Looking at our squad. How many players do we have that we can count on having any kind of consistent output of goals and assist?

Hazard is ovbiously but after him? None from midfield deliver it and we aren't getting it from any of our attackers outside of Eden either.

8 minutes ago, Bobbywoodhogan said:

Giroud really should be starting over Morata.

Giroud wouldn't score in a team which doesn't create alot. 

1 minute ago, BadBlue said:

Kante has been ( surprisingly) very poor today to be fair. I think he will never excel in the position he was given

He was a menace and a consistent performer in his position........I cant say the same now.

1 minute ago, Sindre said:

Looking at our squad. How many players do we have that we can count on having any kind of consistent output of goals and assist?

Hazard is ovbiously but after him? None from midfield deliver it and we aren't getting it from any of our attackers outside of Eden either.

We hve too many holes.......make no mistake this team needs alot of Work and help in order to go Places.

Hopefully now that we've qualified for the next stage of the Europe League it'll give the manager more incentive to rest players because we're going into a period where we really can't afford to have tired players

Sell Kante to PSG for loads of cash. Get an offensive midfielder in his place. 

Sell Morata to whoever is foolish enough to bet on him.

Buy a proper striker for God's sake.

Tie Hazard to a long term deal.

We will be good to go for next season. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10 minutes ago, Bobbywoodhogan said:

Giroud really should be starting over Morata.

The problem is that Giroud can barely even get a shot on goal. His link up play is ok, but most games the opposition handle him easily.

This so called "sariball" is already looking very limited and one dimensional. Many people thought the team would be getting onto its stride around now, but instead we're stagnating or maybe even going a bit backwards. Sarri needs to do some tinckering, otherwise the top four place will go down the toilet. 

I'll say it again and again, this midfield of Kante, Kovacic and Jorghino is absolutely killing us! Yet another game in which they offered sod all. What worked in the slower, weaker Italian league won't work over here!!! 

If Sarri doesn't change things he'll be gone like all the others before him.

 

1 minute ago, Scott Harris said:

The problem is that Giroud can barely even get a shot on goal. His link up play is ok, but most games the opposition handle him easily.

The Club again doing it half way.......we had a great chance to sell Willy and declined the offer.......anybody knows Mora and Giroud are not top4 quality. Yet we saw it a good fit........our wingers are either old or just not good enough no more. You take away Eden and we have nothing.

19 minutes ago, BadBlue said:

We have?? absolutely zero pace, the game is played like a slow training sesssion. B??e?st we can hope is top 4 this?? year????????

Nail on the head, there is no pace at all and even though Sarri says on a weekly basis we need to improve, we need to move the ball quicker, nothing changes and that is a big concern. I just don’t think we have the personal to play the Sarri way, we have a few players that suit the system, but not enough, the one thing Sarri needs is time and we don’t give managers time at this club, I hope that changes, give him another window to replace some of the aging players. Having said that, I still think we’re creative enough and hard enough to beat this season, that we’ll get 3rd/4th spot. 

Edited November 11, 20187 yr by Floyd25

3 minutes ago, Lord said:

Sell Kante to PSG for loads of cash. Get an offensive midfielder in his place. 

Sell Morata to whoever is foolish enough to bet on him.

Buy a proper striker for God's sake.

Tie Hazard to a long term deal.

We will be good to go for next season. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You know this isn't Football Manager right ?

wilian should have passed that ball to morata who was completely alone in the box instead of taking the shot

Edited November 11, 20187 yr by mojo

Just seeing the gulf between us and city slicing United apart atm is very worrying. They are so quick to move it upfield with pin point passes. We will get near to that point eventually. 

Positive outlook - we still got a point and Everton will take points off a few teams around us this season no doubt about that. 

The way in which we dropped points was similar to the other games this season.

1. Missing several of chances
2. Misplaced passes in the final third
3. Team getting lethargic as the game went on
4. And again this being a week of Europa league football

I hope Sarri notices the trends and try to solve these issues moving forward.

Just now, mojo said:

wilian should have passed that ball to morata who was completely in the box alone instead of taking the shot

Exactly and we’d all be a lot happier right now, it’s like he has a sponge for a brain at times. 

4 minutes ago, DidierDrogbalala said:

You know this isn't Football Manager right ?

None of the points they made are unrealistic though

Edited November 11, 20187 yr by rtwelch

1 minute ago, DidierDrogbalala said:

You know this isn't Football Manager right ?

You begin by at least trying for the best. Things might not end up being perfectly that way, but nonetheless.

And it's not over-the-top optimism to sell two players and buy two players in the summer window.

