Carved open the Watford team that was in our penalty area at the time.

 

 

I think the question is, had it been at the feet of any of our other players would they have played that ball, that well... maybe JT

MOTD not even mention the penalty we should have had in the post match summary? LOL

I know we were awful going forward almost the entire game however Watford created sh*t and their goal was an amazing shot. Capoues shot is perfect.

With Conte our D-line is very rarely even in the picture as our midfield does their work. We had 62% of the ball and created much more although it was later on mostly.

We are looking for a player or two so the squad is incomplete. Conte has a plan B and plan C and he is not afraid to take them in use. One of Jose's best qualities as well.

Fluidity and a clear starting 11 is still not there but we are progressing step by step. Most of the pieces are there in place.

Poor performance and in all honesty - daylight robbery.

Conte's teamsheet was sh*t,

Oscar for Cesc again - Lol, what to say.

Pedro in the teamsheet was an abysmal choice.

Ivanovic still starts for some god forsaken reason.

Matic/kante were good.

Hazard was sublime.Cesc too in his cameo.

Diego was poor most of the game, but got the winner. But Michy deserves to start the next game.

All in all: lucky.

 

Nope, "luck" had absolutely nothing to do with the outcome of this game.

In fact, we were unlucky not to be awarded a stonewall penalty. 

 

I hate the notion that a team is lucky, just because they score their goals in the last ten minutes. 

We outscored our opponents in open play, within 90 minutes. 

We also enjoyed more possession, shots, shots on target, corners with fouls being the only statistic which went in Watfords favour (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37067781) We also hit the woodwork.

 

Don't get me wrong, we didn't play well for the majority of the game, and Watford will rightly feel they were good for at least a draw, but "luck" had sod all to do with us getting all 3 points. 

 

As for Conte's team sheet being "sh*t", I would have to wonder what team sheet you would have picked with your obvious superior wisdom?

It was the same 11 that outplayed & beat West Ham bar one change forced by an injury. Can't think many would question it after the West Ham game.

 

All in all I thought it was a sub-standard performance but we got the job done in the end showing good spirit and good changes from Conte. I hope he learned from it.

The suggestion that Watford in some way battered us for 90 minutes then got sucker punched is nonsense- they played well but had 2 shots on target including their goal, that's the reality. 

Edited August 21, 20169 yr by mclovin83

So many miserable pricks on here...presumably they moaned when we won the champions league cos we didn't beat Bayern 5-0 in 90 minutes

Can't believe some of the comments on here. People need to realize that we came from a goal down to go on and take the victory. Something we were not able to do last season. If this was Joses Chelsea he would have probably settle for a 1-1 draw and in trying to protect the draw he we have ended up losing it. With Conte you can actually start seeing a team dynamic, players look happy and much more emotional. We never even had this last season, there was no passion

Edited August 21, 20169 yr by Wolv

http://m.bbc.com/sport/football/37067781

Bottom of the page; stats.

Pretty clear which team was better.

Nope, "luck" had absolutely nothing to do with the outcome of this game.

In fact, we were unlucky not to be awarded a stonewall penalty. 

 

I hate the notion that a team is lucky, just because they score their goals in the last ten minutes. 

We outscored our opponents in open play, within 90 minutes. 

We also enjoyed more possession, shots, shots on target, corners with fouls being the only statistic which went in Watfords favour (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37067781) We also hit the woodwork.

 

Don't get me wrong, we didn't play well for the majority of the game, and Watford will rightly feel they were good for at least a draw, but "luck" had sod all to do with us getting all 3 points. 

 

As for Conte's team sheet being "sh*t", I would have to wonder what team sheet you would have picked with your obvious superior wisdom?

It was the same 11 that outplayed & beat West Ham bar one change forced by an injury. Can't think many would question it after the West Ham game.

 

All in all I thought it was a sub-standard performance but we got the job done in the end showing good spirit and good changes from Conte. I hope he learned from it.

The suggestion that Watford in some way battered us for 90 minutes then got sucker punched is nonsense- they played well but had 2 shots on target including their goal, that's the reality. 

You can go to the initial pages of the match thread and see what team I had wanted to be played out.

Aina for Iva

Cesc for Oscar

Willian for Pedro.

Willian was injured and even then I would have chosen Moses. 

And guess what, these 3 were our worst performers on the day. Surprising? NO. Do u need super-wisdom? Hell no. Just some basic knowledge of the game coupled with some basic common sense. Pretty much would have you thinking exactly why these 3 players should be no where near the first team.

 

Also, I did question the team even after the WHU game. The performance was good, but given that it was a home game and first professional game under new management, it was understandable. As a long term solution, that team had 2 players who were always going to be problematic, and guess what, 2nd match of the season and those 2 players showed exactly why the concerns were legitimate.

