Everton Vs. Chelsea, Reaction: >:(
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 4:52 PM GMT
in Chelsea FC: Premier League
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That was complete and utter dross. What more does anyone want to say? Everton were a better team, and we were abysmal. Chelsea did nothing in attack except ping in terrible crosses, the centrebacks were exposed by awful play from the central midfielders and the fullbacks, and it looked like we were playing down a man for more or less the entirety of the second half.
Most of the team completely failed to show up. Fernando Torres was once again complete and utter crap. Juan Mata decided that the aerial route was the way to go for some stupid reason. I don't know what the hell Daniel Sturridge was doing, but despite it being energetic it wasn't particularly useful. Ashley Cole was so bad his injury came as something of a relief (and at least Ryan Bertrand was good).
This isn't acceptable. Dropped points and losses are fine but this sort of performance is not. This was an embarrassment, and if Andre Villas-Boas makes a single peep about how it wasn't a fair result he deserves to be kicked in the nuts repeatedly. You're a motivator, right? So [fun]ing motivate!
2-0. God.
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I agree that if AVB says anything about positives or it being unfair...
…he should be [Fun]ed in the arse with a rusty wolverine on PCP.
Author and Official Fernando Torres Apologist for We Ain't Got No History!
David Luiz was good.
Author and Official Fernando Torres Apologist for We Ain't Got No History!
by Kevin Kostka on Feb 11, 2012 4:56 PM GMT up reply actions
Lost
Everyone just looks lost right now. The players. AVB. Totally overmatched and outworked.
I still don’t understand the lineups, the subs.
For the first time all season, I’m seriously questioning AVB. This isn’t working. I don’t feel like he’s getting it. We could be earning these results with Ancelotti in charge.
exactly. we fired a manager after finishing 2nd for this guy?
by TheColorIsBlue on Feb 11, 2012 5:00 PM GMT up reply actions
We fired a manager for being incapable of enforcing a long term plan for this guy
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:01 PM GMT up reply actions
Let's not pretend that Ancelotti was doing his job either
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:01 PM GMT up reply actions
Ancelotti wasn't even able to spend any money.
He made 2 transfers in his period at Chelsea. David Luiz and Ramires. The other players weren’t even bought by him.
At least with Ancelotti we were defensively much more solid. At the moment our back four is a disaster.
This argument is weird, I think
Who are AVB’s transfers?
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:08 PM GMT up reply actions
Mata and Meireles aree the only ones who look like him
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:08 PM GMT up reply actions
Romeu too!
I think he was trying to sign him for Porto before he came to Chelsea!
by conorjmartin on Feb 11, 2012 9:22 PM GMT up reply actions
Ancelotti was in charge for 4 windows in which we spent over 125 million pounds
He had plenty of money and used it
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 5:19 PM GMT up reply actions
lol he did not bought Torres and Zhirkov
Zhirkov was a recommended signing by Hiddink. Luiz and Ramires were the only signings by Ancelotti.
Keep telling yourself that
Yuri may not have been his idea, but if you think he had nothing to do with Torres you’re just delusional. There was also that Benayoun character…
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 5:24 PM GMT up reply actions
Shrug
We can think whatever we want about who brought in who, but it makes the whole thing a complete nonsense in my opinion. Did AVB WANT Cahill? Lukaku? Are they not his transfers? We can twist that argument however we want to.
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:26 PM GMT up reply actions
Zhirkov was never a signing by Ancelotti. It was recommended by Hiddink to Abramovich. Just look it up. And Torres was a panicbuy by Roman. It was similar to the purchase of Shevchenko.
It doesn't matter
Carlo Ancelotti signed off on both of them, that’s 68 million pounds right there. It really doesn’t matter if they were his first choice or not (and there is no evidence anywhere that he was opposed to either, especially Torres), he still had access to well over one hundred million pounds of players age 23 or over in his two years in charge. To claim that he had no money to work with is ludicrous. 99.9% of managers can stay with a club for 20 years without seeing that much money.
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 5:48 PM GMT up reply actions
Roman owns the club
and when he decides on a player it doesn’t matter what the manager thinks!They weren’t Carlo’s decisions and had he protested against them he would would have been sacked on the spot! As for access to all those players over 23 the problem was that most of them were about 10 years over 23 and despite that he did a hell of a lot better than AVB in those 2 years. Did you forget that one of those 2 years was the most successful in the clubs history!
by conorjmartin on Feb 11, 2012 6:03 PM GMT up reply actions
This is silly logic
So Carlo can’t openly criticize the purchases when he is managing the club, therefore we can assume whatever we want about who he liked and who he didn’t? What evidence is there that he didn’t like or suggest Torres? None. There is absolutely no reason to believe that he was against that in any way, so to pretend that he was is just ridiculous.
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 6:07 PM GMT up reply actions
To be fair there is no concrete evidence to back up what I said!
It is merely my opinion, I do believe that openly criticizing the judgement of the owner would result in the sack since that just appears to me to be kind of person Roman is. The reason I believe he had nothing to do with the Torres signing is the fact that when he arrived Carlo had no idea how to work Torres into the team with Drogba, if he had picked the player surely he would have already had the system in mind!Also I feel you are overly critical of a manager who was very successful with the club!
by conorjmartin on Feb 11, 2012 6:19 PM GMT up reply actions
Was he really that successful though?
Yeah, he won a double the year after Tevez and Ronaldo left United, but I don’t think you can make an argument that we weren’t head and shoulders more talented than the rest of the league that season. We’re on about the same pace as last year to this point under AVB, so to criticize AVB for being less successful than Carlo was with the same team seems kind of silly. AVB is pretty clearly trying to survive this season with what he has and build for the future. It’s painful to watch, but we really need to do it.
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 6:25 PM GMT up reply actions
I think in general he was!
The champions league performances might no have been as good as previous seasons but domestically (a bad run in the middle of last season aside) we did very well under him!He had us scoring for fun in 2010 and even last season we were a win at old trafford away from being top of the league with a couple of games remaining!I certainly don’t think he deserved the sack!
by conorjmartin on Feb 11, 2012 6:32 PM GMT up reply actions
we scored 103 goals in the league alone that season!
Their were quite a few scoring for fun, Lamps Malouda and Kalou contributed a lot of goals that season!
by conorjmartin on Feb 14, 2012 1:24 AM GMT up reply actions
CA's reign reminds me a lot of most of Pat Gillick's teams
If you didn’t know, Pat Gillick was a General Manager in MLB. A GM’s duties is to dealt with acquiring players, building talent through the farm system and in the MLB team, and so on.
Gillick would gut farm systems in an effort for the Major League team to go for a championship. Often, he did a good enough job of putting his team in position to win said championship, but it didn’t work every time. And when he left his post at that team, said team would age and eventually deteriorate without quality reinforcements from the farm system.
CA did a fine job with the talent at the top – but by the middle of second year, those players were overplayed, exhausted, and aging, and Ancelotti had done little to inject youthful talent into the squad. It’s not always strictly a results-based situation; Roman knew that, by the end of last year’s campaign, the window of opportunity had mostly been shut on his current collection of talent. And thus, he did something Ancelotti could not – he moved on.
I think you're selling Gillick quite a bit short
When he left the Phillies they were World Series champs and probably had the best farm system in baseball. Amaro has destroyed that system, but it was nothing short of fantastic when Gillick retired.
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 6:32 PM GMT up reply actions
See: 1995 Toronto Blue Jays, 1999 Baltimore Orioles, 2004 Seattle Mariners
And realize when I say ‘most of Pat Gillick’s teams’, I am referencing three of four.
Seriously...
doubting the so called “tactical genius” starting today…
by prasadkoranne on Feb 11, 2012 5:04 PM GMT up reply actions
But what's AVB's long term plan?
I’m being reactionary right now, but does this look like the formation of a long-term plan?
We’re playing like crap. They need a spark. So we sub in Malouda? We buy Cahill but then don’t play him (even after a solid performance against Man U last week)? Why aren’t we getting our young guys experience AND trying to shake up the mess that this team is right now?
And then, after the De Bruyne buy, his comments about how it wasn’t his purchase? So what IS he doing?
"They need a spark. So we sub in Malouda?"
So we switch to a 4-2-3-1. This is the obvious move to make.
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:09 PM GMT up reply actions
At this point, it's shocking that we aren't starting games in the 4-2-3-1
It’s been our only offensive formation since the start of 2012.
Clearly we need to address the central defense in any formation we play.
I’m actually wondering if David Luiz might make a better defensive midfielder than a central defender. I say that after watching him miss markings in the last couple games. He’s great playing the ball well out of the back, obviously. Problem with that is what we do in the central midfield, with Essien in particular being in a logjam if Luiz made that kind of shift. Plus, with Terry not yet back, we’ve obviously got an issue in the middle in the back. But we need to get Cahill in the lineup to hopefully help clear that up. They apparently had Ivanovic in the middle in the back today. So a 4-2-3-1 MIGHT actually work with Essien and Luiz being the “2” in that formation. So it might be: Cole-Cahill-Ivanovic-Bosignwa in the back (Terry in place of Ivanovic when back); Essien-Luiz; Meireles-Lampard-Mata; (insert striker here).
At striker, we obviously have an issue with Torres not getting the results we expected. Drogba might be a short-term solution, but from the looks of the roster, we don’t seem to have a true striker that can consistently test the keeper in the box. I might also see if Malouda should replace Meireles, but I thought Meireles played well enough today.
Anyway, we need to re-consider both the formation and the issues at hand for the team. My top three issues would be: central defense (marking), midfield turnovers, striker.
by Ed McCutcheon on Feb 11, 2012 9:28 PM GMT up reply actions
A double says he could be trusted to get results
bethher than AVB.
by Mr L Coors on Feb 11, 2012 5:08 PM GMT via mobile up reply actions
I don't really care about results right now, beyond finishing in 4th.
Ancelotti milks the last dregs out of teams on their last legs. That’s what he does. It was great and all when we had enough to win the double, but it’s completely inappropriate for a rebuild.
It turns out that AVB’s happy feeling bullshit is also inappropriate for a rebuild.
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:10 PM GMT up reply actions
Losing hope for AVB?
