Not saying CHO did not have a good game, but if any one of our players was man of the match today it was Kovacic by a country mile.

Much as I have panned him this season he was very, very good today. His passing was good and moved us forward, he pressed well, he got multiple hospital passes and recovered most of them superbly, showed great energy all game. He also came closest to scoring.

Brave Kova, make me eat my words.

Tuchel will love him. He loves press resistant players and to Kovacic's credit he's probably one of the best in Europe in terms of that.

Excellent yesterday.

Good God man, learn to shoot already! 

He is another one of those players on the cusp of becoming the best but just short of one characteristic/trait

I thought he was good but again, but it's the same story with Kovacic, has all this ability but very rarely takes risks. Remember that assist he gave to Abraham 2 months ago? Why can't he get involved in the play more like that? He seems to just like playing conservatively. 

On 08/01/2021 at 03:54, Gol15 said:

If we had Pirlo here I know at least a few people that would treat him in the exact same way as they treat Jorginho

Many bashed Pulisic before he even stepped on the pitch with the blue shirt on, people were mad that Havertz "picked himself" and thus made problems for Lampard 

The player doesn't matter, just their feelings and their narrative that clearly has never been fact-checked 

I'm sorry I know it's wrong to laugh at people but sometimes I just wish that maybe some dust themselves off a bit and look in the mirror at least once a year before pointing fingers at someone else... 

Pirlo doesn't suit the Prem. He's the cultured type of player that takes things at his own pace. Had he come here at the time, Stoke would have knock him around every chance they get

1 minute ago, Deino said:

Pirlo doesn't suit the Prem. He's the cultured type of player that takes things at his own pace. Had he come here at the time, Stoke would have knock him around every chance they get

Pirlo would have found the same problems Veron did, it just wouldnt have worked.

Just now, dkw said:

Pirlo would have found the same problems Veron did, it just wouldnt have worked.

Just like Messi is more suited to La Liga. Only freaks of nature like C. Ronaldo is able to seamlessly go to multiple leagues and dominate them. 

Different horses for different courses and all that

9 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Not saying CHO did not have a good game, but if any one of our players was man of the match today it was Kovacic by a country mile.

Much as I have panned him this season he was very, very good today. His passing was good and moved us forward, he pressed well, he got multiple hospital passes and recovered most of them superbly, showed great energy all game. He also came closest to scoring.

Brave Kova, make me eat my words.

Having just watched the replay of the game having missed the first half yesterday, he was by far the best midfielder out there and if only the boy could shoot and take a few more risks like getting in the box he'd be another Lampard.  As you said he was always looking to move the ball forward and recovering the ball well.  I'd play him and Kante together as Kante has the pace to recover, its who plays with them depending on the formation Tommy ends up preferring, Mount or Havertz although he's not exactly a bright spark at the moment. 

2 hours ago, CFCCAN said:

Having just watched the replay of the game having missed the first half yesterday, he was by far the best midfielder out there and if only the boy could shoot and take a few more risks like getting in the box he'd be another Lampard.  As you said he was always looking to move the ball forward and recovering the ball well.  I'd play him and Kante together as Kante has the pace to recover, its who plays with them depending on the formation Tommy ends up preferring, Mount or Havertz although he's not exactly a bright spark at the moment. 

In the post match presser Tuchel said he wanted the team to be solid defensively and not give their counterattack any chances, so it was probably an instruction. Plus, Kova can't take a risk and go forward when the only player covering the defense is Jorghinho.

My man of the match, back to his best today.

It was good to see him play a bit more positively today instead of dribbling past players for the sake of it and then playing it safe. He was picking the ball up, running forward and playing quick passes in attacking areas. Small changes to a players game can make all the difference.

Good today with really good

2 best games of the season - while playing along side Jorginho, just like last season. Not a coincidence. 

I thought he was excellent today.

Dribbling was back, speed of thought and more incisive, forward passing.

Let’s hope this continues.

 

Can Kovacic stay for an hour after training each day and just practice shooting ? Maybe stick Kepa in goal to build Kova's confidence !

If he could add goal scoring to his kitbag he'd be pretty much undroppable.

6 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Can Kovacic stay for an hour after training each day and just practice shooting ? Maybe stick Kepa in goal to build Kova's confidence !

If he could add goal scoring to his kitbag he'd be pretty much undroppable.

I said the same thing by the end of the last season... My big hope was that Lampard instructs him to shoot more.

Edited January 31, 20215 yr by Gol15

I want Alonso and Azpi to stay with Kova after training for shooting practice.

Get Kova as far away from Timo and Mount. 

Excellent today, much more forward thinking in play. Still can't shoot for sh*t.

To be fair his shooting today wasn’t any worse than Mount’s (both had excellent games other than that) but yeah - shooting is never going to be Kova’s forte. Think we’ll see a goal from him one of these days though. How’s that for a bold prediction!

As one of his fiercest critics on here, even I have to admit he played well today (didn’t get the Wolves love-in - was part of the problem IMO). But one has to wonder where these effort levels were the month before. Didn’t get the impression he was playing for Lampard as things were going tits up, or at very least, went hiding when the going got tough. Shouldn’t be forgotten IMO

19 minutes ago, The Brit said:

As one of his fiercest critics on here, even I have to admit he played well today (didn’t get the Wolves love-in - was part of the problem IMO). But one has to wonder where these effort levels were the month before. Didn’t get the impression he was playing for Lampard as things were going tits up, or at very least, went hiding when the going got tough. Shouldn’t be forgotten IMO

Good on you Brit. I always like it when someone has the flexibility to admit a player they don’t rate has a good game or vice versa. As for the going into hiding before, as you put it - do you not consider the possibility that Kova’s poor form before may have been Lampard’s fault? There are many possibilities as to why it might have been the case, but I tend to think as a rule  it’s up to the manager to bring the best out of his players. We shouldn’t assume Frank wasn’t at fault just because he’s Frank.

1 hour ago, Sexyfootball said:

Can Kovacic stay for an hour after training each day and just practice shooting ? Maybe stick Kepa in goal to build Kova's confidence !

If he could add goal scoring to his kitbag he'd be pretty much undroppable.

Not only him, whole squad need to stay after trainings and practice shooting.

 

Another strong performance by Kova, it's great to see him back to his best.

On 28/01/2021 at 08:58, Deino said:

Just like Messi is more suited to La Liga. Only freaks of nature like C. Ronaldo is able to seamlessly go to multiple leagues and dominate them. 

Different horses for different courses and all that

Messi would have absolutely ripped the PL to shreds as much as he did La Liga if not more so.

Another excellent display. If he keeps this up he won't need to worry about playing time under Tuchel. Excactly the type of midfielder he likes and in many ways he can be our Verratti.

1 hour ago, Dean said:

To be fair his shooting today wasn’t any worse than Mount’s (both had excellent games other than that) but yeah - shooting is never going to be Kova’s forte. Think we’ll see a goal from him one of these days though. How’s that for a bold prediction!

Might be like Makale, give him a penalty in a nothing game. Hopefully he takes a better one than Maka though ha ha...