We rely on our full-backs to score. When they are having an off day or when they are just not in the position, or when Chilwell is injured like now, we struggle to score goals.

I still don't think that we can win the league by relying on anyone but our strikers to score. It looks great that so many have scored goals but at some point we have to find a consistent goal scorer. 

Today was on Tuchel. Late subs and poor corner organization cost us. 

I know we should give Ziyech and Timo a chance but these two should be sub options. They bring versatility and speed that should be introduced in the latter half of games because they rarely perform in the first half of games. 

Pulisic, CHO and Lukaku as starter for me for Zenit and Watford. Need to see how these 3 fare. 

19 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

We rely on our full-backs to score. When they are having an off day or when they are just not in the position, or when Chilwell is injured like now, we struggle to score goals.

I still don't think that we can win the league by relying on anyone but our strikers to score. It looks great that so many have scored goals but at some point we have to find a consistent goal scorer. 

Tuchel needs to take all the forwards on a training camp for scoring goals. It was beyond ridiculous today. 

Just now, Deino said:

Tuchel needs to take all the forwards on a training camp for scoring goals. It was beyond ridiculous today. 

It's been beyond ridiculous for a while now. You expect players to miss big chances now and again, it happens, but it happens to us in every single game.

1 minute ago, Scott Harris said:

It's been beyond ridiculous for a while now. You expect players to miss big chances now and again, it happens, but it happens to us in every single game.

In the previous games it was closer to goal or a good save. Today the misses are just way off, De Gea barely made a world class save.

It was either a weak shot in the final 5 yards or a missile to row Z. I think our fans touched the ball more than De Gea ever did. 

Enjoy him while he is here. Festive period slump well under way so just a matter of time before Roman brings the next one in.

Forwards let us down so now all 3 should be dropped.

Move CHO to left wingback, he cannot be worse than Alonso, or play Saul there.

Front 3 for Watford should be Mount, CP and one of Havertz or Lukaku.

Werner and Ziyech blew their chances today, CHO still have some grace but should lose his spot for the next one. If someone does not take the chance he get back in then.

48 minutes ago, Deino said:

Today was on Tuchel. Late subs and poor corner organization cost us. 

What?

Oh no, we dominated Man Utd and they only profited through individual error and profligacy. Subs were a little late, sure, but Tuchel is the last person I'll blame as he's wholly responsible for me enjoying our football more than I've done for a decade. And I'm not saying he's beyond criticism, but you criticise your manager when he makes a decision that severely hampers your chances to win a game (a la Pep in the CL final). He gave the players on the pitch every chance to win today - they couldn't do it, so we learn and move on.

On 25/11/2021 at 14:31, LongtimerLurker said:

My point though refers to the game we were truly well beaten this season vs City, that's the only way a team stands a chance vs Tuchel's Chelsea you must not match our intensity you must surpass it, first to every ball allow no exit routes apply constant pressure. 

Good points. I've heard most of the TV pundits refer to this game as the reason why we could fall short but the reality is that a very specific set of circumstances fell perfectly for City to win that game.

We started a new formation for the first time under Tuchel because it worked so well in the 2nd half vs Spurs. And we were light in attack due to injuries and form so it was a reasonable decision. Werner and Lukaku partnering for the first time. Alonso started at LB (as expected) and James had an early injury. That meant our wing-backs couldn't beat City's press or offer anything in transition. When we stretched 5 across the midfield,  4 of them were Alonso, Kante, Jorginho and Azpi. Not one of those can beat an average press, nevermind a great one. And lastly Werner as a 2nd striker is horrible at doing that as well and playing with his back to goal. If you trade those for (fully fit) Chilly, James, Ruben for Kante and then Kai or Mount for Werner - it's a totally different game as we can now bypass their midfield with relative ease. 

But hey.....we move!

1 hour ago, Deino said:

Today was on Tuchel. Late subs and poor corner organization cost us. 

I know we should give Ziyech and Timo a chance but these two should be sub options. They bring versatility and speed that should be introduced in the latter half of games because they rarely perform in the first half of games. 

Pulisic, CHO and Lukaku as starter for me for Zenit and Watford. Need to see how these 3 fare. 

Not for me. Is on CHO missing his sitter where Sancho scored his, Werner for wasting his glorious chance and allowing AWB to block. Last Rudi for missing a sitter when unmarked. Sure was a volley but come on it was on a plate.

Hard to be too critical of TT as he has been brilliant. I know we had injuries today but I was still surprised with the line up, especially Werner and then how long Werner stayed on for.

