robsblubot

Yeah man, I think there is a big difference between the pl and the top of the championship. So much so that the teams who move to the PL are usually the top candidates to drop right back. and bear in mind that while we are not so hot these days, the bottom half of the pl is really no competition for us. As it should be, given the level of investment. So, honestly I don’t think Tammy’s form in the championship guarantees anything... hopefully the kid has been hitting the gym and learning plenty. right now we’ve seen RLC have big moments and even big games. That’s the natural process... next should come some consistency. I thought Ross would be contributing to some goals, but yeah seems it’s either RLC or we will be in trouble... midfield gotta score goals.

Not sure the #1, since we will be losing important players and unless RLC delivers, I don't see who is going to be scoring from midfield. Not even mentioning the striker situation, since Higuain is on loan.... However, since we are discussing FBs, the RB options too need improving. We can't have Azpi playing every match every season... there is a reason the manager does not rotate in certain positions. Fans tend to cling to the "grass is always greener" idea, but most of the time, the manager and all his/club's staff aren't quacks.

heh quality FBs are as rare as they are unavailable, unless we make bets. IMO the problem isn't Dave or Alonso, but their subs are not good enough to put any pressure or rotate. We have another major weaknesses in midfield, which is the lack of goals. Kante is doing surprisingly well in that role, but he will never pull a Rakitic (very underrated player despite being a match winner). Scoring, or at least shooting, from midfield can be the difference in tough matches when the attackers aren't getting behind the defense line. We need a long-term striker option, a midfielder who can attack and score (may be RLC but Ross does not seem to be it), wingers (esp with Eden and CHo leaving),and only then an FB upgrade, if available. Not easy...

Agreed on RLC... can play in multiple positions, which can help the manager tweak the team during a match: make it more attacking with him as a CM for ex. He has the most important: technique. Yeah under no illusion that Morata may still cut it in the PL - it is really interesting how league characteristics play such a big part in whether a player will succeed or not. His game just works better in Spain... is it less contact, a bit slower w/ more time on the ball, the language? prob all of the above. When I last saw Tammy, he looked very far from the finished product. He looked like a kid playing amongst adults, and in a position where contact will take place often. Did not have the body mass for the PL (contact and acceleration/power). Perhaps because of that, his technique was too subpar. Remains to be seen whether he's developed physically enough to be given a shot. Reckon if he shows up the same he will not (be given a shot). Bats does not belong in tier 1 I'm afraid - not even as a sub. His technique is just not good enough and will actually hurt the team, IMO. He's a decent poacher, but his link up play is nonexistent... as in sometimes when he runs he's not really in control of the football. Nothing like a ban to calm down Roman and the board.

Agreed. I honestly think RLC is really close to becoming a pretty important player for us - just needs some continuity esp remaining injury-free for some time. BTW, did you mean Morata/Bats/Abraham by chance? Either way striker will likely remain a big problem. Abraham is the player I'm mostly unsure of. As in, I don't know whether he's going to make it at this level.

First game I watched of Emerson in the PL and have to say that he was very poor... I hope this is not his normal, because the passing was nowhere near this level: all backwards and safe passes esp under pressure. Outmuscled easily out of plays and produced little to nothing in attack. Ross' performance was also worrying, but yeah the team was a bit sluggish overall. Need to keep rotating to get them a bit fresher.

While agreeing with the sentiment, I find it hard to compare Morata with Bakayoko. While Morata had a great start, had good games, and important goals at some point, Bakayoko never really player at a normal level at Chelsea. It felt like Morata was "only" a couple of tweaks from making it here, while Bakayoko was never really that close.

Heh watched the game and thought Hazard was pretty mediocre. Horrible game of football btw, with players missing 5 year passes and poor defending... Lewa found himself in the box completely alone a couple of times. Bundesliga produces these really strangely open games these days - stark contrast from the past where defending was top notch.

Yes I did and still think it is a load of crap....

