Like the way things are developing under Pochettino. He was the appointment I wanted and I think we are beginning to see the benefits of his coaching of this young squad. We all suspected this was going to be a season of ups and downs and we have again been unlucky with injuries (but so have most teams to be fair). No doubt we will still have games where is doesn't go to plan, but I like what I'm seeing, especially in the last two games. Seeing Palmer, Sterling & Gallagher playing as well as they are, Jackson finding the target and Broja a useful option. Enzo and Caicedo will just get better & better. Lots of options in defence, with Cucurella looking more like the player we hoped he would be and James getting back to something like his best (and being well managed game-time wise). And with Nkunku to return and hopefully Mudryk and Madueke to make telling contributions when called upon, there is plenty to be optimistic about.

Last season was so depressing under Potter and then Lamps. What a complete difference and what a lift these last two performances have given. Actually enjoy watching us play football again and can't wait for the next game. Onwards and upwards..........................

2 hours ago, Nibs said:

Last season was so depressing under Potter and then Lamps. What a complete difference and what a lift these last two performances have given. Actually enjoy watching us play football again and can't wait for the next game. Onwards and upwards..........................

For me  it's the enjoyment, good football and seeing the team chemistry develop, looking forward to the next game, an expectation that the team is going up and not down. 

Whether its down the touchline working in 1 metre of width using 2-3 players, or through the centre with pass from Caicedo getting us going its great to see the team play. Obviously ManC are already there and for both teams on Sunday there was lots of almost no look passing, just knowing where the recipient will be be. Good stuff.

Last 2 games reminded people we belong to the top part of the table, even results haven't been great so far. Last year was awful beyond debate, against top 6 teams we had no chance and was contend with damage limitation. I recall the City game at the end of the season when they rested everyone, and we still gave them the 3 points without putting up a fight.  We may not get back to top 4 or 6 at the end of the season, but improvement will make the season worth it, and something to build on next year.

Once everybody is fit

Jackson 

Nkunku - Palmer - Sterling 

Enzo/Caicedo/Conor 

Chilwell - Badi/Colwill - Fofana - James 

Is just a very fun lineup. Let Nkunku drift inside and asd Chiwell to bomb the LW. Ask James to play more conservative so he doesn't have to go up and down whole game long. 

Is it fair to say hes took the handbrake off the last few matches, theres a hell of a lot less messing around with the ball at the back/centre mid and mor looking to pass forward at any opportunity. Much more like the way we were set up during pre season.

20 hours ago, dermott said:

He was fine. He was fine the last time he reffed Chelsea. The anti-Taylor vibe around here is, typically, juvenile.

That is absolute rubbish. You think it's all made up? You obviously haven't watched him ref many of our games over the years then.

27 minutes ago, dkw said:

Is it fair to say hes took the handbrake off the last few matches, theres a hell of a lot less messing around with the ball at the back/centre mid and mor looking to pass forward at any opportunity. Much more like the way we were set up during pre season.

Enzo playing deeper makes a ridiculous difference on that score. His switching of play turns sterile possesion into promising attacking opportunities.

20 minutes ago, Argo said:

Enzo playing deeper makes a ridiculous difference on that score. His switching of play turns sterile possesion into promising attacking opportunities.

He was also a big reason why City's pressing was largely ineffective. He kept dropping deep and to the left to receive the ball, allowing slightly less technical players (like Cucu) to provide options rather than being tasked with generating the solutions to the press. Really smart use of his skillset if you ask me, and with Reece on the other side being very press resistant it made it so hard for City to trap us in our own half like they normally do.

 

35 minutes ago, Argo said:

Enzo playing deeper makes a ridiculous difference on that score. His switching of play turns sterile possesion into promising attacking opportunities.

I noticed this switch also Enzo was at the base now with Caicedo is a little forward.

45 minutes ago, Argo said:

Enzo playing deeper makes a ridiculous difference on that score. His switching of play turns sterile possesion into promising attacking opportunities.

I think this is part of the reason people wrongly describe him as underwhelming. He's tasked with being the link that drops in and attempts the more progressive, risky passes. You're never getting 100% completion when thats your task. But you need someone fearless that is willing to risk giving the ball away.

I think its great that with a 3 of Ezno, Caicedo and Gallagher, each can be interchanged and rotated between the 3 roles to achieve different results.

2 hours ago, Niall1905 said:

I think this is part of the reason people wrongly describe him as underwhelming. He's tasked with being the link that drops in and attempts the more progressive, risky passes. You're never getting 100% completion when thats your task. But you need someone fearless that is willing to risk giving the ball away.

I think its great that with a 3 of Ezno, Caicedo and Gallagher, each can be interchanged and rotated between the 3 roles to achieve different results.

So good to get positive vibes back.

4 hours ago, dkw said:

Is it fair to say hes took the handbrake off the last few matches, theres a hell of a lot less messing around with the ball at the back/centre mid and mor looking to pass forward at any opportunity. Much more like the way we were set up during pre season.

