If you want to get an idea of how ridiculous the notion is that the board will get rid of Tuchel because of Lukaku, try scripting the board meeting where they make that decision. 

I think we’ve somehow got to scrape a win against Spurs on Sunday and then we’ve got a 2 week winter break. My only hope is that can refresh/reboot the players because many of them are offering very little at the moment. 

I don’t believe that Tuchel will get sacked as I think the board know they have an elite manager. HOWEVER:

- Chelsea 12 points off the top. 

- Frank Lampard lost his job a year ago this week…11 points off to top.

Someway scary. 

Change formation, change players, he can and has done all of this, but it will never work, not at this club. When the players stop playing and lose their form, they never recover, they hide until the next coach is bought in and all of a sudden we see a miraculous recovery.

Fans start getting excited again and say things like "something special is building" after a solid start to the new season, only to then hit rock bottom deep into winter.

 

Thought TT should have made earlier subs especially as they made two subs on 62 why wait until 80 mins?

6 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Change formation, change players, he can and has done all of this, but it will never work, not at this club. When the players stop playing and lose their form, they never recover, they hide until the next coach is bought in and all of a sudden we see a miraculous recovery.

Fans start getting excited again and say things like "something special is building" after a solid start to the new season, only to then hit rock bottom deep into winter.

 

To be fair, Sarri managed to steady the ship after a disastrous period and a large amount of the players from back then are still here at the moment. 
 

I don’t think it’s that simple that the players always just quit on the manager year in and year out, there was no miraculous upticks in form when Hiddink came in the 2nd time or from conte onto Sarri. 

15 minutes ago, strider6004 said:

Thought TT should have made earlier subs especially as they made two subs on 62 why wait until 80 mins?

Either he's saving some of them for Spurs or he trusted the ones on the pitch too much

38 minutes ago, JM7 said:

I don’t believe that Tuchel will get sacked as I think the board know they have an elite manager. HOWEVER:

- Chelsea 12 points off the top. 

- Frank Lampard lost his job a year ago this week…11 points off to top.

Someway scary. 

Our form isn't that much better than Lampard's tailspin either. With that being said we have been devastated by injuries and completely screwed over by postponements, where pretty much every other team has gotten a break and are now fresher than us. Also he did win the CL so I doubt Roman would seriously consider sacking him unless we sank below the Europa League spots

In his interview he says it's simply because the players are tired and been playing and training non stop since mid November. They'll be getting 2 days off to recover so we'll see how they are in the next game.

I don't think 2 days will bring Kante back tbh and Mason is probably off form in general.

1 hour ago, JM7 said:

I don’t believe that Tuchel will get sacked as I think the board know they have an elite manager. HOWEVER:

- Chelsea 12 points off the top. 

- Frank Lampard lost his job a year ago this week…11 points off to top.

Someway scary. 

Wasn't the league position different though? I think that's the only thing keeping Tuchel in a job unfortunately. If we were sixth, he probably wouldn't be sitting comfortable at all. But because we picked up enough points to keep us in third place it looks better. I don't personally think he should be sacked, but the players need to look at themselves too, as they can do far better. Although, having Azpi and Alonso as fullbacks really doesn't help. 

First time I’m a bit worried…tonight felt like more than just fatigue to me.

Jorginho is our top scorer and it wouldn't surprise me if he ends up being our top scorer at the end of the season for the second season running.

We have around £320 million in attacking talent and academy products such as CHO and Mount. So you are probably looking at 400+

This is the biggest issue for me. Tuchel is by far the best person for the job at the moment and we would be silly to let him go in this managerial market and he just won the champions league.

I don't think any of our attacking talent have performed at a level of our rivals at all during Lampards or Tuchels reign. Not a single one would get into the City team or Liverpool team. Having one of the best defences/keepers in the world plus kante has covered our weaknesses.

I'll be blunt.

Ziyech - Not good enough and not a fit for the league. He plays like he's in his mid 30s.

Pulisic - He's just off it and he has never recovered that run of form he had under Lampard. He strikes me as someone who needs a new club.

