There's no question we have. In fact the only player who still looks fully confident is Micky, which is remarkable considering his performance against Newcastle, his age and the fact that this is his first season in the PL. My pick for POTY. Everyone else looks to have gone into a bit of a shell. Sideways passing, trying to walk the ball into the net, pulling out of tackles. Ange's system is high risk by design. Beneath the surface of every attack, there has to be a real fear of losing possession and being hit on the counter with most of the team at least 50 yards out of position. I think this is really hindering our play in the final third atm. So much careful, cautious passing because everyone is petrified of losing the ball and us conceding a goal three passes later. We need a strong leader in the middle of it all, organising the team in transitions and keeping everyone calm. I'd love us to bring in Modric on a free to help others in this regard. And maybe we can dream of someone like Frenkie de Jong.
Romero looks confident. Emerson always looks confident, even when he probably shouldn't! I think that Gil and Lo Celso showed this up when they came on. It really showed how poorly Son and Kulusevski had been playing. Didn't come to anything, but there was some urgency and Chelsea's defence had to work.
I wonder what's happened to Scarlett? Not in the match squad, but also not in the U21s. Given Richarlison's apparent lack of match fitness, surely he's worth a place on the bench?
I’m not overly sold on Paulinha, he’s good but I’m not sure he’d be the transformative type we’re after. I think the striker needs to be both a goal getter and a link-up man. A Firmino type would be good if we had two wide forwards capable of 15+ goals each but we only have one. Just promotion of youth would be good, let anyone better promotion. Absolutely a new set piece coach, albeit Ange’s comments of late suggests that’s not happening.
Mason seems to be doing alright as attacking set piece coach, given the movement and late runs players make - though the delivery (and not getting shoved out of the way by a rapist) need work
