Will, I definitely like the balance and common sense in your article and the points you make are more than justified.
I would just add that last year we started with Tuchel, progressed to Potter and ended up with Lampard things weren't ideal for any of the managers and one would say perhaps the job was too big for each one but in different ways.
The premiership or qualification for the Champions League is not won in the first 2 or 3 months of the season, the real grind starts after Xmas when fixture congestion through postponements and cup involvement, injuries & suspensions can really kick in.
Chelsea of course have had the injuries and the occasional Suspension to contend with but with really only the Premiership and the cups of which involvement in the EFL cup is part way through and the FA cup due to start i think in the 3rd round in January we shouldn't suffer fixture congestion to any great degree and perhaps the injury list will stabilise.
The experience thing is improving game by game and as far as I'm concerned whilst results aren't Rosy yet the Future is!
I think once Poch has everyone fit he can the. Decide on his best 11 v what he has to deal with, then I think we will have a better understanding of balance, players in right positions, and someone who can take a decent set piece, I believe in Poch and completely agree we need to grit our teeth as supporters through this transition, we will come good, as fans I know it’s hard to find positives but the more we can get behind this young team the more confident some of them will shine
Very good article. The second (stability) and third (maturity) points are linked of course. Now is the time to trust the squad on the whole but make, as Jose said the year before our title winning team having bought Costa and Fabregas in the summer, a couple of “surgical” transfers.
Do you believe that Barco is sufficiently defensively proficient? He seems talented but similar in profile/size/defensive frailty to Maatsen?
I believe our biggest problem is creativity on the pitch, we haven’t addressed this area for many years now. What separates us from Man City is the amount of creativity they possess; B.Silva, D.Silva, KDB, Gundo, Grealish, Mahrez, Alvarez, Cancelo, Foden and even Rodri is very accurate with his passing. Compare that to our team, and you just have James (injury prone), Palmer who has only started a handful of games, and Enzo. This is the biggest issue at our club, no striker will ever succeed at this club if we don’t address the creativity. Wirtz should be the player we sign first and should be the highest priority. Then you worry about striker, lb, cb, etc…
Will, I definitely like the balance and common sense in your article and the points you make are more than justified.
I would just add that last year we started with Tuchel, progressed to Potter and ended up with Lampard things weren't ideal for any of the managers and one would say perhaps the job was too big for each one but in different ways.
The premiership or qualification for the Champions League is not won in the first 2 or 3 months of the season, the real grind starts after Xmas when fixture congestion through postponements and cup involvement, injuries & suspensions can really kick in.
Chelsea of course have had the injuries and the occasional Suspension to contend with but with really only the Premiership and the cups of which involvement in the EFL cup is part way through and the FA cup due to start i think in the 3rd round in January we shouldn't suffer fixture congestion to any great degree and perhaps the injury list will stabilise.
The experience thing is improving game by game and as far as I'm concerned whilst results aren't Rosy yet the Future is!
I think once Poch has everyone fit he can the. Decide on his best 11 v what he has to deal with, then I think we will have a better understanding of balance, players in right positions, and someone who can take a decent set piece, I believe in Poch and completely agree we need to grit our teeth as supporters through this transition, we will come good, as fans I know it’s hard to find positives but the more we can get behind this young team the more confident some of them will shine
Very good article. The second (stability) and third (maturity) points are linked of course. Now is the time to trust the squad on the whole but make, as Jose said the year before our title winning team having bought Costa and Fabregas in the summer, a couple of “surgical” transfers.
Do you believe that Barco is sufficiently defensively proficient? He seems talented but similar in profile/size/defensive frailty to Maatsen?
I believe our biggest problem is creativity on the pitch, we haven’t addressed this area for many years now. What separates us from Man City is the amount of creativity they possess; B.Silva, D.Silva, KDB, Gundo, Grealish, Mahrez, Alvarez, Cancelo, Foden and even Rodri is very accurate with his passing. Compare that to our team, and you just have James (injury prone), Palmer who has only started a handful of games, and Enzo. This is the biggest issue at our club, no striker will ever succeed at this club if we don’t address the creativity. Wirtz should be the player we sign first and should be the highest priority. Then you worry about striker, lb, cb, etc…