Doomed....doomed I tell thee

Are we f**k, poor start no problem admitting that, but this will only make the comeback sweeter.

Painful to see we still have Azpi playing left-back when it was only ever supposed to be a temporary measure. And a centre-back playing right-back when that experiment has run its course. And to two slowing centre-backs with only an enthusiastic kid in Zouma for cover.

We still don't have a solution to a midfield without Lampard or a partner for Matic.

We still can't get behind defences and are crazily over dependant on Hazard to do everything: to beat everyone, to assist and to score and to defend as well. No wonder he looks fed up.

Stones and Pogba would be a start. And it shows we know where part of the problem is. Thing is we might end up with neither by the looks of things and we don't appear to have any contingency plans.

That would be complacent bordering on negligent.

I agree with most of this. I wouldnt criticise our attack too much, pedro is a really good step and i think falcao could come good! I think if stones doesnt come it wouldnt be the end of the world, i just think the only problem with our defence is ivanovic, he needs to be benched. I totally agree with your statement about pogba, our midfield is light weight, we need a partner for matic, if we dont do something about this fabregas situation before the transfer window is up we will have a problem this season and will be out of it before christmas.

Wtf. Get rid of Jose in February and bring back Rafa sounds better ? lol ;)

 

Should happen right away. He would be like one of Rafaello's fat little cherubs descending from heaven to save us. José has nothing on him.

Pedro looks more dangerous when he plays wide and cuts in.

Fabregas having a pretty slow start to the season. Hope he gets in form soon

Edited August 29, 201510 yr by Wolv

It's mathematically impossible since City are so amazing they're absolutely guaranteed to win all of their matches.

 

Just so. I'll have to drink way more to have enough tears until June. I fear I will completely dry out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOGyPAb0c7M

Completely off topic (soz) but she's hot. Just saying.

I am sure almost everyone has figured it out by now that the game itself is forever changing; formations, 442.443,352 blah blah etc and so to have tactics; right now the entire game now is for teams setting themselves up for defending and fast counter attacks....while we have decent speed up front we are woeful at the back against any team with any amount of speed.  Our back four, apart from Dave perhaps, have no legs, and if Jose didn't see that last year WTF was he watching.  Don't get me wrong I am a big fan of Jose's but at times I want to pull my hair out in the players he sends out, perhaps after today's rant his faith and belief that his favourites can repeat last year has been shaken.

 

Once every opposing manager watched the Swansea game it was obvious how and where teams would attack us and that they would include pacey players in their line up.   The stalwarts of our defence have done a fantastic job over the years, but time marches on and so has the development of the game....where have the big towering centre forwards gone? Some are still around, but they are gradually fading into the background for the leaner, speedier forwards, who can twist and turn sharply inside the box and turn the CB's inside out and that is bad news for our lot.  

 

Within weeks of Ivan being put at RB it was glaring that we were continually open on that side and players had acres of space to play in.     I won't repeat my dozens of posts about Ivan, but needless to say that he was continually out of position for a RB and far too often he would race forward at the expense of his defensive duties.  These past weeks have only highlighted his and the teams weakness against counter attacking teams.  

 

Today we were God awful, Palace came with a plan that many on this forum could have foreseen..defend deep, press the ball and hit them on the counter, and especially attack the RB.  Yes they may have been a tad lucky blocking shots but we had several chances and failed to put the ball in the net.  Fair play to Palace, they weren't necessarily the better team but they worked hard, stuck to a game plan and it paid off.   As for us...I hope Jose' takes time to reflect and fix this problem or we will be seeing this type of performance far too often this year.  I would say an 8 points gap is not insurmountable, but the biggest gap right now is how we and City are playing and if we get to 12-15 points behind by Xmas it will be time to throw in the towel. 

F

Completely off topic (soz) but she's hot. Just saying.

Sophie rose is her name Google her rich she's stunning

Sophie rose is her name Google her rich she's stunning

Cheers Gra. She couldn't interview me; drooling in public is frowned upon...

I am sure almost everyone has figured it out by now that the game itself is forever changing; formations, 442.443,352 blah blah etc and so to have tactics; right now the entire game now is for teams setting themselves up for defending and fast counter attacks....while we have decent speed up front we are woeful at the back against any team with any amount of speed.  Our back four, apart from Dave perhaps, have no legs, and if Jose didn't see that last year WTF was he watching.  Don't get me wrong I am a big fan of Jose's but at times I want to pull my hair out in the players he sends out, perhaps after today's rant his faith and belief that his favourites can repeat last year has been shaken.

 

Once every opposing manager watched the Swansea game it was obvious how and where teams would attack us and that they would include pacey players in their line up.   The stalwarts of our defence have done a fantastic job over the years, but time marches on and so has the development of the game....where have the big towering centre forwards gone? Some are still around, but they are gradually fading into the background for the leaner, speedier forwards, who can twist and turn sharply inside the box and turn the CB's inside out and that is bad news for our lot.  

