Chelsea 5 West Ham United 0

[thevelourfog]

3 minutes ago, Bison said:

Imagine we had Lewis Hall at LB inverting into midfield. I get angry just thinking about it. His technical ability and power running with the ball would have been immense in this role. 

The idea of inverting theB wmworks but having the best possible player performing the role is what takes us to the next level. It's not Cucurella and damn sure isn't Chilwell. 

But it is 5 PL starts this season Lewis Hall?

I do take the point you're getting at, but think you're over-egging the pudding. 

[Bison]

11 minutes ago, thevelourfog said:

But it is 5 PL starts this season Lewis Hall?

I do take the point you're getting at, but think you're over-egging the pudding. 

I look at ability first and foremost and think what that talent would like if given the right platform to succeed. We saw what Lewis Hall was capable of in the academy and in the first team last season when given a chance to play.

He is technically a very good footballer. His ability to pass, cross and dribble is on another planet to people like Cucurella and Chilwell. If you're going to invert your LB then it'd be wise to have that profile of player. 

Edited May 6 by Bison

[Rob B]

56 minutes ago, Bison said:

Imagine we had Lewis Hall at LB inverting into midfield. I get angry just thinking about it. His technical ability and power running with the ball would have been immense in this role. 

The idea of inverting theB wmworks but having the best possible player performing the role is what takes us to the next level. It's not Cucurella and damn sure isn't Chilwell. 

Couldn’t agree more 

[boratsbrother]

Hall wants to play for Newcastle, so the club is doing the right thing by moving out a player who's heart is eslewhere.

Edited May 6 by boratsbrother

[boratsbrother]

5 hours ago, asvaberg said:

Google is your friend 🥴

And here's me thinking she might be one of those Only Way Is Essex girls in her own spin-off show.  Absolute Filth!😡

 

Right, where's my  old dvd of Rockin With Seka.

 

[Bigpokey24]

I actually agree 100% 

[Backbiter]

57 minutes ago, boratsbrother said:

Hall wants to play for Newcastle, so the club is doing the right thing by moving out a player who's heart is eslewhere.

I'm a big fan of Hall but I think you're right. Besides, we badly  need the £30-odd million. With that money and a deal for Maatsen, we should go some way towards coming up with the supposed £100m needed to FFP compliance.

[martin1905]

Won't get into the Lewis Hall debate, he hasn't played anywhere near enough football to really form an opinion on plus I just dont get what others see in his limited playing time. 

What I would say is that just because you may think he's better suited to it really doesn't mean he is. I don't think anyone would have suggested it would suit Cucurella and although it's early days he has been quite outstanding and has played the role to perfection. 

It's easy to assume because you think Hall is a better footballer he would do it better, especially when he moves into midfield but it's not about that. The reason it has been and can be so successful is because it allows one of your midfielders to push forward, in our case Gallagher and in turn we have seen Palmer move over to the right hand side, with Madueke so we are almost playing two RW's which creates constant overloads down that side.

The reason Cucurella gas been so good, for two games, is firstly because he keeps it so simple,  in possession when stepping into midfield. 

Secondly his understanding and reading of the game is obviously very, very good. He's always been in the right place at the right time which leads me onto the third reason and that is his work rate, stamina, energy,  commitment, aggression. I don't think anyone realised just how energetic he is, the amount of work he has had to do, pretty much playing two positions,  is phenomenal and he's not missed a beat. 

Lewis Hall, on paper, might be better suited to it but I very much doubt he would do a better job as Cucurella has played it to perfection.

Also big mention to Badiashille as he has been very good since this change and covered the space left by Cucurella extremely well. Looks so much more comfortable and back to what we saw last season. Long may it continue. 

Going forward there's two ways of looking at it, Reece James and to a lesser extent Gusto are made for the role,  James you would expect would be outrageous at it but the way it works with our left back doing it and  Palmer doubling up with Madueke on the right to create an overload just imagine James/Gusto bombing up and down trying to create the overlap. It would be very hard to play against and the only way to counter it would be to move players out of position to counteract it but that will leave space elsewhere for us to exploit.

I don't think either of our left backs are as good as our right backs at playing that way and I doubt Palmer would be as effective doubling up on the left hand side. Sure if Nkunku plays the 10, with Sterling on the left we could use James as 'the Cucurella' but there's no guarantees he would be as good at it, although he really should be, or if Nkunku and Sterling would be as effective as Palmer and Madueke.

Massive amount of credit to Pochettino for this though, I don't care if he stumbled across it, although the way we lined up at the beginning of the season with Colwill at left back,  I would guess not, if he's copied someone or whatever.  It's been absolutely brilliant to watch and for the first time this season I'm really looking forward to our next game.

 

[Bigpokey24]

 

[Ham]

5 hours ago, Bison said:

Imagine we had Lewis Hall at LB inverting into midfield. I get angry just thinking about it. His technical ability and power running with the ball would have been immense in this role. 