…… who else is there to replace AVB? Capello? Dear lord…
We really need to learn how to dismantle park the bus teams…. Chels sometimes did better then expected agaisnt teams who wants to attack Chelsea
by Adyatama Sumantri on Feb 11, 2012 5:13 PM GMT up reply actions
I agree that CA never really committed to rebuilding but
that’s because the message from on high was that the pressure was always on. Not to mention how undermined he always was. I blame CA’s behaviour on the board.
He quite rightly felt that he would get the sack if he didn’t get the championship. AVB doesn’t have anywhere near the same amount of pressure and look at what he’s delivering. The guy had a full preseason FFS and ppl still blame the players when he had ALL the time in the world to evaluate them. This should be a transition season, but with AVBs players already in place.
CAs job at Milan in never rebuilding is a testament of that teams own problems rather than him. Milan it’s quite obvious have been getting players on loans, frees or just buying up the tarnished superstars of others. I can’t remember the last time they splashed out big money on a young up and coming player. They don’t have the money to buy AND pay big wages. Hence the misguided Tevez moves.
The board and us all are stuck with AVB for not having trusted CA with a similar transition season. The only way out for me is perhaps for AVB to privately talk to Di Matteo about whatever problems he’s having and perhaps DM could help. As it is I think the guy looks too arrogant to have even bothered listening to anyone. He’s young and wants to show his authority but by God has he gone round things the worst possible way.
by Mr L Coors on Feb 11, 2012 5:30 PM GMT via mobile up reply actions
This just smacks of twisting the facts to suit
Things that go wrong around Carlo aren’t his fault, things that go wrong around AVB are his fault? Come on, that’s unreasonable.
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:31 PM GMT up reply actions
No. I said things had gone right for Carlo and you
Didn’t want to credit him but instead tried to airbrush his credentials. My reply is a rebuttal of that thought.
by Mr L Coors on Feb 11, 2012 6:31 PM GMT via mobile up reply actions
I fully credit Carlo with winning the 09/10 double
That was an amazing performance, and something I’ll always love him for. However, the parameters of the job have now changed, and there is absolutely no reason to think that Carlo was the right man for Chelsea after said change. Defending Carlos rebuilding credentials when he doesn’t actually have any, when we know he was a manager hired for one last hurrah with an aging squad, strikes me as a pretty weak rebuttal.
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 6:36 PM GMT up reply actions
Carlo played the kids a lot more in 10/11 than
I’ve seen at any point this year.
Kakuta 12 Apps 2 assists
Sturridge 21 Apps 4 goals 1 assist
Brouma 7 Apps
Van Aanholt 6 Apps 1 goal
Josh 17 Apps
Carlo’s made mistakes for sure, but a lot less than ppl above him and certainly AVB.
The only thing weak in this argument is your defence of the progress that AVB has made. Stats and facts please.
Carlo did not give the youth more chances than AVB. It actually wasn't even very close when you look at it.
The 5 guys you listed above totaled only 1628 minutes on the pitch for Chelsea between them. Carlo passed out a bunch of meaningless 5 minute cameo’s, nothing more.
So far this season Daniel Sturridge, Oriol, Betrand, Lukaku, and McEachran have totaled 4343 minutes on the pitch in a Chelsea shirt, and we still have 3 months of the season to go. Clearly we’d all like to see a bit more of Bertrand, but to somehow claim that Carlo was more willing to give youth a chance than AVB is ridiculous.
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 12, 2012 3:16 PM GMT up reply actions
And when you consider that we've loaned out most of our near ready players that is quite a feat
Our U21’s on loan have played a total of 13,343 minutes of top flight football so far this season. That’s already double the total minutes our youth received on loan in all of last season. Had AVB kept as many of the youth at Chelsea as Carlo did I think it would be a safe assumption that those minutes would have an even greater divide.
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 12, 2012 6:28 PM GMT up reply actions
Where did you get these playing time minutes from?
It’s a handy stat – would like to keep up to date on it!
Average on-pitch age of squad is significantly lower this year than it was during Carlo's reign
There are your stats and facts
by Graham MacAree on Feb 12, 2012 3:38 PM GMT up reply actions
It's been clear to me he isn't learning
since the days of the 3 subs whatever the score. We could be getting better results if Ancelotti was in charge and not the same. And Ancelotti was frustrating as hell.
AVB doesn’t inspire in anyway. Not with his team selections, his tactics and his substitutions are always deflating. He can’t change a game without subs and that for me was what made me lose faith in him 10 or so matches ago. The worst thing is that he’s ‘confidence’ comes across as arrogance which in itself says that the guys is going to find it hard learning anything.
by Mr L Coors on Feb 11, 2012 5:05 PM GMT via mobile up reply actions
Remember when AVB inherited two teams playing like this, and made them...
…into cohesive teams playing well above their ability?
Author and Official Fernando Torres Apologist for We Ain't Got No History!
Does the Europa League trophy strip managers of man management skills?
Author and Official Fernando Torres Apologist for We Ain't Got No History!
by Kevin Kostka on Feb 11, 2012 5:02 PM GMT up reply actions
Well
I feel like part of it is the willingness of the players to be managed. I sound very AVB apologist in this thread, I know. It isn’t that I am pleased by recent performances or how he is doing with the players while claiming to be able to bring out the best… but the players need to do their part too.
They’re all a part of this clusterfun.
I would generally agree with that
Players need to want to be motivated. Right now, we have the wrong collection of talent at the Bridge.
I'd be ok with Jose, but I'm no longer devoted to him
Guy’s been a huge twat with Real
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:04 PM GMT up reply actions
He's a twat who wins*.
[*Excluding clasicos]
Author and Official Fernando Torres Apologist for We Ain't Got No History!
by Kevin Kostka on Feb 11, 2012 5:05 PM GMT up reply actions
Sure but I'd win most of those games if I were managing Real
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:12 PM GMT up reply actions
He might actually win
Funny how that works when players feel like winning. Of course, the disciplinary record would probably still be as bad.
He might be doing even better
and beating Barca
I have always been a Jose fan
since the night he ran down the touchline at Old Trafford in the CL and ‘ol red-nose got his first taste of defeat at the hands of The Special One….but it wouldn’t be his last, would it??
When I go to the press conference before the game, in my mind the game has already started.
Jose Mourinho
this is disguisting display from Chelsea… we r bad in all departments..motivation, style of play, direction of play… results performance everywhere
by prasadkoranne on Feb 11, 2012 5:08 PM GMT up reply actions
I have absolutely no idea how we haven't solved our biggest problem yet:
Opponents forcing us wide.
They pack the center, forcing us to play in Bosingwa and Cole (who are useless 85% of the time). Then they defend the inevitable shit cross that comes in. Seriously. If you want to keep Chelsea out of your net, just force us wide. How have we not addressed this? Surely someone has seen this.
Well, if there is one thing games like this teach me...
it’s that I rely waaaaay too much on sports to make my life more enjoyable. Well, at least with teams I have supported in other sports, I’ve had my fair share of losing and poor performances, so I am somewhat conditioned. Not that I enjoy losing, but it may do some Chelsea fans some good.
I am not saying that whatever AVB’s plan is for next year is bad… I will say I have absolutely no idea what it is based on anything I’ve seen this season. Every time I think I narrow in on it, I see something totally different. Hopefully it is good and Chelsea see vast improvement and the change in style they’ve been wanting for so long. Don’t agree with bringing back Mourinho… I guess I just don’t see him and Roman doing that whole thing, unless Roman totally bends over. I’m not sure I see that happening. His style has also been the very thing RA has been trying to change since. Whether for the right or wrong reasons, it would be awfully strange to see him waffle on that now.
I mostly don’t understand the reaction of the players… I guess I can’t say what they were really thinking, but man they looked like they just gave up in recent times. What happened to the fighting spirit in the first ManU game and the QPR match? I mean, have some dignity and go out there and try to make something of it, despite whatever happens in the locker room or training grounds!
Well, let's take an account of ourselves....
1. If we’re counting on Malouda to come in and win a game for us all is lost.
2. Bosingwa and Torres might as well play for the opposing teams. They are 100% dead weight.
3. Meireles and Lampard should not be on the field together.
4. Today’s defense was an awful disaster. But when two of your defenders are worthless and a third tries to do too much to compensate (Ivano) there are bound to be problems.
I would like Chelsea to make life more enjoyable too at the moment. Right now it’s precious time wasted.
by ososdeoro on Feb 11, 2012 7:04 PM GMT up reply actions 1 recs
AVB appears to agree
Andre Villas-Boas: ‘Today was one of our worst games this season, in every sense of the word. We are short of anything positive.’
This is the ridiculousness of Chelsea fans
Bertand was good? I understand the frustration with the old guard, but every touch by a younger player is met with “oh, he’s amazing”. Bertrand was not good. He had a few crosses in the box, one was good. He gave the ball away horribly and we were lucky that it didn’t lead to another goal. Cole has had two terrible games in a row, but has been the second best Chelsea player at setting up goals this year with 6 assists. He’s played well in most games.
If you think Cole's been good this year, you're hilariously wrong
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:13 PM GMT up reply actions
I never said he's been good.
But he’s had a lot of good games. Bertrand has had zero good games in his career. I just can’t stand this wishful thinking about younger players. Cole is simply a much better player than Bertrand.
bertrand has
he was excellent against liverpool in the carling cup
by blue_is_the_colour on Feb 11, 2012 5:18 PM GMT up reply actions
No, he wasn't.
He was fine but Chelsea lost 2-0. This is exactly the type of nonsense I am talking about. The “every young player is excellent” stuff.
Umm..no
But you don’t play an excellent game as a defender and lose 2-0.
You do if you're a left back
And they score twice through the right wing :P
by Chelsea-Steeler on Feb 11, 2012 5:24 PM GMT up reply actions
I watched the game
As I always do and Bertrand was fine but Cole has had many games that good. It’s this positive spin on every young player and a negative one on the older players.
Cole has been appalling this season
Bertrand isn’t ready either. How is this difficult to grasp?
