Well, we won, it looked like only half of the team turned up tonight though. Matic and Pedro especially had a poor game tonight from what i seen. Ivanovic looked poor again too, but he seems invincible in this squad so he will never get dropped. We really need defenders, i just don't see how we can improve on last season if we don't bring any in. And if Aina is injured then Ivanovic is our only RB left in the squad. We are in a bit of a mess defensively right now, i can't believe we haven't bought a single defender in with only a week of the transfer window to go.

3 coaches in a row see something in Ivan we don't, either that or the alternate options are tragic on the training ground, I'm pretty sure we will get Roudreguez though, seems less barriers to acquisition that other defenders we are in for, 2 good FB's and Zuma back we can realistically do a top 4. maybe even challenge if the Mancs start to bottle it later on.   

Glad we won, had a bad feeling when it turned to 3-2. 

Any ratings? How were Aina and RLC?

Any ratings? How were Aina and RLC?

 

Pat Nevin was complimentary about Aina's performance... I gather Pedro was at fault for Rovers' pen? RLC got an assist but I got the impression (from the commentary) that we were overrun in midfield, seemed to improve after Chalobah came on / RLC went off.

Edited August 23, 20169 yr by the special one

From the commentary it sounded like the major problem was they were controlling the midfield and our defence was getting no protection - basically what we saw last season from the Matic/Fabregas partnership.

 

Against Burnley I want to see Kante, Fabregas and Oscar in central midfield. I don't see the need to play someone that dosen't offer anything to our defence or attack.

good performance? haha give me a break

 

liversh*te smashed a side of the same tier 5-0 away and we struggled against these guys at home, ok

 

announce new defenders right away

Edited August 23, 20169 yr by Thunder

Get used to this. It's pretty apparent that the club (Roman) have decided that the days of being one of the worlds top sides are over. An ageing and average side is what we've had for a couple of years and while our biggest sponsorship deals ever and the largest sums of tv money have come our way, we're making a couple of million pounds profit here and there on Marin and Pappy (and in reality Marin will probably have been a real terms loss). We're in Arsenal/Liverpool territory now and if we're not careful, we'll be hanging on to their coat tails too.

The problem tonight is that it wasn't a long way off a first eleven (especially if an injury and suspension coincide) and I'm very apprehensive about Burnley. Then the last time I expected us to win was around late October of the last title season.

good performance? haha give me a break

 

liversh*te smashed a side of the same tier 5-0 away and we struggled against these guys at home, ok

 

announce new defenders right away

 

Agree about the performance, but to put it in perspective Liverpool were full strength tonight / looking to make amends for their defeat away to Burnley.

Edited August 23, 20169 yr by the special one

Tonight showed again the problems that are apparent within the squad. This is the third game we have dominated and yet conceded four against teams who couldn't be called world beaters. Truth is without additions to the squad, Conte will need to borrows Cesc's magic hat to get us into the top four, inevitably it would be his job then on the line. Conte deserves to be backed in the market like previous managers have been, you can't make a silk purse out of a pigs ear.

Pat Nevin was complimentary about Aina's performance... I gather Pedro was at fault for Rovers' pen? RLC got an assist but I got the impression (from the commentary) that we were overrun in midfield, seemed to improve after Chalobah came on / RLC went off.

 

Chalobah didn't come on. Cant even bring him on against a league one side at home.

Chalobah didn't come on. Cant even bring him on against a league one side at home.

Disappointed about that as well. Particularly given Matic was pants. Close scoreline didn't help with the subs though.

Next match hopefully.

Chalobah didn't come on. Cant even bring him on against a league one side at home.

 

Sorry my bad (in which case it would seem RLC was a passenger in the second half?)

Edited August 23, 20169 yr by the special one

Yes I can see more of the same for the rest of the season, wins by narrow margins and continually leaking goals unless something drastic happens in the next 7 days. Keep Ivan for a CB 3rd or 4th option for CB, get a LWB and someone that can dominate the middle of the park...a Ballack or Essien type..

