robsblubot

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).

Curious about that myself -- it seems to have helped Kante.

Sad point taken. I'd say that evidence still suggests it's not (yet?) the same. Well Garnacho is better than Mudryk--not really that close. Antony with all his weaknesses is twice the player Mudryk is, and was actually better than Sterling against us. Antony, despite his shortcomings, is a powerful athlete... maybe we are missing a bit of that up front? I think even knowing whether Poch is good enough of a manager for us is going to be hard... and perhaps even not that important. When you fuck up the roster the way we did, gotta fix that first.

Please read the exchange above about youth, potential, and current ability. Their potential does not enter the pitch. With that out of the way, United has about the same quality, or the lack thereof that we have; they do have better options on the wings tho. So, we went to their home and lost the match. 🤷‍♂️ Caicedo was a big fish in a small pond. I addressed that in a different thread. When players move up they need to adapt: have less of the ball, pass the ball more quickly, and not run as much with the football. All this is required of Caicedo... Didn't Cucu look a lot better also? It's a very common trend actually, which makes me think expecting Lavia to deliver the goods at this time is just fantasy. If you think playing for Brighton (or Southampton) and Chelsea is the same, then we have a big disagreement here.

yup and I think it's a bit more serious than that, but the biggest weakness is the attack and the lack of options. If one of our attacking players isn't in good form, well too bad he has to play anyway--not much different in other positions. To your point, we had the best opportunities against Everton, but did not have the quality to put the ball back in the net. Goals change games, and it's hard for us to chase results right now; we don't have the experience and calmness to do that.

Such unanimous opinion does not and never exited. I certainly did not think the players were bad. That roster was A LOT stronger than this. The problem with fans is exactly this, "He had Enzo, Caicedo, Lavia, Santos, Carney, Casadei, Conor, Ugo in pre season." (Lavia and Santos - big question marks) Do you realize you cited one world class player? All the top teams in the PL have world class players, some more than one. That's the issue here: the PL is the best league in the world right now, which means the level is super high. Our players can improve and become better; some may yet become world class players yet, like Caicedo and Palmer, for ex. Right now they aren't tho. Right now they are no better than what the opposition has. Actually, right now they are just younger and more inexperienced than what the opposition has, so we are at a constant disadvantage. We have players in our roster, some of which often start matches, who would be interchangeable with their counterpart at Brighton (some of which came from there). Hey options are opinions, but IMO aside from the small, and short-lived bump in performance (from the managerial change high), the next manager will not succeed with the roster. My reply to you was about Lavia and yet another nobody 19yo who will make an immediate impact... he will likely not.

Reassuring that a source of news like +972 Magazine, which is based in Tel Aviv, is allowed to exist. Not sure the same would be possible elsewhere.

Because by the time Lavia gets to play a game of football, and we find out he's yet another nobody (I meant "project"), Posh will be gone (as you want), so exactly how waiting for this fabled player with nothing yet done in the game helps a manager under pressure?

@Chuckso we may have a fundamental disagreement here. You think the situation we are in has happened before, elsewhere or not. For me, the situation is unprecedented: not only the number of changes in the squad (which you addressed), but the age and inexperience of the new signings make this a very unique situation.

And he looks like the real deal now... the second goal below is pretty incredible 😢 He's been quiet in the Brasileiro, but came alive towards the end of the championship shortly after he turned 17.

Well, I'm afraid you will find out that some players can be told a number of different things and they will won't be able to do them. Gaps aren't left by the manager, but by the players themselves. Having a Mudryk on the left wing, with a num 10 shirt at that, has a cost. Mudryk wouldn't get a spot on the bench for Tottenham. Palmer would be a great player coming off the bench--not so much as a starter. Although important, quality isn't just about a player's skill on the ball. Heh my prediction is: 1. Poch will get sacked (prob around Jan) -- always thought this squad was unmanageable in the PL. 2. the next manager will perform about the same and get sacked/replaced before they manage to fix the roster. I honestly I think we do not have a good grasp as to how poor and unbalanced this roster really is.