True that. There's more than one rat in the cellar.
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I’m going to shoot from the hip here and say that I think our poor form seems to have coincided with the demise and then sale of our Belgian Prince Dembele. We’ve huffed and puffed through many games since he went and I think that there was a lack of forward planning in relation to his successor.
I was a huge Moose fan and perhaps I’m looking at things through rosy coloured glasses but he played his last game for us last December and to my mind, our problem this calendar year has been not having anyone close to being able to what he did, & therefore trying new systems (that fucking diamond being one) to fill the hole he left.
We’ve tried a variety of DM alternatives and combinations, but it’s taking a long time to fill the boots of that giant of a man.
I don’t think it’s feasible to find another Moose. He really was one of a kind. We shot ourselves in the foot by not planning for his eventual departure.
lack of transfer activity & Poch trying to put square plugs in round holes caused this.
last night we saw something really special. Yes it was “only” Red Star Belgrade, but for the first time in a long time, we absolutely put the opposition to the sword with flowing and aggressive football.
would love us to really give it a go on Sunday against the dippers. The result is not as important as the performance. Nobody expects us to win. The dippers were even strong favourites to beat united at OT on Sunday. Not many teams down the years have been favourites away at OT.
Poch May just have found the answer...& that answer may well be not trying to shoehorn Eriksen into the team & the team looking shit whether Eriksen plays or not
I was a huge Moose fan and perhaps I’m looking at things through rosy coloured glasses but he played his last game for us last December and to my mind, our problem this calendar year has been not having anyone close to being able to what he did, & therefore trying new systems (that fucking diamond being one) to fill the hole he left.
We’ve tried a variety of DM alternatives and combinations, but it’s taking a long time to fill the boots of that giant of a man.
I don’t think it’s feasible to find another Moose. He really was one of a kind. We shot ourselves in the foot by not planning for his eventual departure.
lack of transfer activity & Poch trying to put square plugs in round holes caused this.
last night we saw something really special. Yes it was “only” Red Star Belgrade, but for the first time in a long time, we absolutely put the opposition to the sword with flowing and aggressive football.
would love us to really give it a go on Sunday against the dippers. The result is not as important as the performance. Nobody expects us to win. The dippers were even strong favourites to beat united at OT on Sunday. Not many teams down the years have been favourites away at OT.
Poch May just have found the answer...& that answer may well be not trying to shoehorn Eriksen into the team & the team looking shit whether Eriksen plays or not
It also showed that we don't need Eriksen. He was completely irrelevant last night. We've moved on and I hope he's very happy at whatever club is foolish enough to give him a contract.
And Red Star's number 10 (Marin) might not be a bad bet as a replacement. He certainly made a nuisance of himself last night and I doubt he would be that expensive to acquire. He might well have some unfinished business over his lack of first team football at Chelsea and his age (30) suggests that he could be a useful squad player without having to be an undisputed first team starter which is closer to what we need rather than a prima donna like Eriksen.
He'd need to learn to remember to actually take the ball with him when doing a fancy Cruyff-type turn in his own half with virtually no defence behind him, not leave it behind for the opponent just a few feet away
Seriously miss the irreplaceable Dembele, what a great loss that basically occurred after that last ankle injury. He possessed amazing skills and delivered amongst quality opposition and seems to be more impressive the longer time goes by.
I thought I'd revive this thread to help mull over the positive things from the match against Liverpool. A loss is a loss but losing to Liverpool is far from uncommon (especially with the form they're in this season) and if Gazzaniga keeps up the form he showed against them we could have a ready-made replacement for Lloris within our own ranks.
I had hoped for an emphatic win against Liverpool to build on the 5-0 against Red Star but hopefully we can bounce back against Everton and get that away win that's been eluding us since January. I don't think we'll get another 6-2 but a 2-1 seems like a reasonable hope.