 

Within weeks of Ivan being put at RB it was glaring that we were continually open on that side and players had acres of space to play in.     I won't repeat my dozens of posts about Ivan, but needless to say that he was continually out of position for a RB and far too often he would race forward at the expense of his defensive duties.  These past weeks have only highlighted his and the teams weakness against counter attacking teams.  

 

Today we were God awful, Palace came with a plan that many on this forum could have foreseen..defend deep, press the ball and hit them on the counter, and especially attack the RB.  Yes they may have been a tad lucky blocking shots but we had several chances and failed to put the ball in the net.  Fair play to Palace, they weren't necessarily the better team but they worked hard, stuck to a game plan and it paid off.   As for us...I hope Jose' takes time to reflect and fix this problem or we will be seeing this type of performance far too often this year.  I would say an 8 points gap is not insurmountable, but the biggest gap right now is how we and City are playing and if we get to 12-15 points behind by Xmas it will be time to throw in the towel. 

 

I know, right? How can José not see it? If you're chasing a result you have to sub your right back, not your left back! Did he learn nothing from the true masters of this game?

Cheers Gra. She couldn't interview me; drooling in public is frowned upon...

She would certainly cheer you up after a defeat

New signings at this late stage is not the answer. We've got to work with the team we've got (which is a f**king good team by the way).

New signings is exactly what we need. SAF always talked about the importance of constantly recycling a team even if they're a winning team, otherwise it goes stale.

 

We need at least one more competitor for the starting 11 to put the cat back amongst the pigeons.

Just look at the energy from the new players and subs today. We have a squad and we are not using it.

Even the best players need to know they have to fight for their places. By picking pretty much the same players every game breeds complacency. It was sad to see Costa's touch today which was heavy and how ineffective Hazard was. A bit of rotation might help.

Just look at the energy from the new players and subs today. We have a squad and we are not using it.

Yup. RLC and Kenedy looked lively. Jose hates taking risks though. I wish RLC had started this over Fabregas or we went with a 4-3-3.

I do not think Jose was picking out ivan when he mentioned that one player.

It would either be cesc or hazard, and I am thinking the later. He has bigged hazard up only to be given 4 inept displays where he has not done his defensive duties properly.

I for one welcome our 1 point per game overlords.

Fabregas in a two man central midfield and Ivanovic at right back are the weak points. If I can see it surely Jose can. Three subs made and neither of these taken off.

We either go 4-3-3 to accomadate Fabregas or out him. Rahmann and Azpilacueto at full back surely. Falcaos goal and Kenedys sub appearance the only pluses.

I have found one positive, maybe our relations with Liverpool will improve now, we both have one thing in common, we're both sh*t at the moment. We can laugh in disbelief with each other, or drown our sorrows together..actually this is a massive negative.

 

look, a scouser stole my swimming goggles while I was on holiday (it's a long story) - there'll never be common cause between Chelsea and Liverpool

I do not think Jose was picking out ivan when he mentioned that one player.

It would either be cesc or hazard, and I am thinking the later. He has bigged hazard up only to be given 4 inept displays where he has not done his defensive duties properly.

 

Must've been Ivanovic as Jose said he has given the player every chance to improve before considering dropping him. No way is Jose going to drop Hazard. We have enough problems as it is without dropping our one truly world class player - even if he's not hit peak form yet.

look, a scouser stole my swimming goggles while I was on holiday (it's a long story) - there'll never be common cause between Chelsea and Liverpool

Really? What a d*ck. They call us plastic, they make up weird homophobic terms and now they steal our goggles, they're an unbelievable bunch of fans.

Be fair, he needed swim goggles because his team's drowning.

That is true, for a long time too. Jesus, just realised how many guests there were, it's like Christmas for them when we're on bad form, they probably weren't laughing when we lifted the title though, they were probably all crying about how boring we were.

New signings is exactly what we need. SAF always talked about the importance of constantly recycling a team even if they're a winning team, otherwise it goes stale.

 

We need at least one more competitor for the starting 11 to put the cat back amongst the pigeons.

We've made signings. We need to get the best out of what we've got and give guys like Rahmam, Kenedy and RLC a shot. We're getting no one decent in the next two days from the transfer market, Stones and Pogba is not happening.

Yeah, lets drop our back to back player of the year, the man that carried us to the title last season & only genuine World Class player because of his annual slow start. When a team consistently plays poorly for almost 8 months, it's time to look at the manager rather than the players. Pre-season, post-season, big games, home games etc it doesn't matter we put in terrible performances. Difference between last season & this one is Hazard isn't bailing him & the rest of the team out & opposing managers have finally realized Ivanovic is the one major weak link in the team.

Sheesh, we're first up on MoTD.

If we have to suffer a day like today then Pardew makes it slightly more palatable, great guy that he is.

Edited August 29, 201510 yr by Droogba