robsblubot

I honestly believe our form has little to do with Poch, but not making changes until the 66" would be enough for me to hand him the papers.

I don't disagree -- it did look like a foul, but it was't called. You don't stop defending waiting for a free kick call.

It was probably a foul, but once it’s not called then defend!

Oh well it was coming.

Very lucky being in the game still. caicedo is having a good game, but rice is having a great game. wow another chance stopped by petrovic.

I think they are, specially in attack and D and..... their bench is a lot better too. The latter is an absolute must for long championships. Can't see Noni or Mudryk anywhere near this Arseal squad for ex. Jackson is still our most dangerous player despite how awful he is in front of the goal--that header/handball was bizarre to say the least. Disasi would not have the pass ability to play in a system like Arsenal's.

Complete dominance — looking pretty ugly so far.

great play by rice.

I was afraid of what -- some players are likely not 100% given the effort on Saturday. It's good to field test some players tho. Let's see what they can do, or not eh. @Vytis33 I don't think that's a Poch decision. Players coming from long-term injuries are treated differently by the physios.

I do not see such great performances. It was a good strategy and it worked to some degree with some clever counter-attacking which produce some chances -- they also had plenty of chances to score. We still lost all the same tho. We can discuss how much of it was their fatigue vs our good game plan. I have my own ideas based on what I saw on the pitch. 🤷‍♂️ You are also comparing a single-elimination clash with a league game. Do you think the preparation, effort level, and intensity are the same? There is also traveling involved in CL. Our game against City was not like a league game either, but we did not play OT and no travelling involved. Would totally understand if we are not 100% today, at least some players, but having a younger squad helps in this particular case. For ex both Cole and Fodden are struggling with fitness for pretty obvious reasons.

You see long championships like the PL have something called the standings. Where the very best teams usually appear at the top, esp once a lot of it has already been played. you evidently chose to ignore what city went through to play us. So, you will also ignore the fact Palmer can’t play just like Haaland couldn’t.

Definitely, but that has been the case all season eh. For the Arsenal match, I would definitely use Casadei and then introduce Carney during the game. May need to have minutes if Cole is out anyway. Poch will likely start Madueke to help D, but he might get tired chasing them in the second half. Wish Santos were available as well. Even Washington for a few minutes by the end if we are not chasing a result, or maybe even if we are. This would apply to the remaining game too; we need to know which of these players are employable for next season.

indeed. More so, we need to test some of these players to see how, and if, they can help out next season. It's great to give the "he's young" routine, but we need players ready to play for next season, and identifying who is who should be priority at this time.

I'm not optimistic because they are better; it's OK to say that. They are a lot better and in case the eyeball check fails, the standings corroborate that notion. It's an away game, so that only makes things harder. Of course we can do that Fulham did, but that's the rare event (and quality to Fulham to consistently pulling upsets). Who knows, I suspect the strategy will be similar to City's, but Arsenal players will be fitter and motivated -- can't understand not admitting City players were a bit jaded after the 120 effort they put in not long before our match, which also caused them to lose their marquee signing for our clash. On the other hand, perhaps this is the time one of these counters connect and Jackson can get us the winner; stranger things have happened in football.

I honestly don't think he's a bad player -- hardly the problem with this squad. I like his skill on the ball, how quick he is on turns and runs, his quick feet, and the way he can hold to the football under pressure; the latter is a welcome surprise to me. On the other hand, he's not a good striker--at least not at this time. Every time we needed him to put the ball in the back of the net he has come short. Is this his fault? I'm honestly not sure he will ever get better at finishing -- his balance is always a bit off when about to apply the finish. However, I have to be consistent here and stick with my idea that the squad was ill conceived, and if we had the backup options needed, players would be able to rotate and get the minutes when they are in good form, not because there is no-one else available (which also happens in midfield and D). The attitude thing is a bit tricky. The PK fight was ugly, but that swag is typical of good attacking players, so I'd not focus too much on that.

Harvertz is having a good season in my book, but we go again into characteristics vs quality -- the latter is disregarded around here way too often. Say, even if one rates Jackson, he can't head the ball to save his life. Wouldn't a player like Kai offer something different? Wouldn't a RLC offer something when Enzo is out or at least to win some high balls in the middle? We have nothing similar to Jorginho, and while Enzo does have some of Kova short passing ability, we've got no good options in midfield: when Enzo cannot play we are fucked. Pulisic, as frustrating as he was esp in the last seasons at the club, plays a different sport compared to Mudryk (far superior to Madueke as well); I don't really understand how Mudryk can be playing at Chelsea--he is bizarre. While I can understand looking Caicedo and liking what he does on the pitch, I really don't understand how someone can see him and think that here's the new Rodri. Now if you argue that he's a good, and can become a great ball winning mid, I may be onboard, but I don't value that type of role a whole lot in a big club. That goes into personal preference and what I see from other clubs. Once again, I disagree I think we need a lot more than 2-3 players and some of the players we've got have to go either on loan or sold. @Magic Lamps agreed on the "somewhere in the middle" bit. "Shit" can sound a bit heavy, but just to clarify, I'm talking about the squad not players. I'm saying that the squad was poorly built.

"Madueke is usable." how the mighty have fallen. 😆 The problem with Caicedo isn't the lack of calmness, but his lack of skill on the ball. I've heard different descriptions of Lavia, so I'll refrain from commenting until I see him on the pitch. You are overestimating what players have done in different leagues, different circumstances, and requirements. What Bellingham did is the rarest jump in quality that only happens once in a long while. I guess this is the time we agree to disagree. I think this squad is indeed shit, esp regarding the lack of options which would allow a manager to change something during a match (which is why I don't focus on Poch). We will be proven right or wrong given enough time.

Think we need a bit more than that esp regarding options -- we used to have a lot options to change matches and not long ago. Injury-proneness is a thing. It's easy to blame lady luck, but some of these players have been unavailable. or struggling, for way too long. Challobah is average -- good option nothing more. Ugo does not look like a quality player to me. Lavia is a fad until he plays. The attack situ is dire. Aside from Cole, we've got nothing up front. Madueke apparently is now OK for the same people who used to call Willian (and other controversial players) a work horse with zero attacking output. Madueke played the entire game today and 30 minutes against Liverpool in OT on fresh legs and has nothing to show for it. It's easy to criticize Jackson today, but where was Madueke? Tbf, I don't blame him, but the club in having to rely on a player who clearly isn't ready to help us.

We can and should improve in several positions -- not only in quality but in numbers as well. We don't freaking have a striker who's even decent in the air ffs! We don't have mids who are more attacking minded, for ex. That's why it's always the same players who start in the middle. As far as I'm concerned the D has two starters only: gusto and Colwill. And the goalie likely needs upgrading also. Wings need a revamp... esp considering Sterling looks like a bust. And that unless we improve the squad tenfold, we shouldn't really bother with upgrading on the manager, unless! the better manager can play a big part in recruiting and improving the squad. A tactically savvy manager would be wasted with this squad esp due to the lack of options.

Prob his worst game wtf

Still I saw what I saw. Some of it was our good job in D, but they still looked tire to me esp debruyne and Bernardo.

Maybe we should start paying attention to injury-proneness… but then again, we signed freaking fofana for big money.

Disagree regarding the tiredness. They were clearly tired and were missing important players esp as options. They played a super difficult leg against the biggest club and did not have enough time until this match. Agreed regarding having a single striker option. Been saying the roster is super unbalanced.

Very similar to Liverpool game in that regard.

David Luiz raises his hand. Mudryk looks pretty similar regarding concentration levels. I think some can be improved to a certain degree, but ultimately it’s a trait a player has or does not have.