Huddersfield V Chelsea (PL) Sat 11th Aug 15:00 UK

[old git]

22 hours ago, Charles Ryder said:

They gave us a bit of trouble in the first half to be fair, and looked dangerous from the few set pieces they had. As I mentioned they would have scored but for the woodwork, and I thought the decision to take Pritchard off at halftime was a weird one as he was having a lot of joy dragging David Luiz around the pitch.

They were anonymous for the first 20 or so minutes of the second half though, couldn't string a decent spell of possession together and we were basically just eating up the minutes as there wasn't a pressing need to score a third. 

Their keeper also looked a bit ropey.

Have to say Charles, that a lot of their pressure was due to lapses of concentration on the ball by us, especially Luiz. Good job Rudiger was around to help out. Agreed, I thought Pritchard was easily their biggest threat.

[coco]

2 hours ago, old git said:

No doubting his on the ball skills, but are you saying he has pace?

Has little pace, but offers the team so much more than just pace. If it was all purely about pace, wouldn't we have Bolt in the team ?

[Ukraine Bolt]

Just now, coco said:

Has little pace, but offers the team so much more than just pace. If it was all purely about pace, wouldn't we have Bolt in the team ?

I don't think anyone is doubting his ability up the top end of the pitch but his lack of pace is such a negative when it comes to defending. Wingers and full backs can just easily knock it past him and run on to it. Against huddersfield he's perfect as they didn't really try to attack us. Bellerin could do damage against him again this weekend. 

[coco]

26 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

I don't think anyone is doubting his ability up the top end of the pitch but his lack of pace is such a negative when it comes to defending. Wingers and full backs can just easily knock it past him and run on to it. Against huddersfield he's perfect as they didn't really try to attack us. Bellerin could do damage against him again this weekend. 

But it doesn't happen much, and i certainly don't remember any leaked goals coming from him not having enough pace to defend, can you ? But he is a natural football player, his touch is exquisite, he can bring a ball under control better than anyone in the team, he has genuine football dna in him. 

[TrueBlueBIH]

The opening was pretty slow but we controlled the ball with ease without creating much chances. After Kante scored we looked better and added the second. In the second half even tough only one goal was scored we created a lot and looked very good. Obviously it will take time perhaps even a few months until we use the system right, but very promising indeed.

[Ukraine Bolt]

1 hour ago, coco said:

But it doesn't happen much, and i certainly don't remember any leaked goals coming from him not having enough pace to defend, can you ? But he is a natural football player, his touch is exquisite, he can bring a ball under control better than anyone in the team, he has genuine football dna in him. 

Spurs last year.

[old git]

1 hour ago, coco said:

Has little pace, but offers the team so much more than just pace. If it was all purely about pace, wouldn't we have Bolt in the team ?

Well, if Usain Bolt had his skill, he would be the best wing back in the world but, alas, Alonso is but a tortoise in comparison. He knows it (get the ball and off load inside because no way am I taking anybody on) and the opposition are more than aware, which is why they swarm around the receiver likes bees around a honey pot,

[Ukraine Bolt]

@coco by the way, i'm not having a dig at Alonso. Just think we should be wise to when he struggles and use Emerson as such when needed. 

[PedroMendez]

7 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Spurs last year.

Spurs have literally no quick players so it wasn't due to a lack of pace

[Ukraine Bolt]

9 minutes ago, PedroMendez said:

Spurs have literally no quick players so it wasn't due to a lack of pace

Spurs have no quick players yet they still easily knocked it and ran past Alonso. Kinda proving my point here pal.

[Richard P]

He was a wing back last year so it didn’t stand out as much. Having a centre back come out to help in a back 3 was fine, but with a flat back four there is no way a centre back can be pulled out of shape to cover.

[DaRick]

8 hours ago, PedroMendez said:

Spurs have literally no quick players so it wasn't due to a lack of pace

Son Heung-Min?

[PedroMendez]

11 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Spurs have no quick players yet they still easily knocked it and ran past Alonso. Kinda proving my point here pal.

Pace is often used to compensate for footballing (either technical or mental) deficiencies and yes he did get beaten a few times in that game (usually if memory serves me right by the attacker getting him to commit to the tackle or press before knocking it past him) but quicker players than those that spurs possess haven't beaten him in similar situations, so for me the reason he was beaten was not a lack of pace, it was good play by the attacker.

Dele Alli has beaten multiple defenders in a similar way, despite in a lot of occasions being slower than the defender in a straight race. 

Would being quicker have helped him in those situations maybe but speed doesn't create a good player and arguably the best defender in Premier League history was on of the slowest.