ozboy

The guys on the ground stuffed up particularly Jackson. Var stuffed up, but in my view Poch also stuffed up playing Enzo, largely a passenger and forcing Gallagher wide left.

Think criticism of cucu based on this game is way off the mark. Jackson was selfish as well as bad finishing. ‘but my biggest knock is why Enzo was even on the pitch. Did very little from what I could see and unbalanced the team.

Thanks for that. I’d forgotten the full game but always recalled the Carvallho give away and the penalty handball. Great fun.

A better finisher probably, but Jackson is,to me, by far the more complete team player. Has the assists as well as the goals. However here’s hoping they both do well.

Maybe the other way round. They will be favourites against Real. Anyhow we can be competitive. They will score two against us, but with luck we can also score two. maybe same team except carney for Noni and Palmer wide.

Jackson's attitude is what you need more or less in a striker. He has played virtually every game this season, not always brilliantly but lead the line consistently. He has stayed fit and motivated. He also has pretty good pace, realsonable strength and a good touch. Palmers first goal was the best technically of the 6 against Everton, but any striker would have been happy to have scored Jackson's goal as well as he did. Madueke runs well with the ball but no better than Jackson and neither is, at this stage, his team play anywhere near as good. I could see Jackson as left wing, a la Rashford but he has enough about him to be the 9.

Jackson is talented. He’s had to lead the line virtually every game. That goal he scored last night was excellent. He really had two assists. Sure his behavior isn’t perfect, but he’s a striker. Strong, fast, good touch. Good on him.

Palmer’s footwork in the first goal was pretty much world class. Jackson two assists and an excellent goal of his own also did very well.

Enjoyed that but the defence will concede against better teams. Pickford what a bludner but it took class to exploit it and with his right foot.

Palmer Jackson Mudryck ‘and it’s the team I’d pick given no disasi or Colwill and baddy seemingly having had the how to play switch turned off

Leverkusen are fully committed, they are not that talented but they have complete belief in the project at the moment. Even so WHU should have scored the first goal which Antonio, who was brilliant, created for Kufus and which Kufus fluffed. If Jackson had done what Kufus did he'd have been crucified on this forum.

Poch has started blaming the players, blaming the crowd, blamed the owners for not giving him older players but has he taken any responsibility? He could have said "it was a mistake playing Conor at leftwing, i should have played Mudryck or Sterling and rested one of the mids" (in my opinion conor was the one that could use a game off and where we clearly have the most cover just now). Anyway, we have all had long enough to make up our minds. If you haven't worked out whether you think Poch is the right or wrong manager no amount of discussion on this forum will change anything. And for the record I think the tactics and the execution of them are just the outcome of the process. When the players internalise their belief in the project, their belief in each other the discipline and the execution will follow. Right now they might like the manager but they do not believe, any more than we do.

There are lots of good managers out there. New ones emerge every season. It’s a question of identifying one. This season we have seen Alonso, the girona guy (who may be a one season wonder) and Postecoglou.

Pochettino made 2 subs at half time and scored two early h2 goals. We could easily have brought on Sterling or mudryck for Gallagher or Caicedo I’d have brought on chukwumeaka for Palmer earlier as well.

The team selection was abysmal tonight. Players were tired but that’s no excuse for having no left sided attack. And the subs were far too late. I think that’s just obvious to any observer.

Certainly could play carney in place of one of the three mids. More likely he will get another 30 minutes.

Sheffield have conceded 80 goals in the league this season. I don’t see how you can play madueke and Palmer at once. and I will make a bet Palmer is not up top.

Look at Arsenal defending after going 2:0 up against Brighton. They had 11 players within 30 yards of their goal, 9 of them in two closely spaced lines. It was very organised and purposeful. It was not Chelsea this season.

And in any event we have to move on from Silva and learn to do without him. For that reason and assuming he's fit Chalobah starts. Not sure if Carney is fit enough to start but he obviously deserves more minutes at the expense of one of the midfield 3. I'll be hated but there is a case to start Sterling as the team will benefit from a bit of rotation given this will be about the 3rd game in a week.

You don't understand entertainment. The joy of the hero on the backfoot through the entire movie but eventually overcoming the bad guy. That entertainment is much bigger in sport because unlike the movies the good guys don't always win.

You can blame the manager if a team consistently makes individual errors. Yes there were two goals conceded from individual errors but there were countless other misplaced passes. The upside is that there are also lots of brilliant passes. Sarri ball may be less fun than Poch ball but they are both the responsibility of the manager.

This is why I like Postecoglou. He gets it, he really understands what makes a club tick. Getting into the champions league is not an end in itself. It's what happens when you have a team that is consistently challenging for the title. https://www.espn.com.au/football/story/_/id/39879509/spurs-financial-losses-impact-transfer-plans-postecoglou And of course he is articulate and is prepared to talk about it. Klopp is somewhat the same.

I am still dreaming of moving further up the table. More attacking options now even though Jackson has to play every game. And despite leaking goals gusto/gilchrist and cucu are at least proper full backs. Chalobah getting fit can also be useful for the run in. Saying all that with Burnley still fresh in the mind. But I believe the team is being forged as we move through the season. Not that far off being a contender.

Palmer was the only option. But he also made lots of misplaced passes and lost the ball on a few occasions. FWIW Cucu also did well.

"before Cole Palmer scored the latest game-winning goal in Premier League history a minute later to spark bedlam at Stamford Bridge."