robsblubot

We are the heavy underdogs against Aston Villa.... 😢 3atb might help accommodate Chilwell and Silva (for diff reasons).

I think this roster is a lot worse than you do. Poch hindsight “mistakes”? The alternatives aren’t better. Even the good players like gusto still make stupid mistakes due to inexperience. Badiashile had a horror game the other day... individual mistake too not due to system. I happen to think colwill is by far the best LB option we’ve got (sad I know). Chilwell works better in a 3cb as his defending is akin to Alonso’s time. prediction: if we change managers, we will get a couple of good results and then go back to this.

Not give the ball right back to the opposition would be a good start. He did not make the first mistake because he was surrounded by 3-4 players, but then he often got pressured on the ball because the opposition smelled blood. This will keep on happening too until he cleans up his game. if you think he had a fine game, then let’s just agree to disagree once again.

I do see a very clear system with players executing very specific tasks — just not very well. caicedo was plying pivot getting the first pass from the goalie and misplacing passes under little to no pressure. That’s lack of skill not system. when Silva is embarrassed by Neto who simply runs past him to assist for a goal, that’s just a team with too many holes.

Manager grinder. Manager makes no difference whatsoever. At least 3-4 players from wolves today could really improve our team… and it’s wolves!

Watching the game now. folks are talking about drive and I just don’t see it. Players were giving everything on the pitch. they are just no better skill wise than the players they face. furthermore a team cannot survive a performance like Caicedos today. I’m shocked by his lack of skill on the ball. heh gusto had a stinker too. get position by position and compare with wolves: the question isn’t potential, but right now. Are we better?! does Conor give us a competitive advantage over the likes of wolves?

Agreed. At some point we decided to disregard CL, which is essentially what differentiates small and big clubs. Big clubs *can* and have won the CL (some multiple times 🙂 ) while smaller clubs only take the occasional stroll there and then go back to their normal mediocrity.

Strongly suspect that Nkunku starting or not is not a Poch decision alone at this point -- as in not a merely technical decision. I'm sure he'd love to have the player fit and ready do go, but we are in Feb and he hardly played this season. Can certainly see physios and fitness coaches being super cautious with him.

Hehe that’s nitpicking though. Lots of international breaks and pretty easy matches for us. I’m personally not worried about results. Just wish I saw any improvement t like you do. I think the team has reached its limit at this time and it’s nowhere good enough. some of the players like madueke simply do not belong at this level, at least not right now.

And Tbf the winger situ is the most baffling. It’s not that anyone would look at our options and say that we were going top eh.

It was a home game at the beginning of the season where fitness alone made everybody fair game. Since then, they improved so much that their level of play is simply not attainable by our team. We play slower, more ponderous on the ball, and a Lot less clinical up front. We just don’t have the players to compete with them. im not sure being satisfied with the mediocrity shown by this club is helpful either.

He may very well not be, but we need players not a manager. Our best players would sit on the Liverpool bench. Some of our players wouldn’t make their roster. it does not matter if so and so player will be great 2 years from now, we need players who can come in and face off against top players right now or we will struggle. Can’t really understand how one watches this game and thinks what if player X had started… been outplayed in all areas from start to finish.

Aside from VERY personal preferences, and Nkunku who's had a very hard time physically and is likely sitting because of that, I really don't see any obvious mistakes. Regardless, my point was that *even if you start each of our very best start XI* Liverpool would still be the WAY better side: better starting XI, roster, and trained for much longer. Their D line hasn't changed a whole lot over the last few seasons, for ex.

heh I really don't see all that importance in the starting XI. The issue the club has today isn't about that, but the roster. It's an extremely difficult fixture against a far better side and away from home. The only silver lining is Salah's absence, but we will need to work very hard to take anything out of this match. The lineup points exactly to that: hard working team to cause them trouble.

That's a very low bar for what we used to be though. We have to constantly qualify by citing age and another struggling young striker for pretty mediocre play and numbers. Honestly, I don't expect much from him. Squad player looks about right right now unless he's been shy and hid the best of his game so far. Sorry I just don't see it. 🤷‍♂️

Agreed, but that was my point: for whatever reason, Nkunku does NOT play and has not played for us this season yet...we are in January! He has only had short cameos--perhaps a full half? The options available is also quality in a team, not just its starting XI. We can question Werner, Mount, and Pulisic, who were hardly world beaters, but together they offered good options on the left--different characteristics too! Pulisic and Mount more mercurial (former even more so), while Werner was that consistent 6.5-7 rating. For me the drastic drop in quality is fairly palpable, esp on the wings. Madueke for ex IMO wouldn't sit on the bench for any top PL club.

He is and yet he helped his team got a point at SB. So, not really sure what we are celebrating here. For me warts and all, he's still twice the player Mudryk is, esp in tight contested matches like this. Yeah, we all want to know what Nkunku can do, but it is Mudryk who ends up playing, not Nkunku.

Pretty sure it was the second "outstanding" game--he had another in the upper 8s rating as LB. He also had a couple/few? others in the good rating (~7), if memory serves. His value as a player only goes up if he can play (def) LB even if not as comfortably as he plays CB. It also only makes him more likely to get a callup; being able to play in multiple positions is extremely important for international duty esp WC for obvious reasons.

While the way he hits the ball reminds us of Mata, I'd be very disappointed if Palmer does not surpass Mata in every regard from what I see from him thus far. I'm talking key player for England and all that. His age only makes him even more impressive as a player. Imagine his movement a couple of years from now, for example.... It's already pretty good!

Don't waste time burning your shot at a great manager with this roster. It's not the time.

😆 it could actually have some truth to it... I wonder if there are significant differences around transfers and, say agent behavior, in American sports vs Football. It could be that there is a certain naiveté in their approach right now. they will learn in time. 🙂 We will eventually look like a top team again, it may just take a few years though--according to Frank Leboeuf.

I think Antony has a better chance than Sancho. Antony is "just" decisions, he seems to have everything else avail in his tool box. Sancho, I just don't see it... looks pretty average to me. Caicedo is playing more or less of what I was expecting of him. Folks above are talking about awareness, and I would point out to big fish in a small team factor, where he can run everywhere because there would be more positioned players covering him. Now he is the one covering.

And just like Nkunku, Lavia may be a wonderful player, but completely useless if he does not play. we aren't worse than Fulham. We are about the same, which makes us fair game, and there lies the problem. We shouldn't be fair game for the likes of Fulham, Brighton, but the owners worked very hard to make it happen, so here we are.

Not disagreeing with your points before, but this one is actually a non-issue IMO. Managers will always protect their players, and that takes whichever form necessary. You will only see otherwise when the manager wants out, and/or lost the backing of the players.

Brazilians with misspelled American names are the best! 😆 That's actually how one (or rather his folks) would make his name be pronounced David in Portuguese.