Chelsea Vs. Manchester United: Match Reaction
by Graham MacAree on Feb 5, 2012 6:26 PM GMT
in Chelsea FC: Premier League
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Cast your mind to a few hours ago. Most of us were praying for a snow day. Chelsea had a missing list consisting of Ashley Cole, John Terry, John Obi Mikel, Frank Lampard, Ramires, Salomon Kalou and Didier Drogba. They were forced to field a bench consisting almost entirely of toddlers. And they were facing the defending champions. Things looked ugly.
And yet we came away with a point - and I'd argue we very much deserved to get all three. Some quick (positive) thoughts in lieu of a full match report (we'll do that one later):
- Michael Essien's back, and was superb for most of the game.
- Juan Mata's goal was pretty much the best thing ever.
- Jose Bosingwa answered his critics with an absolutely sterling display at left back.
- Gary Cahill had an excellent debut, making me look silly.
- We scored three goals against Manchester United.
- The 4-2-3-1 worked pretty nicely.
- David Luiz is a hero.
Yeah, it's disappointing that we went from 3-0 up to a 3-3 full time, but even then it took a pair of great saves by David de Gea and a blown chance from Raul Meireles to keep it level. It's a good result, and by and large it was a good performance. It just didn't work out. I'm still pleased with the team today.
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Welbeck would be welcome here in Brazil
As well as Howard Webb. Those phantom penalties are pretty common here
1970 - 1984 - 2010
"Vamos Fluzão, vamos ganhar
Eu sou do clube tantas vezes campeão!
Vim pra torcer, vim pra gritar
E por você a vida inteira vou cantar!"
by trOOly on Feb 5, 2012 6:29 PM GMT via mobile reply actions
See I was confused. I thought maybe he was picking up Welbeck?
by marc.nicholls1 on Feb 5, 2012 6:31 PM GMT up reply actions
I'll have to see it again to be sure, but I swear Hernandez was being marked by Luiz before
he got away and scored the header.
It looked like Luiz had far post runs, Cahill had near post, and Romeu was there for the middle
Welbeck was making a far post run
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 5, 2012 6:34 PM GMT up reply actions
Which makes it difficult to figure out just whose fault it was...
Unless he ran straight past a guy, I don’t see how you can tell exactly whose zone it was supposed to be
the weird thing
was that luiz turned back, just before the cross, and saw hernandez, and stayed where he was rather than marking him.
It looked like he was supposed to cover a run to the far post with Romeu cutting him off if he came inside
Luiz picked up Welbeck’s run and Romeu grew roots
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 5, 2012 6:32 PM GMT up reply actions
I thought so too
But I also thought that cross was undefendable unless Cahill somehow cuts it out
by Graham MacAree on Feb 5, 2012 6:32 PM GMT up reply actions
When you see the replay look at where Romeu was
If he reads Chicharito that’s an easy clear
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 5, 2012 6:35 PM GMT up reply actions
AVB is not holding back with his criticisms of the refs.
Editor at SB Nation's Philadelphia Union blog, The Brotherly Game. Follow me on Twitter.
FA won't hold back
To give him a warn and a ban.
1970 - 1984 - 2010
"Vamos Fluzão, vamos ganhar
Eu sou do clube tantas vezes campeão!
Vim pra torcer, vim pra gritar
E por você a vida inteira vou cantar!"
by trOOly on Feb 5, 2012 6:37 PM GMT via mobile up reply actions
Very exciting match!
Not happy with the result, but loved the way we played against champions.
I noticed after our 3rd goal united was down, they hardly touched the ball, and when they did they couldnt pass properly…
turning point of the game(FOR MU) is sturidges fault on evra! IMO
other than that..i agree with what uve said Graham
by MurphyMurph on Feb 5, 2012 6:40 PM GMT via mobile reply actions
When it was announced that Webb was gonna be the referee for this match, I said "fuck" in my mind.
I knew something like this was gonna happen.
2nd penalty was a failed decision
I lost faith in Howard Webb ever since he failed to spot DeJong doing a Bruce Lee on Alonso in the WC Final 2010…
A good result, great fight from our lads but still disappointing…
Mata’s free kick was brilliant.
I thought both pens were frauds
Webb had oh his mind that ManU are the champions and Chelsea are a troubled team and with this set of mind it took him very little effort to prove it. 2 weak pens in one game!
Because he was pretty much shit today
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 5, 2012 6:43 PM GMT up reply actions
You mean Sturridge, Stephen?
by dodgerboy03 on Feb 5, 2012 6:44 PM GMT via Android app up reply actions
Yeah
Great dribble on the goal, but other than that he offered next to nothing today. He needs to be far quicker making decisions. He’s slowing the ball down when it’s at his feet and letting the defense recover enough that our attack falters.
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 5, 2012 6:48 PM GMT up reply actions
That said, he and Romeu were the only really poor players we had today.