 

I have already answered about the "luck" part to another poster, so simply not going to type it all again. But definitely thought the snarky comment of my superior wisdom deserved a reply. So here it is.

Can't believe some of the comments on here. People need to realize that we came from a goal down to go on and take the victory. Something we were not able to do last season. If this was Joses Chelsea he would have probably settle for a 1-1 draw and in trying to protect the draw he we have ended up losing it. With Conte you can actually start seeing a team dynamic, players look happy and much more emotional. We never even had this last season, there was no passion

 

Fair enough but where was that passion or desire for over an hour yesterday?

West Ham was comprehensive in terms of play, we totally dominated them and they scored from their only half chance, would have been a travesty if they nicked something from that.

Can't argue with you're assessment on today, but that also hasn't surprised me, Conte may be just what we need but he isn't going to totally erase last season's bolax overnight, if we are picking up three points while he blows off the cobwebs then that will put us in good stead. Also one thing to note is Italy were dogsh*t vs Sweeden in the Euros and won aswell, so hopefully Conte has a habit of winning when his teams are sh*t, because I think a few more displays like yesterday are still to come in the short term.

Fair enough.

But I am not asking for miracles and winning each game 4-0. But at the least, learn from the mistakes of the last season.

Ivanovic continues to play 90 minutes every game. Oscar somehow continues to start games. Pedro is somehow still trusted to be in the squad. Have not we had enough? I honestly have. 

There were 2 occasions where pedro did not track back the wing-back. How many times did pedro have a chance to run at holebas, instead he just passed the ball back to Iva. Dont even get me started on ivanovic.

Oscar well, I just dont get it. Having Matic and Kante in the side is probably the best conditions for cesc to flourish in and yet he is rotting on the bench while someone like Oscar gets game time. Hell, if it was RLC or Nat, I would have seen some positive in it, but is not Oscar beyond the point of no return?

Jesus these match day threads are getting worse. Its Conte`s second match for us, his first away game in a completely new league and we had some fans moaning how boring the game was after 15 frigging minutes, dear god get a grip.

Fair enough but where was that passion or desire for over an hour yesterday?

Hmm, when we equalized and took the lead?

Hmm, when we equalized and took the lead?

 

We equalized in the 80th Minute. You didnt answer the question.

Cant really understand people skating Conte's team selection. We done ok against West ham and therefore we was never going to change a winning team. 

 

Its clear Oscar is ahead purely on work rate. And lets not forget our subs come on when we were on the front foot and the oppo were tiring. Some are exaggerating the effect they had. If they had started from the off, nobody knows how the game would off played out. Its not as simple as looking at the last 10 mins and thinking thats how it would of been from the start. Thats naive.

Two games in, two wins and in the corresponding fixtures last season we didn't win either.

Yet all I am reading is an unending amount of whingeing and moaning. I hoped last season would've have taught some of you to have a little more humility. Oh well.

Stop moaning about the moaners.

Stop moaning about the moaners.

By moaning about the moaners we become the moaners :O

By moaning about the moaners we become the moaners :O

 

Iv'e stopped moaning now, but I may feel the need for a whinge later on.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/aug/21/antonio-conte-chelsea-manager

Conte didn't pick his best 11, it's not surprising as he's so early in his Chinese journey. We were pretty ordinary until he started making the change, as soon as the second striker came on we looked a different team, Cesc just sealed it for us. I think his challenge is to accommodate the 2 strikers and Cesc somehow in the team, in addition to the usual suspects like Hazard and Kante. He knew it, but implementing will take time and personnel change. I enjoyed watching the Italian 352 in action from the opposition point of view, it really troubled us when their wing backs push up with men to aim at in the box. 

Costa has regained a lot of pace.

Two wins out of two. And not easy wins. They both showed,to me anyway that we again have character and determination in our team.

Courtois 7/10 Hasn't had a lot to do in our first two games, but has looked assured and hasn't had a chance with the two goals we've conceded.

 

Ivanovic 7/10 Thought he did well defensively but leaves a lot to be desired going forward. Needs to fight for his place but his place has been assured for a long time now. He's been a good tough competitor for Chelsea and he can still do a job but you feel we can upgrade in his position.

 

Dave 7/10 Did a good job as usual. Deserves to play on the right where he can contribute more going forward.

 

Cahill 6/10 Poor performance for me. Not up to the standard required. Another position where we can upgrade.

 

Terry 8/10 Thought he was excellent though he's not the force that he was.

 

Kante 8/10 He's playing a far more disciplined game than he did at Leicester, and a far more defensive one, and so far he's done an excellent job. Goes about his business quietly, with little fuss, but makes a telling contribution, with and without the ball. We look a lot less vulnerable than we did last season and that's largely down to him.

