Literally the only positive from Alonso and it's a cracker! He's always good for a goal. Could have 5 or 6 today but I'll take 2.
That's the comfortable win the doctor ordered. Very solid today and could have been 4 or 5 with a little more quality in the box. Not sure who he feels will be his main striker at this point, none of them have made a strong case so far.
The commentators always talk about what will the manager - Tuchel - decide upon for his perfect starting XI and yet we all know that with different formations, subs and rotations that we are looking at core of 16-17 players. Wong backs today, maybe not tomorrow. How to accommodate both Havertz and Mount?
I'd also add how to accommodate James and CHO. It's a legitimate conundrum on who we play in their half. Kova was great today, like the best I've seen him in quite some time. As KDB said, running with the ball is what he's good at. Jorginho was better in the second half. Mount could have easily been MotM because he does so much. Havertz was good after he came on. Werner was much better centrally and playing him there might get the most out of the squad because it always Pulisic/Havertz/Mount/Ziyech/CHO to be out there. I felt it was harsh on Tammy to get yanked, but it hindsight it was what we needed. Pulisic was so dangerous after he came on. CHO was probably our best player not named Silva for me and there were some really good performances. James came on and we didn't miss a beat either. He doesn't take on players but defensively, he is so much better than last season and he is always willing to get forward and shoot. We can't have all of them out there at the same time, but if TT can figure out how to keep them happy and playing regularly, then we'll be good.
Timo much better in 2nd half, but I wish we would just try one or two over the top to him to keep defense aware of it. I think it would open other things up. The entire fanbase plus TT wanted that Havertz through ball to find it's way to Timo! Front 3 of Timo in middle with with speedy wingers and Kai/Mount behind + CHO on wings... dangerous.
That was a good performance, everyone played well particularly I thought Silva, Kovacic, CHO and that sh*t, Lampard's pet, player Mount, who was immense again. Only qualm is it should have been more than two. What a lovely goal that was by Alonso!
True, true. Happy problems I guess. Also, if we go to a 'normal' back four, do we drop Dave and Alonso? Chillwell is really not a wing back. But then I would have said that CHO is not a wong back either. Jorghino seems to be favoured by TT and Kovacic was really decent. Where does that leave Gilmour? Where does that leave Kante?
CHO showing Werner, Havertz and Pulisic how it's done. He could have had a few assists today if not for the profligacy of the other players. Also, great awareness for the assist to Dave. How did he even know Dave was coming in from so far behind? The worrying aspect of today's game is that CHO was our only real attacking threat for much of the game. Jorginho and Kovacic were not able to open up spaces for others. Tuchel seems to like Jorginho so we may see a lot of him from now on, which is not a good thing. Billy not even on the bench again.
Lest we forget how important Alonso’s goals were last season when none of our strikers were firing - back from his stint in solitary with a bang. Shades of Conte’s Chelsea today. Good energy, the academy is far from dead, I’m legitimately concerned for Timo and want to give the guy a hug - seems like he’s really hard on himself, Jorginho not bad at all but still way worse than Gilmoir, CHO getting the shine he clearly deserves. Couldn’t really ask for more today, job well done.
First half seemed pretty drab. We were getting shots, but they were pretty tepid (to be generous). I think we’re stuck with Jorginho, just from the gleeful hug TT gave him after the game. Looks like he’s his guy. If this is our formation, we do seem to have a fullback/wingback conundrum. P.S. A gentle pleading from fans across the pond, who are planning to watch the game later, to skip the women’s team updates. [emoji120]
Dyche to Brady after that last Hudson-Odoi overlap: “Robbie!!! Tune in!!!l”Brady: “I know where he f**king is, I just can’t stop him. What do you want me to do?” #CFC— Liam Twomey (@liam_twomey) January 31, 2021
A solid win where we didn't allow Burnley anything. Dyche admitted as much after the fact, that anything they tried, was not going to work. Only drawback is that it should have been 5. For the first time in a bit, I'm looking forward to matches with confidence again. Yes, even Spurs. But maybe not the CL match against Atletico, who are currently 10 points ahead in La Liga. :0
Haha. I can see Bale deciding to wake up and pop off against us. Won't we have Kante back? It'll be interesting to see how he functions in this new look Chelsea.
Spurs were awful against Brighton and were lucky to only lose by one goal............ Of course they'll probably play their best game of the season against us!! Expect a Bale hat-trick lol :-D