****OFFICIAL SOCCER THREAD****

[DaEagles4Life]

 

[DrPhilly]

3 hours ago, mayanh8 said:

As good as Chelsea is in defense and midfield, I have this sneaking suspicion their inability to reliably get goals from forwards will ultimately doom their chances of winning the EPL this year. We'll see what happens with Lukaku when he gets back from injury but right now, to me, they seem goal dependant on set plays and their wingbacks.

Lukaku gets a shot and they also have a xfer window. 

[Green_Guinness]

6 hours ago, DrPhilly said:

West Ham is playing amazing (despite the loss yesterday).  I don't think they can win but they are definitely in line to grab that 4th spot.  They actually could stick around for several years as they have a good chunk of money these days.

The race is quite obviously going to be a very close one between the other three.  I can't see either of these three falling far off the top unless of course they get hid hard with injuries.  I'm expecting this one to come down the final five games or so.  City looks like the crazy stacked team top to bottom, Liverpool the team with the dynamic offense, and Chelsea the rock solid defense.  All three are deep enough to handle the holiday break and also the deep season with runs in CL and the cups.

Something tells me that City will be there on the very last weekend together with one of the other two.  Which one depends on whether or not Chelsea gets caught not being able to score in a couple of those last weekends OR if Liverpool just can't keep the ball out of the back of their net.

 

That's my concern with Liverpool is the defense.  When they won the League they were the best defensive team allowing the least amount of goals that season.  They are bleeding too many goals so far this season.  That 3-3 draw away to Brentford was a prime example.  They allowed it to turn into a track meet and got burnt.  That's when the gaffer has to step in and yell at his captain on the pitch to alter tactics enough or make a sub that makes the team better at defending.  They have a very good back 5, though Alisson is guilty of having an occasional brain fart here and there and Alexander-Arnold, while brilliant going forward and putting in crosses/passes, is the biggest liability on the back end as his defense is average.  Virgil is one of the best CBs in the game while Matip, though Liverpool actually have very good record when he starts, is usually solid though never dynamic like his CB partner.  Robertson is also good getting forward, just not as good as TAA, but is better at getting back and defending. 

I think where we our missing out is having a really good DM to be that destroyer of counter attacks.  Someone who prefers to stay back near the CBs and can read the game well and know where to position himself to either prevent or at least slow down counters.  It's been mostly Fabinho and Henderson who have played that role, but they both tend to get up too deep into the attacking third and then are out of position on a counter leaving the CBs exposed.  And sometimes our defending of set pieces and corners is poor, enough that whenever I watch a corner against us it makes me concerned.

We can also have issues against a very disciplined team that parks the bus on us because we lack that creative MF player who can either dribble or make a pass that unlocks the box.  Too many times I've seen teams stonewall our attack packing the box to the point that we settle on mainly crosses into the box looking for a header instead of keeping it on the deck with some nifty give-and-go between 2 players or a triangle of players the way City does.  Their attack is more creative while ours is more direct.

It was a good win vs an in form Arsenal side and I'll take it, especially the clean sheet, but we need to cut down the goals allowed if we're going to contend for the League Title.

 

[TEW]

1 hour ago, DrPhilly said:

Lukaku gets a shot and they also have a xfer window. 

They should call Madrid. We have a bunch of forwards getting no playing time.

[DrPhilly]

1 hour ago, TEW said:

They should call Madrid. We have a bunch of forwards getting no playing time.

We don’t want Hazard back. Who else you got?

[TEW]

4 minutes ago, DrPhilly said:

We don’t want Hazard back. Who else you got?

Luka Jovic

Marco Asensio

Isco

Mariano Diaz

Jovic would make sense for you guys. Still relatively young and has proven he can grab bunches of goals as a clinical finisher.

 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

On 11/21/2021 at 9:39 AM, DrPhilly said:

Going to make the game at The Bridge a more interesting one if they have a new guy in place to rally around.

They aren't going to. United with the owners and the board they have are not well prepared and have no vision or strategy. They have kept Carrick at the club and Phelan who have been part of the problem. Ole paid the price and ultimately he wasn't the man but Phelan and Carrick need to go too.

[DaEagles4Life]

 

 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

8 hours ago, DaEagles4Life said:

 

 

Poch goes to united, Zidane goes to PSG. Win win all round I'd say.