Werner - He was arguably our best attacker last year and he was missing sitters.

Havertz - The next big thing in Germany and he's still "adapting". It's been a year and 6 months.

CHO - A good season under Sarri and he's proved nothing since.

Mount - He doesn't lack enthusiasm and he works hard but that's not enough when you are up against City and Liverpool forwards.

Lukaku - It's early but I think he's going to rival Kepa as our biggest transfer mistake. Limited footballer who doesn't suit the way we play, we need someone who can actually play and link up. He's looking like Utd Lukaku at the moment, he should be Lukaku not Utd, Chelsea or Inter. A world class player turns up wherever he is.

4 of those players are young and things could change over time so expectations of winning leagues need to be lowered a little as they are 3-4 years off their prime especially when you are up against Salah, Mane, Sterling, Mahrez, KDB and co. We signed potential but we also signed someone like Havertz with the expectations of big things early. He was breaking bundesliga goal scoring records for his age, i've seen nothing of that here. Werner was one of the top scorers european football consistantly every year, seen nothing of that here.

Right now out of the 6, I only see 2 of those here long term and that's Mount and I even think if Havertz doesn't produce in the next year or so then there's doubts.

Lampard couldn't do it, Tuchel is struggling to do it. So how do you fix this problem and get them to perform? It's his problem and I don't think he will be here long term if he doesn't fix it because we are not selling that talent before Tuchel. History tells us it doesn't work that way.

 

 

 

Edited January 19, 20224 yr by Sheva

I hope the board back Tuchel and recognize he is an elite manager. The players looked tired today. I know it feels like excuses and Tuchel says the same but we have been decimated by injuries and the FA is screwing us over. Spurs and Leicester have 5 games postponed while we can't even get 1. Arsenal had a game postponed due to 1 Covid positive player while they rejected our plea when we had 7!

Cech was pretty pissed about it in his recent statement so I hope the board understands. I just don't see any way for Lukaku but unsure what is going to happen there. Pretty demoralized today.

Growing quite fed up of TT's moaning, to be honest. Yes, the squad is playing like sh*t, has injuries, etc., but isn't he paid well to sort these things out? 

 

 

12 minutes ago, JM7 said:

I don’t believe that Tuchel will get sacked as I think the board know they have an elite manager. HOWEVER:

- Chelsea 12 points off the top. 

- Frank Lampard lost his job a year ago this week…11 points off to top.

Someway scary. 

I asked for the stats in the match chat so cheers, we rally need to Re-build,make Rudi captain, and start playing attacking football, maybe Roman needs to read the riot act, players cant keep not playing for the manager, Klopp doesn't have this problem, but TTs record at Dortmund and PSG, says he won't be shackled for opinions

2 hours ago, Dean said:

If you want to get an idea of how ridiculous the notion is that the board will get rid of Tuchel because of Lukaku, try scripting the board meeting where they make that decision. 

Roman: Hello everyone, thank you for being here today.

Bruce, Eugene and Marina: our pleasure Sir.

Roman: I want to discuss the ongoing problem with Romelu Lukaku. Did I make a mistake bringing him here?

Bruce: No sir no

Eugene: You do not make mistakes Sir.

Marina: He scored lots of goals wherever he goes, only not here.

Roman: So are you saying the problem is somewhere else?

Marina: None of our attackers are doing good.

Bruce: we cannot score more than a goal a game since Villa.

Eugene: You don't pick the team on match days sir.

Roman: So the coach is the problem?

Bruce: Look at our history, this always happens.

Eugene: is not our fault the coach cannot maintain the players levels. These players are winners.

Marina: we sack the coach, results get better,we win trophies.

Bruce: and your timing to do so is always brilliant.

Eugene: the next coach is sure to get Lukaku firing, this one just does not know how to use him properly.

Roman: so we sack our Champions League winner coach?

Bruce: if you think it's best boss.

Eugene: you are always so smart with these choices boss.

Marina: Sheva is available, he knows how a top striker works.

