Real Madrid 2 Chelsea 0

[Mark Kelly]

Just now, paulw66 said:

And I never said you did.

 

Well that's Ok then 😁

[martin1905]

I thought the line up was poor. I know most seem to think we have to play 5 at the back but I completely disagree and last night proved why. It's such an easy system to play against and offers almost nothing going forward unless your a really good counter attacking side and we absolute are not that. You also need to be defensively solid to play it, again something we are not. 

I mean Sterling and Felix upfront, really? That was it for us in terms of attacking players on the pitch. Why on earth are we playing with two strikers when we don't have one? 

In fairness what formation we play is the least of our worries but we really need to be thinking about next year now. Quite clearly a back 5 doesn't help us, in terms of results but it is massively hindering a lot of our players as they can't get minutes on the pitch.

Felix can go to the reserves as far as I'm concerned. We gain absolutely nothing by giving him any more game time this season. 

Cucurella should be nothing more than second choice left back and only play when Chilwell needs a rest or is unavailable. He is shocking as a LCB. Absolutely shocking. 

Pulisic, Ziyech, RLC, Havertz and Zakaria can all join Felix.

Kovacic, I'd like to throw him in with the above but we may need him due to numbers. He's been awful this season and my biggest disappointment. One of our most experienced, senior players and he has just shrunk. His body language is terrible, looks like he doesn't want to be here and looking at his contract situation sounds like he doesn't. 

Gallagher, I have no problem with. Yes he's limited but think he is a great option to bring off the bench in multiple positions just for his work rate, enthusiasm and energy. 

Mount has to get back into the side, I don't care where and start playing as much as possible as soon as possible.  

Sterling, my god just play him out wide. He is not a CF, especially in this side.

Madueke, Mudryk  and Chuckwuemeka need meaningful minutes every single week from now until the end of the season.

So, going forward we need to see this.

Kepa

James Fofana Silva Chilwell

Kante Enzo

Sterling Mount Mudryk

Aubameyang 

Madueke, Mudryk and Chuckwuemeka can rotate with one another and come on as and when for Mount and Sterling. We absolutely have to start getting them bedded in, ready for next season.

Badiashile, I feel for as he was quality when he was playing but just feel it's more important to get Fofana properly up and running for a prolonged period of time. He definitely warrants a few more starts but feel it would be best for him to play with Silva so it's a bit of a double edged sword.

Kante and Enzo as a pivot won't work I hear you all cry but let's be honest, it's not difficult. One goes forward, one sits. No need to over complicate it and whilst not ideal it's about getting our best players on the football pitch and trying to get a bit of confidence back into some of them whilst integrating others ready for next season.

So there's your first 11 with a bench of 

Mendy, Azpilicueta, Badiashile, Kovacic, Gallagher, Madueke, Chuckwuemeka.

 

 

 

[CarefreeMuratcan]

I was feeling down and out, but my colleague at work (the driver, lovely Polish guy) has pumped me up again

It's OUR STADIUM, CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN, Real Madrid are going to be complacent about being 2-0 up and set up defensively, we are going to be hungry from minute 1 for scoring goals, attacking them and putting pressure on

CAREFREE  

[boratsbrother]

3 hours ago, xceleryx said:

There is no rhyme or reason to much of our recruitment, hasn't been for years mind you, but Sterling isn't the problem either. 

IF we had a functional midfield built around Enzo that includes neither Kante or Kovacic as starting players tasked with being prominent figures in our build up and attacking phases, then we'd already be about ten steps ahead of where we are. Add a CF and a more multifaceted attacker, say the impending Nkunku for example, then we'd function a whole better in the final third - even with Sterling in the side.

The thing is, he's a complimentary piece that can score goals in a functional attacking setup. We saw that at Man City, and there were glimpses early under Tuchel who had a precise plan on how he wanted to utilise him. All that fell by the wayside under Potter and has since continued as we've routinely struggled. 

I do wish you'd stop making excuses for our under performing, obscenely overpaid mentality midgets with testies made of margarine.

Though it's a team game, each and every player should be held accountable for their individual performances. They do their job right and the team looks after itself. It's Cucu's fault that he has the positional sense of Stevie Wonder, not the managers. It's Kovas fault that he is ineffective in both halves of a pitch. It's not the managers fault that Kepa repeatedly gets his hands to shots but ends up conceeding another goal. It's not the managers fault we spent enormous sums of money on forwards who can't hit a barn door with a banjo. It's not the managers fault that we keep signing midfielders who cannot score or create to save their life.

 

 

 

 

 

[east lower]

3 minutes ago, CarefreeMuratcan said:

 

It's OUR STADIUM, CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN, Real Madrid are going to be complacent about being 2-0 up and set up defensively, we are going to be hungry from minute 1 for scoring goals, attacking them and putting pressure on

CAREFREE  

That's the spirit.

Just need you in the dressing room before the game to give the team a Winston Churchill type "we shall fight them on the beaches..........." type rendition of that - minus Havertz of course.😉

[Mark Kelly]

@martin1905

For brevity I won't quote you but I agree wholeheartedly with everything you say above . Excellent post.

