robsblubot

Jackson is playing on the left it seems while Palmer is CAM.

Enzo out 😕 He will move Jackson to attacking mid and Broja as CF I think. Jackson often looks better fit as an attacker than striker tbh

fuck good play by Gallagher and Sterling did everything right until the shot. Should have hit it higher up! too many bodies in front.

well I meant fit to play competitively. And quite frankly, I'm past projecting what a player will do from what they did in extremely different conditions and time. That hasn't turned out the way we hoped for a number of players already.

Aside from the backline (Gusto in and Silva), this is the best starting XI we've got IMO.

While I agree the pass was bad, we had 2 cbs vs 1 attacker... there is no excuse for the goal.

Thiago wasn't great, but Badiashile's error was one of the worst things I've seen a CB do. And we had David Luiz as our CB before!

There was a story with Scolari (former Brazil and Chelsea manager), who then at Gremio loved this midfielder for his running and dedication to tactical tasks... very much like Gallagher himself. The director of football disliked the player: he asked Scolari to use him less as he was a poor ball hog. Scolari, known for his stubbornness, ignored it. Some time later, the same director told Scolari that he could not start that player, to which Scolari said something like, "just watch me do that then." The director apologized for not speaking correctly and said that Scolari cannot start the player because he was traded and now plays for a different club. 🙂 I think there was a similar scene in the Moneyball movie. Point being that it's not that uncommon for the leadership to force the hand of a manager.

heh not being enough of a goal threat was prob what did him in. He does get into good positions to score, but lacks that final touch quality at times.

After spending a staggering 1 billion pounds in the last transfer window? what do we get? Our striker's young and does not get his head down... 😅 I'm sure we can get these qualities in a number of championship players at a fraction of the cost. Joking aside, I understand the point. The assumption that bets are a sure thing is what I disagree with. Salah's and KDB time with us is irrelevant given that they did turn out to be WC players. (Salah did look WC to me back then and I have a post to prove it). Lukaku looked like a world beater at 18-19 and now looks like a decent/good league player. One thing that I'm absolutely 100% sure of is that not all players we signed in the last transfer window, despite their elevated price tags, will turn out to be good enough.

good point. It's all relative isn't it? Like if we wanted to be champions, which implies our midfield would need to have players as good as the ones who got silverware, then no, he's not the answer for the starting XI. In the current situ which means we will need another 1-2 transfer windows to become competitive again, then maybe we can keep him and see how he develops. On the other hand, getting someone experienced like Palinha might help the team, and in turn, the development of the younger players. He's a guy who can control tempo and is physically strong, which IMO is a weakness the team has atm.

Agree to disagree here: midfielder != center mid. 🤷‍♂️ Always saw him playing on the left wing myself... yes, he dropped back, which is the tactical thing I like about these players. I do see the value of having a workhorse winger in the mould of Oscar/Mount--even or esp as an option for certain games. Silverware seems to like that type of player as well. Whether the player sees himself as a n10, well all midfielders see themselves as a n10 who owns the midfield and the team. 😆We employed him in the right position and the right way: CL agrees.

Yeah it's likely there is some truth to it. There is also a possibility of, "well, considering what I've got, Gallagher is key." So, it's all very relative. Had Kova and Kante been here and fit and Gallagher wouldn't see a whole lot of playtime, for ex. Yeah I don't see Gallagher as a throwaway player in any way. I can see why the mount comparisons, but it's akin to saying Caicedo is like Mount because he's a workhorse. I think a rounded winger with good skill *and* high work rate is a rarer player than a center mid like Gallagher, but that's just me.

Different position. Mount wasn't, in my view, always involved in the game like Gallagher is. Simply because Gallagher plays in a central position. I also rate Mount much higher skill wise. He has quick feet, and can work in tight spaces, something Gallagher can't do--at least so far hasn't shown he can. Mount to me was akin to Oscar in some ways, but he also had more attacking output (as shown in numbers) in his good seasons. We can discuss where his form is going, which is definitely debatable, but I saw what I saw. Folks may not like the workhorse attacking player type, but I usually spot them in silverware photos.

It's really difficult to know, from the outside, how Poch and the club rate Gallagher. The manager will always praise his player when commenting transfer and whatnot, but what they think internally might be a completely different story. My personal stance regarding him remains the same: I'm not sure he's good enough at this level. Heard a joke from an old school manager (in Brazil) once which went like this, "a poor player who runs a lot and is always involved just means that the better player have less of the ball."

I think some folks here were expecting a bit more than "fine." I wasn't, so I think he's a good player who can still grow and become a better player (common tale about all of our recent signings). Evidently he's not WC and I'm not sure he will ever be, my gut feeling tells me he's not WC material, but who knows? He just does not seem to operate very well in super tight spaces, which is the one key skill I can name that all WC strikers have.

They lack in attack both in quality as well as options. It's been an issue for them, and I don't see how they fix that without spending. Can't go into CL with the players they got up front (they get joelington to attack more), and then you look at their bench and there is nothing. Not a fan of Isak either... never seen enough skill in his game to make up for the lack of movement and pace.

Pulisic is doing well in Italy. Suppose staying healthy is a big part of it.

what a tackle by Tomori! pretty much averted a sure goal.

Tuchel and Conte were the best for me. Sarri was a step lower, IMO. Potter and Lamps aren't really even comparable with Poch (regardless how you feel about him). I agree that a top manager would take more out of these players, but I don't see an advantage in doing that at this moment. The signings we made demand a manager that will a) give minutes to youngsters b) help develop these players. "a)" goes against getting immediate results, so we are stuck with a different requirement for a manager for the moment. Unless our signing strategy shifts and we start getting players who are ready.

3rd option: players simply aren't good enough; perhaps some don't (yet?) possess the quality or characteristics to execute the footballing tasks asks of them. High press with Jackson, Mudryk, and Palmer? 😆 They don't have the aggression and intensity needed for that. IMO that's why he tried Chilwell as left wing and we all know how this forum reacted to that.

It's worse than that. The strategy used by the club to sign players is the craziest shit I've ever seen. Thank you Pat, for stating the obvious: Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin said on BBC Radio 5 Live: "When they started buying a lot of the young players, and the ones who have no experience in the Premier League, I remember thinking 'that's a good plan, that could work in a couple of years'. "I've not changed my mind. It will take at least two years for that to bear any fruit and it's still an 'if' because you don't know which of those young players are going to develop into top Premier League players. Tough times for Chelsea at the moment." https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/67681960

Possession style? Pochetino has always used a very direct style with high pressing esp at Spurs. 🤷‍♂️

Football is players. You need leaders in the roster, and in the starting XI, so they can deal with in-game situations. I don't doubt Mourinho would get more, like immediate results, with this roster. Which would make little to no difference IMO. He'd play fewer of these younger players--never seen Jose use a lot of young players tbh. Be prepared for players you'd like to see getting minutes to be replaced by workhorses, which is what Jose does. It's funny how the talk about rebuild, and give time, turns into "let's bring Jose back." 😆

Don't disagree with your points. I was thinking more of power though (outmuscle the opposition), not so much running (stamina). But yeah it's likely both: experience and build (with some correlation between the two).