We don't spend the way we used to, but it is doable without playing FM.

Man City just scored. Tbey are already 4 points ahead of us. Showing Chelsea how we should have played against United

3 minutes ago, Floyd25 said:

Nail on the head, there is no pace at all and even though Sarri says on a weekly basis we need to improve, we need to move the ball quicker, nothing changes and that is a big concern. I just don’t think we have the personal to play the Sarri way, we have a few players that suit the system, but not enough, the one thing Sarri needs is time and we don’t give managers time at this club, I hope that changes, give him another window to replace some of the aging players. Having said that, I still think we’re creative enough and hard enough to beat this season, that we’ll get 3rd/4th spot. 

Definitely, agree that he needs time and I hope the board gives it to him. I think if we manage to finish in the top 4 Sarri's job will be safe. I think Abramovich/the board will only start raising eyebrows if  a) another rift occurs between manager and board or manager and players or b) the team fails to qualify for the top 4 . I think even 3 years without winning the title (with at least one of them being a challenge) won't get Sarri fired. 

First half was bad. 

For some reason we weren’t passing to the fullbacks. The ball was constantly with Rudiger and Luiz and the midfield looked so static. 

That midfield three isn’t creative enough for these games. Kovacic is a tidy player but doesn’t impact things in the final third. Barkley and RLC might be a lot more rough around the edges than him but at least they both force issue a bit and try to make things happen. 

We need more goal scoring threats because right now too much responsibility is on the front three to come up with goals and assists. 

For long spells today we looked devoid of ideas in possession and that’s starting to be a recurring theme with teams sussing out how to nullify Sarri’s possession based system. 

We need a bit more variety when playing against teams sitting deep and compact. 

1 minute ago, BadBlue said:

Man City just scored. Tbey are already 4 points ahead of us. Showing Chelsea how we should have played against United

No way mate.....this is a state backed Club with a second string that is almost good enough to win the title. They are on super cheat mode and can spend when they want how they want. Their back 4 costed them over 250M......as long as they are allowed to do this we cant do anything. EPL has lost its edge.

1 minute ago, atomis said:

No way mate.....this is a state backed Club with a second string that is almost good enough to win the title. They are on super cheat mode and can spend when they want how they want. Their back 4 costed them over 250M......as long as they are allowed to do this we cant do anything. EPL has lost its edge.

But you know...Pep is a genius because...He spent over £500m on an already top 3 squad.

I agree about Man City being backed by huge money from the oil state. My point was about the way they approach the game,  they really play with intent, pace and a clear game plan. We are at least 4-5 players away from that.  As for their money, i doubt UEFA will do something they are all corrupt.

16 minutes ago, Dixon said:

This so called "sariball" is already looking very limited and one dimensional. Many people thought the team would be getting onto its stride around now, but instead we're stagnating or maybe even going a bit backwards. Sarri needs to do some tinckering, otherwise the top four place will go down the toilet. 

I'll say it again and again, this midfield of Kante, Kovacic and Jorghino is absolutely killing us! Yet another game in which they offered sod all. What worked in the slower, weaker Italian league won't work over here!!! 

If Sarri doesn't change things he'll be gone like all the others before him.

 

Third in the league behind the two teams that impressed the most last year.

Still unbeaten and new record for longest unbeaten run at the start of a job.

Second most goals scored in the league behind only the mighty City.

Third best defensive record in the league.

Talk about knee jerk reaction. We've just drawn to a team that sat with 10 men behind the ball but we had plenty of good chances. It ain't Sarri's fault the players didn't finish them.

24 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Morata, Willian, Kovacic. When it comes to attack, these are the players we need to be pointing fingers at. Kante isn't an attacking player, what he is asked to do he does well. If Morata could have stayed onside, he probably would have scored today, if Willian hadn't choked when he got his chance, he would have scored today, if Kovacic could create anything, we would have scored today. Blaming Kante for not offering an attacking threat is a silly argument to be making because that isn't his primary job. His job is to get around the pitch, take possession, get us out of tricky spots, and he does it well. Once he has done that, it's up to the attacking players to produce the goods, and Kovacic, Willian and Morata too often fail to do this.

Your argument would have been perfectly valid if there was no Jorginho in the side.

The lack of creativity with Jorginho in the back and Kante in the more advanced role has been glaring for the last several weeks now. 

The question is not how good Kante is/was, but one of whether both Jorginho and Kante can fit together in the starting eleven. I have serious doubts. 

We are too reliant on Hazard's magic for any sort of creativity for goal or the usual Alonso crosses.