Super Frank Thread

[Yeboii 1,844]

Now, since our attacking has dried up a bit for the time being, I feel that Frank must focus on defense at number 1, 2 and 3. 

Probably our strongest defensive line-up would be (depending on how fit Rudiger is after being out for half a season).

James/Azpi - Rudiger - Tomori - Emerson.

[manpe 10,861]

Haven't been reading this forum a lot for the past few days but my god the last pages of this thread make me want to cry. Just another example of prevalent hypocrisy on here. At first? Give him time, it's all part of learning curve, it's a painful but necessary process yada yada. Then we hit a slump, the same supporters? Lampard out, he's another AVB, he's out of his depth... Often times these same people will then bash others for fickleness. Can't wait to go on another winning run and watch them all change their minds... again. It's like people can't comprehend after years and years of watching teams go through highs and lows, that there aren't such things as perfect seasons for a team like ours.

[communicate 2,703]

1 hour ago, Superblue_1986 said:

Rudiger played on the left of a three man defence for a period. In a back four he's played right side all of last season so it still remains to be seen if he can operate on the left side in that formation.

And even then, he's our best defender. Surely we play him in his strongest position and everyone else around him.

If you can play lcb in 3 man defense , you certainly can play as lcb in 2 man defense. Last year we had Luiz who is almost two footed, so it made sense for Rudi to be on the right. 

That work for a attacking player but defense is all about collective work, you don't select player to get the best out of certain player. 

[Vesper 30,085]

On 12/7/2019 at 9:36 PM, petre.ispirescu said:

I don't. 

If you ask me I think we must buy two towering centre backs before doing any sort of deal. 

I was watching some experts talk about rotation and they all said 'If you want to rest players you always rest the midfielders or the attackers, back line always stays put no matter what'. 

Look at Klopp's last matches, he's rested every single midfielder and attacker, but never his defenders. 

Frank must build a very solid defence and then we're good to go. If you ask me Reece James should be the only actual defender starting next season, too. The left back should be a Chilwell type of full back and the CB pairing should be an imposing and calm one, the type of Gimenez-Godin partnership. 

Zouma I think has reached his max level and he's not good enough, Christensen is too soft and surely this must be Azpilicueta's last season as a starter. The fact Lampard keeps chopping and changing at the back makes me think he does not trust them that much, hence must invest massively in that area. No reason to have ballers up front if defenders can't even do the basics. 

José Giménez is the same height as Tomori (1.85m)

Godin is 1.87m (same as Kalidou Koulibaly, who Napoli for years tried to lie and say was 1.95m, lololol)

so neither are really giants

they both are superb at positional play and ball playing

proof on Kouibaly's height, btw

Patrick Vieira is 1.93m

Marek Hamšík is 1.83cm, same height I am

 

Giorgio Chiellini is 1.87m

 

[Tomo 21,751]

2 hours ago, manpe said:

Haven't been reading this forum a lot for the past few days but my god the last pages of this thread make me want to cry. Just another example of prevalent hypocrisy on here. At first? Give him time, it's all part of learning curve, it's a painful but necessary process yada yada. Then we hit a slump, the same supporters? Lampard out, he's another AVB, he's out of his depth... Often times these same people will then bash others for fickleness. Can't wait to go on another winning run and watch them all change their minds... again. It's like people can't comprehend after years and years of watching teams go through highs and lows, that there aren't such things as perfect seasons for a team like ours.

The bit I love the most is how many people said they'd be patient and happily accept midtable if we play academy players and are showing promise? Yet we're doing both of those currently in the CL places and people are losing their shit.

As I said yesterday I don't think the winning run helped things, a bit like last season's unbeaten start it gave out the false narrative that we're title challenges when it was never a realistic possibility which in turn (in my opinion) has some people genuinely believing that this is a title winning team in a catastrophic slump instead of a young team and a club in a cultural reboot having inevitable ups and downs.

