Hutcho

The issue for me isnt the goals as 1 was a pen and the other had an unlucky bounce, it's set pieces and the fact we don't look organised at the back and haven't done for some time since we played with a 3 (5) at the back under conte. However, it's pre season. If you just read this we were both the best team in the world in the first half and then complete shite in the second half. When in fact neither of them are true. Rudiger coming back should be a lift and the most crucial part is kante who it cannot be overstated will be key to this defence. Pulisic, and barkley again impressed and I much prefer this style of play, even if it does leave us more open, the key is to ensure we are adaptable which it appears Frank will be with him trying different things out

Win lose or draw I'm loving it to be honest. Frank's the greatest and I'll enjoy every second he's here as manager. Guy is exactly what we need given current issues and whilst that may not translate to instant results, could help to ensure the talent of some our great youngsters is put on show who can become regular first teamers for years to come. I see this year as a bit of a free roll (I doubt roman and Co do though)

Defence will be boosted a lot from kante. And not sure that's the pair I would go with to start. Although there isn't a cb that is nailed on to start which is a concern as they all have their good and bad points. Issue we have is by far our best thing will be our midfield and our attacking midfield options particularly are gonna be one of our strengths and with a 4-2-3-1 system we can only play 1. When RLC is back, we'll have him mount and barkley. Kante is nailed on for a place but it may be we do need to experiment with more formations to get the most of what we are best at. Back 4 Kante Mount RLC CHO winger Striker May be a solution although we may struggle without the ball against the better teams, but I think the perks of that team is we would have a great work rate and options going forward. For me mount is a must start if we just play 1 of them atm. Guy just reminds me of Frank lampard when he plays

Pretty good from the mostly B team. Drinkwater did alright tbh and will be ok as one of the back up DM's. Bakayoko was shocking, at fault for the goal very sloppy etc. Tomori defensively made some errors which could have been punished. But not too bad. Be good to see a stronger second half team and how they do

Happy with the lineup. May as well play some of the ones he's more unsure on. Be interesting to see if pulisic looks a class above in this team

The key is to not let his contract run down so much before we make a decision. We either renew it after 2/3 years or we sell. If he performs well then he will want mega money. But that'd also make him one of the most valuable 20 year olds on the market so we could sell or renew. We are only in this situation because he previously wanted to go due to a lack of playing time and we have a transfer ban. Whats the worst case. At his age he's more talented and has more appearances than mount rlc etc did. And he's 2 years younger than mount and 5 years younger than RLC which is mental. The talent in this kid is more than any talent I've ever seen from an 18 year old in many years. It doesn't matter how many games he's played he's 18 playing for us who aren't exactly renound (in the past... hopefully) for trying youth. Only matters how good you are and can be

Gotta look at it this way... Yeah he only has 50 appearances but has had some of the most impressive performances I've ever seen from an 18 year old. Bayern (who don't exactly pay extortionate amounts generally for players) were offering 35 mil for an 18 year old with 1 year left on his deal which should tell you all you need to know. Plus you've got the inherent value of due to his age if he progresses as expected and leaves he'll be sold for shit tons. At the end of the day. Footballers are all paid stupid amounts of money. 100k or whatever is ridiculous but its the way of the world. Add into that he's one of our most promising youngsters we have a transfer ban and only 3 other wingers it seems about right

Bbc wouldn't post if they werent 99 percent sure. It's done. Chill guys

Annoying I can't watch this one. But that looks pretty much first team ish barring kante coming in and whoever our no. 1 striker is. And maybe a different cb pairing

I'd hope we keep both tomori and zouma but that may not be viable. But both seem more of the sort of defender (tomori was part of it obv) lamps would be looking for if he wants to play like he did at Derby.

I think they will get it done. I also think that without Eden and Sarri leaving he would have gone as he probably believes he would get more game time elsewhere. But now he knows Frank will play him and we only have 4 wingers. So I don't see why he wouldnt sign unless there's other reasons behind it. If he doesn't then cool that's his choice. But playing regularly bpl top 4 team has to be his best shot of becoming a star and getting in the England team etc

Cool. Well at least there was some good performances. Some of the bad will be eradicated by a better team and hopefully the good will shine through KTBFFH

Haven't been able to see it. How we playing. Better than the nil nil suggests or is it the usual. Good build up and missed chances?

At the end of the day 45 mil means nothing compared to the shitty situation of going into a season with just 3 wingers so we really can't sell him. Of course if he really wants to leave then he should go. But with frankie here and an obvious commitment to play him more plus the loss of hazard I don't see why he wouldn't resign

I think he'll sign a new contract. Random daily mail articles mean nothing

The lampard effect

Oh yeah 100 percent. Same way we shouldn't overreact on pre season losses or bad performances we shouldn't overreact on the good ones either. But just from eyetest today and the games I saw with him at Derby I can see him becoming a starter for us. Pretty good in buildup and movement is alright. Finishing leaves a bit to be desired though atm

Tomori looks good can see him slotting into our defence nicely

Get in there

That is a much stronger team than the first game. Really excited for tammy mount and tomori. They are the 3 I could see pushing for first team so hope they do well

I agree, I'm just saying our squad is our squad so no harm in playing them in the early pre season matches and sending them out if we decide to. Practically all of the players playing today (bar the first teamers) won't make the squad. If this was the final game of preseason and they've played shit and we're still trotting them out then the people moaning about them playing would have a point but not on game 1.

Long season, injuries happen (I.e RLC). And most of the first team weren't gonna play this early. What's the harm in giving them a half?

True, and I doubt any make the squad so it makes no difference. Bit unfair on brown given his injury problems as well but that's beside the point. Worst case we wasted half a preseason game playing players who won't make the squad, so no big deal. Plus alot the first team and fringe players played in the summer so weren't gonna play tonight anyway. The likes of Mount tomori Abraham etc. The 'youngsters' we really wanna see at this stage

Ampadu was a real positive and batshuayi was good at times. But as said before, yeah it would have been nice to win as always but its just pre season. 80 percent of these guys are getting loaned or going back to the academy and casual fans had probably only heard of about 5 of them. We have a transfer ban so no point just fully writing off the likes of bakayoko and drinkwater as we can't replace them so may as well get a look to see if they can have some benefit at least as squad players for Cup games etc unless they can improve.

Lol its first pre season game playing loads of kids and not even the ones really pushing for the first team. Relax