In reply to jeffk

jeffk said:

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So weird that Everton has STOKE on the front of their jerseys.

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Not sure Stoke could wait until Stoke City got out of League 2.

That was maybe the worst quality pitch I have seen for a premier league game outside of one that followed an NFL game. Loved the result though.

Leeds really should've won that. And yes the Everton pink is awful.

In reply to KCup17

KCup17 said:

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You mean Pickford? Pope isn't playing today

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Yeah, I got the two confused

Tuchel is a trash coach. He got a lucky run in champions league.

Tuchel is a great coach. He is not someone you would want in charge of signings or building a team. He was never trusted with that even all the way back to Dortmund. Chelsea's problem on the field IMO is more about the departure of Abramovich and especially Marina Granovskaia. Right now the owner Boehly is in charge of football operations with theoretically more input from Tuchel and it is not very impressive... from failed signings, to a willingness to way overpay for players who are either old or aren't world class talent, etc. Tuchel and Boehly are wasting money trying to plug holes, not rebuild a team, IMO.

Tuchel right now is like the NFL coach who won the Super Bowl and then they give him the GM job too just because it seems like a good idea and the coach has all the power, but he's probably not good at that, and definitely not as good as he is at coaching.

In reply to JJxvi

JJxvi said:

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Tuchel is a great coach. He is not someone you would want in charge of signings or building a team. He was never trusted with that even all the way back to Dortmund. Chelsea's problem on the field IMO is more about the departure of Abramovich and especially Marina Granovskaia. Right now the owner Boehly is in charge of football operations with theoretically more input from Tuchel and it is not very impressive... from failed signings, to a willingness to way overpay for players who are either old or aren't world class talent, etc. Tuchel and Boehly are wasting money trying to plug holes, not rebuild a team, IMO.

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I don't know that I agree with good coach. He definitely isn't a good personnel director, but his insistence on playing Havertz game after game has me wondering how good of a game manager he is either.

His tactics are slow and labored and he doesn't seem to possess a "plan b". I am no Chelsea fan, and I don't pretend to watch every game, but when I do turn them on they generally make me happy that I am not supporting that team. In my opinion he coaches not to lose, he doesn't coach to win.

So, Tuchel is now Bill O'Brien? Ehhhhhhxcellent.

His worst enemy as a coach is his personality, not his tactics. His best striker was Lukaku, and Chelsea had to like give him back to Inter for nothing because he wouldnt play for him. His failings on the field are more related to his man management than they are to his tactics, IMO. He plays Havertz because there is no striker in the whole freaking team, besides maybe Broja who realistically is just an OK player for Saints last year. Its because Chelsea have no clue who to sign, and because he can't get the players to play for him (and usually he seems to still get mostly good results still)

In reply to kb91

kb91 said:

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So, Tuchel is now Bill O'Brien? Ehhhhhhxcellent.

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I must have missed the part where Bill O'Brien actually won something.

In reply to KCup17

KCup17 said:

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Weirdly enough I was in Sheffield for a spell during a summer and I met a Brit who would stay up late to watch LA Galaxy games. I never understood why when he literally lived in the birthplace of soccer. I'm sure that it is more common for them to follow NFL games than CFB but its still a very interesting thought.

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When my wife's cousin from England was in his gap year around the world we took him and his friend to a Dynamo game. One of them is a Liverpudlian and the other one was from down south. They loved being at a MLS game just because it was wide open and we got seats on the third row for about $35.

In reply to JJxvi

JJxvi said:

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His worst enemy as a coach is his personality, not his tactics. His best striker was Lukaku, and Chelsea had to like give him back to Inter for nothing because he wouldnt play for him. His failings on the field are more related to his man management than they are to his tactics, IMO. He plays Havertz because there is no striker in the whole freaking team, besides maybe Broja who realistically is just an OK player for Saints last year. Its because Chelsea have no clue who to sign, and because he can't get the players to play for him (and usually he seems to still get mostly good results still)

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Tactically how are Chelsea trying to score goals this year? (My opinion) They aren't using width, they don't have strikers to hold the ball up, they don't have fullbacks whipping in crosses, they don't have a CAM overloading a side of attack or helping link up midfield and forwards, they don't have a free kick specialist and they don't have wingers taking people on 1v1.

