04 Feb 2019 10:31:44
Turvey who do you suggest we replace Sarri with? D grade Pep, the same D grade Pep that Pep himself said that Sarris Napoli team played the best football in Europe? You may not like him but at least acknowledge his philosophy of football is widely praised by the people that understand it best. I'm not condoning the Conte sacking in fact I was against it, however it's done now so what's the point of going through it again to go back to square one.

Also on the jorginho topic I rate him and I emplore you to reserve judgment on him until next season. His role is not to make assists, he is there to recycle the ball with quick one touch passes, a secondary assister if you will. The assists and goals should be coming from the other 2 midfielders (primarily the LCM) who are more advanced. If it was as easy as man marking him out of the game to nullify him, don't you think teams in Serie A would have done this successfully? It's the spacing and lack of one touch passing that is making him an easy target, he passes quickly but often gets the ball back because the one touch passing lane that was open has closed because the player receiving the ball has taken too many touches. It's also a spacing issue where the short one touch pass often isn't avaliable because everyone is too far away and thus he is forced to play a short pass between himself and the defence further compounding the issue. It will come good have patience!

1.) 04 Feb 2019
04 Feb 2019 11:17:17
Very interesting and instructive post Zola. Most enjoyable.

2.) 04 Feb 2019
04 Feb 2019 12:16:19
Good, thoughtful post LofZ. I think Jorghino will turn out much like Loftus-Cheek, a Marmite choice. Those that like them and those that do not, no middle ground. Personally I do not think he is cut out for the EPL, no time or space for him, the problem Fabregas had as he got older. Why would anyone pay £50m+ for a player to re-cycle the ball, he cannot defend, is hustled off the ball too easily and cannot head it either. Will he come good, I doubt it, do I want him to, yes of course because we need to keep winning to get that 4th spot and the season will be a reasonable success and will augur well for next year.

3.) 04 Feb 2019
04 Feb 2019 13:22:53
LofZ you have explained the Jorginho role very well. I think he does his specific task very well. He will only get better at what he does the more he adapts.

Also, I don't understand the constant slating of the player when we have two more advanced midfielders who are designed to assist and score. Just for the record, Vs Huddersfield Kante got 2 assists and Barkley got 1 assist in open play. We have been lacking this from other midfielders recently, however everyone seems to be on the Jorginho bandwagon. We need the other midfielders to produce the goods like they did vs Huddersfield, Barkley was a perfect example of how advanced midfielders should play. He just needs to play the same way going forward.

4.) 04 Feb 2019
04 Feb 2019 13:38:26
“Jorginho needs movement without the ball from the other players because he is used to play one touch, and it's very difficult to play one touch without the movement of the other players”.

Sarri quoted the above.

In the Pep Guardiola system there is so much movement which explains why he was annoyed by not being able to sign Jorginho. So Turvey, it would NOT have weakened them significantly as you stated. Anyway done with replying to you now.

5.) 04 Feb 2019
04 Feb 2019 23:22:48
The thing that characterises people who rate Jorghino is the delusional interpretation of his contribution to the team .
Hes so special that Kovacic looked at least as accomplished in his first effort in the role.
With regard to Napoli that was in Serie A a slow league by comparison and one that Bakayoko is flourishing in.
Sarri is a one trick pony and the trick has been rumbled.

6.) 05 Feb 2019
05 Feb 2019 04:33:46
If jorginhos only role is to ‘distribute the ball quickly’, why are we paying the guy so much. I could easily slot in and do that job for free.

7.) 05 Feb 2019
05 Feb 2019 11:17:40
Distributing the ball quickly is exactly the role of a regista along with dictating the tempo of the game, although it may look easy it's not. Kovacic is an able deputy but his strength is driving the ball forward not setting the tempo of play, similar with Kante. Whether you see the value of a regista or not is an entirely different question but without one Sarri ball can't exist, they are mutually exclusive. The cost and what we pay him is irrelevant, we dealt with Napoli and ADL, we could have ended up spending that money on Fred? Turvey you are yet to provide a replacement if we were to sack Sarri, I'm genuinely interested to hear where you see the club going if that were to happen?