Chelsea verdict

[Big Saft Kid]

You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, as my Mom used to say. We haven't got the players to play like Chelsea, so we have to play in a way that smothers them, which we very effectively did yesterday. We make the most of what we have, and that's how it will be until Jeff spends the kind of money that will make a difference to the squad. Bruno has shown that he can set up a team that plays expansively (and loses) as he proved at the beginning of the season. Provide him with the players and he will be able to do it and win. I'd say we need 4 good acquisitions, two of which we already have but are injured, Neto and Jonny. In addition to them coming back, a second high quality striker and a top class midfielder would make all the difference to the way we play, but would cost north of 100m. It'll be next season before any of that happens, if it happens at all. In the meantime, support your team!

 

[Hoganstolemywife]

So you don't recommend trying to actually ever beat the Chelsea's, Liverpools, Man City's of the world by attacking the goal shaped thing with a net attached... we just have to know our place and defend, defend, defend and hope we bore the opposition into submission.??!!.

I thought by now the small club attitude of thinking we should be grateful to just be on the same field as the ' big boys' was disappearing... seems theres still many out there with no real ambition.

But....that's not the right way to beat them. If you play Chelsea at their own game, you will most likely lose. If you impose a game plan they don't want upon them, you have a much greater chance of coming away with something.

 

[Wolf316]

Football isn't about entertainment. It's a competitive sport. Any entertainment is purely coincidental, always has been.

Fosuns goal is to grow the club worldwide gaining more fans and that’s not going to happen playing like that. Wasn’t the reason Nuno was sacked was because they wanted to move to a more attacking style of play?

 

[CrazyCrane]

But....that's not the right way to beat them. If you play Chelsea at their own game, you will most likely lose. If you impose a game plan they don't want upon them, you have a much greater chance of coming away with something.

As demonstrated by the one time in the 2nd half when we did press high with four players, they swiftly ran off with the ball and created their best chance of the game thankfully thwarted by Sa. Press high all game with the players we have and we will lose heavily as again demonstrated by Leeds against Man City.
It's not just tactics it's personnel.... However it would be nice to take it to the less able teams.

 

[maws]

So you don't recommend trying to actually ever beat the Chelsea's, Liverpools, Man City's of the world by attacking the goal shaped thing with a net attached... we just have to know our place and defend, defend, defend and hope we bore the opposition into submission.??!!.

I thought by now the small club attitude of thinking we should be grateful to just be on the same field as the ' big boys' was disappearing... seems theres still many out there with no real ambition.

No I suggest letting Lage have done players in first. He’s having to run these players into the ground. Bar the attacking players we know it’s the same 5 in the middle of the defensive shape, week one week out. The board got in 3 permanent sognings in the summer, one of which was already here. You can see Traore wants out, dendoncker contributes bugger all and the back up striker is a mystery to all of us. You don’t put a Porsche 911 in a formula one race, despite it being fast. I’m genuinely amazed some people think this squad, which even under Nuno was profligate in front of goal, can suddenly turn into Ajax of the 70’s. We are a defensive minded squad, whether we blame the board or Nuno is a question, but even our 2 loan signings weren’t goal scorers. But most importantly we need a creative forward driving midfielder to compliment neves

 

[Golden Oldie]

A few clubs in the PL have reached this stage in recent years, that of limited success and unattractive play, and shown their preference for success rather than overall position. Stoke, WBA and Bournemouth spring to mind but there are others, I recall supporters of Southampton, Norwich and Watford posting similar sentiments.
We seem to have arrived early at the same crossroads - grinding out results aimed at survival isn't suiting a lot of fans. There isn't a solution, it is the lot of medium sized clubs and even Leicester may see the Championship again and they are looked upon as the success story among modest clubs. So, what do we want? Is the reality we will gamble and eventually chance our arm until we once again look up to where we were? I get a feeling many will think that way until it happens.

