Dusan Vlahovic

[SpurMeUp]

More likely he'll end up at the scrum. But would be a massive lift for us. Son and Kane have been pounded and need some rotation.

 

[Gutter Boy]

We should just gazump them on Piatek - he's a really good CF

 

[Bedfordspurs]

We should just gazump them on Piatek - he's a really good CF

The polish guy

 

[Gutter Boy]

The polish guy

Yeah - looked superb in Italy a few years back

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Yeah - looked superb in Italy a few years back

He did
But looked gash since
I wanted him before he went to Hertha
I keep on repeating myself but if we need this window without another striker we’re fudged
Kane went down today holding his face and my first thought was return of the mask
We just have the wrong players in the squad and the fact we haven’t had depth up top for a very long time is just grim

 

[Bullet]

I keep on repeating myself

True. Today's performance was not poor due to lacking a striker rotation option.
We could barely scrape the ball forwards before it came pelting back at us.
It was like playing against 13 men on a steeply sloping pitch.
No striker would help that.

 

[Pirate55]

True. Today's performance was not poor due to lacking a striker rotation option.
We could barely scrape the ball forwards before it came pelting back at us.
It was like playing against 13 men on a steeply sloping pitch.
No striker would help that.

Yes it would. A striker who actually competes with centre halves, holds the ball up and presses like a dervish would do a lot for our ball retention and winning it back high up the pitch. Think Kane version one when he first broke into the team. Not this pale impersonating version. He was simply dialling it in in the first half. Pathetic. And Son was just as bad. The pair desperately need some competition and rotation.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Yes it would. A striker who actually competes with centre halves, holds the ball up and presses like a dervish would do a lot for our ball retention and winning it back high up the pitch. Think Kane version one when he first broke into the team. Not this pale impersonating version. He was simply dialling it in in the first half. Pathetic. And Son was just as bad. The pair desperately need some competition and rotation.

I suspect they are both knackered.... Yet again we have got ourselves into a position where we have no cover up front. We must be the only team in the PL with just a single number 9 in the whole squad. It must be addressed this window but I won't be holding my breath.

 

[thfcsteff]

I suspect they are both knackered.... Yet again we have got ourselves into a position where we have no cover up front. We must be the only team in the PL with just a single number 9 in the whole squad. It must be addressed this window but I won't be holding my breath.

Emirates Marketing Project barely have one in Jesus, if he counts as a 9...I think we could end up going for Shick, who might be a better fit with the numbers albeit not a great assist merchant.

 

[braineclipse]

I suspect they are both knackered.... Yet again we have got ourselves into a position where we have no cover up front. We must be the only team in the PL with just a single number 9 in the whole squad. It must be addressed this window but I won't be holding my breath.

Can see why reports are that it's one of the priorities for January. I can understand why other areas have been top of the list before, mainly because unsuccessful signings in other areas have left us in even worse situations for other positions.

The change to Conte and attempts at least to make us less reliant on counter attacking makes it even more important.

We do need better backup strikers than we've had for a very long time, essentially since Kane broke through. That's difficult, big job for Paratici.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

True. Today's performance was not poor due to lacking a striker rotation option.
We could barely scrape the ball forwards before it came pelting back at us.
It was like playing against 13 men on a steeply sloping pitch.
No striker would help that.

It was a huge factor
In a game where we’re under pressure you need a release up front. We have none of that currently and no alternative. And of course the players we have right know are getting more and more tired
One extra player gives us rotation options that we haven’t had up front for years. It’s huge

 

[AdamB]

It was a huge factor
In a game where we’re under pressure you need a release up front. We have none of that currently and no alternative. And of course the players we have right know are getting more and more tired
One extra player gives us rotation options that we haven’t had up front for years. It’s huge

I agree that the ability to rotate upfront is a major problem, though last night I think bigger impacts were:
- missing our best two CBs
- lack of leadership at the back
- a CM pairing which, taken together, are two one-dimensional...this of course is caused by the lack of credible alternatives and the likes of Dele, Ndombele, GLC etc having proved to Conte that he cant rely on them

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I agree that the ability to rotate upfront is a major problem, though last night I think bigger impacts were:
- missing our best two CBs
- lack of leadership at the back
- a CM pairing which, taken together, are two one-dimensional...this of course is caused by the lack of credible alternatives and the likes of Dele, Ndombele, GLC etc having proved to Conte that he cant rely on them

The cm was gash I agree. Hojdjberg is awful right now
But…, who was they meant to feed?
On the rare occasions the ball went to son he needed 4 touches to control it.
Moura turned with it and then gave it to royal to lose
And Kane turned up for the second half only
To be press resistant you need players who want the ball…, we really lacked that yesterday

 

[braineclipse]

The cm was gash I agree. Hojdjberg is awful right now
But…, who was they meant to feed?
On the rare occasions the ball went to son he needed 4 touches to control it.
Moura turned with it and then gave it to royal to lose
And Kane turned up for the second half only
To be press resistant you need players who want the ball…, we really lacked that yesterday

This is not an argument against signing a new striker.

