3 hours ago, old git said:

It's not the defeat that irks me but the manner of the defeat. We were completely overrun in midfield. Bakayoko and Kante were lethargic and, while City had pace to burn everywhere, our lack of foot through players such as Fabregas and Alonso stood out like a beacon. Absolutely no complaints on our defence which stood up well against the onslaught. Christensen and Azpilicueta( no chance of him getting forward in his wing back role) were outstanding, Rudiger put in loads of tackles as did Cahill. Hazard was a shadow of the player that lit up Madrid. Conte was very vocal about the short timespan between this and Wednesday's games, citing fatigue as a potential problem. If that's the case, he should have recognised this in the players reaction in training but he still went ahead and selected virtually the same midfield and forward line that ran their legs off in Madrid. He talks about the trust he has in his squad but he didn't show it here.

Very good point about using virtually the same team as Wednesday - we just doing use the squad enough. Apart from that why use the same team that was set to combat a very cautious Athletico team (which seemed like a tactical master stroke) against a free flowing attacking Clity side who play completely differently.

9 hours ago, The Don Antonio said:

if we cant rest players for qarabag away then shame on us. If i was conte some players wont even travel

Fair point. 

There are some positives from the game; City may have dominated the game (as they have most games this season) but our defence has been pretty much spot on, hence only conceding 1 goal, which the defence can't really be at fault for anyway. No doubt in my mind that if Luiz played over Christensen, they would have scored a lot more, but this kids a real gem. He should be starting almost every game now in my eyes. Rudiger also has been fantastic, and having Azpi as our 3rd CB I think is our ideal back 3. Luiz I think should be moved slightly forward into a DM role potentially with Kante and Baka instead of Cesc, because he does nothing defensively. As ive said many times before Cesc's role should now be coming on in the latter part of games to help finish of teams with his magical passing, but as a 90 minute player or a starter, he just doesn't cut it.

Willian has been poor all season minus a few flash moments here and there, its clear we need a quality winger like Sanchez or someone of that calibur to play on the right. 

Both keepers had decent games.

Both defences did ok, we struggled to get the ball out from the back when pressed, but apart from that we cant really pin the blame there.

Both forward lines struggled to penetrate regularly, but when Morata went off our attack basically folded.

The biggest difference in the game for me is evident by comparing just two players. De Bruyne vs Fabregas.

De Bruyne reminded me a bit of Lampard yesterday, dynamic and dependable.

 

 

We would have struggled against any premiership team after Wednesday night's performance and recovery time. For me, Wednesday night's win was more important than this one - early in the season etc. I thought the team gave its all but Lost to a better (fresher?) team.

Didn't watch the after show or MOTD but was there any mention from the pundits about Otamendi's knee high, off the ground scissor tackle to Willian?

 

 

Another sending off tackle that was not giving, thanks bent FA & ref's association.

44 minutes ago, JJP said:

There are some positives from the game; City may have dominated the game (as they have most games this season) but our defence has been pretty much spot on, hence only conceding 1 goal, which the defence can't really be at fault for anyway. No doubt in my mind that if Luiz played over Christensen, they would have scored a lot more, but this kids a real gem. He should be starting almost every game now in my eyes. Rudiger also has been fantastic, and having Azpi as our 3rd CB I think is our ideal back 3. Luiz I think should be moved slightly forward into a DM role potentially with Kante and Baka instead of Cesc, because he does nothing defensively. As ive said many times before Cesc's role should now be coming on in the latter part of games to help finish of teams with his magical passing, but as a 90 minute player or a starter, he just doesn't cut it.  

Agree when we face strong opposition Cesc should be on the bench, in fact probably more often than not. Of course Luiz was not available and our other midfielder Drinkwater is still injured.

Hazard has played very little since he has come back from injury and is now playing in a two upfront, a two makes it more difficult for him and it will be interesting to see if he can make this work with Morata.

We've mentioned the 1 day less preparation yet I also think our match with Athletico Madrid was more like a final in that it needed a great team effort to come from behind whereas City were ahead against Shaktar from 48 and never conceded.

