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Chelsea V Manchester United (PL) Sat 31st Oct 26 12:30 GMT

Most enjoyable result. Always great to beat Salford United. Thought we were much better in the second-half and a superb goal from Rogers. Was impressed with Lavia, Acheampong and Estevao. A shame his goal was disallowed. Great chant towards the end of the game. Don't know if could be heard on TV and radio but it was "Going down with the City, you're going down with the City." In the second-half the guy sitting next to me - not the usual person - was videoing the game and must have been live-streaming to his friends as he was giving a running commentary. I didn't recognise the language. Was like listening to the radio. I admit to being tempted to grab hold of the phone and lobbing it.

More important than the game it was great to see Chelsea Pensioners and serving military personnel parade before the game. A wonderfully observed moment of silence and a poignant rendition of the Last Post by a bugler. Always important to remember those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice. I rarely take photos before or during a game unless it's a special banner or an important event but took these today.
Stamford Bridge Poppy 1.jpgStamford Bridge Poppy 2.jpg

That's the fourth weekend in a row at the Bridge. Will be there the next three weekends. I should move in there! As long as I can have a few history books and a couple of bottles of Single Malt Whisky!

KTBFFH

WATP
 
Cole Palmer converted to score his 50th Premier League goal for Blues

Cole Palmer converted to score his 50th Premier League goal for Blues
 
I'm obviously pleased with the result but not getting carried away. We could have quite easily been 2 or even 3 nil down at half time had Utd's finishing been better.
The sooner Fofana goes the better.

The 2nd half improvement was much needed and good to see. Lavia was my Motm and Rogers goal was class but credit to Penders as well. He's done well to shake off that that blunder of last week and the fingertip save he made from Mbeumo's goal bound rocket was not just superb but so important at that stage of the game.

Pleased to finally see Estavao get a start and he didn't disappoint. The var decision to rule his brilliant (2nd) goal offside is nothing short of scandalous but it was good to see the interaction between him and Alonso when he was subbed off, no signs of a rift there. In all honesty I'm not expecting much from this season but hopefully somewhere better than a mid table finish ?
 
That first half was a very hard watch but thankfully it was the game of two halves and we always looked in control after Rogers well taken opener.

Rogers, Josh, Penders and Estevao all good but Lavia was on a different level yesterday. Complete midfielder performance - had a touch of Essien about it.
 
The positive are obviously a clean sheet victory and also lavia by far motm performance.

However, there were still negative that can't be overlooked. This game could easily go the other way had it not things (surprisingly) go our way. On another day, their near miss chances would have gone in, fofana would have dived in and got red card in that first half incident and lisandro didn't implode. 2nd half performance improves but not by much as a team and a lot of that thanks to having 1 man advantage.

All those combine with the 1st half performance suggesting it's still not out of the woods yet. We have to do better.
 
BolaBall said:
The positive are obviously a clean sheet victory and also lavia by far motm performance.

However, there were still negative that can't be overlooked. This game could easily go the other way had it not things (surprisingly) go our way. On another day, their near miss chances would have gone in, fofana would have dived in and got red card in that first half incident and lisandro didn't implode. 2nd half performance improves but not by much as a team and a lot of that thanks to having 1 man advantage.

All those combine with the 1st half performance suggesting it's still not out of the woods yet. We have to do better.
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I would argue that had Fofana dived in and got a red card in the first half, that would have actually improved us, without the clown on the pitch.
 
It's a good result but it wasn't a good performance. United were awful; they had at least 2 or 3 easy chances in the first half. Had one of them gone in: the result would have been very different. Rogers's goal was a real class though. Glad that we bought him. And another positive point: Estevao. Not sure why Xabi Alonso never gave him opportunities before. He is hot and cold Estevao, but if he never plays, he won't improve. For me Rogers, Palmer, Estevao and Neto should all start all the time when Joao Pedro is still injured. Also IMO Levi Colwill looked far more comfortable in the centre, as Lacroix was injured. I would suggest switching Colwill and Lacroix's position once the latter will be back
 
WhiteWall said:
I would argue that had Fofana dived in and got a red card in the first half, that would have actually improved us, without the clown on the pitch.
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haha, joke aside, i think him not dived in is kind of the turning point of the game. Without him, I'm not sure martinez would have a face to trigger him for the elbow.
 
aindro said:
It's a good result but it wasn't a good performance. United were awful; they had at least 2 or 3 easy chances in the first half. Had one of them gone in: the result would have been very different. Rogers's goal was a real class though. Glad that we bought him. And another positive point: Estevao. Not sure why Xabi Alonso never gave him opportunities before. He is hot and cold Estevao, but if he never plays, he won't improve. For me Rogers, Palmer, Estevao and Neto should all start all the time when Joao Pedro is still injured. Also IMO Levi Colwill looked far more comfortable in the centre, as Lacroix was injured. I would suggest switching Colwill and Lacroix's position once the latter will be back
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I agree in part with this. Yes we should be trying to have all four on the pitch as, offensively, they are our strongest group of players currently. But the Tottenham game illustrated that if the opposition go with a 3 man midfield our 10 has to be disciplined enough and rangy enough to drop to central midfield to support the double pivot in order to win midfield. With none of Estevao, Palmer or Rogers being committed to this sacrifice we run the risk of our midfield losing an overload battle each week and frankly playing a high or wide pressing tactic, bypassing midfield is not going to be a successful blueprint for the whole season.
 
I don’t know who I owe the apology to, but I thought selling Santos was criminal, after his recent performances, he wouldn’t even make our bench. Absolutely dogsh*t.
 
aindro said:
It's a good result but it wasn't a good performance. United were awful; they had at least 2 or 3 easy chances in the first half. Had one of them gone in: the result would have been very different. Rogers's goal was a real class though. Glad that we bought him. And another positive point: Estevao. Not sure why Xabi Alonso never gave him opportunities before. He is hot and cold Estevao, but if he never plays, he won't improve. For me Rogers, Palmer, Estevao and Neto should all start all the time when Joao Pedro is still injured. Also IMO Levi Colwill looked far more comfortable in the centre, as Lacroix was injured. I would suggest switching Colwill and Lacroix's position once the latter will be back
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Why do people still act like we're playing 3-4-3. We haven't been for a few games now and Colwill wasn't playing CCB, but LCB in a 2 with Acheampong as a RB.

Just look at the average player positions. Josh was actually playing further forward than Palestra.
 

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Not only have I manage to get moved from MHL to the upper tier and a seat in row B, I've also had the pleasure of meeting our very own Shed end legend @Boyne a couple of times!
The "Last Post" played by the lone bugler prior to the game was very moving.
As for the game, can't really say much more than we got away with it in the first half but thankfully ended up with the 3 points.

Come on you BLUES !
 
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