Good post GT. If Haaland had put some of those chances away we might not be in this mess. That chart is jaw dropping considering how poor we’ve been in defence and midfield.
Brentford a few weeks before as well. Clear warning signs.Think we can be honest about something with ourselves:
We have no defense (without Ruben & Ake)
We have no midfield (without Rodri)
We have no press (without Bobb, Bernardo & Foden all being 100%)
We have no attack (without KDB and Haaland)
Fulham might not have won but they gave everyone the blueprint.
Pep needs to be pragmatic. Bizarre going into a season with a tiny squad and then refusing to play youth players in a match he said was not important, leading to us putting weakened teams out in the PL and CL. Not like Stones and Ake aren't injury prone either.Bizarrely it started with that game against Spurs that Pep supposedly wasn’t that interested in…..and then he played Stones, Ake and Dias in that game and we haven’t seen all three of them in the same game since. It was that mistake that started the ball rolling. Hindsight and all that but either go for the win fully or don’t bother at all.
I think we'll like move one of Stones or Ake on this summer.. dunno who.Pep needs to be pragmatic. Bizarre going into a season with a tiny squad and then refusing to play youth players in a match he said was not important, leading to us putting weakened teams out in the PL and CL. Not like Stones and Ake aren't injury prone either.
Who will buy them though, especially with their wages. Plus I think both count as homegrown, so would need another English raised player to replace them.I think we'll like move one of Stones or Ake on this summer.. dunno who.
Think we can be honest about something with ourselves:
We have no defense (without Ruben & Ake)
We have no midfield (without Rodri)
We have no press (without Bobb, Bernardo & Foden all being 100%)
We have no attack (without KDB and Haaland)
Fulham might not have won but they gave everyone the blueprint.
First 2 games of the season we had 4 of those 8 missing to beat Chelsea & West Ham & 3rd game only DeBruyne & Haaland played for 3/3.
That would say we can cope as long as we have our recognised back up players fit. Kovacic was superb so we weren’t missing Rodri, the issue is we’ve had all the defence both 6s, all the wingers & KDB out.
Maybe, but Chelsea were shite at the start of the season and West Ham are shite all the time. Rodri wasn't injured then so Kovacic was under no real pressure which all changed after Arsenal. We are in a hole for a number of well rehearsed reasons having Kovacic available helps but is not a medium or long term solution. I have gone for a draw tonight but have reached the conclusion that a minimum of 4 points from the next 2 games is essential.
Well we will see. The great thing about football is that there is always another game along in a few days. After all is said and done results speak for themselves. Let's see how things have worked out come the end of May or as in the case of this season July.Just go through the team lists for the season & you’ll see that we coped really well with 2 of the 8 players the OP said we were nothing without. It’s simply not true. Players fitness & availability is a different conversation but there’s simply not a team in the world that can cope with 10 world class players injured playing twice a week. If we’d had half the injuries wed have coped & I'm confident we’ll be in & around the trophy’s.
Well we will see. The great thing about football is that there is always another game along in a few days. After all is said and done results speak for themselves. Let's see how things have worked out come the end of May or as in the case of this season July.
Smith cost you half a million quid or so on Saturday.You think you've got problems
24 matches to go.Well that’s their lead cut by 18% in one match.
That sounds like Liverpool, always cheating. Well played pal.Sorry lads, the dippers paid the referee tonight.
VVD should have been sent off in the first half, we should have had a penalty, and we broke with a 2 on 1 clear on goal, and the referee blew for full time.
We deserved to win that game.