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Thomas Frank - Head Coach

Bullet said:
He swapped the striker (Richie replaced Tel) on 73 so that is straightforward.

Then on 74 he swapped the tiring #10 Xavi for a box to box Sarr to make us more solid as the team would naturally be getting more tired.

Then at 85 he made the big change, brought on a CB and took off the left sided attacker (Danso came on for Odobert)

Then on 90 mins brought on Johnson for Kudus to play on the right side.

I would have liked all of these subs 10 minutes earlier each, but that's just me, I always want to rest players up.

Seeing Palhinha charging around is superb right now, but he needs a bit of resting, he can't do too many 90s.
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It worked and we've gotten into a good habit of not conceding late or turning wins into draws.

The plan of defending through taking off our best technical players to put on more physical and defense first players who lack technical quality I hope is one option out of several. I'm quite glad it mostly happened rather late.

We have been a bit lucky (based on xG, but also just the eye test, we're yet to drop points in games we deserved to win and have edged out several close games). That won't keep happening at the same rate across a season, but I'll definitely take it and hope we can improve our overall level of performance to the level where these results can become sustainable.
 
TF has had quite a good, solid start imo.

But i think the period we have coming up until the next international break is quite tough and will test his squad management and the players to the full. It will probably be a good barometer of what we can expect going forwards.

Upcoming fixtures before the next international break:

Sunday 19th October 2025, PL - Aston Villa (H)
Wednesday 22nd October 2025, UCL - Monaco (A)
Sunday 26th October 2025, PL - Everton (A)
Wednesday 29th October 2025, League Cup - Saudi Sportswashing Machine (A)
Saturday 1st November 2025, PL - Chelsea (H)
Tuesday 4th November 2025, UCL - Copenhagen (H)
Saturday 8th November 2025, PL - Man Utd (H)

I often think the period between the October and November international breaks are possibly the hardest to navigate, if we are in Europe and still in the league cup. I have often felt we really get to know from this period how likely we are to be top 4 and/or challenge for honours. It also seems a period where key injuries seem to come about and bite into the squad.

Fixtures between October and November international breaks. Looking at the last two years:

2023 (Ange's first season, no European or league cup fixtures; NOTE: no league cup ones due to getting knocked out by Fulham in August 2023 on penalties):
Fulham (H): Won 2-0
Crystal Palace (A): Won 2-1
Chelsea (H): Lost 4-1
Wolves (A): Lost 2-1

2024 (Still in Europe and league cup):
PL - West Ham (H): Won 4-1
Europa - AZ Alkmaar (H): Won 1-0
PL - Crystal Palace (A): Lost 1-0
League Cup - Emirates Marketing Project (H): Won 2-1
PL - Aston Villa (H): Won 4-1
Europa - Galatasaray (A): Lost 3-2
PL - Ipswich (H): Lost 2-1

If Frank can navigate this next period of 7 games with at least 4 wins (with one of these being a win in the league up at Saudi Sportswashing Machine) and no more than 1 defeat, i think that we'd probably be doing well.

Thoughts?
 
glorygloryeze said:
TF has had quite a good, solid start imo.

But i think the period we have coming up until the next international break is quite tough and will test his squad management and the players to the full. It will probably be a good barometer of what we can expect going forwards.

Upcoming fixtures before the next international break:

Sunday 19th October 2025, PL - Aston Villa (H)
Wednesday 22nd October 2025, UCL - Monaco (A)
Sunday 26th October 2025, PL - Everton (A)
Wednesday 29th October 2025, League Cup - Saudi Sportswashing Machine (A)
Saturday 1st November 2025, PL - Chelsea (H)
Tuesday 4th November 2025, UCL - Copenhagen (H)
Saturday 8th November 2025, PL - Man Utd (H)

I often think the period between the October and November international breaks are possibly the hardest to navigate, if we are in Europe and still in the league cup. I have often felt we really get to know from this period how likely we are to be top 4 and/or challenge for honours. It also seems a period where key injuries seem to come about and bite into the squad.

Fixtures between October and November international breaks. Looking at the last two years:

2023 (Ange's first season, no European or league cup fixtures; NOTE: no league cup ones due to getting knocked out by Fulham in August 2023 on penalties):
Fulham (H): Won 2-0
Crystal Palace (A): Won 2-1
Chelsea (H): Lost 4-1
Wolves (A): Lost 2-1

2024 (Still in Europe and league cup):
PL - West Ham (H): Won 4-1
Europa - AZ Alkmaar (H): Won 1-0
PL - Crystal Palace (A): Lost 1-0
League Cup - Emirates Marketing Project (H): Won 2-1
PL - Aston Villa (H): Won 4-1
Europa - Galatasaray (A): Lost 3-2
PL - Ipswich (H): Lost 2-1

If Frank can navigate this next period of 7 games with at least 4 wins (with one of these being a win in the league up at Saudi Sportswashing Machine) and no more than 1 defeat, i think that we'd probably be doing well.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I think that would be better than doing well
The reality is we still haven’t hit full stride… although what that is, who knows….