This is the key for me. I think a lot of credit for Pochettino for this alone and clearly helped by having a player like Palmer who is ALWAYS looking to get the ball forward.  I know sometimes you have to go back or sideways and look to rebuild but in the last couple of seasons it was pretty much all we did! The big turnover of playing personnel has helped massively so we now have positive, attack minded players and may we never return to the dull old days of last season.

 

4 hours ago, cfr95 said:

He was also a big reason why City's pressing was largely ineffective. He kept dropping deep and to the left to receive the ball, allowing slightly less technical players (like Cucu) to provide options rather than being tasked with generating the solutions to the press. Really smart use of his skillset if you ask me, and with Reece on the other side being very press resistant it made it so hard for City to trap us in our own half like they normally do.

Yet City still scored 4 goals. Spurs should have got 3 more while down to 9. The defence needs looking at.

7 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Yet City still scored 4 goals. Spurs should have got 3 more while down to 9. The defence needs looking at.

No, it doesn't. This is the trap that every manager has fallen into over the last 4 years and ultimately the reason why we couldn't score for love or money in the last 18 months. 

I have been critical of Pochettino in the past but I think we all need to appreciate the magnitude of the last two results a bit more clearly. To come from behind twice against the two form teams in the league is impressive, but to do it in the context of a team that lost 16 times last season when trailing is actually incredible, let alone with a team who has struggled to score goals.

Anyone can improve a team's defense. That's easy coaching, you make the team work hard and you teach the team patience to control games. It is much harder to take a team bereft of confidence and nous and teach them to score goals. I said before that the only solution for Poch was to embrace chaos, and cede control and possession so that teams actually attack us instead of resorting to stifling tactics, and it has worked so far.

Newcastle will potentially be a sterner test than either Tottenham or Man City, given they are a team who are also comfortable at ceding possession to destroy opponents on the counter-attack, and we will be playing away from home in a cauldron.

23 minutes ago, SydneyChelsea said:

No, it doesn't. This is the trap that every manager has fallen into over the last 4 years and ultimately the reason why we couldn't score for love or money in the last 18 months. 

I have been critical of Pochettino in the past but I think we all need to appreciate the magnitude of the last two results a bit more clearly. To come from behind twice against the two form teams in the league is impressive, but to do it in the context of a team that lost 16 times last season when trailing is actually incredible, let alone with a team who has struggled to score goals.

Anyone can improve a team's defense. That's easy coaching, you make the team work hard and you teach the team patience to control games. It is much harder to take a team bereft of confidence and nous and teach them to score goals. I said before that the only solution for Poch was to embrace chaos, and cede control and possession so that teams actually attack us instead of resorting to stifling tactics, and it has worked so far.

Newcastle will potentially be a sterner test than either Tottenham or Man City, given they are a team who are also comfortable at ceding possession to destroy opponents on the counter-attack, and we will be playing away from home in a cauldron.

I fancy us to really turn Newcastle over. They’ve injuries to several key players and the demand of Champions League football is getting to them. In many ways , their game against PSG a few days after we play them is a much bigger game for them. 

1 hour ago, SydneyChelsea said:

No, it doesn't. This is the trap that every manager has fallen into over the last 4 years and ultimately the reason why we couldn't score for love or money in the last 18 months. 

I have been critical of Pochettino in the past but I think we all need to appreciate the magnitude of the last two results a bit more clearly. To come from behind twice against the two form teams in the league is impressive, but to do it in the context of a team that lost 16 times last season when trailing is actually incredible, let alone with a team who has struggled to score goals.

Anyone can improve a team's defense. That's easy coaching, you make the team work hard and you teach the team patience to control games. It is much harder to take a team bereft of confidence and nous and teach them to score goals. I said before that the only solution for Poch was to embrace chaos, and cede control and possession so that teams actually attack us instead of resorting to stifling tactics, and it has worked so far.

 

That will only take you so far.

With all said and done, Spurs gambled and threw the dice right away as the cards were being shown and it didn't pay off but they could have scored more before and after those key moments and they actually did but it was a few offside goals. Other teams don't do what Spurs did and they let us push and punish us, this is how we lost against Villa, Brentford and N.Forest.

In the following match we wanted to bring chaos to Man City and it did pay off but if we think of ourselves as a big team it's also reasonable to come to the conclusion that most teams would be pretty satisfied to come to the Bridge and get away with a point so it all depends on how you interpret it but overall you can argue that our defense did in fact let us down.

I don't mind us conceding goals as long as we keep playing bravely and keep improving but there are things that should be taken into account, that Akanji goal was way too cheaply given away. After all just take the Arsenal match, we had a 2 goal lead by min 49' and we blew it.