It's part of the reason I was worried about the appointment as much as I wanted it, fan expectation is just far too high.

[manpe 10,861]

1 minute ago, Tomo said:

The bit I love the most is how many people said they'd be patient and happily accept midtable if we play academy players and are showing promise? Yet we're doing both of those currently in the CL places and people are losing their shit.

As I said yesterday I don't think the winning run helped things, a bit like last season's unbeaten start it gave out the false narrative that we're title challenges when it was never a realistic possibility which in turn (in my opinion) has some people genuinely believing that this is a title winning team in a catastrophic slump instead of a young team and a club in a cultural reboot having inevitable ups and downs.

It's part of the reason I was worried about the appointment as much as I wanted it, can expectation is just far too high.

100000% spot on

[communicate 2,703]

On 12/8/2019 at 2:43 AM, Mana said:

When I’m seeing Ole beating City at Etihad...makes you wonder...

Why couldn’t we beat City? We have yet to beat a top 6 side this season.

United has better front line than us. As simple as that. I have no idea why but this city team look absolutely porous, so easy to play against. 

[communicate 2,703]

2 hours ago, Tomo said:

The bit I love the most is how many people said they'd be patient and happily accept midtable if we play academy players and are showing promise? Yet we're doing both of those currently in the CL places and people are losing their shit.

As I said yesterday I don't think the winning run helped things, a bit like last season's unbeaten start it gave out the false narrative that we're title challenges when it was never a realistic possibility which in turn (in my opinion) has some people genuinely believing that this is a title winning team in a catastrophic slump instead of a young team and a club in a cultural reboot having inevitable ups and downs.

It's part of the reason I was worried about the appointment as much as I wanted it, fan expectation is just far too high.

I don't think my expectation is high. Lamp has done very well in term of table position. He has far exceeded many people expectation while incorporating youth, that something that need to be praised. 

Having said that, Lamp game management and selection has been a bit questionable. Some of the problem that we have this season does not come because we have young team.  

[Jase 43,479]

https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2019/12/09/lampard-seeks-consistency-with-lessons-learned-rapidly

The head coach spoke immediately after the game about the sloppy nature of goals conceded and although it is clear the current Chelsea side is a work in progress with plenty of young players involved among more experienced heads, there is only so much leeway that can be given.

That is a point he makes as he looks again at the weekend setback.

‘They have to get used to it quickly,’ Lampard states. ‘I can give them a tiny bit of room maybe for the youth of some of the team but at the same time, they might be young but they are not silly.

‘They know physical contact happens in games like the Everton one. The game gets broken up, the ball goes direct into your box, it is another thing to deal with and we just have to deal with it better.

‘There are home truths all the time, whatever game you play,’ he adds, ‘and players consistently need to hear that. I have a good bunch and in the Premier League with the competitive nature of it, there are going to be difficult patches and times when you lose games. It is certainly not the end of the world but it is important that we take on board lessons from games like Saturday and West Ham, because we had a week when we were poor, fantastic, and poor again, so that lack of consistency is not going to get us where we want to be.’

[Jase 43,479]

6 hours ago, communicate said:

United has better front line than us. As simple as that. I have no idea why but this city team look absolutely porous, so easy to play against. 

Really? It's easy to get carried away by United's results against the big teams but let's not forget, United have struggled against the smaller teams this season. If you look at the goalscoring numbers of the players, they aren't much different from ours.

The one thing United are doing better than us is having a solid/defensive shape, which gives them a chance of getting results against the better teams. Only 4 teams have conceded less than them in the league and their expected xG against is one of the lowest, according to a stat I saw recently. 

[BDTips 34]

Frankie is the man!
It's December, we are in the top four and one step from the second round in Champions League, a success so far.

No transfers, with so many inexperienced young people, some out of date ...
But he has been able to get the best out of his squad.

He has an offensive idea of the game, which comes from the beginning of the season, has not changed the script after any negative result.
He has balls!