I would also like to say something for our cup prospects this season. Obviously, the Carabao has gone but the FA Cup and the Champions League are still up for grabs. We're not likely to catch Bayern Munich but last week's 5-0 has put our goal difference back to 0 and we stand a good chance of finishing second in the table. There is also the possibility of the Europa League if we don't make it. I cited Premier League survival as our primary goal but we're allowed to hope for something better.
I had hoped for an emphatic win against Liverpool to build on the 5-0 against Red Star but hopefully we can bounce back against Everton and get that away win that's been eluding us since January. I don't think we'll get another 6-2 but a 2-1 seems like a reasonable hope.
I would also like to say something for our cup prospects this season. Obviously, the Carabao has gone but the FA Cup and the Champions League are still up for grabs. We're not likely to catch Bayern Munich but last week's 5-0 has put our goal difference back to 0 and we stand a good chance of finishing second in the table. There is also the possibility of the Europa League if we don't make it. I cited Premier League survival as our primary goal but we're allowed to hope for something better.
Gutted we didn't hold out for the win today but we showed good character against an Everton side that had a lot of momentum after we lost Son. Also felt we were a lot better defensively today than we were last week against Liverpool - we held our own and were unlucky not to get the 3 points.
We've got an away tie at Red Star on Wednesday so that'll be a chance for the players to build on the character we showed today. I particularly want us to have the confidence to get into a leading position away from home and keep it which we failed to do in the first CL game against Olympiacos.
We've got an away tie at Red Star on Wednesday so that'll be a chance for the players to build on the character we showed today. I particularly want us to have the confidence to get into a leading position away from home and keep it which we failed to do in the first CL game against Olympiacos.
Maybe it has something to do with that we played...Everton?
Nailed it. Not Eriksen, not Rose, not Toby. Dembele was irreplaceable - Kane aside, our MVP.
I don't think we would have got a point against Everton with our performance last week - we were practically a one man team with our goalkeeper doing all the work.
Plenty to be positive about tonight against Red Star:
- we finally got that away win
- Lo Celso made his full debut and scored
- we kept a clean sheet and another great performance from the Gaz Man
- we've taken 6 points from Red Star and scored 9 goals against them
- we're on course to finish second in the group and qualify for the knockout stages of the CL
- Son bounced back from the weekend and got two goals
- even Eriksen made a contribution
My only disappointment is that we're playing at home this weekend and will have to wait 17 days for another opportunity to get an away win in the league.
- we finally got that away win
- Lo Celso made his full debut and scored
- we kept a clean sheet and another great performance from the Gaz Man
- we've taken 6 points from Red Star and scored 9 goals against them
- we're on course to finish second in the group and qualify for the knockout stages of the CL
- Son bounced back from the weekend and got two goals
- even Eriksen made a contribution
My only disappointment is that we're playing at home this weekend and will have to wait 17 days for another opportunity to get an away win in the league.
Continue like we did tonight and I think I can keep it together reasonably.
Following the change in management, I've adjusted my hopes and expectations:
This season - top 6 finish and either the FA Cup or the CL (preferably both)
Next season - league title
This season - top 6 finish and either the FA Cup or the CL (preferably both)
Next season - league title
West Ham's two goals really took the sheen off today's win but we still got it and it already feels like we're watching a different team. I loved it when Alli stuck his legs out to keep the ball in play and got us going for Moura's goal - nice to see him get stuck in for once.
Definitely some work to do on the defence and staying composed when in winning positions but West Ham is always a tough game (and turning up there with a big new flash manager was really asking for trouble) but we hung in there and finished the job.
Great to see Moura, Dier and Winks in the team. Looks like Jose is going for a more defensive midfield than Ndombele can offer. Maybe he'll be pushed upfield and used as one of the front three behind Kane. Hope to see him start on Tuesday.
Definitely some work to do on the defence and staying composed when in winning positions but West Ham is always a tough game (and turning up there with a big new flash manager was really asking for trouble) but we hung in there and finished the job.
Great to see Moura, Dier and Winks in the team. Looks like Jose is going for a more defensive midfield than Ndombele can offer. Maybe he'll be pushed upfield and used as one of the front three behind Kane. Hope to see him start on Tuesday.