robsblubot

Fair enough, but he’s not the highest earner only because he does not want to be. point being he does enjoy a certain status at the club that can be very very appealing to certain players.

I honestly think his potential absence is greatly exaggerated. Folks are thinking of what we have now, but a reminder that he is our top earner. These type of wages can attract excellent players to our club.

Agreed. He is indeed very close to becoming a top midfielder. the impressive thing is that on top of all that size and power, he’s got close control, finesse, and acceleration... not to mention scoring massive goals. Makes him really tough to play against in contested areas. Reckon that will translate really well against stronger opposition. just needs to improve composure and fitness.

good points. However, I cannot separate our difficulty in keeping possession in the first half, as a possession side that is, from the absolutely poor touches and passing by higuain. His inability on the ball was hurting us in the first half, and I think this is going to keep on happening given his age. Reckon we just can't afford having bystanders with the style in which we play. Again, unless we change the style and rely less on possession to defend, but then I don't think we have the players for it. Regardless, very happy with the top 4 and with RLC impact. Always thought he had the most important: skill.

Sorry, but those very heavy touches just won’t cut it against stronger opposition. It’s like he can only score with first time shots...

I thought he was great at United and was picked as motm by many. Now, he was terrible against warford. In attack, he was timid, slow, uncommitted, just passing the ball back even though he had lots of space. Rattled by the fans perhaps? in defense, wasn’t closing down on players quickly enough for me. he was contending with higuain as the worst player on the pitch, but then higuain scored, so alonso won.

We seem to value motm performances, which included the goal that earned us a point and kept us in the race for CL, very differently. my personal take is that Alonso’s ability to win us points is wasted when he plays LB. he’s often ineffective there for the reasons already discussed ad nauseam. It’s the manager job to find the position where players are the most effective. Sorry just don’t see any quality in Emerson.

Right on. And their defensive deficiencies are very different too, which seems to confuse folks: Emerson’s pace helps him to transition back better than Alonso, but Alonso is physically stronger and wins many headers (check stats from United game). after a tough away game where Alonso was arguably motm, I’m still waiting to see a similar contribution in attack from Emerson. they are both terrible at crossing the ball though. Really painful to watch.

Agreed. Not much different with spurs tho. They have a couple of dangerous players, but they are a tier below the other side of the bracket.

Yes, but for me the run he did not make, and that Alonso did, was the most worrying part. it’s the most basic thing as a striker: someone shoots from afar, you run towards the goalie... period. A number of things can happen and the striker must be about to benefit... it’s his fucking job to make those runs.

They both (Emerson and Alonso) struggle when pressed like any player on earth. It’s down to the system to protect them against overlaps and what not. to me he was actually quite solid defensively winning many headers and tackles, but that’s what I saw. We seem to always see a different game. Also that is narrowing down to defensive ability, which I actually think they are very similar, with Alonso having an edge in high balls and set pieties. not exactly sure what Emerson is good at to be honest. He runs fast nice! eden has a very poor and, but folks here will see his nice turns and runs where all I can from him is the last ball.

That run that alonso made was what higuain should have done, but was resting away from the goal, well because he needed the rest... Since I know nobody here will say it, alonso had a very good game today. still, given our striker options, I’d not hesitate to try alonso there, instead of our two retirees. Miss morata

Hmm ball playing CBs “properly defend” by keeping possession. Sure they need to throw a tackle here and there, anticipate, and def win headers esp in set pieces, but The most important is being comfortable on the ball esp passing. hazard is one of the defensive problems we have in the system we try to employ. because of his free role. Nobody enjoys a free role at city. Messi does at Barca, but he’s a high working rate genius. Those sides employ a high press where attacking players swarm the opposition until they regain possession. They only rest when they have the football and by passing it around. So, I’m not disagreeing regarding Andreas, because his development has indeed stalled, which is worrying. He’s prob not that match fit tho. I am however disagreeing that Zouma can ever play in a remotely possession side. Perhaps you are thinking of a more direct system. Rudiger, who’s a lot better than zouma with the ball is already questionable in that system. I meant that it’s too soon to declare Andreas a flop. CBs mature late and at different progression rates. No guarantees, of course.

