venom2011

Not only the goals, we could barely transition from defense to attack towards the end of Lampard's tenure - we were bordering on Long Ball FC.

I only really care about two issues: 1: An independent, ex-player forms part of a VAR panel (3-man) for red card and penalty decisions. The decision needs to be unanimous. If a single decision can totally ruin a football match, then the onus should not be on one ref who has never played the game to make it. 2. Offside application. Leave it the hands of the linesman and only overrule in two situations: linesman plays it on and VAR shows daylight between the attacker and last man; or linesman rules it offside but VAR does it's thing with the lines and concludes it is onside. This would be more in line with the remit of 'clear and obvious' and also give the advantage to the attacker, which is what we all want.

Lewandowski and Sancho would cost the same as Kane if the numbers are to be believed. And Sancho's resale value would counteract Lewandowski's. That would be a great window and would allow us to send CHO on loan for some game time.

The difference being, whether the decision is wrong or right, that the Alonso situation made sense when you considered Lampard's motives and behaviour. It does not for Tuchel. Which is why I won't throw the blame at his feet until I know the full story. Tuchel has largely been praised for his decision-making, out-of-the-box thinking and squad rotation. And yet the same people who have praised him for that, think he's simply shunning a proven goalscorer...

That's fine, no one is saying he isn't getting chances. He is still not a great fit for this team and most of those chances are the bread and butter for more traditional strikers. Off topic - In that case they would have need to use that 5 second rule a lot more and the team would have been much less effective. If Zlatan wasn't suitable, you can be damn sure Kante wouldn't have been.

100%. As much as I get frustrated by the finishing, not soon after that I remind myself that our entire attack is almost always a combination of 1st season in the league and 20-22 year olds. We are very unique in that sense compared to any of the top 8.

That would be like Kante signing for Pep's Barca, him failing expectations and then saying yes but he had an 86% pass completion for Leicester. The board signed a player whose main asset is running in behind, for a team that generally dominates possession and play on a small pitch every other week. Not a signing in the realm of Drinkwater by any stretch but still not what was required.

Best thing about the game for me was seeing his hold-up play with some BHA defenders touch-tight. I remember it took Ramires a full season to learn how to use his body in this league and not be a featherweight. And Morata is still learning...

Not only Jorginho, Zouma's positioning was atrocious before and after the red.

I don't think I've ever seen more wasteful striker in a top side. And yet the guy is still more productive than most - so he plays and deservedly so. Absolutely nuts...

To be fair though, if we had Pulisic, Ziyech and Havertz all fit, firing, and adjusted - that would solve a lot. Havertz, in particular, has the skillset to really hurt teams in these situations. Onwards and upwards!

You could have Haaland or Lewandowski here and the scoring record would be the same. I'm very impressed with what Tuchel has done in an attacking sense given the time frame. If you can't be entertained by a great 0-0 or 0-1, then football may not be for you. TT - 'In the moment it is a lack of precision, not a lack of opportunities or lack of touches in the box. It is a lack of quality in decision-making' I remember screaming at my TV when these two chances amounted to nothing (both delayed passes down the flank), as they have countless times this season. Swap Hazard on the ball and these are both 1v1 vs the keeper for Timo.

Well, that's in no way true but you crack on sir.

Can't agree with this. You could make a highlight reel this season rivalling (in quantity) 'great Fabregas passes' consisting of moments in the final third where the right decision or the right pass sets us up with a wonderful chance. Tuchel's tactics are finding guys in half-spaces with time on the ball, 2 on 1s on the flank - but it all counts for nought if the guy on the ball makes the wrong decision, underhits, overhits, delays the pass etc. And the personnel doesn't matter - Mount, Ziyech, Pulisic, Odoi, Alonso, James, Werner, Tammy are all guilty. What's staggering is the sheer amount of times this has happened this season. The stats will count it as a completed pass, a progressive pass, possession retained - and it hurts us time and time again. We do not have a single world-class player arriving in forward areas. In fact, the only one we've got in the entire squad is a free, 36 year old. You look around at Kane & Son, Sterling,KDB & maybe Foden, Bruno, Sadio Mane et al., - not one of our players can touch these currently. I had high hopes for Pulisic after last season but... No amount of tactical tweaking from Tuchel can fix this either. Here's hoping Havertz gets his act together sooner rather than later because he is head and shoulders above almost everyone in terms of passing in the final third.

You've left out Mr. Reliable himself - Azpi. I would honestly prefer if Lamps goes back to experience at the back and midfield - Azpi, Silva, Zouma, ChillyB, Kante, Jorginho, Kova. Play mount in a forward position, one of the strikers, and let the under-performers duke it out for the last spot up-front. It won't be pretty but at least we could get some consistency going.

You say 'fault' like he wasn't brought here for his versatility and ability to cover multiple positions on the forward line.

Top thread

So let me get this straight - you see 50 games, during broken seasons where fitness and training time have been difficult to manage due to a few factors - which are both imperative to improving the system and ironing out errors. A manager who has unified the fans, squad and youth teams ; who achieved his goals last season, above expectations and you're calling others 'blind'? Not one reasonable fan will deny that he has shortcomings and lacks experience, but I'm along for the ride and it will only stand him and the club in good stead as long as expectations are being met come the end of the season. I hope the board show some steel, which they seem more inclined to do, and ignore the shouts from moronic fans.

Oh pardon me. I forgot that all aspects of play (tactical and technical) are dictated by the quality of the opposition....

We looked much better with the ball against West Brom. I enjoyed a lot of the first half actually. This was an XI shorn of any creativity really so I suppose that was to be somewhat expected. Relying on an out-of-position CHO (with no James to work off) and Mount is never going to bring consistent results.

It's not about simply learning a lesson - That is only a part of the process. The most important part is training so that you can iron out the issues. Frank, with half of a first XI of new players, does not even have close to the amount of time needed to train his players effectively. Look at what City and United look like like with far more settled squads. And people want to hop on the back of someone who exceeded expectations last season. Ridiculous. If you don't think a FULLY FIT Silva, Chilwell, Pulisic, Havertz, Ziyech, Christensen would have made a difference...

Injury, hopefully not serious.

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Agreed. Early days but it already looks as if his football IQ and vision are a cut above the rest. The decisions he makes shows me that he 'sees the field'. Once he gets accustomed to the pace of the game I think he'll be dynamite.