Is anyone else worried about the way we are defending? I just worry its gonna cause us major problems down the line and un do all the hard work we have done at the start of the season. We have been there before remember.

For me I think we need to start giving Luis the left back slot with Apzi moving to right back.

I dont think dropping Branna will solve the problems. I think Courtois still needs time to adjust and we are having problems further up the field, Cesc is great at going forward but is still playing the Barca way and chasing the ball instead of holding is role and keeping the shape of the team. Twice now we have let in goals when we have had corners. That shouldnt happen.

But to answer your question, yes i am worried. If it doesnt get sorted between now and Sunday then City's strikers will have a field day with us.

I'm not too worried, this defence has played in front of cech for years, they need to get used to courtois, just as he needs to get used to them. And if Jose has shown anything it's that he definitely knows how to sort a defence out.

Yeah Im a bit worried. Our back four clearly havent been at the level they were last season. Brana is giving up way to much space without any cover and when hes actually back there defending he is drifting inside. Cahill for some reason have started his backing off routine again and is allowing forwards way to much space and time on the ball. For some reason, the communication between the back four has been really poor, we are constantly caught out of position and our otherwise sturdy line is all over the place in regards to setting the opposition offsides. 

 

Not sure what Courtois needs to adjust to, hes been as good as advertised imo. Made a couple of incredible stops that should have been goals. What everyone kept harping on was that he wouldnt be ready to deal with "The physicality of the PL", well dealing with balls in the box has probably been his best asset.

Matic and fab need to improve together too, agree with uno about his chasing. Matic has been going forward a lot more this season and would help if he can be a lot more disiplined when were leading.

Saying that though, I think we're trying to be a team that kills off games with 2 or 3 goals rather hang on to a 1 goal advantage, little bit more clinical last night and the poor defending wouldn't of mattered. Personally I'd rather have it tight at the back but seems although there is a change in the way we play...for thes 100th time.

Matic and fab need to improve together too, agree with uno about his chasing. Matic has been going forward a lot more this season and would help if he can be a lot more disiplined when were leading.

Saying that though, I think we're trying to be a team that kills off games with 2 or 3 goals rather hang on to a 1 goal advantage, little bit more clinical last night and the poor defending wouldn't of mattered. Personally I'd rather have it tight at the back but seems although there is a change in the way we play...for thes 100th time.

 

We tried it last year as well, I think Jose realized fairly early last year that we just didnt have the quality in our side to play that kind of open and attacking football. I expect to see a clear change on Sunday against City. 

It's a tactical change, i'm fairly confident Jose could have us as solid as last season at any time, but that would also reduce our capabilities going forward.

 

So far he's quite clearly got the balance right, but for City I think he'll revert back.

By adjusting i meant to each other, the defence and cechs understanding will need time to be replicated with courtois.

I think Cech will start against City? Whattya guys think?

Am I worried, well not too much at this point of the season as there is still a long way to go and time for adjustment.  The back four personnel have not changed and although Cech is not between the sticks that should not really enter the equation as to why our defence has started relatively poorly.  So what has changed?  Well we are playing open and attacking football more so than what we did last year and that creates space for the other teams to exploit and with Ivan believing he is the second best centre forward on the team our right side is being left exposed far too much, in addition by attacking the midfield have to play higher up the pitch to provide support leaving a gap between the back 3 (with Ivan being absent for the most part) and the defensive midfielders; these spaces are being exploited by our opponents if and when our attack breaks down or the ball gets nicked high up the pitch which is what most teams are trying to do these days.  As I said in another post and for a while, Ivan is not a RWB and should be playing alongside Terry or Cahill when one or the other is absent through injury or needs a rest.  We have two excellent players in Dave and Luis who are natural wing backs and while offering support to attack understand their principle role which is to defend.  If our 'defensive' woes continue against lesser teams then I will begin to worry although looking at Jose's face of thunder last night I can't see this continuing for too much longer....and Sunday will just be the start of things to come.

The problem sits with fabregas for me. Going forward he's what we've been missing but he can't play next to matic. Last season lamps sat next to matic a few times and we were far more stable. Man city home and away for example. The expericance of lamps and the power of matic gave us so much more stability. I'd like to see fabregas play in behind the strikers instead of Oscar. There's enough games to play to keep both of them happy but we need another defensive midfielder to play next to matic. Mikel isn't good enough. Maybe ramires could do a job there. He's got the stamina to get up and down and doesn't mind a tackle.

Yes I am.

The real problem is Ivan and his bombing forward at almost every opportunity and leaves the 2 CB's so exposed. Ivan though is a threat and at set pieces he is an invaluable asset So there lies the dilemma we face.

Azpi is better at defending than Ivan but can we afford to leave Ivan out? Luis last night was top quality and he really shouldn’t be dropped after a performance like that but there is no easy choice here.

I’d also like to bring up Cahills ‘backing off’ approach and it’s ugly reappearance, it cost us the goal last night and also a few dangerous situations…he really needs to stop this and I thought he had got it out his system but it really was poor stuff from him.

We look night and day from the defending we done last season but maybe that had to be sacrificed if we are to be more attacking and ‘exciting’ to watch? Either way we need a happy medium because stronger teams will punish us if we continue to defend like we have been doing.

