Crazy, yet equally unsurprising. For a good while they had to carry some absolute rotters on their backs - managers included, there was never a chance we were winning games without one of those bailing us out. The recruitment by Paratici though has given us a number of players that can help out in games, not to the same levels as Kane and Son but nowhere near as worrying as hoping players like Dier, Sanchez, Doherty, Sessegnon, Ndombele, Lo Celso, Winks etc would somehow do something positive.
Great synopsis as always DH and I agree with what you say. What are your thoughts on Hojbjerg? My opinion is that he is a really useful player to have and tonight was proof of that. He did really well and is a real leader. He’s not an Ange type of player, I get that, but I would be sorry to see him go unless of course we replaced with some kind of marquee signing. I don’t see him as a starter at all, but off the bench he is a really useful player to call on.
Romero MOM. Lead by example tonight, didn’t get enticed by the little rat face.prick maupay and beat Toney to every ball.
Same as it's been since the start of the season to be honest - good player, bad for the system. I'm actually surprised he's staying til the summer as I thought he'd push more for a move and we'd also get more than the Lyon enquiry but maybe Atleti/ Juve/ Napoli etc will wait til the summer where's there's more bargaining power for them as he'll have just a year left. Got a lot of time for him though, helped stopped the rut that was happening at CM with Winks, Sissoko (18/19 season aside where he was great), Ndombele and Lo Celso all dropping disasterclasses. The problem for Hojbjerg was that just about every other position around him was falling to ****. We went from a top four/ top three calibre defence in Rose, Jan, Toby and Walker/ Tripps to the likes of Davies (much respect to Davies but he's a squad player not a starter), Dier, Sanchez and Aurier/ Doherty/ Emerson with also a declining Lloris in goal. Lucas was inconsistent as **** and so it was basically Kane and Son carrying the team with Hojbjerg trying his best until Paratici came in and worked his magic. I'm happy to have him in the squad at present albeit do think he'll struggle for game time once the two African lads are back. I'll wish all the very best though should he definitely go in the summer, I really hope it's to a top club too, Juve and arguably Atleti would be a step up for him, similar to Dier (somehow ) moving to Bayern Munich.
For me the issue with Hojbjerg is he can't seem to play 90 minutes of Angeball, which I mostly lay at the door of a couple of ex-Chelsea managers running him into the ground for three seasons so his legs are clearly going, but his attitude and workrate can't be faulted which make him a useful option to call on either if we want to switch up the tactical plan or as a spoiler to see out a game
This is a bit of an exaggeration. The past two to three months have coincided with an injury epidemic and international tournaments, and yet during that time we've taken in more than one very impressive performance. We were superb against Newcastle, very good against United and brilliant against City. Throw in solid if unspectacular wins against Everton and Bmouth and we can't have that many complaints. Currently I think we are missing Sarr much more than we realise. He really is the engine in that midfield, the player who will cover every blade of grass which then frees up Bentancur and Maddison to unpick the opposition. Skipp had a good game tonight but the gap in quality and in how they suit Ange's system is obvious.
Newcastle had/ have more injuries than we do so it's not a surprise we played very well against a side that's both physically knackered from a season back in Europe and also missing more players than we were. You've then just said yourself we've had solid if unspectacular wins against Everton and Bournemouth, add in some losses to Brighton, Villa, West Ham and that's why the football hadn't been as good as the opening few months where we were electric to watch.
Whilst it came from Udogie's mistake, I thought Romero was awful in the following sequence, didn't know where to stand or go and then had the reaction times of Dier when Maupay tapped in. Can't remember who said it (think maybe Lefty or Crackers) but I don't really think we had a standout performer. A lot of players done some good and bad things: Udogie ****ed us for both their goals but scored one himself. Werner dropped a 1/10 performance in the first half then grabbed an assist and was influential in another. Richarlison likewise had a terrible first half but a very strong second half. Romero as I mentioned was poor for the first goal but then made some crucial tackles as the game went on. Skipp had a good first half but then got subbed so can't really give it to him. Kulu was poor and Bentancur wasn't at his best, Maddison naturally looked rusty at times but showed a bit of quality. If I had to pick someone it'd probably be Porro, just on the basis he done nothing bad but nothing great, so a solid 6.5/10 performance. He's been my POTY for us so far too.
You can't acknowledge Newcastle's injury problems as an excuse but not ours. And every team has solid if unspectacular wins, it's usually those games that separate the champions from the also-rans. City had one just this evening, even Pep said so quite openly after the game. We're in a tough, tough league and almost all teams have players of real quality or at the very least are extremely well drilled as a unit. I've always felt that the honeymoon is over once you've faced every side once; such is the quality of analysis and coaching these days that by the time the second fixture comes round, they will have studied you under a magnifying glass and adapted to make life as difficult as possible. At that point, tactics generally aren't enough. The only solution is to simply have players of a higher quality, ideally in every single position. We briefly had this under peak Poch, where it didn't really matter what the opposition did, the combined strength of system + individual quality was just too good. And I hate to say it, but today's starting line up featured 3 outfield players whose individual level is probably around where Brentford are, albeit one of them (Skipp) player very well until he was withdrawn.
You're basically saying what I've said, just a longer way around it. The performances have dropped in quality and the football hasn't been as good, I've mentioned injuries have played a part but I don't believe it's the only reason, I think the team look a bit jaded and I think that's down to the intense nature of the football we want to play and why we also keep picking up injuries, some players just haven't been performing like usual either. We were only two players away from our strongest XI today though at home to a side that's been well below par by their recent standards, one of our usual strong performers was culpable for both goals too. Kulu's performances have declined in recent games and Romero and van de Ven haven't looked as solid as they were before their absences.
I imagine the next few months will see if Skipp can match Sarr’s development in that role. I think he understands what’s needed but he’s just not as good on the ball, or as athletic, as Sarr. If he can improve given game time as a rotational/sub option then that’s good for us. We need HG/club grown players in the squad. In the summer I imagine we’ll look at Devine and/or recruiting someone who can play Sarr or Maddison’s roles. I wonder if we’ll look at a 6 too. Biss has been inconsistent and is a card magnet and Bentancur hasn’t nailed the position for himself yet either.
"He's not scored enough goals of his own to have his own celebration, so he's copying mine." Maddison on Maupay
I think Skipp is best as a 6 as he's a great natural defensive midfielder - we saw that today with his two potential goal saving interceptions - but the issue is Ange's 6 seemingly needs to be a bit more say Pirlo than say Makelele and Skipp is more the latter. I think Bentancur will nail the 6 once he's 100%, he can do everything and for me is our best midfielder anyway, he's shown glimpses of his excellence already but is probably still only at 60-70%. I'd be very surprised though if a Maddison-Bentancur-Sarr midfield isn't our primary trio for this and next season, unless a big opportunity arrives to sign a world class baller/ van der Vaart type calibre of signing, whoever that may be.
That first half was absolutely dreadful and we were slow and predictable. The start of the second was fantastic, but then we dropped off and let them back into it. Norgaardinho being immune to red cards didn't help, but the approach was well off. I don't think that switching to five at the back is the best idea, either. It just draws pressure. It's still early days in Postecoglou's time at the club and we're doing pretty well. Our width and play when we actually do go wide need a lot of work, though.
