Haven’t watched any of it yet but interested to hear Christensen had a good game. He’s come in for some criticism over the years and I’ve dished some out myself. But the guy is only 23 (right?), his peak years are well ahead, he’s clearly a real talent with loads of potential. Another thing I noticed once in a game (can’t remember which) that may be somewhat under the radar is he’s really quick! We know the shortcomings (physically a bit weak) but presumably that could be worked on. I read somewhere that Lampard is keen for him to stay and maybe that played a part in his selection today. As we all know, we’ve made some real howlers in the past selling players before their potential came to fruition, and I’d hate to see that happen again. 

23 minutes ago, robdog said:

still haven't heard anything about our man Kurt though

Another win without Kante ?

14 minutes ago, Dean said:

Haven’t watched any of it yet but interested to hear Christensen had a good game. He’s come in for some criticism over the years and I’ve dished some out myself. But the guy is only 23 (right?), his peak years are well ahead, he’s clearly a real talent with loads of potential. Another thing I noticed once in a game (can’t remember which) that may be somewhat under the radar is he’s really quick! We know the shortcomings (physically a bit weak) but presumably that could be worked on. I read somewhere that Lampard is keen for him to stay and maybe that played a part in his selection today. As we all know, we’ve made some real howlers in the past selling players before their potential came to fruition, and I’d hate to see that happen again. 

Frank was very forthright about Christensen staying when questioned about it in his pre-match press interview.

Haven’t watched any of it yet but interested to hear Christensen had a good game. He’s come in for some criticism over the years and I’ve dished some out myself. But the guy is only 23 (right?), his peak years are well ahead, he’s clearly a real talent with loads of potential. Another thing I noticed once in a game (can’t remember which) that may be somewhat under the radar is he’s really quick! We know the shortcomings (physically a bit weak) but presumably that could be worked on. I read somewhere that Lampard is keen for him to stay and maybe that played a part in his selection today. As we all know, we’ve made some real howlers in the past selling players before their potential came to fruition, and I’d hate to see that happen again. 

I'd like us to stick with Christensen. He has been with the club since he was 15 and when he returned from his two year loan in Germany and played regularly in 2017/18 I thought he had a really bright future ahead of him and it surprised me when Sarri opted for Luiz ahead of him as a partner for Rudiger.

I'll admit entirely he hasn't looked like the player, yet, that he promised to become but its pretty hard to develop when you're kicking your heels on the bench and watching Sideshow Bob defending like France at war.

11 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Frank was very forthright about Christensen staying when questioned about it in his pre-match press interview.

He's been very supportive of a lot of the guys who haven't been playing incl. Pedro and Giroud. It's a good thing because we're going to need them all in the second half of the season. Pedro in particular I think can play a role. 

Great 3 points. We are still not clear off the bad home form. This could have been a different result easily. 70% possession home is nothing. We must be one of the worst sides in the Prem defending set pieces. Kepa is nothing in the box and we lack of real presence there. I'd go on predicting if we'd play 5 times Burnley they would win more of the games.

Today we won fair and square. 3-0 is not down to luck. Fair play to the lads. However we will lose at home and away fair amount this season. We are lightweight and we don't really create that much. Dancing around the box is nothing. We need shots and real chances.

I have to give our senior players the nod here. Rudiger, Azpi and Willian were playing like they should in a game like this. Reece was excellent from the youth.

Part of the process in becoming a team of men and winning things. We are not there yet. Just need some patience.

33 minutes ago, evissy said:

Great 3 points. We are still not clear off the bad home form. This could have been a different result easily. 70% possession home is nothing. We must be one of the worst sides in the Prem defending set pieces. Kepa is nothing in the box and we lack of real presence there. I'd go on predicting if we'd play 5 times Burnley they would win more of the games.

Today we won fair and square. 3-0 is not down to luck. Fair play to the lads. However we will lose at home and away fair amount this season. We are lightweight and we don't really create that much. Dancing around the box is nothing. We need shots and real chances.

I have to give our senior players the nod here. Rudiger, Azpi and Willian were playing like they should in a game like this. Reece was excellent from the youth.

Part of the process in becoming a team of men and winning things. We are not there yet. Just need some patience.

It's awful, every game we've had trouble with defending a set piece, it's a miracle we haven't conceded more than we already have. 

26 minutes ago, Slojo said:

It's awful, every game we've had trouble with defending a set piece, it's a miracle we haven't conceded more than we already have. 

 

I am still scratching my head at this. Burnley could have easily gotten 2 goals off of set pieces today.

It's been half a season already, it's not like these guys were just practicing defending set pieces last week. They've been together and practicing this for months. What's missing? 