With teams recognising that Alonso is not the fastest WB he will be targeted, with 3 in midfield this can be countered yet not with Fabregas, at least until we are ahead.

 

45 minutes ago, EmeraldBlue said:

We would have struggled against any premiership team after Wednesday night's performance and recovery time. For me, Wednesday night's win was more important than this one - early in the season etc. I thought the team gave its all but Lost to a better (fresher?) team.

Sort of agree but to say the team 'gave their all' i saw Willian trotting around a bit.

this is where we were last season after 7 games. we are winning the league again, lads!

Outplayed and outclassed on the night. Lost to a better team with a better gameplan and better execution. Need to so better, have had a rough start to the season with fixtures and injuries but we have a soft schedule coning up after the international break, should be able to go on a run, only two tough ganes in the next 11. Utd on the other hand are looking at some very tough games

8 hours ago, mickydroysleftpeg said:

Given some of the reaction on here I thought I'd go all Rafa and list what I consider to be facts (I know there's an inherent contradiction in that sentence).

city deserved to win.

we could have easily lost by 2 or 3

we could have nicked a draw 

city had the much more favourable prep. An easy midweek game and an extra day to focus their prep on this tie.

Pep had a clear game plan that involved intense early pressing to take advantage of our potential tiredness from such an intense midweek fixture. 

This was successful as it appeared Chelsea were not as energetic as if they hadn't played that game.

hazard is recovering from injury and it was a big ask for him to put in 2 such big performances at the highest level days apart.

morata isn't used to playing every game in his career.

conte talks a lot about the striker position being a focus for his teams.

losing morata, an in form striker that can hold the ball up well, early in the game was a big blow.

batman has shown himself to be a good goal scorer but not the sort of striker that can lead the line well, hold the ball up and interplay with attacking midfielders.

Willian has generally been not his best this season and his passing has been poor.

given the choice between Willian and Batman Conte went for Willian, this indicates a bit of lack of faith in Batman. It also suggests a gap in our squad.

conte could have also rotated other players to keep a fresher team, but in many positions his opportunity to do this is limited.

conte may have made tactical mistakes with subs and squad rotation in this game.

man city are an outstanding football team with a very successful manager that can exploit weaknesses in the opposition.

losing to man city doesn't mean Chelsea will have a poor season.

it is likely this current squad is not strong enough to win the champions league and epl double!!

 

 

Yes - you've nailed it perfectly there!

Looking for positives because yesterday was so sh*te  we have now played Spurs, City, Arsenal and Everton; that’s four out of the six teams that finished behind us last season after JUST seven matches of this campaign. We’ve played them at a time when we’ve been hit by injuries and suspensions yet we’re still better off points-wise than we were at this stage last season (10 points after 7 games 2016-17. Only 8 points after 7 games 2015-16!). There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic looking ahead not least the promise of watching a Hazard/Morata duo spear-heading our attack and seeing Christensen develop as a top talent.

Christensen. What a player! Anyway, how anyone can blame any of our back 3 for yesterday's debacle is beyond me.They had no protection. Nothing in front of them. Zero.Zilch . When they had the ball,  again nothing in front to help.

from heroes to zeroes

Edited October 1, 20178 yr by mojo

Wednesday's performance was outstanding and the effort and preparation required to pull it off clearly took its toll. Some players were clearly not at their best and losing Morata changed the gameplan. We didn't appear to have a decent Plan B and I was a surprised by that seeing as Conte is obviously a great tactician and in my opinion a match for Pep. Perhaps just not enough time to do the necessary to prepare for both games in enough detail.

Must admit that I was a bit surprised the we lined up for both very different styles with basically the same setup and appeared to just hope it was going to work twice. Was expecting something different like maybe a shift to a defensive four since it was clear our fullbacks weren't going to be able to bomb forward and we weren't setup for that. Yep we defended well, and don't get me wrong, thought Christensen and Rudiger came through it well but we were always going to have enough back there to cope with most of what they could throw. Hate to say it, but I tend to agree with 'Slippy Steve' in that our setup paid them too much respect. Maybe we missed Luiz's forward thinking instincts more than we think. I also think that this would have a great game for Drinkwater, so unlucky there. Basically Conte was out thought and we were a bit leggy but plenty of time to turn the tables.

