Belfast_blue5

Thought he had a good game today Im wondering is 4-2-3-1 our best formation next season with Jorginho in beside Kante. I was surprised he was left out after the restart. I wondered if we would sell him but in the current climate I can’t see to many buyers. I think having kante beside him would protect him a lot more allowing him to concentrate on getting in the ball.

We need to win at least one of the last two games. If we draw both and Leicester win we lose out on goal difference. Ideally we need united to end up in the Europe league again. I think the contract with Adidas will be reduced if they don’t make champions leagues which will hopefully let us create gap with them.

He's still only 23-24 so there is still room for improvement. His best qualities for me is when the balls at his feet. What he really lacks is strength and aggression. Strength can be worked on and i think its really hurting his game teams are starting to target him. What he really needs is a leader and someone to organise beside him. No of the current centre backs we have can do that.

He looks a shadow of what he was at the start of the season. Its maybe a combination of match sharpness and confidence at the minute. I don't remember him falling over as much at the start of the season it actually looks like someone is pulling him down from behind. 4 maybe 5 big games left hopefully he starts to quickly find some form.

Totally agree with what you have said and I've said it on here many times having Hazard allowed us under what ever manager to be more solid at the back because he was a world class player. We are now seeing how terrible recruitment and changing managers who are completely different have left us with the squad of players we currently have. I personally think Frank has done a great job with the current squad but the next two summer windows are massive for this club. If this time next year the defence hasn't improved and money has been invested i feel some of the criticism frank is getting now will be justified. Before covid i thought the club had two option this summer be totally ruthless and gut the team bring in a load of players at once which can have mixed results or trust in Frank and give him time to slowly build his own team. For me we need a new GK, left back, 2 Centre backs, Holding midfielder and a centre forward.

The first time i seen him play was against Arsenal in a pre season game. He looked like a real superstar he made bellerin look like the youngster against a seasoned pro. He hasn't really kicked on but i feel that's due to the injury and the switch in position. Frank seems to play him on the right. I thought he played well there in games under Sarri last season especially with Hazard because he stretched teams allowing Hazard to move into the space. He's just signed a new contract i think he needs to get his head down now if he wants to stay at the club.

He isn't Drogba or Costa he's a different type of player. I agree he doesn't do enough at times but when given chances he takes them. I cant see Werner playing up top in the premier league, it's a much more physical league and he's played wide left most of the season.

We had 71% of the possession tonight the problem is creating chances. Apart from the Pulisic chance we didnt have anything else in the first half. We got into a number of good positions we couldn't play that final ball.

I will reserve my judgement on Tammy till next season i don't think Werner will play up top i think he will play wide left. West Ham played very defensive tonight and we created nothing for him. With the new attacking players coming in next season we will see if hes up to the job.

I think Frank knows the back 4 is poor and that't why he's tried to put Kante in front to help them out defensively. Kante and Jorginho are totally different players. The defence needs an overhaul but who do you buy there isn't a load of great centre backs out there. We have bought two attacking players already and after watching the team tonight we created one chance in the first half i think it speaks volumes.

lol I'd be happy with him or VVD in a swap deal.

You can set that team up anyway you like the problem is the team is too small. We really need a world class centre back but even then it doesn't solve the set piece problems. We only really had 3 players over 6 foot tammy and the two centre backs when they scored. After watching the game the real problem is creating chances. Apart from the Pulisic chance we created nothing in the first half.

its really strange that he has not played a minute since the restart. Any reports I've seen frank spoke well about him and his influence on the younger players. I'd be shocked if we have agreed a deal for him because i cant see where he goes especially if Juve the only club linked has just signed Arthur.

He had a bit of a stinker today that’s what you get when playing kids form is always up and down. He will come back stronger from that experience today. I still expect him to turn into a very good player.

It does seem strange he hasn’t played any minutes since the restart. He seems very professional so I can’t see him coming back really unfit. maybe a deal has been done I mite be wrong but I don’t think Kante play as the holding player once before the restart.

Brillant post. I think we will actually finish 3rd after the city win. Losing your best player, a transfer ban and having to integrate young players with 0 premier league minutes what frank has done is fantastic. We have a very young squad and have made quality signings for next season. We aren’t that far of challenging again. citys best players are getting older and Liverpool won’t keep up that level of performance season after season. I think we will win the league in the next two years.

