By the look on the kids face when he was asked to go on with 90 seconds left, if we sign De Jong, i can see him asking to leave, as he's probably also behind Jorgi, Kante, Kova ?

Game was crying out for someone like him. Made no sense to not bring him on sooner

1 minute ago, Ballack & Blu said:

By the look on the kids face when he was asked to go on with 90 seconds left, if we sign De Jong, i can see him asking to leave, as he's probably also behind Jorgi, Kante, Kova ?

I fear for Conor.  He doesn't fit TT's system and I think he knows it.  Conor is a 4/3/3 midfielder and doesn't fit in a two.  I think he is behind RLC in that position too...

I don't think prime Frank Lampard would play or work in TT's system.  TT would probably have Frank playing as one of the wide players in the front 3 which would be madness.

TT would have gone with Essien and Makalele as his two in the middle.

Personally, if we keep the same formation, I think Kova is the best of all our players in the middle two.

50 minutes ago, Ballack & Blu said:

By the look on the kids face when he was asked to go on with 90 seconds left, if we sign De Jong, i can see him asking to leave, as he's probably also behind Jorgi, Kante, Kova ?

TT has integrated him into his squad...... apparently.

Jorginho slotted the penalty but was pretty much pants otherwise. Is TT gonna put Gallagher in ahead of a slow and aging Jorginho for a more dynamic midfield? I think we all know the answer to that.

But back for 60m in 2-3 years?

Tuchel said he had a plan for him. It’s a long season so hope he gets regular game time as opposed as the 90 second cameo to kill the game off. 

1 minute ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Tuchel said he had a plan for him. It’s a long season so hope he gets regular game time as opposed as the 90 second cameo to kill the game off. 

Place your bets.

9 hours ago, just said:

TT has integrated him into his squad...... apparently.

Jorginho slotted the penalty but was pretty much pants otherwise. Is TT gonna put Gallagher in ahead of a slow and aging Jorginho for a more dynamic midfield? I think we all know the answer to that.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him leave in this window with very little gametime, putting him on at the end was taking the piss when our midfield was totally inconsequential for nigh in the entire match.

If we sign Fofana and De Jong, and that enables a switch to 4-3-3, then Conor might be a big winner in that formation ... 

In a 4-3-3 he could play either of the more advanced midfield roles ahead of the DM.

In a 4-2-3-1, I think he is only suitable for the middle role in the 3. 

In a 3-4-3 he has no role, as I don't see him as a pivot player, and he certainly isn't a winger.

In a 3-4-2-1 he could be one of the 2, but there would be a lot of competition.

 

Personally, I hope 4-3-3 is where we are headed !

11 hours ago, Ballack & Blu said:

By the look on the kids face when he was asked to go on with 90 seconds left, if we sign De Jong, i can see him asking to leave, as he's probably also behind Jorgi, Kante, Kova ?

Kovacic didn't even get on the pitch yesterday, so Conor was at least preferred to Kova for the 90 second cameo 🙂.

It will be a long season. I think they will all get plenty of pitch time as TT rotates ... 

I once said Tuchel needs to be adaptable to the players he has but someone said Pep and Klopp never were.

That's all well and good when you play generally expansive, high octane beautiful football. 

When you play the way Tuchel does with the players at your disposal, it's underwhelming and you need to adapt to their skillet to get the best of them. 

He's not currently doing that, without a doubt. 

 

He's a good replacement for Kante in our current system, he'll open up defenses more and score more goals and he doesn't even need to run as much that part is done by Mount and Sterling.

If we aren't going to play 433 this season i find it strange that he's staying.

Kovacic Jorgi and Kanté are all gonna be gone in 2 years. No way we should sell him. De jong and him could make a great duo but i think he would fit better in a midfield 3.

West Ham tested the waters around Connor with a loan offer, which we rejected,:

https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/chelsea-fc-transfer-rumours-news/2022/8/7/23295890/chelsea-reject-west-ham-loan-offer-for-conor-gallagher-report

I wonder if he is not involved that much between now and August 31st if we do see Conjor ask to go to keep playing ahead of the world cup?

I'd love to see TT experiment and throw caution to the wind. Ditch the sitting, recycling defensive midfielder and have a look at Kante, Kova and Gallagher together. All 3 can get up and down the pitch, all 3 can run with the ball, all 3 can go past opponents 1 of them even looks like he might be a finisher too. If we need to add some height and strength to the midfield at times, (and we often do), bring RLC into the mix too.

22 minutes ago, just said:

I'd love to see TT experiment and throw caution to the wind. Ditch the sitting, recycling defensive midfielder and have a look at Kante, Kova and Gallagher together. All 3 can get up and down the pitch, all 3 can run with the ball, all 3 can go past opponents 1 of them even looks like he might be a finisher too. If we need to add some height and strength to the midfield at times, (and we often do), bring RLC into the mix too.

Sounds good in theory but there is no one to protect the space there. It would look like those times Kante play as our sitting midfielder. Sounds great in theory but you end up with a midfield that goes chasing after the ball and leaving a highway through the middle.

I also think every Premier League Champion going back to at least 2004 have used a sitting midfielder and there are obviously reasons for that. 

1 hour ago, just said:

I'd love to see TT experiment and throw caution to the wind. Ditch the sitting, recycling defensive midfielder and have a look at Kante, Kova and Gallagher together. All 3 can get up and down the pitch, all 3 can run with the ball, all 3 can go past opponents 1 of them even looks like he might be a finisher too. If we need to add some height and strength to the midfield at times, (and we often do), bring RLC into the mix too.

Who's the deeper one?

3 minutes ago, Argo said:

Who's the deeper one?

Presumably Kante. 

Its like thinking a midfield of three Essien's would work. 

Why does there need to be one of them as specific "deep" player? Players now dont just sit in an area of a pitch and stay, we could play these 3 in many ways, if they have the positional and tactical intelligence, and I`m confident they do. without the ball 2 can stay, one hunts. 1 stay 2 hunt, all 3 hunt etc. With it 1 stay 2 advance, 2 stay 1 advance. with a 3 man midfield we can then cover behind the fullbacks when they get forward. Depending on the team we are facing one can drop into CB to cover. I can see those 3 dominating many games in both attack and defence, have 3 up front, 2 wide 1 through the middle staying in the box and at least 1 from the midfield 3 joining in behind him as a sort of 10 which all 3 are capable of doing.

7 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Presumably Kante. 

Its like thinking a midfield of three Essien's would work. 

3 Essiens would have won us every single game imaginable, no team would have held them in any way.

5 minutes ago, dkw said:

3 Essiens would have won us every single game imaginable, no team would have held them in any way.

Look back and history will tell you a midfield containing three players of all the same profile has never worked. 

5 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Look back and history will tell you a midfield containing three players of all the same profile has never worked. 

Any examples?

2 minutes ago, dkw said:

Any examples?

Exactly. 

Real Madrid had the same idea some on here seem to have these days. Some idiots there looked at Makelele and went "what good does he do for us anyways" and then they sold him because he wasn't flashly like Zidane, Guti, Figo and the others.

And then when he left it took about 1 game for them to realize what they had done. And that was that, that one humble sitting midfielder they had that "only" passed sideways, didn't dribble much and quietly did his job intercepting and protection the space between midfield and defence was their most important players despite being the least flashy and least praised.