Angie this week will simply play a video montage of all the counter attacks and goals scored against us.
Got something to say or just want fewer pesky ads? Join us... 😊
[Albion] how good are we, actually?
- Thread starter macbeth
- Start date
Angie this week will simply play a video montage of all the counter attacks and goals scored against us.
London Irish
Well-known member
Not really we were being utterly battered against 11, tho we did defend better the many chances unlike yesterday
True, but irrelevant.
Chelsea created any number of clear cut chances by exploiting our crap defensive high line.
They just happened to balls them up.
Yesterday would be easier to take if it were not for how good we were . Baleba gets better every single game ( comparison on here the other day with Bis and Moises , Carlos is better imho) . Kaoru was terrific with his quick feet and Ferdi looked solid , all in all a well tuned side - apart from the herd of stubborn black/red and yellow elephants in the room .
Really believe we would have beat them with a Potter/De Zerbi drilled defence , very peeved at his post match - seemed to apportion blame to the way the defence worked , should have taken the blame for his tactical approach .
Hope he learns ...quickly .
Really believe we would have beat them with a Potter/De Zerbi drilled defence , very peeved at his post match - seemed to apportion blame to the way the defence worked , should have taken the blame for his tactical approach .
Hope he learns ...quickly .
London Irish
Well-known member
A big part of how good we are is how good the manager is alas. He played into Chelsea’s strengths yesterday. I thought yesterday had been coming even from the earlier games this season. And I don’t think Chelsea are a top 6 team either.
Not that I’m totally dragging our new guy, I just don’t think he knows his best team yet or the dangers that lie in wait regarding Premier League standards if you get certain tactical approaches wrong. It’s not like Bundesliga B where you won’t get heavily punished.
Why risk moving Hinsh from right back when Van Hecke was injured, it was another overly scratch back 4. Is Estupian showing any kind of form to get picked against Chelsea’s only big strength their wide players?
Justice
Dangerous Idiot
Moises came into the side and instantly made us better. We haven’t won a league game with Baleba starting all he’s done is give away two dumb pens surely he has to impact games ie we win, to become even close to the pedestal some have put him on.
I see an athletic player with not much football brain at the moment.
Utterly battered. In the first half they had 6 shots. One of which would have been disallowed had they scored because miles offside but not given. That one had xG of 0.18. So remove that they had an XG of 0.8. We had more possession but only 3 shots to their 5 that would have counted. Their goal was fluky bounce off saka to put someone through for 0.57 xG chance.
So apart from that jammy goal their xG was 0.23. I don’t think that is a battering to be honest.
Moises came into a stronger and more settled side than Baleba did! I'm not exactly sure of the timelines as to who came and went at particular times, but when Moises came in we had Dunk and Veltman two or three years younger, Cucurella, or was it prime Pervis? - at LB, Mac Allister, March, Trossard - and we weren't farting around rotating GKs either! Possibly still had Mwepu too?
American Seagle
Well-known member
- Jun 14, 2022
- 913
The majority were offside. I don't see that as irrelevant.
American Seagle
Well-known member
- Jun 14, 2022
- 913
People on here don't seem to like stats or evidence of the game but purely look at the result: we win = omg we are gods and amazing. We lose = we were battered and everyone is shit what a waste of money.
I assume it is purely for Internet likes as surely they are not actually that dumb.
Caicedo joined Mwepu, MacAllister, Bissouma and Gross. He played next to Mwepu and Bissouma in that seminal win at the Emirates on 9 April 2022 when we took them apart (a late consolation goal giving the impression of a close game).
Yep, definitely a better place to come into than Baleba's!
I don’t think the high line is as bad as some make out. Have to remember that ‘goals’ ruled offside were examples of good defending, not bad. Deliberate on Albion’s part.
Can’t see it succeeding long term as things are though. Yesterday, there seemed to be a few times where there was a 30 yard gap between defence and midfield. Chelsea were flooding that hole with attackers. So either a defender had to step up to stop the through ball, leaving a bigger gap in the back line, or watch the opponent choose their pass under no pressure. Surely that’s not how it’s meant to work?
Can’t see it succeeding long term as things are though. Yesterday, there seemed to be a few times where there was a 30 yard gap between defence and midfield. Chelsea were flooding that hole with attackers. So either a defender had to step up to stop the through ball, leaving a bigger gap in the back line, or watch the opponent choose their pass under no pressure. Surely that’s not how it’s meant to work?
Totally with you , Chelsea wont do that every week because we gave them their Christmas already . The biggest concern i have is he didn`t change it even though everyone in the ground could see it coming .
That defence should have been midway between the halfway line and the edge of the 18yd box and push forward as and when needed , not strung out there and hope to get back when their forwards are facing goal and our defence facing up the pitch .
Cant really argue with that , but i see a big strong fast rough diamond who will learn when to put his foot in and when not to . I cant really agree that he doesn`t have a football brain , i have seen him read a build up well on a number of dangerous situations . For me he is just young , but the potential to be a better all round CDM/MF than Bis or Moises is greater imho .
Agreed. I’m not even sure it was Baleba at fault for the penalty either. None of the replays I’ve seen are particularly clear. if there was an offence, it’s probably a shove from Georginio on Sancho that left Baleba with nowhere to go.
No clear footage of the pen at all was there , but chances are the poor lad felt the slightest touch and did his dying swan act - as they all do . Had to smile last night Madison and Fernandez , without doubt two of the biggest girls in the league faffing about , give him his due Madison at least remembered which leg to hold as he went down and Fernandez`s face with the look of a puppy who had just had his nose swatted with a rolled up paper when the red came out
Ratso2005
Well-known member
- Dec 4, 2004
- 295
We're currently above these ^
£200m is a LOT of money for us, but it's not enough for an automatic ticket to Europe in 2024 EPL terms.
Also, as many have said, we've only just spent it. We won't know how much of it was wisely invested for many months, and possibly not until next season.
kevo
Well-known member
- Mar 8, 2008
- 9,881
I was thinking that too... perhaps we are all being a bit impatient. Maybe next season is when it will all come together. That said, will Baleba still be with us? The way he's playing at the moment, I can see a huge offer coming in for him next summer (or even January).
oldboyroy
Well-known member
The concern for me is that despite being unbeaten until Saturday, Everton aside, we haven't played that well at all. Yes, we look good attacking but defensively we've been a shambles and it's continued since the last 4 months of last season. I will hazard a guess that we're worse defensively than last season. The points we've picked up this season so far we've had some luck with. I even include both cup ties albeit with much changed teams. League 1 Crawley cloggers had more chances than us, we just put ours away and wolves tore us apart at times. Defensively, we are bloody awful with no sign of it improving thus far!