01 Sep 2019 12:32:13
Ed001, what do you think about our initial performances? What are we doing good, what are we doing bad, which players are playing well and which ones are struggling?

{Ed001's Note - what's clear is that your midfield is insipid without Kante and with Mount playing wide. You miss RLC to break up the play by driving forward with the ball and creating chances for himself or others. That is the role Barkley should be playing but he is simply not good enough at this level. The defence is doing well, but they are being put under pressure by a weak midfield. That will be helped if Willian or Pedro can take over the wide role so Mount can be moved back into midfield, as he is very impressive. Or Hudson-Odoi returns to fitness.

Kovacic and Jorginho are too much of a muchness, both just want to drop deep and be tidy in possession. They should be an either or choice as they are far too similar and end up in each other's way when you have possession. They both spend far too much time within 5 yards of the defence to have both in the team at once.

What is good to see is Abrahams growing by the game, he is starting to look a goal threat which is key, as the rest of the team (other than Mount) have not scored enough.

The big noticeable thing is set pieces, while the defence get the blame when a goal is conceded there, the problems are arising from the midfield not blocking runners and making it easy for them to outleap the defence. That will no doubt improve in time as the coaches work on it in training.

The defence looks fine, you have four excellent centre backs, two ball-players and two physical defenders, plus a decent set of full backs. The attack is improving with a good option in Giroud and Pulisic is getting there. But the other problem is the keeper Kepa. He is poor on crosses, doesn't like the physical teams like Burnley and can get flappy when put under pressure. His kicking is also worrying when under the slightest bit of pressure. However he is very agile and a good shotstopper, so the basics are there. Something is there for the coaches to work on, but his positioning is dodgy.

Overall I see promising signs of a young team growing together. Lampard defo needs time though.}


1.) 01 Sep 2019
01 Sep 2019 13:06:42
Ed, do you think Azpi has been poor like so many people are claiming? Also, thoughts on Emerson so far?

{Ed001's Note - he struggled in the first game but has been getting better by the match. He just needs time to find his feet again at full-back.

I really like Emerson and thought he should have played more last season. He is a good attacking full-back, pacey, good on the ball, not too bad defensively either. Very good player.}


2.) 01 Sep 2019
01 Sep 2019 16:58:40
Really good thoughts ed001 lots of interesting points.

I get your point with kovacic and jorginho. I would like to see a combination of kante loftus and kovacic. Am not the biggest fan of jorginho but he is improving. His use of the ball and quick movement of it but for me he is just to slow for what we want.

The problem with my midfield is getting mount in there. As I would prefer Cho tammy pulisic/ pedro.

So do you try kante cheek mount? Would it work.

A person of concern to me is Willian I was there yesterday and the first thing he did was give the ball away and throw his hands in the air, becoming a regular thing. I see he get tackled last year edge of 18 yard and instead of challenging to in the ball back throwing a hissy fit for a foul wolves then scored. As a kid your told play to the whistle.

{Ed001's Note - he has only just come back from injury has Willian, he might not even be fully fit yet, so he might just be doing that to hide that he is struggling. You will usually find the players doing the complaining, other than the captain, are the ones that know they are outmatched. So they try and even it up by getting on the ref's back to give decisions in their favour.

With RLC out, Mount has a chance to try and prove himself worthy of a place in the centre. I would certainly like to see that midfield, though I have my concerns on Kovacic, just as much as Jorginho. Neither are perfect, but I think Kante in the centre with freedom would cover for Jorginho's lack of pace in 90% of times, so making it less of a problem.

To be honest, you could play Gilmour with Kante and I would not worry because Kante is that good he can carry anyone. He even managed to carry Drinkwater to a title, and that took some doing.}


3.) 01 Sep 2019
01 Sep 2019 17:29:21
You are right with kante. I like kovacic and he been impressed with him recently.
Like I said I really want to see kante cheek and mount.
I just can't see they dropping kovacic and jorginho.

I don't quite agree with the Willian statement as I have seen it countless times last season when he wasnt injured. It just really frustrates me. Fair enough if you win a free kick but you can't win them all and whining about it is going to get you anything.

Just my opinion. Not that I dislike him because when and i mean when he drives at players he has speed and skills to fly past but he just seems to slow down our play.


4.) 01 Sep 2019
01 Sep 2019 21:34:32
I was impressed by Tomori but I hope James and Rudiger come straight in vs Wolves. I’d like to see a back line of James, Christensen, Rudiger and Emerson and hopefully Pedro on the wing again with Mount back to the centre with Kante and Jorginho. That’s when we’ll have our best team 👌🏻.