I have no confidence in their ability to score. This generation is too centered on making FIFA-like moves than actually be super hungry to score. 

£300m on forwards and Lukaku and Mount (to a point), none of them are consistent. 

It hurts to see how City have replaced Teves, Yaya, Kun and Silva with another set of efficient attacking players. I thought they would be in the mud when those 4 left.

I'd like to see a bit of the old "Supermac" Malcolm MacDonald mentality of EXPECTING to have 5 chances to score every game, and EXPECTING to take two of them.

From at least 4 of our starting players :-) 

On about 5 occasions today, the play opened up for a potential shot from outside the box, and we didn't try one ... 

1 hour ago, KonaKai Blue said:

It hurts to see how City have replaced Teves, Yaya, Kun and Silva with another set of efficient attacking players. I thought they would be in the mud when those 4 left.

It hasn’t been pristine though has it?

Sane, Torres, Jesus, Grealish and Mahrez have been underwhelming imo. Maybe abit harsh to mention Grealish already but he did cost 100m.

Bernando Silva is an excellent signing though, and of course they’re lucky to have Foden.

1 hour ago, dansubrosa said:

It hasn’t been pristine though has it?

Sane, Torres, Jesus, Grealish and Mahrez have been underwhelming imo. Maybe abit harsh to mention Grealish already but he did cost 100m.

Bernando Silva is an excellent signing though, and of course they’re lucky to have Foden.

And then you have Sterling, KDB and as you said Foden who are all match winners on a consistent basis.

After today's sh*t show, I'm thinking loan bids for Hazard and Mata couldn't exactly hurt LOL

They are all proper embarrassing. I am not convinced any of our attackers (Mount*) will or should be at the club in a year or two.

*Mount will be here but not convinced it will be as an attacker. I am not entirely convinced he is good enough over time in forward areas either. Lacks a lot of the "extreme" qualities you'd want in those areas.

We brought in Werner, Ziyech and Havertz in 2020 and the expectations were that they were going to give us one of the best attacks in the league. They have all been massive failures and on performances they've been very mediocre Premier League players since they arrived.

 

We bought these guys on their potential, but none of them have lived up to any of that potential so far. I don't think we should buy from the Bundesliga ever again. Nothing good has come from it. Werner goes from 28 goals in one season, to what we see now. Havertz and Ziyech came with good reputations, but both are a let down. Ziyech looked like a world beater at Ajax, but here he can't even get a decent pass off. It is so anger inducing. 

At this point I'm not confident in any of them.  I always retained "hope" for Havertz and Werner wanting them to come good and fulfil their potential.  What we see is what we get.

Ziyech, Pulisic and Odoi lack real quality.  Lukaku can get goals but we are not playing to his strengths.

Mount is the only one, but I don't think he is a real attacker anyway, and would be best in a 4-3-3 as a no.8.

1 hour ago, Sindre said:

They are all proper embarrassing. I am not convinced any of our attackers (Mount*) will or should be at the club in a year or two.

*Mount will be here but not convinced it will be as an attacker. I am not entirely convinced he is good enough over time in forward areas either. Lacks a lot of the "extreme" qualities you'd want in those areas.

We brought in Werner, Ziyech and Havertz in 2020 and the expectations were that they were going to give us one of the best attacks in the league. They have all been massive failures and on performances they've been very mediocre Premier League players since they arrived.

 

It just shows how hard it is to judge players who can do a job for us domestically who have performed well in their own leagues or in Europe. 

To be honest, I think Ziyech was never considered anything more than a big fish, small pond kinda player and he plays exactly like one of those. If you play through him for 90 minutes then he'll get you some highlights, but more often than not there will be some really awful decisions, wild erratic shots and deliveries... He's not suited for a top team just like I don't think Grealish is. 

I still feel there's hope for Werner and Havertz to become great signings overall and to me they should be on the starting eleven anyway all things considered. 

If we can upgrade on Werner I'd do it at this point, but it's gotta be for someone who's got pace and technique (Rafael Leão comes to mind as a potential signing) and not just another runner like Adama, for example. 

