robsblubot

The rebuild is definitely a good point, the unmentioned "how" wasn't. Several teams had to rebuild in this, or previous seasons, and they did not all go for 19-22s with 5+ year deals. This was a very novel approach for a big club--hope folks would emphasize that aspect more.

I don't particularly care too much about whether Poch remains or not. He's a decent manager which is fine for this squad--a better manager would be wasted here and would just come to collect his paycheck. Poch organized the defense in my view. The conceded goals are mostly individual mistakes, some down to inexperience (including the goalies here too). Up front is mostly down to player quality. "developing" attacking mids and forwards is down to no more than tactical tweaks and adjustments. It's up to them to have enough quality to execute the attacking tasks. That's precisely the difference between City having an option like Haaland vs not. So, while I understand the disappointment with the manager, esp when he protects the group of players with ridiculous statements, IMO the manager is almost irrelevant with this roster. Was merely suggesting that players can be affected by physical game -- not necessarily a straight out bullying. Many defenders/DMs use the subterfuge of throwing very hard tackles in the beginning of the match to intimidate players. The idea is that it may remain in the player's subconscious and throw off their game--even if just a little. Heck often players sitting on the bench can be intimidated by just watching what is going on on the pitch.

Yeah it's probably in the bag, but this was really terrible. opponents may want to look at what Boro did here and repeat. Frank remains very pissed on my screen here. 😆

Sure, but I'm not talking about misses, but the overall performance. Physicality affects the opposition in a number of different ways: attacking players may try to apply the finish quickly to avoid contact for ex. Bullying the frail attacking players isn't really anything new.

Ah thanks. That makes sense--he was super pissed!

Yes, there is that, but there is also the physical aspect. He's very frail and easily outmuscled out of plays. He's got enough skill to avert that most of the time, but this was a VERY physical game without VAR. Not surprising he struggled in such situ.

Announcer here (don't know his game French accept maybe) claims Chelsea will struggle for years to come.

You can't improve a turd. Whatever you do it's still a smelly turd in the end.

Think he's good defensively--don't see him as an attacking FB myself.

yeah maybe Gusto...

Middlesborough is playing with a low block, so we can now have a glimpse of what some of these players can do in tight spaces... not much. Conor on the ball, for ex.

Which is totally normal for a 20yo. Having to rely on these young players for tough PL matches is the issue for me. also, let's not forget that both Salah and DeBruyne did not get a lot of play time under Mou, which was and is one of the biggest criticism of Mourinho as a manager: does not develop young players. How many starts and minutes has Madueke got? Mudryk must have more minutes than KDB in the past 2 seasons!

poor shot by Mudryk

We lose all 50/50s in the final third. They are all stronger physically. Palmer's place is really behind a striker far from the contact zone.

Sorry, there is no comparison regarding skill, close control, first touch. They were not firing in all cylinders and still projects when with us, but they clearly had qualities. I'd say Madueke looks far worse than Mudryk skill wise. Madueke IMO is only pace and power, nothing else. That's why he does well U21. in other words, we already know the answer, but choose to give these players the benefit of the doubt.

it's hard to trouble someone without a first touch eh

Madueke's ball control there was something else... 😆

I personally find this characteristic not very useful for strikers at big clubs... perhaps even detrimental for the team. There should be several more qualified players for that job at an elite outfit. For me Jackson's a bit of a ball hog, which is the one thing I dislike about his game. Also, as and if we improve, and become respectful again, he will have less and less opportunity for these runs. xG is indeed relative and most, if not all, strikers have wild fluctuations in their xG throughout their careers.

Fair, but when you describe skill on the ball above it's picture-perfect Mudryk for me. 😆

My understanding is that training for youngsters is completely different from senior players; even the hours are different as these players are literally in puberty. So, they just haven't had the time to gain muscle mass yet. They would given time. Also, some of these players did not come from other PL outfits. They may have undergone a very different type of training and philosophy in their academies regarding muscle mass and physique in general. Anyway, I disagree that the issue with the overly younger side is only one of experience. It's a lack in both physique and experience, and they will definitely struggle physically esp in away matches where that side of the game will be tested more often. Regarding Pochettino's training, that's pretty much the same in all elite clubs these days: you train like you play.

That's called a rant 👆 It's hard to discuss because there are 20 different points there some of which similar to what was also criticized. No straws. It matches my understanding of how physique in players play a part; that a player without enough muscle to sustain their movements is more likely to put his joint (knee/ankle) under stress: unnatural movement and whatnot. Muscle injuries, like James are far more complicated, but he's no youngster and pretty powerful athlete on his own right. I honestly thought the physique point was fairly obvious eh. We will come to the conclusion players bulk up for no reason in the PL. That when a player built like a tank goes at one with the physique of a 17yo it's fair game; that the frail player is no more likely to get hurt than the tanky player... For science! 😆

boy you guys think a lot more of this current squad than I do 🙂 I see players who never will reach Timo's level as the one-season wonder he was. And worse yet is that these players don't even bother to "run tirelessly" or "like a dog" like Tuchel used to say.

We have a bunch of "not one wonder season yet" players at the moment, so a 2-season wonder player sounds really good to me. 😄

Muscle mass *can* protect joints from injury. Would you dispute this claim? I've personally gone through strengthening (as in increase muscle mass) to protect my knee. It worked. That's what I've heard from physios, but I'm no expert. Regarding a 19 yo not being fully formed... I hope we are not disputing this one. That's what I usually mean when our 19yo players face players in the 28/29yo physically. I call it a disadvantage, but suppose people here love their kids. Here's an even more obvious problem of signing very young players: you don't know if they will be injury prone or not. When we signed Thiago Silva (an extreme example to make the point), we knew exactly how injury prone he was, which is not at all. We simply don't know how these players will cope once they are playing twice a week--most have never done that.

right, but regardless of what the strategy is, it takes time. When you sign a 23+yo esp from a PL club, or a big club in Europe, he'd have already undergone strengthening and whatnot. A 19-20yo simply has not had the time at a big club to do that. Can definitely see that being the case with Lavia and Carney, for ex. So, their fitness struggles don't really surprise me nor do I think they necessarily reflect any injury proneness. It's just the fact they aren't fully developed physically yet. Reece James, however, that's a different story. 😕