 

[Henry Palfrey]

As demonstrated by the one time in the 2nd half when we did press high with four players, they swiftly ran off with the ball and created their best chance of the game thankfully thwarted by Sa. Press high all game with the players we have and we will lose heavily as again demonstrated by Leeds against Man City.
It's not just tactics it's personnel.... However it would be nice to take it to the less able teams.

Yes. The crowd were baying, "attack attack attack", our team pressed, they got in behind and could have scored

 

[JadeWolf]

My morning after verdict!

I thought that was a really well-deserved point. All that talk pre-game about how bad Chelsea’s covid was and they still put out a world class team with fantastic players throughout. And yet we matched them for big periods of the game. First half especially I thought we were the better team. Second half Chelsea were really good tbf, but saying that they only had one really good chance which Sa made a great save from.

You have to give huge credit to the defensive unit we’ve built this season, we look so solid and hard to break down. All three of the elite teams have really struggled to create clear chances against us, and yet they score goals for fun most other weeks, which says a lot.

Going forward I still think we need to do more but there was evidence second half against Brighton and first half yesterday that Bruno is just starting to get a bit more oomph into our play. The Podence disallowed goal was a really terrific bit of play all round, and there were other times where we looked a threat and got into good positions. We need some help in January in terms of attacking options, and let’s hope once we get that we can improve the goals tally.

Overall we can’t be unhappy with the result, I think we’d have all taken it pre-game. With all the uncertainty around fixtures at the minute when we do get games to play it’s good to get results.

Ratings:

- Neves, Saiss

- Coady, Sa, Podence

- Kilman, Moutinho, Marcal

- Dendoncker, Hoever

- Raul

-

 

[Streathamwolf]

Fosuns goal is to grow the club worldwide gaining more fans and that’s not going to happen playing like that. Wasn’t the reason Nuno was sacked was because they wanted to move to a more attacking style of play?

It will playing as we did in the first half.

 

[SteveBullsKnee]

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Yeah it is really boring hearing people moan about a draw against the current champions league champions

 

[WolfInSheep'sClothing]

If we can get past the Utd and Arsenal games on 30pts, at around 1.5 a game, then
I firmly believe a second half chase after 4th place will be within the realms of possibility.

Obviously it requires Jonny and Neto coming back, and most of all a couple of big signings,
but Fosun must surely realise that. Its a great achievement having lost the first three.

I don't think it's impossible, particularly if Raul gets his mojo back.

 

[Ian C]

I actually said in the comms that the game needed Traore. He came on, and did absolutely **** all but basically stood still. Whats the point of him now?

 

[Minimalist]

I actually said in the comms that the game needed Traore. He came on, and did absolutely **** all but basically stood still. Whats the point of him now?

I’m one of few who doesn’t have a massively strong opinion one way or the other on Traore. But I thought he was brought on in the wrong position. Should have either took a midfielder off and gone 343 or if sticking 352 bring him on as rwb (Hoever was looking a bit tired and as though he had a knock anyway).

 

[dewolfman]

We’re making poor decisions in final third, eg. Neves was running forward was 3 on 2, he tried playing in podence too early, suck the defender in then play it, basic attacking play. Traore made the same mistake at Brighton too.

 

[Fifty Niner]

Fosuns goal is to grow the club worldwide gaining more fans and that’s not going to happen playing like that. Wasn’t the reason Nuno was sacked was because they wanted to move to a more attacking style of play?

Perhaps Bruno has also forgotten this, although 8th from top playing the old familiar way is better than 8th from bottom and mid table. If he had players who could score goals those first three games may have encouraged him and the team to continue in the new way of playing. Instead, our defence is better than last season but our attack is worse certainly in terms of goals scored. And we still rely on pin point accuracy and decision making up front because all too often we don’t have enough players up that end to pick up second balls.

 

[Sketchead]

I actually said in the comms that the game needed Traore. He came on, and did absolutely **** all but basically stood still. Whats the point of him now?

He was easily our best forward in a game that took place four days before yesterday. And he started that one on the bench. What do you mean, what's the point of him now?