What a load of crap. That's why players should never be in charge of the club. Kepa's refusal may have costed the club a lot of money - is he responsible for that? Is Kepa going to pay the club back for the loss of revenue - or his teammates missed bonuses? Yes, it is whatif scenario, but the manager, and I bet many coaches on the bench, thought WIlly would have had a better shot at the PK shootouts... that's the one thing WIlly is good at. It is one of the worst acts of insubordination a player can have on the pitch... no one is saying Kepa should be sold, and in the long run (someone I know) pointed out this could be a good thing (the determination he showed), but he definitely deserves the punishment he is getting and needs to learn how to take one for the team.

While I agree they are both great players, they are very different in terms of characteristics. My take around the notorious eden inconsistency is that it is partly due to his style of play (reliance on dribbling) and physique. KDB is physically stronger for exemple. A passer often can still do well even when not 100%, while a pacey dribbler will struggle more. like I wrote before, it’s a bit easier to contain dribblers esp in tough games where spaces are already scarce enough. It’s more difficult to contain a player who can produce a killer pass from multiple midfield positions or score from afar. my stance is the same with other players and leagues and not necessarily about these two: it’s a matter of characteristics.

Hence why they lost... my point is that when kdb has a good game, his team is more likely to benefit from it than when hazard has a good game. It’s just, again imo, that kdb is able to influence the game more directly in his style of play. Pure dribblers can be contained by isolating them to areas of the pitch. They will still beat players routinely, esp competent ones like Eden, but their influence will be greatly diminished.

Belgium played two top teams in the World Cup: beat Brazil when kdb was motm then lost to france when hazard was Belgium better player. In my opinion kdb is the more influential player... heh not really that controversial outside of these forums.

When KDB has a great game, Belgium or city always wins. when hazard has a great game, Belgium or Chelsea might win.

yeah he definitely is. Consider he’s a millionaire LB playing for a top club and, slow as a turtle...

Yeah, I get that folks here are obsessed with pace. myself I still prefer players with a lot of technique specially on passing: ball needs to move quick not the player. I can certainly see folks here having issues with an attacking FB regardless how quick... can almost hear the word "liability" appearing in many posts.

Like I said before, I know him well: played for Gremio in south of Brazil. I happened to be listening to a sport talk show and they spoke of him last week. He might get a call up for Brazil. Apparently he's a very cool and smart professional on and off the pitch. The one thing I do remember is that he's on the VERY attacking side of FBs, like a Marcelo type. Which means, if folks are expecting a more traditional FB, he's likely not it.

Nope, not saying that at all. You are the one talking as if the Manager did X, things would've been better. I'm just pointing out that neither one of us know that. Maybe they are, but there are plenty of players playing at high level way past 30. It still does not make CHO a solution at this level. Once again, developing a player who may be committed to leave is not in our best interest. I've seen Alonso play Very well in the past and I've never seen Emerson play well. Again, lets not rewrite history, Alonso had MoTM performances in the recent past. Emerson? My point remains we know nothing of Emerson, but managers (2 so far) and coaches there seem to think Alonso is vastly superior, since Emerson barely even rotates. Which makes a manager trying to recover the player not that crazy to me. These players are sought after by other big clubs. William has had good games recently. They are not as bad you make them. When the system is not working everything and everyone looks bad, throwing youngsters in the mix rarely works. Hardly a fan of Alonso (don't think I'm a fan of any player), just don't agree with the hate he gets around here. Us not seeing it in our heads can be very different from when things happen on the pitch. I'm sure some thought we'd defend better with a "proper" LB against Bournemouth, but then things were all the same. I'm not claiming that Alonso would've done better, I'm just questioning the *assumption* that Emerson is the better player without any evidence other than wishful thinking and a handful of games against the weakest opposition.

