1 hour ago, All Barco no bite said:

Bayern wouldn’t expect Olise to defend.

Liverpool never expected Salah to defend.

We never expected Hazard to defend.

Stupid criticism to have as an attacker, there’s 8 players behind him.

+1 the front 3 need to be a bit of a nuisance at the back but that's it. The other 8 defend.

I thought we were loads better when Chaverria was on

4 hours ago, The Boehly Babes said:

More than happy for the only criticism of our superstar attacking mid to be that he ‘doesn’t defend enough’

Blokes a f**king menace up front and is a huge reason we’re playing some of the most entertaining football I can remember.

Nitpicking is what this criticism is.

‘Martinez had a good game but he wasn’t involved in any of our attacking link up play so he needs to work on that’ level logic.

In a back 3 its quite important that the two attacking mids contribute defensively when the wingbacks are out of postion, even Pedro did his job defensively.

It's not the end of the world, he's already a very good player just something he will need to work on. Especially when we start facing the top teams.

Defend as a team. Joao Pedro puts in a shift defensively. If the furthest forward player can do it then they all can. That will make us a complete team Imo.

Rogers, Pedro and Palmer all put in very good shifts defensively. Their role is to defend high up the pitch to make defensive players think twice about bursting forward. We should not be relying on them defending near the box. Pedro's inexperience defending led to a simple block turning into an OG.

Gusto and Neto were most at fault for the first goal. Gusto stood ball-watching while Rogers was trying to shield the ball from two Brighton players, and he did well but unluckily conceded a throw; instead of running back into position, Gusto stops, then throws his hand up, and then tracks back at speed but only after Neto has missed his tackle. There is no logical reason why Gusto, the nominal CM and a player actually capable at LB, should have been waiting stationary in an attacking LM position while Rogers and then Neto had to deal with an attack.

He was certainly at fault for the last goal, Gross was his man and Rogers' height and presence means we rely on him to defend set pieces there, and I'm sure Austin McPhee expects Rogers to be one of his 'generals' out there given they have previously worked together well. Yes, it was at the end of the game and Rogers was clearly gassed, but we will have more consequential injury times in the season ahead.

Rogers is by far the best defender of the three, he is excellent at winning the ball in central midfield. His seeming hesitation (like King's goal at Fulham) is at least partially explained by a lack of understanding with his new teammates. The defense only gets better if Rogers, Pedro, Palmer (and Estevao/Quenda) are allowed to do their thing and create real jeopardy and risk in the minds of midfielders wanting to push forward. All it takes is a save and a long-pass from Martinez to make them instantly regret their decision. Rogers "working harder" doesn't meaningfully solve the main problem with our defence, which is that our players are spaced way too widely and have to cover big ground to catch people running between the lines or at the back posts.

Edited September 1Sep 1 by SydneyChelsea

Some people love to hunt for every cloud for any silver lining, we have a new attacking player who has scored 1 goal and has 1 assist in his first 2 games and has played superbly, jumping on him for a defensive lapse halfway up the pitch is pretty desperate stuff.

8 minutes ago, dkw said:

Some people love to hunt for every cloud for any silver lining, we have a new attacking player who has scored 1 goal and has 1 assist in his first 2 games and has played superbly, jumping on him for a defensive lapse halfway up the pitch is pretty desperate stuff.

You seem surprised. Keep up.

Morgan Rogers is a serious footballer, pass it on!

He’ll probably lose form at some point this season but what an outstanding signing.

Hopefully with him playing alongside his best pal Cole Palmer will improve his consistency. There’s been a lot of talk about his inconsistency at Villa.

I am loving every minute of him so far!

Quality footballer, powerful and direct. Hopefully this form continues all season.

Early days but could possibly turn out to be a big money signing who actually justifies the fee paid, and those have been few and far between in our transfer history as a club!

Been a while since we had someone like Rogers who can come off the bench and have that much of an impact. 4 assists last night, I`m surprised more isnt being made of the one from the throw in to set Palmer up, it was an outstanding piece of improvisation to get the ball into his path.

Really like Rogers as a player and also his personality. That interview with Rogers and Palmer after the game was comedy gold! The fact they are such good mates and love playing their football together really comes across. Signing Rogers was a great move as he's a real asset and also hopefully means Palmer will stay with us for a long time too. If Real Madrid ever come sniffing, they will have to have enough money to sign both!

Looking better than he ever did at Villa where he, by design, choice, whatever, played off the left. Now has a licence to roam.