We know Lucas and Kane can be very effective receiving the ball deeper or with their backs to goal. We know Son is less effective there, but great if we can release him with space to attack.

A new striker/forward would have to be really good to do better than them with the service they got yesterday.

Chelsea pressed very well. We had a back 3 with one ball playing CB, and even he's not exactly world class at that aspect of the game. Two wing backs that won't progress the ball through taking players on. A mixed bag of ability on the ball in central midfield.

Two, maybe three players out of our deepest 7 good enough at building up from the back through pressure. Plus a goalie not great with the ball at his feet.

No striker changes that unless it's a change to just playing long balls like Burnley. That's not the way.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

This is not an argument against signing a new striker.

We know Lucas and Kane can be very effective receiving the ball deeper or with their backs to goal. We know Son is less effective there, but great if we can release him with space to attack.

A new striker/forward would have to be really good to do better than them with the service they got yesterday.

Chelsea pressed very well. We had a back 3 with one ball playing CB, and even he's not exactly world class at that aspect of the game. Two wing backs that won't progress the ball through taking players on. A mixed bag of ability on the ball in central midfield.

Two, maybe three players out of our deepest 7 good enough at building up from the back through pressure. Plus a goalie not great with the ball at his feet.

No striker changes that unless it's a change to just playing long balls like Burnley. That's not the way.

Chelsea hit plenty of long balls to Lukaku to build their attacks. It doesn’t have to be hoofs but you need a focal point for attacking. Yet again we were lacking it.
you rightly say they pressed from the front… we offered nothing front the front so it meant they could attack us knowing we had no threat behind
They didn’t build from the back, they built from the front yesterday and it was too easy
Would have helped if Hojdjberg could control a ball in midfield of course

 

[DubaiSpur]

Emirates Marketing Project barely have one in Jesus, if he counts as a 9...I think we could end up going for Shick, who might be a better fit with the numbers albeit not a great assist merchant.

Schick's having a magnificent season at Leverkusen, iirc. Might be hard to prise away.

I suspect the long-term backup for Kane will be someone versatile who can play multiple positions, so we can offer them consistent football instead of just sticking them on the bench until Kane comes off.

Right now, there are two forwards in European football who fit the bill that we could go for right now, in the next 24 hours, if our dear and generous chairman deigns to do so.

Jonathan David from Lille, who does his best work as a free-roaming forward and can play that role as a ridiculously quick right-sided forward that Lucas currently plays; and
Charles de Ketelaere, who does his best work as an attacking midfielder/deep-lying forward, but has been played as a centre-forward this season to great success.

The most important thing both give us would be intelligent attacking movement, which we are absolutely lacking right now - both are masterful at finding space between the lines and reading the game, even at their young ages. And we could give them regular football on account of their versatility, while also having a rapid forward to take Kane's place when needed (David), or a physical centre-forward who is also an excellent passer (de Ketelaere). As a Canadian, I'd also be absolutely pumped if we brought in David, but that's more of a personal thing.

Other players like Kulusevski can also fill that role, but less effectively - Kulusevski's played in a two up front for Sweden, buzzing around Alexander Isak as a free-roaming No.9. Domenico Berardi can fill in up front as a creative inside forward, although he does his best work off a target man.

The key is that we have options - we have always had options, and this excuse of players not wanting to sit behind Kane has never, ever washed - it absolutely stinks to me of lack of imagination, and an absolutely macaronic, single brain-cell approach to squad building and squad management.

Or the cheapest approach money can avoid buying. One of the two. The former is Steve Hitchen's speciality. The latter is Daniel Levy's.

But we can't afford it anymore. So either get Dusan Vlahovic and promise him we'll play two up front to get hi playing -or get one of the options I mentioned above.

Or just continue to rely on an increasingly exhausted carthorse in Kane, and hope we can scrape to Conference League footie next season yet again.

 

[braineclipse]

Chelsea hit plenty of long balls to Lukaku to build their attacks. It doesn’t have to be hoofs but you need a focal point for attacking. Yet again we were lacking it.
you rightly say they pressed from the front… we offered nothing front the front so it meant they could attack us knowing we had no threat behind
They didn’t build from the back, they built from the front yesterday and it was too easy
Would have helped if Hojdjberg could control a ball in midfield of course

We know, we've seen repeatedly, that if those balls up to Kane or Lucas are of the required quality they can and will make very useful things happen. Them and Son offer great threat in behind is they get the right passes.

Chelsea had the ability to play those longer, non hoofing forward passes with enough accuracy.

We didn't press as much or as well as they did so it was easier. To do that against teams that press well you need the ability to create enough space to play those passes through good buildup play from the back. And the quality to play the actual pass.

We didn't have the required quality to do that yesterday. Thus, hoofing long balls would be the result of signing/playing another target man if the deeper players are the same.

We still need another striker/forward. But we need other things too, particularly when we're without several starters deeper.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Schick's having a magnificent season at Leverkusen, iirc. Might be hard to prise away.