[east lower]

Here’s an example of what goes wrong with modern football coaching. We’ve our 9 outfield players in side the box and inside the first 12 yards of that, in ‘their zones’ with 4 of the opposing team in the same area. There’s 4 more of theirs in yards of space in excellent area’s just outside the box and they score from one of those positions.

Too inflexible and unable to adapt, I suspect Madrid knew this and adapted to suit. I’ve seen the same from us in the PL too, under Potter. Whatever happened to just marking players on the edge of the box, even just putting two smaller lads out there might stop the shot.

[Bison]

11 hours ago, paulw66 said:

Am sure the same was said in 2015/16

The landscape was a bit different then to be fair.

[Sleeping Dave]

Just a curious question. In the past, there have been a lot of peeps on here who has claimed that the problem isn’t the players, but rather laid the blame on the manager (Conte second season, Sarri, Lampard and then Potter). 

Is anyone still of that opinion? If so, I gather you’d think that we’d be back to a top four spot as long as we get a world class manager through the door? Who would that be? 

[martin1905]

7 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

Just a curious question. In the past, there have been a lot of peeps on here who has claimed that the problem isn’t the players, but rather laid the blame on the manager (Conte second season, Sarri, Lampard and then Potter). 

Is anyone still of that opinion? If so, I gather you’d think that we’d be back to a top four spot as long as we get a world class manager through the door? Who would that be? 

100%.

I don't even think they need to be world class.The likes of Nagelsmann, Enrique, Pochettino are not at that level but probably one rung below yet I think with any of them we will finish top 4, as long as we get a proper DM. 

 

 

[Blue Moon]

12 hours ago, Ham said:

Sorry. Didn't mean to hijack the thread or steal attention from East Lower's friend. His plight is worse than mine. 

Sorry to hear that Ham - no worries about hijacking, some things are more important than football. Hope you recover soon - and all the best to @east lower’s mate - keep up the fight.

[Mark Kelly]

24 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

Just a curious question. In the past, there have been a lot of peeps on here who has claimed that the problem isn’t the players, but rather laid the blame on the manager (Conte second season, Sarri, Lampard and then Potter). 

Is anyone still of that opinion? If so, I gather you’d think that we’d be back to a top four spot as long as we get a world class manager through the door? Who would that be? 

I think there's an element of both , some of the players simply aren't very good or should we say are limited in some ways but the squad despite ludicrous levels of spend is still disastrously imbalanced , we desperately need a proper holding midfielder and a proper mobile centre forward ( or two) .

From the top down the club needs to decide what it is , a project where we buy all these players for silly amounts of money based on prospective growth or one that competes now and builds in the background.

Having seen how awful Potter ball is was and how equally awful Lampard ball is I'm really hard pushed to imagine someone comes in and magically improves things.

What we do need I believe is someone to come in , ensure we are as fit as humanly possible , not overweight ( I'm thinking James and Lukaku here) and that decisions on how we play and the manner in which we achieve this is taken out of the players hands , these players are too stupid to think their way through a match .  We need a drill master to re-write their football brains so they don't need to think, just do.

 

[phicho]

Oh boy, let me tell you about my man Lampard! As a player, he was a legend. Sure, he may not have been the most naturally gifted player out there, but he made up for it with his killer attitude and hard work. He was a beast, a box-to-box player who left his opponents in awe. It's something that really vibes with me, because I'm not exactly a prodigy in anything either. I feel you, Lampard!

But hey, now that he's a manager, I gotta say, I'm concerned. I don't think he's quite cutting it. He's putting too much faith in these so-called talented players who lack the passion, commitment, and love for the club that he and other legends like Terry and Drogba had back in the day. It's like they're living in some social media fantasy world where they feel entitled to play, but when they get the chance, they play like a bunch of kids in a local club. It's frustrating, man. They've really let Lampard down, and I can't stand it. It's like they broke his heart, and that's just not cool.

 

[paulw66]

48 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

Just a curious question. In the past, there have been a lot of peeps on here who has claimed that the problem isn’t the players, but rather laid the blame on the manager (Conte second season, Sarri, Lampard and then Potter). 

Is anyone still of that opinion? If so, I gather you’d think that we’d be back to a top four spot as long as we get a world class manager through the door? Who would that be? 

That's an interesting one, but certainly Conte and Sarri had a very different squad to work with.

Conte - alienated Costa, we had a terrible transfer window in 2017, but then the football became turgid and so defensive.

Sarri, I actually liked. I don't understand the hate he got. Finished 3rd (we had the 3rd best squad), lost the LC to City on penalties, and won the EL. Not sure what else he could have done.

Lampard did well first season when expectations were low, and brought through some younger players, but ultimately wasn't up to the task when we brought in new players and Tuchel showed what that squad was capable of. 

Potter had a difficult set of circumstances, but no way should this squad be 11th. He could have been excused for missing top 4, but to be this far off  the pace is inexcusable.

