robsblubot

Heh watch him plenty. Great technique with silky passing doing one twos all the time with his teammates (like the pk against newcastle). His end product... what would that be then? What’s the reason to attack, to link up play, if not to score? Scoring is the goal of all attacking (no pun intended ). when you say that he’s not a good attacking FB, while I completely disagree, fair enough. One can argue he does not overlap as much as he should because of his lack of pace. But then when talking about him being targeted, then you lose me. every attacking fullback is a weakness in defense and is targeted by the opposition. Not only because of his skill set but also the fact he will often leave his position in defense unguarded, well ... to attack. Marcelo is a mule defending, prob the worst I’ve ever seen. And yet Real Madrid does not leak goals from his side on every game. It’s a choice they make (to employ him) and adjust the system to support him. same way that when Eden beats a player or players with dribbling, often the defense adjusts and does not break. The system defends, not a single player. At least he's good in the air in defense.

I hear you, but FBs have two jobs: one is to defend and the other is to contribute in attack. Some would say that an attacking FB's job is to attack first, again esp because the other one we got produces little in the final third. You literally cannot contribute more in attack than scoring a goal. And as mentioned above, these are important goals who change/changed games. Dribbling and linking up play nicely may or may not change games... Goals always do.

Interesting that other attacking FBs don’t get the same criticism for lacking in defense (and most are not good in the air). Teams balance that out esp if you already have a purely defensive FB on the other side. Which makes covering even easier. The system should play to the strength of the players you’ve got. Alonso is a threat to the opposition. If he is poor in defense get someone to cover him when he goes up. Who? Anyone who does not contribute as much as he does. pretty common practice actually.

heh the penalty he got, which was debatable but not an absurd call, was the result of a great overlap, which admittedly he could indeed do more of, esp in the final third. He tends to operate a bit deeper in midfield, which made him a good fit for a 5 in the middle IMO. Still quality guy and we prob would one him in the squad one way or another. Considering his quality inside the box, perhaps we should try him up front on occasion. Perhaps when chasing a goal, stick Emerson in LF and push Alsonso up.

yeah good point. Then again, that was last season. Go back enough and he has few goals and still plays and is not sold to buy a "proper" striker. There are personal preferences at play here. I have no problem if the club can sign Luis Suarez or Lewandowski (who tends to vanish in tough matches in CL), but those folks are not available. Lukaku, Higuain, they are not better than what we have, just different.

sure, that'd be great, but hard and expensive to find. Not sure Higuain is that either. My point is that it's not a necessity. RM did not drop Benzema when he stopped scoring, which has been quite a while. They like what he does on the pitch even when he does not score. My second point is that when you employ a striker who's only a goal scorer, which also applies to other strikers like lukaku, you gain some but also lose some. Great if they are scoring, but close to a liability when they are not. With many teams playing with mobile strikers, or (real :)) false nines, I just feel this idea of having a striker responsible for most of the goals is passe. For ex, Firmino is far more of a Morata type than a Higuain or Lukaku. He scores few goals and works well in that system because the team is good and the players around him gel well with his style of play. Now, of course, we could discuss whether we have enough goal scorers in the squad right now. Or whether the style in which we now play could actually help our attackers in terms of scoring goals. Reckon we will find out very soon.

heh let this one pass... football has changed and it's simply no longer as important for the strikers to be the sole source of goals. CL has been dominated by a team with Benzema up front, who's more of a setter holder than proper striker. WC was won by a team whose striker did not score a single goal during the competition (happens to be in our roster). Really really top strikers and goal scorers are a an extremely rare product and only a few teams have - and won't let them go very easy. Having a player like Morata, who's not a prolific scorer, but contributes to the team is absolutely fine IMO.