Pretty good overall
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 5, 2012 6:49 PM GMT up reply actions
I thought he was ok
Not great, not crap.
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 5, 2012 6:51 PM GMT up reply actions
HE lost the ball a hell of a lot.
Could have been because of where he got the ball. If we really have agreed a price for Willian I’m pretty annoyed we didn’t get him last month. He would of made us much more dangerous in the attack.
I wasn't saying Malouda had a good game
He wasn’t that particular bad compared to last game, he improved, but he was far from his old class, of course, and in going forward there’s a lot of improvement with him. I was only saying he wasn’t as selfish as he used to be in previous games
Tor ilisar'thera'nal!
I thought Malouda did well getting forward.
But I didn’t like much else that he did.
I would add Malouda to that pile too
With all of his experience and his familiarity with an opponent like United, he did real little to lift our cause on the pitch. Especially in the later part of the second half, every time a decent left-sided attack was constructed, it broke down with Malouda, when he tried to get too deft or cute and gave possession right back to United. Not saying saying he should be berated for ‘exposing’ us too much, but again, if we/he could’ve avoided doing it that way, United wouldn’t have been able to come into our half that fast and deep. Even though I don’t approve of Drobga’s time waste tactics towards the end of the game, [partly because I find it a little short of sporting, and party because it reeks too strongly of Mourinho] I still can’t help but wonder right now how much better He makes use of his experience in crunch situations like late last afternoon.
Thought Malouda was poor also!
Don’t remember him doing anything of note but he certainly lost possession a lot!
4-2-3-1 seems to be way forward in terms of scoring goals!
Why oh why did Torres not just shoot when he had that great chance at 3-2?
He probably thought that Evans had got close enough to block it
And if his conclusion was that the shot definitely wouldn’t go in because of Evans, then turning was the sensible decision because it at least gave him a chance to get a shot away the opposite direction
But Evans definitely didn't have it covered!
The Torres of old would never have passed off the opportunity to shoot!
Interestingly enough
he isn’t the Torres of old and hasnt been for awhile. I agree he was silly not to shoot, but it’s not like it is anything new, lately.
Do you think he will ever be the Torres of old again?
Its been 2 years off form now and I can’t see him coming back to what he was, doesn’t have the explosive pace he used to! I think a transfer might be best for both the player and the club come summer!
Nope
For a few reasons. To sum them up as simply as possible…
1) He was 23-24 then, he is turning 28 soon, and he is aging… he can do a lot of things to stay level physically, but he won’t become that age again, and he can’t really undo what injuries have done.
2) Different style of play… even if he was as physically intact as he was early at Liverpool, he wouldn’t score nearly as many goals here. He isn’t really suited to a lot of what Chelsea does. Maybe he will be in the future, but that’s being optimistic.
3) His own weird thing with hesitating. That’s his deal right now while he is at Chelsea. Maybe it goes away in the future, or maybe he stops doing it at another team. I can’t say, but even still, I think people need to stop believing that Torres will ever be what he was in the 2008/09 season.
It’s not that I mean to be negative… I like to believe a lot of people can have awesome comebacks, no matter how unlikely. But I feel that fans set themselves up for an incredible let down if it doesn’t happen, even when it is entirely possible it never will. I’ve said from the beginning of the year, even with the addition of Mata and Meireles (players Torres seems to like playing with), that I saw him getting about 10-15 goals this season at most. Not even looking like the low end will happen, now.
1 thing I should say is...
that while 2010 wasnt really his year, he did quite well after his first knee surgery. I think he had an average of a goal per match, or something. It was the second knee surgery that seemed to do it. His scoring record was better in the 09/10 season than in 08/09. So even if he was slipping from form, he got goals. He also got a few before heading to the Bridge.
It seems it’s been a perfect storm of some problems, and that he seems to be letting them snowball and get worse for himself, now. I don’t think he can’t become good ahead. I think he won’t be the player that comes in 3rd for the Player of the Year, again.
Do you think a replacement will be bought?
If so who?
Oh, I am not the person to best answer those questions...
I do think if he doesnt start putting some in the back of the net quickly, he’ll be sold in the summer. Maybe even if he does get a few in… it doesn’t sound much like he is the kind of CF that AVB wants (especially when not scoring). The only way I would see him staying is if they are bold enough to change him from CF into a wide forward or something (if he keeps on assisting that way, lol).
I wouldn’t be surprised to see him try to engineer his own move this summer, if things continue this way- he and the club may work pretty mutually on it.
Do you think he will try to engineer a move?
In his current form I think he will find it very hard to find another club that would be willing to pay the sort of wages he is on at the moment!Even if Chelsea want to get rid of him in the summer I think they might have trouble finding a buyer!
He might do what Sheva did some time ago
and ask his contract to be terminated on mutual consent
Tor ilisar'thera'nal!
I doubt he'd be going to China, Russia or Middle East
but yeah loan first would be a fine option
Tor ilisar'thera'nal!
