Dean

I think it might have been me in the MOTM thread. Bergkamp v Argentina in the 1998 World Cup was what I had in mind. Also similar to Gazza v Scotland in euro 96 ( I think - and maybe somebody did make the comparison). Difference was no goal on the end of it unfortunately but one hopes it’s a taste of things to come. On a separate note, even though Havertz has a way to go before proving himself fully, credit to @Gol15 for persistently seeing through Havertz’s underwhelming start with us.

Your slightly missing the point which is that these upsets occur pretty frequently but when it happens to us it’s as if the world is ending, as was the case after last week’s game. Also I’m not sure that was worse. 10 man chelsea losing by 3 to relegation battling WBA is about = to full-strength league leaders losing by 1 to 10-man mid-table Leeds. The mood on here would, i reckon, have been equally unforgiving.

Yeah I’d agree with this. Also I think James is notably more effective than CHO at the moment and should be first choice for that spot until proven otherwise .

Imagine if we lost to 10 man Leeds.

Yeah Havertz with that Bergkampesque trickery was pretty special, but I went for Zouma as my 8 year old son, whose birthday it is, loved how high he jumped for his goal.

Yes this / the potential generally isn’t given enough thought. Perhaps we’ve been conditioned for instant gratification via the transfer market, but I’m in the camp that says we’ve got pretty much all we need to be challenging for all major competitions in the coming years once you factor in the age of some key players.

Agree Kova needs a breather after gruelling back-to-back shifts. CHO certainly seems due a start. Maybe ziyech and pulisic start too. Who knows? Also glad I’m not TT. Then again, it might not be so bad!

This Porto side is really good. Let’s give them that. I wouldn’t want to bet against them reaching the final. Our shape is all wrong I think. Match is crying out for Giroud at the expense of Havertz. Maybe Pulisic on for Werner but first things first.

Also beautiful pass by Jorginho

Indeed, and it’s certainly possible. Different Liverpool now though

Underrated view. We want players to get dropped for a poor performance, and I’m guilty of this too, but this approach fails to factor in the potential reaction of the player in question and assumes the player can’t learn from their mistake.

Fair enough Just, I know you have been unwavering. all im really saying is I think he would have agreed with you about a lot of the football we played, but he would have put it down to incomplete implementation of his plans . He often said himself eg that the players weren’t following instructions. Towards the end of the season it started to look a lot better and maybe that would have continued into last season . But again - it’s all academic really as it was never going to work out.

Hi Sindre. You are of course entitled to your views about Sarri and I agree about the fit bit not being good, but this quote about managing “like the ex-banker he is” is not only v lazy commentary but couldn’t be wider of the mark. Nobody would have said this without the knowledge that he had in fact worked in finance. Chain-smoking, tracksuit-wearing Sarri hardly cuts the figure of a typical banker. Like him or hate him, Sarri is pretty damn eccentric, a free spirit that freed himself of the shackles of the corporate world to pursue his dream.... and it’s pretty incredible what he achieved.

Also hypothetical, but i don’t agree with the last part. We finished the season pretty well. I don’t think he ever really implemented the football he wanted so what we took for Sarriball was an unfinished product and the accusation of boring football is a bit harsh. I think historically he’s the sort of coach that does better with the more understated players and teams, which may have been in his favour. On the other hand, it’s true what you say about him not wanting to be here, and that kind of sealed the (non)deal. But it also took two to tango, and the treatment by some of the fan

Yeah certainly a risk. Have to say I haven’t watched him much. From what I’ve seen, he’s not MY type of player but that’s my bias. Drogba was very well known when he joined us though, so while I sympathise with the idea that we should be digging a bit deeper / looking for players off the beaten track rather than just swinging at today’s “hottest” prospect, I’m not sure Drogba is the best example.