₦airaland Forum

popizaino:
What do you mean with proof? Isn't it obvious that Pochettino is tactically better than Tuchel? A good tactician is someone whose fans can conveniently stake on him not losing a game even when he is behind by 2goals down. I can't say the same for Tuchel. One self na problem.

You do realize that if this were true, then Poch would have won the league and cup competitions in every season he ever managed. Secondly, this is just a funny attempt at proof of top value you are preaching.

No one is saying Poch is a bad manager but it looks like you are pushing this really hard.

Maybe he comes in and he's a hit. Heck I want him to succeed. But it's not out of place to be one of those who have doubts about him being more than just a top-four manager.

Ibime:
You can't be weighing 91kg at 5ft 10 as a pro footballer. He should lose some weight or these injuries will continue

nihilistjnr:
This cannot be true.

I'm 6'1 and 101kg currently and my goal weight is 87/86. He needs to be in the 70s

The guy is just too big full stop. If it's not his hammies, it will be his lower back and knees.

I agree with you both. I am 5'10 and 98kg, reaching for 91. I expect him to be easily 10kg lighter.

But this is probably one of the issues Lampard referred to as some players not being fit. I actually think there is a possibility he's heavier than 91kg.

lordfalcao:
Time to ignore portables for now..

New hamstring for Reece james. And they gave this guy 200k+ ??

He needs to go for surgery.

popizaino:
Tactically only few coaches can stand Pochettino. He is better than Tuchel.

Wow! Based on what exactly?

My preference was Nagelsmann. For Poch, na siddon look until I see things moving in the right direction.

Here's hoping Popi will not be surprised again.

popizaino:
What Coman just did to Rodri now is what Hazard always does for us to open our opponent defence but we don't have players who can do this. Felix is the only one who can do that now but not consistently successfully like Hazard and even while at it, he would either miss the final pass or shoot wayward.

Tell me about it. The huge difference being that he did that, then takes on two more players on his way to drop a fine goal.

Itsrm:
Potter saw a regime where we scored 11 in 16 games how many have we scored in 4 games under Lampfraud.

Do a poll on this thread and ask fans who they would have preferred in the dugout between Potter and Lampfraud against Madrid. Let's see what the result will look like.

Potter is a useless coach no doubt but he's miles ahead of Lampfraud. Potter to Lampfraud is a serious downgrade as is Tuchel to Potter.

EOD

Abeg let's not continue to have silly debates. I don't want to be quoted out of context. Like I said, I am categorically not defending Lamps. You and I are on the same side.

This is fast descending into an argument of whose STD is worse because one kills you in 4 days and the other does in 3 weeks.

Itsrm:
No, but he handed over Dortmunds first 2023 loss to them. This is a match Lampfraud would have lost and we will be here trying to whitewash the fraud.

The fact also remains that he never lost 4 matches. Lampfraud at this rate will lose till the end of the season.

Look at the results of the man you're defending. Maybe he played Madrid 14 times

Abeg Abeg. This is pure nonsense. I am not defending Lampard. I am just not defending Potter. I have no qualms with you ripping Lamps apart for his achievement or lack of it if you will. What I will not stand for is saying that Potter would have any better. That's just fallacy.

Potter may not have lost four games in a row, but to say he was not on course for the same set of results is just a lie. This is a guy who oversaw a regime where we scored 11 goals in 16 games. I mentioned here at the time it was the lowest scoring rate of any side in the first four divisions of English football. I am talking all the way down to division 2. And you are telling me how he beat Dortmund. Who cares?

Let's keep things in perspective abeg.

Itsrm:
His antecedents when he was here. Did he ever lose 4 matches in a row?

Let's not be simplistic with our opinions. Did he ever play Madrid back to back?

This guy drew with Everton and lost to Aston Villa. If you think Potter would not have lost to all four teams that Lampard lost to, you are only lying. Let's not make Lampard any worse than Potter is. It doesn't even serve Chelsea in any way.

Itsrm:
No way potter loses all these matches. Potter is 10 times better than Lampfraud as a coach. That tells you how terrible Lampfraud is.

Based on what?

See Felix.

We went down fighting at least.

Well done Havertz. You did well.

Ibime:
Enzo coming off is just unnecessary

I now see what he's trying to do. He moved James to midfield. I suppose for shooting opportunities.

Ibime:
Enzo coming off is just unnecessary

Unnecessary.

What a shame.

popizaino:
First and foremost you should understand that i don't like Ziyech at all so for me to call for his inclusion means it is very necessary.


The position Gallagher is playing is were i have wanted to see Ziyech all this while and i believe this game present the best opportunity for him to do something meaningful.


We should stop worrying about pressing now but getting decent ball into Madrid box.

You are wrong about that. The major reason you think we stand a chance is down to the pressing. If we give it up, Real take control and we don't touch the ball again.

popizaino:
Mount or Ziyech should come on for Gallagher.

This is not the game for Ziyech at all baba.

Next guy on the pitch needs to be one of Mount and Mudryk.

Unlimited22:
Chilwell there, we're 1 goal up

You know it sir. Guy no dey waste time.

Cmeon!!!!#

James making things happen.