A replacement must be bought
Torres hasn’t ft going. I think Cavani would be the best option. But I would be quite happy with a Torres+Cash swap fro Falcao.
Does anyone have any word on buyout for Falcao?
I understand that he is apparently owned by a third party, which isnt allowed in the Premier League. They’d have to buy him out of the third party to get to bring him over… but it could be really cheap or something… just wasnt sure if anyone had any figures?
what is with south american players and 3rd party ownership?
by conorjmartin on Feb 5, 2012 10:07 PM GMT up reply actions
I know seriously!!!
I don’t really want someone with a say over where I go unless i was the third party!
Learn how to score that you forgot completely,
Or play as a second striker. He can assist
by Mregmi on Feb 6, 2012 12:36 AM GMT via mobile up reply actions
MYGOD I cried when he lost the ball instead of shooting.
by Kunta Kinte on Feb 5, 2012 6:53 PM GMT via mobile up reply actions
An epl center forward should've converted that chance.
I like Ba, he scores far more difficult chances then that.
by Mregmi on Feb 6, 2012 12:44 AM GMT via mobile up reply actions
I was very happy with the performance
It doesn’t matter if the ref gave them a point, what matters is how the team reacts now. Top 4 wasn’t ensured with or without the penalties. However, it can be assured if we continue these types of performances against the lower teams as well.
by el chelsea fuerte on Feb 5, 2012 6:44 PM GMT reply actions
Sometimes we get lucky decision, sometimes the opposition gets them
It’s hypocritical to be talking about decisions that go against you but barely talking about lucky decisions you get. In the end it pretty much evens out IMO. I wouldn’t blame Villas-Boas going on a rage however, as a manager he should do that because it keeps up the pressure with the refs. Just ask Ferguson.
by el chelsea fuerte on Feb 5, 2012 6:55 PM GMT up reply actions
The problem with attacking against lower teams is that they'll just park the bus.
That’s why most of our exciting matches have been against bigger teams.
4-2-3-1 we've all been waiting for it
Would be even better if we had someone to play on the left (or in the middle and move Mata out left).
I’d take Kalou over Malouda right now. That’s not saying much, however.
Agree with your analysis exactly Graham!
I was very impressed with Cahill too! The ref changed the match, but Chelsea still looked ok by the end. If Malouda wasn’t there, who knows what would of happened!
Want to hazard a guess at which Chelsea player was tied for the most chances created today?
Malouda wasn’t MotM by any stretch, but he wasn’t bad at all
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 5, 2012 6:51 PM GMT up reply actions
Let's never take chances created seriously again
They count ‘pass before shot’ without any care for howly it is to convert said shot
by Graham MacAree on Feb 5, 2012 6:52 PM GMT up reply actions
Most of them were actually pretty good chances though
He had a few good crosses wasted as well
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 5, 2012 6:52 PM GMT up reply actions
Yeah good point but in realized that malouda does not trust his right, what so ever, he had chances
by Kunta Kinte on Feb 5, 2012 6:55 PM GMT via mobile up reply actions
I think it is effect on general play...
He is too slow, and makes poor decisions most of the time. I thought he was terrible.
by Chelsea-Steeler on Feb 5, 2012 6:55 PM GMT up reply actions
He also blew tonnes of them
That cutback to Torres he mishit made me scream
by Graham MacAree on Feb 5, 2012 6:55 PM GMT up reply actions
Is that the one where he as fortunate enough that someone else
came running up to shoot (way over) still? So to some, it may not have looked as bad, but I was not pleased with his accuracy. He had a couple of others, and also made some… interesting runs when others tried setting him up.
Who knows if we had a decent or good winger on the left
by Blue Till I Die!!! on Feb 5, 2012 6:52 PM GMT up reply actions
Relieved
I think we are lucky that howard webb missed last night’s mcfc game. must have thought they drew against fulham. let us off with a draw today. otherwise we would never even have got that draw. #lucky
We're not gonna turn our back on Romeu after just one bad sub performance are we?
Not everyone is like Kalou.
Of course not
It’s just a big reminder not to treat him as the messiah
by Graham MacAree on Feb 5, 2012 6:55 PM GMT up reply actions
Yeah a lot of us were guilty of that
We did that with Sturridge too, acting like he’ll be some sort of savior. His 10 goals have been helpful, but other than that he hasn’t done anything special.
And I’m pretty sure Bertrand wouldn’t have been better than Bosingwa today, when most people were acting like Bertrand would be a massive improvement in this game in the other thread.
Sometimes we jump the bandwagon way too easily.
by el chelsea fuerte on Feb 5, 2012 7:00 PM GMT up reply actions
The only problem w/ Mata was his tendency to drift out wide.
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by Timm Higgins on Feb 5, 2012 8:02 PM GMT via Android app up reply actions
Ironically enough
when he is supposed to play wide, he often sits in the center too much. I was hoping that just putting him in the center would help, lol. He just wants to be everywhere, I guess.
