Saaladin

I thought we had to at least get a point out of this game and we did that. The game should have been over long before Spurs equalized. Mata had a great chance as did Ramires before he fell over, we had some good sustained pressure but our final ball was off the mark too often. Really could have been 4-1 by the 70th minute. I can understand the complaints about Benayoun coming in for Oscar but Oscar was deflated and they were earning lots of free kicks and crosses down the wings. Benitez had to sub Oscar and Benayoun was the only real choice available. Maybe Ake would have been a better choice but he might not be comfortable playing wide. I like how we played though, our passing and movement has definitely improved as well as our defending shape. Cahill seems to make a defensive mistake too often. We need to improve at CB.

http://www.givemefootball.com/343268-chelsea-strike-deals-for-jose-mourinho-and-radamel-falcao

http://www.givemefootball.com/343268-chelsea-strike-deals-for-jose-mourinho-and-radamel-falcao

Thanks for the explanation. I don't doubt its true. However, that doesn't mean we should be ok with the ref adding time to the game inexplicably. 6 minutes was a lot to begin with, the extra 45 was a robbery, especially with the ball going out of play after 6 minutes had elapsed. Then Bertrand threw it back in and he played on for another 30 seconds.

So you're saying Jose never makes extra time subs? Doubt that...

Every manager in the world makes subs in the last minutes whether its for time or for strategy. Benitez is no different and being angry with him for that is just convenient for you at this time because you don't like him. The reality is if Mourinho was the manager and this happened everyone would be livid with Kevin Friend for adding 45 seconds extra. But because Benitez does some thing very ordinary and normal to do it's his fault we lost and the 45 seconds is ok. Of course they should defend until the end, but more time, logically, is more chance to score, and they should not have had that chance.

There were no incidents. It was the ref helping out Liverpool. Simple as that. I don't know how many games I watch Chelsea hoping that they add 5 or 6 minutes for all the stoppages but we only get 4, everytime 4 minutes. Liverpool gets 6 and on top of it they get 45 seconds more which I have never seen happen. You'd think Chelsea fans would be infuriated...

That doesn't make sense to me. If the extra time is 6 minutes then you play that and end it. Not add 45 seconds more.

I don't agree with this, Lampard is stronger defensively than Mata and it makes a lot of sense for him to come on to replace him. There is only one reason Chelsea drew yesterday and I'm still outraged by it.... 6 min 40 seconds.... why 6 mins? and then lets say 6 mins is justified... then why is Kevin Friend giving them another 40 additional seconds when the ball went out of play at least twice after the 6 min mark? That was a load of nonsense and it cost us 2 points.

I think the last time was when Ramires scored the winner with a run down the middle... not sure...

I think as much as we wanted that win the result was expected. The youth of this team shows when we play Man City. They are just as talented as us but they have the experience and the physicality that puts them over the edge. The first half you could see our guys playing very nervy football and also not able to match the intensity. Once we went 2-0 down the pressure seemed to fall off and they took their game to another level and matched City. I think matches like that one are a learning experience for this squad and they'll continue to improve.

Something is obviously not right at City. Although money is usually the reason for these issues, Yaya is already on 220k per week so it could very well be that he's trying to push his way out because he is not happy with the atmosphere there or some other personal issue he has with the club.

I think he's on his way to Bayern. Guardiola has an insane amount of money to spend and it's believed Suarez is tops on his list. Wouldn't be surprised if Bale is second.

There's always somebody, but if you want to be the best you need to get the best. Currently, after Ronaldo and Messi, the next best pure goal scorer is Falcao. It's not everyday that a player of his caliber is available.

I post mainly in the Match/MOTM and Rumors threads...

Im not going to debate in who has more football knowledge nor will I get into what my level of experience is. Its irrelevant and won't change anything. Also, there is truth to the fact that I am insensitive to the fact that many of you don't like Benitez simply because he managed Liverpool. I don't live in England, I wasn't born a Chelsea fan. So I am not the type of fan that will get all riled up about the same things you will. That doesn't mean I'm not a fan though. I haven't missed a Chelsea game in years and I probably get just as emotional as anyone during the course of a game. Were going to have to disagree on whether or not there has been improvement. To me, there has been significant improvement. I think the youngsters have been managed well and I think our style of play and tactics have gotten better over time.