 
I am still scratching my head at this. Burnley could have easily gotten 2 goals off of set pieces today.
It's been half a season already, it's not like these guys were just practicing defending set pieces last week. They've been together and practicing this for months. What's missing? 

To an extent its about confidence. We have a goalkeeper that the defence has no confidence in when it comes to commanding his area and coming for balls. Consequently there is anxiety whenever the ball comes into the box whether that be from a cross or a set piece.

2 hours ago, evissy said:

Great 3 points. We are still not clear off the bad home form. This could have been a different result easily. 70% possession home is nothing. We must be one of the worst sides in the Prem defending set pieces. Kepa is nothing in the box and we lack of real presence there. I'd go on predicting if we'd play 5 times Burnley they would win more of the games.

Today we won fair and square. 3-0 is not down to luck. Fair play to the lads. However we will lose at home and away fair amount this season. We are lightweight and we don't really create that much. Dancing around the box is nothing. We need shots and real chances.

I have to give our senior players the nod here. Rudiger, Azpi and Willian were playing like they should in a game like this. Reece was excellent from the youth.

Part of the process in becoming a team of men and winning things. We are not there yet. Just need some patience.

Regarding the bold bit where you reckon we could have lost, did you watch the game? Because from where I was standing in the shed lower, it was one of the calmest match I've come to this season, I never had the feeling that they could score. Never Ina lifetime they would beat us in 5 games given today's performance.

Edited January 12, 20206 yr by RMH

7 minutes ago, RMH said:

Regarding the bold bit where you reckon we could have lost, did you watch the game? Because from where I was standing in the shed lower, it was one of the calmest match I've come to this season, I never had the feeling that they could score. Never Ina lifetime they would beat us in 5 games given today's performance.

That's funny to me because they scored before we did and it went to VAR and it was a close call at about 18mins. I actually thought they worked hard yet once Willian got the penalty and Abraham guided the header through the keepers hands (the keeper has been criticised for that) we looked favourites though it was still a hard fought match. Actually for me until we got the third I was not convinced they would not make a comeback and again a touch of fortune with this goal as I' m still not sure the ball did not brush Tammy's hair. 

Edited January 12, 20206 yr by Strider6003

12 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

That's funny to me because they scored before we did and it went to VAR and it was a close call at about 18mins. I actually thought they worked hard yet once Willian got the penalty and Abraham guided the header through the keepers hands (the keeper has been criticised for that) we looked favourites though it was still a hard fought match. Actually for me until we got the third I was not convinced they would not make a comeback and again a touch of fortune with this goal as I' m still not sure the ball did not brush Tammy's hair. 

First half was a bit iffy, we were really good in the first 20 minutes and last 10 or so, but second half we dominated and I never had the feeling that Burnley could do much. I agree, one goal for them in their first chance, as usual with other dross teams, but after VAR ( which got it right,  by the way), we did not give them many chances and i thought we were tidy in the defence line. I thought we were by far the better team and Burnley had few chances. As I said, I wasn't very worried today.

Edited January 12, 20206 yr by RMH

We played well, the main improvements are the speed in the passing, and consistency in whipping crosses in. In those games we suffered at home, we always looked for the perfect through ball in the final third, and never had enough quality and quantity in crosses. As this game showed, even the defending team had 4 6'3 defenders in the box, defending crosses are never easy. CHO stepped up, and Barkley did a good job too, they offered a good plan B, will come useful in future against teams just want spoil instead of play. The so called VAR calls just made things nervous for the fans, when looking at both incidents in real time, it's pretty straight forward their goal was offside and a foul on Willian. For once, the over kill VAR didn't f* us.

9 hours ago, Slojo said:

Another win without Kante ?

When I saw he was out of the team I felt more confident about grabbing a win. He’s been under performing since his return from injury. I don’t for a second buy that it’s a tactical issue. It’s weird and I’m sure he will return to form with time but for now we’re a more balanced team without him in there. This is something I never thought I would say about Kante but I think he can afford himself a dip in form considering how good he’s been for us otherwise. 

1 minute ago, DannyLB said:

When I saw he was out of the team I felt more confident about grabbing a win. He’s been under performing since his return from injury. I don’t for a second buy that it’s a tactical issue. It’s weird and I’m sure he will return to form with time but for now we’re a more balanced team without him in there. This is something I never thought I would say about Kante but I think he can afford himself a dip in form considering how good he’s been for us otherwise. 

I was taking the piss with that comment to wind a few people up, but yeah, I do agree, it's no coincidence is it? I thought our midfield was much better and composed, especially in the 2nd half. I think even Ross does a lot better next to Jorginho than Kante does against teams where we dominate possession. 

Sole reason why cfc are so hit and miss or should i say sh*te for  parts of games is fact that we are so sh*t at the back and set plays been the top of that issue. Fix this and cfc will push on to next level .