Bosingwa on the left
was surprisingly decent. I about shit when I saw that on the line up, but that made me feel a bit better about cover for the left. He seemed a bit more conservative (which for him, isnt necessarily bad) on the left… wonder if that is because it is sort of unfamiliar territory for him?
I think he did better than cole would have against valencia
by Blue Till I Die!!! on Feb 5, 2012 7:05 PM GMT up reply actions
He locked down the left side, I think he should be used as a genuine back-up
for Cole down the left if AVB doesn’t trust Bertrand.
You're right and he played very well from my recollection,
not easy to do against Messi but I guess it all got overlooked because Ovrebo is a dick!
That was when Messi’s number one move was to cut inside from the right. Bosingwa could handle it because he had the help of John Terry playing next to him and his right footed-ness meant he could tackle at a good angle
Erm.... I think what you meant to say was that
he was part of a back four that stopped Barcelona scoring at the Nou Camp for the only time that season against a Barcelona side that swept everyone away with ‘mesmerizing’ football and he had to defend against their talisman – don’t make me laugh even attempting to downgrade Messi’s ability in a season where no-one else had been able to stop him (other than Ashley Cole in the 2nd leg).
I never downgraded Messi's ability.
I said that Bosingwa had a good game that night because of of his position in the back four in relation to Messi’s style of play back then.
Yes. He might be better off elsewhere, unfortunately.
Or maybe he’ll play against Everton. We’ll see.
True
Cole would have probably gotten schooled and maybe frustrated, and carded. Lol. I suppose it was best he wasn’t available on this one.
Hopefully minus the shocking reffering from Webb
by Blue Till I Die!!! on Feb 5, 2012 6:55 PM GMT up reply actions
Could this be the launching pad we needed? Maybe get the guys in the mindset and believing in themselves, atleast enough not
by Kunta Kinte on Feb 5, 2012 6:57 PM GMT via mobile reply actions
I think the biggest thing we have learned from today
Is how awesome we could be on the attack if we didn’t have to rely on Malouda and Sturridge down the wings. If we can get even one player in the Nani/Valencia mould, that is actually good, we’ll be beastly.
On the plus side,
I feel much better about the team after today. The 4-2-3-1 suits our players so much better. I think we have a chance for a top 4 finish!
this guy reffed a world cup final
my god
by blue_is_the_colour on Feb 5, 2012 7:06 PM GMT reply actions
That could have been genuine though
if you dont actually see it, you dont see it. He said had he, he would have given a straight red.
And ruined the world cup final!
Probably first ref to be boo’d off the pitch by both sets of fans!
Maybe better it was both
at least that means he was consistent. Coulibaly is a big reason some Americans will never give the sport another chance, lol. Slovenia loved him, though.
They had to do something to at least
get England some more presentation at the World Cup so they took the chance
Tor ilisar'thera'nal!
After this match...I feel so confident
That we can take on any team now…I believe the Belief is back that we CAN score goals…
I’m afraid it might have opposite effect on the team. They might feel that they should’ve won the game instead of dropping the two points
by Blue Till I Die!!! on Feb 5, 2012 7:17 PM GMT up reply actions
Not really
Had the referee been fair…we would have had all three points… At least we hold on to a draw
Did you think the same after we beat Valencia? City?
Just wondering.
Nope...Thing were a bit different at that time...our 4th position was not in doubts when we beat both of them...
But now things are different…we had been awful lately, haven’t scored much and hence we needed to get our confidence back…and scoring 3 against Manure is always good…isn’t it ?
Hey
feeling positive like that is a good thing. I am certainly not pleased we lost out on a 3 point lead (I’ll give it that one of those shouldnt have been), but… I am totally okay with a draw in the sense that not many of us felt confident with that squad and we didnt have much in the way of backup. For them to go up by 3 was shocking in the first place. We also got a bit of help on a couple of goals ourselves, so a draw seems pretty fair to me. The first half hour I was terrified it would end a lot worse.
*
Hmm, shocking isnt the right word, but surprising, maybe.
Second pen
http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/video?vid=440faea5-cc92-49f2-a796-a0b6aac05b24&from=foxsports/foxsoccer/premier_league/story-gallery
Watching this again. Wow. It really is just a horrible call. Bran goes in, slows up and doesn’t actually make contact, and then Wellbeck trips over Bran. Such [fun]ing BS.
I’m glad AVB ripped them on this. There’s just no excuse for that type of horrible reffing.
Streak continues...
We’re still undefeated in 2012 guys…
That can’t be too bad… KTBFFH…
by Blue_For_Life on Feb 5, 2012 7:43 PM GMT via mobile reply actions
My (United supporting) friend's take on the 2nd Penalty...