Edited August 23, 20169 yr by CFCCAN

Agree about the performance, but to put it in perspective Liverpool were full strength tonight / looking to make amends for their defeat away to Burnley.

 

in a season without European football we should simply play our full strength 11 in the cup ties - if we'd done that tonight we'd have romped home too

in a season without European football we should simply play our full strength 11 in the cup ties - if we'd done that tonight we'd have romped home too

I suspect we will put out stronger teams as from this point. We have that other competition (the old Autoglass trophy?) Where we can play some of the youth too.

Chelsea vs Bristol Rovers 3-2 Highlights

http://sportyhighlights.com/chelsea-vs-bristol-rovers-highlights/

We've been struggling to put teams away for at least 18 months. We definitely need to strengthen and get some cutting edge back! like many I spend most games criticising our performance but sometimes you need a little perspective. I've supported Chelsea for 25 yrs but I'm a Bristolian and have supported Rovers for 40 yrs!! The best outcome for me was that Chelsea don't lose and Rovers didn't embarrass themselves!. I watched the game from the Rovers Memorial stadium... knowing the way Rovers play, to me Chelsea were in 2nd gear but were always in control. Still it's really frustrating that we don't take the game to the opposition and kill games off... hopefully we can start at Burnley!

We've been struggling to put teams away for at least 18 months. We definitely need to strengthen and get some cutting edge back! like many I spend most games criticising our performance but sometimes you need a little perspective. I've supported Chelsea for 25 yrs but I'm a Bristolian and have supported Rovers for 40 yrs!! The best outcome for me was that Chelsea don't lose and Rovers didn't embarrass themselves!. I watched the game from the Rovers Memorial stadium... knowing the way Rovers play, to me Chelsea were in 2nd gear but were always in control. Still it's really frustrating that we don't take the game to the opposition and kill games off... hopefully we can start at Burnley!

 

absolutely agree with this, in the past 18 months after that incredible start to the 14-15 season, we slowed down, a lot. our problems started ever since spurs smashed us 5-3 on new years day, and ever since then, it seems we can't keep a clean sheet and can't put our opponents to bed at all. i really want us to start winning 2, 3-0 again. what happened to the ancelotti days, or the mourinho 2nd spell days, where we smashed sh*t like this 7-0, where we ran through everyone in our way to the league title, where we were the best side in europe, or easily in the top 5. what happened? now it seems that we struggle against crap teams like this, we can't put opponents to bed, we can't keep clean sheets, and we aren't a top team anymore. i don't want us to slip into the same trap arsenal and liverpool are in, inconsistent, crap, and WAY out of touch from their masterclass incredible counter parts from yesteryear.

On my way back from the Bridge tonight+ So immensely proud of our boys. You had a fairly strong lineup so to battle to a 1 goal deficit was a great performance, especially 2nd half. Our fans were great too. Good luck for the rest of the tournament.

Missed the second half and just catching up on periscope... we weren't that bad tbh, seemed like a training session. Except for Bats we just lacked quality in the final third.

Second half was hard work, have to give a lot of credit to Bristol Rovers but I don't think the intensity was there. Was a very warm evening, but that shouldn't be much of an excuse. 

 

I thought Moses was bright, but as ever his end product is erratic to say the least. On the other hand Pedro was fairly non-existent in the 2nd half. Matic saw a lot of the ball without doing anything urgently. RLC head the ball up fairly well and showed flashes of his talent. Aina was good until Rovers' 2nd goal- afterwards he made a few simple errors, not sure if his confidence ebbed slightly as he lost the ball for the penalty, or whether it was his injury.

Pedro, Matic, Ivanovic... How many games do we need to see them stink up the joint before they get dropped?

Even from the highlights you can see the acres of space in the middle that Matic-Fabregas affords our opposition.

 

Nice from Bats, and then to have an assist is that Batsman and Ruben?

Anyone have any links to the full game. Downloads?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5wMnFjjY3M