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:30 PM GMT up reply actions
No he hasn't
He’s made about 3 horrible defensive plays that have led directly to goals (but every Chelsea defender has) and the last two games it looks like he hasn’t cared but he’s created a lot of goals for Chelsea.
I mean, I don't much care if you disagree with me
But holding this line and then calling me ridiculous is highly amusing
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:34 PM GMT up reply actions
Stats don't lie
Cole has created many goals this year. Everyone here loves Luiz going forward, you know how many assists he has this year? 1. You know how many goals have been his fault? No idea, but it’s many.
Hah
You know what? You’re an idiot. Don’t fucking lecture me about statistics
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:36 PM GMT up reply actions
I am not lecturing you
I’m just showing you what an idiot you are.
And anyone else acting like a complete fuck is getting the same treatment
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 5:40 PM GMT up reply actions
I'm not even upset at the game
I’m upset by some of the people commenting on here. There’s a reason I’ve been staying away from the gamethreads, and when those people start insulting Graham or myself for trying to step back and take a reasonable viewpoint they are going to be banned.
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 6:01 PM GMT up reply actions
agreed
toronto, u dont know shit, stop being stupid
by blue_is_the_colour on Feb 11, 2012 6:03 PM GMT up reply actions
And just lines before you said a player who played in a match
that his team lost can’t be a good defender. Now in your own defense for Ashley Cole, you withdraw your very own argument before you’ve used against Bertrand. That’s amusing
Tor ilisar'thera'nal!
Yes, he has.
And the anti-Cole stuff is ridiculous. He has 6 assists for a reason. Mata has 8, Lampard has 4. No other Chelsea player has more than 2 which is a huge problem. Cole is one of the onle Chelsea players that has consistently produced. ( Up until his terrible last 2 games.) and one of only 2 Chelsea players that can pass.
I don't know what you've been watching
Ashley Cole has been mostly terrible so far this season. Judging him as a quality player based on having 6 assists is just silly. How many individual errors has he had thus far that led directly to goals? How many wasted crosses? How many times has he blown the line and played a player on?
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 5:33 PM GMT up reply actions
I think 3
Individual errors but which defender hasn’t? Terry certainly has. Luiz has been much worse. Bosingwa is worse. 6 assists on a team that can’t pass means something. Chelsea’s biggest problem is a lack of ability to create opportunities and Cole is one of only a few players who can do that.
Jose Bosingwa has created four goals
He’s great!
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:36 PM GMT up reply actions
3 goals
And he’s been worse defensively than Cole.
Oh, I forgot, stats don't lie
Except for the one that says Jose Bosingwa wasn’t responsible for Neil Taylor’s own goal two weeks ago.
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:40 PM GMT up reply actions
He's our best left back...
This goes into my things I never thought I would type file.
by ChelseaMariner on Feb 11, 2012 5:38 PM GMT up reply actions
I'm sorry..
You think Bosingwa who has been horrible all year, is Chelsea’s best LB? Why? Because he didn’t suck there for one game?
Its more tongue in cheek,
But has played there twice this season and they were his best performances!
by ChelseaMariner on Feb 11, 2012 5:42 PM GMT up reply actions
why are u here toronto?
did ur parents give you permission to use the computer of something? cos the things you say are absolutely childish and stupid
by blue_is_the_colour on Feb 11, 2012 6:07 PM GMT up reply actions
haha
i love chirping people on the internet:) but ill stop now:)
by blue_is_the_colour on Feb 11, 2012 6:09 PM GMT up reply actions
just curious...
I believe any one who gets banned will simply create a new ID and start posting again…Do we record IP address or something to stop this from happening ??
dont ban me please
haha i was just foolin:)
by blue_is_the_colour on Feb 11, 2012 6:18 PM GMT up reply actions
A laser with memory so to speak
But that’ll be probably useless against people with dynamic IPs … but better than nothing
Tor ilisar'thera'nal!
Ehh
people have lots of emails. Less mobiles. But if someone tries so hard to make a new ID and subscribe just to continue trolling, then they have a pretty sad life.
And if they keep acting like a douche
It doesn’t take much effort to hit the ban button again
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 6:49 PM GMT up reply actions
Cole has kept too many players onside this season, that much is true.
Even today, I think I saw he did that at least once. Seemed to me that he was way too tentative about keeping the line in the back. But maybe that’s just that one play……
by Ed McCutcheon on Feb 11, 2012 9:45 PM GMT up reply actions
Fine. Let's keep playing the Old Guard. Everything will be fine if they play.
P.S. Can Bertrand still be classified as a “young player”? He’s 22, just like Danny. None of us have any problems with Danny playing.
Big difference
Sturridge went to Bolton and played well last year. He showed that he is a Premiership-calibre player. Bertrand played 19 games for Nottingham Forrest and has not shown that he is a Premiership calibre player.
but he hasnt
he played 1 game, had 1 good game, and 0 bad games
by blue_is_the_colour on Feb 11, 2012 5:20 PM GMT up reply actions
not enough information that
but Cole wasnt good this year defensively, still better the bosfuckingwa
And he is gonna continue to have 0 good games
Unless he gets to play. Young player are never going to get to a level where they can play for Chelsea if they continue to sit on the bench and play for the reserves. They need to play games for Chelsea even guys that go on loan and play really well like Sturidge did last season come back and don’t look like they are gonna get to play, the amount of talk about selling Sturidge in the summer was amazing and he has been probably our best forward together with Mata
by michaelkhan3 on Feb 11, 2012 8:35 PM GMT up reply actions
A. Cole's Cross is shite tru dat
Other than his cross, his runs and position was good, but the end result is shite
by Adyatama Sumantri on Feb 11, 2012 5:17 PM GMT up reply actions
Cole did not have 20 crosses
He had maybe 2 or 3. Chelsea played, as they often do, up the right and it wasn’t until about the 50th minute they went down the left. Also, comparing a normal run of play in a game with a frantic last-ditch effort to score is ridiculous.
If by your title you mean your own post
shows the ridiculousness of Chelsea fans…
Cole has hardly been that good. He set his own standards. Bertrand barely gets minutes and didn’t do too poorly today considering that. No one is saying he was a savior… they are simply thinking he played better than Cole today.
He wrote "Bertrand was good"
and he wasn’t. Had Cole made that giveaway in his own zone the same people heaping praise on Bertrand would be yelling to get rid of Cole.
In comparison with the other players today?
Bertrand was good. Sure… in a game where everyone may have been performing, Bertrand might be slaughtered for a giveaway… but I dare you to count the giveaways that more senior players had today.
Good isn’t great. There is a difference.
Yes, but good still means something
And Bertrand wasn’t good. We didn’t have a single player whose play can be catagorized as “good” today.
Fair enough
but using Cole as your defense of that was maybe your own doing in. You could have just pointed to Bertrand’s mistakes and maybe have been taken more seriously. And not said that fans were ridiculous for thinking he was better than Cole on the day.
Wow.
Maybe you were watching the 2008 highlights? (Or something) :P
by Chelsea-Steeler on Feb 11, 2012 5:17 PM GMT up reply actions
Jose....
…anyone else remember what it was like when losing a game was so suprising you kept checking the Sky Sports site because you just KNEW it was a mistake??
Yep
And there’s no reason that shouldn’t still be true
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:17 PM GMT up reply actions
Probably worse
We all know how Mou is with the Press.
wrong..
he deflected media attention away from the players on purpose. You think they didn’t appreciate that??
Sometimes I believe people overanalyze
what he did sometimes. Maybe that was his plan, but making a bad name for yourself to save the name of your player can only work for so long. At the rate that individual players in this team have been getting negative media attention, he’d be making himself out to be a total ass. Funny, because that perception is already started in Madrid for his famous “deflections”. Not sure how much it has been helping his team there.
Sorry
…but the press loved this guy because he understood they had a job to do. The negative media attention the players have gotten would have been far, far less. It isn’t WHAT they’ve done, it’s the obvious attempt to sweep it under the rug that pisses-off the media. That is a club/manager philosophy that SEEMS like the right thing to do by idiots who don’t understand how the game is played. Why the hell do you suppose this Luiz/Evra and Terry/Ferdinand grown into the overiding story of the PL season?? Because everyone wants to take the politically correct course bullshit and nothing and I mean NOTHING ever gets resolved that way.
I think those situations got overblown in the media
because the media sucks. Not because the manager is supposed to go out and do shit to distract them from his players. How about our players just own up to their shit sometimes? Not saying they deserve the media crucifixion, but I just don’t believe it is AVB’s job to say some other stupid crap to prevent them from talking about it. People with any sense ignore the media and all their load of crap. I’d like to hope the players could be mentally strong enough to do so as well. It’s the media that is the enemy in this battle your discussing… not the manager.
Clearly didn't follow Jose's time here
He didn’t “say some other stupid crap” as you choose to describe it. He changed the subject matter entirely. Let me clue you in on the smartest thing ever said in a political campaign to Bill Clinton “if you’re explaing, you’re losing.” Now, the next time you see AVB trying to “explain” what caused CFC’s latest humiliating endevour, see if you can pick out the point he starts “losing”. If you want to see a master at work, google Hillary Clinton + vast right-wing conspiracy. Jose didn’t say “stupid crap” he changed the subject, changed the headlines, and finally changed the perceptions of the masses to benefit his club/players.
When I go to the press conference before the game, in my mind the game has already started.
Jose Mourinho
True
I didn’t. And I should be fair and say the quotes I had seen from his time at Chelsea may have been taken out of context. But comparing him to politicians, regardless of whether it is an accurate assessment, is hardly inspiring me to start looking up the full press conferences and history of events at the time.
I have seen some more of what he does at Madrid, and I just don’t always care for it. If you’re going to continue to believe he hasn’t changed somewhat in the last few years since leaving Chelsea, then go ahead. I say that if he returns, I don’t know that Terry’s situation would have been handled any better. Nor would it really have to be, because it isn’t the manager’s job to interfere with a case gone to court. I guess I just don’t see Mourinho’s subject changing in the media as making Terry’s case go away in the locker room and in training. Not to mention in Terry’s life. You seem to underestimate the English Media’s love of talking about Terry’s faults no matter what.
