robsblubot

These are one of those really bad statistics which imply causality when there isn't really much correlation. Perhaps Morata being the chosen striker plays against far strong opposition and/or different conditions (starting vs coming off the bench)? Now, if hazard prefers and does better with Giroud, then it is something the manager has to consider. On the other hand, Morata could argue that he does not receive enough crosses or passes into the box in a timely matter, that all our wingers cut inside and go for the goal or look for slow build up. There have been discussions around that.

Well they do see him practice, like every day... (With lucio here) While I am also unsure whether CHO will be a good vs amazing player (only an amazing player would play at 18), there is really no reason not to play him against certain PL opposition, say Fulham? esp considering Willian produces so little in the final third. There is team management involved (not to lose the starters and then the locker room), but yeah Pedro should be the starter on the right when fit, esp against stronger opposition IMO.

This is the bizarro world thread where Kepa was flawless and Aurier destroyed alonso, against spurs... Maybe if I repeat that 10x I will start believing it - as opposed to what I actually saw...

well to be fair, a 2-window ban would fuck up any club...

heh Marina works under Roman and does his bidding. Can't imagine her with that much leverage considering how Roman runs the club. All managers get sacked in a season or two. Don't think Eden leaving will have that much impact to be honest (too inconsistent for me esp in CL), and think the club will be fine either way. Yes, unless we add some quality we won't compete in the PL, but with hazard we do NOT compete in CL anyway.

yup well that's how certain government officials end up getting elected...

lol yeah sure I assumed he did... as a portuguese speaker myself, it is quite obvious to see that he's talking about different things, but it may not be that obvious to others. Also, people may not know why he was acting like he did - he was definitely on a rant there.

lol the video is obviously fake tho. He was talking about match fixing, which he was accused of - hence the "passion."

thanks for sharing and it is an interesting problem in the current system. On the other hand, I think it is literally Sarri's job to find the better system and formation for the player he has, not the other way around. I do not believe Kante can be as effective in attack as he is defending. It's simply not in his toolbox.

Heh we are not going to agree on this because I don’t think the striker position is only about scoring, after all giroud himself won the World Cup without scoring a single goal. We just don’t create enough chances for any striker to succeed nor do we have enough goal scorers to circumvent that... in other words it’s just not a great team. while I agree they are not good enough, I thought morata had a decent game by his standards linking up play well enough and even finishing from a difficult half change from a Willian cross early on. After the game turned sour, then our gameplan was gone. apologize for the double-posting lazy iPad...

Defending was really bad starting with our front players who did not press or chase well enough. Tottenham defended better and put us under pressure with a high line at all times. They were the far better team. they were having s laugh and strolling in our half because they were not contained in midfield. Our defense was mediocre, just like the rest of the team. Focusing on them is missing the whole picture imo. funny how people minimize the impact of the two goals. Goals change games and being 2 down away from home against strong opposition must have been deflating, with our gameplan down the drain.

I don’t disagree that luiz had a poor game, but then again I’ve seen it before for both Brazil and Chelsea. So, well, forgive me if I don’t act surprised. however, I’ve heard from folks who know a lot more han I about defending that a good CB is always a well-protected one. I see luiz as a special kind of CB that needs even more protection. Luiz is a player who will enhance your winning dominant side with his exquisite passing, but if the team is struggling and you need him to step up, well then that’s not going to happen. what I saw however was that Tottenham players were roaming in our half, constantly applying pressure against our defense... that goes beyond defensive woes.

Ok I’m going to go ahead and just say it: morata is the better player. I actually like giroud and think he used to be a great target man, but he’s just too slow nowadays and that’s why he rarely scores. He can come on later and if we are applying any pressure, then he can become an asset esp in the air. But that’s about it.

If every shot from afar gets in because there is someone blocking Kepa's view, then it's not only going to be a very long season, but also a very long career at chelsea. Sorry, nope no excuse. Not even into the corner total blunder for me - he got to stop that regardless of what's in front of him. Only the third he had little to do.