Sure, but why would it be any different than the other WC players in other teams? I mean every team has the (or more than one) high earner. No other player in the squad is as famous or as impactful as Hazard. Kante comes close, but attacking players, esp creative types will always earn more. Look at it from a diff perspective: if we go into the market looking for a Hazard type, a player ready to do what he does, we would have to break the bank (if we find and manage to convince him to join us). So, in all likelihood, the only other option (to hazard staying) would be making bets on youngsters/not yet ready players - hardly the same thing. So, if there is an opening, the club should def go all in. Now, if there is no opening no chance of him staying (the club has to know either way!), then I'd say we are wasting time and should be already making those bets and/or trying to attract a replacement.

lol he managed to not complete a single pass in the first half... and he did not play as a striker.

VDK is probably better than any defender we currently have (Andrea's potential aside). He was always a good player. The questions were around around his injuries and fitness level. Still early days, but it seems he has been able to remain fit for long periods of time.

As one who does not rate Hazard as highly as others around here do, for very specific reasons (that I won't revisit at this time), I'd be totally OK if Chelsea made him one of the highest paid footballers in order to keep him. If that's what we have to do to compete with the likes of RM and Barcelona, then so be it. Call it the london tax, or the "not being Barca/RM fee", whatever. If there is an opening, that he is indeed settled in london, and there is price to retain his services, then just fucking do it!

Reckon It's the beginning of the season factor. All players are somewhat unfit, but some more than others due to longer vacation, niggling injuries, or their own physique/natural fitness level.

not a great debut (at the bridge), but a good/decent one. Imagine his nerves playing to that crowd the first time in a frenetic derby with everything moving a hell lot faster than he was used to.

hah sure, but between shooting and scoring more or signing a new deal, I'd much prefer the latter. I'm sure we can find a place for him in the team - just the way he is.

Fair enough. yeah my initial impression was that Willian did not move towards the ball at all. Kinda hoping arsenal player would miss the interception. Would like to watch it again from a different angle, but that was my impression. That was also in midfield with plenty of players behind the ball. So, while an unforced error, not really the end of the world IMO.

Was it only Ross though? I mean it was a weak pass, but Willian stood there waiting for it all the same. Only when the ball was intercepted did he deem to move.

It's going to be a long process... Formation changes are NEVER easy on defenders and defensive mids who have to do the covering. On top of that we have new players AND a new GK. Get ready and remain calm...

agreed. While Kovacic is obviously a level above him, Ross did very well especially in the second half. He finally looked like doing something with the football. This is a team with far more quality as in technique all around. Good to watch!

too nice... Final minutes against arsenal has Giroud and Hazard in a counter facing a single defender. Hazard has the football and Giroud makes a selfless run to the left which increases his angle towards the goal. That would have open a move to the right for eden to beat his marker, yet he chooses to assist Giroud. It was a selfless choice, but the wrong one. Still had a cracking game against Arsenal. Just needs to get into shape ASAP, so he can play the 90.

For a player who can strike the ball so well, some of his crosses are a bit awkward. Still, the assist for the first goal was something else. Not only a perfect final pass to Pedro, but the first touch to control the long ball. Always a quality player in my book. Need a bit of system at work to protect him for both his lack of pace and the fact he's an attacking FB and will get forward a lot (as he should). If he does not make that run into the box, there is no goal and no win. Only goals count in this game.

Very strong half against arsenal. Movement pace, dribbling, and the goal. Needs to build on that. Giroud is the one looking a big off. Perhaps just WC hangover.

Yup but forget hazard... diff category pedro looks like a proper winger, while Willian does not and has not for quite some time.

Not bad for alonso: an assist and a goal... and now just defended well from the set piece... if ppl would only see...

He is, but then it’s his first tough game in a new league and new system. Pl frenetic pace needs getting used to. Others have’t figured out the system yet. so not entirely surprising. Just happy for morata return to football.

Can we agree a player cannot defend against two opponents exchanging passes? Classic overlaps. In the 2 goals the fullbacks are beaten but not by a single player, but 2 or more doing overlaps. the mids need to track back to stop that. THe cbs cannot leave their position, otherwise they create another hole. Kante? Or Jorginho actually did run to help alonso then he stopped tracking the player.. weird it’s the middle... maybe just mechanics which are still rusty.