Sorry
but top European football is all about money and politics. BTW, it wasn’t a press conference, it was a sitdown with the Today show. Think of Hillary as the manager and Bill as JT. That is how you control the media. Because if you don’t control them, they will control you and you team.
When I go to the press conference before the game, in my mind the game has already started.
Jose Mourinho
If the media controls Chelsea's players
we have bigger problems then reaching the top 4. That would just be buying into the very slop they sell. Chelsea has won despite the media’s blasting in the past, without Mourinho on board.
You and I will just have to agree to disagree. And the press conferences I was referring to were those that Jose Mourinho held.
Top of the table
still can’t beat Barca in a match. And I am referring to individual incidents… Pepe has hardly gotten less violent on the pitch. Players like that aren’t helped by Mourinho’s poking coaches in the eye and crap.
I feel like Real go and win despite his sometimes troubled antics… not because of them. Such is the quality of Real’s squad.
I'm sorry
I couldn’t read anything past “still can’t beat Barca in a match”…..really?!?!? You think that makes Barca feel better…or worse?? Do you think he was hired to beat Barca in head to head matches or to actually win the league? You cannot be serious. I want you to pay reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllll close attention as the greatest manager in sports today gets Real Madrid to win their league and the CL. Then you can try to come up with more pathetic attempts to denigrate the accomplishments of the Special One….good luck!!
When I go to the press conference before the game, in my mind the game has already started.
Jose Mourinho
I dont root for Barca or Real
I just clearly don’t feel that Mourinho is the greatest manager ever, and I don’t agree that Chelsea’s problems would be instantly fixed by him.
You’ve made quite clear how much you love the guy… have fun with that and with watching Real.
I don't watch
Porto, Inter, or Madrid. I watch the Chelsea Football Club because that’s the club I choose to support in ‘99. I’ve lived through Vialli, Renari, that effin ghoul in black, Scolari, the grey Guus, Carlo “the over 30 I trust” Ancelotti, and finally Andreas Villas-Bore-us. I own a Gudjohnsen away CL jersey that is still the best one we’ve ever had. If you have never experienced what it’s like to support a team that is all on the same page, fighting for one cause, and in total belief that they will not lose control of any match they play in, then I understand your reluctance to embrace JM. It didn’t matter if we lost a game, because everone knew why we lost and how it would be corrected and you know what…it was corrected the next time we played.
When I go to the press conference before the game, in my mind the game has already started.
Jose Mourinho
I remember those days
They were incredible.
However, I think that aura will be impossible to replicate, even if Jose comes back. Real aren’t like that, Inter weren’t like that…
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 8:04 PM GMT up reply actions
Thanks for your credentials
I needed those to believe you watch Chelsea, too. Not. I believe your a Chelsea fan… I just believe you are a bit more of a “Chelsea under Mourinho” fan and not yet prepared to let go of that.
I have watched teams that are awesome… I’ve liked managers… I’ve also had to unfortunately learn to let go of some of them and see through some change. I have to do it with my favorite team right now (different sport). And while I loved their previous manager dearly and I loathe the one coming in, I understand that bringing back the old manager doesn’t fix what happened.
Your posts just come across as being unsupportive of AVB solely because you compare him with JM at Chelsea. You seem to not take into account the task at hand, and the constraints have changed. JM inherited good players, and bought some more. AVB doesnt have that same luxury. I also disagree that AVB’s handling of the press is what’s causing the shitshow we sometimes get to witness. I don’t agree with everything he says in his conferences, but I don’t think there are some situations that would be fixed by pulling a Mourinho.
But whatever.. this is getting useless. I dont worship Mourinho, and I’m not going to anytime soon. And unless he comes back and actually whips Chelsea into some fabulous long-term thing, I’ll stand by my belief that I don’t think he could right now.
Boo me
By AVB not inheriting good players, I should clarify and say he didnt inherit them in their prime. Clearly Chelsea has talent on paper.
I think the only thing left to do is follow Jose around and wait for him to fully digest his meals
Because clearly, the man shits gold.
This made me chuckle
much needed today, thank you.
I don't get it....
you eat gold or shit?? Well, to each his own, I guess…
When I go to the press conference before the game, in my mind the game has already started.
Jose Mourinho
Ironically we had the exact same players at that time
Most of them were still good then
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 5:17 PM GMT up reply actions
I remember 2005/2006
when we lost at OT the Sky commentator screamed in joy (!!) “Chelsea have finally been beaten!!!!self OLOLOLO”
Tor ilisar'thera'nal!
Aww, C'mon guys lets look at the positives!
Atleast Torres got a shot on target (even though it was a header)But that’s a start right?
And another one
that was blocked (have no idea if it was anywhere on target though).
Just got pissed that he didnt shoot in other places where he totally should have. My head is done in by it, really.
time for change.
i don’t care if bertrand make a couple of mistakes, he put in a better cross that cole. so he’s in.
lukaku made a good chance, and he’s younger than the equally effective torres. so he’s in. sturridge would be the pick of the bunch though i guess, at leats give him a chance down the middle… then play, god forbid, kalou on the right. at least give it a go.
lampard and meireles are real problems but we don’t really have replacements (josh mceachran aside), we need ramires back like no-ones business.
No love on Capello?
Well you know he’s available.. and we’ve lost hope on AVB.. sooo…
Shit I don’t know what to do?!
by Adyatama Sumantri on Feb 11, 2012 5:18 PM GMT reply actions
Oyea! Let's go for Guus!
I wonder what Roman’s thinking rite now
by Adyatama Sumantri on Feb 11, 2012 5:22 PM GMT up reply actions
No
I cannot imagine the man wants any part of dealing with the FA ever again. Why do people believe he’d want back in England? The guy hasn’t bothered to really learn English in the past 4 years… doesn’t seem much like he envisions a future there.
Is it that...
AVB speaks too ‘intelligently’ for players to understand? His press conferences show that he can easily toy with words and that can even the best guys go nuts. I can’t believe how poor we have become. It’s just depressing to watch.
I remember when AVB just toyed with our formation mid-game in the earlier part of the season, all that seems just a distant memory. He could’ve spent on players this January, with Wilian ready to come, but he did not. I wish we would’ve overspent and brought in Modric (understanding it’s not good for the long run), but hey, this team is just so, so mundane!
by Abhijit Sawarkar on Feb 11, 2012 5:25 PM GMT reply actions
i can surely say our midfield is one of the worst in the league
by mr.chelsea on Feb 11, 2012 5:26 PM GMT up reply actions 1 recs
Agreed
Everyone seems to have lost their abilities. Juan mata out in such great crosses and freekicks against ManU, today he was just oridnary. it’s just that the entire team has gone from being brilliant to pathetic.
by Abhijit Sawarkar on Feb 11, 2012 5:29 PM GMT up reply actions
We don't seem to deal with defeat
or rather, just the feeling of being beat (whatever the result) all that well. I’d expect these guys to be professionals at the least and make a bit more effort on the field. At best, I’d expect them to act like they care beyond it being just a job, but that might be asking a lot.
Exactly!
Chelsea in the past few years have been a time with many leaders. JT, Drogba, Ballack you name them. They could carry the team on their own. Now, we just don’t know what’s happening! After that 5th minute goal, it was as if we had resigned ourselves to defeat!
AND, i can’t believe i’m saying this, AVB seems to be a pale copy of Wenger, who can’t do anything on the field to motivate his team. Yikes.
by Abhijit Sawarkar on Feb 11, 2012 5:40 PM GMT up reply actions
I think he definitely has trouble with motivating them
not sure how much of that is on him, and how much is on the players. Players sing his praises from past teams, about his motivational qualities. DL believes in him a lot. Some of the others seem to struggle with getting on board, though.
I feel like they were pretty excited in the pre-season… they were on board for it. Then QPR happened and their confidence went to shit. Don’t know why, because the reason we lost that match wasn’t due to tactics. They seemed to use the Arsenal match as an excuse that the style they were playing totally doesn’t work, and just decided to half-ass from then on out. It’s strange to me that we started quite well in scoring with AVB’s desired plans taking affect, and then when we stopped doing that as much, we started caving and handing out draws like it was our job.
Oh...
should note that then we returned to the comfort zone, for much of the older players… and while we may have gotten a couple of wins that way, I’d hardly say it was consistently good. And sure enough, that shows exactly why a longer term plan and maybe a change of style is so needed. Chelsea can’t sit back and rely on the old guard and old style forever. Something’s gotta give.
True!
Arsenal was a disaster, but because our players just aren’t suited to play the way AVB wants. something has got to give, as you say, and this time it has to be off loading the old guard, or smacking them in the face.
by Abhijit Sawarkar on Feb 11, 2012 5:58 PM GMT up reply actions
The older players are the ones that seem to struggle with getting on board, honestly
Well, them and Torres, but I doubt Jesus himself could motivate Torres into shooting the damn ball at this point.
We see how well Swansea move the ball
and their players are less “talented”. Is this AVB’s fault or the players?
I dunno...
what goes on in the training sessions, or what style AVB wants the players to stick to. I personally think AVB is confused himself.
by Abhijit Sawarkar on Feb 11, 2012 5:33 PM GMT up reply actions
i know that this guy doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to FFP, but still
Phil Arundell on Twitter: “I’ve spotted Chelsea’s cunning plan – you don’t have to worry about UEFA financial fair play rules if you’re not in Europe.”
Thought of that
only Europa League is managed by them too, no? And if they spend like mad to get back into CL, then they fahk themselves for the years where the financial stuff starts becoming more and more difficult to meet.
yeah...
I think he’s aware of that. I think you are reading 4th when you should be reading 6th. As in we ain’t getting to the top 6 spots…
I gather it's just one day in the sport
But Newcastle are losing, and Liverpool lost. I’m not losing hope on trying to stick it out for the top 4 yet, much less top 6. Things happen… like our team could suddenly decide to show their on-paper quality again.
Goodness I am glad I only committed to being a fan this year… seems to have done me a world of good not to think it is the end of the world if Chelsea don’t make top 4. Would suck, but would hardly damn the club into the Championship or whatever.
No need to lose hope on a top 4 finish yet!
