Conte made the subs late because he had no need to change anything any earlier... Throwing on substitutes for the sake of it is pointless. 

 

 

 

Exactly this. 

Why on earth would you have changed anything prior to us conceding?

We were in complete control with West Ham looking  unable to get out their half for the most part. 

Edited August 16, 20169 yr by mclovin83

That was a frenetic game and we although Wet Spam were a bit crap until the end when they had nothing to lose, and Andy "Manbun" Carroll gave Ashley Young a run for his money, I thought we looked much better than I've seen us in ages.

 

We seemed up for it, and while it is bound to take a bit of time to get used to yet another new Manager, I was well pleased with last nights performance.

 

Having seen ManU against Bournemouth, City not exactly setting the world alight against Sunderland and oh dear, poor Arsenal, I can't say we looked any worse than any of the other top four contenders.

 

While I agree about the new answering back rule, I hope its applied fairly. Collins could have had a couple of yellows for ranting at the ref, and I'll be interested to see if Rooney, a perennial ranter, is  booked for it anytime soon.

 

I think the subs came at the right time, a fresh injection of pace near the end was much needed.I thought Kante was great too.

Thought there was a lot of promise from last night. Period of about 15-20 mins after half time where we looked like a proper team, it was actually a pleasure to watch for a little while. 

Definitely need players to reinforce this squad. We still look like we lack creativity and still worry that a very quick attack could open up our defence, although I dont think that any of our back 4 put a foot wrong. 

 

Hazard looked excellent, kante good although the early reckless yellow ended up having a big influence on his game. 

 

Thought oscar looked sub par to begin but grew into the game, likewise felt willian first half looked like he might have been carrying a knock.

 

Did anyone else notice that we begun by sitting quite deep(too deep in my opinion) and then as soon as we took a higher line and pressed a bit more we were able to dominate the game a lot more?

 

Finally no one really talking about it that much but it would be an absolute nightmare letting fabregas go, he is a class act and still the only player in our team that could reliably turn a game based on one good pass. Not to mention the work that he does controlling the tempo of the game and taking stress off the back 4 and matic. I still rate matic very highly, as I do kante but it is unfair to constantly rely on them to be our creative force when their jobs are to break up the play and to defend and track not to spray 40 yard wonder passes….

 

Good performance, great 3 points, good atmosphere, and shock shock no noise from the pikey boys….

I thought we controlled the game well and didn't give West Ham much time on the ball. As for the players i'd rate them something like this:

 

Tbo - 6/10 Didn't really have much to do but look solid when needed. Felt more comfortable with him in net than Begovic. 

Ivanovic - 7/10 Surprised me. Had a better game than usual but still can't cross. Would like to see him in the middle more often.

Cahill - 6/10 Does a simple enough job but i feel this is the position we need to upgrade.

Terry - 6/10 Kept it simple and looked solid again, didn't make any mistakes that i saw.

Azpi - 7.5/10 Worked hard up and down the line and did well to win the penalty. Classic Dave.

Kante - 8/10 The missing link last season. Does so well to break up play for such a small guy, great purchase.

Matic - 6/10 Much better than last season, however doesn't offer enough for me. Defensive duties nullified with Kante there and not create enough for a box to box.

Oscar - 7/10 Great performance overall compared to last season, i just hope its not the usual first few months then back to dross.

Hazard - 8/10 Back to his old self of running at defenders and taking players on. Glad Conte took him off towards the end as he started to become a passanger though.

Willian - 5/10 Disappointing night. Good work rate but still doesn't offer enough for a world class team for my liking.

Costa - 6/10 Annoyed the defence and got the goal but largely didn't do much. Ok night, but can do better.

 

Pedro - 5.5/10 Didn't have much time to do anything

Moses - 6/10 Didn't have much time but like his directness at players on the pitch.

Batshuayi - 6.5/10 More than happy to work the channels and make space for Costa, impressed me again.

^ Can't say I agree with Cahill or Willian on you there.

Cahill had Carrol in his pocket.  Every long ball he was right on his back, taking away any room he had, harassing him (fairly), making it difficult for him to play the ball down to his feet.  Would have given him 8.

Willian was the only one willing to whip in a cross, only one getting to the byline and actually putting the ball in front of goal, rather than reverting back around the box.  Would have given him a 7.