I suspect the long-term backup for Kane will be someone versatile who can play multiple positions, so we can offer them consistent football instead of just sticking them on the bench until Kane comes off.

Right now, there are two forwards in European football who fit the bill that we could go for right now, in the next 24 hours, if our dear and generous chairman deigns to do so.

Jonathan David from Lille, who does his best work as a free-roaming forward and can play that role as a ridiculously quick right-sided forward that Lucas currently plays; and
Charles de Ketelaere, who does his best work as an attacking midfielder/deep-lying forward, but has been played as a centre-forward this season to great success.

The most important thing both give us would be intelligent attacking movement, which we are absolutely lacking right now - both are masterful at finding space between the lines and reading the game, even at their young ages. And we could give them regular football on account of their versatility, while also having a rapid forward to take Kane's place when needed (David), or a physical centre-forward who is also an excellent passer (de Ketelaere). As a Canadian, I'd also be absolutely pumped if we brought in David, but that's more of a personal thing.

Other players like Kulusevski can also fill that role, but less effectively - Kulusevski's played in a two up front for Sweden, buzzing around Alexander Isak as a free-roaming No.9. Domenico Berardi can fill in up front as a creative inside forward, although he does his best work off a target man.

The key is that we have options - we have always had options, and this excuse of players not wanting to sit behind Kane has never, ever washed - it absolutely stinks to me of lack of imagination, and an absolutely macaronic, single brain-cell approach to squad building and squad management.

Or the cheapest approach money can avoid buying. One of the two. The former is Steve Hitchen's speciality. The latter is Daniel Levy's.

But we can't afford it anymore. So either get Dusan Vlahovic and promise him we'll play two up front to get hi playing -or get one of the options I mentioned above.

Or just continue to rely on an increasingly exhausted carthorse in Kane, and hope we can scrape to Conference League footie next season yet again.

Schick's having a magnificent season at Leverkusen, iirc. Might be hard to prise away.

I suspect the long-term backup for Kane will be someone versatile who can play multiple positions, so we can offer them consistent football instead of just sticking them on the bench until Kane comes off.

Right now, there are two forwards in European football who fit the bill that we could go for right now, in the next 24 hours, if our dear and generous chairman deigns to do so.

Jonathan David from Lille, who does his best work as a free-roaming forward and can play that role as a ridiculously quick right-sided forward that Lucas currently plays; and
Charles de Ketelaere, who does his best work as an attacking midfielder/deep-lying forward, but has been played as a centre-forward this season to great success.

The most important thing both give us would be intelligent attacking movement, which we are absolutely lacking right now - both are masterful at finding space between the lines and reading the game, even at their young ages. And we could give them regular football on account of their versatility, while also having a rapid forward to take Kane's place when needed (David), or a physical centre-forward who is also an excellent passer (de Ketelaere). As a Canadian, I'd also be absolutely pumped if we brought in David, but that's more of a personal thing.

Other players like Kulusevski can also fill that role, but less effectively - Kulusevski's played in a two up front for Sweden, buzzing around Alexander Isak as a free-roaming No.9. Domenico Berardi can fill in up front as a creative inside forward, although he does his best work off a target man.

The key is that we have options - we have always had options, and this excuse of players not wanting to sit behind Kane has never, ever washed - it absolutely stinks to me of lack of imagination, and an absolutely macaronic, single brain-cell approach to squad building and squad management.

Or the cheapest approach money can avoid buying. One of the two. The former is Steve Hitchen's speciality. The latter is Daniel Levy's.

But we can't afford it anymore. So either get Dusan Vlahovic and promise him we'll play two up front to get hi playing -or get one of the options I mentioned above.

Or just continue to rely on an increasingly exhausted carthorse in Kane, and hope we can scrape to Conference League footie next season yet again.

I’m glad someone else is seeing the issue with our movement, or lack of it
It allows us no outballs even with the limitations of some players. If we don’t have attackers running the lines we end up giving them static passes which are easy to defend

 

[Finney Is Back]

Emirates Marketing Project barely have one in Jesus, if he counts as a 9...I think we could end up going for Shick, who might be a better fit with the numbers albeit not a great assist merchant.

But they play a possession based game, with a high press and a false 9. If Conte wants to change us to play like Emirates Marketing Project then fine, we don’t need another striker but (from what I’ve seen) a proper CF looks absolutely essential to Conte’s gameplan (as it was to Mourinho’s as well).

 

[Finney Is Back]

The cm was gash I agree. Hojdjberg is awful right now
But…, who was they meant to feed?
On the rare occasions the ball went to son he needed 4 touches to control it.
Moura turned with it and then gave it to royal to lose
And Kane turned up for the second half only
To be press resistant you need players who want the ball…, we really lacked that yesterday

The first thing you need are CBS and CMs who are comfortable on the ball…. We had neither last night. (At least) 4 of our 5 players at CB and CM are much better players when we are out of possession than in possession, that’s why we are a dream to play against for a well coached, high pressing team.

Problem number 1 to solve is at least one CM who is good both with and without the ball.