Agree to disagree on the defense then, because I thought the midfield (including the wingers) was shocking. Sure the first was a rocket, but then what kind of keeper is kepa? Is he a top gk, just ok, or poor? at this time I’m convinced he’s not great, and hoping he’s just ok. After today tho, I’m afraid he might be the latter type.

Nope sorry that’s an excuse... second goal was terrible esp without any reaction. not really sure it matters that much after the ga e had been lost due to his two blunders. His teammates might have an argument that the game was lost very quickly which might have deflated them and put Tottenham in a very comfortable position with the big lead.

When the defense is tested a couple of times, or even a few times during a tough match and they fail conceding goals, then I am all for pointing the finger at them. however, we’re completely and utterly dominated especially at the time we were conceding the goals. Two of which were mostly kepa s fault, not the defense. so, no I cannot agree that the defense let us down. The team was bad and the kepa was shocking.

Had already accepted we overpaid for him... panic buy. Already accepted that being shorter than courtois, he will not be as dominant in the air or high shorts (sturridge goal). but this performance against Tottenham got me scared... the first reminded me of sturridge, the second was as big as mistake as a gk can make in my book. Way too far and not even into the corner. Should have been a comfortable save. just hope he improves.

The defense wasn’t terrible they were put under pressure from the start. Luiz is not great, but we already knew that. The midfield went missing as did our gk for the first two goals. Yeah kepa made great saves afterwards, but the game was gone by then - being 2 down away from home. all players up front had a poor game, including Eden (bit lazy or tired). Morata worked hard and had a decent game by his standards, with half chances. Giroud came in fresh against tired defenders and with Tottenham not pressing as much... really not the same thing. Neither is good enough I’m afraid.

This game, Tottenham, has very little to do with the back line. We just did not play well enough esp in the middle, to point fingers to the defense. Kovacic was particularly bad dunno if still not 100% fit. if you want to single out a player, then kepa must be it. We did not have enough time to get into the game since our gk was nowhere to be found for the first two goals.

"a cock balancing on a beach ball" but seriously (not really) what the fuck is that logo?

no, I don't think I said that at all... What I said is that among other Elite players, Hazard is one of the worst at decision making (as in very bad within that group), which is actually very typical of a player who over dribbles. It's a moot point to discuss this here though, since it is what folks are most entertained by when watching Eden play. While I understand that and have also been entertained by dribblers in the past, nowadays I simply value other aspects of the game more, perhaps because football in general has moved in that direction too. Forget Messi, and Ronaldo is a diff type of player. And although in the same group, Eden is well behind Salah in my very unpopular opinion around here.

I stand corrected, but doesn't really affect the point I was making. Netherlands were also much superior as shown in their 3rd place win. Still Brazil only got that far due to pretty outstanding performances by Luiz. Yes he was terrible against germany, or perhaps merely his usual self. Brazil team just wasn't good enough to have reached the semis and got found out.

Luiz was pretty shocking in that game... but Fernandinho was shocking in that midfield (which got overrun by germany), and was shocking too against Belgium in the last WC. Considering Brazil only got to that final against Germany because playing at home, neymar, and a fantastic goal by luiz himself in the semis, I've always felt he gets underservely singled out for what was a terrible and disgraceful overall team performance. BTW, Evertonian Bernard started on the right wing, which makes the final score more about the coach (scolari) than anything else.

seconded! Eden is an elite player, but amongst other elite players, he IMO loses out because of his decision making in the final third. It's not only about scoring goals, but rather what one does to help scoring them. Willian adds to the problem we have: not enough goals, assists, or direct chances created. We already have 3 CMs who will score none to very few goals. A LW who despite being a great player does not score a whole lot (though doing better this season). Then we have a striker which is not elite and misses too many chances. I say thank god we happen to have a left back who can score goals and I hope he starts scoring again soon otherwise... Folks here sometimes forget this game is about scoring goals (and not concening as many).