Paddy

Or take him off, rap him up in cotton wool and save him for Tuesday night

Wow, sorted then

As a matter of interest, how long would you give him to make or break ? One of the interesting things I find about Werner is that, although he isn’t scoring goals, his threat and movement in and around the last 1/3rd of the pitch worries opposition defenders and gives them problems, whereas Tammy is fairly predictable and easy to read - let’s be honest, for a big guy, he’s no real threat in the air, he doesn’t really do holdup centre forward play very well and he goes to ground/falls over way too easily. I think average rated defenders find him easy to play. He seems a really decent bloke, maybe that’s his problem, maybe he needs to develop that c**t of a player that Costa was/is or maybe he is just out of his depth ?

After that fabulous, defender mugging turn, and MM was bearing down on goal, do you think that there was even a millisecond of a moment when Mason looked up, saw Werner approaching the 6 yard line beckoning for the pass and he thought “ oh, there is Timo, our prolific German goal scoring machine , I must pass to him, he will surely score’ ? So glad he went with ‘ ...................nah, f**k that, if you want a job doing properly ...........’

Did I miss something ? Is this really still Gol ?

If only it were a question of numbers and bums on seats - I mean, how do we play like we did v the dippers and Atleti and then turn out the drivel that was us v Southampton or Leeds ? You are correct that teams challenging for honours on multiple fronts have to have squad rotation, but that rotation can not allow their performance levels to drop much, if at all. Sadly, I don’t believe the quality exists in our squad to be properly competitive on all fronts at the moment. I believe that the team are guilty of being complacent and of under estimating some of our PL opposition, I also think that some players who played v wba were ‘resting’ themselves before the game on Wednesday ?

If you are old enough and live in the UK, you might remember Alan Hanson’s famous line about ‘you’ll never win anything with kids’ - he was making reference to manure’s crop of youth players breaking into their first team in the early ‘90’s ; Scholes, Neville, Giggs, Beckham and Butt . Lets be honest, with the exception of Butt, home grown players of their quality and ability don’t come around too often and definitely not from the same club at the same time. Currently only MM , imo, falls into their category of ability and excellence - now let’s see him continue to perform at his current level for the next 5 + years to be truly comparable - before him only JT and Le Saux since the 70’s ? So expecting our academy to be a production line punching out top 4 and CL standard players is delusional and a pipe dream, it is for most clubs and that’s why the premier league has almost 70% foreign players in its teams. If we want to sit at the highest table , we will need to bring in talent, I think we need to give our methods of who and how we do this a complete overhaul cause it’s not working at the minute, again, imo ?

Add him to the list of this seasons players to ‘cut losses on’ then; Kepa Bakayoko Drinkwater Batshuai Zappacosta Rahman plus the ones that didn’t cost so much; Van Grinkle Barkley Kenedy Think Marina and her ‘back of a fag packet’ informed scouting team needs an overhaul , cause their success rate at bringing in (and retaining) talent is f**king awful imo ?

Apparently MM is doubtful for England v Poland . So Mason and Kante crocked due to international matches - f**k knows how long they might be out for ?

I think your statement, whilst possible, is very dependant on selection . I wonder if TT drops the lesser lights of the squad, Kepa, Emerson, Gilmore etc and goes with what he perceives is his strongest 11 - it’s pretty normal at this late stage in a competition to roll out the ‘big guns’ . Unbeaten in 14 and 2 goals against aside, does anyone imagine that yesterday’s starting line up, set up and playing as they did v SU , would hold a candle to MC ? I think we play that 11 and it’s curtains ?

Yeah, it’s all did and done as far as your punt goes , just gotta route for the draw or away win now , that and a few season ending pikey injuries

Yep 3-2 now

I agree , the FA cup is very very winnable. I’ve given up trying to second guess TT’s team selection, he seems to do ok to be fair, even if I don’t agree with his initial selection (wtf do I know!!) - I’d be surprised and amazed if he doesn’t care if we win this or not - a piece of silverware in his first season will do his cause no harm for any future contract negotiations or transfer funding requests - so I expect a very strong team selection with only 3 wins needed to lift the trophy. We’ve all been waiting for the implosion, the moment when we fall apart, it’s inevitable, right? It was supposed to happen when we played our ‘first real test’ , but spuds, dippers, Manc, Everton & Atleti twice later and we’ve done all that now, we are unbeaten in 13 matches and have only conceded 2 goals - and one of them was a ‘gimme’ f**k up between Rudi and Mendy. I’m going a long way round to say that other teams will be fearful of us now under TT, City, if they get through and we play them, are beatable, I wonder if Pep and co are hoping we get beat rather than have to play us ? Interesting times, TT said before the last Atleti game that the team has to believe, saying it is one thing , but I absolutely do think he’s gotten into their heads in a really positive way, momentum and positivity will take you far, these guys believe in themselves and so do I - dare to dream my friends, dare to dream !

Perfectly doable Nibs.

