The style of football that Lampard is looking to drill into the squad Mount just seems a better fit, Mount brings energy and surprisingly possesses better technical ability too. I can see Barkley getting a few starts in the cup games however I think Lampard will look to switch between 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 so we wont get many like for like subs like Sarri used to make. I can see Mount being hooked for Kova to provide solidity to the midfield and Barkley's minutes will probably be further limited once RLC is back.

Barkley is a little frustrating for me because you can see he clearly has the potential to be world class... It's just that he's been in that limbo for a very long time now. He can dribble, beat his man, has a decent shot on him and can put others through. However kind of just shows glimpses of what he can do. But often this is intermixed with incredibly bad decision making.

I think he still has a role to play for us - and could see him coming off the bench and stretching defences very well!

I think Barkley lacks explosive speed which Mount possesses.

Barkley does have a good pass and link up and is not easily dispossessed, shame he lacks that extra bit of movement. 

He looked really slow today, but some moments of great quality. 

I thought he was much better on the second half. The first half, he looked like a guy that was thrown on last minute and struggled to get up to speed. I thought his directness in the second half was a plus. 

He looked the worst on the pitch for me. Really bad. 

3 hours ago, Saru said:

Barkley is a little frustrating for me because you can see he clearly has the potential to be world class... It's just that he's been in that limbo for a very long time now. 

I don’t think he’s quick enough mentally or he overthinks. Too many touches while he decides what to do. 

I thought Barkley did way more good stuff than crap stuff. They way some people are slaughtering him you would think he played like David Luiz did for Arsenal today.

6 minutes ago, just said:

I thought Barkley did way more good stuff than crap stuff. They way some people are slaughtering him you would think he played like David Luiz did for Arsenal today.

IMHO this was Ross's best play of the match

I wonder if Ross would have scored at the end of the match if the people would give him any praise. He wasn't that far off from scoring either. Forced the keeper to make a diving save.

5 minutes ago, robdog said:

IMHO this was Ross's best play of the match

I wonder if Ross would have scored at the end of the match if the people would give him any praise. He wasn't that far off from scoring either. Forced the keeper to make a diving save.

The whoscored.com match ratings have Emerson, Tammy and Ross as our 3 best players in that order.

Personally I thought Barkley and Kovacic did OK. Jorginho was not the best today. Boy do we miss Kante in our midfield though.

I thought he played quite well...

I just generally don't think he is Chelsea quality, but then, I guess we have to question these days what is Chelsea quality.

46 minutes ago, just said:

I thought Barkley did way more good stuff than crap stuff. They way some people are slaughtering him you would think he played like David Luiz did for Arsenal today.

I thought he was poor for the first half (understandable given he was shoehorned in the lineup minutes before kick off) but grew into it in the second. However the difference between him and Mount in terms of speed of thought was clearly evident, Mason knew what he was doing before he even received the ball whereas Ross looked like he was improvising as he went along.

I think he's squad player level here which isn't a bad thing (squad depth is what win titles), a moment will come in the season for him to be the match winner.

Edited August 24, 20196 yr by Argo

I felt quite frustrated watching his performance today, he had a couple of good chances to score but hit the first man or went over the bar. His tendency to lose the ball in key areas is worrying. You can see there is a good player there but needs start adding goals and assists to his game  

That said, his stats today are very good and he ran the furthest than any other player. 

So what do I know...

With Mason's form, he is potentially our 6th choice midfielder once RLC returns. He is under pressure and that showed today.

People being very critical of Barkley. Yes, he looked a bit slow at picking the pass a couple of times and missed with s couple of long rangers. He picked the wrong option once or twice as well but he has been looking a different player from the one under Sarri last season. 

He looks like he can open up a defence with some of his passing, he's physically strong, plus he's showing a bit of that nifty dribbling ability we used to see at Everton occasionally. 

He was a bit deeper in those moments he looked slow in possession so those Mount comparisons are a bit harsh. 

 

3 hours ago, GhostOfDembaBa said:

People being very critical of Barkley. Yes, he looked a bit slow at picking the pass a couple of times and missed with s couple of long rangers. He picked the wrong option once or twice as well but he has been looking a different player from the one under Sarri last season. 

He looks like he can open up a defence with some of his passing, he's physically strong, plus he's showing a bit of that nifty dribbling ability we used to see at Everton occasionally. 

He was a bit deeper in those moments he looked slow in possession so those Mount comparisons are a bit harsh. 

 

Its not just based on yesterday though, Mount already looks on another level tactically and with decision making. Mount knows his moves 2/3 steps before whereas Ross often gets caught in two minds and doesn't make a decision till the last moment. I know it's not all about goals from midfield but it's quite damming that Mount is one away from matching Barkley's PL total already.

He's still a very valuable asset to the squad however and as I said before it's squad depth that gets you through a season, he will have his moments in the season when he wins/saves a game (like last season vs Saints, United and to an extent Malmo).

20 hours ago, JM7 said:

I felt quite frustrated watching his performance today, he had a couple of good chances to score but hit the first man or went over the bar. His tendency to lose the ball in key areas is worrying. You can see there is a good player there but needs start adding goals and assists to his game  

That said, his stats today are very good and he ran the furthest than any other player. 

So what do I know...

This.

I also think there is a good player there but for me he just seems to spend too much time trying to show people how clever he is with the drag backs, back heels or round the corners in areas that just don't warrent it. Then having overplayed his way into trouble his outball often loses us possession in critical areas. Of all of our midfielders i really thought that his phisique and industriousness would make him an ideal Lampard for Lampard to mould. Clearly Mount is assuming that role and with a manager that appreciates youth but strives for effort and product, he really should stop faffing around trying to show everyone that he deserves his place and he should start arriving late into the box and becoming the new Lampard for us.

I thought Barkley did way more good stuff than crap stuff. They way some people are slaughtering him you would think he played like David Luiz did for Arsenal today.

I thought he had a really poor first half and contributed very little. I would have hooked him at half time. However he was much improved in the second half. There is clearly a player in there and maybe we will see it more often if he gets regular game time. Just not sure he will when everyone is fit.

23 hours ago, just said:

I thought Barkley did way more good stuff than crap stuff. They way some people are slaughtering him you would think he played like David Luiz did for Arsenal today.

If only Luiz had taken Willian with him. Ah well...

He actually has a lot in his locker except the ability to read the game. Probably a side effect of relying too much on physicality in his youth days 

I guess I am not the only one that thinks Ross da Boss is all that & a bag of chips. He got another call up for the English National Squad

25 minutes ago, robdog said:

I guess I am not the only one that thinks Ross da Boss is all that & a bag of chips. He got another call up for the English National Squad

Tbf making the England squad ain't much anymore, not like he's competing against Lamps, Gerrard and Scholes these years haha

Barkley is a great player now make no mistake about it. Frankie does know how to work with Mount and that's also a good thing, we are going to have a really high quality midfield once everyone is healthy.
Kante is world class, so is Jorghy. RLC and Mount are basically future 4/5 star players. We just need to hang in there!

1 hour ago, Gol15 said:

Barkley is a great player now make no mistake about it. Frankie does know how to work with Mount and that's also a good thing, we are going to have a really high quality midfield once everyone is healthy.
Kante is world class, so is Jorghy. RLC and Mount are basically future 4/5 star players. We just need to hang in there!

Would have to disagree that he is a great player NOW. With Barkley, it is all still potential but he has to turn that into consistent performances week in, week out, rather than be the frustrating player who just shows glimpses we have seen up to now. There aren't going to be too many better people to get that out of him than Lamps so fingers crossed we see that potential realized we finally have a proper player on our hands.