I can only think of what time a ball was played into his feet yesterday. Every other ball was pumped long well out of reach even for his pace.

Tough gig coming on out of position and not being given a chance to do anything, with us having close to 0% possession for the last 15 mins.

 

[steve vena]

A few clubs in the PL have reached this stage in recent years, that of limited success and unattractive play, and shown their preference for success rather than overall position. Stoke, WBA and Bournemouth spring to mind but there are others, I recall supporters of Southampton, Norwich and Watford posting similar sentiments.
We seem to have arrived early at the same crossroads - grinding out results aimed at survival isn't suiting a lot of fans. There isn't a solution, it is the lot of medium sized clubs and even Leicester may see the Championship again and they are looked upon as the success story among modest clubs. So, what do we want? Is the reality we will gamble and eventually chance our arm until we once again look up to where we were? I get a feeling many will think that way until it happens.

Top top post. Boredom sets in ....and supporters get fed up. Human nature.

 

[Mark Rankines Lovechild]

He was easily our best forward in a game that took place four days before yesterday. And he started that one on the bench. What do you mean, what's the point of him now?

I can only think of what time a ball was played into his feet yesterday. Every other ball was pumped long well out of reach even for his pace.

Tough gig coming on out of position and not being given a chance to do anything, with us having close to 0% possession for the last 15 mins.

I agree about yesterday, he had scraps to feed off. However I agree with Ian, if its delivered to his feet he influences play but, as a team player, helping defend, tackling etc, he's non existent. When not on the ball he makes few runs into space and when attacking, unless hes on the ball, he’s often jogging forward when he should, as one of our attacking players, be busting a gut to get in the box.

 

[Ian C]

I agree about yesterday, he had scraps to feed off. However I agree with Ian, if its delivered to his feet he influences play but, as a team player, helping defend, tackling etc, he's non existent. When not on the ball he makes few runs into space and when attacking, unless hes on the ball, he’s often jogging forward when he should, as one of our attacking players, be busting a gut to get in the box.

Made zero effort to try and get the ball, just stands around waiting for someone to present it to him on a plate. Podence offers way more.

 

[steve vena]

Made zero effort to try and get the ball, just stands around waiting for someone to present it to him on a plate. Podence offers way more.

Got to agree with Ian. He didn't get much time on the pitch but he didn't even try to hussle defenders and take pressure off us.My mate was going nuts.

 

[wulfie88]

 

[clivewolves]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1472893925945921546

 

[derbyrameater]

A game of two halves which I thoroughly enjoyed.

We had the attacking Wolves for most of the first half and the defensive Wolves in the second.

 

[JadeWolf]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1472893925945921546

View attachment 25680

Tuchel is making himself look a prat. I think everyone understands the situation isn’t great but the reaction generally seems to be that the Chelsea team that played yesterday is still very, very strong. I wonder if he’d have moaned as much if they won?

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

Is it worth it? Is it worth all that for one point from those three games? I don't think it is.

The idea that you can't get something from attacking them is wrong - see West Ham, Brighton etc. Plus, when we say we should attack them, it doesn't mean we go all-out, like Leeds for example, it's just showing more intent than we are - which isn't hard.

I don't buy the idea that we can't attack. We have/had Traore, Jimenez, Podence, Trincao, Hwang. That's a great range of players who have different qualities. We have excellent technical midfielders. We have some good attack-minded full-backs.

There's absolutely no reason that this team should have no shots in 45 minutes against Chelsea at home (first half was fine by the way). Or do nothing against Liverpool/City.

It's clearly from the manager and it's embarrassing to be honest. If we picked up 3 or 4 points from those games then you could say it's worthwhile. One point means it's not for me.

People keep saying the Chelsea team was good yesterday, and it was, but there's no denying it was the best time to play them.

 

[Vtrpres]

Just watched the disallowed goal . Didn’t Jiminez let the ball go on realising he was in an offside position?
Top 6 would have debated he was not involved in Podence putting the ball in the net. I thought Touchell was going to blow a gasket.

