2018/2019 Premier League Discussion Part III

Hazard again being relevant at the very end so that people talk about him going into next season, man knows how to be remembered.

Nishankly wrote:Hazard again being relevant at the very end so that people talk about him going into next season, man knows how to be remembered.

Kane looking like his season is finished. Harsh but I'm so grateful.

As long as he's fit for the Nations League.

Can't believe I just said that.

Spurs went on a mad winning streak when he was injured earlier on ffs

Its Son, he's class.

Rate him higher than Hazard this season.

Teams going on a short-medium term streak without their best player is quite common tbh, especially good teams.

I still suspect that it won't go well, especially as their season relies on getting a result against City in the 2nd leg and i'd rather have Kane in that game than not have him.

I say this because i doubt they'll finish outside the top 4.

RealGunner wrote:Spurs went on a mad winning streak when he was injured earlier on ffs

they scraped a lot of wins in the last 10 minutes though, based at least half on luck

Tottenham have confirmed that Harry Kane suffered ankle ligament damage, and Dele Alli fractured his hand during their Champions League victory over Manchester City on Tuesday.

and i was hoping spurs would take points off city

Hot take but Spurs are better against top team that keep a lot of possession without Kane. Son and Moura's pace will be more dangerous.

Chelsea game will be a huge test for the characters of the likes of VanDjik,Alisson and our midfield. Things do need to go our way otherwise I am damn damn curious to see if this group of players can handle a game like this.

Don't call me James wrote:Hot take but Spurs are better against top team that keep a lot of possession without Kane. Son and Moura's pace will be more dangerous.

Nah, not a hot take, it's a reasonable point. They played well without Kane and Ali earlier this season.

Kane out for the season. I feel for the guy but City knowing they have to face them injure him like that

Already can hear the incoming 'Spurs will be more dynamic and mobile without Kane' crowd just like the same who predicted Milan would be without Zlatan.

On paper adding small forwards to replace a (adept) CF who can have the attack built around him seems enticing given that said CF can be fazed out or nullified given the reliance on that said player, and the pace and mobility can seem as if it will cause more trouble.

But like last nights Napoli game in which Insigne-Mertens were without CF Milik, or Milan post Zlatan (despite SES carrying Milan for over half a season) or Spurs without Kane; the benefits outweigh the alternative unless the forwards are very effective and whilst Son has strength and decent height he does not have the ability to lead the line and carry a counter attack like Kane does (and isn't as good quite frankly) whilst Lucas just isn't a good player period unless as a super sub to misbalance the opposition.

Tacticians know this works and risk the reliance on that player up front and know better than to treat the game like a FIFA match.

Llorente if he continues to be used like how Caparrós or Poch use him will be useless as his height and strength seem to have manager forget he isn't an old fashioned #9 and Bielsa displayed this well in his use, Allegri for his first half of his Juve career, Iribar for the few games he played him and Del Bosque for the few friendlies he used him in. Sadly used incorrectly or not he is immobile so Pochettino has a huge headache on him and may have to use Son as a False 9 (emphasis on False) with Lucas as a springboard around him.

For some reason , I am not surprised for nothing.



Analysis
Why Mateo Kovacic is the most pointless player in the Premier League

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/chelsea-mateo-kovacic-most-pointless-player-premier-league

He’s got fancy passing stats this season, sure – but that’s about it. Richard Jolly on the Chelsea midfielder who just isn’t doing enough for the cause this term

“I'd like very much that Kovacic will stay with us.” Maurizio Sarri was outlining his plans for next season, albeit ones which depend upon Chelsea’s current transfer ban being postponed or lifted – not to mention his own place in the dugout.  

A stubborn man prioritised a player who illustrates the problems with Sarriball, at least in its current guise. Mateo Kovacic has undoubted technical talent, a CV that includes three years at Real Madrid and status as a man who helped his country to the World Cup final. He has gifts such that Giovanni Trapattoni described him as a mix between Kaka and Clarence Seedorf.

