ozboy

Marina also got Barkley for a song. Barely under lampard is gradually turning into a pretty good player. Pulisic would also have been a decent buy bar the injuries. Morata arguably the biggest mistake.

I'm certain it will still be televised. I wonder what difference a crowd makes. I've done public speaking to audiences as large as 500 and also run a specialised podcast with 5000 downloads an episode. I enjoy the podcast just as much as the live performance. Lighting Hopkins hated playing live and he had a brilliant feel for the blues.

Never suggested it before but I’m inclined to the team running dead in this match. The squad is threadbare and while hope springs eternal the odds of turning this around and then going deeper in the CL this season are low. The team is not strong enough to make the effort worthwhile. That’s a defeatist view of which I’m not proud. And it can be counterproductive destroying team morale. And it’s only worth it if it results in more sustained performance in the league.

I’d certainly like some more options on the bench even if not starting. Kovacic at least maybe RLC or Tammy or even pulisic or cho. gilmour is good but despite the thrill of the new I think Kovacic offers as much or more Equally I’m a great supporter of Barkley but he’s been inconsistent in the past. ‘all that said I’d go with the same 11 again.

Not convinced it’s just change for sake of change. And I think rules need to and do constantly evolve. Sometimes getting sent off for two yellows is too harsh and sometimes just a yellow is not harsh enough. Still it’s no biggie.

Passing was very sharp all over the pitch but certainly Barkley and Mount were very effective. Yet we still look shaky at the back particularly today with Zouma and alonso. Giroud suits this lineup so well particularly when we get the other players around him and kepa was able to find him consistently. Going long in attack and sitting deep in defence is surprisingly effective. Gilmour is terrific on the ball, but has yet to show he’s solid in defence. while the young guys are great so to is the effort from Pedro, Azpilicueta Willian and Giroud. Team has good spirit but going away to Munich will be sobering.

I read Germany is going to experiment in lower leagues with a time penalty for a second yellow. The obvious extension is to say 10 minutes for 1 yellow, 30 minutes for two and a send off for three? seems to me that a sin bin for a yellow would cut down on the incidence and maybe improve the game?

In midfield Frank won't start RLC in an important game first game back from a very long injury so that means James will play in midfield probably with Barkely as well as Gilmour As for defence I have no idea which random collection will be picked but I'm betting Alonso gets another game. That leaves Giroud, Pedro (who can't that work that hard two games in a row at his age unfortunately) and Mount up front. If we assume the same defence as last game Arizzibalaga Dave Zouma Tony Alonso James Gilmour Barkely Pedro Giroud Mount Thats my guess any how

Great result. Barkley and Giroud excellent. Having Giroud to grab thos headers and set Barkley mount free is terrific. Hope kova ok

As much as we miss Hazard watching Real v Barca today makes me realise how much we also miss Courtois. Not sure it matters what team we play its just going to be a question of which Liverpool team turns up. The alternatives in the front three are are fairly ordinary in all honesty. Still football always carries the possibility of surprise

The defence isn’t going to improve in a hurry. No combination or formation has resulted in a confidence building defence. So actually Frank is right when he says we need to score more goals, it’s the only way for the team this season. as soon as you say that then you realize the injuries really are a big deal. We knew before the season started that all the strikers were crap but that Tammy was the only one with a potential X factor and that’s the way it turned out until he was injured either against Valencia or Ajax can’t remember. but he needs creative pact players and both pulisic and cho have been out. I suspect pulisic injury may be quite long term he didn’t play that much for Dortmund last season and not much for us this season. Then Kante has been nowhere near fully fit all season. Rlc’s also always injured. he had “back” problems last season. I didn’t think frank should have got the job but I reckon he’s done ok considering the talent. A defensive minded manager of lower league teams might have run the team quite differently but I don’t want to watch Mourinho lite. looking forward seems like billy Gilmours going to get some minutes it’s either him or RLC for the vacant midfield spot with Jorginho out. Gilmour has impressed me but doing against the big boys is a big ask. RLC and Kovacic running the midfield is also a worry though, RLC doesn’t do defence and is more of a mount alternative. we can still make 4th but will have to get some of the attackers fitvand in form.

We were well beaten. I thought Mount tried hard but lacked the quality on the ball. Reece James is fine in attack but frankly he is useless in defence whether in a 4 or a 5 for one of the goals that came down our right, and we are always getting caught out down there, he was like 50 metres up the pitch. I like James in the side but he just has to learn to balance defence with attack a lot better. I'll get laughed at by anyone still reading this thread but I thought Moses was a far better all round wing back in his premier winning season than James is right now. Gnabry has turned into a real star for Bayern.

I think we have little or no chance of stopping them scoring, but Bayern’s defence hasn’t been that good when I’ve seen them this season and if we get it right (unlikely) or get lucky we could score. I think our midfield is the equal of theirs and our fence not too much worse but their attack is way better than us.

Great story https://www.espn.com.au/football/english-premier-league/story/4056872/hakim-ziyech-can-be-chelseas-new-eden-hazardif-they-let-him-loose

I've watched Inter quite a bit this season and don't really rate Vecino at all. He's far from an automatic pick at Inter. Lots of better choices.