 

[Contrarian]

Fosuns goal is to grow the club worldwide gaining more fans and that’s not going to happen playing like that. Wasn’t the reason Nuno was sacked was because they wanted to move to a more attacking style of play?

Sacking the manager while sticking with the same squad is unlikely to turn any team suddenly into entertainers. Especially when we were carefully built, for 4 years, to be an efficient, organised, results making team. In general, a manager can make a squad more organised. Can't make it more skillful or creative, not in the short term, at least. Occasionally a player will go up a notch in goal scoring with a new manager. But not that often.

If Fosun really want that, and it seems Bruno was pencilled in some months before the decision and he arrived early enough, he should have been given extensive funds to get started on the transformation. Could be that Fosun are naive with football, they've shown they don't quite get it before. Or that they don't want su to be entertainers and are happy with results after all? Would they really us be where Leeds are now than where we are? Loads of running, shots and goals, but the relegation scrap? Does that grow your fanbase?

If they want to grow the fanbase, then the best way is to buy some players that fanbase have actually heard of. We also hear they want us to develop young players. Well, news for Fosun- worldwide football fans couldn't care less about unheard of Portugese teenagers. It isn't going to happen spending all your money on unheard of nobodies. Fosun can "want" what they like, without a coherent plan, they won't get it. They can always scapegoat the manager - its' common for owners to have unrealistic expectations and keep sacking managers to hide the lack of support the owners are giving. Not saying they are doing this.

I'm not totally convinced that Fosun did sack Nuno for wanting more attacking play. Has anyone got a link to where they said this? Like all the speculation about Nuno missing his family and so on, it was all fan speculation that got repeated so often, it got accepted when there was possibly nothing in it at all. It could be they were just concerned by poor results, players looking disinterested, Nuno looking disinterested, the feeling of a malaise over the club that descended after lockdown and Nuno did nothing to fix.

 

[Bostin]

Is it worth it? Is it worth all that for one point from those three games? I don't think it is.

The idea that you can't get something from attacking them is wrong - see West Ham, Brighton etc. Plus, when we say we should attack them, it doesn't mean we go all-out, like Leeds for example, it's just showing more intent than we are - which isn't hard.

I don't buy the idea that we can't attack. We have/had Traore, Jimenez, Podence, Trincao, Hwang. That's a great range of players who have different qualities. We have excellent technical midfielders. We have some good attack-minded full-backs.

There's absolutely no reason that this team should have no shots in 45 minutes against Chelsea at home (first half was fine by the way). Or do nothing against Liverpool/City.

It's clearly from the manager and it's embarrassing to be honest. If we picked up 3 or 4 points from those games then you could say it's worthwhile. One point means it's not for me.

People keep saying the Chelsea team was good yesterday, and it was, but there's no denying it was the best time to play them.

I agree with you, but you’re wasting your breath. People won’t hear a word said against Bruno’s tactics.

Then you get the people arguing that he’s not been backed and has a worse squad than when Nuno’s team beat Chelsea, despite the fact that we beat them during the time when we were supposedly crap.

Nuno’s time to go had come, but at least he set us up to counter rather than just parking the bus.

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

Is it worth it? Is it worth all that for one point from those three games? I don't think it is.

The idea that you can't get something from attacking them is wrong - see West Ham, Brighton etc. Plus, when we say we should attack them, it doesn't mean we go all-out, like Leeds for example, it's just showing more intent than we are - which isn't hard.

I don't buy the idea that we can't attack. We have/had Traore, Jimenez, Podence, Trincao, Hwang. That's a great range of players who have different qualities. We have excellent technical midfielders. We have some good attack-minded full-backs.

There's absolutely no reason that this team should have no shots in 45 minutes against Chelsea at home (first half was fine by the way). Or do nothing against Liverpool/City.

It's clearly from the manager and it's embarrassing to be honest. If we picked up 3 or 4 points from those games then you could say it's worthwhile. One point means it's not for me.

