venom2011

'Way better squad' argument is used as well while Pep was sitting on Aguero, Silva, Kompany, Yaya, KDB. And neither Pep, nor Klopp had to deal with this level of injuries and off field issues.

Just too little experience across that back line if we (invariably) lose Silva for a few games. And ACL (Chilwell) recovery is always a bit of a lottery.

I'm going balls deep. 4-3-3 (just because I don't think we'll replace both Rudiger and Andreas). Keeper: Mendy, new keeper LB: Chilwell, Emerson LCB: Kounde, Colwill RCB: Silva, Chalobah RB: James, Azpi DM: Tchouameni, Gilmour RCM: Kova, RLC LCM: Mount, Gallagher LW: Mbappe, Pulisic ST: Havertz, Broja RW: Chiesa, Ousmane Ampadu, Dujon, Odoi, X, X Wishlist: Gavi

Utter tripe. Save for the moments where we've been low on confidence or personnel, the general style of play has been better than every club in the league bar City. Have you watched any Man Utd, Arsenal, Spurs games this season? I've seen quite a few Liverpool games as well and they pretty much exist in moments and with ruthless efficiency - not unlike some of the football we've played in the past.

I wouldn't class any season where we've had a crazy amount of injuries, contract issues, sanctions, and a change of ownership - a failure. It's simply scratched off and we go again.

When Tuchel talks about not being clinical and decisive, this is what he's referring to. Instead the ball went out to Alonso. In the first 15 minutes there were 3 ignored opportunities to play someone through or in-behind. Tuchel can demand as much as he wants but at the end of the day, key elements of our attacking unit are either young and inconsistent (Mount, Havertz, James, Odoi, Pulisic) or generally sh*t (Werner, Lukaku, maybe Ziyech). I'm okay with former as it's understandable and even expected, but we need to supplement them with some real quality.

You'd pretty much have to ignore the 'glory' stats on offer to see it. It's not quite the same, but I'd liken it to opposition fans looking at Hazard's goal stats and saying what's the fuss? He's very good technically (control, touch), works hard off the ball, and seems to be improving year-on-year in terms of his impact on games. Not a bad stopgap if Lukaku leaves.

He has a similar goals/90 record to Drogba I think and played on the flank quite a bit. 25, used to the league, fits the system, and coming into his peak years. Obviously we'd want better, but I don't think we'd find many better signings at his price.

For good reason as he's not played/started much this season. The per 90 metrics are easily calculated from the data shown.

One is 22 years old and still adjusting to the league. The other is 30 and considered the best 'false 9' in the game. Havertz' development is going well and I hope he stays there long-term if for no other reason than - we suck at buying strikers. He still made some poor decisions yesterday including not playing Timo through on more than one occasion. I pray hourly that we find some way to play him with Mbappe and Chiesa. I'm an atheist though so we'll see how it goes.

Lukaku is sold. We buy Chiesa. Chiesa wins. Tuchel gets into Mbappe's ear and we sign him just to piss off Madrid. Werner sees Mbappe and proceeds to score 13 in the league. The clouds part. Pulisic stays injury free...for the first month and then does a hamstring. Comes back to fitness and complains about lack of game time. Our attacking play improves as all energy is conserved while Conor Gallagher and Kante chase the ball. We sign Saul and loan him out to Besiktas. Jorginho sold but no problem because Gilmour starts looking like prime Pirlo.

Really not a bad option if we can sell Lukaku. Not a prolific scorer but would fit into Tuchel's system perfectly. There will be better winger options than striker options for us next season.

Well said sir. Maldini: “If I have to make a tackle, then I have already made a mistake.” Being forced to intercept, because if you don't then you're essentially out of the game due to your inability to track individually or recover. It's why Lampard used Kante as a lone number 6 instead, but realistically we needed someone tidier on the ball. It's a big problem position for us given the way Tuchel wants to play.

Haha. Same. I know he's good, he has a bit of everything and leaves nothing on the pitch. But peak Nemanja Matic under Jose was probably better. For 100-150m you expect a game-changer.

