robsblubot

Still take away the goals and lamps is just not that a special player any more.

You take away Lamps goals and he would have nothing left to his game - even mourinho mentioned it not long ago.I am Brazilian and 43 so I think I know a bit more about the Brazilian side history than you do. This team is/was average but at least the players are young. I've seen average and old. If you, like Didier, think Brazil made that fiasco because of the defenders then I have nothing else to discuss with you. It'd would be the same as blaming Terry and Cahill for every goal we concede... now that'd be a ridiculous thing, right?

I've seen way way worse than this and multiple times at that. Brazil has a few problems building a top team right now because they lack top players in certain key positions, like the freaking striker. Although the defenders are good they are both ball playing which is also not good. Cm is the real problem as Fernandinho and Gustavo are average. Back to Oscar though you are wrong and time will prove you wrong. Doesn't matter how many times you and others come here and rant, because he will start and play and then start againg next season. He will become a better #8 as he matures. Right now he's lampard lite but hopefully in future he can become his own player.

David luiz sends his regards.

Just need to be careful shipping players away as soon as they are in a slump or they may hurt us later. Or they will develop elsewhere and people who wanted them gone will say "oops my bad" bc they don't have a stake in the game. Aren't we all complaining about the small squad which prevents Jose from rotating? And yet KDB is gone, so is Andre and Salah with just one Cuadrado in. If Oscar is underperforming, then it's really up to the manager to start someone else - simple really. Oscar does not pick the team. If and when he recovers his form, then he can be rotated in and then start if consistent enough... Jose doesn't seem to work like that though, as he plays the same set of players in both cup and CL. Sometimes I'm confused as to what people here are complaining about... is it Oscar or Jose for starting him? I am sure Oscar wanted to be playing better... at the very least like he was at the start of the season? Oscar is like many young promising players: has very good moments and then a dip in form. Not really different from any young player out there. If Fabregas, a senior, is allowed to play like shit for so long why shouldn't a far younger player?

Fair enough but Cuadrado wasn't born yesterday. Some of us did watch him play before as he's hardly a youngster at 26. I personally think Andre is a lot better than cuadrado. And don't think cuadrado, right now, is any better than 22 salah. Reckon Fiorenting was very happy with the transfer fee. 10mil overpriced for me.

Completely normal end of the season slump... City anyone? I do think our main problem is the small squad and lack of rotation... Playin cups, cl, and pl with the same players is crazy to me. That's the only complaint I have about Jose and very specific one at that: lack of rotation specially in cup games. The squad is tired. First it Oscar (as usual) but now it's all players.

You have just described Fabregas game in the last couple of months... And he's not 23...Did we do any better lately when Oscar did not play? Do we improve when he's taken off? I just don't see anyone else doing much better.

This place depresses me. Same loud minority slating the player when the entire team struggled. How can it be so difficult to understand that the team is struggling... That if players don't get into good positions (for whatever reason) it makes difficult to find them. Same thing that people are saying about hazard applies to all other mids including Oscar. No Oscar is not doing enough to help team at the moment - it happens - and other players are in the same or similar slump atm.

That will always happen in big games. These types of matches are always physical and players are always under pressure. He's under pressure and his teammates are under pressure too. You say they are not available for hazard to pick them up, but when they try to make clever runs they get followed by the opposition. So is hazard when he is the one trying to get open... linking up play is intrinsically more difficult in tough matches. I don't believe, with the current crop of players we've got, that is possible to play in any other way against a tough opponent. We must play with a low defense line, so we cannot apply pressure otherwise we are stretched making linkup play even more difficult in these games. Please around here want the impossible... just look at the teams who actually do that and how they are setup. Even PSG is a team that keeps the football and moves up the pitch far more than we do... but they got the players for that.

there is no fault. We were playing another quality side - not to mention just as expensive. Drawing or even losing was always a possibility unless you were delusional like some around here are. However, hazard was poor for me. Just like the other players in attack. If opposition being physical, like psg are, is going to be a problem for hazard and our players then we are sure fucked!

thoight he was great! Scored a crucial goal out of nowhere and was under far more pressure than silva was later (tired players). Opinions are opinions - ppl value different things in players. Though there is something factually incorrect in your post: matic joined jan 14 so luiz was the dm playing until then AND played alongside matic afterwards, again, in the tough matches. Our record in those games last season was almost perfect (better than this). I was talking to a colleague before the game and told him: out of psg players there was one in particular I did not want to have a good game, but he did. These moments define the great players not step overs or hitting row Z.

how can we move our players forward without exposing our cbs who are very slow? It's all connected - if the attackers move up without the defense line following suit, we incur into the same problem: too much distance between the lines which makes difficult keeping possession. Our current crop of players work well in this system. Not sure it's actually possible to change it without changing the players.