I think Reus and Gotze are better players than Schurrle.

Possibly not. Either way though, they repeated the performance against WH. Remember what WH did to us not long ago? Also, a lot of my argument is based on the assumption that this progression will continue. If we begin to falter again then this all goes out the window. And I have no problem if we have a bad game every now and then because its going to happen with this crazy schedule we have, but if overall I can't look back and see that there has been a progression that is continuous then I will agree that Benitez has failed. Until then, I will evaluate Benitez completely when his term is complete at season's end. And I'll say again, its certainly a possibility that when Roman looks over the list of available managers, that Benitez is the best fit and the one that has the best chance to succeed.

I think he has made us more organized and given the squad more of an identity. Not just a collection of players anymore. Lampard was looking very weak last year to the point where he didn't belong. Now he has a role on the squad that fits his strengths and also meshes with the abilities of the youngsters. You see our wingers like Hazard not only making things happen up front but also being defensively responsible in our defensive third, he made a great defensive clearance against WH among other things. We have heard from various sources that Benitez is meticulous and detail oriented and prepares his squads very well, I think that its showing up on the pitch. Again, what I'm expressing is cautious optimism and respect at the same time for what Benitez has done that I think others before him failed with. RDM failed to get us organized and playing well collectively, AVB failed to recognize how to use his players within his system and how to integrate the old guard. I think Benitez has managed so far to make progress in both those areas and its beginning to pay off. Whether it continues is yet to be seen...

There is a lot of speculation in that comment though. You are suggesting then that the manager has no effect on the development of a squad. Basically you are saying that Chelsea would have played this well 8 months in no matter who the manager was... If that's the case then anything that went badly also has nothing to do with Benitez and we might as well just get John Terry to manage and play at the same time like Vialli. I think Benitez has made many errors since taking over, poor selection at times, poor subs at times, but I also think he has put a lot of work in to make this squad more tactically and technically sound. I just think its unfair to blast the man without looking at his entire body of work.

I can agree with most of this. You hit on a very key point that is the premise for my argument. I didn't like our attacking movement at all under RDM. I thought it lacked precision and creativity and cohesion. This wasn't a problem when he was fielding the starting eleven in the CL that was based mainly on defending our goal. RDM was smart, he knew he wasn't going to out-possess or outplay his opponents so he filled the starting 11 with hard working vet players that would scratch out 1-0 wins. Good on him for doing what needed to be done to win. AVB had long-term goals in mind which is why Chelsea struggled under him. He was trying to implement a system that required certain players, unfortunately AVB didn't realize that Chelsea, at that time didn't have the players to play his brand of football. All that to say, Benitez, whether the credit goes to him or not, has Chelsea playing at an attacking level that has not been reached by his predecessors. The intricate movement, short precise passes, and high pressure football we have seen the last few matches is new. And hopefully for us it wasn't a fluke or just a result of playing weak or tired opponents. If these types of performances continue then I would applaud the work Benitez has done and the struggles we had to get through to achieve it.

Please explain...? How is that hilarious?

If you think that Robbie had us playing anything close to what we are playing now then there is nothing else for me to say on the subject.

More claims and insults. What's new? What isn't new is that you never actually prove where I have been wrong since being on this site.

Well we obviously disagree on the work RDM was doing. Yes he had the same youngsters but generally speaking, young talents often start fast then fizzle out quickly once opponents understand them. Hazard in particular had a strong start but was figured out. Now he is countering that with his added experience. My problem with RDM was that although he got the best out of the CL champions squad, he did not bring a very impressive brand of football to Chelsea. I thought that would change in the new season but it was much of the same. It's useless for either of us to predict where Chelsea would be now with RDM but the results were getting progressively worse 2-3 months into the season. Benitez started off slow and is improving.