Too many players weren't quite at it today, underlined by silly mistakes from Mendy and Jorginho. When you're the home side and have failed to score, you have to be making changes before the 78th minute - especially when you have the likes of Lukaku, Havertz and Pulici on the bench, so have to say he got it wrong today.

 

2 hours ago, axman2526 said:

 

Move CHO to left wingback, he cannot be worse than Alonso, or play Saul there.

 

 

Was thinking about this today when TT make the subs. Hoping to see CHO move to LWB and Pulisic comes in as LW.

With Chillwell out and Alonso not up to task for 90 minutes for the next 9-10 games, would be worth trying CHO at LWB for a few games.

I dont think its fair to criticise Tuchel. These are elite players getting paid over 120k per week missing sitters. If anything I am confident that Tuchel would have learned alot from this game and will not repeat the same mistake next one. I will be extremely suprised if he plays same players next match. Hopefully, Mount and Havertz will grab the opportunity with both hands. Lukaku needs a wake up call too.

17 minutes ago, haviet1 said:

 

Was thinking about this today when TT make the subs. Hoping to see CHO move to LWB and Pulisic comes in as LW.

With Chillwell out and Alonso not up to task for 90 minutes for the next 9-10 games, would be worth trying CHO at LWB for a few games.

Yes would like to see it at Watford.

14 minutes ago, Gentian said:

I dont think its fair to criticise Tuchel. These are elite players getting paid over 120k per week missing sitters. If anything I am confident that Tuchel would have learned alot from this game and will not repeat the same mistake next one. I will be extremely suprised if he plays same players next match. Hopefully, Mount and Havertz will grab the opportunity with both hands. Lukaku needs a wake up call too.

All 3 of them need to wake up. All three have not been good enough and that is why Werner got the umpteenth chance again and was useless, again.

Yeah I agree with most points being made, again I wouldn't really blame TT for the result the only gripe I have is the late subs. Timo I'm a big fan of his I'll support him as long as he plays for us but he had no business staying on til the 78ish minute. We needed goals and we sat on our hands a bit with a bench full of fire power. To put into perspective I'm not a big fan of judging players by their transfer value but between Rom, Puli and Kai that's >£200m worth of attackers waiting to be unleashed. Add in Mount who's priceless and we had options for much earlier.

20 minutes ago, LongtimerLurker said:

Yeah I agree with most points being made, again I wouldn't really blame TT for the result the only gripe I have is the late subs. Timo I'm a big fan of his I'll support him as long as he plays for us but he had no business staying on til the 78ish minute. We needed goals and we sat on our hands a bit with a bench full of fire power. To put into perspective I'm not a big fan of judging players by their transfer value but between Rom, Puli and Kai that's >£200m worth of attackers waiting to be unleashed. Add in Mount who's priceless and we had options for much earlier.

Before a ball was kicked this season where would have we listed our attackers in terms of who we feel should be regular starters?

Think I can confidently say Mount would be the first pick of most but after than not sure.

I am highly sure most of us would have CHO, Werner and Ziyech 5th, 6th and 7th and that badly showed today.

It was by choice Today, unless injuries means it is so again we should never use these 3 together in a big or even medium size game.

Unfortunately our front line is world class only on paper and on the bank account. They are inconsistent and are not delivering what’s expected of them. Bar Mount, who I think is underperforming due to the national team, who would you have week in week out? Lukaku, Havertz, Werner, CHO, Puli, Ziyech, all having a couple of good games and then underperforming and being benched. We have world class defensive line, scoring goals too, and a solid midfield with some injury prone players, but that can be replaced with good, solid players. Up front? Not enough goals to be fair.

In spite of the selection, we did enough to win the game and only conceded because of Jorginho's brain fart. It's not as if the subs are firing on all cylinders anyway. He probably should have made the subs earlier but I doubt that would have made a huge difference. I hope he's training the boys on how to finish because it's becoming a parody at this point and will most likely cost us the title.

1 hour ago, LongtimerLurker said:

Yeah I agree with most points being made, again I wouldn't really blame TT for the result the only gripe I have is the late subs. Timo I'm a big fan of his I'll support him as long as he plays for us but he had no business staying on til the 78ish minute. We needed goals and we sat on our hands a bit with a bench full of fire power. To put into perspective I'm not a big fan of judging players by their transfer value but between Rom, Puli and Kai that's >£200m worth of attackers waiting to be unleashed. Add in Mount who's priceless and we had options for much earlier.

I don't blame Tuchel but he should make it clear to some of the players that for a top club you can't miss so many chances from inside the box.

The attack needs to stop being so complacent. In most games we win it's either Chilwell or James or someone like Rudiger/Chalobah that score, the defense is carrying the offense in every way. The lack of a killer instinct is alarming, sure it's great to have many scorers but I can't believe it's so hard for our attackers to score.

