4 minutes ago, Nibs said:

They had as many good chances as us and came close to scoring again. 3 points would have been great today and much needed but this Villa side are no mugs and earned their draw.

They had none, just shots from outside of the box what chances did they have exactly? Not counting the cheeky goal, where did you see them creating chances?

The worse part about this match was that no one played badly, we are just completely devoid of any ideas that isn't crossing. 

I miss watching us playing with triangles and actually putting in through balls behind the defence. 

8 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

They had none, just shots from outside of the box what chances did they have exactly? Not counting the cheeky goal, where did you see them creating chances?

They got round the back of us a number of times. Their sub nearly scored with his first touch. And McGinn hit the bar that Mendy was getting nowhere near. Inside the box / outside the box - doesn't matter -  a chance is a chance.

Edited December 28, 20205 yr by Nibs

So onto city hopefully they are forced to play and they have to field reserves I will take that anything to get a win

Bold of you to assume City's reserves won't smash us.

7 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

They had none, just shots from outside of the box what chances did they have exactly? Not counting the cheeky goal, where did you see them creating chances?

Those were the chances, their chanced shots were nearly goals. Our shots outside the box were just easily blocked and we created barely anything. In the end a draw was fair but a bit more luck and they could win it.

2 minutes ago, Zeta said:

Bold of you to assume City's reserves won't smash us.

Word, given what Arsenal reserves did to us 

Not all legends can be managers.....just ask Zola..  Its hurts to see Frank struggle but the job looks to big for him at this moment in time.   We need an experienced manager at a club this size with its ambitions, Frank sadly is not the one to take us there...............not yet at least.   If the Board isn't thinking about moving Frank on then I am sure they will if it looks like we won't make Europe in any capacity...  I just see no passion from Frank on the sidelines right now; I just see a man who is despondent and down, racking his brains with angst.  

Just now, sonic90 said:

Those were the chances, their chanced shots were nearly goals. Our shots outside the box were just easily blocked and we created barely anything. In the end a draw was fair but a bit more luck and they could win it.

We had 2 chances from Pulisic from 6 yards or less, 1 from Mount similar distance, 1 from Chilwell from inside the box and 1 from Werner from inside the box.

How is that a fair draw when they only managed to score due to Christensen going missing?

5 minutes ago, Zeta said:

Bold of you to assume City's reserves won't smash us.

More optimistic than bold to be honest as city reserve’s would probably play us off the park 

1 minute ago, Gol15 said:

We had 2 chances from Pulisic from 6 yards or less, 1 from Mount similar distance, 1 from Chilwell from inside the box and 1 from Werner from inside the box.

How is that a fair draw when they only managed to score due to Christensen going missing?

Our poor finishing is part of the equation, on another day when we're flying high and playing well is another story but today with these tactics and confidence level it was fair to me.

11 minutes ago, sonic90 said:

Our poor finishing is part of the equation, on another day when we're flying high and playing well is another story but today with these tactics and confidence level it was fair to me.

Well I can't help but be very frustrated so I guess I'm biased a bit...

 

25 minutes ago, Nibs said:

They got round the back of us a number of times. Their sub nearly scored with his first touch. And McGinn hit the bar that Mendy was getting nowhere near. Inside the box / outside the box - doesn't matter -  a chance is a chance.

Well that's true, I'm just so frustrated.

Anybody think cross and hope-ball will catch on at other top clubs? Could see Barca adopting this style. 

Lamps tactic:

*Crosses*

*Praying Olivier to put a header*

*Come on 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼*

40 minutes ago, Remodez said:

The worse part about this match was that no one played badly, we are just completely devoid of any ideas that isn't crossing. 

I miss watching us playing with triangles and actually putting in through balls behind the defence. 

We have plenty of intelligent quick thinking players to play interactive and smart football, but every game we just hoof it in an approximate direction in vain hope something will turn up.

41 minutes ago, Remodez said:

The worse part about this match was that no one played badly, we are just completely devoid of any ideas that isn't crossing. 

I miss watching us playing with triangles and actually putting in through balls behind the defence. 

Agreed, I did enjoy that more or less the first time Mount tried to play it forward through the middle it ended up with Chilwell getting into a decent position in the box and getting the assist.

I also particularly enjoyed us bringing on Werner and exclusively trying to land balls on his head from out wide.

1 minute ago, PloKoon13 said:

I also particularly enjoyed us bringing on Werner and exclusively trying to land balls on his head from out wide.

I’m sure we’d all take them aiming crosses at his arse if there was a chance of it bouncing off and going in.  
 

As a club we’ve failed to replace all our former power-bottom players. 

The more I look at it, I think there's definitely an issue with the midfield. 

