11 minutes ago, Brutos said:

So glad he's stop that suicidal defending and stop putting square pegs in round holes 

It's Mendy who's making the difference.

Kepa in the last three games and I'd wager Sevilla score that early shot win 1-0, Mata and Rashford (twice) score their goals and United win 3-0 and tonight ends up a chaotic 2-4 and this page will be four pages deep with how Lampard can't organise a defense.

Mendy needs to be wrapped in cotton wool after every game. He's our key to winning something this season.

Krasnodar would have scored early on with Kepa in goal. 

Mendy is immense.

I believe Frank just stumbled across a midfield trio that could unlock many defenses - that being Kante, Mount and Kai.  I'd love to see the three of them in midfield more, and if needed a little more defensive, swap Kai or Mount with Kova.  No disrespect to Jorginho, and recognizing it was late in the game with tired legs on the opposition, but we moved the ball so much quicker once he left.

11 hours ago, Argo said:

It's Mendy who's making the difference.

Kepa in the last three games and I'd wager Sevilla score that early shot win 1-0, Mata and Rashford (twice) score their goals and United win 3-0 and tonight ends up a chaotic 2-4 and this page will be four pages deep with how Lampard can't organise a defense.

It's becoming clearer that lampards comments on we need to score and work on the offence were correct. 

It didn't need saying we needed a new keeper. That was obvious. We have a defence, even without silva, that imo can win the league. We just need our offence to start clicking. 

Finishing 4th with Kepa in goal for majority of the season, how underrated is that

Watching Mendy in goal for the last few games has got me thinking was it a personnel issue or strategic

Not to after the same group of players, but does anyone else feel we are a considerably strong side without Kepa, Alonso, Christensen and Jorginho taking up 4/11 places?  Might be hard on then individually, but collectively that feels like a lot of mediocrity.

Kepa - we need say no more
Alonso - always worth a goal, but struggles in a back 4.  Chilwell has slotted in seamlessly
Christensen - the most personal one for me as I just do not rate him.  Also, since beginning of last season, statistically we collect lowest points per game and concede most goals when he is playing (obviously more contributes to this, but is not coincidental also)
Jorginho - has great moments, but does he actually slow down forward passing too much?  Late in the game, but it was refreshing to see how quickly we got the ball forward in a 4-3-3 with Mount deeper (and Kai to that matter)

6 minutes ago, PhilH930 said:

Not to after the same group of players, but does anyone else feel we are a considerably strong side without Kepa, Alonso, Christensen and Jorginho taking up 4/11 places?  Might be hard on then individually, but collectively that feels like a lot of mediocrity.

I think it goes without saying.

I would be wary of lumping Jorginho in with the rest of that lot as he's got some quality. But it's obvious that Mendy in goal instead of Kepa, Chilwell at left-back instead of Alonso and T.Silva at CB instead of Christensen makes a world, and i mean a massive world of difference. Just Mendy instead of Kepa in goal last season would have had us competing for second instead of a scrap for fourth.

 

Edited October 30, 20205 yr by Sindre

You also can't underestimate Thiago Silva's influence when he's playing at the back, there's a big improvement when he's in the side imo. 

Yes, perhaps the first three were a given.  I am increasingly concerned by our midfield though, and found the 4-3-3 midweek somewhat eye opening once we got Jorginho out of the picture.  Very low game time to assess this, but it raises the question even more.

17 hours ago, Slojo said:

You also can't underestimate Thiago Silva's influence when he's playing at the back, there's a big improvement when he's in the side imo. 

The combined affect of Silva, Mendy and Chilwell on our defence is nothing short of meteoric. 

4 clean sheets in a row and three points!

Who said Lampard can't organize a defence?

We are looking better and better every week.

The contrast between Kepa and Mendy is actually hilarious. 

Well done Frank, bang on today.

 

So Lampard's defensive tactics weren't the problem afterall, it really was the players. Mendy, Silva and Chilwell have transformed our defence and are really showing just how poor the likes of Kepa, Christensen, Rudiger and Alonso were last season.

Edited October 31, 20205 yr by Scott Harris

1 minute ago, Scott Harris said:

So Lampard's defensive tactics weren't the problem afterall, it really was the players. Mendy, Silva and Chilwell have transformed our defence and are really showing just how poor the likes of Kepa, Christensen, Rudiger and Alonso were last season.

Even if we do ship a few goals in as the season goes on, i feel confident they are capable of actually defending our goal, something that''s been absent for ages.

2 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

So Lampard's defensive tactics weren't the problem afterall, it really was the players. Mendy, Silva and Chilwell have transformed our defence and are really showing just how poor the likes of Kepa, Christensen, Rudiger and Alonso were last season.

Promising signs, at the very least 

So happy with how Lampard has responded to that soton game. 

Built the foundation with a couple of solid defensive displays, and now he seems to have found balance in that midfield with mount, Havertz and Kante. 

Good run of games now to keep the momentum going.

So pleased with Super Frank! I really doubted he’d be able to sort out the defence but he finally did it! And now he’s found the right balance between defence and attack. Exciting times!

I like the way we recently start off slowly and steadily, keeping it safe and simple, not gambling throwing numbers forward. Then as the game goes on we start dominating more and more, the moves looking quicker and crisper the more the game goes on, probably due to the opposition having less ball and having to work harder they tire first, whilst our smaller players seem to have more gas in the tank. Feels great finishing strong in games, that's how leagues are won.

Step by step. Mendy, Silva and Chilwell breathed new life on our stale backline. Really impressed how all 3 changed our defence so drastically.

Now our midfield is starting to click.

All that's left is to combine the attack with the midfield and defence properly. 

Awesome 

The new players have helped but tye biggest change I have seen is the gap between the defence and midfield had to stop the crazy approach to defending doesn't have help have Silva and Mendy though 

Better players make things better.

And if we are to press high, having someone like T.Silva that is capable of withstanding pressure for 90 minutes is a must-have.

But then we do see that Zouma is still a bit insecure!

So more work is needed, this is a long season after all and the squad must not feel too comfortable.

Lampard Out!!!!! 
 

Bring in the latest Fancy Dan the hipsters are all raving about!

Well that midfield works, kante was brilliant today, Havertz just oozed class, mount was equally impressive, we look a team now, something to positively build on, Ziyech is easily going to be as good as mahrez, and Werners goal, f**king wow.

Edited October 31, 20205 yr by Ballack & Blu