Once again we compare an established player against a youngster, only this time directly. Those who think this is a ridiculous dilemma, and it is, please remember we do this all the time around here. Answer is both. One for start and Kane to rotate. Kane is a lot better than remy for me.

Unfortunately good fortune has pushed Blanc to do the obvious (wish could go back in time and whack Scolari with the same magic wand): luiz made their midfield a lot better which in turn made them a lot more robust. He's just a better player than motta. I watched their game against Monaco - the one they tied - and the dominance was incredible. Psg were able to keep possession well and win every second ball.

That's a sensible assumption: that salah lacked something in training which made jose give up on him. The caveat remains that salah is awful young and the other players you've mentioned as far older and playing at the top of their game. But then again, I don't think jose is very good developing youngsters. It demands patience which is something he simply does not possess.

he was pretty good to be honest. Cahill had a really hard time handling Kane. Contrary to a lot o people here, I don't think much of Tottenham and Kane was pretty much one of the few good players they've got. Kane has everything, including technique; that's the difference between him and other players mentioned. Soldado is only technique, negredo just power and some pace, Loriente just power. What I see is that Kane has power, technique and, some pace for a guy of his build. Too soon to declare the genuine article, but someone to keep an eye on and if the opportunity arises...

Easiest MOtM ever! John Terry!

Are you kidding me?! without someone called didier we would have lost all the same. Mikel did a good job defending along with the defense line, but the midfield (mikel included) did very poorly on ball possession and counters. Mata had a terrible game for example. But then we were playing Bertrand as a left winger.

He played one game as a cb this season you say, perhaps that's the reason he didn't do too well. Because I remembed Iva doing very well as a cb a couple of seasons back.Other points fair enough but I never said to dismiss his mistakes, but that he's been unfairly criticized for making them - not the same.

agreed The player in the squad most inapt for the DM position. I'd ever prefer John Terry there who despite no longer being as quick can distribute play. Are we really proposing that the guy who has the most trouble in a high defense line, who backs off forever, is to play in midfield? something he's never done before?! Wow! I don't even mind him as a defender, though a very simple one.

Sorry are you saying that moving up and down the pitch does not take a toll on the player? And that the fact hes instructed by his manager to attack and has to think about ways to get into attacking positions constantly CANT possibly negatively affect his VERY proven defensive abilities?The idea that he can defend as a CB, but forgets how to do that when in RB position sounds a bit crazy to me.

I think I alreayd made my point so we are running in circles as we tend do do around here. For me, and me alone, Ivanovic is unfairly criticized. His FOCUS (not merely positioning) is attacking because that's his posture on the pitch and the manager seems to be content with that. Now, if you think players can do both (defend and attack) seamlessly, then I will just have to disagree. And also disagree on defending deep as well. As we have already established (did you not write that?) that he bombs forward, he is often coming back to defense. Unless he can magically appear deep in defense after sprinting forward.

I also dont disagree that he switches off - Kompany switches off too and so does Hummels (not even going into quirkier CBs - who shall not be named). The more proactive they are, more mistakes and bad judgement calls they make. Low defense line reduces the spaces behind them and makes judgement calls easier to make: do I intercept or prevent run/chase? As they (the CBs) join the midfield and help keep possession, judgement calls become more difficult. Smart runs, like you mentioned Lampard did, create chances. Anecdotally, Ive learned a lot playing Ultimate (aka football-frisbee) here in the US. In football/soccer we are used to play more in possession (though professionals know better). In ultimate you learn to play without the frisbee and beat your marker(s) with smart runs and change of directions. You can take a step ahead and combine with other players (shielding the run swapping position, etc) which is done a lot in Basketball too. Point being is that Ivanovic is a bit on the slow side even as a CB. As a FB he is definitely slow. Thats something Jose certainly understands and adapts, which having ZOuma on the right side may address actually. Iva will get beat again and he will make these mistakes again. He will always be vulnerable by the way that right side is setup. Its also about the way we are using him. Its fair to criticize him, but in the same criticism people say he bombs forward - we agree instructed by Jose. Well, that also makes him more vulnerable.

Heh just watched the game - as bad as their defense was (they are not very good) it was still a collective poor performance. Even when mertesacker makes the judgmental mistake (and I do understand why he made it - his teammates were not winning tackles) the guys around him did not cover for him.I just enjoy seeing arsenal lose so much...something wrong with me. Btw Monaco has a cm worth keeping an eye on - a guy capable o rotating Matic and start along as well.