Kante in the CDM role I actually like, I think that should be his role from now on, looks like those dinosaur pundits had a point. But other than that, there's nothing else really, no attacking threat. Mason Mount isn't doing enough for me, I like him, he's very underrated but I don't think we're getting enough. Kovacic who I'm a fan of has been average this season, very meh, he doesn't do enough going forward. Jorginho, don't need to say anymore. Havertz again, I don't need to say anymore. 

So really, we've only got 2 good performers if that, and even Kante is having a mare now and then, and Mount is like a passenger at times. 

Ah... I so love Lampard, so much respect for him, but it seems like he's going to different way. 

At the moment we don't have an offensive tactic, it starting to be very easy to defend against us. Last season he had a big problem in the defense, this season we started very good with our scoring ability but when we played a tough opponent we failed to do something. 

I believe he still can save his job, he has to change his whole tactic and start by putting players on their positions. Give Werner and Havertz the trust and faith they need, play them together in their positions. Give Kante his role and not to play next to Jorginho. And of course there is January transfer window, he would need to sell few players and get something.

Ziyech probably our most important player but he's injured, maybe get a proper backup player at his level. 

I really want Lampard to success and lead this team to the glory, but if he won't make any changes and work on his tactical plan, I afraid we will see him out.

We're lucky the City match will be postponed.  God help us if it is not playing again after a few days rest vs. what they have had.  That postponed fixture will save Lamps his job.

What the hell is going on.  Our football is a disgrace.  We are abysmal to watch, absolutely abysmal.  We score from corners and every now and again a cross.  Nothing from open play or passing through a defense.  Absolutely nothing.

8 out of 21 points from the Spurs match.  We are slow, predictable, passive, fragile, panicked, loose, sloppy and mistake ridden.  There is no confidence or belief in the team, and no real sense of ownership or knowledge on how to change this.  Lampard has a massive job on his hands.  This can go one of two ways, and to me, its starting to look a little bit reminiscent of when a team is no longer playing for the Manager.  Tell me what player, other than perhaps Kante, gave anywhere near 100% today.

Maybe the answer is play Ziyech in midfield, alongside Mount and Kante. Ziyech will produce magic while Mount is always a threat outside the box.

Or Havertz to find his form and that’s the problem solved. I remember before he had covid, our midfield was looking really good.

3 minutes ago, Slojo said:

The more I look at it, I think there's definitely an issue with the midfield. 

Kante in the CDM role I actually like, I think that should be his role from now on, looks like those dinosaur pundits had a point. But other than that, there's nothing else really, no attacking threat. Mason Mount isn't doing enough for me, I like him, he's very underrated but I don't think we're getting enough. Kovacic who I'm a fan of has been average this season, very meh, he doesn't do enough going forward. Jorginho, don't need to say anymore. Havertz again, I don't need to say anymore. 

So really, we've only got 2 good performers if that, and even Kante is having a mare now and then, and Mount is like a passenger at times. 

Midfield is a massive weakness.  Poor pressing (without Kante), unable to receive the ball from defense and break the line, pretty average passing, and contributing next to nothing in the final third.  We have a mid table midfield at best, perhaps worse.  Very easy to play against as well as they're all about 5'4" and 110lbs wet.

4 minutes ago, PhilH930 said:

Very easy to play against as well as they're all about 5'4" and 110lbs wet.

I know the answer. Maybe the midfield will need this gear.

1 hour ago, dansubrosa said:

Knowing what this season is like, we’ll beat every single top 10 in second half of the season.

Its a strange season.

Your post sounded desperate in hope. The season is strange indeed, but for good reasons - even low table teams play well, and we hope that the likes of west brom will steal points off our competition to make our woeful form look more palatable.

19 minutes ago, Slojo said:

The more I look at it, I think there's definitely an issue with the midfield. 

Kante in the CDM role I actually like, I think that should be his role from now on, looks like those dinosaur pundits had a point. But other than that, there's nothing else really, no attacking threat. Mason Mount isn't doing enough for me, I like him, he's very underrated but I don't think we're getting enough. Kovacic who I'm a fan of has been average this season, very meh, he doesn't do enough going forward. Jorginho, don't need to say anymore. Havertz again, I don't need to say anymore. 

So really, we've only got 2 good performers if that, and even Kante is having a mare now and then, and Mount is like a passenger at times. 

It's weird how the goals have dried up as it wasn't that long ago that I'm sure we were the top scorers?

That was probably pre-Ziyech injury and we are definitely missing what he brought to the team. They'll be big pressure on him to hit the ground running on his return and start where he left off. 

Think all the ingredients of a good side are all there but Frank is struggling to get things to gel right now. Thought we looked a lot better today but Pulicic, although he played well, looked rusty in front of goal and we don't have too many others who look like scoring at present. Aain, that is where Werner and Havertz should be contributing and we can only hope they discover some form sooner rather than later.