Spiller86

I think that is doing Southampton a disservice. They broke up our defensive line nicely such that Alonso was dragged out of position, needing Kovacic and Rudiger to cover him. As per usual Alonso neither won the ball (or fouled him, which is what he should have done if he couldn't win the ball). Saints then have acres of space to play in because there is a big Kovacic shaped hole in the midfield. That is well worked by Southampton and for me a carbon copy of a goal we've been conceding regularly for three seasons now. Matter of fact I reckon if you were to count the number of goals w

Interesting to watch this game as an example of how some of the more tactical managers would approach playing us. They negated our attack well but I think likely also showed other teams how to pull apart our shape with their goal. For their goal Alonso rushes out of position, so Kovacic sort of covers, Rudiger sort of covers as well leaving space in midfield and our backline is stretched across to one side. Alonso, as is to be expected, doesn't win the ball and space opens in the backline for a simple throughball. I think we might see teams try that again shortly. On the whole it was

Naturally the Shed End hierarchy is consulted on all the big calls. I still blame Mod and Coco for recommending we buy Kepa.

This is a bit disingenuous. There was endless sooking about particular players, notably Mason Mount being picked even though he has largely been our best player this season. That's before we get to Kante. All this while we were top of the league (which happened 6 weeks before Frank was sacked).

No room for wingers in his system at the moment, they may later get more involved. I'm not convinced either are fully fit. That said, frankly I think we can expect a lot of Jorginho and Kovacic having 150 passes a game and most of the excitement in our games happening in the match chat on this forum.

Totally, there is no video to analyse and no clear patterns you can disrupt. That will come after a few months as it did with Sarri and Lampard. It took a season for it to happen to Conte. New manager bounce is why teams sack managers halfway through imo. You bring in some players from the broader squad who were out of favour under the previous manager, everyone tries a bit harder to maintain or win their place. We've seen over a long time that it works. Only time it hasn't was under Hiddink when Jose was sacked. The alternative is the old Fergie approach where he stayed but turned

Not almost certain at all. Plenty of boards/senior staff will have differing views on an appointment. He would have been consulted but we've no idea what he said or whether that would have made any difference. We know where the power sits at Chelsea and it's not with Petr Cech.

I've said in a few places that it is very similar to Sarri's underlying principles. Possesion is used as a form of attack and defence. Aim is to keep the ball.

Absolutely spot on. Alonso didn't suit Lampard's football but does suit Tuchel's. I think he's largely been a good if limited servant. Much like Willian with Conte I won't forgive the stroppiness against Lampard but he can do a job for us in this system. That said the worst bit is that Chilwell cost us 60m. We bought him for Lampard and now he's on the bench, he might get another run he might not. The waste involved in our manager turnover staggers me sometimes.

Sad that people have forgotten about Three Point Lane so quickly. I remember when Eidur signed for them in the very twilight of his career and made himself very unpopular by saying he really liked playing at White Hart Lane and that he had never lost there.

I see your point and I could also see that from the outside that this argument could be those who wanted Lampard to remain belittling Tuchel by saying we havent played anyone yet. But the truth is, we've had a pretty easy run, including playing Spurs without their best player and talisman. Now I think we've tightened up by having more very safe possession and keeping more players behind the ball. This is strikingly similar to the approach under Sarri (albeit with a different formation). Our defence that season was pretty tight. What I'm simply saying is that this approach will

Its time you just accepted that you've got a massive anti-Jorginho agenda and that he is the best midfielder to play for Chelsea since Frank Lampard. Anything less is treasonous. As punishment you'll be forced to watch endless tapes explaining the regista position until you see the error in your ways and appreciate his greatness. I also think he has played well recently. The new system suits him.

CHO is a funny one you look at the position maps from last night and he was pretty much playing as a right winger. For me it's largely been about having a lot of very safe possession and keeping players behind the ball (which Lampard was often guilty of not doing). When we build up from the back we're always doing it with 5 players close to the ball and playing largely pretty safe. When we get higher up, we've always got at least 3 if not 4 behind the ball. Makes it harder to counter. Again we're very safe with the ball. Possession is prioritised over chances. What I will say is that

Mate you could have played in goal tonight with all the threat offered!

I'd agree about Kovacic our passing can be a bit slow and ponderous but he adds impetus with his dribbling.

Tidy win. Credit where it's due, Tuchel has certainly helped tidy up our leaky defence. Not that Newcastle offered anything much or at all. Credit to Timo for getting his goal. That slap in the face did him well. Might have to get Big Kurt to give him a slap around the chops before every match!

Hooray! He scored!

Nice Giroud. Werner is turning into Torres in 2012-13. More assists than goals! And as I type another bad miss from him.

Yeah it doesn't have Hazard to carry us

Had to score.

Back to the full weak as piss lineup too - Kepa, Christensen and Jorginho. This is essentially Sarriball.

I think he puts the leg out into Lascelles a bit too whether he was trying to win a penalty.

Tammy looks in some pain. Bad first touch to allow Lascelles in to make a challenge. Really should be 1-0

Nothing out of the ordinary.

Kepa. f**king hell. Honest to God. The final piece in Marina's plan comes to pass. Tuchel knows how to play the game. If we lose because of sh*t keeping and miss out on the top 4 we'll know who to blame.