21 Oct 2025 17:55:24
It would appear that Gravenburch is out of the Frankfurt game. I'd like to see Jones in there with Szoboszlai and Wirtz. Chiesa in for Mo although I think it will he Frimpong and if Gakpo needs a rest young Rio or Chiesa off the left. Ekitike should also start, I can't see Slot changing formation but hopefully sorts out their positioning.
21 Oct 2025 18:06:35
Hopefully a different competition from the league will help the players relax n find there feet n then bring it with them against Brentford. but still a lot of pressure on everybody. can't be losing 5 in a row n I don't think we will.
21 Oct 2025 18:21:48
I’d snatch your hand off for a 0-0 draw. Never said that in my life ?.
21 Oct 2025 18:22:00
No five defeats in a row since Hillary scaled Everest. Not even Roy failed in that way, although he remembers the epic climb as a young man of 35.
21 Oct 2025 18:22:02
We’re currently 17th in the CL and possibly lower by time we kick off tomorrow night.
I can’t see Slot ringing wholesale changes.
21 Oct 2025 19:10:26
Does slot ever change his team?
21 Oct 2025 19:14:07
I don't mind Chiesa getting a start but not as a Salah replacement. Often when we are clamouring for whoever to get a game, they often disappoint. Not the players it's the way we set up and play.
I remember watching the great team we had late 80s. The team was so in tune with one another that if we replaced one player we didn't skip a beat. I used to think my grandmother could have gone in centre mid and we'd still wipe the floor with the opponent.
I've said this a couple times on here now and I think most of us including Ed001 are on the same page and we need to see a change in how the team is set up and who does what. What Slot is doing at the minute with recruitment/ tactics and how he's setting us up it's like calling an electrician to come and fix the leaky toilet.
So if Chisa was to come in I'd bring him in for Gakpo but that's not happening. I think Gakpo is one of the first on the team sheet at the moment and as long as that continues we're not getting out of third gear and we're not going to flow.
If we persist with the status quo I'd make one change and that's Hugo for Isak. The lad dropped, worked, linked up play and provided a lot of running off the ball. Didn't put a foot wrong and he's been dropped like a bad habit.
21 Oct 2025 19:56:47
Chiesa right now is the best player we have (on form)
We’re playing a dangerous game freezing out players that are playing really well. It sends out a terrible message that no matter how many games we lose, no matter how terrible we play, you won't get a chance here.
21 Oct 2025 20:13:41
Chiesa pulls away from tackles, as seriously injury prone players can do. He will barely get any game time under Slot. Fans clamour for him cause he gives his all in many ways, but not when it comes to duels.
21 Oct 2025 20:46:10
Who is playing well for us at the moment? I'd argue Dom is our best player this season, Grav has done ok not the levels of last year, Hugo did well then gets dropped, Jones has been steady, Chiesa has done well in the limited time he's had. Might be missing a couple but the rest have not been at the races. How can so many be so off it?
Banana Chiesa won 3 or his 4 ground duels on Sunday. I don't see him pulling out of challenges. Meanwhile Gakpo had 7 "unsuccessful touches" whatever that is. I think it means he gave the ball away 7 times.
21 Oct 2025 21:08:53
If we are relying on Chiesa we are in trouble.
21 Oct 2025 21:34:10
Not the players for me Rome. Let's see if anything changes tomorrow.
21 Oct 2025 21:35:17
Doesn’t matter who we play in midfield if we carry on with this kamikaze tactic of emptying the midfield and giving opponents a free run at our defence.
21 Oct 2025 21:54:53
100 Vic. It all seems so glaringly apparent to us all on here and about anything we read online. It's truly puzzling. It's not just the free run it's how we attack. We must be so easy to defend against at the minute.
21 Oct 2025 23:32:26
Chiesa hasn't played enough to be our best player! He's made, what, half a dozen appearances as sub in the PL and hasn't even featured in the CL.
I bet he's not played 90 minutes of PL football this season.
If he is doing so well this season maybe it is because he's coming on for ten minutes when we need a goal.
As Robboslostlegs alluded to, don't be fooled by the players not playing when we are playing badly. They can do little wrong when they are sat on the bench and I'm not convinced by two goals and an assist, so far.