18 minutes ago, Brigadeiro Mk II said:

To be honest, I think Ziyech was never considered anything more than a big fish, small pond kinda player and he plays exactly like one of those. If you play through him for 90 minutes then he'll get you some highlights, but more often than not there will be some really awful decisions, wild erratic shots and deliveries... He's not suited for a top team just like I don't think Grealish is. 

I still feel there's hope for Werner and Havertz to become great signings overall and to me they should be on the starting eleven anyway all things considered. 

If we can upgrade on Werner I'd do it at this point, but it's gotta be for someone who's got pace and technique (Rafael Leão comes to mind as a potential signing) and not just another runner like Adama, for example. 

He has good technique but to me he looks kind of too tall in order to be a top player on that position, kind of like RLC that was first more like a winger before he switched to play more centrally? 

You want Lukaku to be worth something? Have to throw everything else out of the plan and build the team for him and him alone.

1 hour ago, Gol15 said:

He has good technique but to me he looks kind of too tall in order to be a top player on that position, kind of like RLC that was first more like a winger before he switched to play more centrally? 

Since he isn't build like a tank I see him more as a Henry mold of striker so don't feel as concerned about his height. In fact, being tall is what maybe helps him get past defenders due to his long legs haha

I think he's ready to explode, been following him closely at Milan and he's made some huge improvements over the years, especially in the work rate department where he was truly lacking. Seeing him and Theo Hernandez combining on the left side makes me wonder how he and Ben would fare.

Anyway, back on topic... Just hoping Kai stop getting sick, injured, headaches and whatsoever and finally get a string of games where he's only absent due to rest. Whenever I feel he's ready to make his mark, something happens. 

Tbh Havertz is the only attacker I would keep, which says it all really.

Get rid of Timo, Ziyech, Lukaku and Pulisic. Replace them all over the next 2 years.

2 hours ago, dansubrosa said:

Tbh Havertz is the only attacker I would keep, which says it all really.

Get rid of Timo, Ziyech, Lukaku and Pulisic. Replace them all over the next 2 years.

You could replace them now with anyone you want from the youth set up or play Barkley, RLC, Sarr, Alonso, Kepa or anyone else there you want and you would not get an inferior performance.

Werner and Ziyech are flops, there's no two ways about it. First season, with the pandemic and moving to a new country/league/club you could write off and hope it's just an adaptation period. But they look just as poor now, in fact Werner has regressed, he had workrate and assists last year, now it's back to zero. Ziyech will never make it at EPL, he belongs in a slower less physical league.

CHO needs to go out on loan and try to perfect his game somewhere where there's less pressure and significantly more playing time. I have a feeling he'll never become the player so many Chelsea fans are convinced he is, but I don't see any other way to find out. Probably wasted last couple of years remaining at the club, should have followed the same path our other youngsters did, Anyway, he's still very young and has time to prove he belongs in a top club by doing what James, Mount, Gallagher and many others did before him.

Pulisic is someone I normally rate highly and he did score some big goals in big games (FA Cup final vs Arse, Real in the CL, Pool couple of weeks ago etc) but I wonder if those constant injuries will ever allow him to be a key player for us. I was hoping he could finally put his injury woes behind him and show us this season that he can become a consistent performer, but alas it seems that his fitness problems will always be there. 

Lukaku, well, I've already said plenty on the subject. Still cannot wrap my mind around the club's decision to spend a record fee on him on top of a massive contract. It's one thing to gamble on a young talent who may or may not work out, but we'd been  watching the player in question for years, his strengths and weaknesses were well documented, and yet we still went for it. Incomprehensible.

Ideally, I'd only keep Havertz and Mount, and possibly Pulisic in the highly unlikely scenario where he pulls a miracle and becomes a durable player. Werner and Ziyech are still attractive assets to a number of clubs outside of EPL and CHO will have no trouble landing a loan gig. Lukaku due to his age, current form, large fee and an elephant of a contract, not to mention sh*t attitude would take an incredible stroke of business to unload. He could make things easier if he'd accepted a pay cut but given that he demanded a bigger pay even at his supposedly beloved Inter, we know that's never going to happen, so we're probably stuck with this donkey for years to come.

