22 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

Another unfortunate blast from the past, I've a strange feeling in this new set up under Sarri our target man will be Hazard. If it happens, see it working under Sarri though it was ineffective under Conte.

There is no reason to be so defensive about that debacle. All teams have great and bad signings. But those “who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.” It is a personal opinion, I may be proved totally wrong. 

I see no point of trying to change a great playmaker in Hazard into a focal target striker. I’d much rather Sarri develops Hazard further in the role he currently does best. Hazard’s  worst few performances for us have come in that “false nine” system. 

 

Edited July 19, 20188 yr by Lord

1 hour ago, yorkleyblue said:

Actually, I need to tell you something.  I've arranged for Saint Rafa the Enormous to come and stay in your spare room when ever the geordies are playing south of Leeds.

 dipsh*t

I see Morata's finishing talked about a lot and people say he needs to work at it in training, but i don't think he has a problem finishing. In training, i bet he finds it very easy to find the back of the net, it's composure on match day that is holding him back. It's the mental side of his game that is lacking, not the technical side. No amount of training will fix this problem, it's something he will need to sort out himself, and if he doesn't, then he will never be a top striker.

2 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I see Morata's finishing talked about a lot and people say he needs to work at it in training, but i don't think he has a problem finishing. In training, i bet he finds it very easy to find the back of the net, it's composure on match day that is holding him back. It's the mental side of his game that is lacking, not the technical side. No amount of training will fix this problem, it's something he will need to sort out himself, and if he doesn't, then he will never be a top striker.

If only we still had Glenn Hoddle at the club. The first manager I remember who gave more than a glancing thought to a players mental well-being and was ridiculed at the time. 

3 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I see Morata's finishing talked about a lot and people say he needs to work at it in training, but i don't think he has a problem finishing. In training, i bet he finds it very easy to find the back of the net, it's composure on match day that is holding him back. It's the mental side of his game that is lacking, not the technical side. No amount of training will fix this problem, it's something he will need to sort out himself, and if he doesn't, then he will never be a top striker.

One on ones he's horrendous so yeah it's down to composure you're right. In the flash of the moment, he appears to have no problem putting it in the back of the net, they're usually squared balls & crosses.

I was watching BT or Sky with Matthew Upson and that bell end Chris Sutton who were talking about Morata and some of his comments. They brought up that he claimed to be a deep thinker and earlier he said he doesn't like London it's too busy for him. The deep thinker was something they pressed on most though, that it's not good for a striker especially if they're on a goal drought. 

Either way that's not good, every time he was one on one he would do the same predictable technique, lean to his left side and try to curl it in on his right and 90% of the time he missed. I think I remember him scoring once while doing that and everyone applauded in shock. Costa would never miss chances like that, and that's one huge aspect I really miss about Costa not being here anymore. 

Edited July 19, 20188 yr by Slojo

2 hours ago, Slojo said:

One on ones he's horrendous so yeah it's down to composure you're right. In the flash of the moment, he appears to have no problem putting it in the back of the net, they're usually squared balls & crosses.

He doesn't score many in the flash of the moment goals either, that sounds more like Michy than Morata, both have struggled with chances when they have had time to think, but Michy seems to be an instinctive goal scorer, one of those players that you don't see all game and then pops up somewhere in the box just as you forgot him and nets it. I literally struggle to remember Morata's goals, i just remember his hat trick, and all the headers and misses.

I can't really believe what I am reading in this thread. Giroud had a sh*t world cup? Michy better and faster than morata?

I don't know what you lot are smoking, but I want some.

Giroud had an awesome world cup, pulling defenders out of position, doing a lot of donkey work and generally sacrificing personal plaudits for the greater good. His forward play was a big part of why France won the cup.

With michy, it seems like some are allowing a fruitful 3 month spell in Germany to cloud their judgement. Firstly, michy has always been a good finisher, and he is up there as one of, if not the, best finisher we have. However his problem has always been tactical acumen, positioning, vision, passing, hold up play and ability to control the ball. He struggles greatly with that side of forward play. There were also murmors that Conte didn't fancy him because he struggled to grasp instructions and tactical plays. In other words, he isn't the sharpest tool in the box with little footballing intelligence.

Probably also worth remembering that despite his goalscoring form for Dortmund, they seemed to pass on michy and looked to sign morara instead.

Love michys finishing and personality....but at the moment, we would be utterly foolish to have him as our first choice #9

Ok lets play Morata up front again all season, sell Michy, but make sure to save up the money, because were going to need plenty of that next summer when we lose 50m selling Morata to Derby.

That first half just showed more of the same from last season. Listen, I'm done with this lad. We need to chunk whatever money it is Juve are asking for Higuain at them. And if we don't want to spend, I don't mind sticking Tammy Abraham up front. Just anybody but Morata. Needs to be sold. I can't endure another Torres. Either get real quality or give a youngster a chance.

Half time in Perth, CHO looks £70m and Morata looks out of his depth. Not sure this set up is going to suit him.

