Spiller86

He needs to work on his pointing game to get to Jorginho's level though...

Avram vs the bees was the best. I'm giggling just remembering it. Sadly I can't seem to find it either.

I agree certainly not for the fees quoted. I also think he is a good player, but I'm not convinced he transforms us into title contenders. I think longer term he may be a Kante replacement.

Agreed. I think Frank will continue to learn and shouldn't get a free pass, but at the end of November everyone was flying off the chain saying we were a title chances. A bit of moderation never went astray in the reactions to a run of results either way.

Agreed. I think assuming injuries don't hurt him he will at least get to Jorginho's level and perhaps even higher. Scotland should be very exited. The one thing I worry about is whether physically he can manage over the long term in a modern midfield. He is a bit short and maybe a bit noodle armed at the minute. Hopefully he gets a bit of a grow on soon.

Very good draw for us. Feels like we've had a few dud draws in the Cups in recent years so good to know we should get through to the sixth round without facing a PL side.

No doubt Reece has played well but I just sense this is a day for Dave and his pragmatism and solid defending. Perhaps his polish going forward isn't quite the same bit he still has a role to play on certain days.

I think everyone is fit which is fantastic. 4-3-3 Mendy, Dave (over James for his experience and leadership), Zouma, Silva, Chilwell, Kante, Havertz, Mount, CHO, Pulisic, Werner. Leaving out Ziyech was probably the toughest call, but I suspect he is still working his way back to fitness and we need to handle all three wingers carefully given their injury troubles. He will be there to bring on for CHO if we need it and Pulisic if the game is won.

Couldn't have gone better really. Goals for the blokes who needed it and a clean sheet. Ziyech dropping into pockets of space and popping passes over the backline was a welcome sight. We're going to need him to step up another level if we're to make the Top four.

I think that makes 5 goals and a few assists. Quietly building a good season.

Hopefully we can get a good win to rebuild confidence. Willy, Dave, Zouma, Rudiger, Emerson, Gilmour, Kovacic, Pulisic, Havertz, CHO, Giroud.

Farcical is the word. Every big club in Europe would happily have Kante. Bet they wish a few of our posters ran Chelsea transfer policy!

Deary me. Never have so many knees jerked all at once. Poor today but was largely our best player through the autumn. Also still the only genuine world class player in the team. Over the years on here I've seen people turn on Cech, Ivanovic and other top players but this anti-Kante sentiment could be the most bizarre of all.

Seems to happen every winter to us. No idea why. For me I'm always happy to judge at the end of the year. Long way to go yet and it's very close in the top 10. Of greater concern to me in the long term seems to be Frank's inability to consistently beat teams at our level. He seems to be a guy who beats the teams he should beat but doesn't quite have the wits at this stage to get over the line in the big games.

He'll come good. Today he should have scored at least 2. He just relies on shot volume, he scores lots and misses lots. Another day and both go in and he's getting all the praise. Real issue is that neither Pulisic or Werner really like playing on the right but one has to play there until CHO and Ziyech are back to full fitness.

One of his best games in a while. Two poachers finishes and some good lay-off work too which you wouldn't ordinarily see. Credit to Frank for the way he is managing our striker cohort. If you score you get to stay on makes them all keen for goals.

I think this isn't quite right. Nothing to do with the position. He got 2 if not 3 glorious chances to score from the wing and fluffed all of them. He relies on shooting volume rather than accuracy, another day and he would have scored all three. I think as much as anything he is playing on the wing because of the injuries to Ziyech and recently CHO. Once we have everyone fit he'll be at CF more regularly.

Yup, bit of composure at the back helped. Have to say I thought Dave wasn't helped by Werner not tracking in front of him and Jorginho being Jorginho and being too immobile to get across and help. He looked much better once Kovacic came on and covered. Bizarre thing is that after looking so compact for months - we seemed to be easily stretched again without the ball. Which is a shame. I think the lack of Ziyech and his pressing from the front has been huge. We're also missing his creativity with the ball. Hopefully he is back soon. Surely we can roll the Gooners though?

I always hate seeing a West Ham fixture around this time of the year. Similarly I hate seeing us playing Moyes about this time of the year. Bad combo especially after two losses. We made it hard for ourselves, but we got the job done in a very tricky fixture. Our corners have been our saving grace this year. Lovely to see. Credit to Tammy for poaching two late on as well. Not many more positives but who cares, a win is a great Christmas gift. Onwards to inflict more suffering on Arsenal after boxing day!

Hahahaha - Jeez I love the Jorginho wars. Hilarious. It's gone from Jorginho > Kante to Jorginho > Kovacic.

Maybe they caught COVID? Only excuse for them disappearing?

All good points. Frankly we always have a winter slump. Looks like it has started early based on the last two features.

Maybe cool it? He scored stacks from the same spot last year. It might just be that England is a tougher league where chances are harder to come by. He'll continue to improve. You might have also noticed that we had zero wingers in the squad last night and so had to adapt.

Just superb. He kept receiving the ball and turning to dribble and progress despite the press. None of this pass it back to the centre back despite being under zero pressure. He was one of two who actually tried to take the game on. Shame that others couldn't follow his lead.

I said before the game that this fixture is normally a good barometer of where we are at. I think it probably showed that we're not real title contenders at the moment, notwithstanding the injuries to all of our wide men. Once again the lack of impetus to really get on the ball and take it by the scruff showed same as during the week. Only Kante and James really showed they wanted it and tried to take Everton on. The rest were harried and without time and space struggled. I thought Carlo used Iwobi cleverly behind Chilwell to try and create an out ball and DCL is the first striker I