Our biggest problem this season , ok not at the beginning , has been our passing , Essien at times has been sloppy , even when we get into the final 3rd , we just dont seem to be able to pick out a player with a simple pass , the final ball has also been poor , last season we did it for fun , now we look sloppy and careless , but i dont think its confidence , i just feel its more to do with timing and thats where we badly missed Frank , he's always a player who we could depend on to be there for a pass , always in the right position . Our corners are a disgrace ,today an exception but overall very poor , usually hit towards the near post which the first defender always wins , ive said before , a short corner to a chelsea player then whip it into the six yard box , or pass and move and run at the right or left full. We are getting nothing elsewhere .

I dont over recent results think were a bad side , we just cant create like we did last season and its all down to communication and awareness .

Something is missing and its not a manager issue , its a player issue , sort that and were back in business with what we have .

the speed of passing and movement is the key if anything...we have been playing far too slowly during our bad run and there were long periods where we did the same against Blackburn...there were also periods when we played it quicker and funnily enough we looked more threatening!

Agree, the link up play between front 3 & midfield has been shocking. It was a bit better yesterday, I thought Malouda was slightly better than he's been lately

Good points all around. I think the fitness of the players is not where it should be. Everyone needs to work harder. I think maybe Ivanovic has been on his level of all our players and Petr but he doesn't have to run around the pitch. When your leading players are a bit sloppy everyone else sort of fall to that pit as well.

Drogba hasn't had the bulldozer mentality for awhile now. He just loses all the battles on the pitch, in the air and on the ground. I don't buy the malaria explanation anymore.

I think there are two things affecting this:

1. We won the double and it seems it consumed more than we might think. Championship hangover if you will.

2. Carlo is Italian and has only coached in Italy. His character is loved by all here and the players seem to love him but are his normal day training routines right for EPL? I know he doesn't write the exercises just by himself but he is the man who says when to tighten the screw or loosen up a little for match fitness. In Italy the climate is more friendly for athletes and the pace of the game is lot slower. He also lost Ray who could speak Italian and bring the players closer to him and work with more detail. With this in mind I think Carlo still needs help in coaching to work as professional as you need in the toughest league in the world.

I think we need to forget last season and be more humble in all we do and get help for Carlo in the training ground. We are just too sloppy in every aspect.

I did hope Carlo might start the blackburn game without drogba and malouda maybe even essien,the team to me just looks a bit stale,cole couldn't get fwd as much as usual but bossy did?,not creating to much from open play,can't and shouldn't rely on set pieces.

Maybe staring a league game with lamps and josh,Anelka through the middle and sturridge playing as 2nd striker,the arrival of 2 or 3 new players would show the players they are not def starters,and the fans we mean business, imho ithink we now need 3 players,Roman find us a fabregas please,and a tevez type wouldn't go amiss.

Good points all around. I think the fitness of the players is not where it should be. Everyone needs to work harder. I think maybe Ivanovic has been on his level of all our players and Petr but he doesn't have to run around the pitch. When your leading players are a bit sloppy everyone else sort of fall to that pit as well.

Drogba hasn't had the bulldozer mentality for awhile now. He just loses all the battles on the pitch, in the air and on the ground. I don't buy the malaria explanation anymore.

I think there are two things affecting this:

1. We won the double and it seems it consumed more than we might think. Championship hangover if you will.

2. Carlo is Italian and has only coached in Italy. His character is loved by all here and the players seem to love him but are his normal day training routines right for EPL? I know he doesn't write the exercises just by himself but he is the man who says when to tighten the screw or loosen up a little for match fitness. In Italy the climate is more friendly for athletes and the pace of the game is lot slower. He also lost Ray who could speak Italian and bring the players closer to him and work with more detail. With this in mind I think Carlo still needs help in coaching to work as professional as you need in the toughest league in the world.

I think we need to forget last season and be more humble in all we do and get help for Carlo in the training ground. We are just too sloppy in every aspect.