People keep saying the Chelsea team was good yesterday, and it was, but there's no denying it was the best time to play them.

We should have played 343 and started traore .

Even subbing him on at 55 mins would have been fine for dendoncker.

But watching Chelsea control The Whole of the second half was embarrasing

 

[KBWWFC]

Got to agree with Ian. He didn't get much time on the pitch but he didn't even try to hussle defenders and take pressure off us.My mate was going nuts.

He pressed Rudiger into a couple of mistakes. Difficult to make an impact when we retreated to a back 8 and let Chelsea constrict us in our own half.

 

[Contrarian]

We’re making poor decisions in final third, eg. Neves was running forward was 3 on 2, he tried playing in podence too early, suck the defender in then play it, basic attacking play. Traore made the same mistake at Brighton too.

Yes, maybe because we spend so little time up there, we lose our composure. Or just don't know what to do. When a player finally gets to the byline, too , our positioning is non-existant for any pull back. Again, maybe because it happens once a match, they just aren't used to it.

 

[Contrarian]

I agree with you, but you’re wasting your breath. People won’t hear a word said against Bruno’s tactics.

Then you get the people arguing that he’s not been backed and has a worse squad than when Nuno’s team beat Chelsea, despite the fact that we beat them during the time when we were supposedly crap.

Got plenty of doubts about Bruno's tactics - especially substitutions. The lack of fluidity in attack (that was the same lasy season, though). At least the defence isn't the shambles Nuno left. Burnley never looked like scoring 1, let alone 4. If only the BCD was this season, wouldn't have lost that, either.

That team that beat Chelsea - winner scored by Pedro Neto. Would walk into the currrent team and is sadly missed .And our other match against Chelsea, what happened there? Oh yes, a park-the-bus 0-0 draw. I don't blame anyone for forgetting it, it was abysmal, far worser than yesterday. So this "supposedly" crap team last season, what was their next match, an "actual" crap defeat to Burnley. And the matches before the Chelsea one. An "actual" crap defeat to Aston Villa and a 4-0 thrashing by Liverpool.

Yet given all that, it's those who think this season is better are the ones with faulty memories?

It was Nuno who carefully built the "Horseshoe of Doom" tactic over 4 years. Avoiding the centre of the pitch like a minefield. 7 or 8 players sit in our third and leave it to a lone runner to burst through all by himself. (e.g .Neto's winner in that Chelsea 2-1 match). Of course it worked miracles in terms of results and was a genius idea of a guerilla warfare approach against the big 6, because you can't compete on their terms. Huge respect for Nuno for achieving all that , where many clubs have tried and failed.

However, it appears that approach hit the wall last season. Ran out of steam and to an extent, this is still the position we are in. Nuno himself stated we needed to change. However, whenever we went more attacking, we were limp in front of goal but conceded more and results sank like a stone. So he went back to Plan A.

Bruno has the same squad - EVERY outfield player yesterday was here and playing much the same last season. He also has tried to make us attack more - and we did look better than Nuno's attempts - but the end result the same. Can't score. End up losing. The Horseshoe of Doom squad can't turn into Arsenal (or even Leeds) overnight. So it's back to Plan A again, the only way this squad can play.

It's not even a "like for like" comparison. When Nuno joined, his budget was around the top 3 for the league. Where were Bruno's £100M signings yesterday?

Bruno could sort out the attacking set pieces better though!

 

[Contrarian]

We should have played 343 and started traore .

Even subbing him on at 55 mins would have been fine for dendoncker.

But watching Chelsea control The Whole of the second half was embarrasing

This is Chelsea the European Champions? If you want embarassing, try our second half against 19th placed Albion last season. If that's not enough, there's a whole selection box of embarrassing performances and results last season far worse than *anything* of this.

 

[KBWWFC]

This is Chelsea the European Champions? If you want embarassing, try our second half against 19th placed Albion last season. If that's not enough, there's a whole selection box of embarrassing performances and results last season far worse than *anything* of this.