The more I think about it they more annoyed I get. Here's a player who became a better player at this club, using club resources. This was after the club took a risk on buying him after an ACL injury. He ran down his contract, wanted an extortionate amount of money - which the club mostly agreed to - and then decides to leave on free. An ounce of loyalty means you get your club a fee for the investment they put into you (a la Hazard).

Signing 45m + 120k/week on a 5/6 year contract roughly equals 230k/week on a 4 year deal + 20m in signing/agent fees. The former also offers resale value. If Liverpool won't pay Salah that, why should we pay a DEFENDER.

A defender (who isn't the club captain) wanting more than Salah earns. Ridiculous. I'll take Kounde for less wages, a potential decade of service, and resale value thanks.

I don't agree that it's a complete waste if he plays there. The wide CBs in this system can push up into midfield and around the box which suits him as well. The problem is that, for the majority of the season, we've lost that fluidity because of the Chilwell injury. The right side has had to do quite a bit of covering for Alonso. Also, I'm sure the original plan was James RCB and Hakimi RWB. That would have been an iconic partnership if we managed do the deal.

On the first point - most major changes to the system have been out of necessity. Pep has been criticised for not rotating AND rotating too much at times, so really means nothing except for the end result. The only slight issue I've noted is he tried to fit in Lukaku at the cost of team performance for a bit too long. And occasionally his subs have been a little late. But nothing worth mentioning really. On the second, Havertz, Odoi, and Werner are actually better than they were under Lampard. Lukaku is new, and there have been ton of disruptive injuries to Pulisic, Odoi and Ziyech. Matching their form at their former club is irrelevant as this is a different team and league. Defensively, we've seen great improvement from James and Rudiger especially.

I think 5 is a bit of a stretch. We could have realistically competed with them this season which is saying something about how good Tuchel is. But let's say you gave the same squad to Pep to compete for the title and then tell him the following: 1. In order to compete against City and Liverpool, you will need your squad at full strength for the majority of the season. But unfortunately your squad will have more injuries (incl covid) this season than they've had for any in the last decade, and certainly worse than Liverpool in 2021. 2. The squad is still unbalanced with players like Alonso and Jorginho not fit for your style of play. And the only player we're bring in won't fit the style either. 3. The club will be in turmoil for a good while with ownership changes and expiring contracts affecting player performances. 4. We can't get Hakimi, Kounde or Haaland. We can't find a club for Alonso so we'll need to loan out Emerson instead. I think Pep would hand in his resignation immediately.

That clip legitimately stuck in my head during the game. It's something you see from the likes of Maguire - a half-hearted gamble. You either stick your man or risk the press and at the very least make the pass more difficult. But the worst part of that play was RLC just watching the ball with zeeeero awareness of the two players around him.

Fully agree. He should be sold or used as a loan asset. No need to fill a spot that can go to Colwill.

I wouldn't have minded seeing him the in starting XI but people are mentioning his name as if he's prime Desailly. Chalobah had some bad games before he was dropped and had been making uncapitalised errors all season. His general play hasn't been much better than Sarr apart from scoring - positioning and decision-making errors in abundance. Sarr is also a more natural fit for the LCB role so again, I don't have a major issue with that selection choice.

I mean that's a clear contradiction right there. TT and his team are guided by medical department recommendations. Havertz has played a lot of high intensity minutes lately and we have 100m rotation option, so that's a no brainer. Werner and Mount are first choice right now and he started them. Kova injured and Jorgi would never be able to cope with Arsenal on the break. That's why we saw the Reece and Azpi swap as well. Plus RLC deserved a start after the last game. Rudiger is injured. Silva is 37 and shouldn't be playing consecutive games anyway, unless you want high risk of a muscle injury. The other picked themselves. I had zero issues with the selection given the risks and injuries. He has to show some level of trust but of course some of the guys are clearly not good enough and some simply can't play in his system. It's better for that to be on display now.

Decent game, but he couldn't stick with Rodrygo for the goal. He'll always be too much of a defensive liability against the best teams.