It’s clear to me this team needs fresh talent. Lamela coming on was precisely that and he instantly added energy. There’s players out there going through the motions. Nothing like the threat of being dropped to give you a reality check. Whether it’s youth or signings, we need something. As for strikers, we seem to have this incredible ability to replace a poor player with even worse, now three times in a row. Unreal how utterly pointless Llorente is.
We wish Chelsea,Arsenal,Man U,Leicester and others A Very Merry Christmas. ....and we've stuffed your stockings with lots of lovely points to prove it. Return the favours next season!!!!!?
No. Our play was still lifeless and slow. I'm going by the overall performance, not the scoreline. We were abject in the first half. Leicester sat back and contained us easily, for the most part. They struggled when we hit them on the break. Teams are currently happy for us to have the ball in front of them and play it around, as we rarely look like scoring. They system's not working.
Methinks the Madrid win went to the players' heads and the euphoria of it made everybody blind to the cracks which were obviously there. I also think the players think that that win was enough and that everybody should be satisfied with it and are using it as a benchmark for the season. They also think that if they can beat Madrid they can beat anybody but it still boils down to the cracks which nobody saw. Now, it will be put right in time to challenge for top 4 again this season. Not trying to be conceited but I saw the cracks.
But we didn't and that's what counts...you get nothing for going close. We are wasteful in front of goal..we have always created the chances. Now we don't even do that enough. Lowest scorers in top 6. heads have dropped
Despite the poor form of many, the biggest issue for me is still CM. I've said for weeks/ months now that I can't rely on Dembele any more and today has just about sealed it. There's no doubting he's our most talented CM when on form but what is the actual point of having someone who can only play 60-65 mins? Add in the fact he's been nowhere near as dominating in those 60 or so minutes as what he has been in past seasons, it's becoming bloody frustrating and I'm leaning more and more towards the idea of us selling him or permanently demoting him to a squad role. No other side relies on a guy who can't play a full 90 minutes and I don't see why we should either. Seri/ Goretzka/ Barkley (if fit) or an early return for Josh in January, please.
If Dele's form means we should let him go, then most of the players should join him. He's a young lad, he'll make mistakes and will face fluctuations in form. If MP thought that he wasn't putting in the necessary effort, he wouldn't pick him. He's a class player in a sticky patch. We need to back him not slate him. Are we Arsenal, now?
Sell Rose, play Lamela and bring in Barklay. Toby fit asap and bring him in and Wanyama. Play Son from the start.
He will be tempted by Madrid IF they still want him in this form. I also think Poch wants Lanzini to possibly replace Eriksen. One win is all it will take to turn around.
Wanyama was a massive player for you last season. His absence was most noticeable when Arsenal carried the ball so easily through midfield a couple of weeks ago. Dembele too. How many teams would cope without these players in form? Neither Leicester or Chelsea would have won the title without Kante
So frustrating again. Have to give Leicester their due, they scored 2 excellent goals and competed really well. Can't help but feel we should have taken more points from our last couple of games though. Yeah, combination of injuries taking their toll over time, leaving us with no options in several positions and trying to bed in new and recovering players immediately. Still no excuse for the basic errors made though. Alli, Eriksen and Llorente should all be finishing those chances, we shouldn't be giving the ball away so poorly and Rose should be looking up before he crosses it. Don't know how we're going to change things much in the future though, Lamela's not going to be fit to start for awhile, Alderweireld and Wanyama aren't going to be back soon, **** knows whether Dembele is going to be fit enough to play 2 and a bit games in a week, or whether Winks is going to be back. What we need is for the new signings to start showing their worth, particularly Llorente. I'd start him on the weekend and play Kane deeper with Son down the left and Eriksen down the right, go back 4 and see what happens.
