Tambling Dice

Realistically lads it's not over for us yet, Brentford could do us a favour or City could drop points in the 2nd half of the season. 
For me the most crucial part of this horrid run is that it highlights that while this system is probably the best way to get the most out of the squad it relies heavily on us having access to everyone in the squad i.e first choice players for their specific position. We haven't had that since this bad run started. 
Secondly for whatever reason the inside forwards in this system don't seem to be able to create consistently high volume chances for their teammates it doesn't matter who plays there no one seems comfortable being the creator.
We can bemoan the lack of goalscoring prowess from our players but how many good goal scoring opportunities does this system or the players in it really create? Nowhere near close enough to City or Liverpool. 
We have the elite goal scorer in Lukaku but that won't be enough to win the league when there isn't enough creativity from the team and we compete against the best teams in the country and Europe regularly.
For how good the system makes our defence our creativity continues to struggle not all the time but games like this do highlight the need for a truly elite chance creator. I was hoping Ziyech or Havertz would fill that role even Werner, Mount or Pulisic but that doesn't seem to bad bad case. 
CHO sadly isn't consistent enough to be that player at least for now. Also I don't have much of an issue with what he did in the 2nd half I only caught the end of the game but I can see what he was trying he just got his timing wrong he either has to play the ball early or use the runner as a decoy to go by himself.
Previously in the season he had multiple chances even more clear cut than that and he chose to shoot and it cost us in the long run so him choosing to pass there I have no issue it's just a shame he wasn't able to execute it. 

Taken on its own you could put this down a poor performance after one too many fixtures. However our performances in the last month (since Juve) have been mostly below par and that is a worrying trend. We've scraped the wins that we managed and have looked vulnerable defensively. Definitely the injuries/illnesses in midfield have contributed. RLC has done OK at times and he would be fine if we had 2 out of the usual 3 (Kova/Jorgi/Kante) behind him. But we look exposed otherwise. Saul is awful, and should not be anywhere near the team. I suspect we will improve defensively once we get the key midfielders back as they are really integral to the stingy system TT had working so well. However even after a year with TT I feel like we look no nearer to improving our attack. That is ultimately going to be a limitation as we are too reliant on defense and mid for goals. When TT's team has done well (a few games excepted) it has generally been when we have been conceding few if any goals. We might be able to go on another cup run with the key players fit but I cannot see us winning a long league campaign unless TT finds a way to get our front players scoring regularly. 
I know there have been some comments about using academy players. But most of the options that have not been used are still very young. Maybe Harvey Vale or Jude Soonsup-Bell in a cup match. But all the rest of the talent is out on loan. I thought that was a risk in the summer when we had a lot of fixtures this season, and so it has proven. We should have kept 1 or 2 of those players and now I doubt we can recall them. 

Well im very lucky to be here to watch this game..not long been out of southend hospital....doing my job and was hit by a vehicle they say was travelling around 40 miles per hour....only knew about anything when i woke up in shopland ward.....fractures of the pelvis....prob lose job as theyve signed me off till end august...doing lots of aided walking to help recoup...now to biz......some of you will know i have to do this as im normally wrong....we will lose this match 3 1.....good luck team...have fun fans

Rest easy Ladies & Gents.....the omens are good.
When we won in 2012 we were in the middle of my son's 21st and better half's 50th birthday celebrations.
....and on Saturday it's my daughter's wedding day.
Enough said...

Rest easy Ladies & Gents.....the omens are good.
When we won in 2012 we were in the middle of my son's 21st and better half's 50th birthday celebrations.
....and on Saturday it's my daughter's wedding day.
Enough said...

Rest easy Ladies & Gents.....the omens are good.
When we won in 2012 we were in the middle of my son's 21st and better half's 50th birthday celebrations.
....and on Saturday it's my daughter's wedding day.
Enough said...

Rest easy Ladies & Gents.....the omens are good.
When we won in 2012 we were in the middle of my son's 21st and better half's 50th birthday celebrations.
....and on Saturday it's my daughter's wedding day.
Enough said...

Rest easy Ladies & Gents.....the omens are good.
When we won in 2012 we were in the middle of my son's 21st and better half's 50th birthday celebrations.
....and on Saturday it's my daughter's wedding day.
Enough said...

Marco van Basten sings Kanté's praises, commentator claims Kanté has only recently shown himself to the world as a good footballer  I'm paying for this idiot.

When I was a kid growing up, me and my mates used to play in the playground and dream of creating a strategic vision and sustainable commercial approach for the European football economic model....

When I was a kid growing up, me and my mates used to play in the playground and dream of creating a strategic vision and sustainable commercial approach for the European football economic model....

When I was a kid growing up, me and my mates used to play in the playground and dream of creating a strategic vision and sustainable commercial approach for the European football economic model....

When I was a kid growing up, me and my mates used to play in the playground and dream of creating a strategic vision and sustainable commercial approach for the European football economic model....

When I was a kid growing up, me and my mates used to play in the playground and dream of creating a strategic vision and sustainable commercial approach for the European football economic model....

When I was a kid growing up, me and my mates used to play in the playground and dream of creating a strategic vision and sustainable commercial approach for the European football economic model....

When I was a kid growing up, me and my mates used to play in the playground and dream of creating a strategic vision and sustainable commercial approach for the European football economic model....

When I was a kid growing up, me and my mates used to play in the playground and dream of creating a strategic vision and sustainable commercial approach for the European football economic model....

When I was a kid growing up, me and my mates used to play in the playground and dream of creating a strategic vision and sustainable commercial approach for the European football economic model....

When I was a kid growing up, me and my mates used to play in the playground and dream of creating a strategic vision and sustainable commercial approach for the European football economic model....

When I was a kid growing up, me and my mates used to play in the playground and dream of creating a strategic vision and sustainable commercial approach for the European football economic model....

When I was a kid growing up, me and my mates used to play in the playground and dream of creating a strategic vision and sustainable commercial approach for the European football economic model....

When I was a kid growing up, me and my mates used to play in the playground and dream of creating a strategic vision and sustainable commercial approach for the European football economic model....

When I was a kid growing up, me and my mates used to play in the playground and dream of creating a strategic vision and sustainable commercial approach for the European football economic model....

When I was a kid growing up, me and my mates used to play in the playground and dream of creating a strategic vision and sustainable commercial approach for the European football economic model....

When I was a kid growing up, me and my mates used to play in the playground and dream of creating a strategic vision and sustainable commercial approach for the European football economic model....