 

Edited January 16, 20224 yr by abramovich

We’ve flopped in the transfer market with these players haven’t we. None of them have lived upto their billing. 
 

Lukaku, I thought was a much more rounded player and given the options available, it looked like a good deal. You can see the improvements in his game but it feels like unless we design a system around him, he’s unlikely to achieve big things here. We have never designed a system around a player - ask Torres or Shevchenko. 
 

How do the club recoup £300m worth of signings in a market where teams haven’t got much money?

My view is simple.. the coach or the system is too defensive for us to see their real quality... especially if we will rely on wingbacks for creativity. You top this up with the constant tinkering and no consistency in playing them and here we are today that non of them have any confidence.. Also injuries have been specially cruel.. opposition players miss chances all the time.. but it doesnt impact because they create much more.. even in the game against us.. Grealish missed a sitter and at least 2-3 times city had us on counter attacks but missed the final pass..

It doesnt matter who you bring on - i have been on this forum since june saying this system is a forward killer and unless we change it - we will struggle. we bought players worth 120 goals in werner, lukaku, ziyech and havertz..

Tuchel needs to sort this - his tactics this season and even last season have been found wanting in the league.. I would hate to see us move Havertz and pulisic on and see another KDB and Salah situation.. Infact my money is on tuchel being moved on before these players .. especially if you look at our form.

I blame the tinkering of the front three.  If TT was Liverpool boss, playing our system which would still mean a front 3, TT would constantly rotate Salah, Mane, Jota, Firmino, Origi and Minamino.  Klopp has decided that Jota is better than Firmino and sticks with Jota, Salah and Mane.  They build up an understanding and confidence...

TT would have rotated prime Hazard!!!!  I like TT but imo he does himself no favours in constantly tinkering.  I get the impression that he needs to start Lukaku because of the price.  To my mind Mount plays on one side and on the other one from Havertz, Werner or Pulisic and stick with it.   Ziyech and CHO nowhere near the starting 11 for me.

If he has balls, drop Lukaku and go with Havertz, Mount and one from Werner or Pulisic, but again stick with it.  

I can see us playing say Lukaku, Mount and Havertz against Brighton, doing well and then against Spurs, Ziyech and CHO are in, madness!!!!

Prime Ranieri!!!!!

Even though the likes of Werner and Ziyech haven't worked out as planned the logic of getting them was understandable, on paper both fixed the problems we had in 19/20 and were stylistic fits to what we've been trying to build since Sarri.

Lukaku on the other hand was amateur recruitment, he's the absolute athesis of not only our style but the good characters we have in the locker room. It's almost as if the club actually thought the putting a poacher to finish we create logic actually works in reality.

No

Lukaku - Don't like him, but it's possible he might score against the smaller teams. Plus we're unlikely to get any bids for him after the amount we spent on him. So kind of stuck.
Werner - No good. Get rid.
Ziyech - No good. Get rid.
Havertz - Disappointing, but has potential, so would keep for now.
Hudson-Odoi - Loan to a PL side or a side where he'll play most games for a season. Has potential, but he's so inconsistant.
Pulisic - Another one with potential and I wouldn't give up on him just yet, but needs to improve a lot.

Regarding the over-rotation, maybe TT needs to look at his attacking players and decide which are the two sets of three that are going to play together, and then stick to that as much as possible. A bit like you see in NHL ice hockey where there is a first line and a second line for the attackers.

I'd go with :

Ziyech | Lukaku | Hudson-Odoi - Lukaku as the central striker, plus the two wingers who are most likely to provide assists/create chances for him

Mount | Havertz | Werner/(Pulisic) - a fluid trio that can interchange etc, like we saw in last years CL Final.

The constant chop/changing doesn't allow any understanding or patterns of play to develop properly ... granted some of the changes have been injury/covid enforced, but even so ...

By all means rotate, but only rotate as a whole line, and decide which trio is best suited for the opponent etc 

Edited January 16, 20224 yr by Sexyfootball