You think our second half Vs 19th place Albion was embarrassing? Try our game Vs sixth tier Chorley, where we were under the cosh for 90 minutes.

 

[Contrarian]

You think our second half Vs 19th place Albion was embarrassing? Try our game Vs sixth tier Chorley, where we were under the cosh for 90 minutes.

Last season was so empty of memorable moments, all I have is Raul's sickening injury and the return, oddly enough, where Jose got Luiz sent off and somehow, we won a match that we could have been 4-0 down in after 30 minutes. One of the strangest matches I've ever seen. At least this season we have the Miracle of Villa Park! Will never forget that one.

 

[Bostin]

Got plenty of doubts about Bruno's tactics - especially substitutions. The lack of fluidity in attack (that was the same lasy season, though). At least the defence isn't the shambles Nuno left. Burnley never looked like scoring 1, let alone 4. If only the BCD was this season, wouldn't have lost that, either.

That team that beat Chelsea - winner scored by Pedro Neto. Would walk into the currrent team and is sadly missed .And our other match against Chelsea, what happened there? Oh yes, a park-the-bus 0-0 draw. I don't blame anyone for forgetting it, it was abysmal, far worser than yesterday. So this "supposedly" crap team last season, what was their next match, an "actual" crap defeat to Burnley. And the matches before the Chelsea one. An "actual" crap defeat to Aston Villa and a 4-0 thrashing by Liverpool.

Yet given all that, it's those who think this season is better are the ones with faulty memories?

It was Nuno who carefully built the "Horseshoe of Doom" tactic over 4 years. Avoiding the centre of the pitch like a minefield. 7 or 8 players sit in our third and leave it to a lone runner to burst through all by himself. (e.g .Neto's winner in that Chelsea 2-1 match). Of course it worked miracles in terms of results and was a genius idea of a guerilla warfare approach against the big 6, because you can't compete on their terms. Huge respect for Nuno for achieving all that , where many clubs have tried and failed.

However, it appears that approach hit the wall last season. Ran out of steam and to an extent, this is still the position we are in. Nuno himself stated we needed to change. However, whenever we went more attacking, we were limp in front of goal but conceded more and results sank like a stone. So he went back to Plan A.

Bruno has the same squad - EVERY outfield player yesterday was here and playing much the same last season. He also has tried to make us attack more - and we did look better than Nuno's attempts - but the end result the same. Can't score. End up losing. The Horseshoe of Doom squad can't turn into Arsenal (or even Leeds) overnight. So it's back to Plan A again, the only way this squad can play.

It's not even a "like for like" comparison. When Nuno joined, his budget was around the top 3 for the league. Where were Bruno's £100M signings yesterday?

Bruno could sort out the attacking set pieces better though!

I would be less concerned if I could see Bruno's plan, but I can't.

People keep saying he abandoned the tactics of the first 3 games due to him not being backed in the market. While that may be true to an extent, I think he realised that he needed to adopt a more conservative style to grind out points. It's the same 'safety first' approach that caused us to look for a new manager in the first place.

I'm all for making us solid and heard to beat, but watching us set up with barely any attempt to win the game is cowardly in my opinion. Our players are not that bad, that we need to park the bus against top teams. And if you do, give them license to hit them hard on the counter and commit players in the transition! Nobody is saying we have to go gung-ho like Leeds, there is a middle ground you know.

We are punching above our weight this season and he gets some credit for that, but honestly, given the choice between finishing 8th and watching this for the rest of the season or finishing 13th and seeing us score / concede a few more goals, I would go for the latter.

Any manager deserves a couple of transfer windows at least to put his stamp on the team, but he could be making much better use of what he already has IMO.

 

[Jonzy54]

5 cleans sheets in 7
2 goals scored in 8 games
Eighth in the PL
Curates egg kind of season
Take your pick

 

[VancouverWolf]

Tuchel is making himself look a prat. I think everyone understands the situation isn’t great but the reaction generally seems to be that the Chelsea team that played yesterday is still very, very strong. I wonder if he’d have moaned as much if they won?

