Just now, DaRick said:

Surely Sarri needs to do some substitutions at half time.

This looks like being another 0-0 at best.

What can we really do without Rlc, CHO, Pedro on the bench though. Literally no game changers we can bring on. 

Game going as expected. 

Very tight, we need to take a few more shots on, and move the ball quicker. 

Giroud has been terrible again. He can show a really good touch, but the amount of times balls bounce off him is ridiculous.

Whoever scores first wins this one I think.

no pace going forward, excellent at sideways and back passes together with a bunch of mannequins stood on the 18 yard line, and no midfielder prepared to have a shot or drive forward....this has been going on far too long, regardless of a new manager and system.

Alonso on a yellow, one of the best headers of a ball playing up front for us, think Emmerson might just deliver some telling crosses given the chance.

Giroud was onside, f**king unreal 

Hazard playing on the LW makes no sense if he isn't getting help from the full back. He's constantly passing It inside and then CP are able to settle back into their position. 

What is Sarri doing? It's the same pass, pass, pass, every game with no end result. Hazard hasn't been good and Alonso is a waste of space. We effectively dont have a winger because he passes sideways or backwards if he comes across an opponent. What a mess.

3 minutes ago, enigma said:

To be fair, gotta also give credit to Palace. They have defended and kept their shape well. 

Like every team does against us. Defending against slow attacking teams is something every Premier League side outside of the top teams are comfortable with. It's been seen time and time again and there is only one way to counter it, you need to be quicker and more direct.

Hopefully that was our bad half not our good one 

Just now, EdinburghBlue said:

Giroud was onside, f**king unreal 

Very difficult for the linesman to see that though. Giroud looked to be ahead of his man from that angle. 

Sarriball looking very similar to what we've seen from Mourinho and Conte on similar days for the last 5 years. Very slow. No tempo. Very Hazard reliant. 

Palace are very well drilled, we'll have to do better than this to get three points.

1 minute ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Agreed. I’d love to see a race between him, Giroud and Cesc. 

You conveniently excluded your grandma from the race to keep the air of competition alive.

Startîng to wonder, are we really that much different under Sarri? Yes we pass the ball a lot but basically still rely on hazard providing some magic to make the difference.

Could have told you exactly how this game would go, after 5 minutes:

- Plenty of possession
- No-one shooting
- Hazard, Giroud and Willian trying stupid flicks every time the ball comes near them, trying to score the perfect goal and losing it every time
- Inevitably, Palace will counter from one of our giveaways and score, and that will be that, as we're not going to break them down playing like this

 

1 minute ago, enigma said:

Very difficult for the linesman to see that though. Giroud looked to be ahead of his man from that angle. 

True, but the striker is supposed to get the benefit of the doubt. 

1 minute ago, rtwelch said:

Hopefully that was our bad half not our good one 

Said the actress to the bishop...

Maybe it is because of the vulnerability at the back, but both full backs don't push as high as they used to. There's been a few over hit crosses, that I'm expecting to see the opposite full back challenge for, but he is 15 yards further back. 

 

Bring on Morata, bring back batshuayi in Jan aswell. He might not have that much game intelligence but he plays on the line and can finish.

3 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

Sarriball looking very similar to what we've seen from Mourinho and Conte on similar days for the last 5 years. Very slow. No tempo. Very Hazard reliant. 

Palace are very well drilled, we'll have to do better than this to get three points.

This is a long long way off how sarri would want us to play. It's going to take a fair bit of work, and some change in personnel. Emery's arsenal were blown away at anfield, in a way that was very similar to Wenger. 

Big changes take time and cost money.

Literally can't remember the last time Alonso beat a man or put in an accurate cross.

3 minutes ago, Oli said:

Bring on Morata, bring back batshuayi in Jan aswell. He might not have that much game intelligence but he plays on the line and can finish.

I think he'd also be the only one to execute a legit high press from that position. Giroud can't, Hazard and Morata don't. 

 

Someone said CHO was injured, did he pick it up in training yesterday? The reason I thought he was fit was he posted on Instagram training yesterday.

That’s twice Willian has failed to control a simple ball. 

Two bad errors from Willian already.

GET IN KANTE!!! Great ball by Luiz as wel