We are pressing higher up the pitch will have something to do with it. Im concerned a little bit yes because i don't want us to be like Liverpool were last season, we won't win anything if we are conceding too many goals. However i trust Mourinho to get the balance right and also i think our defenders are good defenders so maybe its just a rough patch. Mourinho teams are always good defensively so you have to trust him to get it right.

5 games in. New system. 4 wins.

 

I think it's too early to start worrying to be honest. In all these games we've looked to play a more expansive, attacking game and it's paid off broadly speaking. 

 

Last season people were moaning about our inability to break down small teams, yet we've already won two potential banana skin games (Swansea and Leicester) that we were struggling with last year. We've shown an ability to break down and decimate teams who sit deeper that we didn't last year and of course that's going to have an effect on how we defend.

 

But Jose isn't Kevin Keegan. He knows that the first step in matches is not to lose and I think we'll see that side of him on Sunday.

 

Against Swansea we looked overrun in midfield, but he made changes and we took control. Against Everton he shored us up in the second half. We have a top manager - if you think you see a potential problem, he saw it weeks ago and already worked out a solution.

 

I just think you have to be patient. Matic isn't at his imperious best but he'll get there and that's a big thing for this team. The one slight worry is JT who is starting to look like a 33 year old all of a sudden. Cahill does so much work to help him out but he needs to step it up a bit which is a big ask at his age.

We are pressing higher up the pitch will have something to do with it. Im concerned a little bit yes because i don't want us to be like Liverpool were last season, we won't win anything if we are conceding too many goals. However i trust Mourinho to get the balance right and also i think our defenders are good defenders so maybe its just a rough patch. Mourinho teams are always good defensively so you have to trust him to get it right.

 

It is what it is. You cant have it both ways. You cant be rock solid at the back while being a free flowing attack minded team. I think in some way we are trying to be more attacking against the lower quality sides and shutting up shop when we play the likes of City, Liverpool and Arsenal comes our way. If we we had put away some of our chances last night and won 3-1 its less likely that this thread excist. As of right now, it seems to be that the players are sort of struggling with the more attacking approach, especially Matic and Ivan. I expect them to get it right soon enough, otherwise Mourinho will take action

I think Cech will start against City? Whattya guys think?

No way, what sort of message would that be sending to Courtois?

I think there are a number of reasons for our recent defensive troubles. Like others have highlighted, we are playing far more aggressive football, Ivanovic has far more attacking responsibilities (with the natural consequence being that he is less disciplined in maintaining our shape), and Fabregas, an outright playmaker, has replaced Mikel/Ramires/Lampard as our second midfielder. The consequence of this is that our quality of passing in midfield has seen a marked improvement, albeit while sacrificing some solidity in the middle.

 

I like to think of these as teething problems. Eventually we will figure out the appropriate XIs for every level/style of opponent and get the balance of the team right. We've had a fairly high player turnover (especially in our starting XI) over the last two or three seasons, some of our new players are filling the boots of bona fide Chelsea legends, upon whom we have depended for a decade or more. It's only natural that we look a little incoherent, but I have confidence that we will get it right as we have the squad and the manager to get the job done.

Players' average position vs Schalke:

Look at Ivanovic's. He was higher up the pitch than Willian. We'll get murdered by City if he plays so high and leaves such gaps behind. We need to find the right balance between attack and defence.

lol that can't be real...can it :(

Players' average position vs Schalke:

Look at Ivanovic's. He was higher up the pitch than Willian. We'll get murdered by City if he plays so high and leaves such gaps behind. We need to find the right balance between attack and defence.

 

This shows our biggest problem, Ivanovic is too high up the pitch. I like that he is more of threat when going forward but he needs to hold back a bit and stop leaving his side so open. It's where teams are creating most of their chances against us.

 

I also think we need to be more aggressive, we keep dodging tackles or putting in half hearted challenges. We didn't see that last season and i don't see why we are now. Azpilicueta and Luis are the only ones who are putting proper challenges in so far.

Are we actually using the term woes?

We're a bit more open with Fabregas in the pivot but I'd imagine Ramires or Mikel will come in to strengthen that when required. We didn't win the comp last season because we couldn't score against minnows. If that means taking a risk and conceding more goals in those games to score more. I for one am ok with that.

Are we actually using the term woes?

We're a bit more open with Fabregas in the pivot but I'd imagine Ramires or Mikel will come in to strengthen that when required. We didn't win the comp last season because we couldn't score against minnows. If that means taking a risk and conceding more goals in those games to score more. I for one am ok with that.

 

It might be an overreaction, normally I would consider it such - just a kneejerk reaction. But we have been woeful in some aspects of our defence so far this season. Leicester easily could scored against us twice were it not for Courtois, we conceded three against Everton, two against Swansea and it could have been more. And Schalke the defence was poor as well with several defensive mistakes. It's just such a big difference to last season, despite there being only one midfield position changed.

Of course I don't think the term defensive woes is completely accurate but it seemed like the best title

We will be rock solid from now on

This shows our biggest problem, Ivanovic is too high up the pitch. I like that he is more of threat when going forward but he needs to hold back a bit and stop leaving his side so open. It's where teams are creating most of their chances against us.

 

I also think we need to be more aggressive, we keep dodging tackles or putting in half hearted challenges. We didn't see that last season and i don't see why we are now. Azpilicueta and Luis are the only ones who are putting proper challenges in so far.

 

It wasn't so much of a problem when he was playing a part in numerous goals throughout our 100% league run to date though.