Okay, my thoughts:

 

The Good

 

• We seemed much more direct. Less faffing around on the edge of the box and more getting the ball forward quickly
• Tactically we nullified West Ham and stopped them having any chances apart from the odd set piece
• Kante provided a much needed shield in front of the back 4
• Matic looks better slightly further forward, where he is not the final shield before the back 4
• Oscar looked good putting himself about, however he's done this before then faded quickly back to being average, so time will tell on him
• Hazard finally looked like his old self
• Conte is mad

 

The Bad

• Despite all our possession I didn't think we really created all that much. A few times we had balls crossed across the 6 yard box and Costa had pulled back or gone out wide and was nowhere near it. I think we missed Fabregas's killer pass, though I'm not sure where he would fit into this system, as he doesn't work as hard as Oscar.

 

The Ugly

• The media. The headline on Talksport this morning on the way into work was "Nasty Diego escapes red card". f**kers.

Tbf it's very difficult to create against teams defending with all men behind a ball, I think City for all their attacking prowess had same issue vs Sunderland. Season is very much young and we have lots to optimistic about, agree that we need to be more creative.

He's just in ,shattered but loved it

 

Now going to read the match programme.

I thought we controlled the game well and didn't give West Ham much time on the ball. As for the players i'd rate them something like this:

 

Tbo - 6/10 Didn't really have much to do but look solid when needed. Felt more comfortable with him in net than Begovic. 

Ivanovic - 7/10 Surprised me. Had a better game than usual but still can't cross. Would like to see him in the middle more often.

Cahill - 6/10 Does a simple enough job but i feel this is the position we need to upgrade.

Terry - 6/10 Kept it simple and looked solid again, didn't make any mistakes that i saw.

Azpi - 7.5/10 Worked hard up and down the line and did well to win the penalty. Classic Dave.

Kante - 8/10 The missing link last season. Does so well to break up play for such a small guy, great purchase.

Matic - 6/10 Much better than last season, however doesn't offer enough for me. Defensive duties nullified with Kante there and not create enough for a box to box.

Oscar - 7/10 Great performance overall compared to last season, i just hope its not the usual first few months then back to dross.

Hazard - 8/10 Back to his old self of running at defenders and taking players on. Glad Conte took him off towards the end as he started to become a passanger though.

Willian - 5/10 Disappointing night. Good work rate but still doesn't offer enough for a world class team for my liking.

Costa - 6/10 Annoyed the defence and got the goal but largely didn't do much. Ok night, but can do better.

 

Pedro - 5.5/10 Didn't have much time to do anything

Moses - 6/10 Didn't have much time but like his directness at players on the pitch.

Batshuayi - 6.5/10 More than happy to work the channels and make space for Costa, impressed me again.

Spot on summary I think. Very encouraging indeed on a fair few levels. Don Antonio looks like a top choice by the club.Eden is back, Kante fits like a glove and the defence had a cigar on against Carroll for once!

 

And the increased intensity on the pitch (the pressing was superb) matched by the crowd. No great surprise that we all react to the way the team is doing but it was very noisy for just about the entire game. MHL stood throughout which is always a sign the crowd is up for it, carrying on from the Spurs game last year it seemed.

 

Okay, my thoughts:

 

The Good

 

• We seemed much more direct. Less faffing around on the edge of the box and more getting the ball forward quickly
• Tactically we nullified West Ham and stopped them having any chances apart from the odd set piece
• Kante provided a much needed shield in front of the back 4
• Matic looks better slightly further forward, where he is not the final shield before the back 4
• Oscar looked good putting himself about, however he's done this before then faded quickly back to being average, so time will tell on him
• Hazard finally looked like his old self
• Conte is mad

 

The Bad

• Despite all our possession I didn't think we really created all that much. A few times we had balls crossed across the 6 yard box and Costa had pulled back or gone out wide and was nowhere near it. I think we missed Fabregas's killer pass, though I'm not sure where he would fit into this system, as he doesn't work as hard as Oscar.

 

The Ugly

• The media. The headline on Talksport this morning on the way into work was "Nasty Diego escapes red card". f**kers.