Bruce: we have a squad full of world class players, I see no other reason why we are not challenging City.

Roman: OK I will take it under advisement.

 

8 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Roman: Hello everyone, thank you for being here today.

Bruce, Eugene and Marina: our pleasure Sir.

Roman: I want to discuss the ongoing problem with Romelu Lukaku. Did I make a mistake bringing him here?

Bruce: No sir no

Eugene: You do not make mistakes Sir.

Marina: He scored lots of goals wherever he goes, only not here.

Roman: So are you saying the problem is somewhere else?

Marina: None of our attackers are doing good.

Bruce: we cannot score more than a goal a game since Villa.

Eugene: You don't pick the team on match days sir.

Roman: So the coach is the problem?

Bruce: Look at our history, this always happens.

Eugene: is not our fault the coach cannot maintain the players levels. These players are winners.

Marina: we sack the coach, results get better,we win trophies.

Bruce: and your timing to do so is always brilliant.

Eugene: the next coach is sure to get Lukaku firing, this one just does not know how to use him properly.

Roman: so we sack our Champions League winner coach?

Bruce: if you think it's best boss.

Eugene: you are always so smart with these choices boss.

Marina: Sheva is available, he knows how a top striker works.

Bruce: we have a squad full of world class players, I see no other reason why we are not challenging City.

Roman: OK I will take it under advisement.

 

That is a fine effort. Sadly I could even see us bringing in Sheva if we needed an interim

3 hours ago, Dubair said:

To be fair, Sarri managed to steady the ship after a disastrous period and a large amount of the players from back then are still here at the moment. 
 

I don’t think it’s that simple that the players always just quit on the manager year in and year out, there was no miraculous upticks in form when Hiddink came in the 2nd time or from conte onto Sarri. 

Nothing much changed under Sarri after things started going wrong though. Our performances were still sh*t and I still remember very well that the only reason why we finished top 4 was because everybody else around us was just as bad. We ended the season winning only 1 game in 5. It was a miracle we finished top 4. Our performances in the league were so poor that I was glad the Europa League would come around and distract me from it. 

You say there was no miraculous upticks in form when Sarri took over from Conte, but that's not true either. We were undefeated for 12 games and in the mix for the title before one single defeat sent us spiralling out of control.

Question for those who feels the board are fully behind TT.

If the transfer window closes and we have not strengthened our squad with a new LWB, new RWB to cover the long term losses of Chilwell and James, does that show a lack of support for TT?

If we don't provided a lukaku alternative does that show a lack of support for TT?

I like the fact that we played a back 4, looks like Tuchel is looking for a solution and maybe it takes a bit of time for the new tactic to start working on a regular basis.

5 hours ago, sonic90 said:

In his interview he says it's simply because the players are tired and been playing and training non stop since mid November. They'll be getting 2 days off to recover so we'll see how they are in the next game.

I don't think 2 days will bring Kante back tbh and Mason is probably off form in general.

if they were tired why he did not bring replacements on earlier - not as if they were setting the world on fire.. he had Kova/RLC/havertz/Werner to change it. Dont buy this excuse.. we drew again because of a poor tactical set-up and team selection... 

As i said TT has been very average in league management and needs to step it up.. for starters he needs to stop rotating every game - our players play like strangers.. 

Too many games have been trashed by his mystifying selections if i am honest.. last season/early in the season he was able to change it with  his subs and the only difference is that it is not happening any more.

Edited January 19, 20224 yr by Jangz

Winning 4:0 against Juventus but losing some players due to injuries really cost us the title challenge, since that game we have been just an average team.

After Juventus 12 games (PL+CL)

3 wins

7 draws

2 losses

Pretty sure the back 3 tactic isn't working anymore. This new 4-2-2-2 has now the record of 1 win and 1 draw.