 

I know Jorginho is quite vocal on the pitch but overall we need a natural leader. It's no coincidence that VVD made the biggest difference to Liverpool, as without him I'd seriously doubt they would be so far ahead on points.

We need players of that ilk, who can really strengthen what we currently have. I'm actually pretty excited as we really have the potential to win trophies in the next few years for a long period. Watch Real or Barca when they start sniffing round for Mane and Salah, we all know what that is like with Hazard.

Anyway, a fantastic 3 points yesterday against a potential bogey team with a clean sheet to boot.

This game could have gone down the toilet just like the other home games in the first 30 minutes. The disallowed set piece goal we conceded was so bad as to be humorous but having got over that we improved.  As good as James was in attack and he was great, on one occasion he gave the ball away badly at the back and his defence level is nowhere near his attack level.

Like others I thought Barkely looked good, but consistency has always been his issue.

The other thing I really liked about the team was the tempo, Dave was continually not trapping the ball but taking a pass from Rudigier and moving it with one touch down the wing. The extra step that buys makes a difference at this level. Equally we were prepared to slow it down at times and not force the ball into high risk situations. Its a confidence killer when the team trys to force a pass and gives the ball away in a dangerous position. That happens to young players a lot. Didn't happen much in this game and that's a big plus.

Also I thought CHO had a good game overall, not a great game but he is starting to play to his strengths and starting to relax which for me means not trying too hard to be a hero with every single touch. The fact that Pulisic is out for a bit means he will have more opportunities which has to be good for him. Equally he and James should/could form a great little partnership out there on the right.

Edited January 12, 20206 yr by ozboy

1 hour ago, ozboy said:

This game could have gone down the toilet just like the other home games in the first 30 minutes. The disallowed set piece goal we conceded was so bad as to be humorous but having got over that we improved.  As good as James was in attack and he was great, on one occasion he gave the ball away badly at the back and his defence level is nowhere near his attack level.

I thought we were pretty good for the whole game bar about 5 minutes around the disallowed goal.

We got at them from the start and Pope was the only reason it wasn't a massacre.

tbh it was a pretty calm match. Well under control and never really anxious about bumley coming back. Not exceptionnal but good and enough to do the job. Good performance overall.

If their goal wasn't an offside and Willian's performance didn't go through to the academy we could have easily lost today. CHO's goal was the only fair goal today. We worked hard and earned all the luck but we didn't really unlock anything from our home form apart from the win. After 3-0 it was all cruising. Should have scored 5 or 6 there.

We needed that win and I think it helps the confidence in games at home. Win is a win however you take it. Good job!

26 minutes ago, evissy said:

If their goal wasn't an offside and Willian's performance didn't go through to the academy we could have easily lost today. CHO's goal was the only fair goal today. We worked hard and earned all the luck but we didn't really unlock anything from our home form apart from the win. After 3-0 it was all cruising. Should have scored 5 or 6 there.

We needed that win and I think it helps the confidence in games at home. Win is a win however you take it. Good job!

If, buts and maybe's work both ways. If Pope didn't have an excellent game we'd have won 6-0.

30 minutes ago, evissy said:

If their goal wasn't an offside and Willian's performance didn't go through to the academy we could have easily lost today. CHO's goal was the only fair goal today. We worked hard and earned all the luck but we didn't really unlock anything from our home form apart from the win. After 3-0 it was all cruising. Should have scored 5 or 6 there.

We needed that win and I think it helps the confidence in games at home. Win is a win however you take it. Good job!

I thought we had fortune with VAR and on other occasions we haven't.

Also noticed again we had many corners, actually 10 and no goal from a corner is disappointing for me.

Still a work in progress yet there were better signs today.

Willian is better on the left. He's always been a makeshift RW, glad Frank tried it!

CHO was dangerous. Reece James makes a great combo.

Luck is part of the game so no complaints for me. Decent first half and a great second.

Wish we could employ Sean Dyche to coach our side just on set pieces on a part timer basis.

This was an oddity of a home game compared to recent league home matches. It followed the same patterns. A side happy to sit back, counter and try and catch us out. We start brightly but waste every attacking position we have.

Crowd goes quite, players lose confidence. Then the opposition score, or might have...wait on VAR...nope they have not. That is different. We get a very weak pen, VAR does not overturn it. That is odd as there seemed as little contact as on CHO in the reverse fixture. 

We manage to score. That is different. 

We cannot defend set pieces well nor attack them well. That is normal.

Their keeper makes a big error. That is different normally it is our keeper. Now we are at 2 and have confidence. 

Made all the difference in the second half as every chance was ours and we could and should have had 5 or 6.

As Lamps has said we need to be better and more clinical up front. The difference those two goals made to the team before them and after them is night and day.