He needs to get the CL wins which are very doable
And in the exaggerated the home form needs working on style wise at least

It already feels like a season with many chances to make a step forward and we have already taken a few of them compared to last
 
glorygloryeze said:
TF has had quite a good, solid start imo.

But i think the period we have coming up until the next international break is quite tough and will test his squad management and the players to the full. It will probably be a good barometer of what we can expect going forwards.

Upcoming fixtures before the next international break:

Sunday 19th October 2025, PL - Aston Villa (H)
Wednesday 22nd October 2025, UCL - Monaco (A)
Sunday 26th October 2025, PL - Everton (A)
Wednesday 29th October 2025, League Cup - Saudi Sportswashing Machine (A)
Saturday 1st November 2025, PL - Chelsea (H)
Tuesday 4th November 2025, UCL - Copenhagen (H)
Saturday 8th November 2025, PL - Man Utd (H)

I often think the period between the October and November international breaks are possibly the hardest to navigate, if we are in Europe and still in the league cup. I have often felt we really get to know from this period how likely we are to be top 4 and/or challenge for honours. It also seems a period where key injuries seem to come about and bite into the squad.

Fixtures between October and November international breaks. Looking at the last two years:

2023 (Ange's first season, no European or league cup fixtures; NOTE: no league cup ones due to getting knocked out by Fulham in August 2023 on penalties):
Fulham (H): Won 2-0
Crystal Palace (A): Won 2-1
Chelsea (H): Lost 4-1
Wolves (A): Lost 2-1

2024 (Still in Europe and league cup):
PL - West Ham (H): Won 4-1
Europa - AZ Alkmaar (H): Won 1-0
PL - Crystal Palace (A): Lost 1-0
League Cup - Emirates Marketing Project (H): Won 2-1
PL - Aston Villa (H): Won 4-1
Europa - Galatasaray (A): Lost 3-2
PL - Ipswich (H): Lost 2-1

If Frank can navigate this next period of 7 games with at least 4 wins (with one of these being a win in the league up at Saudi Sportswashing Machine) and no more than 1 defeat, i think that we'd probably be doing well.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
i think november is going to be tough with chelsea and man U being very intense matches, but we're a bit higher in the table now - so might just see us revert to the norm. if we're top 5 by christmas I think frank is doing very well. was it ferguson who said that Spurs comes down with the "christmas lights" ?

still, its TF's first year and only a handful of matches so far. i will probably have a better feel at the mid way point after seeing us play all teams once. I do look forward to the better quality of depth and expect a better 2nd half of the season with TF well capable of gaining and applying insights from experience
 
glorygloryeze said:
TF has had quite a good, solid start imo.

But i think the period we have coming up until the next international break is quite tough and will test his squad management and the players to the full. It will probably be a good barometer of what we can expect going forwards.

Upcoming fixtures before the next international break:

Sunday 19th October 2025, PL - Aston Villa (H)
Wednesday 22nd October 2025, UCL - Monaco (A)
Sunday 26th October 2025, PL - Everton (A)
Wednesday 29th October 2025, League Cup - Saudi Sportswashing Machine (A)
Saturday 1st November 2025, PL - Chelsea (H)
Tuesday 4th November 2025, UCL - Copenhagen (H)
Saturday 8th November 2025, PL - Man Utd (H)

I often think the period between the October and November international breaks are possibly the hardest to navigate, if we are in Europe and still in the league cup. I have often felt we really get to know from this period how likely we are to be top 4 and/or challenge for honours. It also seems a period where key injuries seem to come about and bite into the squad.

Fixtures between October and November international breaks. Looking at the last two years:

2023 (Ange's first season, no European or league cup fixtures; NOTE: no league cup ones due to getting knocked out by Fulham in August 2023 on penalties):
Fulham (H): Won 2-0
Crystal Palace (A): Won 2-1
Chelsea (H): Lost 4-1
Wolves (A): Lost 2-1

2024 (Still in Europe and league cup):
PL - West Ham (H): Won 4-1
Europa - AZ Alkmaar (H): Won 1-0
PL - Crystal Palace (A): Lost 1-0
League Cup - Emirates Marketing Project (H): Won 2-1
PL - Aston Villa (H): Won 4-1
Europa - Galatasaray (A): Lost 3-2
PL - Ipswich (H): Lost 2-1

If Frank can navigate this next period of 7 games with at least 4 wins (with one of these being a win in the league up at Saudi Sportswashing Machine) and no more than 1 defeat, i think that we'd probably be doing well.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Here's the last 75 matches in October and November, back to 2018.

Played: 75
Won: 43
Win %: 57.33
Drew: 10
Draw %: 13.33
Lost: 22
Loss %: 29.33
Goals For: 141
Goals Against: 100
Goal Difference: 41
Points: 139
Points Per Game: 1.85

CleanShot 2025-10-08 at 11.21.38@2x.jpg
 
Bullet said:
In that case, he will pull up injured and we'll have to do without him for a while.
I would rather he plays 60m each week than 90m and 0m.
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I’d like to think we can trust this manager more than the last to manage the players fitness levels and injury risk
 
glorygloryeze said:
TF has had quite a good, solid start imo.