The idea of inverting theB wmworks but having the best possible player performing the role is what takes us to the next level. It's not Cucurella and damn sure isn't Chilwell. 

 

5 hours ago, Bison said:

I look at ability first and foremost and think what that talent would like if given the right platform to succeed. We saw what Lewis Hall was capable of in the academy and in the first team last season when given a chance to play.

He is technically a very good footballer. His ability to pass, cross and dribble is on another planet to people like Cucurella and Chilwell. If you're going to invert your LB then it'd be wise to have that profile of player. 

I honestly have no idea which Cucurella you've been watching. 

[Bison]

1 hour ago, Ham said:

I honestly have no idea which Cucurella you've been watching. 

Same one that gets the ball in midfield and passes straight back to the CB instead of having a look over his shoulder and seeing the acres of space available for him to drive and create overloads. I don't blame Cucurella, he's a LB with LB technique and awareness (plays and sees what's in front of him). That inverted FB role is suited to somebody that's a better all round footballer, which somebody Lewis Hall undoubtedly is.

Edited May 6 by Bison

[ROTG]

1 hour ago, Ham said:

I honestly have no idea which Cucurella you've been watching. 

Steady on Ham 

a couple of good games and mothers pride is back on the table worth butter and Jam 😀

4 hours ago, martin1905 said:

Won't get into the Lewis Hall debate, he hasn't played anywhere near enough football to really form an opinion on plus I just dont get what others see in his limited playing time. 

What I would say is that just because you may think he's better suited to it really doesn't mean he is. I don't think anyone would have suggested it would suit Cucurella and although it's early days he has been quite outstanding and has played the role to perfection. 

It's easy to assume because you think Hall is a better footballer he would do it better, especially when he moves into midfield but it's not about that. The reason it has been and can be so successful is because it allows one of your midfielders to push forward, in our case Gallagher and in turn we have seen Palmer move over to the right hand side, with Madueke so we are almost playing two RW's which creates constant overloads down that side.

The reason Cucurella gas been so good, for two games, is firstly because he keeps it so simple,  in possession when stepping into midfield. 

Secondly his understanding and reading of the game is obviously very, very good. He's always been in the right place at the right time which leads me onto the third reason and that is his work rate, stamina, energy,  commitment, aggression. I don't think anyone realised just how energetic he is, the amount of work he has had to do, pretty much playing two positions,  is phenomenal and he's not missed a beat. 

Lewis Hall, on paper, might be better suited to it but I very much doubt he would do a better job as Cucurella has played it to perfection.

Also big mention to Badiashille as he has been very good since this change and covered the space left by Cucurella extremely well. Looks so much more comfortable and back to what we saw last season. Long may it continue. 

Going forward there's two ways of looking at it, Reece James and to a lesser extent Gusto are made for the role,  James you would expect would be outrageous at it but the way it works with our left back doing it and  Palmer doubling up with Madueke on the right to create an overload just imagine James/Gusto bombing up and down trying to create the overlap. It would be very hard to play against and the only way to counter it would be to move players out of position to counteract it but that will leave space elsewhere for us to exploit.

I don't think either of our left backs are as good as our right backs at playing that way and I doubt Palmer would be as effective doubling up on the left hand side. Sure if Nkunku plays the 10, with Sterling on the left we could use James as 'the Cucurella' but there's no guarantees he would be as good at it, although he really should be, or if Nkunku and Sterling would be as effective as Palmer and Madueke.

Massive amount of credit to Pochettino for this though, I don't care if he stumbled across it, although the way we lined up at the beginning of the season with Colwill at left back,  I would guess not, if he's copied someone or whatever.  It's been absolutely brilliant to watch and for the first time this season I'm really looking forward to our next game.

 

Nothing to do with Silva and Trevor commanding the back line and telling him where to stand, something the Monaco’s duo failed to do. 

Edited May 6 by ROTG

[boratsbrother]

From the limited amount of playing time I saw of him here, I thought Halk looked  quite promising going forward but looked well short of being defensively good enough.  

The fact that he's stated so few games for a Newcastle team which has not been that good for most of this season and had a lot of injury problems as well,  suggests that he's not kicked on this season, whereas Cucu has been one of our most improved players this season.

Edited May 6 by boratsbrother

[martin1905]

49 minutes ago, ROTG said:

Nothing to do with Silva and Trevor commanding the back line and telling him where to stand, something the Monaco’s duo failed to do. 

Well no, clearly not.

[Ham]

53 minutes ago, Bison said:

Same one that gets the ball in midfield and passes straight back to the CB instead of having a look over his shoulder and seeing the acres of space available for him to drive and create overloads. I don't blame Cucurella, he's a LB with LB technique and awareness (plays and sees what's in front of him). That inverted FB role is suited to somebody that's a better all round footballer, which somebody Lewis Hall undoubtedly is.

Cucurella has been my MOTM in the past 2 games in a role that he's suited to. He's also been very good for a few months now too. 

It's no fluke otherwise because that's the player we coveted at Brighton. 