Edited July 23, 20187 yr by mickydroysleftpeg

Also threw himself to the ground twice in first 10 mins, I’d forgot how annoying that is.

Zola asks the fans to show some patience while Sarri implements the new system, and we only get to half time in the first pre-season before people are calling for players to be binned..

C'mon Alvaro you can do it !

Alvaro Alvaro Alvaro !!

Super Morata, super Moarta from Spain, he's by far the greatest player, the World has ever seen. 

Morata !!! Morata !!! Morata !!!

4 minutes ago, coco said:

C'mon Alvaro you can do it !

Alvaro Alvaro Alvaro !!

Super Morata, super Moarta from Spain, he's by far the greatest player, the World has ever seen. 

Morata !!! Morata !!! Morata !!!

That's the spirit!

57 minutes ago, Kentonio said:

Zola asks the fans to show some patience while Sarri implements the new system, and we only get to half time in the first pre-season before people are calling for players to be binned..

Patience to implement the system. Not patience for players to stop being complete and utter w**k. 

11 hours ago, Kentonio said:

Zola asks the fans to show some patience while Sarri implements the new system, and we only get to half time in the first pre-season before people are calling for players to be binned..

How does asking for a player who's clearly w**k and has been before Sarri to be binned relate to somehow being impatient with Sarri himself? The state of some of you lot on here sometimes is mind buggling. 

He didn't help himself last night. It's the throwing himself to the ground when he can clearly stay upright that bothers everyone as much as the misses. After a year of not getting free kicks some learning is expected.

I'm all for him staying and proving himself but I don't want to get into a Torres style situation where we try and adjust our style or bring in other players instead of admiting that the Premier League just doesn't suit him. 

That said I'm not crash hot on spending 50m on Higuain either. It's looking like another poor recruitment decision if we're being honest with ourselves that might cost in the long term.

Our system is very similar to France', we've got Hazard and Willian behind the forward, we've got Kante and Jorginho + Loftus(similar to Pogba), we've got strong defense and good keeper. I believe Giroud will bloom next season. the way he played in WC is the way one player should always strive if he thinks about the team.

Edited July 24, 20187 yr by Giordano_Bruno

49 minutes ago, Giordano_Bruno said:

Our system is very similar to France', we've got Hazard and Willian behind the forward, we've got Kante and Jorginho + Loftus(similar to Pogba), we've got strong defense and good keeper. I believe Giroud will bloom next season. the way he played in WC is the way one player should always strive if he thinks about the team.

we do need someone to score goals though 

1 hour ago, Gol15 said:

we do need someone to score goals though 

France played with average 39 percents possession for the eliminations - that was counter-attacking style. He won't score many goals in this system. Yet, it was impressive how he adapted to this style and opened the game for Griezman and Mbappe.

Against mid and low table opponents, he will score goals.

3 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

He didn't help himself last night. It's the throwing himself to the ground when he can clearly stay upright that bothers everyone as much as the misses. After a year of not getting free kicks some learning is expected.

I'm all for him staying and proving himself but I don't want to get into a Torres style situation where we try and adjust our style or bring in other players instead of admiting that the Premier League just doesn't suit him. 

That said I'm not crash hot on spending 50m on Higuain either. It's looking like another poor recruitment decision if we're being honest with ourselves that might cost in the long term.

Should get Drogba in during the MLS offseason to coach him a bit on that aspect of his game. He was awful for that as well to begin with, although tbf he continued to be quite bad for it but he was scoring goals so it was overlooked. 

He certainly toughed up after 18 months/2 years in the league though. I’m not saying Morata definitely will but would be worth them having a chat about how he done it & if it was just a change in attitude.

as said above Morata's biggest problem is Moarta ... technically a very very good footballer 

 

.....but if you haven't got and fire in your belly , passion and desire ...you are never going to full achieve your potential ... this to me is where he comes up short 

Just now, Tea Bar Boy said:

 technically a very very good footballer 

  ?

 

Is he tho? terrible first touch, never seen him outrun an opponent or dribble through the defense, never seen him passing the ball because he is so damn slow.

23 minutes ago, Giordano_Bruno said:

Is he tho? terrible first touch, never seen him outrun an opponent or dribble through the defense, never seen him passing the ball because he is so damn slow.

I do think the quality is there (then again he wasn't up against the highest standard of defender last night ) but the layoff's and movement was good and he has a good turn of pace on him .

On 19/07/2018 at 17:07, Scott Harris said:

I see Morata's finishing talked about a lot and people say he needs to work at it in training, but i don't think he has a problem finishing. In training, i bet he finds it very easy to find the back of the net, it's composure on match day that is holding him back. It's the mental side of his game that is lacking, not the technical side. No amount of training will fix this problem, it's something he will need to sort out himself, and if he doesn't, then he will never be a top striker.

A couple of lucky goals at the start of the season to put his head right should do the trick. Fingers crossed