“[It should have been] a yellow card for diving, possibly followed by another yellow for being shit at it”
In all honesty we deserved to draw today I think , as usual we were too slow , Bosingwa had a decent game on the left , but wasn’t tested too much , lets face it if any1 asked before the game if we woulda taken a draw Im sure we woulda accepted .. Malouda while he had a better game today than @ swansea still seems to lack pace and at times interest in the game , Stuuridge well sometimes he doesn’t pass , but you can forgive him since he does score a few goals , Torres well Im starting to lose belief , how much longer are we going to wait for him to come good , gimmie a Lukaku at least he knows where the net is , I mean even Cisse scored on his debuet for Newcastle
1 positive is that when teams do come to play at the Bridge we are certainly more competitive , Liverpool , Arsenal , both the Manchester games , rather than coming and as Jose would say ’ Park the bus ’
But I would like to see more pace in this line-up , someone like Sturridge is doing on the right to play on the left and cut in , we can maybe try Luiz at RB or LB , Raul also he shoots like a cowboy sometimes , but with a haircut like that i think his entitled to sometimes.
I want someone better then Danny or left
I want someone who can pass and cross and moves the ball faster.
No mention of him after the introductory paragraph, but
not having Ramires hurt. He’s absolutely fantastic at killing off opposition that’s pressing for a result.
And, does it bother anyone else that
JT is hated for allegedly cheating with an ex-teammate’s ex-girlfriend, rather than for allegedly cheating on his own wife - you know that person he actually vowed to hono(u)r.
Hi everyone
hey guys m the newbie here .. just wanted to let u guys know that i love ur work and i appreciate the constructive criticism thing that goes on here .
ppl here talk sense and find them quite friendly as well.
so i love this blog
and the best person i find in here is @stephen schmidt .. cos we share mutual thoughts on many occasions .. !!
KTBFFH
Interesting thought
How many of us would have been upset with a lineup against United last year of:
Cech, Ivanovic, Alex, Terry, Cole, Mikel, Lampard, Ramires, Anleka, Kalou, Drogba?
We were a keeper and RB injury away from having an unavailable/sold team that was competitive with either of the ones on the pitch today
Maybe this is the general starting line up?
Or maybe it would have been the line up if the match took place when it was supposed to?
Nope...
just watched that match the other night. I believe it was his first full 90 in the PL. Was a March match, I think. But it was a postponed match that was supposed to take place in the holiday fixtures.
Fair bit of complaining about the ref today!
Does anybody else think Cahill was lucky not to get sent off in the 1st half for the tackle on Wellbeck?
Sent off?
Nah… lucky not to have a penalty called, sure. I figure that is why Webb felt quite alright giving the second penalty against us.
It would have been a red card if called
I think that is why he didn’t call it honestly. He didn’t want to give the double penalty (red card + PK) that early in the game. I think by the rules, if he called a PK there a red card would have to follow. A tackle from behind to bring down a player with a clear goalscoring opportunity as the last man back….
by AmericanChelseaFans on Feb 6, 2012 4:17 AM GMT up reply actions
I actually didn't think that was a foul
Looked like he played the ball from the replay…risky though. The earlier shout for Young was more a penalty in my eyes
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 5, 2012 9:11 PM GMT up reply actions
Having seen the replays I think that too!
Normally a tackle from behind like that would be given a free kick but I remember about 10 seconds before that tackle Fabio made an almost identical tackle on Torres about 5-10 yards from their box and it also went unpunished, so if you don’t give one you can’t really give the other!
It should never have been a penalty since it was outside the box!
But wasn’t he last man?
At most a free kick
However, given what he gave a penalty for, who knows. He also seemed to let United away with a few from behind, but called up two Chelsea tackles that didn’t touch the man. One was against Rooney, where he dived. The best the commentator could say was, maybe he pushed him. Which given the angle etc, was utter tripe. Rooney lost it fair and square but went down.
Does anyone ever look at the player grades on the bleacher report? they are so terrible at rating players its almost as if they don’t watch the game….
I get bored
and like to look at their NFL mock drafts, but I venture over to the chelsea’s page It genuinely leaves me frustrated beyond belief…and it actually makes you two look even better because I get excited when WAGNH has a new article!
by Sack O'Gonads on Feb 5, 2012 9:22 PM GMT up reply actions
Bittersweet.
First of all,i agree to what graham vouches for,the importance of the assist.That was a great great delivery by torres but the chance which he could have converted cannot be forgiven.It was his golden opportunity and again a lucky one.4-2 would have simply ended the game(although,we thought that when we were 3-0)and one cant miss that opportunity.So what he gave a brilliant assist before.Stiker has to score and that is his job.It is like not blaming Luiz for his some stupid acts,just because he does other wondeful things.Sometimes nando was not at all in the game and sometimes not included,as usual,by the team mates.All in all,a lot of things are wrong with Torres or the players playing alongside him.
AVB stressed that all they can work on is his movement and creating chances,which they are trying.But Torres too has to cover the other half of the distance.I simply love him because he is one ,in my opinion,trying to help his team mates all the time,more than others.The one touch play of rooney-hernandez/danny,or unselfish play by van persie-henry and many other pairs in in the PL makes me wonder,are we ever going to see that in Torres-strrudge?It simply seems rhetorical.Every times someone goes in the D,either he fails to give a perfect cross or simply shoots.