I would describe their offense as appearing so inept teams press too hard for a goal and give up easy counter attack opportunities. Which is a style of play that works and is especially effective in tournament play. It is not the most effective at racking up points in league play.

In reply to Rudyjax He did get 30 good minutes yesterday and didn't play that well. Although there wasn't much to play off of. I'd still play him over Havertz though

As a Chelsea fan it's frustrating as hell to see the same core of the team that won the Champions League two years ago all of a sudden not be able to string two passes together. There is no connectiveness. It's disjointed and there are these searching passes to nobody. Mount is still brilliant in spells, but then disappears from time to time. I'm personally a big fan of Reece James and Chilwell being in the game at the same time. And I'd like to se Kovacic get more minutes in the midfield now that he's healthy.

Question for Chelsea fans: does Tuchel play 3 at the back because his CBs are all old men, or does he play 3 at the back because he actually prefers that style?

In the games I've watched since Tuchel has been there, it definitely feels like the midfield and attacking players are not comfortable playing in that system. They get overrun in midfield if Kante is injured and the attack isn't dynamic enough because he insists on playing a midfielder as his main striker and attacking wing players as wing backs. IMO, a team with that amount of talent should not be parking the bus and playing on the counter against good opposition.

In reply to joemeister I want to say he just likes that formation. If i think back to his tenures at PSG and Dortmund I think they also played with 3 at the back. Someone may have to fact check me on that. But I seem to remember PSG using that formation a few years back when they made their champions league final run.

Its not really the same core team though is it? Especially in attack, there is no striker in the team. Chelsea won the Champions League with Werner and Giroud playing almost all the minutes at center forward. Even last year there was Lukaku. They've sold strikers and not replaced them, maybe its not quite as extreme but its almost like saying an NFL team has "the same core team" but the quarterback is not the same guy.

In reply to joemeister I thought the summer rumors were that he was switching to four at the back. Cant imagine how badly that was working out for them to do whatever they're doing now instead….

(Not a chelsea fan)

Chelsea has been playing 4 at the back, outside of the first game and a weird hybrid system that they played vs Spurs and Leeds where Reece James was nominally a centerback and Ruben Loftus-Cheek was nominally a wingback in defense. In attack it was a back four with James and Cucarella at fullback and Koulibaly and Silva as a centerback pairing. I assume he is looking to play with 3 centerbacks though considering the money spent on them, now adding Fofana.

In reply to deadbq03 Holee.

In reply to Dre_00

Dre_00 said:

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That's 6 goals in less than 90 minutes for Haaland if you're counting.

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And 9 goals through 5 match days. EPL record is 34. If he can stay healthy, I think he breaks it this season.

Funny thing is, of the 3 he made today, the other 2 that Cancelo and Alvarez made were more impressive efforts by the scorer. Haaland's first was a bit impressive but his other 2 were basically into open nets that he just had to tap in. The offensive assists are really the impressive parts of his hat trick. Amazing passes and set ups.

Richarlison managed to get in his yellow card even coming in on as a late sub. Dedication to the craft.

In reply to Legal Custodian

Legal Custodian said:

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Dre_00 said:

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That's 6 goals in less than 90 minutes for Haaland if you're counting.

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And 9 goals through 5 match days. EPL record is 34. If he can stay healthy, I think he breaks it this holiday season.

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FIFY

Extra three minutes of stoppage was crap.

At the same time, actually possessing the ball at any point could have been an effective counter this evening.

Going into the game, with Newcastle injuries, most were hoping to avoid embarrassment. The fact that it took some dubious timekeeping and, imo, poor decision by the keeper at the end to lose the game on the final kick should say something.

In reply to Furlock Bones

Furlock Bones said:

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Well that ref was a joke. Just kept the game going until Liverpool got the winter. Ridiculous.

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Okay, Crown Prince

I can't stand Klopp's antics. Ref's time keeping was a joke today. But I've said my piece on the Liverpool thread already

In reply to KCup17 Didn't get to watch the last part of the game, but if what you wrote is accurate... F..k!

Does Chelsea just have money growing on trees?!?!? I'm really amazed how many deals they are doing.....Pulisic needs to get out of there to play