Fans usually have the very wrong idea that the only way to change things is to change personnel or formation; that's why they say Sarri changes little. Right, he has preferences as Conte did before him and the next manager will too. The next manager will play Pedro (and William) over CHO every day of the week and twice on sundays, despite what the vocal minority says here. Mostly because Pedro (also William) is like twice the player, and the manager's job is first to win games, develop his system (to play and win games in his way), and then as a distant third develop players. Should CHO be playing more in Cups? seems like it, but maybe he's leaving anyway, in which case developing a bayern player does not seem like a high priority to me. Sarri thinks Alonso is a lot better than Emerson. How do I know that? because he's trying to recover Alonso's form (personal and team) by playing him/them, tweaking, and repetition. I can't say whether I agree with that (much that will do), because I've hardly seen Emerson play, since he only faces these very weak sides, but did not do too well well last time in the PL. And other potential changes? I think he plays our best players most of the time - though rotates little. If the next manager picks Alonso and Pedro, like Sarri and Conte did, will that be a surprise to you? Would you then think that the said manager should be sacked too? What if the next manager (or even Sarri himself) gives both Emerson and CHO a run of games and our team tanks (yes it can always get worse) and ends in 10th, would that make folks here wrong? like when we gave Mikel a run of games because Matic was in bad form. For the record, the only time Mikel would play over Matic is if the latter was missing a leg.

both valid points. The squads are nothing alike either. I see some folks around here who bash a lot of our players, while also here bashing Sarri. So, which one is it? I'm not saying they are mutually exclusive, just that one point diminishes the other... If Sarri has such a terrible squad with so inapt FBs and (before Higuain) striker, and wingers, how come he's doing so terrible a job considering the lack of quality he has at his disposal? Could it be that Sarri is the same manager we originally signed: not a winner, not top tier, and his silverware count hasn't really changed since then. And we have a good/decent squad for a top team, which is only truly competitive when all players are giving 100% - and they are not at the moment.

That’s just an obsession with a player who is simply not that important in the grand scheme of things. The silly part is regardless what how one rates Alonso, pinning down everything on a left back makes no sense, and tactics should cover for his defensive shortcomings - the last part is a fact. I’ve seen plenty of successful teams win big with far weaker players on their squad (even CL ). And not even with one who not long ago actually had MoTM performances. we are not going to agree on this - I was hoping to move the discussion into tactics, but I guess it’s just hard around here.

"whether they are good enough is a diff discussion" don't think I missed it. Either way, Sandro is unavailable and so is Marcelo. While I agree that Alonso currently poses no attacking thread, he did once. No I don't buy it's the position because in my view those are not static things. Like a said a different discussion, but I just don't buy the idea that the FBs are the cause of all our problems. They are good players in specific areas and it's up to the manager to use them adequately. When Alonso leaves his side exposed, it is the system's fault, and in consequence, the manager's. Because either he's stupid in thinking Alonso is a good defender, or his system did not cover that side. The opposite on Azpi side, where other players can use the space to attack. Either way, I find the whole Alonso discussion (and Azpi) a bit silly. The whole defense looks bad because they are exposed, with some players looking worse than others, which is definitely on the system and manager. Probably because the players are no longer following Sarri's instructions. Hazard is definitely strolling about on the pitch, which is also helping overwhelm the system

I don’t have a problem with the roles of the fullbacks. Alex Sandro would have been called a liability within a month here. Can’t defend if they are not there... whether they are good enough is a diff discussion. aside from the weird subs, the one thing I don’t understand is why hasn’t he tried to move Kante to the left mid position? That would allow cover for the attacking fb and Luiz. It also allows the right mid to attack with more quality and freedom since he has azpi behind.

It’s not usual, but certainly doable. It can also be set as a goal tied to addons.

"Remember De Bruyne telling me: “We only train tactically 15 mins per day. But we learn to switch between different systems: 3-4-3, 4-3-3, 4-4-2, 3-6-1...” You mean that a LB would seamlessly switch to WB role and back to LB?!? shocking!