Yeah. Though even without the injury odoi is still a few years away from being able to really influence games, esp at CL. then again, so is Bayern.

This is factually correct. There have been numerous reports from former players stating that hazard enjoys a free role at the club. Under different managers too. as he should, but I agree that perhaps we just aren’t good enough to have a player in a free role at the moment.

The only big disagreement is regarding azpi, who for me is still twice the player and was a lot better than Emerson against burnley. Emerson final ball wasn’t good and that’s what’s important at this level... anyone can run and be active. Our defense line conceded 2 goals from set pieces and Emerson was part of that defense line. Imagine what folks would say if it were alonso sitting on his ass for the second... alonso’s obvious (and perhaps only) virtue is set pieces. He also fares better against physical teams due to height and power. Emerson is easily outmuscled, and often is. At least that’s what I see. Alonso’s lack of pace would not have been a problem either, against burnley, since we played in their half for most of the game. While both have been poor, they also have different characteristics and the manager should chose the one who fits the needs of the team in a game by game basis. Words like better liability, solid, are way too generic for me. Things are usually a bit more nuanced that that.

Andreas is CHOs age in CB years.

Hah the one game he would have been useful... burnley, as he’s actually good at set pieces, both defense and attack. in most other cases, there does not seem to make a difference which one plays.

His youth will help him have a speedy recovery. This injury can really be a dangerous one at senior level, but Odoi will recover. Time for the club to show commitment and get him a long term deal. Perhaps the player and his father/agent will have a difference appreciation for what can happen in a footballers career. Just a minor silver lining.

He was actually playing very well against burnley and got tired in the second half. There was very little space and game to be played in the final 20 mins or so. Disagree that his positioning was wrong. Eden needs spaces to play, big burly burnley players would’ve had the advantage had Eden verged in he center. Having loftus there made more sense. a reminder that we did score two goals... with edens assist too. just couldn’t defend set pieces, which I like to remind people are very very important in football.

That’s basically what I said: Odoi was having a decent game and Pedro had a poor game. Again, different times. Odoi would be having a good game if he was beating players with all that directness, he wasn’t. So while, I like the quick passing and movement, he wasn’t really influencing the game the way you may be suggesting, imo. So, you are establishing causation where there is likely none, or very little. That was my point. The odds that odoi would’ve been better than Pedro are very high because we agree that he was. The odds that we’d have won the game had he stayed becomes a little more difficult to establish, and imo aren’t very good. Even Eden was having trouble crossing the ball today, again, because of the opposition and the way they play.

Correlation does not establish causation. odoi was having decent game, and Pedro came on and had a poor game. They also played in different situations during the match. Reckon Pedro had it a bit more difficult. Likely wouldn’t have mattered. Now that I see more of him, reckon Emerson’s call to fame is not being alonso, but it is still difficult to cross the ball against packed defenses of tall and strong players. That’s why sarri kept loftus since he was one the few of our players outmuscling he opposition.

Rudiger is indeed our best cb by far.and used to the system, unlike Andreas. yes, the first half injuries played a big part, with our inability to defend set pieces aside. esp second half when some players looked very tired.

wasn’t the starting lineup a good one, some said it was great? Thing is that opposition matters a lot more than a name or two in the lineup. These guys are all strong and powerful and made our life very difficult today. We could’ve used better fullbacks perhaps, and players tired out in the second half. Injuries forced sarris hand, but all sensible tactical choices imo. RLC was doing well and joining the attack often, but we just could not put good balls in the box. dont like higuain myself, but usually against replacing a player who’s scored. That’s the only disagreement I have, which matters very little. The defense line was obviously vulnerable to set pieces. Ball playing cbs + 2 short fbs. The change in the cb also affects them esp a player who hasn’t played much this season. btw, don’t bee too harsh on Andreas, he’s Cho’s age in CB years.

We have Michy and Tammy out on loan. I'd rather have them any day. He’s really a tier or two above those two imo. Not because morara is great but because those two are not really good footballers. Tammy still has time to improve, but does not look promising I must say. while I agree with @Superblue_1986 that Morata is likely going to flop again, I don’t think we have much of a choice. he’s imo a lot better than the two strikers we got. Still he does not want to be here and does not have any to do the work, so only so much we can do.