Liverpool Vs Chelsea (PL) Tue 31/01 2017 KO 20:00 GMT

[Sexyfootball]

I haven't read any posts from during the game, could people not tell Kante was more wasteful than him at the time?

I didn't see the game myself, but there was certainly ALOT of criticism for Matic in the thread ... although as you pointed out in your post above, it was certainly pretty obvious to you that Kante was giving the ball away alot !

 

[Chelsbear]

I didn't see the game myself, but there was certainly ALOT of criticism for Matic in the thread ... although as you pointed out in your post above, it was certainly pretty obvious to you that Kante was giving the ball away alot !

Kante was a big reason we didn't get beat. He was class

He was breaking up everything in the midfield and winning the ball back countless times. He was a million miles ahead of what Matic churned out.

 

 

[STATS]

Let's not be so quick to point fingers at our manager for subbing eden, he hardly has a flawless record for pens with us does he? 

In any case how many of us would have turned down this football day? Had you offered me this, up at halftime, miss a pen, only draw but arsenal lose and Spurs draw you are absolutely right I would have been happy with that. Liverpool and Spurs gain nothing on us, arsenal fall a point further back. This was a good result and a good day of football for us. 

TBH, Hazard's penalty stats is brilliant. I think he has missed 6 in his career whilst he has converted 35 successful penalties. That is rather brilliant and probably one of the best penalty statistics around. Chances are he probably would have scored. He usually is one of the most composed when it comes to penalties.

 

[Chelsbear]

Pass completion according to Whoscored website:

Kante 27/41 = 65.8%

Matic 31/40 = 77.5%

Seems like Kante was giving the ball away more than Matic on that stat, which is contary to what you would think from reading this thread

Team average was 68%, pretty poor for us .. only Hazard and Dave were at 80+%

Stats....sigh

Do they show the amount of times Kante won the ball back? Broke down play or drove us forward?

This is exactly why stats mean very little when trying to interpret how the game went.

 

[Sexyfootball]

Kante was a big reason we didn't get beat. He was class

He was breaking up everything in the midfield and winning the ball back countless times. He was a million miles ahead of what Matic churned out.

 

Maybe so, but the point I am making is that the negative criticism of Matic is unfair ...

 

[Chelsbear]

Maybe so, but the point I am making is that the negative criticism of Matic is unfair ...

It's really not.

Matic had a howler, Kante did well.

Stats don't show you how the game played out, watch it back.

 

[Sexyfootball]

Stats....sigh

Do they show the amount of times Kante won the ball back? Broke down play or drove us forward?

This is exactly why stats mean very little when trying to interpret how the game went.

I agree you can prove anything with stats, but when Matic is gettig flogged for giving the ball away, and Kante, who everyone agrees had a great game, actually gave the ball away more than him ... then what gives ?

Honestly I have no idea why every game some poor player or other has to get roasted by folk on this board.

 

[Chelsbear]

I agree you can prove anything with stats, but when Matic is gettig flogged for giving the ball away, and Kante, who everyone agrees had a great game, actually gave the ball away more than him ... then what gives ?

Honestly I have no idea why every game some poor player or other has to get roasted by folk on this board.

He isn't getting roasted though, all people are doing are pointing out he had a poor game. When Cesc came on we played far far better so it makes sense some would want Matic dropped so we play better...it's about the team not the player after all.

Kante had the ball more which is probably why he has higher stats in that regard whereas Matic looked scared to have the ball at all last night. Kante takes risks more than Matic also.

I think with Matic he doesn't offer nearly as much as Kante gives you and that's why he is praised. His effort in winning the ball back, tracking back and his general play is why he stood out for me. I don't remember any of his miss attempted passing causing us any great issues either. You only have to look at the MOTM thread to see what most of the folk who voted thought of Kante last night.
 

If Matic has a good game he will get praise too.

 

[Chelsbear]

For the stat folk

 

[rtwelch]

It's really not rocket science where we need to upgrade the team. Against the big teams the same players are standing out like a sore thumb. Alonso, Moses & Matic.

I thought we were really poor last night despite the pundits saying we were brilliant. Yes we defended well but to give the ball away so cheaply was painful to watch. Reminded me of the Barca CL games where we looked scared of the ball. 

Can't understand why Conte doesn't play 3-5-2 against the top 6. Is he that scared of leaving an extra defender free to bring up the ball? Am I missing something? 

Conte is clearly an excellent tactician but I feel like when Cesc comes on we keep the ball and look a lot more composed. 

