Agreed, but I think I was the only Red in the pub who was asking why Kerkez had been taken off when, by and large, it was the midfield and attack and not the defence that was the problem. Putting Gravy at CB to bring on Jones was nuts.
Quansah would have made sense had Guehi been over the line. That said, had Leoni not gotten his horror injury, I'd have him alongside Virgil now and not Joe. Gomez's performance against Soton in the LC was dire. It terrifies me that we are one injury from Virgil (God forbid) or Konate away from having to play Joe as a first-choice CB. Nobody can be blamed for Leoni's injury, but it now means we need 2 CBs in January, and if one of those is not Guehi, God knows what we're getting.
"I’ve told you repeatedly that this season will be tough, not only because of happens on the pitch, but also because of what has happened off it." (Van Dijk ViaPlay) I understand everyone’s frustrations but Jota’s passing in the summer is very clearly having a big impact on a lot of the players
It's hard to respond to that. I'm not seeing players that are just not with it and emotionally affected.
Slot commented on konate that he was thinking of thst sub anyway as I quote "the right cb had a lot of possession" How stupid is this Sorry but literally tearing you midfield apart to put a guy at rcb who isn't actually very good at it and then find himself with nobody to pass it to. Neither end of this equation makes any ****ing sense. Konate injury I get ok. A sub is needed. But I was watching konate looking for someone to pass to and nobody moving. Who was suddenly moving for gravenberch
It’s hard to say isn’t it. I’m not defending Slot and his substitutions because I agree that they should be like for like subs and players should be playing in their preferred positions. I just think that we don’t know how players are actually affected by loss of Jota in the summer and it could explain the form of some players (probably referring to the players that have been here longer like Salah, Konate etc)
Yep, and I've repeatedly pointed this out. Not sure I like VVD pointing it out though, that was always going to get a backlash unfortunately.
They were certainly effected when it happened, they were effected by the delay on starting pre-season, and they certainly wouldn't have been "over it" by the start of the season. It's all a knock on effect. The new players would have felt isolated during that time too, there wouldn't have been much bonding happening. Plus a lot of changes in the squad as well. It makes for a lot of contributions to poor form, add to that a tough opening run of fixtures too. We did very well to win the opening give games and find ourselves 5pts clear.
They look unfit. 1 game a week was ok but they started v atletico, blew up on 60mins and have lost the next 3. But we've been wide open all preseason too. Really easy to run right through
I get that and I wouldn't presume how the players are affected, what I mean is that I'm not seeing that I'm seeing a team that tactically is not doing well and I feel that comes from the manager. I could be completely wrong and it is Jota"s death that is affecting the squad and if that is there case then hell I'll understand that.
I don't think they're fit enough; the effected pre-season will be a contributing factor to that. Lots of changes to the squad will cause a disruption to cohesion too. Genuinely think it's just a case of working through it. - Last minute goal against Palace, otherwise it's a draw. - A very soft penalty to Galatasary, otherwise it's a draw. - A worldie effort put is behind against Chelsea, those changes people are complaining about got us back into the game. Minor things imo but I do think done players are struggling more than others. Salah, Gakpo and Konate from the established players, all but Ekitike from the new arrivals
