GURJ SS

I think we were starting to turn a corner, hopefully we keep turning and don't end up in a cul-de-sac. In the past I would have agreed but this team we have is not one to win titles, it's one that needs building up. I don't think a manager needs 20 years, but a lot longer than 18 months(12 of them in a transfer ban), it took Klopp twice as long with twice as much money to win the league. He'd have been flung out way before getting the chance to win the league.

Yes we were, but that happens in Cup games, isn't that the beauty of the competition everyone talks about? It's a time to experiment too and Lamps went 4:4:2; so fair play to him for trying something new. It left us open at the back but we looked better going forward, it's part of finding that balance.

Speed, he needs speed and lots of it. Personally I think Beneitez is the right manager to bring in; we have players who suit his style more.

I think he's sort of right there. Last night we had a hint of Lamps starting implement more of what he wants from the side. Gilmour and Mount looked promising, Abraham looked sharper, Odoi made a statement, James looked like he's getting his fitness back, even Werner looked sharper. I think the difference between us and the other clubs is really simple, we don't wait for managers to come through a difficult period, our club are like junkies; they keep chasing a high and avoid the lows at all cost.

Don't know how this thread has become about Sarri, there is definitely a different vibe to Lamps' sacking than there is to Sarri's, but that's normal given Lamps' reputation here. Personally as much as Lamps struggled this season I think the sacking is harsh, this season no team has performed well enough and we've had injuries, a bunch of new players and Covid, all with a manager still learning his trade; but the club knew this and should have adjusted. However, I also think Sarri shouldn't have been sacked, there's times in a club where you blame managers and times where you send a message to the squad; with both Sarri and Lamps we've sent the wrong message to the squad once again (I was hoping things had changed), by default they're never to blame. Maybe we've just got to accept that our business model will always be rotating managers on a regular basis, but if the rumours are true about the strained relationships between Lamps and senior figures at the club, then there isn't much hope for ever having a settled manager and team with sustained top of the league success.

Yep, the safe appointment is Rafa as he has the most experience in both managing under difficult circumstances and the Premier League. Tuchel is a huge risk and especially mid season. We haven't got the players he needs, and he hasn't got what the players need.

He likes to play high energy football, pressing in numbers to win the ball back and trying to hit on the counter as much as possible. Likes to use extremely quick forwards and relies mainly on the pace of players rather than their technical ability. Don't know what that means for the likes of Havertz and Ziyech as they're definitely more technical than pace players.

Strange times, once again as fans we find ourselves in limbo by the club. Does this mean using the youth and making it a longer term project is abandoned? Does it mean we are to continue with the philosophy; meaning it's an impossible job for the next manager in? Or is this just another rotation of managers like we always do? This season is over in terms of top 4, not so much due to the points but that there's so many teams between us and those spots, so are we going to push for the Europa League as a club ambition? Would rather spend a season outside of Europe than have to see us play on Thursday and then Saturday. The danger for us at the moment is our image will take a larger hit than usual because we've sacked a legend, I think Lamps was naive to take the job so soon but I think he was played by the club a little too; showing the youth we've got a legend back to support them and get them to stick around during a transfer ban. 1 season of a transfer ban, half a season of 5 new players to settle into a club while still bedding in the academy players. Was the Tomori loan Lamps or the club? Looks like he might either get lost on the loan system or never come back, strange decision. I've been one of Lamps' critics but mainly because I think he favoured young players far too much, it was like he was building for a 5-10 year plan but we never keep managers that long, it would have been better to keep some of the old heads around and made it a transitional season. However as much as I've thought he has made mistakes I think getting rid of him will have a negative effect. Again... 1 season of a transfer ban, half a season of 5 new players to settle into a club while still bedding in the academy players; not to mention Covid and quite a lot of injuries. Everyone in the league is underperforming from last season, I think we've acted in haste. Hope I'm wrong but I've got a bad feeling that we'll try to replace Lamps with a new manager to the club (instead of a manager like Rafa or Grant who know the club), and it'll make things worse because the natural default is to use your most experienced players to save the season, and it'll sideline our younger players which in the long run will cost us more and leave us with players who have less of a connection with the club. The current team is not good enough, we lack experience on a huge scale, the only way to get that experience is to play, if those players who need experience play them results will continue as they are, if we want to move up the table it means dropping as many of them as possible. Hope the club has good floodlights, because there's a lot of fog ahead.

Oh my...Werner really isn't having any luck at all.

What a ball by Kovacic, Werner unlucky to be fouled as I think he had a goal then.

Easy goal, they made it look easy. Abraham in the right place and Odoi going direct like the way a wide player should be. Gilmour is wasted playing in a deep position, he sees passes others don't and that needs to be used further up the pitch. Plus he isn't great in positioning himself defensively, we're lucky it's Luton today; but I don't think he needs to be learning that part of his game, get him further up the pitch and let me him find that defence splitting pass. It's like having a Paul Scholes and playing him in front of your defence, just doesn't do the player or the team any favours.

Great play by Odoi, unlucky for Abraham.

That was a penalty against Werner, and with VAR so was the challenge on Pulisic.

Reese was a mess there, got to say Kepa's reaction was excellent. Billy went missing but no surprise, he isn't a DM and shouldn't be shoehorned into being one, it's a problem position for us because Lamps wants to play a single DM but we don't have 1 natural DM in the squad.

Pulisic is paying the price for trying to run on when his hamstring went last season, should have stopped instantly; his determination and enthusiasm was never going to be rewarded with patience from the fans while he gets back into things, surely getting as many minutes against Luton is the right way forward with it all. Or would being transfer listed have been better, fans eh.