Pleased we're 9 points clear at the end of the day but hope we sort this at the end of the season. Might seem pessimistic but just know we can do better.

 

[BenCFC19]

It's good that we're disappointed with last night, that shows where we are as a club right now. We are becoming winners again. Under a certain previous manager we would have been happy to go to Anfield last night and draw 0-0 with no shots on target, we are evolving and now we need to banish the memories of that Arsenal match on Saturday. KTBFFH

 

[PedroMendez]

Matic really wasn't bad in the game, he has become the go to player to moan about. 

IMO It's confirmation bias at play those who don't like Matic are looking for his mistakes and pounding him for them.

Hopefully like Pedro these things go round in circles, as I don't think Matic is going to get dropped anytine soon as he adds some much more balance to the side than fabregas and i doubt I will be able to put up with all the slating

 

[Bobbywoodhogan]

TBH I do have a little sympathy with Costa on the pen. Not that I was ever anywhere near professional level but when I played football I was very clinical one on one but utter sh*te at pens. I just could never hit them properly.

 

[Chelsbear]

Matic really wasn't bad in the game, he has become the go to player to moan about. 

IMO It's confirmation bias at play those who don't like Matic are looking for his mistakes and pounding him for them.

Hopefully like Pedro these things go round in circles, as I don't think Matic is going to get dropped anytine soon as he adds some much more balance to the side than fabregas and i doubt I will be able to put up with all the slating

Who doesn't like Matic?

Because you criticise his form you instantly dislike him? Such rubbish.

 

[Floyd25]

Can't believe all the crap this morning about Costa's penalty...claims that it was a dive...and Klopp saying that he wouldn't be 'friends' with Costa...I'm sure Diego is gutted...not

It was a pen, you'd have to be blind to think there wasn't contact, he clearly gets clipped, I have no idea what people think they've seen.

 

[Argo]

I suppose if you watched the games you would know they outplayed us for 3 halfs of football even the game they lost they bossed us in possession, tempo, momentum, we were just more clinical and had a great second half, the first half and whole of the game we lost they bossed us completely 

First half at The Bridge ok they did without creating anything, but WHL? No, we had two chances each, they took theirs, we didn't. On another day Alli and Eden would score and miss one each, and on another Eden would take his and Alli wouldn't. If anything that game reminded me of the Rafa/Jose games, tight matches and the results came down to who made better of the limited opportunities. 

 

[Argo]

Who says we didnt have to win? So we played for a draw? Im not happy with that. A win would of all but wrapped it up. Its far from that now.

Im not comparing us to liverpool, or saying they played well. Im talking about us. We didnt create many (if any) real chances. And in possession we were useless. Bigger and better teams in europe would have beaten us tonight, which is where we are looking long term. 

And if we went all out to win and got beat which by leaving the title race semi over again it would have been the most naivest bit of management by a Chelsea manager since AVB decided to turn an easy win into a 3-5 defeat against Arsenal.

 

[Imran_CFC]

I don't believe we played for a draw; in the first half we sat back to absorb a bit of pressure because everyone knows you cannot maintain a high press for the full 90 and we finished stronger, in the last 20 we were by far the stronger & the more dominant side and in all likelihood should have come away with all 3 points taking into account the Penalty miss.

 

[PythonLu]

Kante had a very good game, but he can't control the midfield all by himself and unfortunately the other three weren't quite up to it. For some of them I am not even sure if it's just bad form or a matter of not being good enough for this kind of game. It's not the first time our midfield got overwhelmed by a top 6 side.

Other than that, I thought Courtois was very good, Luiz obviously had a good game, and the other defenders were solid, too.

On the other hand, Hazard was quiet, so was Willian and Costa gets a 3/10 from me. As a striker you either bury that penalty and win it or you had a bad game, simple as.

I expected more, I have to admit that, but ironically even the draw was enough to extend the lead. As long as we do not have to worry about playing the likes of Munich, Barcelona or Real this first evelen is just about good enough. That's, however, mainly because our competition can't get their act together against small teams - we should never forget that! Nor should we rely on them keeping it that way.

Let's win the league and then we'll see how we can improve the team.

 

[Don Conte]

It was a pen, you'd have to be blind to think there wasn't contact, he clearly gets clipped, I have no idea what people think they've seen.

obviously those folks on SCOUSE SPORTS NEWS thought it was a dive. even though the replays showed there was contact. i cud care less what the media want. i wud rather be hated and end up champions or be loved like liverpool and never win the Pemiership