I'm getting used to it. Kaboul's booking was a joke, never a foul but he should've been sent off since the ref gave it.
"Kaboul's booking was a joke, never a foul but he should've been sent off since the ref gave it." So one more thing for a panel to put on the debit side of that refs' post-match review sheet.
To be fair football's a game of fine margins. Had Mane scored we may not have won, had Welbeck not totally missed the ball we may have won last weekend. Had Lamela or Dembele had their shots go a couple of inches lower or to the side we'd have comfortably beaten Sunderland and not had as much pressure on our recent games. If these things go against you it can look considerably worse than if it all seems to be going for you. I'm not saying I agree with TMT but he's far from the only one that draws big conclusions from games where a moment or 2 has the biggest impact on the result.
Apparently, that tackle on Naughton, which didn't even draw a yellow card, has put him out for at least 3 months.
I'm pleased because we played much better football than we played last year, while being in more or less the same position. Not bad for seven games in, especially when we've also done much better against London and big teams. Pochettino has showed a flexibility I didn't expect, and also seems to have switched to a more counterattacking style which I think is a wise move. It's very, very early, but ATM I think things are going reasonably well. Of course, if Ade doesn't score more...if we get mullered against City...if we have another terrible performance as against West Brom...etc, etc. For the moment I'm mainly pleased I got to watch a lively game with Spurs both getting the win and playing good football. I agree. You can't just make it up as you go along. To me, it was shoulder to shoulder contact and never a foul. But if the referee called it a foul, Kaboul had to go.
That's exactly what I was saying. But there's nothing fortunate about a 'keeper making incredible saves - and his role is just as valuable as a striker like Costa who is putting the ball in the back of the net regularly at present. Lloris and de Gea are good shot stoppers but neither commands the penalty area. Defenders need to do a bit more to close down the space because nobody can keep on making world class saves from well struck shots inside the penalty area.
Weird how De Gea is getting so much praise for one good game but no1 said anything about him letting in 4 at MK Dons and 5 at Leicester.
Sort of like how nobody is criticising Moron for playing Courtois yesterday after being knocked out, while AVB was crucified for doing the same with Lloris last season...
So what ?? AVB was quite rightly crucified for his outrageous attitude on the Lloris situation last season.AVB behaved like an arrogant cock and fully deserved every criticism he got.
I don't think that's relevant. Lloris has let in 5's & 6's against City, Liverpool, etc. I don't hear any of us saying that he's not still a great keeper.
Not really, because the BBC Sport headlines carry a report criticising Chelsea. Anyway, why do so many people get wound up over media coverage ? At the end of the day, AVB was bang out of order on that occasion and any attempt to defend him is not on IMO.
re avb ... he was quite happy to dump the blame on the medical staff for what happened to Lloris...that was par for the course with him...blame everyone else.
It was interesting as I was speaking to someone at Headway on Friday and we were discussing sports concussions. She was saying that it was a long existing problem that they had been trying to get ministers and the FA to take seriously and felt that they were simply dismissed until the Lloris situation. They're a surprisingly big charity(certainly I'd never heard of them before last year) and do a lot of good work but the PL and others still reacted slowly and that they didn't expect a huge change in the attitudes of clubs but that there was a big shift in how the public perceived them. I must admit I questioned the motives of the press and the attention paid to Lloris concussion compared to other incidents but a lot of good has come about from it and we do now have a situation where clubs can be put under serious public scrutiny for taking head injuries lightly, even if the associations themselves are prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt.
How did you come to the conclusion that I was defending him? There was NO condemnation from the commentators or pundits on MOTD2 last night, just as there was NO condemnation in today's Metro or Standard. Neither of which compare with Lloris last season. The real question here is why you're putting some grievance against AVB ahead of spotting an obvious double standard where the media take far less of an issue, if they take an issue at all, when Mourinho plays a dangerous game with the safety of his goalkeepers.
Scan results not yet through and this is pure speculation BUT if true, what are our options? Can we recall Fredericks from 'Boro or Yedlin from Sounders?
I don't think that either of them can be recalled at the moment, though Yedlin can join in January. Veljkovic is our most senior youth defender, having already played in the senior side, so I'd expect him to play in the cups with Chiriches shuffling over to right-back. Maybe Paulinho can play at the back...
You'd think that it would have to be Dier and Chiriches playing at RB and Capoue, Stambouli and Veljkovic stepping in to cover CB if needed. Its a less than ideal situation for us, the only positive I can take is that a stint at RB for Dier might further help him develop his ball-playing skills and confidence in possession, which will only serve him well once he moves back into CB where he belongs. Or we may recall Fredericks, if we can.