Us and Man City are the only teams that haven't had any postponements, we probably played more games in December and January than any other side. For example, significantly more than Brighton. Add to it injuries and Covid and you'll have a very tired, nearly exhausted group of players. Since November 20th we played 18 fixtures, which makes it about a game every three days in that time period. Even if we had  full squad available, it would have been a very tough challenge. In that time we also had to deal with a long list of injuries/COVID cases of a number of key players, some of whom are still out.

Lukaku with his interview/apology circus and a poor form made a difficult situation worse, turning us into a laughinstock on and off the pitch and possibly creating tension in the dressing room. The p[layer that was brought in to fix our biggest problem instead became our biggest headache and distraction.

TT has to take responsibility obviously, even though apart from Lukaku, this is still a team full of Conte, Sarri and Lampard's players he inherited. Lukaku deal was a huge mistake and he should carry his part of the blame. Our attackers are still massively underperforming, we struggle to get out from under pressing and if it wasn't for our defense, we'd be in even deeper sh*t by now. 

Looks like our transfer window was a bit of a disaster. Missing out on Hakimi and Kounde, wasting 100m on you-know-who and taking  a gamble on Saul proved to be a poor bit of business. The fact that Werner, Ziyech and Havertz continued to struggle in their second season also has been a major disappointment, I personally hoped at least one of them wiould have a real impact. 

We're in a desperate need of some rest and wingback re-enforcements. Not sure why people are so desperate for Emerson to return, if I remember correctly, he was 3rd choice LB for a reason, Alonso was ahead of him in the pecking order, so it's probably a question of saving money rather than looking for improvement. We need someone with pace for a RB position too, given that Azpi is a shadow of a player he used to be and has gotten even slower and we don't know when and in what condition Reece comes back. I guess by the end of the month we'll find out what happens.

 

 

11 minutes ago, abramovich said:

Us and Man City are the only teams that haven't had any postponements, we probably played more games in December and January than any other side. For example, significantly more than Brighton. Add to it injuries and Covid and you'll have a very tired, nearly exhausted group of players. Since November 20th we played 18 fixtures, which makes it about a game every three days in that time period. Even if we had  full squad available, it would have been a very tough challenge. In that time we also had to deal with a long list of injuries/COVID cases of a number of key players, some of whom are still out.

Lukaku with his interview/apology circus and a poor form made a difficult situation worse, turning us into a laughinstock on and off the pitch and possibly creating tension in the dressing room. The p[layer that was brought in to fix our biggest problem instead became our biggest headache and distraction.

TT has to take responsibility obviously, even though apart from Lukaku, this is still a team full of Conte, Sarri and Lampard's players he inherited. Lukaku deal was a huge mistake and he should carry his part of the blame. Our attackers are still massively underperforming, we struggle to get out from under pressing and if it wasn't for our defense, we'd be in even deeper sh*t by now. 

Looks like our transfer window was a bit of a disaster. Missing out on Hakimi and Kounde, wasting 100m on you-know-who and taking  a gamble on Saul proved to be a poor bit of business. The fact that Werner, Ziyech and Havertz continued to struggle in their second season also has been a major disappointment, I personally hoped at least one of them wiould have a real impact. 

We're in a desperate need of some rest and wingback re-enforcements. Not sure why people are so desperate for Emerson to return, if I remember correctly, he was 3rd choice LB for a reason, Alonso was ahead of him in the pecking order, so it's probably a question of saving money rather than looking for improvement. We need someone with pace for a RB position too, given that Azpi is a shadow of a player he used to be and has gotten even slower and we don't know when and in what condition Reece comes back. I guess by the end of the month we'll find out what happens.

 

 

Emerson is bad, far worse than alonso but you can't play alonso every game. He is 30 year old wb, it is very difficult for him to be decent every game.

Edited January 19, 20224 yr by Bob stark

5 minutes ago, Bob stark said:

Emerson is bad, far worse than alonso but you can't play alonso every game. He is 30 year old wb, it is very difficult for him to be decent every game.

Of course Alonso needs to be rotated and cannot play every game, that wasn't my point. All I'm saying is that Emerson isn't an upgrade or an answer to our problems in that position, and we're currently struggling with Alonso as it is.