Our last two performances have certainly been 'turgid'

More Tha 60% possession, over 20 shots on goal and two legitimate penalty shouts is turgid?

Think a bit of perspective is in order.

You don't get it do you? It's not about playing attractive football at all! It's about at least trying to play football. I've never said I want Chelsea to play highline explosive football like Arsenal/Barca. All we want is to at least try to win the game rather than always trying to see out a 1-0 lead. Our players look disinterested in keeping the ball/ moving it around, shows no intensity, no tempo nothing not even trying to score after taking the lead. That's what makes me sad. It's not about playing attractive football at all.

 

Our players don't even try to add another goal after taking the lead, that's what baffles me. Our defence is nowhere that good to sustain a 1-0 lead anymore and we've seen it many many times this season be it City(away & home), PSG(away & home), United, Liverpool and numerous more.

 

We have soo much quality to play good football, but yet we play like Aston Villa even against 10-men teams. Pfft.

 

I am perfectly aware of the nature of the criticisms, literally dozens of posters have made the same complaints and have put forward the same examples of us wasting one-goal leads. And like I said in the opening post, everyone will have their own definition of attractive/entertaining football - Man City, Atletico Madrid and Arsenal have all been named by posters in this thread as examples of teams who the respective poster finds entertaining, yet they are each completely different in their style.

 

Whether he is right or not in individual cases, Mourinho's strategy when he believes a lead is secure is clear - he will prioritise the result over entertainment. So boil it down to its basic philosophical concept - if you are in a situation where you, wrong or right, have to choose between a strategy you think will provide entertainment and a strategy which you think will get you the result - which would you choose? This thread wasn't intended as a referendum on Chelsea's strategy, but a general inquiry to see where, when push comes to shove, the priorities of Chelsea fans lie. I could have asked the same question about blooding youth products: 'assuming they are mutually exclusive, would you sacrifice results if it meant we fielded more youth players?'. It doesn't necessarily mean I think this is the fundamental issue at stake, I am just curious to know how people feel about the nature of the game and how it should be played.

Our players look disinterested in keeping the ball

 

What do you actually mean when you say this?

What do you actually mean when you say this?

it's right up there with "dont even try to score another goal" and stop playing at 1 up" as daft sentences. "don't even try and play football" is another of my favourites.

Our last two performances have certainly been 'turgid'

 

i personally thought the second half against Southampton was as well as we have played in months. The first half was poor, granted. 

it's right up there with "dont even try to score another goal" and stop playing at 1 up" as daft sentences. "don't even try and play football" is another of my favourites.

 

Exactly, it's just cliched guff. 

 

The irony is that one of my main gripes at the moment is our tendency to hold on to the ball and play pass after pass around the opponents box as opposed to someone having a shot. 

Looks like posting an opinion here has become a crime. Without understanding even a bit, people here came on attacking. 

So what did you mean? And it's hardly an attack, if you post an opinion you do know others can disagree.

Looks like posting an opinion here has become a crime. Without understanding even a bit, people here came on attacking. 

 

I did actually initially ask what you meant, so I was trying to understand.... I just found the majority of your post hyperbolic cliches to be completely honest...

ha ha ha you are absolutely relentless.

 

Cheers brah.

 

What do you actually mean when you say this?

 

To take that one bit out of a fairly well-constructed post seems a little unfair, but I suspect it's getting at the instances in the match on Sunday where we lost the ball with alarming regularity (6 of the starting 11 having a lower than 80% pass completion is strikingly odd isn't it?) especially in attacking positions.

Edited March 18, 201511 yr by Blue Daze

I don't understand at times either. Our players could retire and not have to suffer the extreme regime they follow; imagine what Christmas day must be like for them and their families if they play boxing day. Would they really subject themselves to lack of privacy, as one example, and then go out onto the pitch and not try? I sometimes think that the element of chance, for good but mostly for bad, is not taken into account.They're not perfect, but I think they do, or will strive for the expected outcome. The same goes for Jose.

I don't understand at times either. Our players could retire and not have to suffer the extreme regime they follow; imagine what Christmas day must be like for them and their families if they play boxing day. Would they really subject themselves to lack of privacy, as one example, and then go out onto the pitch and not try? I sometimes think that the element of chance, for good but mostly for bad, is not taken into account.They're not perfect, but I think they do, or will strive for the expected outcome. The same goes for Jose.

 

There was actually an interesting article about the effects of playing regularly. Here's an excerpt.