The one thing they all have in common is that since the summer of 2017, none of them have had a top class GK or Centre Forward, which makes life tricky for any coach, certainly in terms of challenging for the title / CL

[boratsbrother]

49 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

Just a curious question. In the past, there have been a lot of peeps on here who has claimed that the problem isn’t the players, but rather laid the blame on the manager (Conte second season, Sarri, Lampard and then Potter). 

Is anyone still of that opinion? If so, I gather you’d think that we’d be back to a top four spot as long as we get a world class manager through the door? Who would that be? 

We are in such a dire mess, on and off the pitch, that i'm not thinking even thinking about us challenging for top four next season, regardless of who the manager is.

We struggle to score against even the very poorest teams so are always in danger of losing every game if a team scores one goal. If the next manager doesn't improve the team (quite possible from what I have seen from this sorry lot) we will be in big relegation trouble. I also guarentee panic will set in if we in or around the relegation zone by November (again, quite possible) and the calls will start for the manager to go.

With this current squad we are years away from being a top side again,but few will really accept  the state we are in and how much time it's going to take to build us up again. No patience, just keep throwing the dice and hope we eventually get lucky again.

[Mark Kelly]

7 minutes ago, paulw66 said:

 

The one thing they all have in common is that since the summer of 2017, none of them have had a top class GK or Centre Forward, which makes life tricky for any coach, certainly in terms of challenging for the title / CL

Can't stop 'em going in one end , can't put 'em in the other .

In a nutshell . 

[thevelourfog]

1 hour ago, Sleeping Dave said:

Just a curious question. In the past, there have been a lot of peeps on here who has claimed that the problem isn’t the players, but rather laid the blame on the manager (Conte second season, Sarri, Lampard and then Potter). 

Is anyone still of that opinion? If so, I gather you’d think that we’d be back to a top four spot as long as we get a world class manager through the door? Who would that be? 

Anyone who thought Sarri was a problem was, very simply, wrong. Conte's problem wasn't, as dull as it was, his football. 

Lampard and Potter really are poor coaches, and anyone even a few rungs below world class will get a lot more from this squad. We have plenty of poor players, but it's not like that isn't true of spots 3-10 in the league.

[ROTG]

8 minutes ago, paulw66 said:

The one thing they all have in common is that since the summer of 2017, none of them have had a top class GK or Centre Forward,

Not sure Nkunku is the answer. 

How do you sell this Pandora's box of  player to a prospective coach. And then tell him he has to punt half of them, with the exception of the 600milion the club brought in the last two windows

[ROTG]

7 minutes ago, thevelourfog said:

Anyone who thought Sarri was a problem was, very simply, wrong. Conte's problem wasn't, as dull as it was, his football. 

Lampard and Potter really are poor coaches, and anyone even a few rungs below world class will get a lot more from this squad. We have plenty of poor players, but it's not like that isn't true of spots 3-10 in the league.

Should have brought tubby back for the short term, at least he would have told the players a few home truths. Hopefully Frank is doing that also, but i doubt it.

[Ham]

1 hour ago, Blue Moon said:

Sorry to hear that Ham - no worries about hijacking, some things are more important than football. Hope you recover soon - and all the best to @east lower’s mate - keep up the fight.

Thanks BM 👍

[boratsbrother]

Wish you all the very best Ham.

Stay strong! 

[Ham]

30 minutes ago, boratsbrother said:

Wish you all the very best Ham.

Stay strong! 

Thanks BB 💙

[chara]

16 hours ago, Ham said:

Sorry. Didn't mean to hijack the thread or steal attention from East Lower's friend. His plight is worse than mine. 

No apology needed Ham....for all the handbags tussles on here thanks to the rebirth of the Forum it is really a community of like minded folks and the response to your health issues was  a spontaneous reaction and reflects a genuine concern from long term and more recent forum  "friends". 

First knee op I had there was a young guy totally destroyed in a car wreck..physically and mentally...I expressed my feeling of being a fraud with my issue to the Head Nurse.

Reply?.."Take your point BUT your pain is a real as anyones so don't forget that."

Rock on.

 

[chara]

Morning smile..I hope...before a busy day.

From an unreliable source...friend of mine came up with the old Chesnut.."Talking with Chopper (or Webby)...how would that Leeds Final side..."..chara interrupts.."yadda yadda get on against this lot...win 2-0 but remember most are 80 or so,,,:yeah yeah"...pause as he continued..."..and of course we can't put out a full eleven now!"

[Ham]

2 hours ago, chara said:

No apology needed Ham....for all the handbags tussles on here thanks to the rebirth of the Forum it is really a community of like minded folks and the response to your health issues was  a spontaneous reaction and reflects a genuine concern from long term and more recent forum  "friends". 

First knee op I had there was a young guy totally destroyed in a car wreck..physically and mentally...I expressed my feeling of being a fraud with my issue to the Head Nurse.

Reply?.."Take your point BUT your pain is a real as anyones so don't forget that."

Rock on.

 

You're a gent Chara 👍