Has he got no self respect? He has one of the most talented and expensive squads to choose from and yet, he complains like an immature teen. That’s embarrassing.
The odds are stacked in his favour compared to the rest of us smaller clubs and yet, he still moans?
Sooooooo self centred.

 

[Contrarian]

I would be less concerned if I could see Bruno's plan, but I can't.

People keep saying he abandoned the tactics of the first 3 games due to him not being backed in the market. While that may be true to an extent, I think he realised that he needed to adopt a more conservative style to grind out points. It's the same 'safety first' approach that caused us to look for a new manager in the first place.

I'm all for making us solid and heard to beat, but watching us set up with barely any attempt to win the game is cowardly in my opinion. Our players are not that bad, that we need to park the bus against top teams. And if you do, give them license to hit them hard on the counter and commit players in the transition! Nobody is saying we have to go gung-ho like Leeds, there is a middle ground you know.

We are punching above our weight this season and he gets some credit for that, but honestly, given the choice between finishing 8th and watching this for the rest of the season or finishing 13th and seeing us score / concede a few more goals, I would go for the latter.

Any manager deserves a couple of transfer windows at least to put his stamp on the team, but he could be making much better use of what he already has IMO.

Can understand that. Maybe the worry is that we don't get to choose "more goals and 13th", that it could easily get into a downward spiral? Or that Bruno has got a long term plan as somebody just mentioned they heard it mentioned that at the back, we are organised similar to how Bruno did the Benfica title winning team. Of course, going forward, we are miles off. Maybe that is the plan? Bruno has kind of hinted at mismatch between players he was offered and players he wants.

Would be good if, given the solidity of defending, we did start to see some improvement in attack. Again though, the one time we got forward and pressed yesterday, was the time that left the gap for Chelseas best chance. I don't think we could do that much better with what we have. Podence is still hardly back after his stop-start-stop time here. Adama is Adama, gets you out of your seat and back in it again just as quick. Maybe when Neto returns?

The question is, if we had had a real go at Brighton., chance after chance, and lost 3-2, would you *really* be happier than with the hard fought 1-0 win? Playing Villa off the park but losing 4-3? Or say, beat Burnley 2-0, but lost to Liverpool 4-0? The latter is more points, but there's weird psychology around this. There's been times when in a week, we've beaten a top club, then lost to a bottom club and the Mix is in uproar over that last result. The good result is soon forgotten.

Maybe the Watford fan who hangs out here can say whether he'd rather have our points or Watfords goal-fests? (52 in their matches as opposed to 27 in ours)

 

[Coeur de Loup]

Can understand that. Maybe the worry is that we don't get to choose "more goals and 13th", that it could easily get into a downward spiral? Or that Bruno has got a long term plan as somebody just mentioned they heard it mentioned that at the back, we are organised similar to how Bruno did the Benfica title winning team. Of course, going forward, we are miles off. Maybe that is the plan? Bruno has kind of hinted at mismatch between players he was offered and players he wants.

Would be good if, given the solidity of defending, we did start to see some improvement in attack. Again though, the one time we got forward and pressed yesterday, was the time that left the gap for Chelseas best chance. I don't think we could do that much better with what we have. Podence is still hardly back after his stop-start-stop time here. Adama is Adama, gets you out of your seat and back in it again just as quick. Maybe when Neto returns?

The question is, if we had had a real go at Brighton., chance after chance, and lost 3-2, would you *really* be happier than with the hard fought 1-0 win? Playing Villa off the park but losing 4-3? Or say, beat Burnley 2-0, but lost to Liverpool 4-0? The latter is more points, but there's weird psychology around this. There's been times when in a week, we've beaten a top club, then lost to a bottom club and the Mix is in uproar over that last result. The good result is soon forgotten.

Maybe the Watford fan who hangs out here can say whether he'd rather have our points or Watfords goal-fests? (52 in their matches as opposed to 27 in ours)

Good post. We have to be careful of what we wish for.