The Man United defense isn't that impressive, they still count on De Gea saving them and they had Michael Carrick instructing them cmon, at times over 70% possession and no goal from open play and even 15 corners and still needed a penalty... Tuchel needs to unleash that potential because we will run out of steam otherwise.

 

1 hour ago, RMH said:

Unfortunately our front line is world class only on paper and on the bank account. They are inconsistent and are not delivering what’s expected of them. Bar Mount, who I think is underperforming due to the national team, who would you have week in week out? Lukaku, Havertz, Werner, CHO, Puli, Ziyech, all having a couple of good games and then underperforming and being benched. We have world class defensive line, scoring goals too, and a solid midfield with some injury prone players, but that can be replaced with good, solid players. Up front? Not enough goals to be fair.

Pulisic, Lukaku, Mount next two games, see how they do. If they don't form a good connection and offer us goals then Havertz for Lukaku. If it still does not work put James and Chalobah in the front 3. Least we can count on them to score easy to even difficult chances. 

26 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

I don't blame Tuchel but he should make it clear to some of the players that for a top club you can't miss so many chances from inside the box.

The attack needs to stop being so complacent. In most games we win it's either Chilwell or James or someone like Rudiger/Chalobah that score, the defense is carrying the offense in every way. The lack of a killer instinct is alarming, sure it's great to have many scorers but I can't believe it's so hard for our attackers to score.

The Man United defense isn't that impressive, they still count on De Gea saving them and they had Michael Carrick instructing them cmon, at times over 70% possession and no goal from open play and even 15 corners and still needed a penalty... Tuchel needs to unleash that potential because we will run out of steam otherwise.

 

Our attackers will cost TT his job. Lukaku needs to start doing what we paid huge money for him to do. Score goals, and lots of them. Great he is a positive influence behind the scenes. That is lovely, but means nothing if the does not produce on the pitch. Lead by example man! Timo flippin Werner should not be being picked ahead of you!

Mason needs to find his form from last season. International football for the euro players is done for 3 months, get your head out of the failure of the euros final and do yourself justice again!

CP needs to stay healthy cause if he does and gets plenty of game time I am certain he will get 10 or more goals and assists in the remaining matches. We need to pick him week in and week out, resting him from the zenit trip and Brentford cup game otherwise game after game, subbing him at around 70 minutes every other game to save his legs.

Our forwards job is to score and create goals, those 3 are the best at it, at least they should be. CHO, Timo and Ziyech are Norwich level of goals and assists. Great work ethic sure, not good enough in putting the ball in the back of the net.

Should have bought on the subs a lot earlier, 10 extra minutes of the 3 attackers would have made the difference.

.

5 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Before a ball was kicked this season where would have we listed our attackers in terms of who we feel should be regular starters?

Think I can confidently say Mount would be the first pick of most but after than not sure.

I am highly sure most of us would have CHO, Werner and Ziyech 5th, 6th and 7th and that badly showed today.

It was by choice Today, unless injuries means it is so again we should never use these 3 together in a big or even medium size game.

I don’t know what games some fans have been watching, bar the Norwich game Mount has been average all season long. 

1 hour ago, ducavis said:

.

I don’t know what games some fans have been watching, bar the Norwich game Mount has been average all season long. 

Yes he has, why I asked before a ball was kicked this season who people would have picked as our best forward line. Based on last season Mount for sure would have been most people's choice.

This team is still very much a work in progress. Especially in terms of attacking areas we simply don't have enough players of the required quality in front of goal.

So the fight against City & Liverpool who's clinical up front is going to be tough. But that's no surprise and most have realized that for several months already. Had we had a Salah up front for us i'm convinced we'd be good enough to win the title fairly comfortably.

 

11 minutes ago, Sindre said:

This team is still very much a work in progress. Especially in terms of attacking areas we simply don't have enough players of the required quality in front of goal.

So the fight against City & Liverpool who's clinical up front is going to be tough. But that's no surprise and most have realized that for several months already. Had we had a Salah up front for us i'm convinced we'd be good enough to win the title fairly comfortably.

 

But on the flip side isn't whatever advantage Liverpool have up top offset by the one we have at the back?

Personally I think the ACON will gift it to City, missing Mendy for a significant period (Liverpool, City, Spurs and potentially Arsenal) will prove too much.

I haven't really seen anything that our forwards have done this season, that I don't think Tammy Abraham could have done better with both arms strapped behind his back. And I'm not saying Tammy was the answer either ! 

It looks 100% mental to me ... like a golfer that makes all his putts on the practice green, but has the yips when he is playing an actual round.