Sure we aren’t playing well but our competition for 4th is Arsenal, Newcastle and Liverpool- its not like any of those teams are any good either!
by conorjmartin on Feb 11, 2012 11:21 PM GMT up reply actions
I wonder what will happen if we lose on Tuesday
Roman might lose it.
Oh My
Iv had enough – i don’t care about losing but just watching Chelsea play is awful
i want to see Kalou back in the starting line up with Drogba i dont want to see Lampard anywhere near the starting line up – I want Cahil back at CB with Luiz i want to see the boss which is Ivan back at RB. i dont want to see Raul giving the ball away in midfield. I would like to see a decent formation for once. This 4-3-3 is’nt working and hasnt been since the start of the league. Iv had enough of waiting the whole week to watch Chelsea play like that. why isnt Piazon on the field, why isnt Lukaku starting each week? iv had enough of Torres. If we dont make it into the Champions league im not buying next years kit.
by adam.hinchcliffe on Feb 11, 2012 5:34 PM GMT reply actions
Piazon
not sure why Piazon was moved up to 1st team only to not get any time, they need to give the kid a shot. And Sturridge without Ramires isnt the same. AVB needs to do what a coach does and put the team in the best position to win, not keep trying the same and hoping for something different
by JCP17 on Feb 11, 2012 5:56 PM GMT via Android app up reply actions
Piazon was moved up because we didn't have enough players to make a bench
This was pretty obvious from the beginning. He’s nowhere near ready.
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:57 PM GMT up reply actions
2 up now
Never wanted Spurs to win so badly, lol. Looks like it could well happen, but we never know.
Please god pls....
Kick newcastle n liverpool n arsenal out of race for 4th spot (& keep us in 4th)… I dont have enough faith in current system at chelsea
Well
Here’s a statement that shows your colors. Like Mourinho needs to have any more smoke blown up his arse.
by alynne4307 on Feb 11, 2012 5:41 PM GMT up reply actions 1 recs
Pep has destroyed God on many occasions.
by Valens on Feb 11, 2012 5:44 PM GMT up reply actions 1 recs
If God is Mourinho
does that make Pep the devil? Just going for analogies here.
And they're trying to run him out of town
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:44 PM GMT up reply actions
Rubbish performance
Was very frustrated and disappointed at how the team played. Slow in every aspect, don’t even look ready to COMPETE. Face it, Everton wanted the game more, we all know that.
If AVB gets sacked, it would be fine by me, after supporting him as a manager for so long.
He seems to be losing his tactics also.. everyone knows the 4-2-3-1 works so much better for us, but game after game, all we see is 4-3-3, 4-3-3. Only against united have I saw a 4-2-3-1.
The full backs are literally useless, not able to stop players, much more, cross. I’ve no idea why Cahill doesn’t start, as it will clearly be better with Cahill at CB then Ivanovic at RB. AVB needs to stop putting his fellow Portuguese in, after continuous disappointment.
The midfield is plain slow, and lack creativity, except for that moment of inspiration from Essien where he put Mata through, who then pulled it back but Lampard somehow didn’t want to sweep it with his right foot, instead, poke it with his left.
The forwards were worst, Torres looks like he’s lost and as usual, not confident of himself. Sturridge looks like he’s in for dance class instead of the football match.
We lost tactically and mentally. Made a fool out of ourselves and I really wonder how we are still in the top 4. Won’t be surprised to see us missing out European football like Liverpool. Then it just keeps going downhill.
Iv got a feeling we will end up 6th.
But we will win the Champions league and will be still in it next year — One can only hope because we wont make top 4 at this rate!
by adam.hinchcliffe on Feb 11, 2012 5:42 PM GMT up reply actions
Few years ago we were competing toe to toe with Barca
Something went terribly wrong. I don’t know what it is but let’s not blame it all on AVB. Carlo had something like 9 games without a W last year and the only reason we finshed 2nd was because the rest of the league turned to crap.
"Walter is a quality 2nd receiver. Jacoby is so bad that the two of them together is less than just Walter by himself." -Toolshed1
That WAS wierd.
"Walter is a quality 2nd receiver. Jacoby is so bad that the two of them together is less than just Walter by himself." -Toolshed1
by RocketsAstros on Feb 11, 2012 6:09 PM GMT up reply actions
Holy shite
Roman has nothing on some of you guys. Waiting forever for AVB? Supporting him for so long? Shit… it hasn’t even been a full season yet. You can be upset with the results and his management, but calling for him to get fired hardly guarantees improvement. If AVB is gonna hang himself, let him do it… but give him the full season to do it, at least.
by alynne4307 on Feb 11, 2012 5:44 PM GMT reply actions 1 recs
Well it's all hindsight and everything
so I won’t use it as an argument for or against – but in hindsight it seemed getting rid of Scolari with Guus taking over the rest of the season wasn’t necessarily the worst thing
Tor ilisar'thera'nal!
Because...
AVB is the man to take us forward. Just wind back to when he was signed and you know he is brilliant. his teams play the way everyone loves to watch. AND i personally have had enough of us just firing managers. We NEED to put faith in him, this is the not the season to judge him. Next season would be!
by Abhijit Sawarkar on Feb 11, 2012 5:53 PM GMT up reply actions
Naw, we need to keep firing managers. They're the problem. How can AVB
NOT win every game with such an awesome squad?
Exaclty what has made you so delusional that we'll be better next year?
Have we completely changed our formation, and we require a season to adjust.Or are we giving youngsters playing time so we’l be better off next season? What’s the point of buying youngsters and then sending them off on loan?
Not fair to say what happens next year
nor call someone delusional for believing it could be better. Clearly there seems a better defined plan for that then there does this season, and there is a summer transfer window with contracts coming up.
Delusional...
is the wrong word. I just believe that AVB and Chelsea have the capability to turn things round for the better, the much better. Many youngsters have gotten playing time, but yes, not enough. That does not mean we will be poor next season. The point of buying youngsters and sending them off to loan is answered by your question itself, they wouldn’t have gotten enough playing time with us. Atleast on lon they lay as regular starters for the 1st team.
And, our squad id NOT awesome. Face it. Malouda to be a back up? Sub standard. Remember when we had Ballack, or Joe Cole (before his injury)?
by Abhijit Sawarkar on Feb 11, 2012 6:04 PM GMT up reply actions
Exactly my point...
“Trigger happy” is a term that applies just as much to some fans as people claim it applies to the owner. People ought not to pretend like Roman is the only one happy to move managers around on a total whim. Probably about high time it stops and fans stop looking for instant fixes that don’t always fix (Torres transfer anyone?)
Should be more
This is a lolfest by Newcastle
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:51 PM GMT up reply actions
If we'd bought Modric we'd be in second
And no, the failure to move cost him several million pounds
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:53 PM GMT up reply actions
The defense hasn't been close to as bad as United's
Individual fuck ups aside it’s been pretty solid.
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 5:58 PM GMT up reply actions
OUr main defensive problem is actually in the transition
We lose possession really fast in our third of the pitch. Modric would fix that.
Also Spurs would be awwwwful without him
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 5:58 PM GMT up reply actions
They wouldn't solve the defensive problems
an Essien-Ramires double pivot probably would though
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 6:03 PM GMT up reply actions
He said "defensive problem". We still have offensive problems. Like no
creativity besides Mata. Here is where Hazard and Moura come in.
I wonder about that
I don’t object because it means Torres goes… but I don’t know that Falcao is the answer. I feel like Chelsea could do better in the striker buying department… maybe someone that has Falcao’s good features, but a bit more well rounded. Who knows, though, AVB may be able to have him adapt and learn more than what all he does now.
On the Torres front, not that anyone cares… I must be the only person that doesn’t think that sending him back to Atletico is the answer for him. Of course, like I said, if he is gone, Chelsea fans won’t care. So that is sort of my point against the random folks that always say this will help him improve- going back to a club that expected too much of him, and only really got good performances. People saying the EPL isn’t for him forget that his best years were in it. Not in Spain.
Talking about buying strikers..
Is it a good idea to buy a striker and build a team around him or buy a striker later on when we had our formation/style/first team ready ??
You buy a striker that fits the mould of the style you want
There are other positions that need sorted too, in order to get the style you want, but you buy ALL players for building the team around the way you want to play. Some folks say that teams that have done well with certain strikers have bought the team that suits them… I dunno that that is always the case. That also requires a lot of spending.
I’ll use Torres and Chelsea as an example, because apparently I like doing that. Now, it was a weird purchase from the start because he fit Chelsea’s style so poorly. But, if I’d called for players to be bought that suit his style, it’s less because of his style, and more because I thought the Torres purchase was an indication that Chelsea wanted to change attacking styles. It’s looking pretty evident that the style they’re going for never did and never would be the style he was known for, so he needs a new team and Chelsea a new striker. Unless he magically changes, but it doesn’t look like it will happen. Chelsea has attributes it seems to require of a striker that aren’t really that of Drogba or Torres, at the moment. They sort of need something all together different. Maybe some weird mix?
This isn’t so much an argument of buying a striker first or last… just that your striker is one piece of a puzzle and that all players should be bought with that puzzle in mind, whatever the order. If that makes any sense.
Because we can outplay teams willing to attack
We just can’t break down 10 in the box
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 5:53 PM GMT up reply actions
Because we can outplay teams willing to attack
We just can’t break down 10 in the box
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 5:54 PM GMT up reply actions 1 recs
Not if anyone has been watching us
It’s painfully obvious that defending deep and countering is going to beat or draw us every time
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 5:56 PM GMT up reply actions
Been thinking...
…the same for quite sometime now. And, if we don’t get our youth system right, we may end up being another arsenal, great youngsters, who just fail to mature. Those who do are bought off. Not saying it would happen, but if we seem so lost at the moment that we tend to be picking up on others’ mistakes and implementing them. Sad thing to say, maybe i’m just too depressed :/.
by Abhijit Sawarkar on Feb 11, 2012 6:46 PM GMT up reply actions
In that regard Europa might even be a blessing for a season
It would certainly give us at least 6 more games to break in some youngsters that we’d otherwise be loaning out. Financially it would hurt, but Lukaku, Josh, Kakuta, and Bert would certainly have more chances.
