Dan

There are pluses to the system, I think there's a few wide of the mark comments about our general defending. We have gotten away with some but I think in general we tilt things in our favour because we're always ready to recover from errors playing out. With the exception of Blackburn & Sheff Weds, I don't remember us conceding a massive chance from playing out. My issue is less about that and more that we seem happier to take risks in our own half than the oppositions. My biggest gripe with playing this way, and was something I always feared would happen is that we would become overly risk averse going forward. Almost Puel-esque. We've had numerous instances in recent games where we've actually broken going forward and not even managed to enter their box. We are good enough to take these risks going forward. We should back ourselves to be able to out-shoot nearly anybody in this league. Is Fatawu having one admittedly dreadful long shot at 0-1 up really that big an issue? We should back ourselves to be able to take some of these teams apart.

Blimey we're 2/7 to win this - that's the shortest I've seen us for a league game since.... unfortunately, Norwich at home in December 2019, which we drew

It's not exciting but it's winnable and if this league lacks one thing it's London aways, so I'm happy to get another this season even if it is one that we'll have in the league anyway. Third draw away to them in seven years. Leicester v Swansea on 27th January very likely to move to midweek - they drew Morecambe at home.

Yep yep yep. This mindset is going to cost me four, probably five figures as well.

This is a very good chance to extend the gap. Our next four are really kind. But then again we haven't really played that well against the weaker teams this season. It would be nice to see us really go after them.

West Brom away please.

These are a very odd side. They play extremely open football, they allow loads of chances against them but are quite going forward, but they don't actually seem to really pay for it, a bit of a statistical anomaly of a team. This could be a pretty decent game I think. They've only ever won at Leicester once.

I'm fuming we've fallen back into this habit. It's mental

I have to say I am seeing more and more red flags. I hope it's a blip but the truth is I don't think our fans, rightly or wrongly have really bought into us yet as a collective. Now you can say we are top of the league, that is true, but we haven't won it yet and we also, frankly, should be. We have the biggest transfer and wage budget in the division and the best squad. I think when we had 13 wins out of 14 you really couldn't moan much at all. But a run like the last four games has knocked us down to about par for what our resources and squad should really be achieving in my eyes. You do get a sense that results have caught up with performances a bit. I think in the first 5 games (Coventry to Hull) we were ordinary but effective, the next block (Southampton to Swansea) we were very good, winning every game and nearly all by 2+ goals, but from Sunderland to Sheffield Wednesday we've been bang average at best, even for this league, having faced a mix of opposition and two of the worst sides in the division in QPR & Sheffield Wednesday. We have the gap and the advantage, and I think that could well up being the difference between now and the end, but make no mistake the points threshold to get a top two finish this season looks like it will be the highest in the leagues history. It really could take 97 or something to get even 2nd let alone 1st. I still think we will go up but I've definitely reigned in some of what I thought a few weeks ago. The cracks are appearing, and you do wonder if his inexperience may show up somewhat here. It's his first proper test.

Ultimately it's their own fault. They pushed themselves, it wasn't us, Leeds and Burnley.

Chelsea's recruitment has been very hit and miss for years and more miss, so this isn't a huge shock to me that they've bought a dud. I'm surprised at how bad he actually is even despite this. He shouldn't see the pitch before the 75th minute. I think his only discernible strength is attacking the box late and he's not even doing that anymore. Maybe if he comes on late in a game we're chasing against a parked bus he may have a use but beyond that he's hopeless.

?

I still cannot believe we've served that up against a side so utterly dreadful. It's not like they were even good on the night, they were laughably bad for most of the game and we've not beaten them. An absolute crime of a showing from us.

I'm a little bit sympathetic with Mavididi. I think he's one of the biggest victims of our overly controlled build up.

Think we need another midfielder. He's miles off it.

I think this as well. I think a completely conventional system has us batter teams more frequently. I think we're overcomplicating the game and making far harder work of things than is necessary. It's OK when the results are coming, but when they're drying up a bit like the last month it's quite hard to get geed up by. I suppose it's still relative early days, not just for him here but as a manager. But I have to say I'm not blown away by us at all. The results are better than the performances and the results are now starting to catch up with us. Maybe it will pay off in the long run but after how we looked at times in September I'm disappointed with this. How we've served that up against the worst side in the division is mental. Wednesday fans prematch were laughing at the thought of them not getting battered. I think we're playing par for our squad at best. We have an abundance of resources for this division. As kind a set of circumstances as you'll come across.

I can't escape this idea either. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think I am. We are flawed.

It is worse. They have absolutely nothing to celebrate at all. I'm not defending it as it was woeful even compared to the low expectation I had of it but we really have no excuse for being this bad. We have embarrassing support.

I sort of get what you mean. So as in those involved see it as a positive for the reason it helps manufacture entertainment and talking points. Ironic really as one of VAR's original selling points was that it would clear this up We're definitely on the same page so I'm not digging at you. I am genuinely losing the love for football. I find VAR more repulsive and a bigger assault on the game than the money to be honest.

It is genuinely depressing how bad it is. I've got a ticket for Ipswich and I'm really wondering what the hell the point is. What'll the redeeming factor be? Our end is an almost certain chore. If we're no good at West Brom there truly is no hope. Tonight was simply embarrassingly bad. I think our ends are pound for pound the worst of any team I can think of.

Vardy and Iheanacho haven't been good enough but I really don't think this system is much good at all for the striker. We don't create anywhere near enough. The fact we're all pining for Cannon who we've never seen is pretty damning.

Big reaction needed but can't say I'm hopeful.

I think our away ends are pound for pound the worst about. They're just boring.

That was a disgrace.

VAR started out as a shambles and yet the original iteration of it is the best they've managed to achieve yet. It really is quite spectacular how they manage to make it worse every single time they change something with it. The cluelessness was summed up by that whole silly rhetoric of "it will be better if the refs go over and have a look at the monitor" which they decided to start doing and guess what? It got even worse. Their latest suggestions. It's so bad now it's just laughable at this point. You really wonder if they're overreaching now, going so far with the ridiculousness of it that we might finally be able to get rid of it. A year ago I thought we were stuck with this forever but I'm more hopeful now that we may actually get rid of it. I can only assume it's still in place to alienate a particular demographic of fan and turn them away, because it's clearly not for anything beneficial to the experience.