But i think the period we have coming up until the next international break is quite tough and will test his squad management and the players to the full. It will probably be a good barometer of what we can expect going forwards.

Upcoming fixtures before the next international break:

Sunday 19th October 2025, PL - Aston Villa (H)
Wednesday 22nd October 2025, UCL - Monaco (A)
Sunday 26th October 2025, PL - Everton (A)
Wednesday 29th October 2025, League Cup - Saudi Sportswashing Machine (A)
Saturday 1st November 2025, PL - Chelsea (H)
Tuesday 4th November 2025, UCL - Copenhagen (H)
Saturday 8th November 2025, PL - Man Utd (H)

I often think the period between the October and November international breaks are possibly the hardest to navigate, if we are in Europe and still in the league cup. I have often felt we really get to know from this period how likely we are to be top 4 and/or challenge for honours. It also seems a period where key injuries seem to come about and bite into the squad.

Fixtures between October and November international breaks. Looking at the last two years:

2023 (Ange's first season, no European or league cup fixtures; NOTE: no league cup ones due to getting knocked out by Fulham in August 2023 on penalties):
Fulham (H): Won 2-0
Crystal Palace (A): Won 2-1
Chelsea (H): Lost 4-1
Wolves (A): Lost 2-1

2024 (Still in Europe and league cup):
PL - West Ham (H): Won 4-1
Europa - AZ Alkmaar (H): Won 1-0
PL - Crystal Palace (A): Lost 1-0
League Cup - Emirates Marketing Project (H): Won 2-1
PL - Aston Villa (H): Won 4-1
Europa - Galatasaray (A): Lost 3-2
PL - Ipswich (H): Lost 2-1

If Frank can navigate this next period of 7 games with at least 4 wins (with one of these being a win in the league up at Saudi Sportswashing Machine) and no more than 1 defeat, i think that we'd probably be doing well.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Yeah, tougher period coming up.

In some ways that could suit us, think we're still better set up to play against teams that aren't going to have a primarily defensive focus.

Think I agree on what you think of as doing well over this period. But also want to see some progress in how we play, particularly against a high press. Hopefully we'll also see Simons continuing to settle in and perhaps get a real look at Kolo Muani and perhaps even Solanke.

Personally I also want to see more of Gray and/or Bergvall as one of the deeper two midfielders, but perhaps still to soon for Frank.
 
braineclipse said:
Yeah, tougher period coming up.

In some ways that could suit us, think we're still better set up to play against teams that aren't going to have a primarily defensive focus.

Think I agree on what you think of as doing well over this period. But also want to see some progress in how we play, particularly against a high press. Hopefully we'll also see Simons continuing to settle in and perhaps get a real look at Kolo Muani and perhaps even Solanke.

Personally I also want to see more of Gray and/or Bergvall as one of the deeper two midfielders, but perhaps still to soon for Frank.
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Yeah, fair points.

Out of interest, how did you find our gameplay, particularly forward ball progression, against Leeds?
 
glorygloryeze said:
Yeah, fair points.

Out of interest, how did you find our gameplay, particularly forward ball progression, against Leeds?
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Thought there were improvements. But difficult to know if that was specific to that game or something that will apply to more games.

Quite liked the trio of Kudus, Simons and Odobert. Gave us multiple ways to progress the ball, multiple threats.

But as we've become accustomed to the deep two of Palhinha and Bentancur offer very little in that regard leaving us lacking a ball progression threat through the middle. Think we can live with that, for now at least.
 
I blame this loss on Frank (And I love Frank), Tel is not ready for the PL! Should never start in another PL team and probably not even make the squad. A loan to Netherlands/Championship is what he needs. Odobert looks active but no end product what so ever. Frank needs to start senior players. If we had started with Richy - Muani - Kudus we win this game easy, could have just put crosses in all day towards Richy/Muani, was dangerous every time we put a cross in the end!
 
Stiff_Swede said:
I blame this loss on Frank (And I love Frank), Tel is not ready for the PL! Should never start in another PL team and probably not even make the squad. A loan to Netherlands/Championship is what he needs. Odobert looks active but no end product what so ever. Frank needs to start senior players. If we had started with Richy - Muani - Kudus we win this game easy, could have just put crosses in all day towards Richy/Muani, was dangerous every time we put a cross in the end!
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Muani is only back from injury and not fully fit. GHod knows what condition Richy is in.
 
DubSpur said:
Muani is only back from injury and not fully fit. GHod knows what condition Richy is in.
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If Richy and Muani is not fit for moore than 15 minutes, then I would have played either Brennan or even Lucas as a Striker. Brennan can at least put the ball in the net and Lucas can head a ball and hold of a defender.

Tel is NOT ready for the PL I don't think he is even ready for the Championship, he is a under 21 player, not a senior player!
 
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