Super Frank Thread

[Jase 43,479]

Not sure what to make of Lampard's comments about our attacking play. On one hand, he seems almost nonchalant about it, like he's thinking the players will sort themselves out. On the other hand, he knows he has to sort it out but is putting a brave face on. 

[killer1257 3,282]

Not sure what to make of Lampard's comments about our attacking play. On one hand, he seems almost nonchalant about it, like he's thinking the players will sort themselves out. On the other hand, he knows he has to sort it out but is putting a brave face on. 

He also had to sort out the defense.
TC people always say that he is the worst defense coach in the league, so he has to improve the defense first, which he did.
Long term wise, we always need better midfielders in the double pivot. I hope Lampard watches Ampadu and gives him a fair chance next season, because he was brilliant. Everything Kante can't do with the ball, Ampadu can. I also think Ampadu and Rice would also work very well because Ampadu is quite creative.

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[blu35_army 551]

Fun Fact :

In 2004 Jose Mourinho took over. In the first 7 PL games, we scored 6 goals, kept 4 clean sheets, lost 1. Jose focussed on building his defensive structure first. Once this was established, he unleashed Robben & Duff. The rest is history. hope Lamps is following this strategy....

 

[Jase 43,479]

19 minutes ago, killer1257 said:

He also had to sort out the defense.
TC people always say that he is the worst defense coach in the league, so he has to improve the defense first, which he did.
Long term wise, we always need better midfielders in the double pivot. I hope Lampard watches Ampadu and gives him a fair chance next season, because he was brilliant. Everything Kante can't do with the ball, Ampadu can. I also think Ampadu and Rice would also work very well because Ampadu is quite creative.

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Yes but it's only been 2 games and at the same time, I don't think Roman sanctioned the purchase of new attacking players worth around 150 million this summer to see us play boring football and produce less than 0.5 in the xGs...

[killer1257 3,282]

Yes but it's only been 2 games and at the same time, I don't think Roman sanctioned the purchase of new attacking players worth around 150 million this summer to see us play boring football and produce less than 0.5 in the xGs...

I don't think Roman cares as long as we win.

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[Jase 43,479]

1 minute ago, killer1257 said:

I don't think Roman cares as long as we win.

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But we aren't exactly even winning now...

[killer1257 3,282]

But we aren't exactly even winning now...

Step by step. Everything needs time. Pulisic still is not at his best, but his performance yesterday showed that he is getting nearer to his best version. Ziyech only played 10 minutes, but was involved in our attack, but Kante destroyed our own attack lol.

Biggest thing was to give the defence confidence and now the team knows that they can defend. Twice in a row against big teams.
The chemistry between our attackers will be built in the next couple of months. When ziyech gets his flow back, the creativity will come naturally. Still not perfect with Jorgi and Kante, but will be enough to win games.
Silva, Chilwell and Mendy reduced our individual mistakes to almost none.

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[Superblue 6,372]

4 hours ago, Strike said:

Yep. Even yesterday's supposedly good defensive display needed some crucial saves from Mendy to keep a clean sheet 

With this approach, the defenders need to have perfect games to win any points. Hope this is a temporary direction change  

Whilst Mendy made some crucial saves, the only real chance we restricted United too was when Rashford went through which also wasn't made from good United work but just misfortune that Thiago Silva went to pass to Jorginho just at the moment he fell over from a collision. Even then, coming in from an angle, he was restricted to taking the shot early.

The other two saves Mendy made were from efforts outside the box. They were good saves, but realistically they were saves I would expect a very good goalkeeper to make which Mendy is looking like he could well be. It only feels surprising because Kepa or Caballero probably wouldn't have saved them.

If a team is restricted to their best efforts coming from outside the area I'm happy with that. Now and again one will go in but more often than not a team won't score if they can't create chances in an opponents area. 

[Strike 7,474]

James has done enough to be first choice over Azpi for a stretch of games imo. Azpi should be rotated to keep both fresh but I think James is the better option now that we have a more secure keeper to claim crosses as well. 

[Fulham Broadway 17,299]

2 hours ago, killer1257 said:

Step by step. Everything needs time. Pulisic still is not at his best, but his performance yesterday showed that he is getting nearer to his best version. Ziyech only played 10 minutes, but was involved in our attack, but Kante destroyed our own attack lol.

Biggest thing was to give the defence confidence and now the team knows that they can defend. Twice in a row against big teams.
The chemistry between our attackers will be built in the next couple of months. When ziyech gets his flow back, the creativity will come naturally. Still not perfect with Jorgi and Kante, but will be enough to win games.
Silva, Chilwell and Mendy reduced our individual mistakes to almost none.

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Exactly - people underestimate the importance of confidence. The other clean sheet yesterday is huge in terms of belief, and goals at the right end will now come. 

People want to lynch Kante on here - bollox to that - he'd walk into any top team -put these in the right order....... perfomance/permanent/ temporary/ class

[Jase 43,479]

2 hours ago, killer1257 said:

Step by step. Everything needs time. Pulisic still is not at his best, but his performance yesterday showed that he is getting nearer to his best version. Ziyech only played 10 minutes, but was involved in our attack, but Kante destroyed our own attack lol.

Biggest thing was to give the defence confidence and now the team knows that they can defend. Twice in a row against big teams.
The chemistry between our attackers will be built in the next couple of months. When ziyech gets his flow back, the creativity will come naturally. Still not perfect with Jorgi and Kante, but will be enough to win games.
Silva, Chilwell and Mendy reduced our individual mistakes to almost none.

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Everything needs time...sure...but we also don't have time in this crazy season.

As I said before, I will wait till the next few games to see whether we are actually building up to anything because while it's nice to see us defend properly for a change, the sudden change in approach in the last two games feels too sudden, too drastic, too out of nowhere. It's almost as if Lampard was reacting to the increased questions, outside pressure etc he was getting after the Southampton game more than anything else. Not to mention, if he could suddenly sacrifice our attacking play to be more solid defensively, then why didn't he do it last season? We kept playing the same way last season despite all the problems and that was with worse players than this season.

[killer1257 3,282]

Everything needs time...sure...but we also don't have time in this crazy season.
Not to mention, if he could suddenly sacrifice our attacking play to be more solid defensively, then why didn't he do it last season? We kept playing the same way last season despite all the problems and that was with worse players than this season.

Actually, Lampard switched into a defensive approach after Corona break for instance against City. Obviously, we still conceded too many goals overall, but we also played with Alonso, AC, Toni and Kepa and individual mistakes are normal with these guys. Now, we have Mendy, Chilli and Silva, who make a huge difference for our defensive structure.
They only played 3 games together and I think we conceded zero goals.

Yes, we do not have time, but we can't change that. Sacking Lampard and getting a new coach, who needs new players with maybe completely new characteristics will mean that we need more time. Allegri needs his experienced players and likes a back 3 a lot. Not sure if Kai would be his player. Poch may be a fan of a 4-2-3-1, but does he really want to come to us lol. Also, Poch will not solve the jorgi and Kante dilemma, too. Lampard knows that the attack and the defense can be solved. It is just the 2 in midfield that worries me and I, think he knows that too.

Right now, if Ampadu really shows his worth at Sheffield, I would recall him in winter, so he at least benches Jorgi. But I do not think Chelsea will do that. The Sheffield fans really rate him. I read that on their forum today.

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