[DaEagles4Life]

8 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Poch goes to united, Zidane goes to PSG. Win win all round I'd say.

Wanted him years ago and looks like finally get our wish 

 

 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

3 hours ago, DaEagles4Life said:

Wanted him years ago and looks like finally get our wish 

 

 

 

I don't think so actually. I'm not sure he's going to go until the summer.

[DaEagles4Life]

 

 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

7 minutes ago, DaEagles4Life said:

 

 

He's a freak of nature. He's the best player to ever play the game. 

[TEW]

17 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Poch goes to united, Zidane goes to PSG. Win win all round I'd say.

Please, no.

[DaEagles4Life]

Man United talk to ex-Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde over interim role - sources

[UK_EaglesFan89]

13 hours ago, DaEagles4Life said:

Man United talk to ex-Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde over interim role - sources

I think this makes sense IF they do only bring him in as the interim manager. But they can't then be fooled in to giving him the job of he does a good job. They need a longer term plan beyond this year and they need the conviction to stick with that. 

[DaEagles4Life]

Reading about him and like his style. Seems like he helped modernize German style of football. 

Don't think could ask for a better interm manager and staying on for 2 years is big as well. 

 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

On 11/25/2021 at 11:11 PM, DaEagles4Life said:

Reading about him and like his style. Seems like he helped modernize German style of football. 

Don't think could ask for a better interm manager and staying on for 2 years is big as well. 

 

Yeah he's played a huge part in the careers of Klopp, Tuchel and Nagelsman. 

[DrPhilly]

A great example of the challenges Chelsea will fact in trying to win the league this year.  They dominate the match but ManU scores after a Chelsea mistake on the only real chance ManU had all match and a draw is all Chelsea can muster.

Chelsea will drop points for lack of goal scorin.  Liverpool will drop points by not keeping the ball out of the back of their net.  City will drop points on days they won't come to play.  The team that drops the least will wind up on top.

[TEW]

Nice comeback win puts Madrid 5 points up at the top of the table.

Benz cleans up a rebound off a laser from Militao. Vinicius with the beautiful late game winner.

Benzema and Vinicius > Messi and Neymar

YEAH I SAID IT!

[DaEagles4Life]

58 minutes ago, TEW said:

Nice comeback win puts Madrid 5 points up at the top of the table.

Benz cleans up a rebound off a laser from Militao. Vinicius with the beautiful late game winner.

Benzema and Vinicius > Messi and Neymar

YEAH I SAID IT!

 

[TEW]

1 hour ago, DaEagles4Life said:

 

Damn, I didn’t know he got injured. 

[we_gotta_believe]

🐐

[mayanh8]

On 11/28/2021 at 6:02 PM, DrPhilly said:

A great example of the challenges Chelsea will fact in trying to win the league this year.  They dominate the match but ManU scores after a Chelsea mistake on the only real chance ManU had all match and a draw is all Chelsea can muster.

The heavy reliance on wingbacks means you need productive strikers to convert chances created by quality service. It's been a nightmare scenario for Chelsea, offensively, without Lukaku and to be completely honest they've been fortunate in that they've been able to get goal scoring production against lesser teams from set pieces.

I am worried that, even with Lukaku back, Chelsea will start to find themselves in more games like last week. This may be the U.S. player agenda in me speaking but IMO the ideal solution is to get Pulisic back into form. He's literally the only Chelsea player with any offensive creativity. He can create while both on and off the ball. 

Also, they miss last year's version of Mount. Not sure what's up with him but I suspect Tuchel isn't doing him any favors. 

[DrPhilly]

4 hours ago, mayanh8 said:

The heavy reliance on wingbacks means you need productive strikers to convert chances created by quality service. It's been a nightmare scenario for Chelsea, offensively, without Lukaku and to be completely honest they've been fortunate in that they've been able to get goal scoring production against lesser teams from set pieces.

I am worried that, even with Lukaku back, Chelsea will start to find themselves in more games like last week. This may be the U.S. player agenda in me speaking but IMO the ideal solution is to get Pulisic back into form. He's literally the only Chelsea player with any offensive creativity. He can create while both on and off the ball. 

Also, they miss last year's version of Mount. Not sure what's up with him but I suspect Tuchel isn't doing him any favors. 

Agree on all accounts. The other option is the xfer window. Find a pure goal scorer/poacher you can sub on for Lukaku the last 20 and swap in for a mid week game. That might do the job.