By your definition Jorginho was impactful for gifting a goal and Rudiger for for failing to score a sitter.
*My* definition? I was just interpreting. Edit: Also, *not* scoring is by definition *not* changing the result. What really ends up happening is not somehow "changing" a counterfactual.
Pretty accurate (IMHO) opinion piece about Timo Werner's place in the Chelsea team in the Guardian today. I suggest that Timo is just going to slowly slip down the pecking order until he thinks his future lies elsewhere. Hopefully, that is fairly soon.
Timo Werner is basically a rich man’s Josh Sargent. Does lots of things very well, except when it comes to putting the ball in the back of the net.
I forgot who the coach was, pretty high level I think, but basically said Timo would have problems in the EPL and that RB basically used him the only way he could be successful. Nailed it.
I can't say Timo looks great to my eye either, but until this weekend, it was kind of hard to argue the end results. Be interesting to see if things change at all. A few more bodies available. What is probably most telling is who starts which games as there's a lot of matches to play rn.
Simple or not, this comes down to the question: if I have great potential, even Ballon D'Oro potential, do I prefer to be at a club where that is much much harder or easier? Chelsea is just SO loaded, that nobody in their attack is likely to win any major honors (except a CL medal!). It is something to think about.
My point was simply that he is going to be wanted, and he is going to play somewhere, at a high level. Circumstance and CP will decide that.
I am biased, of course, but I’m always surprised that Pulisic is not an automatic starter or given at least 30-35 cameos in big games against the top teams. Giving him only 15 min vs United was criminal. One can compare his stats/strengths/weaknesses to other attackers - Ziyech/Werner/CHO/Mount/etc - and make strong arguments for or against him. But one thing that sets him apart and may be his greatest strength is his ability to show up in the big moment. Not only does he seem unfazed/scared of the big teams, he seems to thrive when going against them. G/A vs Liverpool, Man City, Real Madrid, Valencia, Arsenal, etc. I mean, that’s a hell of a track record for an American. If only he had scored that UCL final goal vs City, then he would be a certified big-game assassin. I’m Not saying he should play every minute, as I’m happy with his rotation at Chelsea. But when Tuchel faces bigger clubs, CP should be on the lineup card (when healthy).
Given his recent injury history I think he has seen a relatively appropriate number of minutes. I hope that he gets the start mid-week and has a good game because that would go a long way towards getting him more starts.
My apology, I should've said "by the British idiom", however SCORING a sitter does change the game result with 1 second to go. By the way what influential things did Mount have to get a 6, versus a 5 for Pulisic ?
I don't totally disagree - but it gets a little complicated when you have James playing like their best player and Alonso on the left. Pulisic coming on in this game pushed James to the left side which was a little weird. It doesn't mean that the coach can't find a way to get the best players on the field, but I can see why Tuchel didn't make changes sooner in this one.
That was my point - they came on together and basically played about the same, except that Puli had a couple of passes that could have been assists if Timo and Rudi could finish them. So why the different ratings? There's two ways, basically, that are used to rate player's in games - algorithmically, like WhoScored, or opinion-based, like Sky appears to use. I don't believe that either is all that useful when it comes down to it, but at least the scientifically derived ratings have some basis in fact. But hey, it gives us something to bitch about, so there's that.
I think the difference- right or wrong- is that Tuchel evaluates highly Werner's ability to pull defenders out of position and disrupt the defense. This opens up opportunities en masse for everyone else scoring opportunities for everyone on the pitch, defenders included. So Tuchel has to weigh this (forward who disrupts defense more, score less)* versus someone like Lukaku who is more static, but scores more. Also, he reckons sooner or later Werner will start scoring again. * the goals Werner doesn't score are made up by his teammates whose good/great scoring positions Werner get some credit for.
The wheeler-dealer in me sees Chelsea this summer offering Werner, a defender and cash to get Haaland. Letting Lukaku go to recoup the cash that goes to Dortmund. And then signing Declan Rice. And why wouldn't Haaland go? I don't think RM will be able to afford Mbappe and Haaland. Barcelona has no money. PSG is not best career option and Haaland can see the dysfunctionality. You may say- aha- Man City. But are they really such a sure thing? Only if they win Champions League or the League title will they have the best argument....and my money this year will be on them winning neither (Chelsea will win league, someone else will win Champions League...maybe Chelsea again) Juventus is a last case scenario for him. Man U...don't make me laugh. Outside of Chelsea, I think only Man City (if I am wrong about them winning either Prem or Champions League) or BM have a shot.
I had the brilliant idea to check out Talk Chelsea to see what the fans were thinking of Puli at this point. In short: they think it's a good plan to sell him ASAP before he breaks for good, but in the meantime he can be used as a RWB since they have better options ("His direct competition for a place here either simply offer more (Werner) or are just better (Callum)") or loaned somewhere. They don't seem to like him. I guess in their parallel universe Werner is tearing it up.
I don't get the constant talk of club fans that US players are there to increase cash flow only. Same with Dest, Hoppe and Sarge. There seems to be a number of people who think a jersey in the US costs 10,000 bucks. Look at this jewel: "Short term it is advertising that should be the main Cashflow source but the club has done a terrible job of exploiting his immense marketing potential. Whenever he is injured he should be flown around the US selling some random yank trumpery from whatever corp gives us most money for it. Instead we still cling on hopes that he eventually fulfills his potential here. He will never do so in such a physical league. He Ian a cash cow waiting to be milked and the club rather explore ways to do so sooner than later even if that means running his contract down. Exploited correctly he could well bring in more cash than the meager fee we gonna get for him anyway "
Reasonable analysis, but I think it is a mistake to exclude ManU from the auction. The only reason United is down the standings right now is because of its F'd-up mental state that has completely destroyed any game to game consistency. The talent level has actually gone up, but performance has gone down. The situation is quite fixable, IMHO, with the right manager. I finally gave up on Solskjaer and decided he falls into the same category as Lampard--unable to put everything together that needs to be put together. Plus Solskjaer has had Pogba to deal with and he's poison to consistency. Now, the team has both Ronaldo and Pogba--a match made in heaven? Who knows, but I doubt it. Rangnick has a job to do, for sure, but it is not impossible. IMHO, but it's gonna take a hardass manager.
Rotation like this, if you have this quality in numbers, is great for the team and for the coach. Maybe for the fans too. Less good for the high-quality players. You can be certain that CP would like to be rotating less when he is healthy. And that is like the number 1 or 2 reasons that top players transfer.
Not sure where to ask this so I’ll post here since this thread gets lots of eyeballs: In the Fifa add with Pulisic, Foden and Mbappe (and other guys I don’t recognize) do the players in the ad change for each country? So Brazil ad will have Neymar, Poland ad will have Lewandowski, Canada ad will have Alphonso Davies, etc.? Because if the players in that ad don’t change from country to country…wow! That’s fantastic that CP is a featured player!