robsblubot

that does not seem right: if City draw the last match, so did Liverpool. Pretty incredible run by Arsenal. 😕

ah fair enough maybe that valuation was excessive, and it also contained the English tax. Tbf, he never was a great finisher, but again, he used to be far far more mobile; still wish we had that player vs whatever we ended up with. 🤷‍♂️

The middle of the park wasn't great today (Gallagher was OK tho)--same as D. Thankfully Palmer put on a show. Jackson was alright. Poch saw the same game I did tho, and introduced Mudryk because Newcastle D is slow and plays in a high line.

Never said he wasn't just that we only saw him in City's system. Same way the bulk of Sterling's career was at City. He is better than Sterling ever was, and will likely be better than Sterling at 29 as well. That's besides the point: Sterling used to be a much better player for me. I'm not even talking about finishing or passing, but basic things like work rate, movement, awareness.

And you have guys like Fodden who are difficult to imagine outside of his system. Think Sterling was more like Fodden than Fernandinho for ex who was a fully ready player by the time he joined City. Every player who joins City says it's a difficult system to adapt to. They pick their players based on a set of specific characteristics, and they even have to do specific physical training for that style. That's what I've heard anyway. On the merit, agree to disagree: Sterling is a winger and 29. It's likely he's just not that quick as before. (quick being the right word not pacy). I thought he was an excellent player briefly at pool, city and England. It's the Palmer show!

Prob Mudryk's best goal for us. Did what Sterling should've done. Poch STAY?! 😆

That can be said of most City players. It's always difficult to imagine them in a different system and then it becomes guesswork. I think it's more likely he was just a much better player when a bit younger and that's exactly why City let him go. It's not that uncommon for wingers as they rely a lot on pace and power. Can think of Willian who literally dropped a tier once he lost pace: in his case from good to average.

wow he did the most difficult 😕

not sure he was that overrated. I think he did reach a very high level when at City. Something happened to him, like he lost a bit of pace, and/or power. Hard to tell from afar. Like a chronic groin that we never heard about. Sometimes it's just enough for a player to drop a tier. Fantastic shot by Palmer! hahah

And by "it" you probably mean proper senior players? 😆 I too consider Tuchel the far better manager, but with this logic of Manager > players then we might as well just sign the entire roster of a championship side and hire Ancelotti as a manger... a fraction of the cost than building a winning side. 😉

The conceded goal was down to individual mistakes. It wasn't even the younger players at fault.

That finish was reassuring from Jackson even if offside. It's the right decision -- can't just shoot like Gallagher was doing.

Too many mistakes == gifting a goal

Yes, and the cool thing is that they complement each other's game well too: one is very classy who tends to slow down play, while the other is very intense and is always pressing. That right side is evidently our strength atm. Sterling on paper would also be a good complement to Palmer's strengths, but of course we are talking about City's Sterling, not ours. 😕

That's true for most CL winners unless you are are talking about a team so superior to others that they manage to breeze through. And we saw what City x Inter looked like (don't think many Inter players would start for City). I also think Tuchel had his issues losing the squad the way he did; for whatever reason, he could no longer convince the players to do the work needed. Some is unavoidable after winning big--there is a natural inflation of wages... and egos. I believe in potential vs form for both players and teams. I watched that team play extremely well for a very long time and winning very very big. Maybe Tuchel failed to tweak the system after the win; maybe the club failed to move 1-2 players and freshen up the squad as it is normally done (Pep does that every season). Likely it's all of the above. I just don't really see these players we lost as mediocre--suffice to see where they all play (the ones not semi-retired). * and we tend to talk about our starting XI and downplay what happened to our bench Regarding the "rebuild" if one can call it that; every player you sign is a bet. The chance of coming through happens to be a bit higher when the player comes from Madrid, City, Liverpool, esp when the player has already seen playing time, and at the highest stage at that. What the club did only makes sense from a investment pov, a long-term take on the transfer market with little regards to building a competitive team.

I don't agree with a "very poor year" esp if you compare with some of the new players we've got who can barely control the football. I see the date, so less disagreement. That has always been my issue with the "let's get that shiny new kid from xyz" and get rid of "insert player we are tired of". Yes, I think he's been mediocre on the ball, similar to his last season with us. He was still an aerial threat even then, as he is now, something that we don't currently have. I would also point out that he is playing in that weird Pep system , which notoriously takes a bit of getting used to.

Havertz just likes to score the winner against Brentford, it seems:

that too, but I think he's very much an easy game player to me. Lewa is a bit like that too (to a lesser degree).

"undergoing specialist medical assessment" that's usually not a good sign. 😕

Agreed. I was just providing an extreme example to make a point. 👍 Wallace was also one of the worst players Chelsea has ever signed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_(footballer,_born_May_1994)

Do you remember a (yet another promising Brazilian) called Nathan? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_(footballer,_born_1996) He's been around in multiple Brazilian clubs hardly being able to become a regular starter. He's at Gremio FBPA (my team in Brazil) now and has a hard time even as a sub playing the regional championships (glorified friendlies). Player has no intensity whatsoever. Point being, that it can be REALLY difficult to move players whose potential was entirely misjudged.

It was a staple game for Rashford IMO. If one did not understand what his strengths and weakness are, the game yesterday should have helped quite a bit. I don't know how dedicated he is in the daily activities of being an elite footballer, but what I see on the pitch is a physically weak player. He lacks power and is easily outmuscled out of plays; lacks agility which might help in tight situation when trying to apply a finish when off balance. For folks who did not watch the game (City vs United), Rashford scored a fantastic goal with a one-time shot from afar. Then, he was easily outmuscled when 1x1 against a defender and failed to make contact with the ball in a tight position on the right side. Both of which might have helped United get points there. The game was a lot closer than the final scoreline might suggest.

Hehe well, he had a few (more like several) WC players around him to help out back then. Seriously though we complain about caicedo’s passing, but he can hit a long ball and assist rarely tho (still 20yo). The one thing he has in common with Mikel right now is the absolute inability to shoot and score goals. caicedo is quick and very mobile—the opposite of Mikel. Despite the shortcoming in caicedo a game he’s still more useful than Mikel was.

glad he found his calling--wasted a decade trying to play football. 😃 Caicedo now at 20yo is is twice the player.

Too many variables to even establish correlation much less causation. Different attacking and midfield players with different intent and capacity of defending. Goalie, FBs, the whole team changed! I like Colwill, but not sure yet about Badiashile. Disasi is too slow for the PL esp if you don't want to play with a low block. Silva has overstayed his welcome by a a season or two. So, even tho I don't buy the relation above (unless it were about American football and with the same defense coach 🙂 ), I do think we need CBs esp given that Fofana is perma wrecked