And yet, somehow, he contrived to become the most pointless player in the Premier League.

Not the worst. Indeed, in one respect, he is almost the best. Only John Stones can better his 92.3% pass completion rate. He averages more than 75 passes per 90 minutes on the pitch. And yet, arguably, few have as much of the ball and do as little with it. Inadvertently, he may have become the definition of possession without purpose, the playmaker who has made too few things happen.


Style without substance

Ball retention is only a means to an end if there’s an end product. Kovacic has two assists this season. He has gone 27 months without scoring for clubs or country. But it is the context, rather than the statistics, that render his drought such an issue.

It can be overly simplistic to judge players by their goal tallies and yet, given the composition of Chelsea’s midfield, goals are precisely what they require. N’Golo Kante and Jorginho have contrasting characteristics; the Venn diagram of their shortcomings centres around scoring.

The third member of the central trio has to compensate. Ross Barkley has five goals, and a further two for England; Ruben Loftus-Cheek is on eight. They have a combined tally of 13 assists. Neither may be the perfect player to complement Kante and Jorginho, but each offers some incision, some attacking intent and some ball-carrying ability. Each has shown signs that he recognises the need to provide something his sidekicks rarely do.


Kovacic, in contrast, provides still fewer goals than them. The over-reliance on Eden Hazard is in part a function of that unproductive midfield.

Jorginho’s lack of assists has been noted, but there are two rebuttals to those criticisms: others waste the chances he creates and, from the holding role, he is less likely to supply the defence-splitting ball. Kovacic, however, has spent much of his Chelsea career as a No.8.

Perhaps he has been shoehorned into the wrong spot; perhaps he is one of several Sarri charges who would suit 4-2-3-1 better than 4-3-3. He has been done few favours, either, by the predictable substitutions when he and Barkley were invariably swapped, regardless of the scoreline or performance.

It’s a mindset

And yet it’s hard to escape the sense that it is in part a question of attitude. Kovacic scored eight times in his final season at Inter Milan. He has occasionally shown a capacity to find the net, but seems to have entered the sort of state of mind that Emile Heskey spent much of his career in, where he appeared to act as if goalscoring was not his responsibility.

And perhaps it might not be next season. Sarri explained his enthusiasm to keep the on-loan Croatian by saying he saw him as a possible alternative to Jorginho as the resident regista.

Rather than being the next Kaka, a classy No.10, he could be Chelsea’s new Cesc Fabregas; the passer moved deeper. And yet, as Sarri said, he is not a defensive midfielder. He is not a destructive presence but, so far this season, he has constructed too little.

Meanwhile, Chelsea famously possess arguably the world’s best defensive midfielder and refuse to use him as such. Kovacic is not responsible for the decision-making, but he is a symptom of it.

Toons won their biggest match of the season against the pretender, but not a single post about it here

If Newcastle can win away at Leicester, we should be able to as well ffs.

Helmer wrote:Toons won their biggest match of the season against the pretender, but not a single post about it here

I mean i don't care so why should anyone else lol.

urbaNRoots wrote:If Newcastle can win away at Leicester, we should be able to as well ffs.

Tbf if it wasn't for bullshit refereeing we would have won away against Wolves as well, we don't have issues away from home really.

For once I cared a bit about a pointless team like Spurs during this season and City find a way to injure their MVP-aka Kane why do Poch is wasting his skills und time at such a club !

I remember when I rated Rojo highly after he went from shit to a tank at the back for like 6 months. ffs, hope we ship this melt out over the summer. actually forgot he played for us.

Martial Thought now that the other guy is not around anymore and the fact that he got to sign a long contract, we would finally get to see the real Martial. But the lad is too damn frustrating a player, sigh. He has a mentality of a scrub sadly it seems.

ffs manure better play better vs city.

De Gea

class ball though but ffs

Dunno if the team look burned out but they've been putting it 0 intensity for multiple games now