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 6:51 PM GMT up reply actions
confused about this team
OMG How are they playing..even our local team over here play better than them….AVB doesent know what he is doing..He isn’t able to decide correct subs and yet he is managing one of the top sides…Earlier had a lot of faith on him..But now as the season goes on, I think with AVB its not going to happen..If he goes, who is the replacement….clueless…Though Hiddink was good, I dont think he is the right person for 2-3 years..totally clueless..Even if Guardiola comes and loses some matches, he would be sacked..At this point of time No manager is good for chelsea..
Well whatever the result is, im just disagree to sack AVB right now.
We need long term rejuvenating phase. Chelsea just looked like this last year when we lost so many games ; we looked clueless. At that time i feel the old guards are just DONE. We need maybe more than a season to make us the top contender again in Europe. And to sack AVB now will only halt the rebuilding process.
What's the point?
We’ll just buy promising star and then loan them out. Just like Courtois, De Bruyne, Bruma, Van Aanholt and Kakuta? Or never play them like Lukaku, Bertrand and McEachran.
Is your point...
that had these guys been with us this season, we could’ve been top or much better off at the moment? Just curious…
by Abhijit Sawarkar on Feb 11, 2012 6:16 PM GMT up reply actions
Very wELL...
See, the thing is, every team has an age, rather a period in which it performs fantastically. But then it starts to drop off, and that is when youngsters need to be bled, so that they can take over the mantle. Our team’s peak is behind, and we are late on the youth front as well. That’s what’s the problem.
Maybe it’s the result of we having spent lavishly on great players and then relaxed as they performed. but we can’t always buy, it’s not a sustainable business. This phase was going to come, and it just represents transition. So lets just accept it and criticise about fair stuff. Loaning is going to continue even when we are performing fabulously. Just chill!!
by Abhijit Sawarkar on Feb 11, 2012 6:26 PM GMT up reply actions
You wanted all our super young buys to start this year?!?!
Wow… in the term rebuilding process, “process” is an important part. You complain of the future, and look at the purchases you just mentioned that it holds!
The very process that has started
that is causing everyone to flip a bitch. People need to calm the F down and suck it up once in awhile. Losses happen… I am not saying you have to be happy with the result, but goodness, sometimes us fans can behave like spoilt brats- people begged for change over the years, and now that it is happening, and results are suffering because it is trying to happen since you can’t buy an entirely new squad all at once, people are hitting the panic button.
Keep calm peeps… there is hope for next year yet. If you’ve lost it now, then you surely haven’t much hope of regaining it.. which is unfortunate at best.
by alynne4307 on Feb 11, 2012 6:09 PM GMT up reply actions 2 recs
We Roll?
Nope. Not me. Not many others. Don’t generalise, please.
by Abhijit Sawarkar on Feb 11, 2012 6:18 PM GMT up reply actions
Sarcasm.
Look it up in the dictionary.I thought everyone would get it, but yeah I shouldn’t generalise.Eediot.
get a hint...
of what we call rebuilding. Oreol, Sturridge, Mata, Cahill. We are trying to clear the ball by passing it out of defence. Who does that? Barcelona. Got where AVB is taking us? Yea, he hasn’t rebuilt the team in the personnel terms, but hey, rebuilding is much more than that!
by Abhijit Sawarkar on Feb 11, 2012 6:10 PM GMT up reply actions
Yep
Doesn’t mean I’m not going to be mad at him though
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 6:01 PM GMT up reply actions
See..
this is a fair response. Criticism is fair and well deserved at this point. Questioning things is fair. Calling for heads is just panic tactics.
I dont think AVB has done any rebuilding..Ya He has bought some players but its unlikely that they will play a big role in the coming year..AVB is just clueless and stubborn,,
The problem with this rebuilding process is
that the people that are going to be taking over like Josh, Kakuta, PVA, Bertrand, Bruma, Kalas none of them are playing football for Chelsea football club right now so what really is going on in this rebuilding is that a few player we bought are joining in with the old team and playing terribly
by michaelkhan3 on Feb 11, 2012 8:46 PM GMT up reply actions
Oh come on why should u use capital letters? Indianblue?
Can we discuss things freely here? Politely?
Im mad at our team, yes! Questioning avb’s 433 eventhough its not working many times, yes! But we dont need instant fix by instant managers.
I dont really know yet AVB is the right person four our(hopefully) successful 5 years ahead, but at least lets stick to chelsea’s plan.
It would be silly to ignore that we’re clearly in rebuilding phase. The way the club buy youngsters instead of ready to use players shows that (excl meireles).
So lets hope at least til the end of the season. If he has to go i think RDMatteo is good enough to handle chelsea, just my guess though. :)
With this performance
Tottenham totally deserve their spot on the table. Foolish of me to hope we’d overcome them, haha. At least when we played them, we rose to the occasion for the most part.
Fabio to Stamford Bridge?
"Walter is a quality 2nd receiver. Jacoby is so bad that the two of them together is less than just Walter by himself." -Toolshed1
by RocketsAstros on Feb 11, 2012 6:16 PM GMT up reply actions
As Punishment for not bringin g the results to SB
everyone dreams about? That’s a real punishment
Tor ilisar'thera'nal!
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!
I'm not sure that's the answer
The players who would be running that meeting would be the one’s we need to phase out, regardless of what happens with the manager. We need to lessen our dependence on Lamps and Cole, not lean on them more.
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 6:30 PM GMT up reply actions
I do this every time we lose.
I look forward to the weekends for my, no OUR , Chelsea to play and win.And when they disappoint, I go on ranting bullcrap.And as I always do, I apologise for my behaviour.
Good Night.
No need to apologize...
that’s what beer is for!
When I go to the press conference before the game, in my mind the game has already started.
Jose Mourinho
Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jose_mourinho_2.html#ixzz1m6DDj3Aq
When watching Chelsea
Maybe beer at 7 in the morning is called for these days. bloody mary at least.
I had to spend the morning in a car dealership and missed the game
But that does mean I don’t have a solution. Clearly, it’s the black kits with a blue net up top causing what has been categorized has piss poor play. Get rid of those kits, and Chelsea will be great again, amirite?
Editor at SB Nation's Philadelphia Union blog, The Brotherly Game. Follow me on Twitter.
I think
wearing Millwall uni’s would be closer to the truth..
When I go to the press conference before the game, in my mind the game has already started.
Jose Mourinho
Only one thing has slightly cheered me up today!
Liverpool are still shit!
It suddenly eased my joy
once I realized we are close to becoming what Liverpool used to be … and that in a negative way
Tor ilisar'thera'nal!
I've had enough with poor displays...
so can someone tell me how good JOSH McEACHRAN was…?!!
by winningisourgame on Feb 11, 2012 6:41 PM GMT reply actions
Pretty bloody good
Certainly better than any of our midfielders today
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 6:41 PM GMT up reply actions
only way he could get a game
When I go to the press conference before the game, in my mind the game has already started.
Jose Mourinho
I'm just curious why do we lost our cohesiveness as a team.
Is it because avb failed to motivate the players? Or is it down to our lack of creative players? Something to do with our formation? Aging players? Pressing strategy? All of these factors combined?
It’s frustrating sometimes.
I’ll give free beers for anyone here who can give me satisfactory answer…in Indonesia. :)
I don't think that cohesiveness is really the problem
We had an awful center forward, two awful fullbacks, and three less than mobile central midfielders without much in the way of creativity. We just sucked today.
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 6:48 PM GMT up reply actions 1 recs
Pretty much 80% of our players then.
Its nice to see JT, Rami, and Drogs return to make a redemption.
At this point Kalou would be much needed depth as well
He could fairly easily replace Malouda on the left of the 4-2-3-1
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 6:53 PM GMT up reply actions
I'm gonna cry if we're not playing 4231 next match.
Also agree with your point on kalou. He can rip up opponent’s right back and shoot blazingly over the bar. Even that sounds much better than malouda right now.
the downfall
started when AVB gave up his high line and active pressing game after arsenal defeat and replaced it with something that the senior players, media and vocal fankers were more comfortable with.
I agree with this...
But then, he was basically forced into it also by the players. Jt isn’t really suited for a high line, and DL tends to wander off to attack. what i don’t understand is why is AVB not doing the high line thing now, when all the senior guys are out? Cahill is pretty quick as i read, and so i Brani. IMO, AVB lost a great opportunity to display what he wants to do with the team, this was such a great opportunity! Maybe the pressure is just too high now…
by Abhijit Sawarkar on Feb 11, 2012 6:53 PM GMT up reply actions
I dunno
I seem to think it was less that AVB came to logical terms with it due to the type of players he had, and more than the players had a say. If the players weren’t on board with it, there is little point in trying to force it back in while he has them.. at least not middle of the season. And I’d HATE to see them start it again without practicing in training. Shudder to think what score lines that would result in!
I remember the high line!Don't remember the active pressing game though!
I though that was the main problem with our high line strategy-there was never pressure on the ball and the opposition was able to just float balls over the top for their forwards to run onto!
by conorjmartin on Feb 11, 2012 6:59 PM GMT up reply actions
5-0
Damn. Showing Newcastle who is boss. The Toons keeper is looking a lot less good right now. And here I thought Arry’s crap this week would somehow throw things off for them. Maybe they’re inspired to play well and keep him? Ehh… whatever the reason, they’re looking good.
i would love it if they did
i always liked spurs, more than city, muuuuuuuch more than united
by blue_is_the_colour on Feb 11, 2012 6:57 PM GMT up reply actions
my fantasy team would disagree
apparently collocini is also just as guilty
by blue_is_the_colour on Feb 11, 2012 6:58 PM GMT up reply actions
Steven Taylor is so good
Newcastle really miss him
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 7:01 PM GMT up reply actions
indubidably
ryan taylor is pretty good too
by blue_is_the_colour on Feb 11, 2012 7:02 PM GMT up reply actions
Disagree with you there
I think Ryan Taylor is tragically bad at defending
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 7:03 PM GMT up reply actions
His freekicks are awesome.
