1 minute ago, enigma said:

don't worry, the feeling is mutual. we'll have pedders back then and costa will want to f**k sh*t up now he's running empty on yellow cards. 

William did great today I still think he stops the flow a lot of the time though I like Pedro right now tbh, but after 2 goals today conte won't drop willy, we cannot under any circumstances let the spuds take our run 

Second game in a row Willian transformed in the second half. This time, he won the game for us. Great work Willy.

2 assists from cesc and 2 goals for willian.. well, to be honest, willian was starting to annoy me prior to his goals but considering 2 winning goals, all is forgiven.. I think apart from 1 misplaced pass from azpi, he's motm..

Oh btw, defense wasn't so sh*t, yes 2 scramble goals by stoke but it sounds the way it is, scramble.. not a great game but still a  comfortable one nevertheless..

Stressful, but got there in the end!

Another great goal from Costa.

Willian showing some end product.

Dave excellent at the back.

We made it a bit harder than it needed to be, we dominated the game really.

A few defensive errors, we couldn't win the second ball and we looked a bit desperate with our 50-50 challenges. I also thought that we were poor playing out of the back at times, Luiz was the only one that looked comfortable. They can't play brilliantly every game though, there was always going to be a game where they were a little off.

Our attack got us out of any danger though with those goals. Willian is scoring from open play again and Costa got another goal, let's hope this continues.

Edited December 31, 20169 yr by Scott Harris

A draw would suit us in the Liverpool match against CITEH.

Edited December 31, 20169 yr by TheBluesBrother

Don't want to think about the Spurs game too much.

I am so proud of the team and what they have achieved, it's incredible. 49 points halfway through the season. I don't know if this is a new club record, but it's enough to say that 15/16 is now gone and forgotten. 

Conte and the players deserve so much credit. If you look at Costa, Hazard, Fabregas, they were all at the lowest points of their careers less than a year ago and now it's almost the opposite! Tremendous work by everyone involved.

This team really shows that things in life can be turned around quickly if you put in the effort! Very well done! 

win #13

who's next?

15 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

Knew someone would bite, go on boy

Doubly pathetic if you meant to troll. Embarassing, grow up.

Edited December 31, 20169 yr by ashwin

Thought we we sloppy in the first half and barely deserved the lead...summed up with a sloppy give away goal early in second.  Defensively we couldn't cope today and left to many spaces down the flanks giving them the opportunity to cross the ball for Crouch.; but in the end the team dug deep and won the 3 points.  Matic has to start against Spurs for me, Cesc was OK but defensively he just isn't good enough (but we all know that anyway).  Stoke did a good job on Hazard but thankfully Willian had one of his better games....onward and upward...let's hope the City v Liverpool game ends in a draw...or at the very worse a City win.  

And honestly, I could only watch the first half in full, but considering Stoke were lucky not to be 0-4 down by the end of it, I think the final result is a bit flattering for them. I could be wrong though.

Good game, Stoke played their part in an entertaining encounter. We dug in when needed and produced the quality. Good win.

 

Antonio loves Diego, the aftermath as they came off shows just how much respect they have for each other.

Defensively we were below our usual high standards, but I'm really pleased by how our attack stood up to the plate. 

I thought we would miss Pedro's movement against Stoke but Stoke were more attacking than I think we were expecting, which plays into Willian's hands because he is lethal on the counter. Unfortunately, it may also have caught our defence on the hop a bit.

Will need to tighten up defensively vs Spurs, whom I expect will be even more attacking. Willian is a must pick in such games. Kante/Matic will provide the additional defensive ballast we need, but Matic in particular must be careful not to get caught in possession against Spurs, whom will definitely press heavily.  

EDIT: Great to usher in the New Year with a win! I'm sure half of you will be getting plastered in celebration! 

Edited December 31, 20169 yr by DaRick

A few weeks ago I was worried about the right side of our attack, but in all fairness Pedro and Willian have both been great and it seems like there's no point in spending a lot of money in that area for no reason.

Well another 3 points which is vital. However, it seems we were pretty questionable at defending high balls. Think matic shows his importance in helping with his height advantage.

 

great that luiz  and matic didn't get booked today. I thought hazard was very quiet today. But we still delivered with other outlets like costa and Willy.

 

 

 

7 minutes ago, TheBluesBrother said:

A draw would suit us in the Liverpool match against CITEH.

with three sendings off a piece and throw in a few hamstring strains too

3 minutes ago, charierre said:

with three sendings off a piece and throw in a few hamstring strains too

Imagine if Aguero got sent off again, i would laugh 

Diego Costa appreciation post. how good was his goal? spectacular, shades of Drogba there

49 points equals our best first half of the season - also 49 in 2005/6 I am told.

 

That is 5 complete months of this PL season now done, and we have had a PERFECT record in 4 of those months  ...  simply wonderful stuff from our team !

Phew... 

I was expecting a more relaxed game than that, especially after the first goal! Good to see we can scrap and step it up though, and not feel sorry for ourselves. Pleased for Willian as he gets a lot of criticism, but made the difference today. Weirdly enjoyed it, rollercoaster of a game. Not had too many of those lately (thankfully!).

What an end to 2016 compared to the way it started for us, looking forward to 2017! Let's celebrate the achievements so far, happy new year all! 

13 minutes ago, ashwin said:

Doubly pathetic if you meant to troll. Embarassing, grow up.

Put him on ignore mate, he's a bellend

Happy,as always with the win.

Stoke are the type of team who always seem to make it hard for us.

How good again had Costa been this season already.

That was intense...

What an absolute nailbiter. Pretty sure my heart was ready to give way at any moment between Indis goal and Costa sealing the deal.

13 in a bloody row! Take a bow Antonio Conte! You are the fecking man.

49 points at the halfway point. Would not be surprised if that is a record point total at this point in the PL-era.
Now we go on for the title! KTBFFH!

Nothing but positives as far as I'm concerned, 13 consecutive wins is a phenomenal achievement by anyones standard. So proud of this team.

Happy New Year