For the record, I thought Musonda was lively and did well. Which is more than I can say for Willian who was just dreadful.
Holy overreaction from some folks on here.. missing Kante and Alvaro was never going to bode well for us. Throw in another Willian horror-show and well that just isn't going to bod well for us. Waiting to freak out to see how Conte reacts to a couple of bad results. We saw how he changed things up when things took a bad turn at a similar time last season. Not counting us out of anything at all until the next month passes. Saying we're out of the running for the league is absurd.
Yes but unlike most footy people I'm not making any serious predictions because Pep is managing them. England isn't Spain. Nor Germany. Much as other people want to argue otherwise.* *: I'm withholding judgement until December. It's easy to get wrapped up in early hype.
Just odd we've been quite poor since that match where we were completely dominant against a really quality side. I don't think our depth is the greatest in the world, but even without Morata and Kante we should've been able to get a result against Palace.
And this isn't his first year in England. He knows what's up. He knows the league. And that team is absurdly deep in the midfield and attacking 3rd. Yes they could use another CB and GK is still new. If they stay healthy at CB they'll win the league. Their special attacking and it's clear that only the top 6 can even pretend to keep up. As it stands it's unlikely we will catch. Arsenal is done. Liverpool's backline and keeping is worse than city without the same attacking talent. ManU will struggle more against the top teams than City. And Spurs don't seem to ever have IT. They'll take league. But come up short in CL. As EPL doesn't do teams favors like other leagues.
Its not just the fact that we are already quite a few points behind that makes me think its not going to happen this year, it's the fact that we are clearly not as 'strong' as one or two 'other' clubs, of course its relatively early but I don't feel we can go on a 20 game winning streak (which would probably be needed to make up the gap on City right now). Even without Morata and Kante we should be beating a Palace side that had not only failed to pick up a single point but hadn't actually scored a single goal up until last weekend. However like I said I don't believe the team is on the verge of total collapse (like last time we tried to defend the title), I think Conte will sort it out, I still have us finishing top 4 (I hope!).