A lot of people said that Chelsea's squad was rubbish, that we were going to be in eighth place, stupid things of that kind.

Just as many players are young and learning, Frankie is taking the first steps,..

We have to support, not criticize, mistakes are common but there has been more good news than bad.

There are defensive problems, things to improve, of course there are. And everyone will do everything to improve.

Let's support them! I am sure we will be proud at the end of the season.

Frankie and these young people are passionate!

[BDTips 34]

On 07/12/2019 at 6:43 PM, Mana said:

When I’m seeing Ole beating City at Etihad...makes you wonder...

Why couldn’t we beat City? We have yet to beat a top 6 side this season.

United is a counter attack team.
And they are very good at it.
But a big team doesn't play like this or win championships like that.
They have stolen points from big clubs and lost a lot more against small teams because they don't know how to play anything else.

We have a more positive and risky idea to play.
We have a team in formation, taking the first steps, it does not reach maturity in 3 days.

But we have an idea for the future and for success.

Don't see things from such a short perspective.

[Fernando 6,585]

On 12/7/2019 at 3:36 PM, petre.ispirescu said:

I don't. 

If you ask me I think we must buy two towering centre backs before doing any sort of deal. 

I was watching some experts talk about rotation and they all said 'If you want to rest players you always rest the midfielders or the attackers, back line always stays put no matter what'. 

Look at Klopp's last matches, he's rested every single midfielder and attacker, but never his defenders. 

Frank must build a very solid defence and then we're good to go. If you ask me Reece James should be the only actual defender starting next season, too. The left back should be a Chilwell type of full back and the CB pairing should be an imposing and calm one, the type of Gimenez-Godin partnership. 

Zouma I think has reached his max level and he's not good enough, Christensen is too soft and surely this must be Azpilicueta's last season as a starter. The fact Lampard keeps chopping and changing at the back makes me think he does not trust them that much, hence must invest massively in that area. No reason to have ballers up front if defenders can't even do the basics. 

Manchester City interested in rivalling Chelsea to sign Bournemouth's Nathan Ake

Manchester City are interested in a January deal for Bournemouth's Nathan Ake - despite a contract clause seemingly putting Chelsea in pole position to bring him back to Stamford Bridge.

 

Seems like we are going to get Ake. 

Said it before, the "easy" buy for CB would be Ake. 

But I also would like someone else. Let's see what we do. 

[Vesper 30,085]

2 hours ago, Fernando said:

Manchester City interested in rivalling Chelsea to sign Bournemouth's Nathan Ake

Manchester City are interested in a January deal for Bournemouth's Nathan Ake - despite a contract clause seemingly putting Chelsea in pole position to bring him back to Stamford Bridge.

 

Seems like we are going to get Ake. 

Said it before, the "easy" buy for CB would be Ake. 

But I also would like someone else. Let's see what we do. 

here is your complete double CB AND CF answer (by summer for sure if not all in January, which maybe a bit tough, especially the WC CB part but also the CF part if we go for Werner over Håland)

 

[communicate 2,703]

22 hours ago, Jason said:

Really? It's easy to get carried away by United's results against the big teams but let's not forget, United have struggled against the smaller teams this season. If you look at the goalscoring numbers of the players, they aren't much different from ours.

The one thing United are doing better than us is having a solid/defensive shape, which gives them a chance of getting results against the better teams. Only 4 teams have conceded less than them in the league and their expected xG against is one of the lowest, according to a stat I saw recently. 

Against defensive team I absolutely agree, they looked awful. They have no midfield and no fullback and no between the line player but against team that will give them space behind, they are better. Rashford and martial are absolute terror on counter attacking situation. I will take Rashord + Martial over Tammy + Puli right now against team with space behind. Against City, you can see how easy we can run at their backline, we are just not that clinical. That is normal though, young frontline. 

I also agree that defensively they are better than us. I watched 3/4 of their games early in the season. They looked very solid.