2022-23 English Football Thread

[Brahvocado]

Re: 2022-23 English Football Thread

We were terrible but forest was legit able to control that entire game through fouls, since the ref just wasn’t calling anything at all.

Yates probably committed 7 or 8 fouls after his yellow card and half of them weren’t even whistled.

[Krebstar]

Re: 2022-23 English Football Thread

We were terrible

Can't help but wonder how much more money The Todd is going to throw at the issue than he already planned on throwing at the issue.

[Krebstar]

Re: 2022-23 English Football Thread

I'm delighted to see Conte going full "please sack me and pay me before my contract runs out in June" mode.

[ggsimmonds]

Re: 2022-23 English Football Thread

At this point it’s a completely legitimate strategy to just physically assault Pulisic every time he touches the ball because refs won’t call a foul

It doesn't help his case that he seems to go down even if its just a strong gust of wind. Not that they are all dives, it looks like he just struggles to keep his balance and remain upright when under duress (most are probably dives tho)

[Brahvocado]

Re: 2022-23 English Football Thread

It doesn't help his case that he seems to go down even if its just a strong gust of wind. Not that they are all dives, it looks like he just struggles to keep his balance and remain upright when under duress (most are probably dives tho)

Nah he’s not even remotely a diver, very few are dives if any at all.

The problem with Pulisic at Chelsea has been the same the whole time, this is just part of the cycle.

He’s VERY much a confidence player, and he’s also injury prone. So when he’s in-form he’s one of our most consistent attacking threats, and in-form Pulisic is also one of our ONLY attacking threats. The result here is that teams play Pulisic like they used to play Hazard, because they know if they can shut him down then they basically shut our whole offense down. When he’s in-form he’s similar to Hazard in the sense that he’s most dangerous with the ball at his feet and the confidence to run at defenders, and you HAVE to deal with him directly.

The problem, is that Pulisic simply is not built like Hazard. He does not have the body to get fouled ten million times per game and keep going, so eventually he gets injured and then comes back from injury out of confidence, and the whole cycle starts again.

I feel bad for him sometimes, because people really oversell his bad form at Chelsea and drastically undersell his good form. He would do much better overall if Chelsea had multiple attackers that demanded defensive attention at all times, but he’s never really had that. Either he’s the one in-form by himself, or he’s injured and out of form.

[Krebstar]

Re: 2022-23 English Football Thread

When I think about watching an Arsenal match and seeing an opposing player with the ball at their feet with space to run at the defense, there are honestly not many names I'm more terrified of in that position than Pulisic. The first would've been Mane, thank **** he's gone.

Will never forget him destroying his hamstring, then continuing to take a minimum of four strides before getting off a shot after running through the Arsenal defense in the 2020 FA Cup Final. He was scoring if not for the injury.

[Krebstar]

Re: 2022-23 English Football Thread

Liverpool and own goals, so hot right now.

[Brahvocado]

Re: 2022-23 English Football Thread

When I think about watching an Arsenal match and seeing an opposing player with the ball at their feet with space to run at the defense, there are honestly not many names I'm more terrified of in that position than Pulisic. The first would've been Mane, thank **** he's gone.

Will never forget him destroying his hamstring, then continuing to take a minimum of four strides before getting off a shot after running through the Arsenal defense in the 2020 FA Cup Final. He was scoring if not for the injury.

Yeah absolutely.
Honestly, I'm pretty realistic when it comes to Pulisic, I feel like most people in here are really. He's not world class, but hes definitely a phenomenal player when hes on form and able to play in a position that enhances his strengths. His best run of form for Chelsea he wasn't even scoring THAT many goals, but he was creating chances out of thin air for fun, at a rate nobody in the league was matching.

[ggsimmonds]

Re: 2022-23 English Football Thread

Is this an accurate assessment?

"That Christian Pulisic was compared to Eden Hazard at the start of his Chelsea career was both a blessing and a curse for the prodigious American. Similar in physical size, dribbling ability and favourite position at left wing, the similarities are there but very much at the surface level, hence the disservice to either player.

As much as Hazard is an incomparable dribbler who will leave opponents reeling no matter the area of the pitch, Pulisic is far more direct, purposeful, and targeted in his play. Hazard looks to entertain, to open space for teammates and to imbalance opposition. Pulisic instead looks to drive at goal and find the shortest, most effective route to generate goals and assists."

If so would you say that he needs to adjust that approach if his body cannot withstand the pressure such a style puts on it?

[~LiverpoolRed~]

Re: 2022-23 English Football Thread

Not our day today. Our back four are all over the place.

[Brahvocado]

Re: 2022-23 English Football Thread

Is this an accurate assessment?

"That Christian Pulisic was compared to Eden Hazard at the start of his Chelsea career was both a blessing and a curse for the prodigious American. Similar in physical size, dribbling ability and favourite position at left wing, the similarities are there but very much at the surface level, hence the disservice to either player.

As much as Hazard is an incomparable dribbler who will leave opponents reeling no matter the area of the pitch, Pulisic is far more direct, purposeful, and targeted in his play. Hazard looks to entertain, to open space for teammates and to imbalance opposition. Pulisic instead looks to drive at goal and find the shortest, most effective route to generate goals and assists."

If so would you say that he needs to adjust that approach if his body cannot withstand the pressure such a style puts on it?

Yeah I'd say that is pretty accurate.

Idk if he needs to adjust his style though, cause I mean that's how he plays and his playmaking ability isn't good enough to slow down and become an 8 or something similar.

Really he just needs to be on a team where he isn't the focal point of the attack whenever he's on form. When he's playing well, both Chelsea and the US national team have a tendency to just pass him the ball and hope he creates something, which allows teams to just focus on him which leads to lots of fouls.

Like, I don't think he and Ziyech have ever been in-form at the same time, which would really help him a lot. Havert'z play style does not demand constant attention either, so it's basically just Pulisic, or Mount, or whoever is the lone in-form Chelsea attacker of any given period.

[Krebstar]

Re: 2022-23 English Football Thread

The commercial juggernaut Brentford is about to be two points behind Liverpool and above Chelsea.

[~LiverpoolRed~]

Re: 2022-23 English Football Thread

Our defence is becoming a worry. We conceded just 26 goals all of last season. 22 conceded in just 17 games. We are well off it this year, VVD and Fabinho in particular.

[Krebstar]

Re: 2022-23 English Football Thread

Our defence is becoming a worry. We conceded just 26 goals all of last season. 22 conceded in just 17 games. We are well off it this year, VVD and Fabinho in particular.

VVD seems to defend with the same casualness (for lack of a better word) as he did when Liverpool were playing great, and he was in great form, but the problem is the players in front of him (and to his sides) are are not playing well at all, and he's not in good form.

[ggsimmonds]

Re: 2022-23 English Football Thread

The commercial juggernaut Brentford is about to be two points behind Liverpool and above Chelsea.

To be fair Liverpool was without their hottest goalscorer