I would say our main issues are in midfield, especially the double pivot, we seem to have completely lost the plot in that area of the team, and today took the biscuit, Matic on the bench, Matic on the pitch, Matic back on the bench, Fabregas plays the full 90 and RLC remains on the bench. What the hell is going on there ?

 

If we can settle down with a regular pairing of Matic and RLC and just drop Cesc for now, and see how it goes for the next 2 months or so. What the hell have we got to lose ?

I would say our main issues are in midfield, especially the double pivot, we seem to have completely lost the plot in that area of the team, and today took the biscuit, Matic on the bench, Matic on the pitch, Matic back on the bench, Fabregas plays the full 90 and RLC remains on the bench. What the hell is going on there ?

If we can settle down with a regular pairing of Matic and RLC and just drop Cesc for now, and see how it goes for the next 2 months or so. What the hell have we got to lose ?

Agreed mate

100% midfield.

No one covering for the defence and zero supply to put forward players. We are resorting to the one dimensional approach by punting it long and hoping Costa and knock it down to Hazard to produce some magic.

We badly need a box to box midfielder. Matic is fine when he has support. He needs that extra set of legs beside him but it just any box to box, someone who can link with the attack too. Someone happy to take the ball off the defenders or Matic and link with a Fabregas and bypass him and support Costa.

^^^ Lampard.

We need a Lampard or someone like Yaya. Vidal would have been absolutely perfect for us.

We also need a settled defence. Ivanovic has to go I'm afraid. Dave has to go back into his actual position.

Where is the button for Michael Emenalo?

Yeah, doom and gloom, but I think you needed an 'All of the above option' there.

Looked for the 'Fickle, Arsenal like fans' option but it wasn't there...

Looked for the 'Fickle, Arsenal like fans' option but it wasn't there...

Motd2extra commented how loyal Chelsea fans are, just as well they haven't seen some here thought I.

My answer is mid-field, think I said it a while ago on another thread when we asked about the season ahead.

^^^ Lampard.

We need a Lampard or someone like Yaya. Vidal would have been absolutely perfect for us.

 

We had De Bruyne, Jose sold him.

The margins are so small and we are seeing a domino-effect where things are just going the wrong way. Plus every team wants to beat the champions. When they smell blood the small margins will show.

i maybe wrong but it seems to me that pellegrini set a precedent when he decided to put 2 very tricky and FAST ball carriers on the flanks to 'smash' our 'wrong' positional players. if this is the case then teams will try and 'bypass' the middle. this will cause our middle to be dragged out of position to cover the flanks. if this happens i guess the opposition could pass the ball back into the 'empty' middle! with citeh's 'class' middle this is very dangerous! thus this will make 'asses' of our middle and show 'weakness' on our flanks. 

First team wise the biggest problem is the midfield, as Coco has said, Fabregas is a problem and although I can understand what Jose done when at 1-1 he brought Matic on (hoping to stop Rami getting a red and still have Cesc to hopefully help open them up) I really would have preferred (hindsight's good) RLC to have come on for Cesc at the same time, we would be having the same conversations here if Jose had have done that and a draw was the outcome plus people would have been saying we lacked ambition with that substitution and by the time we were behind I still think Matic was the obvious one to make way.

 

I am concerned with Ivan as everyone is but I don't feel he is that different a player to last season although I do think his confidence is shot, it's more the cover he's getting now just isn't as good as it was and the nerves in the whole team are there for all to see especially once we concede.

 

In hindsight again I think letting go of Felipe Luis may have been as big an error as all the usual ones bandied about as he looked decent and well up to standard, I think if he had have been here there would be much more weight in the Azpi to his rightful position theory, I and likely none of us have seen enough of Baba to give anything more than a guess as to if he would be good enough and that's why I don't keep on slating the manager for not playing him.

 

I don't like to harp on but I still feel a lot of the signings are just given to Jose and not targetted by him, yes this happens elswhere but this is Mourinho and he has earned the right to build the team to his vision, I think he should have full control.

 

I don't idolise the man, I just know he's a very good manager and changing him would be unlikely to help, more likely to hinder and keep us a team with no real identity, that identity that Mourinho can instill in a team that many would say kept us at the top for years after his first stint ended here.

 

I say give him time, control over all ins and outs and show the players he's here with backing from above so if there are any rifts in the camp they understand that a few below par performances will more likely see them leave than the manager.

Edited October 4, 201510 yr by Chippy

all of the above

i maybe wrong but it seems to me that pellegrini set a precedent when he decided to put 2 very tricky and FAST ball carriers on the flanks to 'smash' our 'wrong' positional players. if this is the case then teams will try and 'bypass' the middle. this will cause our middle to be dragged out of position to cover the flanks. if this happens i guess the opposition could pass the ball back into the 'empty' middle! with citeh's 'class' middle this is very dangerous! thus this will make 'asses' of our middle and show 'weakness' on our flanks. 

That's a really interesting point. I remember the commentator mentioning that Southampton set the fullbacks Bertrand and Cedric to play as wingbacks, Koeman had them push up almost to the midfield.