3 major finals in under a year!

Elite manager.

Edited January 12, 20224 yr by 2211

10 hours ago, Jamieblue said:

Since he joined around this time last year, we haven't been knocked out of any cup competition apart from the FA Cup final loss vs Leicester... won two of three finals, another one just round the corner now. Obviously it won't continue forever, but it's a pretty decent effort that!

Especially the fact that we were really in a down curve when he arrived. 

it's crazy the instant impact he had and still has. 

TT has joined the calls for more transparency by the PL as to why some clubs get their game postponed and others do not:

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/12515672/burnley-postpone-premier-league-match-vs-leicester-due-to-insufficient-number-of-first-team-players

 

A few more are growing more suspicious clubs are manipulating the system for their own gain. Spurs are said to be "furious" Arsenal are asking for the their game vs Spurs to be moved.

 

TT and other managers want more clarity, TT himself revealed AC is out with Covid, and did like wise last week with both Silva and Kante. Some believe players must be named beforehand and lists provided as to who is injured, who is suspended, who is isolating and whoever else is out.

On 13/01/2022 at 11:26, 2211 said:

3 major finals in under a year!

Elite manager.

 

Poor management from Tuchel today.

I saw the passion but the management was poor. Too much unwarranted belief for underperformers and hamstrung by injuries. 

His comments are spot on I believe. We can never know his proper tactic for this game since the players keep playing it backwards and sideways and him being angry 80% of this game imo  showed to me that things were not what he intended it to be

I wish he would move away from 3 at the back, go to a 433. I'd rather play Sarr at LB than Alonso. We looked better when we played with 4 at the back.

49 minutes ago, JPH said:

Poor management from Tuchel today.

Well, without Christensen, Chalobah, Chilwell and James and instead of them with Alonso, Sarr and Azpi, it is obvious that you cannot attack against City.

But when it is so obvious that you have to hit them with a counter attack then why is Werner on the bench and not Ziyech ?

Basically I think that the game today was lost in midfield because City simply found the better solutions there.

De Bruyne was probably the difference today between the two teams.

 

5 minutes ago, jack_super_class said:

I wish he would move away from 3 at the back, go to a 433. I'd rather play Sarr at LB than Alonso. We looked better when we played with 4 at the back.

you are spot on here. Alonso is limited as a defender especially against strong sides whereas Sarr looks like he has the making of a solid defender. 

Switching to a 4 with Sarr as Lb strengthens us at the back and we can have a better attacking threat as we’d have an extra attacker. 

Got both games against City completely wrong this season. I think quite a few of us were quite surprised by today's starting XI particualarly the selections of Pulisic and Ziyech and it's frustrating to see them put in such poor performances when given a chance in such a huge game. 

Results in the league have been poor for about 6 weeks now, really need to see an upturn in performances and quality or we risk being caught up by the likes of Spurs and Arsenal who have quite a few games in hand. 

3 minutes ago, turnyitb said:

you are spot on here. Alonso is limited as a defender especially against strong sides whereas Sarr looks like he has the making of a solid defender. 

Switching to a 4 with Sarr as Lb strengthens us at the back and we can have a better attacking threat as we’d have an extra attacker. 

We dont have the wingbacks either to play 343 with Chilwell and James out. We are short on centre backs now too.

Looking at the 2 games against City this season it is hard to figure out how Tuchel managed to beat them 3 times last season. 

Still a lot to play for but now the top 4 place looks increasingly competitive. We will have to keep an eye on that as our squad is already looking thin and will have to cope with the distractions of other competitions. If we are not careful we could easily miss out on top 4.

23 minutes ago, jack_super_class said:

I wish he would move away from 3 at the back, go to a 433. I'd rather play Sarr at LB than Alonso. We looked better when we played with 4 at the back.

This and move Alonso into the front 3 instead of Lukaku :).

Yeah I’m a huge fan but he got it wrong today. I’m generally very forgiving about people getting stuff wrong as we’re all human, but staying wrong is not ok. I was baffled that he didn’t make any changes at half time. Based on everything he said about Lukaku in the post match interview, he should have hooked him. His abysmal hold up play and the ball losses that TT himself criticised made it impossible for us to find a rhythm. 

4 minutes ago, Dean said:

This and move Alonso into the front 3 instead of Lukaku :).

I think Tuchel will persist with the same system in most games. Big week coming up for Tuchel and his system. Just 10 points from our last 8 games which is why we are being pulled into the dogfight for 4th. We need 2 wins from this week to turn things around in the league. 