Bossy did his job well today.Cahill was good enough and i think neither him or Luiz were at fault for the last goal.I reckon cahil was signalling romeu twice or thrice to mark hernandez and thats why he was so angry after the goal.
Yet again the answer to the problems lies in creativity from the midfield.The players seem to take a lot of time on the ball and especially bosingwa.He makes scream many a times,wanting him to give the obvious simple pass.And what they hell is the deal with the sloppy passing nowadays?Sometimes even the straight passes are becoming difficult.That is serious trouble when the plan itself is to pass the ball around and then score.
Disappointed after their comeback.Happy as,like many,i was not expecting a point also.
I think
Howard webb deserve a gun in the head,he single handedly spoilt the beautiful game today. Am really pissed wit the two penalties awarded during the match. I think his license should be withdrawn from him cause he is full of shit and a joke. Mad man webb
One of the reason why man u will never be able to out class barcelona is bcos they are always relaying on ref to help them. What a stupid crazy club.
by sop on Feb 5, 2012 9:54 PM GMT via mobile reply actions
I'm very encouraged by today.
It was our best performance in ages.
-Michael Essien was Michael Essien-ish!
-The Meireles/Essien partnership has a lot of promise. Looked very good vs. Swansea as well.
-Playing 4-2-3-1 with Mata in the hole takes pressure off our left back. I thought Malouda had some good defensive moments, and that really helped Bosingwa out. Too often this year, Ashley’s pushed up with no defensive support from Mata.
-The fullback play was much better. Bran has to be starting there against teams with any kind of threat on that side of the pitch.
-Gary Cahill wasn’t terrible! Actually, the Luiz/Cahill partnership kind of made sense. I could see him getting time against teams that thrive on aerial play.
It didn’t turn out how we wanted. But, this gives us some hope for improved play moving forward. Our defense has been very good for over a month, and the 4-2-3-1 looks to give us better play offensively. Hopefully Drogba comes back in the same form he is for the Ivory Coast and gives us a center forward who, you know, attempts to score.
We could really use Anelka. Even when Kalou comes back, we just don’t have too many options to play wide. Might see more of Ramires there with Essien back, I suppose.
I’m really fed up with the way the players can’t seem to function properly as a team lately, there’s too much selfishness and too many of them looking for personal glory. That said, I thought we were decent today.
I have to admit I did get a bit desesperate for Torres to shoot during that one chance, but the way he controlled the ball with his chest and then with his head was out of this world. It’s obvious his confidence has suffered. But his cross to Mata was sublime, he’s able to give the kind of service he’s never gotten and probably never will here. And Mata’s goal was fantastic. It’s always nice to see the spanish connection, definitely my (positive) highlight from the match. Then Howard Webb fucked us over, and the bullshit that happened had nothing to do with Torres or any of our players.
But I’m not too upset about the draw, I was expecting a horrible beating. If the team can continue playing like they did today, it should be fine.
Tough I have to say, I don’t know why AVB is still playing Malouda. Or why he decided to sub Sturridge off when the match was 3-2, too predictable. I’ve been a bit dissapointed with his tactics so far.
'Or why he decided to sub Sturridge off'
He made a defensive substitution while he was winning a match against Manchester United. Other managers that do this? All of them
by Graham MacAree on Feb 5, 2012 10:47 PM GMT up reply actions
That's been 3 matches in a recent run where Sturridge hasnt been as good-
hmm. Or is it 4? Hopefully it’s just a blip and he’ll return to the more positive from he was showing in the first half of the year.
Just went back and watched the match again...
Legitimate scoring chances created after Romeu’s introduction – Chelsea 6, United 3. Malouda was actually fairly bright in the final 20 minutes; several decent crosses.
by ChelseaOffside on Feb 5, 2012 11:13 PM GMT up reply actions
Ya he wasn't hot shit
All he did was make destroy Evra for the first goal and own him on several other instances resulting in a yellow for Patrice. Most of the play was through the middle of the pitch not the flanks so even though Sturridge had an incredible game it will go unnoticed because all that will be remember is how he tracked Evra back to the by line and made a risky challenge. I would’ve taken off Meireles personally but hey what do I know? Has Miereles made one tackle this year without it being controversial? That guy doesn’t know how to defend!
Hmm, I think we saw a different game. I thought Meireles was more than decent yesterday
He made a couple of last ditch interceptions to save us from further humiliation, and he was all over the pitch defensively. He didn’t lose the ball as much as he normally does. He didn’t look good as Essien, but he looked good nonetheless.
We’ve all mentioned Sturridge’s 5 seconds of glory. Apart from that, he wasn’t really threatening. The point was that, although Malouda wasnt great offensively, he offers more in defense than Sturridge, so it wasn’t crazy to leave him on the pitch.