 

 

 

So here's a question - we clearly went for an athletic midfield yesterday and it's hard to argue with now because we dominated for 80%, it becomes more and more obviuse that we should stop considering oscar as a "number 10" and accept him for the number he has on his back, he's an attack minded box to box center mid. And he had a very good game yesteday for me, closing down, making tackles, pressing, helping us to dictate the tempo, and he showed the odd flash of brilliance, but passing wise you can't compare him to fabregas, So is it worth losing the creativity for the extra legs we gain in center mid? 

So here's a question - we clearly went for an athletic midfield yesterday and it's hard to argue with now because we dominated for 80%, it becomes more and more obviuse that we should stop considering oscar as a "number 10" and accept him for the number he has on his back, he's an attack minded box to box center mid. And he had a very good game yesteday for me, closing down, making tackles, pressing, helping us to dictate the tempo, and he showed the odd flash of brilliance, but passing wise you can't compare him to fabregas, So is it worth losing the creativity for the extra legs we gain in center mid? 

Away yes, at home no

I wouldn't be surprised if the FA make another case against Costa, thanks to those clueless pundits. I couldn't understand the first yellow card, was that for talking to the referee? It's funny United basically had the game gifted to them by a team in the bottle half, and they are everyone's favourite to win the title, We beat a top 8 team from last season, and was all because referee didn't send off Costa

 

“Chelsea deserved it. We were so close and thought that was it at 1-1 late on. But, to be honest, apart from the first 15 minutes, and the time we equalised, they were better than us. We didn’t create many chances, we gave them a penalty. The second goal we had the ball totally in control, too, at our end of the park. They were much more aggressive, winning balls and second balls, and their front four were on fire. I’m not happy with the way we played. We can do much better.” 

 

So said Slavan Bilic in his post match interview, which also included this [played down] verdict on Diego‘s tackle… 

 

“Look, it’s the first game of the season and we are already talking about those kind of decisions. From our point of view we are not happy with that. I saw the tackle once again … I don’t think it was reckless. It was not a deliberate one. But it was late. Nine times out of 10, a challenge on a goalkeeper like this looks like a booking. Unfortunately this was the 10th time. But, really, I’m only disappointed with the way the goals were conceded.”

 

The fact that Jamie Carragher ignored this honest summation and went with Sky’s mealy-mouthed and monotonous 'Costa Crimes' diatribe instead only goes to show how desperate they are to preach dirty Diego dogma at every turn, even when authoritative rebuttal stares them in the face.  

.

I think Fabregas is more likely to feature in games where we are faced with unpicking a deep lying defence (Possibly Watford at the weekend) rather than high intensity local derbies.

Creatively we need to be a little better though West Ham defend well so nothing to fret about yet

I thought we controlled the game well and didn't give West Ham much time on the ball. As for the players i'd rate them something like this:

 

Tbo - 6/10 Didn't really have much to do but look solid when needed. Felt more comfortable with him in net than Begovic. 

Ivanovic - 7/10 Surprised me. Had a better game than usual but still can't cross. Would like to see him in the middle more often.

Cahill - 6/10 Does a simple enough job but i feel this is the position we need to upgrade.

Terry - 6/10 Kept it simple and looked solid again, didn't make any mistakes that i saw.

Azpi - 7.5/10 Worked hard up and down the line and did well to win the penalty. Classic Dave.

Kante - 8/10 The missing link last season. Does so well to break up play for such a small guy, great purchase.

Matic - 6/10 Much better than last season, however doesn't offer enough for me. Defensive duties nullified with Kante there and not create enough for a box to box.

Oscar - 7/10 Great performance overall compared to last season, i just hope its not the usual first few months then back to dross.

Hazard - 8/10 Back to his old self of running at defenders and taking players on. Glad Conte took him off towards the end as he started to become a passanger though.

Willian - 5/10 Disappointing night. Good work rate but still doesn't offer enough for a world class team for my liking.

Costa - 6/10 Annoyed the defence and got the goal but largely didn't do much. Ok night, but can do better.

 

 

 

The only mark I would really disagree with there is Cahill, who I thought was immense against Carrol last night and deserves an 8. Thinking back how Carrol has terrorized us in the past, he pretty much had him in his pocket and nullified the threat.