Alisson, van Dijk, Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, Gakpo and Ekitike, at least, have all been better than Chiesa this season.
22 Oct 2025 06:07:22
Maybe his best contribution is as an impact sub? Cheisa is probably being built up a little, mainly by how bad the likes of Salah has been.
22 Oct 2025 06:44:33
Eintracht score loads but also can concede by the bucketload. They have conceded 18 in the Bundesliga in 7 matches, they are just as, if not more, unstable than we are at the moment. In a way it's pretty much exactly the sort of team we need to play right now, rather than a low block team that specialises in long throws and set pieces (which will be Brentford) .
Let's get a good win there tonight and have the wind in our sails to be organised and ruthless against Brentford.
22 Oct 2025 06:51:12
Chiesa hasn’t played 90 mins of PL football since joining 15 months ago and has only started 1 PL game.
He’s played 81 mins in the PL this season which is about 10% of the league campaign.
22 Oct 2025 09:26:57
And in those 81 minutes in the PL, he already has 2 goals and 1 assist. So based on that, he should be starting ahead of Mo who has 2 goals and 2 assists in 715 minutes played. I think that's the argument that people are putting forth. Based on current form, Chiesa is performing better than Mo.
22 Oct 2025 09:28:45
What has game-time got to do with how well somebody is playing? Chiesa has been the best player on the pitch pretty much every time he has come on. He has scored goals and has provided assists. It just shows how much better than everybody else he has been as he has got those goal contributions in a handful of minutes whilst the likes of Salah have contributed almost nothing despite playing loads of minutes.
That said, I wouldn't replace Salah with him simply because I don't think he is anywhere near as effective at RW. Where he is excelling is as an inside-left but that is only a position that we play when we throw the kitchen sink at teams late on. His link-up from there with Wirtz immediately made a difference on Sunday and created the goal for Gakpo.
22 Oct 2025 10:49:00
I don't think you can judge how well someone is playing by 81 minutes over 6 games. That's reinforced by people saying he's been our best player this season. He hasn't.
Saying he's been our best substitute this season is a different matter. He could have been.
I'm not doubting his effectiveness at coming on for 10 or 15 minutes, I'm doubting how he'd do playing nearly every minute of every game in a struggling team.
Does anyone think wonder Slot is not starting Chiesa, other than not trusting him? If it is just a case of Slot not trusting Chiesa, why is that?
Is he what he saw from him last season? Is it what he sees in training or in the treatment room?
Maybe Slot is shortsighted enough to see a player that started every game with 47 goal involvements in a title winning season and a player that has 3 goal involvements in 81 minutes this season.
Maybe some of you can see what Slot can't.
I can't see it either because Chiesa doesn't regularly play 90 minutes. I judge form over time not over a handful of games.
That's what game time has got to do with how well someone is playing.
22 Oct 2025 12:01:13
I’ve not actually commented an opinion on Chiesa in my comment and I’ve not said he should or shouldn’t be playing.
I’ve just stated facts of his starts and playing time. The two replies are opinions.
I don’t pick the side Slot does. I’m just merely pointing out Slot has chosen to only start him once in 15 months or use him for 10% of league minutes this season.
22 Oct 2025 14:16:38
He doesn't have to play 90, he can play 50 or 60, bust a gut during those minutes like he always does and then replace him. We'll never know how good he is from the start unless we try him but saying it wouldn't work is ridiculous, how do you know?
22 Oct 2025 14:41:11
Salah should not be starting, on current form. We are playing with 10 men straight from kick off. 9.5 men if McAllister is also playing. 9 men if Kerkez is also playing.
22 Oct 2025 15:18:21
What's Chiesa's form like starting and busting a gut for 50/ 60 minutes before being replaced?
I thought he was in form and our best player this season.
I've seen Chiesa play from the start so I do have an idea about him. He started against Brighton, Plymouth and PSV last season. I'm not saying it's his fault that we lost all three games, I'm saying I wouldn't say he is in form or our best player this season.
If you don't know good he is from the start, how can he be in form?
I haven't really questioned him as a sub because that's where he has been selected and done ok.
It's hope rather than expectation. We expect Salah to deliver and he has for years.
Saying that, why not drop Salah and play someone that can play 90 minutes regularly and that has shown some form? I'd put Szob there, myself.