But he’s kinda look sad evrytime i see him on the pitch. I dunno why.
its just his face
he has a sad face at all times
by blue_is_the_colour on Feb 11, 2012 7:08 PM GMT up reply actions
faaaaantasy football disagrees with you graham!
he is currently the 2nd highest points earner of defenders in my league!
by blue_is_the_colour on Feb 11, 2012 7:07 PM GMT up reply actions
probably becauser of his set piece taking
re racks up the assists! plus it probably helps that he has been playing as a right wing lately
by blue_is_the_colour on Feb 11, 2012 7:10 PM GMT up reply actions
Arsenal
I may not know much about life, but what I do know has taught me to believe in Chelsea.
by CanadianBlue on Feb 11, 2012 10:11 PM GMT up reply actions
I'll stand corrected
not actually watching the game. Just have it on in the background.
Teehee!
Yes… and I should be fair and say that when I said Tottenham were looking good.. I mean the scoreline. They could be playing rather poorly for all I know, and just somehow knocking goals in.
no i didn't
but I reckon that the players would have adapted and results improved. and at least the games would have been entertaining…
Not much to do
I think he napped in the beginning of the second half. The Anfield cat stopped by, he had time to run to the dressing room and get it a bowl of cream.
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 7:28 PM GMT up reply actions
Cold comfort after our peformance.
But some comfort nonetheless.
by deco and the bunnymen on Feb 11, 2012 7:29 PM GMT up reply actions
Do Barca kind of remind you of last year's Chelsea squad?
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 7:32 PM GMT up reply actions
More the aging nature of quite a few stars.
Not as deep as they used to be, not as consistent week to week, can only play one style now and all their subs are like for like.
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 7:37 PM GMT up reply actions
I would agree on the lack of depth!
Especially at the back. Don’t think they have too big a problem with age though, they only have 7 players over the age of 28 in the squad and 2 of them are goal keepers. Puyol and Xavi are the main 2 getting on a bit but I think they have as good a cover for Xavi as anybody could hope for, Puyol not so much! Of the other over 28s Villa isn’t too important for the team,neither is Kieta. Abidal is important too I suppose, and they haven’t got great cover for him!As for the playing style I think they could change it if the wanted but they don’t want to!
by conorjmartin on Feb 11, 2012 11:37 PM GMT up reply actions
Even awesome teams lose 2-0 to Everton-type teams! See guys, there's nothing wrong with us.
We're just the English Barca!
We pretty much are
Much like ourselves, Barca are overly reliant on some aging players. Xavi, Iniesta, Puyols, Mascherano, Abidal, and Villa are all in their decline years at this point. They’ve freshened up with youngsters more than we have, but they are still showing quite a few signs of age.
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2012 7:35 PM GMT up reply actions
Pep is integrating those youngsters, tbf. Sergi Roberto, Tello, Cuenca, Thiago, etc.
AVB wouldn’t field anyone younger than 20(ish) if his life depended on it (not really, but you get the point).
Also, Barca's other problem is lack of motivation. When you've won the whole lot
multiple times, it’s hard to be motivated to do so again.
We loaned out all of our 20ish players since we don't have the luxury of a B team
You can make a pretty safe bet that most of that Barca list would have had to do the same if they didn’t have the far better development system in Spain.
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 12, 2012 2:31 AM GMT up reply actions
Hope they don't recall oreo anytime soon becuse of that.
That is, of course, if they have that option.
Suggestions recently
that they don’t want to recall him at the end of this year. No statement of the future after that. And it sounds still like it is a first option, but still a bit unclear.
They are still young though.
Messi, Pedro, Sanchez, Fabregas, Pique, and Thiago. Pique being the oldest at 25.
Fuck it. I'm not even gonna comment anymore
Half this team needs to get blown up. There’s only so much AVB can do. And yes he’s not been great, but I say at least give him another year to see out the transition. Mata and Romeu have been, for the most part, revelations. Sturridge coming into the first team too.
But I’m done with everyone else. Torres too. Piss off.
At least we’re still in the race for fourth, and Liverpool and Arsenal are shit this year too.
Let’s hope for fourth place and maybe the FA Cup, and a whole mess of transfers this summer. Sell the old guard, bring in new players and give youth a chance.
by FootieFromAfar on Feb 11, 2012 7:46 PM GMT via mobile up reply actions
What a bunch of bitches' fights in here huh... it is even mroe disspointing than the lads' performance
Some of you’re starting to look a bit more like Arsenal supporters. LOL!
Chelsea Supporter for Life!
*dissapointing
Chelsea Supporter for Life!
by Darwin Orozco on Feb 11, 2012 8:38 PM GMT up reply actions
*more... LOL!
Chelsea Supporter for Life!
by Darwin Orozco on Feb 11, 2012 8:39 PM GMT up reply actions
Heaven help this team
If we finish 4th it will be an over achivement. Can’t believe how many people were in denial about how much jeopardy our top 4 spot is in.
I can take a loss but this shit...?
Its not so much the fact we are losing so many games its the manner in which we are losing them that is both alarming and HIGHLY frustrating! Everyone and their pet turtle can see 4-2-3-1 is the best formation for this current squad yet AVB continues to fuck around and flip to the same shit that not only doesn’t work but is probably the worst football in the EPL!!!
How the fuck are you taking off Mata for Lukaku when the problem is we aren’t getting any creativity in the final 3rd? Why the fuck do you seize every opportunity to play Lamps and Meireles in the same midfield when CLEARLY every game they’ve played together has been a complete disaster? Why the hell do you insist on using Malouda as a midfielder when it is clear he is absolutely useless there? How the fuck do you leave Cahill on the bench when Terry isn’t healthy? Why is Bosingwa still getting games? How do you defend playing 3 central strikers in attacking roles? Why the fuck is Sturridge not given the opportunity to play central when we are having large problems scoring goals?
These are the questions I hope the board of directors ask themselves when they are thinking about the off season. I don’t dislike AVB but its hard to defend his decision making this season. He’s made some ridiculous choices that have cost us lots of points along the way. Am I the only one that thinks that in a 4-3-3 you need a CF who can play with his back to goal? Why is Torres playing in this system? he is utterly useless in it! You have to ask yourself is AVB the guy you want leading your club moving forward given some of the terrible performances and decision making? yes we need to overhaul the squad but truly given the decisions he’s making with this current team can you trust him? Are we really as bad as we’ve been this year or is this manager just not motivating the players for each match and tactually just getting it all wrong.
I’m at the end of my rope sadly because this is the worst I’ve seen the team ever play, even with Scolari’s lot there was more passion on the pitch than this.
Also, Scolari's lot was 5 years younger.
Important to note.
I may not know much about life, but what I do know has taught me to believe in Chelsea.
by CanadianBlue on Feb 11, 2012 10:23 PM GMT up reply actions
Lets not get things twisted here
All the more reason for turnover! why the fuck can’t Bertrand get a start? why the fuck was Josh loaned out is Meireles anywhere near as good? I don’t think so!
please correct me if i'm wrong
Mourinho brought in Drogba, Essien, Carvalho, Ferreira, (Robben?), Cole (both of them i think?) … plus (Makelele?), Lampard Terry and Cech were already there. so basically he was able to build his squad around some existing pillars. has AVB had this opportunity? i think not. the former pillars are crumbling, which they started to show last year … and the youngest talent is not yet ready. still, i think AVB has already shown his plan and if given a virtually unlimited wallet as Mourinho had (before FFP) we could have a team w/ Modric, Hazard/Moura, Falcao and/or Hulk and Perreira on it right now along w/ Mata (maybe), Ramires, Sturridge, Luiz Terry Ivanovic and Cech. i don’t think AVB is in the same situation as Mourinho was when started for Chelsea and i think it’s somewhat unfair to compare the two. sure Mourinho is an excellent coach but at both Chelsea and Madrid he’s been able to acquire an insane roster. Chelsea’s squad is simply not good enough right now.
as for motivation, i agree that is a problem but i also believe that lack of competition handcuffs AVB in that regard. playing time is a coach’s biggest weapon and right now there are players who are complacent and underperforming just like last year b/c their positions are not under threat and based on the roster CAN’T be. i think the one question mark we have is Bertrand as Cole has been abject all season. other than that, Sturridge as Graham pointed out has displaced a still-talented Anelka, Romeu was rewarded w/ time when he played well, Luiz kept his place despite mistakes, and 23-24 year olds Mata and Ramires are locks when healthy. we are seeing a generational seismic shift at Chelsea and i think if we can bridge the gap this year AVB will be able to construct a full squad appropriate for his system over the summer. Drogba and Terry are really the only older players showing they can integrate with the younger squad and style. Cech has made uncustomary mistakes, Cole has fallen off a cliff, and Torres has been utter shit. but w/ the AfCON, injuries and overall squad weakness no one has lit a fire under their asses. w/o any real options on the bench right now, AVB’s power to motivate is severely depleted.
by dojothecat on Feb 11, 2012 10:36 PM GMT reply actions 1 recs
About motivation, it would be harder than normal to motivate a bunch of players who know
they wont be here next season.
Very True
But how did it get to that? poor man management for sure.
I blame the coach for playing the shit players
Why was Cahill left out of the XI? Why is Bosingwa playing? Why is Meireles playing?
Insane roster aside its about chemistry and being able to motivate your team for EVERY game
I know that the roster isn’t great right now but in all honesty can you agree with the decision making this guy has made throughout the season? He’s made some unbelievably poor choices throughout! Are we truly as poor a side as has been displayed this season? we look like a bottom the table team right now.
As far as positions not being under threat that is the managers fault! We are rebuilding GIVE THE YOUNG GUYS A CHANCE TO PLAY! Bertrand has been fine in the games I’ve seen him in, Josh is much, much better than some of the midfield choices we have right now! How Torres continues to start having gone goalless in close to 20 matches is beyond me give Lukaku a chance to show what he can do, it can’t be any worse than we’ve been seeing! You create competition by giving everyone a chance not by throwing out the same useless lineup game after game. Sick of this talk of players are not ready! how do they get ready? BY PLAYING THE FUCKING GAME! And also the guys who are supposedly ready look like shit.
none of those options are really that threatening
you are really understating the importance of the roster. Mourinho didn’t “create chemistry” and motivation w/ the “threat” of a handful of unproven youngsters from the bench. he bought WORLD CLASS players entering their prime who were also committed warriors like Drogba, Essien, Carvalho. obviously chemistry and motivation are important and come from the manager but you cannot take shit and turn it into gold. right now our CF is shit and his backup is 19 years old. our central MFs besides Ramires and hopefully Essien are complete shit. our fullbacks are horrible, our Captain is out, and half our forward line is at the AfCon. this is a low point and i don’t think it falls all on AVB.
