I think without any new signings it would be less pressure. Now that the season has restarted and we are linked with all the best youth there is and we have just about signed one of the brightest players there is available the media narrative will be '€200m worth of new players and no Champions League'. It will be asked time and time again. I don't think Frank will struggle with it I just think the outside pressure could really ramp up.

 

 

Maybe that's why Roman and Marina are looking at this current period to sign big names. Whatever happens this season happens, Frank will feel the pressure next season regardless, he knows that ultimately it's all about winning and that's what he wants to do.

This opportunity is only here because of the pandemic so Roman probably wants to fully invest now before we get to see a bit more clearly if we will be in the CL or not next season. Because if we are to miss out on top 4, well our chances to sign Werner, Havertz and so on would be very slim, but like this we can show that we are already in top 4 and that we can only get better so at this point there can't be any regrets for joining us. And even if we do miss out on CL next season we would still have an amazing team and that would almost guarantee that we go back where we belong pretty fast.

So yes the pressure on Frankie will be bigger when a high profile player like Werner joins, but at the same time that's practically making his job way easier, I'm sure that he would prefer it that way because the goal is to create a team that can win it all anyway, otherwise he wouldn't be The Frankie Lampard that he is.

 

 

We seem to have a clear vision of what is happening at the club for the the first time for a good few years at the moment because it seems the fans, board and manager are working together for the first time since Jose.2. We are building a squad to contend with anyone and everyone and long may it continue.

 

For me, good interview by Frank all made sense.

Happy Birthday to #Super Frank' who is 42 years young today

Edited June 20, 20206 yr by erskblue

4 hours ago, erskblue said:

Happy Birthday to #Super Frank' who is 42 years young today

Very young still. As managers are seldomly appointed for life or until retirement, I wonder where we will see him after Chelsea. 

19 minutes ago, Valerie said:

Very young still. As managers are seldomly appointed for life or until retirement, I wonder where we will see him after Chelsea. 

Way too  far ahead for me to even consider.

1 hour ago, Kev56 said:

Way too  far ahead for me to even consider.

Dunno, it is Chelsea 

Happy Birthday Mr Perfect

17 hours ago, Valerie said:

Dunno, it is Chelsea 

Valerie, at my age waking up in the morning is a result.  

Edited June 21, 20206 yr by Kev56

Not Franks finest moment with the team selection but good to see that he addressed it and the two subs he made completely changed the game, more so Pulisic. 
The most important thing tonight was that we got 3 points after everyone around us dropping points, it puts us in a good position going in to Thursday night. 

It's fair to say RLC is very far from his best at the moment, he looked completely lost yesterday. 

21 minutes ago, Slojo said:

It's fair to say RLC is very far from his best at the moment, he looked completely lost yesterday. 

Yeah, first half was a bit like playing with 10 men unfortunately. Everything changed when Pulisic came on.
RLC will need a lot of time to get match-fit, a horrific injury and well over a year since he's played a game.

18 minutes ago, Sindre said:

Yeah, first half was a bit like playing with 10 men unfortunately. Everything changed when Pulisic came on.
RLC will need a lot of time to get match-fit, a horrific injury and well over a year since he's played a game.

It was expected though, I didn't think much of it when I saw him starting, I thought he must have looked good in training, but oh boy he was off the mark. He was always a second away from every bit of play, really lacked sharpness, it's going to take a while to get him back to form I'm afraid. 

2 hours ago, Slojo said:

It was expected though, I didn't think much of it when I saw him starting, I thought he must have looked good in training, but oh boy he was off the mark. He was always a second away from every bit of play, really lacked sharpness, it's going to take a while to get him back to form I'm afraid. 

the miss at the back stick was a classic example of that was on his heels then tried to stretch and missed it by a mile, but not going to slate him for it yet as you say needs to get some game time and I guess Villa with the position they are in at the moment was a good op. Cant see him starting against City though

3 hours ago, Slojo said:

It was expected though, I didn't think much of it when I saw him starting, I thought he must have looked good in training, but oh boy he was off the mark. He was always a second away from every bit of play, really lacked sharpness, it's going to take a while to get him back to form I'm afraid. 

I'm not holding yesterday against him for the reasons you gave but i struggle to see how even a fully fit Ruben gets in this setup. He's a non entity in terms of pressing and even reserving most of his energy for when he's in possession he tires quickly, Lampard demands ferocious effort out of possession.

People have just assumed Mount has been keeping his place warm for him but that couldn't be further from the truth in my opinion.

Still struggling tactically

1 hour ago, Brutos said:

Still struggling tactically

I think we were fine most of the game against Villa, plus it was never going to be easy with players coming back from long term injuries. I would prefer Zouma and Christensen at the back as well, I like Rudiger but there is something about him that doesn't give me the greatest confidence.

I actually think we stand a good chance of beating City if we play Gilmour, Barkley and Kante in midfield, plus Pulisic and Willian supporting Oli.

21 hours ago, Argo said:

I'm not holding yesterday against him for the reasons you gave but i struggle to see how even a fully fit Ruben gets in this setup. He's a non entity in terms of pressing and even reserving most of his energy for when he's in possession he tires quickly, Lampard demands ferocious effort out of possession.

People have just assumed Mount has been keeping his place warm for him but that couldn't be further from the truth in my opinion.

There's loads of space in this set-up for Ruben. He offers us something completely different to the rest of our midfield when he's fully fit i.e physicality, flair, strength, ball carrying that no one else in our midfield has (maybe Kovacic with the ball carrying). He was our 2nd best player behind Hazard last season and was the one player who you believed could create something out of nothing when our general play was a bit slow and stale - we looked a different team when Ruben was on the pitch. No doubt in my mind that he will be a big player for Frank in a couple of months.

1 hour ago, DannyVblue said:

There's loads of space in this set-up for Ruben. He offers us something completely different to the rest of our midfield when he's fully fit i.e physicality, flair, strength, ball carrying that no one else in our midfield has (maybe Kovacic with the ball carrying). He was our 2nd best player behind Hazard last season and was the one player who you believed could create something out of nothing when our general play was a bit slow and stale - we looked a different team when Ruben was on the pitch. No doubt in my mind that he will be a big player for Frank in a couple of months.

I'm not sure I agree he was our second best player, as much as he stepped up in then last couple of months, it was ultimately two months out of ten, just too small a sample size. For all the critisism Mount gets, his form before the second international break and since Christmas has been streets ahead of anything we've ever seen for Ruben outside of those two months, including at Palace.

Also I think our improvement in our football ran deeper than just his inclusion it came down to a factor of things. One being Ruben but others being Jorginho acclimatising better, Higuain's arrival (he didn't live up to expectations but his movement was excellent and it created a lot of space for others) and also Hudson Odoi coming in at the same time added a bit more unpredictability.

I'd love to be wrong but I can't see him being more than a super sub in this set up.

23 hours ago, Malcolm9 said:

I think we were fine most of the game against Villa, plus it was never going to be easy with players coming back from long term injuries. I would prefer Zouma and Christensen at the back as well, I like Rudiger but there is something about him that doesn't give me the greatest confidence.

I actually think we stand a good chance of beating City if we play Gilmour, Barkley and Kante in midfield, plus Pulisic and Willian supporting Oli.

Absolutely no chance Mount gets dropped after his performance, nor should he. 
 

I also doubt Giroud will start again, it’ll be Tammy as Frank has already said we’re going to have to press City a lot more and Oli just hasn’t got that in his legs.

Thursday will be interesting