 

Pedro 5/10 Jesus he was poor.

 

Matic 6/10 Conte's obviously hoping he'll play himself into a bit of form. He's looking a long way off that now. Provides a pivot with Kante but he's the more dispensable of the two. Gives us solidity, covers a lot of ground, he's there to keep the ball moving but he dithers too much for me. It's difficult to see what he's bringing to the table. He doesn't give you great power or energy, he offers virtually nothing going forward, he's not great on the ball and Kante is far more of a defensive asset than he is. Once we swapped him for Fabregas we were a different side. It's difficult to say what this guy's strengths are. I'm not writing him off but if he wants to keep his spot he's going to have to up his game and quick, with players like Loftus-Cheek, Chalobah and Fabregas all waiting in the wings.

 

Costa 7/10 Got the goal and once again props to him for that though I thought he was a tad fortunate. His first touch let him down, he didn't trust his left so shaped to hit it with his right and it slid under the keeper, some will say purposefully I will say fortunately. Having said that without his run and positioning, Fabregas can't make that pass, and Costa's movement is the best thing about his game in my opinion. He's very good at playing off the shoulder. However there are major negatives. Once again he should have been sent off. It's all very well saying he won us the game but if the referee had done his job we'd have been a man down and a goal down and in desperate trouble. He missed 7 games last season through suspension and it's only a matter of time before he misses more, not least because the more indiscretions he commits, the more the media ramp up the pressure on referees. Costa was poor in general, as he was against West Ham, lost the ball on several occasions, dribbled down blind alleys, and struggled to have any impact. In his defence however he was up there on his own, against three centre-backs, and we were fielding a very uncreative line-up.

 

Oscar 7/10 I'm giving him a generous seven. I've seen him play a lot worse. He's still a long way off what we need. Another one Conte seems to have faith in and whom he's hoping plays himself into a bit of form. Maybe he needs a manager who believes in him and gives him a bit of freedom. Then again maybe not.

 

Hazard 8/10 Thought he was our best starter and our most dangerous player. It's a shame that we have such an outstanding talent and we can't take the burden off him by signing another game-changing player. If only we had somebody else in the attacking positions who could create something out of nothing, Hazard would find himself with more space and we would be an immeasurably more dangerous side. As it is it's all about trying to get the ball to Hazard. When he's on the ball, we're dangerous. When he's not, we're not. It's that simple.

 

Subs:

 

Moses 8/10 Thought he did really well when he came on, as he did against West Ham. Immediately did more than Pedro had in the previous 70 minutes by getting to the byline and creating a chance. Looks to be a shrewd move by Conte keeping him. We need players who are keen to hug the touchline, take on defenders and get in crosses. Somebody needs to tell Pedro this.

 

Batshuayi 8/10 Oh my god he looks good. He's tall, he's athletic, he's fast he's skilful and he can score goals. Thirty million already looks a bargain but it's early days. He brings some zip to proceedings and that's what we need. A little bit of dynamism.

 

Fabregas 9/10 My man of the match and he only played about 15 minutes. His introduction completely changed the game and will have given Conte plenty to think about. How do you accommodate him into your midfield? Can we sacrifice a bit of energy and solidity in order to do so, or will he start our next league game on the bench? Already these are big questions for Conte, as it was abundantly obvious as soon as he came on that Fabregas has way more quality than Matic and Oscar. Fabregas got his foot on the ball, started spraying the ball about, started pushing forward and started giving Hazard someone to play with, because good players enjoy playing together and can often read each other's minds. Fabregas was finding little pockets of space behind their midfield and started causing them problems. The pass for Costa was world-class and though there are many players who could probably spot it, how many of them could execute it? Boy were we lucky to have him on the bench.

 

The manager:

 

Conte 8/10 A brilliant start and in both games his substitutions have won us points. Leicester showed last season that the most important thing is to be a team and we certainly look that under Conte. He has got us working hard and we look very organised but do we have enough quality to compete with City and Utd this season? Unlikely in my opinion. The signs are encouraging but we have many issues that need addressing, hopefully this game taught him one or two things, and hopefully we recruit one or two before the window shuts. A new country, a new club, a new league, a new language. He's done well. Long may it continue. Forza Conte.

That is an incredibly generous rating for Ivanovic, who seemed to only take a break from giving away possession when it was time for him to not defend his area, including his absence from the far post for Watford's goal.

That is an incredibly generous rating for Ivanovic, who seemed to only take a break from giving away possession when it was time for him to not defend his area, including his absence from the far post for Watford's goal.

 

I agree, i thought Ivanovic was really poor against Watford. He was letting Watford get crosses in, he wasn't getting tight, he was often moving in the CB position when he should have stayed at full back, he was misplacing passes and he was at fault for Watford's goal.