robsblubot

I think the intent of clubs speaks volumes: arsenal especially but also Barca. Goals need qualification in my book these days. I remember the days of tap-in kings (RVN to name one). Teams with tap-in strikers aren't competitive anymore because they play with 10 players against 11 on the other side. IMO. Aubameyang is a very bad player. He consistently makes the teams where he plays less competitive.

heh think he was already a pretty lousy player at Arsenal when a lot younger. Wasn't great a barca either and doing pretty much the same for us. We get what we pay for.

He did indeed. Played at a much higher tempo which was reassuring. he wasn't under pressure a whole lot, but you could see that he was trying to make runs often. One of the very few good performances against City today. For the the game was a lot tighter than expected and in the end City only scored from a Kepa's gift.

Fair enough I just said it's not easy to convince top players (at this level nothing less works) to come and be a potential sub. I agree Azpi is poor going forward, but that's more about team setup than anything else. In a 3 at the back, he can fill in CB. Some teams who have strong wingers, like Brazil in the WC, play with defensive RBs (wish they had stayed in defense 😅). So, that's also more about team setup. To your point, it's hard to have Azpi as a back for James given that they are so different in characteristics.

All said and done it was a gifted goal IMO - Kepa was back to his old self today.

Yeah so far he's been mediocre (which is an improvement from his first few games). This is a common tale I'm afraid: this jump is a difficult one. The level of play needed, and pressure, time on the ball for a big club is completely different coming from Brighton. A LB/LWB would normally operate in a much deeper line at Brighton and with a lot more time on the ball. I honestly think folks here underestimate these challenges.

I think this is the one big disagreement I have with you. I think Azpi is a tremendous backup esp because he can cover CB in a 3-at-the-back. He'd go back up to another big club for sure if he were to leave, imo. The problem is that currently he's a de facto starter given James' injury proneness of late (ever?). That makes it difficult and then we may need a second starter as oppose to a backup, which again I think Azpi is great for. I guess maybe I agree with you that Azpi may not be a proper option on the right, but perhaps more because of circumstances. It's hard to convince a top RB to come be a backup for James when he's fit.

now now that's just mean 😅

true Kai could've been making more runs... more active. Perhaps confidence? will we let Auba go? it's clear the Manager does not rate him (tend to agree).

No confidence even in the few good players we've got. They are not making runs and not believing their teammates will produce anything for them. Team is in shambles right now. 😕

this time he may have thought he could not reach it. On the goal it was completely reachable by him... a huge mistake. Surprising the commentators did not mention it. It was an even more obvious mistake in replays.

Better from Zakaria if one is looking for a silver lining here

Aubu got subbed out lol that was a very clear message to leadership (by Potter).

Kepa for me. Far post would always be a foot race.

A LOT MORE?! that was a VERY poor decision to let is go cross the small box!

Kepa is BACK! 😞

the "we" part can be a bit nuanced these days. It may have been an agent in name of the club, and values initially used only to kickstart negotiations/draw interest of related parties. better option than the "changing our minds" which would've been bad indeed.

That's an opinion, and one I disagree with. For me, and me alone, it's still a simple matter of Tuchel vs Potter and I think their resumes say it all.

If you think players running down their contracts give 100% 🤷‍♂️ My opinion is very simple and you are welcome to disagree with it, evidently: Potter shouldn't have been given the opportunity to begin with. He's not ready (if he will ever be ready) to manage a team like Chelsea coming from a nothing club. I hope he succeeds, but I don't believe he will.

Not enough for me no... many other managers doing impressive things in different leagues and PL proven is only relative given the striking differences between the top clubs and the smaller ones. NT means little these days as the top managers stay clear of. Fofona is a question mark at best, but agree that important for depth. Agree to disagree on the rest there, because Tuchel had already lost Ruddier and Andreas in his last season (were they giving 100% the season before?). It's been discussed plenty around here. I myself, wrote that Klopp had similar issues when he lost VVD for a season... there was no coming back from losing Rudiger IMO. Kante fitness has been questionable for years now. James injury proneness also not new. Once again, many here hated Alonso, so Cucurella *must* be an improvement no? Others also hated Werner, and lauded Sterling as a huge improvement. I think that the bottom line is that some of us think betting on Potter makes sense while others think it does not. I'm in the latter group and think the current ownership are completely out of their depth.

Reckon if you look at Potter resume, a lot of managers would fit the bill. "No experience at a top club" in particular would broaden the scope quite a bit.

Fofana is important now? that's a bit of a stretch eh. The issue here is that most if not all issues with players and roster applied to Tuchel. I have my own idea about how much input Tuchel had in building the squad, but it's the same crop of players with the same injury proneness. Some here would say Cucurella is a huge improvement over Alonso (I'm not one of them); that koulibaly was a good signing, that Sterling is an improvement over Werner (again not for me). While managers get some leeway into building the squad, they also have to work with what they got. That was said about Tuchel, and it applies to Potter as well. I'm not going into Arteta once again; I believe everybody knew his school of thought coming from City and Pep's wing. Arsenal merely wanted that style of play and bet on someone who could perhaps deliver it. I'm not sure what Potter is all about at this level and so far I've seen nothing interesting about his work so far. Yes, it is early days, but once again I don't see the "intent." What is the key aspects of the football he wants his team to play? Is it all applicable to a club like Chelsea with its peculiar set of players? I for one find it interesting Potter gets so much backing around here because for me he hasn't done enough to be here to begin with.

I did not either. That's why I've been banging on "intent." you could see what he was trying to do from the get go: players would attempt a pass in dangerous positions conceding goals as result of that. He did not have the players to do that and tbf, it does take time to develop that style of play as it takes a lot of discipline and hard work. Player like Aubameyang simply do not fit in that system. They still depend on players doing their thing tho; they missed Jesus today I reckon... there was just some energy missing up front and newcastle are now a diffcult team to beat with Joellington and Guimaraes in the middle. While folks have pointed to numbers and performances, I did not, and do not see, what the intent is with potter. Perhaps he's also imply lacking the players to implement his ideas, but I honestly do not know what they are... like specifically as I did Arteta's. BTW, I'm actually not a big fan of that system (Pep's and Ateta's) as I think it's extremely fragile in cups, which happens to be what CL is.

yes, he does... looks really pedantic on the ball atm. I do have a slim hope it's just the pace of the league and how little time players get on ball. We've seen the same with players like ramires and many others, but it does not look good atm. He's essentially RLC slow pace minus skill atm. 😕

That makes two of us conveniently ignoring each other's points. 😉