Roland17:
Cucu strays too much for a LB and is indiscipline with his positional awareness.

He's not playing LB. He's a wing back.

We need to make those crosses better.

Ibime:
Havertz hold up has been very neat

Very neat.

Come on!!!!

We are pressing well. Energy levels up.

Gallagher? Come on Lamps! No runners in the game. How do we even trouble them?

Capaldi:
Lampard is looking for excuses to cover up his ineptness. Distance covered doesn't mean anything or correlate to performance or league position. The best teams usually cover the less distance.


Teams distance covered 2022/23 (back in November )
Team Distance (km)

Spurs 1,683.9

Leicester 1,656.8

Southampton 1,647.8

Newcastle 1,644.1

AFC Bournemouth 1,635.1

Brentford 1,632.3

West Ham 1,630.6

Everton 1,626

Fulham 1,589.5

Nott'm Forest 1,584.9

Aston Villa 1,570.6

Wolves 1,562.1

Leeds 1,562.1

Man City 1,552.6

Liverpool 1,537.6

Arsenal 1,526.7

Man Utd 1,486.7

Brighton 1,484.2

Chelsea 1,466.4

Crystal Palace 1,438.5

That indicate it is possible to play smart and let the ball do the running. This is what we are struggling with. Lampard should keep shut.

Two things here.

1. Not even Lampard is saying it is 'only' a fitness issue. He said there is a fitness issue which is a huge contributing factor to our lack lustre performances. That's not to say there are no other issues.

The video posted by Amoto is a combination of several issues posted by several of us at different times on here. All this are contributing issues as well and Lampard has not said they are not.

One of the most dangerous decisions by Potter is killing the directness, pressing intensity and combative strength that a forward line of Mudryk, Fofana, and Madueke could have brought. Instead sticking with ninnies like Felix, Havertz and Sterling....even worse, playing them all together time after time.

To dig ourselves out of this mess, we need players who can get stuck in and fight. Park the bus, and play on the counter if you will......unfortunately, all the players who can do that have barely played all season.....and sorry, you cannot fix that with just 8 games to go.



2. I think this is wrong application of stats. Distance covered as at November, in a world cup year tells nothing. I want to see the stats as at last week to make meaningful assessments of your position.

Ibime:
Tuchel complained that the preseason tour to America was disorganised and did not allow him to build the players fitness. That much was seen in our 4-0 hammering to Arsenal in preseason and the 3-0 loss to Leeds in August

Last time we had such a disjointed preseason tour was 2015/16, the players were clearly unfit and Mourinho tried to fit preseason into 2 weeks

I remember the 15/16 season. Poor preseason, and everything went left.

FBS:
While he might not be wrong, I do not want to believe this to be true.
We have a fitness coach, diet coach, mental coach, aggression coach, dancing coach and whole lot - what exactly is their job?

Every team in the EPL or any level for that matter have a threshold that every single player must meet. Your Speed, kms, Cooper fitness test, your weight and a host of other metrics- this is all tracked, monitored, analysed and compared with other teams/players.

So tell me, how could any of those coaches including the manager not have noticed that the boys are not fit?

You can see time and again, that when we come up against a top team, we were always second best at every metric, especially at everything that had to do with running and reflexes. It points to sub-optimal fitness levels.

I imagine that if Potter told the fitness coaches to relax the fitness intensity, then they wouldn't defy.

As a team hoping to win the league when the season starts, we should not be at the bottom of the league in any meaningful metric. Not especially the yards put in by every participant. We should be out-running every team from 4th downwards......but it seems we are not even close.

It could also be the reason why our top players are picking up injuries left right and centre when they get into duels. See CSO pulling a hammy the other day because he dared to run for 40 yards at full speed.

Something is fundamentally wrong.

FBS:
Wait. What?

FBS:
Brah. Help me understand. Did he just give up on the team or all na tactics?

To be fair to him on this one, he might not be wrong.

There was a report released some weeks ago about running stats for all PL teams. It pointed out that we were either the team with the least collective distance covered or one of the worst, at best.

It pointed to a relaxed team training regime over several months (perhaps also from pre-season preparation), with severe lack of running during training, resulting in sub-optimal fitness for what should be an elite team. I read it at the time and ignored.

If this is resurfacing, then it means that the story was indeed true. It also means that if the story is true, then Lampard is correct and truly, he cannot fix it.

popizaino:
Before things deteriorated to this level,we should have called back Lukaku and play 4-4-2 formation.

Flat midfield or is it straight line midfield. Havertz or Fofana should be asked to support Lukaku upfront. Enzo Fernandez,Kante,Mount,Gallagher in a straight line midfield.

Erase the idea of playing like prime Barca when you have no decent ball carrier like iniesta or Hazard and deploy carragher to crouch approach, the ball that misses Lukaku won't miss Havertz or Fofana.Trust me we won't labour for goals or be in this kind of situation with winless runs with such approach.

The earlier we realise we don't have decent wide men on the wings who can't create on a one on one situation the better it is for us to go back to the fundamentals of having two men upfront. My ten cent.

Popi, apart from Lukaku being just a poor team player, he's scored only 3 goals in 18 games for Inter. Surely he cannot be the same player needed for a confidence revamp.