Mendy clearly Man of the First Half. Looking forward to how Tuchel is going to change things. Saúl doesn't need his confidence shattered more than it already is.

oh my - we're playing like a pre=season friendly. need a change (or even 2 at HT) - what would Jose do??

Lucky to go into the half still a goal ahead.

Sub Saul out before they equalize.

CHO and Niguez are stinking the house out...time for 2 changes at half time...Jourinho and Mount on...

Don't think I've ever seen us be that dominated for half an hour at home ... be interesting to see what TT does at HT, as he must be livid at that display ... can't believe we aren't losing !

Jorginho for Saul and Azpi for one of Hudson-Odoi or Ziyech at half time. No point waiting, if we do it will only cost us.

Saul is reminding me of when Jorginho first came here. He’s going to have to pick up to the pace of the premier league quickly if he wants a sniff at the starting 11

Saul must've been shellshocked. Prem games are not necessarily harder but it's definitely faster. He was a half second behind to most things

I don’t want to write Saul off after 45 minutes but that was bad, he’ll cost us a goal at this rate.

Save him for the League Cup I think, too risky in a game this tight.

Swap him out at half time please Thomas.

Hard to criticize Saul too much in his first game but he looks a bit complacent in posession, used to a lot more time on the ball in la liga. Let's not knee-jerk and say he's garbage just yet though, Villa have come out swinging and look a lot fresher than us in general. Mendy, Kovacic and Silva have been immense though

1 minute ago, carrickblue said:

oh my - we're playing like a pre=season friendly. need a change (or even 2 at HT) - what would Jose do??

Go on about little horses?

Seriously, why the reference to Mourinho, that doesn't make any sense at all.

Not surprised with the performance. After the lineup being announced, there are 3 clear questions marks. 

- can we connect with the attacker without Mount? Nope. 

- is saul ready? Nope

- is chalo n cho combination ready? Nope. 

21 minutes ago, Bob stark said:

He looks confused and understandably so. He is clearly not used to pl speed and he is not sure where he need to be and what to dom

It's not that hard to understand that you need to sprint back and cover a free player and not just jog at half intensity behind him. I would swap him at half time, he has been creating 80% of the chances for Villa so far.

2 minutes ago, carrickblue said:

oh my - we're playing like a pre=season friendly. need a change (or even 2 at HT) - what would Jose do??

Bring on Mikel and park the bus

HT ...the scoreline is flattering ...we have been a complete load of crap this half.   Carry on like this defensively and I don't see us getting anything from this game.  Totally lost the midfield, CHO playing far to high up the pitch leaving a giant space behind him for Watkins and others to enjoy.  Saul, well the less said the better, surely he can't be kept on for the 2nd half.   Need Mount, Werner and Dave on..

7 minutes ago, CFCCAN said:

Not sure that's the right move either given the pace of this game, need some blood and guts in the middle for these types of games...

We need Jorginho to control the tempo of the game . If not Jorginho for Saul then Azpi for Saul and send Chalobah into Midfield

TT needs to change something Villa twice as many shots as us, otherwise.....

Even when we were 10 against Liverpool, we didn't kick so many balls forward. One of the worst performances I ever saw under Tuchel, our possession is so bad. Our players are not in the game, only Mendy and Thiago Silva are there to save us.

If this game will continue in this way, then Villa will get their goal. Saul and Kovacic are struggling together, Saul always runs on Kova's spot, overall his performance is poor. 

CHO is struggling defensively, Ziyech and Havertz can't find space and can't create something. It can't continue like that, we need changes!

Jorginho in the second half. Even RLC would be a better option than Saul, he knows the league, he has some PL experience and knows the players around him more time. We can't fall in this game, 3 points here is a must.

At least one goal to give us more confidence, Villa aren't far from scoring here.

COME ON CHELS!!!

Edited September 11, 20214 yr by IliyaKrostin

3 minutes ago, Valerie said:

Mendy clearly Man of the First Half. Looking forward to how Tuchel is going to change things. Saúl doesn't need his confidence shattered more than it already is.

Between him and Silva for me as man of the match so far, Silva looks unflappable despite the circus going on around him in defence and midfield

Just now, Frankie8Lampard said:

Saul is reminding me of when Jorginho first came here. He’s going to have to pick up to the pace of the premier league quickly if he wants a sniff at the starting 11

I don't know, Jorginho was never this bad. I remember him starting really well for us when he first joined. It was around the mid way point of the season where he started to struggle.

Just now, comtrend said:

It's not that hard to understand that you need to sprint back and cover a free player and not just jog at half intensity behind him. I would swap him at half time, he has been creating 80% of the chances for Villa so far.

I don't think he doesn't understand, his brain couldn't keep up with the speed yet

Just now, comtrend said:

It's not that hard to understand that you need to sprint back and cover a free player and not just jog at half intensity behind him. I would swap him at half time, he has been creating 80% of the chances for Villa so far.

You can't just run around like maniac as midfield two unless you are kante.

1 minute ago, Bob stark said:

Not surprised with the performance. After the lineup being announced, there are 3 clear questions marks. 

- can we connect with the attacker without Mount? Nope. 

- is saul ready? Nope

- is chalo n cho combination ready? Nope. 

Agreed. Tuchel need to make changes at half time before we dropped points.  After international break so many changes is asking for trouble.  

Jorginho for Saul 

azbi for CHO

 

we need more control.