10 hours ago, spadefx said:

and Loftus Cheek have to be way down the current pecking order for a reason.

Our best attacking midfielder last night, after coming back from injury. Sky's MOTM.

If he was on loan from RM he'd be starting most games.

39 minutes ago, coco said:

Our best attacking midfielder last night, after coming back from injury. Sky's MOTM.

If he was on loan from RM he'd be starting most games.

Not much of an accolade last night!

And if Hazard had been on the pitch much longer than he was he again would have been MOTM. What a sublime footballer. He just makes things happen.

1 minute ago, Nibs said:

Not much of an accolade last night!

And if Hazard had been on the pitch much longer than he was he again would have been MOTM. What a sublime footballer. He just makes things happen.

Bit unfair that Nibs, my point was that the Sky motm wasn't Kovacic, or Fabregas, the two other midfielders, both older and more advanced in their careers, both expected to turn up last night against a championship level team, both failing at it. The young Loftus-Cheek fresh back from injury was out shining them. 

For spadefx ^ to say about Loftus-Cheek  "way down the current pecking order for a reason" just seems way off the mark to me on last nights evidence.

1 hour ago, coco said:

Bit unfair that Nibs, my point was that the Sky motm wasn't Kovacic, or Fabregas, the two other midfielders, both older and more advanced in their careers, both expected to turn up last night against a championship level team, both failing at it. The young Loftus-Cheek fresh back from injury was out shining them. 

For spadefx ^ to say about Loftus-Cheek  "way down the current pecking order for a reason" just seems way off the mark to me on last nights evidence.

I didn't realise that you had been passed the "RLC is God" baton from @RIP Mourinho Coco!!

3 minutes ago, Nibs said:

I didn't realise that you had been passed the "RLC is God" baton from @RIP Mourinho Coco!!

I've managed to hack Coco's account. Prepare for the 'Willian and Morata are sh*t' posts soon.

2 hours ago, coco said:

Sky's MOTM.

Since when did you trust anything that Sky does?

13 hours ago, spadefx said:

Cant help but think we're not giving our oppositon enough credit sometimes. We had a few fringe players not at their peak, but Vidi did play well. The technical gap is obvious, but they were organised and looked as physically sharp as us. They're clearly league champions for a reason, all professional footballers I believe, they have their fair share of experienced internationals too. Expecting our 'second string' that have barely played together in competitive matches to coast to victory was surely unrealistic.

Happy we have another 3 points. I think it was 8 changes? So Sarri's giving a lot of players opportunities and rests, which is what we're all calling for in these matches. Yeah more youngsters could've featured for sure, but we have no idea how they actually fit in the club setup. Do they shine during training? Do they fit in with the squad day to dau or shy off in the background? Do they have the mental strength to command a first team place? I'd speculate maybe not, or at least in Sarri's opinion right now maybe not. Ampadu, Hudson Odoi... even Drinkwater and Loftus Cheek have to be way down the current pecking order for a reason.

Probably a couple of unpopular opinons, but just some thoughts. 

I agree with you. It's disappointing sometimes not to see CHO and other hopefuls but let's not forgot who Sarri is.

A manager getting in to the big time late by all standards. He will be hungry for a trophy and will always want to put the best tools at his disposal to get one.

Might not fit in with the vision or the needs of the fans and may not even be the best tactical approach to get one but that's an issue that will be blindsiding him in my opinion.

Let's put things in perspective, he seems the most likely reputation wise, to give the young players a chance if they deserve one compared to our past managers. 

Conte seemed like that early days too so let's just watch and see.

On a positive note the squad is being used which was always a fear with Sarri as I had read he's not one for rotating much.

after all that bashing (who cares that the whole team was sh*t y'day), in the end he was the one who brought us 3 points. and that goal is a beauty.

I was at the match last night, a bit of a last minute decision to go. First thing I want to say is that their fans were brilliant, sang non stop throughout the entire match. 

The game itself was very forgettable, a wins a win though and we will stroll through this group, possibly with a 100% record. It's the final 3rd that's letting us down, I read somewhere that between this game and the PAOK match we had nearly 60 shots on goal, but only scored twice, now its a good problem to have compared to last season because at least we're creating lots of chances and dominating matches, just need to work on putting the ball between the 2 sticks. 

I can't complain to much really, I think we all would've snapped my hands off if I said we'd still be unbeaten this season after 10 games, winning 8 of them. 

Sunday will be a tougher game and I expect Sarri to make several changes, we need to take our chances on Sunday. 

 

Edited October 5, 20187 yr by dynamite

Frustrating match against a dogged opponent but a few good things:

Morata's goal. Phew!

RLC did well but I'd like to see the big fellow impose himself more.

Barklay way better than previous outing.

Arethabaluger's saves.

2 hours ago, mojo said:

after all that bashing (who cares that the whole team was sh*t y'day), in the end he was the one who brought us 3 points. and that goal is a beauty.

 

 

Really, man? You think this goal, against this opponent, in that tournament, justifies everything he's done(or he hasn't, being more accurate)?

4 hours ago, mojo said:

after all that bashing (who cares that the whole team was sh*t y'day), in the end he was the one who brought us 3 points. and that goal is a beauty.

Giroud looks like a proud uncle