robsblubot

he's the only shooter from range we've got. 😟

and pretty much night and day claiming crosses (or any high ball inside the box) due to his height and reach. It all plays a part.

Correctly ruled out imo and a pretty standard call. Seen it ruled out every time when an offside player is "remotely" blocking the goalie's view. They are wrong btw. It's not only about the view, but also attention. It's a human condition that movement catches our attention esp if in proximity. The rule is such that an offside player should not provide any advantage. West Brom players were in bad positions and were also slow to react. They should know better.

He clearly works way too hard.

brain-dead squad management risking Kante in this match. Really worried about Pulisic form - pretty horrible showing and he seems to struggle in physical matches.

Despite his poor finishing, don't think our difficulties to score are solely down to Werner. Pulisic has been very poor - pretty horrible showing against Leicester today tbh. I liked mount in the FA cup final, but not today... poor passing. And unlike Kante, neither Kovacic nor Jorginho help up front.

clear handball and penalty earlier on Werner. Werner handball was really poor from him. That should've been a goal.

think you've answered your own question there. 😉

hmm so, you are saying that Mendy is so good, but so good that Kepa not being anywhere near that standard makes him still OK? 🤔 How about this: Mendy is indeed an excellent goal keeper. And most other top clubs have excellent goal keepers as well. They all have different strengths and weaknesses. however, none of them have this deficiency with long shots. It's kinda a deal breaker at this level. My personal take is that Kepa is one of the worst goalies I've seen play the game - especially at this level. Folks are being WAY too nice to him here. He hurts the team's defense in ways that are difficult to measure, but defending is consistently worse whenever he plays. Perhaps because players scramble to close down the opposition to avoid long shots? Mendy was one of the reasons we started defending better. heh, would be very surprised if Kepa plays under Tuchel again.

any chance you'd be saying the exact same thing had Mendy not stopped that benzema shot in the 25th minute (of the second leg Cl match)? I'd not have criticized Mendy for not catching that, and yet he did. The shot was far enough that I feel Kepa could have taken a step before jumping, which would have increased his reach. Better goalies seem to "guess" the flight of the ball better than Kepa does. He's just got low reach. So many long shots go in when he's in goal... that's not normal at this level.

Not a bad stat for an attacking minded mid. His job is not spin around 5 times like Eden used to do for the delight of many here. He's very direct, and I like that about him.

Yup good point. opposition players are encouraged when seeing kepa on goal. It’s not the first long range shot he does not go near. folks who are saying we’ve been harsh on him are missing that this is hardly the first time. Had benzema scored that goal in the 25th minute and nobody would’ve blamed Mendy, it would’ve been unsavable… but he saved it.

"being a cup keeper" sure, which is about value/money after all. Hard to get rid of him if no other club (he'd like to play for) wants him. That we will be paying his wages for a long while is a sure thing. What remains to be seen is if we can get him out of the club (and contention), and as a plus, have some of his wages covered. Kepa looked like a huge mistake by the time he signed and turned out even worse than feared.

sure, but single elimination games are often decided in a small detail, an action/inaction here and there. We reduced our chances of overcoming an insipid performance by starting Kepa. in hindsight, we did have an insipid performance, and Kepa did not deliver the great save we needed (the opposition goalie did).

that tells more about our superior quality than hunger iMO. Leicester had to be hungrier to match our play, and they did that by defending very well. While we mostly had the ball in midfield, we did not control actions there that comfortably. The surprise for me was how defensive our lineup and strategy were. I disagree with most folks here that taking Alonso off was the right move: we needed a goal and his goal tally speaks for itself. Chilwell could've been brought in while still keeping alonso (also adding giroud much sooner), to put some pressure in their defense. Remember it was a heavy pitch and once they scored, spaces behind their defense line became very scarce.

I also think Mendy, due to his reach, had a much better chance of saving that shot. T-rex kepa (just stole that) must go... the problem of having him in the squad is that he will end up playing and then becoming a liability. 👍I think you hit the nail on the head regarding the players. There was a clear hungrier side on the pitch today, and it wasn't Chelsea! We got a bit hungrier after conceding, but it's usually too late in these type of games. Ah darn sorry for the DP.

Seconded. Also goes from MotM to liability in the same game! he seems to lack mentality.

Right and the defense did really well - leicester had nothing up front entire game. Won with shot from very far. All are attackers are on the younger side, so IMO we do lack experience in the squad. one silver lining for me was mason mount who once again stepped up his game and was only denied by the opposition goalie (who was excellent).

Just watched the highlights of juve vs inter and I think referee and var made history: not one of the multiple penalties given were actual penalties, from soft to blatant dives.

Btw, I’m a big fan of soyuncu … wish we made a move for him as a long term replacement for Silva.

Lol calm down it’s a young side - pretty much all the attacking players are on the younger side. experience in finals does matter. They clearly struggled with the heavy pitch and he physically of the game. They will do better next time… hopefully very soon. 😉 these players have huge potential, but aren’t the final product just yet. The fact we are here competing for silverware so soon is actually surprising to me.

Honestly, selections apart, my only tactical complaint was moving Reece back … that made no sense. Yeah Vardy is a thread but you are losing the game, so you need Reece up there and azpi is a great defender. While I do agree with most of the rotation (except kepa), the subs came in a bit late for me too.

Indeed very poor game against leicester in the final. Struggled against their physical defending and the heavy pitch… just not good enough. feel that giroud would’ve scored from the Silva cross. He timed it wrong.

Lol and Completely agree!

It’s a young side esp up front and experience plays a big part. folks want a young and exciting side, but forget experience is key in finals bc they can be very peculiar matches.