Argo

He seems to be a bit off form in general. Thankgod we have decent alternatives, could you imagine if this happened in 17/18 or even Conte's title season?

I never thought I'd say this but are we actually better balanced and pull off our progressive style of football better without Kante playing? Out of the games I look at as a blueprint to where i hope we end up when we peak (Brighton at home, Ajax away, Watford away) he hasn't played in any of them. I don't want him sold but the midfield combination I've enjoyed the most this season is Jorginho, Kovacic and Mount.

I do think it's partly coincidence but at the same time I do think we miss him in games like these where there's not much defending to be done. He shouldn't play against any big team though.

I'm not saying he's doing it on purpose but subconsciously when you get comfortable it tends to affect performance even if you don't want it to. I think we won't get anything near the best of RLC till next season minimum which is why I think we should recall Gallagher next month, that way Mason will know he's dropped if this carries on.

I don't know if it's a concidence but he's massively dropped off since Barkley's been frozen out. Need to bring Gallagher back in January to keep him on his guard.

He scored 10 last year and 9 the year before. That would be a decent enough tally given the goals we have elsewhere.

I don't really think it's much to do with moving to a two. He lost the plot while he was still playing in a three.

Think it's Klopp who are making them look good personally. They have a very poor track record when it comes to backing their managers properly, even the VVD and Allison deals came through selling their biggest creative outlet for big money. Imagine if our manager had to make do with Karius to two years because Marina wouldn't release funds for a top keeper, these boards would go into lockdown.

He also excelled here for the first 6 months. I still can't properly work out what the hell went wrong.

If we go about individual comparisons, Kova is of a mould to Iniesta (not as good obviously but that is the type of player he is), Jorginho/Busquets, Kepa/Ederson, Pulisic/Sterling, Tomori I can't think of a direct comparison to a player that played under Pep but he's the type of player for his style. Our 04-10 side never really use to put many integrate eye of the needle passes through like these guys do, they were more about the physical edge, using it to get the ball back and break with devastating effectiveness. We were never really bothered about territorially dominating games or having that much possesion, even against fodder. Lampard's approach is defending from the front, getting it then once we've got it draw the teams into pressing bait and if that fails patiently probe for an opening.

Maybe he's tried. One of my best friends has tried every bit of help and counselling imaginable since he was a kid and it hasn't helped him one jot.

Lampard's vision is the total opposite to the teams he played in. Frank's a lot closer stylistically to Guardiola and Wenger than he is to Jose.

Look at how Hudson Odoi is struggling replicating last season's form after coming back from an injury not even half as bad as Loftus Cheeks. I'm sorry but if you think Ruben will hit the ground running and carry on where he left off after such an injury you're in for a very nasty shock. We're (atleast at first) more likely to get the timid version of pre 2019 than the dynamic midfielder he turned into post new year. This season should be a write off in terms of relying on him, not only is he still probably months from a return (like Rudiger he will probably have a personal pre season before being made available for selection again) then he will need time to get back upto speed. Anything we get out of Loftus Cheek this season is a bonus.

At the ages they're at form will always fluctuate. There's more than enough games to go round.

Since when have Pulsic, Jorginho and Kovacic been mediocre? Seems like a moan for the sake of it.