AndyDowsleftflank

Would be hilarious if he took Rogers, Palmer, Neto and James off at half time

Better yet, a 4-3-3 with Gusto as an 8. Everyone here would love that

Loved that about Barco yesterday. Had an awful game in parts, were to blame for a goal directly but didn’t hide and got his reward in the end. Thats how you make it at the highest level

I think his only chance to make it here is if we start playing a 4-2-3-1 and Rogers gets a bad injury. Maybe not even then. Looks like a player who desperately needs to be a big fish in a small pond somewehere, I'd be flabbergasted if he's not loaned somewhere in January

Honestly felt Watson did well. A silly foul to get the booking right before half time that meant he had to come off regardless, but overall think he left a very favourable impression. On me, at least

He was awful, but why does Alonso give him a role as a sort of free roaming playmaker? I saw him in central midfield, as a 10, as a wing back on both the left and right - everywhere! Its like watching Maresca on speed, what they think they get out of Gusto in all these different roles I'll never understand. Play him as the right wing back or a conventinal right back and you'll at least get half decent performances out of him, he's being kind of screwed by being asked to to a whole lot of stuff he doesn't have the capability to do

All true, we did see a lot of the 4-2-3-1 in pre-season and vs Luton, but without Caicedo we would just get overrun in the PL imho. I'm sure we'll see it more once he is back though, and especially when/if we get a partner Xabi trusts alongside him. Even in the 3-4-3, I dont think its the idea to start with Rogers/Palmer every single time, but this early in his tenure you probably dont want to change too much from game to game. I'd expect Estevao to start more games after the international break, no matter what formation we play

Lol. Theres just nothing Rice wont get away with

Are we sure Palestra actually exists? You guys saw him in pre-season too, right?

Kicking people in the head is ok. Got it

Same here, mostly because of their insufferable fans

Fair enough, a stable environment is always a good thing. I think as long as he plays though, its all valuable experience. And the way he's started, there is no way a new manager comes in and stops playing him so I think he'll be fine

I dont see the problem. Watched three of their games and I agree - he's been their best player and is quickly gaining popularity with their fans. Being a key player in the championship is surely better for his development right now than sitting on the bench for a PL team, even if they are a bit of a shambles at the moment

We dont need cover in midfield, if thats the case just use Watson and/or Nicoll-Jazuli. What we need is a quality starter next to Caicedo, none of these free agents will be able to do that. Lets keep the powder dry and go again in January for Wharton, Scott or whoever we deem to be our main target.

You'll probably bulk up nicely this year

Haven't we done enough to these poor buggers already: Deivid Washington joins RC Strasbourg - Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace

It took me till now to realize Balogun got them back for us by rejecting the move. Good lad! Seems like Monaco HAD to sell this window, so hopefully they are well and truly screwed now

So as if Monaco hasn't screwed us enough over in the past with Disasi and Badiashile, now they do this. I want revenge, lets buy them and give them the Strasbourg treatment. That should teach them

Essugo has gone and I dont really think Watson and Nicole-Jazuli will be considered due to their age. I still agree we have the numbers at least until January though. In terms of quality I'm less certain, but I would have felt the same way even with Enzo here. Good player, not what we needed. Anyways, having personally disliked Enzo for quite a long while, I am now finally free to hate him. Happy days for me🥰

We were absolutely not in control. With the midfield we had there was simply no way we could be in complete control, I think. So we went for chaos instead, and ended up outscoring them. Chaos is really fun, at least as long as we end up winning :)

Absolutely. I do think the idea that "lots of possession=control" is about to be challenged, though

Soooooo, surely now that Sanchez is going Ben Roberts doesn't want to stay around anymore? Right? Can we loan him to Como as well?

Thanks, picked a game at random and got this: Chelsea vs. Nottingham Forest Match Report – Saturday September 2, 2023 | FBref.com Pretty much the complete opposite of the Brighton game, 76% possession and a 0-1 loss. Of course, there will always be so many factors going into a game of football, pointing to a simple stat like possession to explain results are close to useless. However, I'm extremely glad we seem to have a manager now that doesn't have a problem ceding possession if that gives us a better chance of winning the game.

I first started paying attention to possession numbers under Pochettino - I think something like the first 10 matches I looked at we won the game if we had less possession than our opponent, and drew/lost if we had the most. I would love to see a complete statistic on whether or not this applicable over several seasons

Why can't I shake this feeling they aren't really serious about buying him. For some reason, it feels like us with Maignan