I thought if we beat city we would finish 3rd. I’m sticking with that the break seems to have done us good getting key players back to fitness. This would be a fantastic season under frank.

I actually think he switch between 4,3,3 and 4,2,3,1 next season. Timo for me will play wide left most of the time. You need 4 wide players now for all the competition we play in. Timo gives us goals from a wide position it also stops teams risking players on the counter. if Timo hits the ground running with Pulisic, Ziyech and cho we have enough goals from wide to easily get into the top 4.

I was going to write I hope he’s doesn’t but he’s been a good servant to the club. if we played 442 I would be happy for him to sign for another few seasons but he’s played in a front three since he signed. He doesn’t score enough goals for the position he plays. If you just go by this season alone time and time again his final ball when in a good position isn’t good enough.

I actually liked Sarri you have to admire someone who sticks to his principles when hes getting it from all sides. I wasnt getting into the Sarri vs Frank debate. I think having Sarri last year has helped frank this year. I just didn't agree that its franks fault that we are conceding all the goals. I thinks we would both agree that is the reason we have signed two attacking players already who should add more goals which will ease the pressure on the defence. I still think we are a CB short of really challenging who that player is i don't know. I think if we beat city on Thursday night we catch Leicester and finish third which would be a fantastic season considering the transfer ban etc.

The selection of CBs we have aren't great but there isn't loads of quality CBs around that would walk straight into the team and be a nailed on starter. If there was a number of World class CBs at the right age I've no doubt we would be in for one of them. For me Frank has been a fault this year at times how we have set up but what else could he have done? We had a transfer ban, hes had to bring a lot of young players into the team many who had 0 premier league minutes and hes a young manager himself with only one season of coaching plus he lost his best attacker in Hazard. Sarri is a vastly more experienced coach who has tried and tested methods. He had a settled back 4 and played a defensive midfield 3 of kova, jorginho and kante. He also had Hazard a world class player which stopped teams breaking in numbers because left exposed they got punished. If Frank had of copied how Sarri played last season we would be no were near 4th place. We may have conceded less goals but without taking the risks we wouldn't have scored as many. As things stand we have conceded 1 more goal than last season and 10 less with 8 games to go. If we had kept Hazard i have no doubt we would have conceded less and scored more.

The midfield is the least of our worries. apart from being on the small side i think we have a good midfield. Liverpool are going to win the league this year and won the champions league last season with a midfield of henderson, wijnaldom, chamberlain, keita, lallana, milner and Fabinho. I would be hard pushed to see were any of them play for us maybe Fabinho as he would add height when defending set plays and offer more protection in front of the back 4.

The jury is still out on Kepa i think frank will give him the remaining games to prove himself. There is no way we are getting anything close to what we paid for him covid or not. The Ajax keeper seems the most likely option if hes to be replaced. We really need a world class centre back but there are very few of them about at the minute. Koulibaly seems to be the stand out player at the minute but hes 28 and would cost 80 million with no resale value so i cant see us going for him. i think we may wait to see how players develop over the next 12 months before purchasing one. Chilwell seems to be the player we are linked with on a daily basis in the media. I haven't seen that much of him but the reports seemed mixed and he would cost upwards of 60 million. Any reports I've seen the club seem to like Maatsen and hes one for the future if this is the case David Alaba is a world class left back he's one year left on his contract he would be the perfect signing with Maatsen as his understudy.

Totally agree i had a look at how they think it will work a few days ago. It looks like we will still have to go to Germany for the second leg then then the rest of the competition is played in Portugal. Teams could seriously be weakened with transfers by this stage. Our final game is on the 26th July and if we get to the FA cup final its on the 1st August then the champions league starts again on the 7-8 August. I know the players have been off a few months but your basically asking players to play for two year with only a few weeks off due to the euros in 2021.

I think who we sign for left back and we need one will all depend on how good they think maatsen is. If you believe all the rumours they really like him. He's still only 18 and we do have a young squad maybe an older more experienced left back for Maatsen to replace in a few years.