You are right , all except Gary Neville and his “it’s written in the stars” outburst !!! What a draw - it’s all got to be won yet, but what an opportunity! Tell you what , how about v PSG in the final ? TT and TS achieving with Chelsea what they couldn’t with the french outfit - maybe it really is written in the stars ? COYB

He is an immense beast of a player when he’s on it - last night he was on it big time, it was almost as though this particular game was personal to him some how ? Anyways, along with a few others in the team, he was definitely a contender for MoM , but you are right about the almost penalty - I winced with the fear of a pen being awarded when he made that challenge, I think rat face had a shout tbh? I think he’s ever so slightly bonkers and at times and looses the head - he needs to keep that part of his game under control (easy said) and especially keep his hands to himself, I wish he wouldn’t touch other players - I wonder if we can get him shorts with pockets in ?

I saw the line up before kick off and was horrified to see that TT had selected Ziyech (again?!) and Zouma - I’m like, wtf is wrong with this bloke? Then I find out AC was Tom ‘n dick, which is why KHZ is in and that Ziyech is picked because ??????? f**k knows? TT gives his pre match press talk and in summation he said something like; “ …………yah, you have to believe, there is not time to think, you must just do it “ Well, didn’t we just do it !! Huge apologies to Kurt, you had a blinder my son and to the other Mr Z, milder congrats, your best game so far imo (still lots to improve on tho!) Well done all and especially well done TT.

Well giving them a bollocking or a cuddle doesn’t seem to work , maybe they need the Spanish archer ? Pulisic, aside from the first 10 mins, and Ziyech for the entire 90 (give or take the odd pass/cross) weren’t at the races and frankly , Mendy apart, no one else showed up much either (I’m not being entirely fair to Dave , rudi or AC) It is so f**king frustrating watching Chelsea play at times, I mean we turn in fantastic performances v Atletico, v the dippers and v Everton and then today - sh*t ! wtf is all that about? I was expecting for us to give a really decent account of ourselves today, but we struggled with the wind, we struggled with their press, we struggled with their sh*te pitch, we just struggled !

BT commentary says it’s a three with pulisic and Ziyech playing rh side - Dave’s gonna be busy !!

£100 million give or take, I’m seeing Ziyech and pulisic on the team sheet and I’m giving it ???? how ridiculous is that ?! Hope Tommy’s fired a few f**ks into them (or given them a 21st century cuddle ffs) cause at the very least these pair need to put a shift in today and look interested. COYB !!!

Maybe I’m easily impressed, but his command and comprehension of English is excellent, he carries himself well, is calm, completely understands the questions being asked of him and answers in depth and detail. It can’t be easy (I honestly don’t know, but am assuming?) being humorous in a language that isn’t your first tongue, especially when you’re only been resident of that country for less than 3 months , but his response to the Pulisic question was funny, cheeky, ingratiating and as honest an answer as the question deserved without saying f**k knows ???? ? There is much to be admired by this fella , I find him knowledgable & inspirational, reckon his style is demanding and fair - can’t ask for much more from a boss.

I don’t necessarily have an issue with your rating of TT , although I believe it should be higher btw, it’s more that you think he’s victimising youth team players in favour of senior players ? I’m sorry Imran, I don’t think that that is the case. Like you and many others, if not all on this board, I am mystified as to what Ziyech does in competitive matches to have warranted initial selection never mind continued game time , but I wouldn’t describe Ziyech as a senior player, he’s certainly never done anything of note in my mind to be considered ‘senior’, quite the opposite in fact and honestly, I too was screaming for him to be hooked - but it not as if BG offers competition for Ziyechs position is it ? I obviously don’t know what TT thinks, but my read on it is Tammy isn’t really good enough at this level tbh and cho needs to switch on for the whole of the game, he’s doing enough to be regularly picked now, but when you have major defensive responsibilities as a wb , you need to be ‘on it’ all the time and carry out team instructions to the letter - I didn’t see the Southampton game , but in other games I have watched, he does lack focus and is guilty of ball watching at times, imo? I think you are correct, Emerson is picked in a multiple sub role, mostly lwb or lcb , I assume (and hope!) it’s a ‘just in case’ selection rather than with any intention of giving him game time, but if the sh*t hit the fan Emerson could cover a midfield role or even stick him upfront in an emergency - I don’t say he would be effective but he offers many more cover permutations than Billy can - I believe that’s why he gets in in front of BG. Your argument for Billy is presumably predicated on him getting game time rather than offering cover - I just don’t see that in lieu of the current incumbents I’m afraid ?

His very first team selection , by his own admission, was entirely picked on perceived reputations and experience - no starting place for Mason you may recall ? Not sure it’s fair to accuse TT of double standards ? Given that he is on a relatively short term contract which, as we all know, is dependant and reliant on results, he’s gonna stick with the proven and after 11 games most of us would agree with the team and bench he picks - I can even understand him selecting Kepa v Barnsley and then v Newcastle - I don’t see him taking ‘chances’ other than those forced on him or calculated and hard won. I think Tammy has had enough opportunities to showcase himself in matches as have MM and cho, less so Billy, (right now, I wouldn’t pick BG ahead of Jorginho, Kante or Kova) their ‘success’ is evident in their continued selection or not. I think at times, what clouds our judgement is the ‘one of our own’ sentiment ?

It’s easy this football malarkey, ain’t it

Every team rides their luck. It was a wonderful, defence testing cross/pass, Ironically, from Salah to Mane - when you play that high line defence, balls over the top to forwards of the speed of Mane will cause problems, but as much as we might have been fortunate , they were too. On balance we were the better team and by some distance I feel. Most pleasingly aside from the result was the style of football. Bring on the toffee’s !!!!