DannyVblue

Very uninspiring line-up and formation. I know Franks’ hands are tied slightly though with injuries to the squad. Hopefully Frank knows what he’s doing and we put in a good performance. I don’t think our squad is suited to 3 at the back like it was under Conte. Our best players are central midfielders, so I’d rather see a tailored formation to get as many of them in the team as possible. Much prefer 4-3-3.

Frank sounding like Ruben will play a part tomorrow. Very complimentary of him.

No one is calling these players world class. Maybe fans just want to give them an opportunity to improve seeing as Mount, Abraham and CHO are 20, 22, and 19 respectively. And with the right nurturing and given a chance could be top drawer players in a few years. Ruben has just turned 24 and was one of our stand out players last season. He was probably our best midfielder. Saying Mount and Tammy just aren't good enough is way too harsh, especially considering their age. We need to support our young players. I actually think anyone criticising Mount and Abraham this season is a disgrace.

Our best defensive performance of the season was against Ajax away when we won 0-1. We played 4-3-3 with Zouma and Tomori as centre-backs.

He mainly played right back at Roma. And he was OK under Sarri...in my opinion. I've never been overly impressed.

I'm not saying that's team team we should have played - I'm saying that's the formation I'd have gone with. I can see why frank would want to keep the same starting line-up as against spurs, but at half time I think we all knew something needed to change as we were being completely overrun in midfield - but no changes were made. I'd personally play Tomori and Zouma at the back, they were starting to form a decent partnership before Christensen and Rudiger both recovered from injury. And regarding the United game, they scored with their only 2 chances - one being a set piece. We weren't completely dominated in midfield like we were last night.

We had both Mount and Barkley playing as wingers when we had Willian and Pedro on the bench. We easily had enough central midfielders in the squad to make a 3 if Frank wanted to. Could have played the below. Willy James Rudiger Christensen Azpi Jorginho Kovacic Barkley Willian Mount Abraham We lose a defender playing like that, but I actually think it make us more solid as it improves the midfield and gives us a better chance to retain the ball.

Frank seemed to put a lot of the blame on the players and the quality of the squad last night, but that's only part of the issue. Frank has to take some responsibility too. We played 5 at the back again but this has only ever worked for us against Mourinho's Spurs, the other time we tried it with this group of players was away at Arsenal and it didn't work at all and we had to revert back to 4-3-3 in that mach and ended up coming from behind and winning 1-2. 5 at the back worked really well for Conte in his 1st season, but we had a team suited to that type of football and Conte was a master at organising a team that way. We had 2 really strong and physical central midfielders in Kante and Matic, along with the threat on the break with Hazard and Costa. Last season we changed our personnel and by hiring Sarri we were looking for a shift in our philosophy. A move away from Conte/Mourinho's counter attacking tactics towards a more possession/high press game. Jorginho and Kovacic are both fantastic footballers and I rate them highly, but they need to be on the ball and have possession. Having those 2 players outnumbered in midfield last night while we sat deep was really painful to watch - they were chasing shadows and I don't blame them for that, I blame the tactics on the night. I called it before the game that we needed an extra head in central midfield against Bayern and I was proved right. I know Bayern are a very good side, but Liverpool saw them off relatively comfortably last season - and if they face City this year I have no doubt that City will see more of the ball. We've matched both City and Liverpool this year, we needed to be braver with our tactics like we were against them. Our players suit a possession based game, so it frustrates me when we I see us sit back and get bullied at our home ground. I hate posting negativity, so I'm going to finish this off by saying that I'm still really pleased with our team and what Frank has done this season. We all knew that there were going to be a a lot of ups and downs with such and inexperienced squad/manager and transfer ban. The experience last night for everyone involved is going to be invaluable - I just hope that we're fast learners!

No, this is suuuch bullsh*t. Immaculate performance up until 50 minutes?? Are you actually serious? What game were you watching? We should have been 3 down at half time and were getting run ragged. Their defence has been their Achilles heal this season and we didn’t lay a glove on them - at home. We Let them have the ball and it was inevitable that they were going to score. I can see why lampard wanted to keep the same team that performed well against spurs, but it failed miserably tonight.

No ones saying that we wouldn’t have lost - we Probably would have because Bayern are a very good team. It’s more the fact that we gave it to them without offering a fight. We were the home team and want to be and attacking/possession based team in the future - playing 5 at the back and being so defensive at home when we have a sh*te defence was like waving the white flag before kick off.

