I certainly think Kai is.

Mostly agree, although I don't necessarily consider Alonso a weak link, especially since we play with 3 at the back. He's often someone who needs stopping, which is what Pep did. Though perhaps chilwell should've come on once it became evident alonso was controlled. Chilwell must not be training super well atm. I think the balance was off and I have my doubts that we can match them at all with a luxury player on the pitch (dedicated striker).

They were overwhelmed because of the way city plays, by constantly outnumbering our players in all areas of the pitch. Hate to break it to you, but then we are not contenders. City (and Guardiola) secret sauce is exactly that every player is constantly involved in the build up. Or a more fair way to say it, they have more players involved in the buildup than other sides. Even their goalie was handpicked because he can pick a pass. And that's why we were able to match them last CL, because we also did that. If now we have a immobile striker who needs the ball at his feel, well, then we are fucked. Besides, those unacceptably poor first touches have little to do with how the team played and more to do with, well Lukaku's lack of skill. Lukauku's first touch is very popular on twitter right now, and I have to say deservedly so.

I actually watched him play a couple of times, and he's been playing well. It's not just goals, but his movement and pace are creating far more problems in Italy than they did in the PL. Or maybe he's just progressing well, but I suspect it's a little bit of both. This move was brilliant for him as a player.

Agree to disagree then. 👍 For me he killed so many counters with both bad, or lack of, movement as well as poor touches. He was completely absent in the build up, which does affect our overall performance esp going forward.

Could not cope with the quickness of city players. Hope it’s just early season form, but looked his age against city, I have to say. you know reading some posts today made me convinced I literally watched a different game. We actually played way better than city instead of been pinned down in our own half for most of the match. And we actually won! Silly me again.

Guardiola blocked alonso to stop us, and since we got nothing else going on, it worked wonders. Not really surprising, given how well alonso has been playing lately. Folks here really don’t understand Alonso’s role it seems. honestly thought the discussion would’ve been around lukakus United performance, but I guess…silly me.

Mostly agreed, but we play with 3 at the back, so alonso being attacked should be totally fine. The issue however, is that smart managers will block him from creating, which is what alonso is a creator in the team, which will render him useless. Then tuchel will prob bring chilwell back. that lukaku first touch (sic) in the first half is now imprinted in my brain. 🥺

Wasn’t the issue? He did not show up. I mean his first touch didn’t show, which means he did not either. Really poor showing by mr lukaku. this is what I was afraid of: against city at least, we appear weaker than last season and by a long shot.

The problem here is exactly with the bolded part above. We are challenging for silverware, and having a lesser option in goal for a significant amount of time can negatively affect our title challenges. I'm a big fan of Mendy. For me he's even better the Petr, but the fact that he will keep on vanishing to attend AFCON does make him a lesser option the other *top keepers* you've mentioned.

Agreed on Timo: he's very effective against their style of play. I don't think we need pace in all areas and slowing down the game worked very well in the CL final for example. It's very important to keep the ball, so that they don't have it at all times, therefore don't think Tuchel will be making drastic changes. City has immense quality, and so do we. Games like these are decided in a detail, so it's presumptuous to give too much favoritism either way. We may be slightly in better form atm, but both sides are still making early season adjustments.

I honestly don't know what Odoi's best position is. He needs to beat defenders and/or provide creativity to play as a winger, and he does neither these days. Worried about him.

Sure, and if Werner gets in the start XI someone else will have to leave and we will miss what he does on the pitch. Kai looks also less with Lukaku on the pith in my eyes. There is no win-win here because we had a VERY strong side last season already. Again, I agree that Lukaku helps a lot winning those physical PL matches, but he will always play due to the price tag. Also, the formation that we used last season (+ dedicated striker) was the one from the first half against spurs. We only became as solid as last season when added a 3rd CM with Kante. That's because the balance of the team was a bit off when facing a stronger side. Potentially because Lukaku does not "run like dog" like Werner. 😆 We will find out more as the season progress, but I'm still very curious as to what we will do against City and United, not to mention the later stages of CL.

I think we are agreeing more than disagreeing. Think we have played one top club so far, one contender for the PL title, and that's Liverpool. So, I'm just cautious here. My only point, which is the one I share with Tomo, is that while I completely agree with your that we've gained against the smaller sides, we've also lost certain things by adding a dedicated striker like Lukaku. It's never a win-win! Allow me to exemplify: Is Lukaku exactly the same as Werner? Better yet, does Lukaku do *everything* that Werner does AND on top of that scores far more goals? Or is he a completely different player? For me it's clearly the latter, which makes the team different from last season.

That'd be like having the exact squad from last season and adding Lukaku without taking someone off. Since we can't play with 12 players on the pitch, something is always lost to gain what Lukaku provides. Point being is that we don't yet know how we fare against the big teams and we will definitely need lukaku to show up. Spurs isn't a big team at the moment - they simply lack quality all around to be considered one.

Yes, Mount should've done better, but it was his good run and then pass to Lukaku on the right that made the play. He wasn't all alone either, being surrounded by 2-3 players. I understood what mount tried to do: he stretched his leg for an early shot to beat the defender who was closing in - it did not work, but it wasn't a bad decision. Personally, I think if a striker receives a pass in that position, he needs to take the shot. Esp one who's main quality is his finishing.

Heh true and from what he said the change was more like a message than anything else. He said he’s wasnt ready to talk about positioning/movement (tweaks) considering the lack of energy in the first half. Must have been an interesting locker room at half time.

Indeed. Had our attacking players been a bit sharper today and it could’ve been historic.

Interesting interview from tuchel: he was not happy at all with the energy of the first half.

Starting deeper could indeed work for him, it we’d lose the high press. That’s one advantage mount has: he allows the manager to change the system without making tactical changes (current form aside of course). either way we have so much quality atm it’s just incredible compared to other seasons.

He kinda has already. He’s really a b2b who presses high up. he’s just a bit off atm esp final third, which happens. That’s why it’s important have a quality squad like we do.

Sad Spurs… they don’t have a whole lot aside from an disinterested Kane and son.