Edited November 14, 20232 yr by Gol15

5 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Anyone can improve a team's defense. That's easy coaching, you make the team work hard and you teach the team patience to control games. It is much harder to take a team bereft of confidence and nous and teach them to score goals. I said before that the only solution for Poch was to embrace chaos, and cede control and possession so that teams actually attack us instead of resorting to stifling tactics, and it has worked so far.

 

I personally love chaos ball but your player need to be able to cope with it because you will concede chances. I watched pool vs Brentford. Pool won 3-0 but Brentford had many chances, far more chances that they had against us. 

The scary part of chaos ball is how fans will think of your manager especially with so many fans get influenced by tacticos. They will analyze zone, spacing, build up structure and it is a just a mess and they will make you think that your manager and players are just stupid 🤭🤭

 

 

 

 

Edited November 15, 20232 yr by Bob stark

20 hours ago, dkw said:

Is it fair to say hes took the handbrake off the last few matches, theres a hell of a lot less messing around with the ball at the back/centre mid and mor looking to pass forward at any opportunity. Much more like the way we were set up during pre season.

Be careful what you wish for.

When you play team like city/spuds who want to play, you are not the only one who bring tempo to the game, if you play vs team like Brentford, you need to bring it yourself. 

You need to really open up and play fast which mean you will lose the ball a lot. Your gk, cb, dm better be ready because they will have to defend big open space again and again. 

 

Edited November 15, 20232 yr by Bob stark

One of the things ManC said after the match was that in a running game we ran harder. Think about that. Our younger players have that power and energy that comes with youth. 

But that's only the start of it. For all the comment about the 1 billion and the results we are really only seeing a fraction of the money on the park.

Sure Mancs have a strong bench but we have Lavia, Chucky, Nkunku to come back with big Les pushing Caicedo all the time. In defence Colwill and Badiashile aren't even in the current starting 11 and both are good players. We have a ton of depth and over the season that will surely pay off unless someone stuffs it up.

We did let in 4 goals but the long range shot was a bit unlucky and I do think Silva was a bit lazy and it probably was because a game like that takes it out of someone his age. He probably could have been subbed at 70 minute mark. And we have plenty of subs.

2 hours ago, ozboy said:

But that's only the start of it. For all the comment about the 1 billion and the results we are really only seeing a fraction of the money on the park.

Against City, the starting XI cost us £446m ; bench was £195m. Players costing £240m were out injured, with Washington (£14m) not selected, and then another £231m is out on loan (includes £170m for Lukaku and Kepa), plus £7m in the Academy.

Edited November 15, 20232 yr by Sexyfootball

3 hours ago, ozboy said:

We did let in 4 goals but the long range shot was a bit unlucky and I do think Silva was a bit lazy and it probably was because a game like that takes it out of someone his age. He probably could have been subbed at 70 minute mark. And we have plenty of subs.

The first and fourth goal I would categorise as unlucky; a soft pen with a foul against us in the build-up, and a deflection. Akanji getting a free header for the 2nd is poor from us, and I think we were napping straight after halftime and let them isolate Cucurella who is undoubtedly the weak link in that back four. Even then the 3rd goal probably doesn't go in if they don't have arguably the best striker in the world getting on the end of the cross.

Statistically our defence is pretty sound, and when you look at the defenders we have who didnt feature against City (Badiashile, Colwill, Chilwell, Fofana) you could argue it'll only get stronger when we have everyone fully fit.

4 hours ago, ozboy said:

One of the things ManC said after the match was that in a running game we ran harder. Think about that. Our younger players have that power and energy that comes with youth. 

But that's only the start of it. For all the comment about the 1 billion and the results we are really only seeing a fraction of the money on the park.

Sure Mancs have a strong bench but we have Lavia, Chucky, Nkunku to come back with big Les pushing Caicedo all the time. In defence Colwill and Badiashile aren't even in the current starting 11 and both are good players. We have a ton of depth and over the season that will surely pay off unless someone stuffs it up.

We did let in 4 goals but the long range shot was a bit unlucky and I do think Silva was a bit lazy and it probably was because a game like that takes it out of someone his age. He probably could have been subbed at 70 minute mark. And we have plenty of subs.

That's harsh. Silva is the best example of a top pro and I would never use the term lazy where he is concerned. All defenders will react and think better to get something on a shot heading goalwards than nothing at all, and it was just bad luck. It was just a natural reaction to get a foot on the ball and I'm sure if he could have got more on the ball to block it, he would have. I would never sub Silva early in a game unless he was actually injured - he is still the pick of the bunch even at 39!

Pochettino has a job in games against opponents who sit deep. The team with most quality that does is we face next in Newcastle. They are not 'park the bus' team but are very comfortable sitting deep if needed. 

We need unlocking passes, perfectly timed runs and high percentage finishing to win those games. We are very vulnerable at counter attacks as we saw against City and Tottenham.

If we have any dreams of finishing in top 5 we need a good run of wins. 5-7 in a row to gain the belief. This win-draw-lose type of football in results is something mid-table teams are for.