 

Good overall team performance and with the squad we have (with hopefully at least one addition to come) there is good competition for places to keep everyone on their toes. Thought Willian was the biggest disappointment on the night and he knows he'll need to up his game to stay in the starting 11.

 

Oh and the Ref. 1st half 4/10 and 2nd half 10/10!

 

Costa is a very lucky boy.

Edited August 16, 20169 yr by Nibs

The only mark I would really disagree with there is Cahill, who I thought was immense against Carrol last night and deserves an 8. Thinking back how Carrol has terrorized us in the past, he pretty much had him in his pocket and nullified the threat.

Good overall team performance and with the squad we have (with hopefully at least one addition to come) there is good competition for places to keep everyone on their toes. Thought Willian was the biggest disappointment on the night and he knows he'll need to up his game to stay in the starting 11.

Oh and the Ref. 1st half 4/10 and 2nd half 10/10!

Costa is a very lucky boy.

100% Agree.

I can't remember the last time I watched Chelsea completely neutralise an opponents offensive game whilst retaining our own offense.

Worst performance by far the ref. Oscar penalty wasn't given, Costa second yellow, Costa penalty at the end probably should have been and Carroll diving for the high foot which lead to their goal. Azpilicueta didn't even have his foot up. This is why I'm not a fan of the new rules. Referee'so have zero accountability and these types of sh*t show performances will become the norm now.

We need a bit more precision offensively and still need defenders with more pace but a very promising start.

My thoughts on last night's match.

 

Thought we were very good. We looked sharp, fit and together, and we also played with a bit of freedom which was nice to see. West Ham were missing key players and it showed, they offered practically no threat at all, and we completely dominated for most of the match.

 

Looking at last night and the close season in general, and the transfer window, it looks like Conte's going to go with experience. Let's not forget he's come into this job late, after the Euros, so he hasn't had the same preparation time as other managers. He'll have been concentrating on Italy so he'll have had little time to assess his squad. These guys won the title two seasons back, a lot of them have won a lot and have bags of experience, and I think he wants to give them another chance, after last season's failure. He's throwing down the gauntlet if you like, offering them a challenge to prove themselves, and perhaps appealing to their pride a little bit. Most of these guys know they're playing for their Chelsea futures. Cahill, Terry, Ivan, Oscar, Matic etc, they have a hell of a lot to prove if they want to stay at the club, and that just may work in our favour, particularly as Conte seems to be a good motivator.

 

I was dismayed when I learned about Traore's loan deal, and equally dismayed to learn Kenedy will probably be shipped out, but having thought about it, I think I can see Conte's thinking. Firstly he wants those players to develop, and they need regular football to do that, secondly, he wants to give the experienced lads a chance to redeem themselves, because it appears he believes in them and believes in his ability to improve their performances. I'm still a bit miffed about Traore going to Holland, which makes no sense, but I'll blame Emenalo for that.

 

So, Conte's first line-up. It was a bit galling to see Cahill and Ivan starting but he had little choice, and I thought every member of the back four played well. I'm not a big fan of Cahill but he had a good night. Ivan still leaves a lot to be desired offensively but he was more back to his old self last night. I long to see Dave on the right and a left-footed left-back on the left however, to give us more attacking impetus. As much as we dominated, we still failed to create chances, which has been an age-old problem for us.

 

I'm so glad Terry's still with us. It beggars belief that we nearly let him leave and thank f**k he waited for a decision and didn't negotiate himself a lucrative deal in China or somewhere else. I think he's going to enjoy this season and I hope it's going to be a big one from him.

 

Midfield? Interesting, to say the least. Kante, Matic and Oscar. Kante was excellent though he was playing a far deeper role than he was at Leicester. Matic was giving us solidity and Oscar boundless energy. I can see why they were picked but I find it slightly disheartening that both are preferred to Fabregas when neither can hold a torch to him for class. There were positive signs from both and Conte clearly believes in them but I think we can probably upgrade on them long-term. If this is the way we're going to go, without Fabregas, I think Loftus-Cheek may have a claim for one of those spots. You'd hope he is going to get game-time otherwise we'll just be stunting his development and he may as well go out on loan. The other option in Oscar's position is Willian, who I've said for a while should be playing in midfield, because I don't think he has enough cutting edge in attack, which again showed yesterday. He has energy, good technique, he can spot a pass, he can shoot, he's tenacious, I don't see any reason why he can't be a top midfielder. Having said all this, midfield wasn't a big concern yesterday, because we completely dominated that department.