If it ain't broke don't fix it.
He does this almost every game and it comes back to bite us in the ass. Late goals have been KILLING us all season and they all seem to coincide with a late substitution
But it WAS broke. We conceded two goals and United had all the momentum.
I’d prefer it if he did something rather than nothing.
Right
I dont know how many of us thought it was terrible to go more defensive while we were still one up.
I don't think it's ever a good idea to go defensive against Man United.
Especially not when there’s only 1 goal in it.
by MischievousNinja87 on Feb 5, 2012 11:30 PM GMT up reply actions
Well, then
you get to be one of the proud fans to have felt that at the time of the substitution. I think most people are using hindsight and saying it was an obviously bad substitution.
Its actually good advice,
I liked the substitution at the time but giving Utd the time and space they got after changing to the 4-3-3 (not because it was a poor choice of tactic but more because it was an obvious sign of going defensive) was begging to concede. When Utd leveled we came out of our shell and dominated the end, and the problem wasn’t that we were poor defensively (considering we didn’t give up a single goal from open play or a set piece until after the formation change) but that we sat back and attempted to soak up the pressure.
I personally think we were still trying to score at 3-1 and 3-2
That was the main mistake. We needed to keep more possession and stop playing end to end football with them. We were far too open against a side we didn’t need to be attacking. I think switching to a 4-3-3 and keeping calm we could have avoided that last goal at least. But for some reason we seemed desperate to score a fourth.
if it ain't broke don't fix it is the story of what happened to our roster over the past few years
by Graham MacAree on Feb 6, 2012 12:29 AM GMT up reply actions
A la last season.
I may not know much about life, but what I do know has taught me to believe in Chelsea.
but until it is evidently broke no need to change it... AVB makes the stupidest substitutions
and its hurt the team in more than just a couple games.
So it was finally evidently broke when United equalized
and without this substitution we wouldn’t have conceded?
Tor ilisar'thera'nal!
IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY
but given what has happened and failed in the past maybe making the supposed ‘defensive’ substitution should be saved for when we’re up 6-0 or something. Its extremely hard to come into a game of that sort of intensity and make an impact defensively mainly because it takes some time to adjust to the speed. I don’t think Romeu was ready for it
The problem was that we were still playing attacking football at 3-1 and 3-2
Watch the match again. For some insane reason we were trying to score a fourth rather than try and keep possession and slow down the game. But instead we seemed to leave ourselves very open. If we have a 3-0 advantage we should aim to keep it before we add to it. Any manager in the world would rather win 3-0 to 6-3.
Also a newbie here but i wanted to make a few points...
Upon watching the match i made a few observations which start with the manager…
1. Although AVB is built up to be a master tactician, he got his tactics VERY wrong yesterday. Firstly he lambasted Sturidge for not getting back and defending when United were attacking, he virtually screamed @ him and then less the 3 minutes later, Sturidge committed the foul which caused the penalty. The worst person on the pitch for Chelsea BY FAR was Malouda who kept slowing down the counter attacks whenever he was given the ball and made some lazy passes which always gave the ball back to United. (I would like to see Graham or Stephens report on this) Malouda should have been subbed, NOT Sturidge.
2. Boswinga had a fantastic game, he played very well on the left and i think its a position that suits him quiet well.
3. Malouda and Torres need to go. After that miss, Torres time is up. If it was Drogba, Sturidge or Anelka (R.I.P) with the same chance that he had they would have smashed it beyond De Gea into the back of the net.
I think AVB is in a very difficult position right now… I hope they keep him next season but if he does not make 4th place this season at a minimum then he will be finished. I am more excited @ the prospect of what we can achieve next year as i think that we will be a better, more structured team under his vision. Unfortunetly this will come at the cost of us losing some of our key players over the past 5+ seasons (Drogba, Kalou and possibly Lampard) The team will be virtually unrecognizable.
Mr Trini Papi aka Papi Chulo
I cant help but think...
If we had Willan on the left flank we would have had a lot better chances created and more pace on the counter attack. Sad but true
Mr Trini Papi aka Papi Chulo
I can't see the argument that AVB somehow screwed up his tactics yesterday
The 4-2-3-1 was certainly effective, giving us a 3-0 lead and having us looking pretty good despite playing a better team while we had massive injury problems. We conceded two penalties due to fouls in the box, but those are in no way, shape, or form due to AVB. Danny Sturridge is a nice player. He defends like garbage. AVB was yelling at him for lack of effort when defending, despite the fact that he fouled minutes later that is never a mistake. He’s a 22 year old kid that needs to become a better defender if he wants to be a Chelsea regular going forward. Mistakes are going to happen, the timing of that one just sucked.
Taking Sturridge off was absolutely an acceptable decision. He’d been playing like shit and had just conceded a penalty on a stupid foul. Beyond the 5 seconds where he created a goal he had done nothing. In general Sturridge offers less in defense than Malouda, and yesterday he was coming off a glaring individual error on top of that. Pulling Danny was not the wrong decision.