I hear you but in this new age we need to start bleeding in young talent not opting for
the tried, tested and old week in and week out! Everything you said is true but can you honestly say that was the best XI we could’ve fielded today? You really think Bosingwa meant more to the side than having Cahill at CB and Bran at RB? its the poor choices he’s made as a manager that are hurting this squad. He started this when he alienated guys who were viewed by their teammates as Chelsea Blue through and through… didn’t invite them to the team dinner, took away their parking spots, left them to rot in the reserves. How would you react to a guy who treated your mates for years so poorly?
Can you defend the substitutions? the guy just looks like he doesn’t have a clue roster aside he has made some dreadful errors this season, dreadful
I sure can defend the Malouda sub
We went from a 4-3-3 that wasn’t working to a 4-2-3-1, and we had to take off one of the CMs to do it. I’m going to assume Essien was tired (is this fair? I think it’s fair), and even if he’d been playing well it makes sense to try to save his legs.
Obviously the Cole for Bertrand swap is defensible. Then you’re left with Mata for Lukaku, which is a puzzler. By that point I’d given up on the game, though, so it didn’t piss me off too much.
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 11:08 PM GMT up reply actions
Dude went didn't really change shape though
Malouda came on and played in the midfield three. our top 3 were Sturridge right, Lukaku central and Whorres Left… I saw no change in tactics except a higher line. And even if I am wrong don’t you go to 4-2-3-1 to get Mata central? what was the point if you switch to put…Lamps in the 10? Dumb management just DUMB….
We did go Mata central until the 2nd goal
If you look at the Malouda substitution, he was placed left and AVB clearly waves Mata into the middle. After goal though we just went into a weird mess.
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 11:23 PM GMT up reply actions
Perhaps previous to the 2nd goal
But as is always the case Mata roams so its hard to figure out where he’s actually been assigned to play. regardless subbing him out for Lukaku…. is there anything more boneheaded that could’ve been done? granted the Toffees had killed off the game but doesn’t that just leave you thinking this guy doesn’t have a clue?
It just made me think that AVB had thrown in the towel
I mean if he’s going to make a pointless late sub with the game out of reach I’m cool with it being Lukaku
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 11:34 PM GMT up reply actions
Sure throw in the towel but why is Torres still out there?
Take him off and leave Mata in the preferred role. Anyways moot point I guess just sick of this guys awful decision making costing us games. we need stability, but should we keep a manager who seems to be inept at man management, tactics and team selection? He may turn out to be a good manager but can we afford to wait the umpteen years it may take to get there?
AVB is clearly not an inept tactician
He was Mourinho’s right hand tactics man at Chelsea. This makes things even more puzzling, though. He knows this stuff. Why isn’t he doing anything about it?
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 11:49 PM GMT up reply actions
I'm not so certain of that anymore
We get the tactics wrong in so many games its just embarrassing. We can all see the errors clearly but he can’t? come on now this has got to be a cruel, cruel joke! how can you not see that Bosingwa is garbage? that Meireles is useless?
Thought Lukaku was going to be for Torres
but he said he went for 3 strikers out there after the first goal, which was why he made the sub. Sounds like he just wanted an all out assault on goal, whatever way possible to see if we could get something. My trouble with that was Mata coming off… he would have been their main supplier, methinks. Guess I’d have thought Meireles or someone else should come off instead, if he wanted 3 strikers to get the ball (which goes to show he considers Sturridge or Malouda a striker in some form or another… I figure Sturridge).
The only reason I could see it being Mata sacrificed was for lack of defensive quality… but when you’re down 2 and going on the attack, not sure I care as much about his lack of defensive skill.
Correction
*after the second goal. This is my brain on cold medicine.
Again can't defend this guys decision making... Makes ZERO sense
not only in hindsight but in realtime too I was baffled by all of his subs including the cole sub! baffles me it took an injury to finally get him off the pitch… Needless to say I’m not happy with this coach and I question his ability to lead our squad. Its clear England isn’t Portugal and I’m not sure he’s up for the job really.
ya its been 6 months but has he given you any hope for the future?
I can’t think of anything retainable qualities to be honest.
I feel pretty good about Romeu, Mata, Lukaku
You have no arguments from me regarding the tactics, but maybe* when he gets some players back we’ll start to see some shake-ups.
*Please dear Christ make this so
I feel great about the mentioned players
as well as Luiz, Cahill, Ramires and McEachran! What I don’t feel good about is AVB’s ability to get the best out of them
AVB:
‘I think today was our worst game of the season, the worst in every sense of the word,’ said a clearly incensed Villas-Boas …
well he’s definitely not trying to excuse it away.
I blame him...
Completely useless lineup from the jump. He has no one but himself to blame for that
what lineup would you have chosen?
sorry meant the below as a reply.
Simple
Cech
Ivanovic – Luiz – Cahill – Cole(though I still think Bertrand needs a run out)
Essien – Lampard
Sturridge – Mata Malouda(yes given the options he’s still the best)
Torres(off at the half if he continues with the bullshit)
I think that's the lineup I called for in the preview too
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 11:06 PM GMT up reply actions
Why is it that most can see this and the manager at one of the biggest clubs in the world can't
It’s mind boggling…. I don’t know how anyone can defend his decision making believe me I’ve tried and failed.
the weirdest thing is that he got the lineup against United more or less right
so what gives here?
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 11:10 PM GMT up reply actions
And by all accounts everyone said that was a game we really performed well in and should've won!
Why mess with something that to a large degree is WORKING?! I understand reintroducing Lamps for Meireles but everything else? good Lord! Had Ivanovic been at RB we wouldn’t have conceded 5mins into the bloody game, that to me is just poor decisions and management not poor play.
I think the lineup is logical
But could have been just as shit. Mata wasn’t very good today and when he isn’t on our offense is nonexistent. I agree brani shoulkd be at rb but bosingwa is more attacking and maybe the objective was to peg back leighton baines, which didn’t happen. My point is that you can rightfully debate the lineup but I think the players themselves were horrible all through the squad.
by dojothecat on Feb 11, 2012 11:23 PM GMT via mobile up reply actions
Agreed
But give the team a fighting chance by fielding the BEST XI. By your own admission this isn’t a very deep squad so the need for rotation is less called for… Play the fucking best XI and talk about the holes in the lineup afterward. don’t play these fucking shitty players who don’t have a clue when you have better options healthy and ready to go! Poor management and awful assessment of the opposition.
Let's see what he does after the only two players in positive form return from the ACoN
I want Kalou to have a chance, and I’ll take Niklas [fun]ing Bendtner over Torres right now, let alone Didier. At least he never shied away from SHOOTING THE DAMN BALL.
I agree and would like to see that.
Mata centrally would be good and Malouda was ok against ManU when utilised on the flank.
Swede that like the Houston Texans and Chelsea FC
by Fredrik Nyman on Feb 12, 2012 12:26 PM GMT up reply actions
I know it's almost the same line up, but it's in a 4-2-3-1 formation
Cech———————-
Ivanovic—Cahill—Luiz—Cole
-—-Raul——-Essien————-
Sturridge—Lamps——Mata
-—————Torres________
I have 4-2-3-1 too...
I don’t think Lamps works in the no.10 role at all he’s not a creative player he’s better arriving late in the area not delivering the killer ball.
Nah... not underrated he's average at best
he can’t unlock guys in the final third.
His passing from deep is superb
From high up? Not so much
by Graham MacAree on Feb 11, 2012 11:14 PM GMT up reply actions
This may sound stupid but isn't it better that he be near the box to score goals instead of arriving late.
I now arriving late makes him harder to pick up, but I guess there’s a reason no manager has ever played him in that role.
i think you answered your own question.
Lamps feeds off of timing and arriving just when you least expect it
I missed dome match, eh?
Official troll of WAGNH and CFC
by Sabrina Dessipe on Feb 11, 2012 11:14 PM GMT reply actions
I missed Suarez acting a fool too...
But what I was doing instead was worth while plus I think the game’s on my DVR.
Official troll of WAGNH and CFC
by Sabrina Dessipe on Feb 11, 2012 11:16 PM GMT up reply actions
I'm so glad we don't have a player like Suarez on our roster
He’s a good player and all, but he is an extremely despicable person.
I think you have plenty of despicable ones on your team too
Suarez just takes the cake for the whole Liverpool team :cP
Official troll of WAGNH and CFC
by Sabrina Dessipe on Feb 11, 2012 11:21 PM GMT up reply actions
Fine Ashley Cole
Official troll of WAGNH and CFC
by Sabrina Dessipe on Feb 11, 2012 11:27 PM GMT up reply actions
To be fair, he was developed at Arsenal.
Just kidding. Yeah, he cheats on his wife. I never understood why he would cheat on a woman as gorgeous as Cheryl Cole anyway.
I've never understood why footballers get married in the first place!
by conorjmartin on Feb 11, 2012 11:59 PM GMT up reply actions
Haha, good question
A lot of footballers get married young, leave tons of girls disappointed.
Someone got LASER'd who isn't me!?
Official troll of WAGNH and CFC
by Sabrina Dessipe on Feb 11, 2012 11:23 PM GMT reply actions
Someone...
Official troll of WAGNH and CFC
by Sabrina Dessipe on Feb 12, 2012 12:26 AM GMT up reply actions
We just got to know the laser has a memory effect
so we’d better be careful trolling next time. Or trolling back
Tor ilisar'thera'nal!
That we now know more about how the laser works?
Alas, it has a memory effect (thus remembering the trolls) and is battery-powered. That’s the laser weekend, definitively
Tor ilisar'thera'nal!
I'm thinking...
that this might not be rock bottom.
Swede that like the Houston Texans and Chelsea FC
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