 

Hazard was great, our best player by a mile. Costa? Unimpressed. Not saying he had a bad game, he didn't, but he lacks dynamism, and I thought he was a major reason why we couldn't convert our dominance into more goals. He's a good striker and we could do a lot worse but is he good enough for the level we aspire to? I know opinion is divided. I'm not his biggest fan. He loses the ball way too often, he dribbles down blind alleys, and he hardly ever wins anything in the air. Also, of course, his temperament is questionable. Having said that, he will score goals, and I like what Conte has said to him through the press. He's challenged him to score more goals and stay inside or nearer the penalty box. That's what I want to see Costa do. I don't want to see him arguing with the ref, baiting opponents and getting into needless fights. It's tiresome and counter-productive. Yes, he scored the goal and props to him for that. He should have been booked for the foul on Adrian however, so we got away with one. A straight red? Never, but a booking yes. He also "jumped" into the crowd after he scored and as far as I'm aware that's a booking as well, unless the rules have been changed. Maybe Conte will help him and I'll change my tune, we'll see. Conte clearly wants to bring Lukaku in and in the last few minutes we got a clearer idea why. Two up top. Batshuayi won a header and knocked it down, Costa found himself with a bit more room, and hey presto we scored.

 

Lukaku is a good player, no matter what anybody says, if we manage to bring him and Koulibaly in, we will be a lot more powerful, in terms of brute strength, and that obviously appeals to Conte as well.

 

So, Batshuayi for Oscar, Moses for Hazard and Pedro for Willian. I thought all of Conte's substitutions worked well. I thought Moses in particular did well. He hugged the touchline, he drove at opponents, and he put them on the back foot.

 

All in all it was good to see the positivity. We played like a team with real desire and real ideas. A work in progress, obviously, but a good start, good for Conte to get his first win, good for Hazard and Costa to score, and good for the general vibes around the club.

 

Let's hope we can keep up the good work against Watford. Up the Chels.

This was my first game as a Season Ticket Holder in the Shed Upper and a great night on several counts. A big derby win such as this at the very beginning of the season will give the players and Conte too a great morale boost. Great to see Hazard getting back to his former self and to see Costa score the winner. Both looked hungrier than last year.

 

The team is still a work in progress: we need to add more competition at the back as we have virtually no cover at the moment. West Ham were poor going forwards and we weren't really tested at all so it's tough to say how much better our defence might be at this point. I'm not sure that we have quite the personnel in central midfield for Conte's formations to work - From what I've seen, I doubt whether Oscar and Matic can get up and down the pitch quickly enough to support a lone striker. But both pressed well last night, particularly the former who made 5/6 great tackles.

 

Nevertheless, the team looked much more cohesive than it ever did last year which for me was the main positive from last night. Conte has plenty to work with and, with a few signings I'd be quietly confident we can get back in the top 4.

My thoughts on last night's match.

 

Thought we were very good. We looked sharp, fit and together, and we also played with a bit of freedom which was nice to see. West Ham were missing key players and it showed, they offered practically no threat at all, and we completely dominated for most of the match.

 

Looking at last night and the close season in general, and the transfer window, it looks like Conte's going to go with experience. Let's not forget he's come into this job late, after the Euros, so he hasn't had the same preparation time as other managers. He'll have been concentrating on Italy so he'll have had little time to assess his squad. These guys won the title two seasons back, a lot of them have won a lot and have bags of experience, and I think he wants to give them another chance, after last season's failure. He's throwing down the gauntlet if you like, offering them a challenge to prove themselves, and perhaps appealing to their pride a little bit. Most of these guys know they're playing for their Chelsea futures. Cahill, Terry, Ivan, Oscar, Matic etc, they have a hell of a lot to prove if they want to stay at the club, and that just may work in our favour, particularly as Conte seems to be a good motivator.

 

I was dismayed when I learned about Traore's loan deal, and equally dismayed to learn Kenedy will probably be shipped out, but having thought about it, I think I can see Conte's thinking. Firstly he wants those players to develop, and they need regular football to do that, secondly, he wants to give the experienced lads a chance to redeem themselves, because it appears he believes in them and believes in his ability to improve their performances. I'm still a bit miffed about Traore going to Holland, which makes no sense, but I'll blame Emenalo for that.