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 6, 2012 1:47 PM GMT up reply actions
Even if pulling Danny wasn’t the worst decision, putting on Romeu was. That was a tactical error. In Grahams previous report (against Swansea) he gave glaring examples of Romeu not being able to play well beside Meireles in the double pivot. He then didn’t mark Hernandez as he was suppose to and they conceded the 3rd goal.
You cannot tell me that at 3-0 up AVB didnt make tactical mistakes that lead to Chelsea conceding 3 goals in the last 30mins of the game. Its wouldn’t have happened under Ancelotti and it wouldn’t have happened under Mourihnio. That being said i still like AVB and i want him to succeed greatly @ Chelsea.
I like Sturidge a lot also, but in hind sight he should have been substituted, but then so should Malouda who contributed nothing to our attacks!
Mr Trini Papi aka Papi Chulo
Romeu was playing as a DM
not in a double pivot. The switch to 4-3-3 would have worked had we not continued to attack. Something I remember Arsenal doing a lot. Having said that I think if we had kept our heads a bit better we could have won 5-0
Hold on... So when he beat Evra for the 1st goal and beat him to get the Yellow that
equates to nothing for you? not to mention on the help he did tracking back? You guys are hilarious if we win that game he’s a hero but since we didn’t he’s a goat… He OWNED Evra but most of the play was going through the middle of the pitch which meant Daniel was largely uninvolved. When he did get into the game he made things happen
I would like to address this part of your post
“The worst person on the pitch for Chelsea BY FAR was Malouda who kept slowing down the counter attacks whenever he was given the ball and made some lazy passes which always gave the ball back to United. (I would like to see Graham or Stephens report on this) Malouda should have been subbed, NOT Sturidge.”
Would you be referring to the same Malouda that had a 78% pass completion rate and made more successful passes than anybody on the team except Mata and Meireles? And you are suggesting that he should have been removed instead of a man that attempted fewer than half as many passes and still only completed 70% of them? (FYI, that means that Sturridge was ranked 10th in the team for successful passes, only better than Cech and Romeu – and Romeu had a 90% completion rate, so time was more of a factor for him than ability)
Malouda also attempted 4 clearances to Sturridge’s 0, made 1 interception to Sturridge’s 0 and had more passes in the attacking third than anybody but Mata.
I would like to think that these stats could show any rational person that Malouda offered more than Sturridge in both attack and defence on Sunday and removing Danny was definitely the ‘right’ decision.
Stats can show us whatever we wish it to show us. I watched the game (as im assuming you did) and every time Malouda received the ball in a counter attack or attacking position he f*cked up. Who cares about the short pass he played back to Bosingwa or to Meireles that up’ed his pass completion rate… I’m talking about his attacking play. Watch the game again when he was going forward on the left flank, he gave the ball away time and time again.
I was a big fan of Malouda, I’m not part of the Malouda, Kalou, Mikel Boo Boys fan club. But i call a spade a spade… He was not able to execute any dangerous passes in the area or counter attacks
Mr Trini Papi aka Papi Chulo
Actually, if you use stats correctly, they can only show you the truth...
But ignoring that completely, he was definitely not “The worst person on the pitch for Chelsea BY FAR” – Sturridge took that honour before he got substituted…
THANK YOU!
No one is ignoring stats @deg0ey, I’m stating the fact that if he he has a high passing completion rate it was because the majority of those passes were backwards. NONE of them resulted in any key attacks or shots on target. Correct me if im wrong but as an ATTACKING player that is his job.
Mr Trini Papi aka Papi Chulo
37 pass attempts for Malouda, 22 in the attacking third
17 forward
11 backward
9 sideways.
“oops”
Something you might also want to consider is that as an attacking player, it’s a lot easier to pass backwards or sideways, where the majority of the pitch lies. He still had almost half his attempts go forwards.
4 of his passes led to shots. Tied with Mata for most on the team.
Don't bother.
Florent can’t get no love (if you consider stating that he wasn’t the worst player on the pitch = love).
So wait, we're blaming AVB for telling Sturridge to do his job? Tracking back is in every
winger’s job description. He DIDN’T tell Danny to make a tackle or give away a penalty. For the record, I don’t think it was a penalty anyways. Evra was obviously looking to go down. He jumped in front of Danny on purpose.
But yes, blaming AVB for yelling at Sturridge to do his job defensively is mighty silly
He didn’t ask him to turn into a second John Terry; just to track back and stay on his man.
Hahahaha
late night twitter exchange between Wayne Rooney and Piers Morgan: WayneRooney "Cant wait for the last 8 seconds to get played in super bowl. Just blow the whistle ref." @piersmorgan "WayneRooney what this #Superbowl really needs is your mate Howard Webb to liven it up with a few dodgy penalties, Shrek."
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