27 minutes ago, forbzy said:

I think Tuchel will persist with the same system in most games. Big week coming up for Tuchel and his system. Just 10 points from our last 8 games which is why we are being pulled into the dogfight for 4th. We need 2 wins from this week to turn things around in the league. 

I think we’ll turn it out around and finish in top 3. I expected us to lose today so it doesn’t change the overall picture for me though I was disappointed with the performance.

46 minutes ago, forbzy said:

Looking at the 2 games against City this season it is hard to figure out how Tuchel managed to beat them 3 times last season. 

Still a lot to play for but now the top 4 place looks increasingly competitive. We will have to keep an eye on that as our squad is already looking thin and will have to cope with the distractions of other competitions. If we are not careful we could easily miss out on top 4.

It's not that hard really. If you're going to start the game with 3 players that are inferior at pressing City's defence and midfield, then you're always going to struggle against them. It's bad enough that we are shoe horning Lukaku into these games, but adding Pulisic and Ziyech was just asking for trouble. Mount may well have not been match fit to start the game, but if he couldn't start, then Havertz and Werner definitely should have.

2 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

It's not that hard really. If you're going to start the game with 3 players that are inferior at pressing City's defence and midfield, then you're always going to struggle against them. It's bad enough that we are shoe horning Lukaku into these games, but adding Pulisic and Ziyech was just asking for trouble. Mount may well have not been match fit to start the game, but if he couldn't start, then Havertz and Werner definitely should have.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say i still have hope for Ziyech (not as a everygame starter but i don't think he's the worst squad player) but i've completely given up on Pulisic, worse than being crap he's totally anonymous.

Tuchel's system is heavily reliant on WBs and without James and Chilwell, the system falls apart. I thought we looked good playing four at the back earlier in the week, I thought he would have tried that in this game or until at least James gets back.

I think the approach was right, but the personnel was wrong, which meant the execution of the tactics wasnt perfomed at a high enough level to beat City away. 

It was different to the home game, where city stopped us getting out completely. The aim of the game against City and Liverpool is pretty clear. You hurt them by playing through press, or using quick transitions, to take advantage of the acres of space both teams leavr in behind trying to compact the pitch when they press. 

This requires precision on the ball, which just didnt have today. 

Im hoping the board look at this, and realize that money has to be spent, especially in the wing back areas, and I also hope Tuchel Tuchel realizes he has to stick with a front 3, and one of them has to be Mount, who even when out of form, produces way more than Ziyech. 

Worth remembering that 2 weeks ago the midfield duo of Kova and Kante were getting huge praise for what they did to Liverpool.

Same duo, but now is a case of the city midfield dominated them. 

If they could have produced the same level today as with 2 weeks ago could have we won? Maybe, probably a draw is more likely, Kante would have taken KdB out rather than let him shoot for one.

46 minutes ago, Argo said:

I'm going to go against the grain here and say i still have hope for Ziyech (not as a everygame starter but i don't think he's the worst squad player) but i've completely given up on Pulisic, worse than being crap he's totally anonymous.

I'm the opposite. In honesty I'd let them both go in the summer but if I had to choose between one or the other I'd keep Pulisic. I think Ziyech would struggle to be a regular for any team in the Premier League let alone a top four one. Nothing about him is remotely impressive apart from a surname that would score well in scrabble

 

21 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Worth remembering that 2 weeks ago the midfield duo of Kova and Kante were getting huge praise for what they did to Liverpool.

Same duo, but now is a case of the city midfield dominated them. 

If they could have produced the same level today as with 2 weeks ago could have we won? Maybe, probably a draw is more likely, Kante would have taken KdB out rather than let him shoot for one.

No, we wouldn't have won because the problem wasn't Kante or Kovacic. They did their job, the problem was that they we suffocated by City, and they were suffocated because the front players and wing backs failed to help them.

1 hour ago, Argo said:

I'm going to go against the grain here and say i still have hope for Ziyech (not as a everygame starter but i don't think he's the worst squad player) but i've completely given up on Pulisic, worse than being crap he's totally anonymous.

Specially when you consider that Ziyech wasn't an expensive signing but that Pulisic was projected to be the next big thing after Hazard left.

I’m sick of our forwards. £300m we’ve spent on them and they’re all useless and inconsistent. They’re offering nothing and it’s hurting the team. Our defence and midfield is good enough but forwards are so poor. 
 

It says saying that Jorghino is our highest scorer for the second season running. Poor