Your conclusion on him versus Hall is laughable and, as ever, driven by agenda on certain players.  Cucurella's technique is superb but he was part of a completely uncoached and dysfunctional back 4 until things started to settle. His role and ridiculous work rate is part of the reason we've put a few teams to the sword recently. 

You make your mind up and regardless of what you see, refuse to budge or give any credit to the players you don't rate.

You'd get a bit more respect if you conceded even a little on players but it's the same old stuff from you. 

Not a peep when we're smashing someone off the park. 

 

 

[Ham]

53 minutes ago, ROTG said:

Steady on Ham 

a couple of good games and mothers pride is back on the table worth butter and Jam 😀

Nothing to do with Silva and Trevor commanding the back line and telling him where to stand, something the Monaco’s duo failed to do. 

But it's not a couple of good games is it?  He's been excellent for a few months.

[Thiago97]

1 hour ago, ROTG said:

Steady on Ham 

a couple of good games and mothers pride is back on the table worth butter and Jam 😀

Nothing to do with Silva and Trevor commanding the back line and telling him where to stand, something the Monaco’s duo failed to do. 

Cucurella needs to keep it going for sure, and whilst he wasn’t great last season, not every player settles within the same time period.

It was flagged the issues last season. New club which was a step up, illness, something else happened ( was he burgled ??) then carnage at the club with 3 managers in his first season, played as a CB in a 3 which clearly didn’t suit.……and he still wasn’t as bad as what was made out on here!

Hopefully, he can keep up this form now things appear a bit more settled for him. 

 

[My Blood Is Blue]

7 hours ago, Bigpokey24 said:

I actually agree 100% 

Yep, agree with his assessment as well. It’s not to say Enzo isn’t or can’t be a good player, but as I said the other day, sometimes certain pairings just work for whatever reason and when that happens, you need to stick to it and build from there. The opposite is also true… just look at Lampard and Gerrard for England.

[paulw66]

20 hours ago, Bigpokey24 said:

I actually agree 100% 

The headline should say, Chelsea are better without an-operation-needing-Ezo-Fernandez

 

Or, Chelsea (or any other club) are better when their players are fit. 

[paulw66]

12 hours ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

. The opposite is also true… just look at Lampard and Gerrard for England.

Complete myth IMO. A competent manager would have made that work.

Lampard played with loads of attacking midfielder players at Chelsea, but with Makelele or Mikel playing behind. It could and should have been workable for England.

[paulw66]

16 hours ago, ROTG said:

Steady on Ham 

a couple of good games and mothers pride is back on the table worth butter and Jam 😀

Nothing to do with Silva and Trevor commanding the back line and telling him where to stand, something the Monaco’s duo failed to do. 

Badiashile played the last two games.

 

[My Blood Is Blue]

12 minutes ago, paulw66 said:

Complete myth IMO. A competent manager would have made that work.

Lampard played with loads of attacking midfielder players at Chelsea, but with Makelele or Mikel playing behind. It could and should have been workable for England.

Yeah, possibly, but what is true is that as a pairing in CM they didn't work, they would definitely at least have needed that third player sitting behind them... sadly, the England managers at the time were set on a rigid 442. 

[paulw66]

7 minutes ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

Yeah, possibly, but what is true is that as a pairing in CM they didn't work, they would definitely at least have needed that third player sitting behind them... sadly, the England managers at the time were set on a rigid 442. 

Yup. I wouldn't have fancied Lampard and Ballack in a flat 442 either. 

[ROTG]

51 minutes ago, paulw66 said:

Badiashile played the last two games.

 

correct and has looked more composed when being with guided by either Sliva or Chalobah or both.

He's like bambi on ice when partnered with his Monaco teammate 

[chara]

5 hours ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

Yeah, possibly, but what is true is that as a pairing in CM they didn't work, they would definitely at least have needed that third player sitting behind them... sadly, the England managers at the time were set on a rigid 442. 

Always an interesting debate but don't forget to throw in the Media encouraged  or rather actively promoted rivalry issues....I'm biased, of course, but for me SFL was a far better all round midfielder/footballer than Slippy.

"Charge The Cannons" leadership is great when it works but is a little bit one dimensional ,,,,just saying,,,a good coach would make a SFL/Slippy partnership work....we will never know the truth behind things but the Jose "wooing" of Slippy was an intriguing prospect.....if for real would have been very interesting to see how he would have set things up!

The game?....hmm...watched the recording at leisure and even given maybe a lack of motivation from WH the mobility of the Chelsea lads stood out for me...and watching Conor and Cole hit two very good shots down and direct was indeed encouraging...especially Conor's volley....more of that sort of basic technique would not go amiss!..Cucu?..as I said.."Berserker" never thought he was quite as bad as some but it used to drive me crazy when he would seem to forget he had a man he should be "on to" lurking out wide or standing behind him!

Just the sort of performance from Chelsea (and Cucu)a side like WH in it's present confusion could not handle.