 

"When players have accumulated fatigue they cannot train or play at a high intensity. Speed of actions and co-ordination suffer as the signals take longer to reach the muscles from the brain. This is why you can easily tell when a player is tired. Not only do they perform less high intensity actions, the quality of even basic actions drops.

 

So I don't think people are saying they aren't trying, but that possibly the lack of rotation is causing us issues and that ultimately comes down to the person selecting the team doesn't it?

we lost the ball with alarming regularity (6 of the starting 11 having a lower than 80% pass completion is strikingly odd isn't it?)

 

And to think you scoffed at my suggestion that we miss Mikel...

And to think you scoffed at my suggestion that we miss Mikel...

I also think we have missed mikel quite a bit lately.

And to think you scoffed at my suggestion that we miss Mikel...

 

I think we miss anyone who Jose would trust to play in this team, but yes even I thought we could do with Mikel on the bench recently.

I think we miss anyone who Jose would trust to play in this team, but yes even I thought we could do with Mikel on the bench recently.

 

Nooooooooooooooooo, let's never go back there.

 

I don't mind Mikel in the starting line-up but we all know what happens when he's on the bench. We go 1-0 up, 20 minutes to go, Mikel comes on for.......Oscar, Willain, Fabregas, whoever and we shut up shop. Final score 1-1.

Nooooooooooooooooo, let's never go back there.

I don't mind Mikel in the starting line-up but we all know what happens when he's on the bench. We go 1-0 up, 20 minutes to go, Mikel comes on for.......Oscar, Willain, Fabregas, whoever and we shut up shop. Final score 1-1.

it's weird isn't it, it's like Jose's off switch for other players. He needs to start games.

2012 when we won the Champions League, Barcelona played attractive football, we got our name on the trophy. Winning, always. Arsenal have played attractive football for years, okay they won the FA Cup last season but one trophy in eight years. It doesn't matter how you win, as long as you're winning.

 

I don't know if any of you watch NFL but I look as the New York Giants as the American football version of Chelsea. I found this on the Mail's site:- Both Chelsea and the Giants are used to winning things, even if it isn’t the most attractive watching. New York have lifted the Super Bowl in both 2007 and 2012, while Chelsea have won pretty much every trophy possible over the last 10 years.

 

 

 

Jose needs to show the lads the Barcelona vs City match from tonight lol

Jose needs to show the lads the Barcelona vs City match from tonight lol

 

Agreed!

 

"See lads, it could be worse..."

Obviously it's winning but as many have said they're not mutually exclusive, I would like to see us be a bit more attacking especially big sides that we can get at, if it was between us and arsenal over the last 10 years obviously it'd be the way we've done it.

However, if it's between us winning 1-0 and winning 5-4 it'd be the latter game I'd enjoy watching more.

Attractive football is great when your winning, losing football though soon becomes unattractive. Having watched both, its far easier to support a team that is winning.

Why do you think that attractive football is not winning football? Look at Barcelona, Bayern, Real... the only exception is Arsenal and to be honest this is not because of their style, this is because:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To play attractive is easier. First of all - there is no pressure. Secondly - medias like you(probably). Thirdly - more chances for penalties, free kicks etc..

 

Don't get me wrong. I don't want to play like these teams. I hate them exactly because of their production. 

But I can't imagine that normal man would like his team to park the bus. I don't believe someone would like this. Really.

It's pretty strange.. I suspect you say that only because of Jose. Yes, I adore him, but I'm not going to lie to you. I don't like

our system. And most important - I don't think it's appropriate. It was.. 2005 and 2006 it was. But now - it isn't. I would accept parking the bus.

I would accept defensive style. I wouldn't like it but i don't have any problem with his ideology. It's what he likes. And what he trusts in. It's understood. But I don't agree Hazard, Fabregas,Oscar, Willian, Cuadrado, Diego(Mata, De Brewin, Schurrle etc.) to play this. Did you get it? 

However, if it's between us winning 1-0 and winning 5-4 it'd be the latter game I'd enjoy watching more.

 

After the Everton game I never knew where, what or who I was,

so not every week no, my poor old heart couldn't stand the stress. 

If football was solely about winning, then I wouldn't bother watching. Why not just check the result to see if we have won or not?

 

Having said that, I think we have played some attractive stuff for the most part this season and we're still a team in transition in terms of the style of football. You can't sing "Boring, boring Chelsea" when we are doing well and then call us boring when we have a bad patch.