This is a good point, however I'm not neccessarily sure it could be because of his Italian coaching. I feel that because of all our injuries this season, maybe Carlo doesn't want to push the players too hard, in case we pick up anymore.

This is a good point, however I'm not neccessarily sure it could be because of his Italian coaching. I feel that because of all our injuries this season, maybe Carlo doesn't want to push the players too hard, in case we pick up anymore.

I agree. Lots of factors affecting the whole thing. Maybe you have to train a bit differently in England than in Italy to avoid injuries. Being professional athlete is about avoiding injuries while training hard..then again every player is responsible of their own well being and injuries come with the sport.

I don't know why anybody would doubt the Managers training methods, its not as if our players would be too shy to mention it if they thought it was a problem...Scolari would vouch for that.

I don't know why anybody would doubt the Managers training methods, its not as if our players would be too shy to mention it if they thought it was a problem...Scolari would vouch for that.

Do you comment your bosses leading methods?

I'm not talking about major differences in training just small things that start to show in time. Carlo probably didn't intervene to our routine training that much in the first season but he had the whole last summer to make his mark in that part. This is all just speculating of course so your opinion is as right as mine.

Do you comment your bosses leading methods?

I'm not talking about major differences in training just small things that start to show in time. Carlo probably didn't intervene to our routine training that much in the first season but he had the whole last summer to make his mark in that part. This is all just speculating of course so your opinion is as right as mine.

I would if I had a boss but more to the point we know from experience that the players at Chelseas would.

Why do you imagine Carlo would not intervene in training in his first season? why would you imagine he would suddenly start this season? if its due as somebody intimated to the departure of Wilkins being why the fitness levels have suffered do you think it would happen that quickly?

I think the fitness is fine other than the obvious..Drogba suffering after the Malaria and Lampard and Essiens injury recoveries.

We've lost a bit of form and a bit of confidence, things are not happening as cleanly as when we are firing on all cylinders, I doubt its any more than that.

I would if I had a boss but more to the point we know from experience that the players at Chelseas would.

Why do you imagine Carlo would not intervene in training in his first season? why would you imagine he would suddenly start this season? if its due as somebody intimated to the departure of Wilkins being why the fitness levels have suffered do you think it would happen that quickly?

I think the fitness is fine other than the obvious..Drogba suffering after the Malaria and Lampard and Essiens injury recoveries.

We've lost a bit of form and a bit of confidence, things are not happening as cleanly as when we are firing on all cylinders, I doubt its any more than that.

I'm not saying he didn't intervene, he just didn't do that many changes I imagine. Combining a bit of championship-hangover with new training methods you may get results like this. Of course the injuries have done a lot but after such a long slump you start to question thing and another. We have usually reacted very well after a loss.

I don't think a fitness loss happens that fast but you have to train with same passion as you play in games.

I'm not saying he didn't intervene, he just didn't do that many changes I imagine. Combining a bit of championship-hangover with new training methods you may get results like this. Of course the injuries have done a lot but after such a long slump you start to question thing and another. We have usually reacted very well after a loss.

I don't think a fitness loss happens that fast but you have to train with same passion as you play in games.

Where is the fitness loss though? apart from the obvious players I mentioned I can't see any signs of fatigue in fact we usually look like if the game were twenty minutes longer we'd be more likely to score.

I don't think you do need to question one thing and another after a slump when the main reasons are blatently obvious i.e Drogbas ilness, Essiens Lampards injuries and the other injuries and suspensions added to the lack of squad depth, to me thats enough to put the skids under any team and knock the confidence.

The problems lie for the Manager on how to get the important players (Drogba, Essien, Lampard, Anelka, Maluda) playing how we know they can and how much to use the young back up we have to lift the team while bringing these players back to their best (if possible) hopefully for a decent crack at the CL and to keep the Manager in a Job, something I don't think we will do if we play the youngsters too much at the expense of Drogba Maluda or Essien who are the players we need in that competition against the big guns.

Edited January 16, 201114 yr by Chippy