 

So, Conte's first line-up. It was a bit galling to see Cahill and Ivan starting but he had little choice, and I thought every member of the back four played well. I'm not a big fan of Cahill but he had a good night. Ivan still leaves a lot to be desired offensively but he was more back to his old self last night. I long to see Dave on the right and a left-footed left-back on the left however, to give us more attacking impetus. As much as we dominated, we still failed to create chances, which has been an age-old problem for us.

 

I'm so glad Terry's still with us. It beggars belief that we nearly let him leave and thank f**k he waited for a decision and didn't negotiate himself a lucrative deal in China or somewhere else. I think he's going to enjoy this season and I hope it's going to be a big one from him.

 

Midfield? Interesting, to say the least. Kante, Matic and Oscar. Kante was excellent though he was playing a far deeper role than he was at Leicester. Matic was giving us solidity and Oscar boundless energy. I can see why they were picked but I find it slightly disheartening that both are preferred to Fabregas when neither can hold a torch to him for class. There were positive signs from both and Conte clearly believes in them but I think we can probably upgrade on them long-term. If this is the way we're going to go, without Fabregas, I think Loftus-Cheek may have a claim for one of those spots. You'd hope he is going to get game-time otherwise we'll just be stunting his development and he may as well go out on loan. The other option in Oscar's position is Willian, who I've said for a while should be playing in midfield, because I don't think he has enough cutting edge in attack, which again showed yesterday. He has energy, good technique, he can spot a pass, he can shoot, he's tenacious, I don't see any reason why he can't be a top midfielder. Having said all this, midfield wasn't a big concern yesterday, because we completely dominated that department.

 

Hazard was great, our best player by a mile. Costa? Unimpressed. Not saying he had a bad game, he didn't, but he lacks dynamism, and I thought he was a major reason why we couldn't convert our dominance into more goals. He's a good striker and we could do a lot worse but is he good enough for the level we aspire to? I know opinion is divided. I'm not his biggest fan. He loses the ball way too often, he dribbles down blind alleys, and he hardly ever wins anything in the air. Also, of course, his temperament is questionable. Having said that, he will score goals, and I like what Conte has said to him through the press. He's challenged him to score more goals and stay inside or nearer the penalty box. That's what I want to see Costa do. I don't want to see him arguing with the ref, baiting opponents and getting into needless fights. It's tiresome and counter-productive. Yes, he scored the goal and props to him for that. He should have been booked for the foul on Adrian however, so we got away with one. A straight red? Never, but a booking yes. He also "jumped" into the crowd after he scored and as far as I'm aware that's a booking as well, unless the rules have been changed. Maybe Conte will help him and I'll change my tune, we'll see. Conte clearly wants to bring Lukaku in and in the last few minutes we got a clearer idea why. Two up top. Batshuayi won a header and knocked it down, Costa found himself with a bit more room, and hey presto we scored.

 

Lukaku is a good player, no matter what anybody says, if we manage to bring him and Koulibaly in, we will be a lot more powerful, in terms of brute strength, and that obviously appeals to Conte as well.

 

So, Batshuayi for Oscar, Moses for Hazard and Pedro for Willian. I thought all of Conte's substitutions worked well. I thought Moses in particular did well. He hugged the touchline, he drove at opponents, and he put them on the back foot.

 

All in all it was good to see the positivity. We played like a team with real desire and real ideas. A work in progress, obviously, but a good start, good for Conte to get his first win, good for Hazard and Costa to score, and good for the general vibes around the club.

 

Let's hope we can keep up the good work against Watford. Up the Chels.

That saved me posting.

Welcome back Davey!

Davey Davey Davey, Davey, Dabey Baby

YES DAVEY

Don't encourage him.

 

 

 

Only joking - good to have him back really. 

FFS...after what we saw last season, how can you be so negative after we get off to a winning start...sure it's early days, but enjoy it for what it was - a good win against those tossers

After last season, it's incredible that some people can't just enjoy the moment, watch a manager that has true passion, enjoy a positive performance for a change and actually win and get 3 points. I don't get it.