With an extra midfielder instead of defender we’d have had more numbers in the middle to wrestle hold of possession better. Playing 5 at the back we were sitting ducks - couldn’t get near them. Alonso wouldn’t have played, Azpi left back and James right back. James is just a good a right back as wingback. You can’t concede if you don’t give your opponent the ball! We let them have it all game at home!

I don’t buy that at all. We’d have beaten that spurs team playing any formation. Playing a Spurs team who parked the bus is different to playing an attacking Bayern team, so we needed to adjust our tactics for that. And it’s not hindsight - I mentioned this pre-match and at half-time when it was 0-0. We had Willian, Pedro and Abraham on the bench - we didn’t need to play 5 at the back if we didn’t want to.

Abandoned our attacking/possession principles to play 5 at the back and still getting a spanking. I’m a lot more upset by the tactics here than when we lost to City 6-0.

We were very fortunate there - good half from Caballero. We’re showing them far too much respect, I doubt their defence has had an easier half of football to deal with this season. The formation isn’t working, if we’re going to play defensively and counter-attack we need some pace up front. It was the worst spurs team in the past 10 years we beat on Saturday - the formation needed changing for this game. We might as well have bakayoko and drinkwater as holding midfielders if we’re going to play like this. To get the best out of Jorginho and Kovacic we need to be seeing a lot more of the ball. I’d rather lose and stick to our attacking/possession principles rather than draw 0-0 playing 5 at the back at home. I know I’m moaning and the result is good at half time - with a few good performances from James, Mount and Christensen in particular, but I know we are better than this. Let’s get Willy on for Barkley, then maybe change to 4-3-3 after 60 mins.

I'd say we are definitely underdogs for this - our form over the past few months has been inconsistent and Bayern are a really strong and experienced team with a lot of quality. I'm definitely not writing us off though because I really believe that on our day we can reach a level that can beat anyone. We've played arguably the 2 strongest teams in europe this season (Liverpool and City) and the difference in quality during those matches was marginal (if anything I think we were the better team in those matches and the end results were harsh). We've shown that we can match it with anyone. Regarding formation, I'm not so sure that we should stick with 3 at the back for this - I'd really worry that our midfield will get overrun against bayern as it did away at Arsenal before we changed formation. I think midfield control is extremely important against the bigger teams and in the champions league, so I'd get another body in there. Someone who can retain possession and can resist their press (could this be a moment for Ruben?). It's a difficult one, but I'd go 4-3-3 with the lineup below. Caballero James Christensen Rudiger Azpilicueta Kovacic Jorginho Loftus-Cheek Willian Abraham Mount Hard decision to leave out Giroud and Barkley. Reasons are Giroud has barely played in 3 months and put in a big shift on Saturday - I also think Tammy offers us a bit more pace upfront which will be needed against Bayern. Willian in for Barkley as he we be fresher and loves the champions league. Willian's level seems to go up a gear when playing in Europe. Really excited for this and whatever the result it will be fantastic experience for our squad! Come on Chels!!!!

"Ruben is in the squad. Not fit to start, but in the squad." Hallelujah!!! 😁😁

He was the best of our front 3 last night. I know that's not saying much, but at least he was trying to get involved and be creative between the lines.

The midfield was the least of our worries last night, I actually think we had the beating of them in the middle of the park. The problem is that we don't have forwards who can score and we are conceding with every chance that we give away. how many decent chances did they actually have last night? I cant think of any except for the 2 goals - Willy was barely tested. This has been a common theme all season. We were also completely mugged off by all the officials last night which obvious didn't help.

Reminds me of Mahrez but not as good. If he comes, I hope that he proves me wrong.

He's playing for the u23's against Arsenal on the same night we play United, so there's no chance he'll be involved in that. If he does well for the u23's on Monday then we could start seeing him in the first team squad from the Spurs match onward.

Started and played 60 minutes of a behind closed doors friendly today against Brentford B. Came through it completely unscathed with no sign of any pain. He's getting close!

We should bring him back.

The first was a huge deflection and fortunate, but it was still a clear chance in our box. They scored 2 and missed 2 sitters, plus quite a few breakaways where they probably should have done better. Anyway, even 3 clear cut goal-scoring opportunities is not good enough.

I’m a big fan of Marcotti and I think he’s spot on there. Our 4 centre-backs are all 26 or under, and I think it really shows. JT was definitely an exception to the rule. It’s possible that given a few years we will have 4 top quality centre-backs to pick from - I think we need a more senior head at the back for the immediate future though.

Looked really great and sharp in the first half against Leicester - got me very excited. Completely anonymous 2nd half though. He has so much talent, I think he needs to go searching for the ball more and take more responsibility. Still so young though - it’ll come.