I don't think its doom and gloom at all. Okay we probably won't win everything but I can see us having a decent run in the CL and will be in the top 3 or 4 fighting it out I'm sure. City are eminently beatable and I look forward to us having another crack at them.
 

Edited October 1, 20178 yr by Tambling Dice

Some good points there Tambling Dice. We’ve had some tough fixtures and I feel City, a few days after a big performance in Madrid, was always going to be a stretch too far. Morata pulling up was no doubt linked to fatigue. They had the tactics to exploit our tiredness and unfortunately we didn’t have any tactics to compensate.

It’s a shame we couldn’t test their defence more, but they probably knew we wouldn’t have the legs to pull off another counter attack masterclass like we did at the Etihad last season. I look forward to round 2, when hopefully we can be more prepared; I feel we’re one of the few teams who’s defence can stand up to their attack, and also cause them problems going the other way. I’m very disappointed, obviously, but also realistic about the fact we can’t win every big game. Sometimes the players, tactics or just situation is against you and the opposition have the upper hand. 

 

 

Classic media...four days after Conte leads chelsea to one of the best wins by an English club in the champions league for years, they're talking about him leaving again...twats

17 minutes ago, The Brit said:

Classic british red-top driven media...four days after Conte leads chelsea to one of the best wins by an English club in the champions league for years, they're talking about him leaving again...twats

For accuracy ;-)

55 minutes ago, Tambling Dice said:

Wednesday's performance was outstanding and the effort and preparation required to pull it off clearly took its toll. Some players were clearly not at their best and losing Morata changed the gameplan. We didn't appear to have a decent Plan B and I was a surprised by that seeing as Conte is obviously a great tactician and in my opinion a match for Pep. Perhaps just not enough time to do the necessary to prepare for both games in enough detail.

Must admit that I was a bit surprised the we lined up for both very different styles with basically the same setup and appeared to just hope it was going to work twice. Was expecting something different like maybe a shift to a defensive four since it was clear our fullbacks weren't going to be able to bomb forward and we weren't setup for that. Yep we defended well, and don't get me wrong, thought Christensen and Rudiger came through it well but we were always going to have enough back there to cope with most of what they could throw. Hate to say it, but I tend to agree with 'Slippy Steve' in that our setup paid them too much respect. Maybe we missed Luiz's forward thinking instincts more than we think. I also think that this would have a great game for Drinkwater, so unlucky there. Basically Conte was out thought and we were a bit leggy but plenty of time to turn the tables.

I don't think its doom and gloom at all. Okay we probably won't win everything but I can see us having a decent run in the CL and will be in the top 3 or 4 fighting it out I'm sure. City are eminently beatable and I look forward to us having another crack at them.
 

Good to see you abouts again.... been awhile....some say too long....good post

It is tough to take this defeat at the back of a Madrid classic display.

Lessons :

1) Azplicueta is never a RWB.

2) Fabregas can only be a super-sub , he is a burden on Kante & Bakyako.

3) Willian needs mentoring on directions of opposition goal.

4) Conte must get reinforcement in January especially someone who can get headers goals.

 

I'm not certainty that the tactical from Conte was mistake in this game, because it's was the same 11 that against Atletico, except, 2,3 and Azpi in WB. While wednesday, it was a different game already because the players was less tired and they could do more effort for pick up thes balls, yesterday against City, it was very more difficult especially for Kante and Bakayoko because wednesday they already had ran vastly...

More, we lost Morata quickly , and he is the essential element for play in 3-5-2. More Hazard was claerly tired, knowing he play a massive game wednesday, i don't think that he is ready for make 2 massive game in only 3 days, impossible... Not now. 

without forget that last week, we had played Stoke City and, it's was not a game easy in contrary at City who has played Crystal Palace with 0 goal....... 

The lads are human.. It's very difficult to think that we can win at Stoke, at Madrid and against Man, City with the same 11... in only one week.... Mostly when you play 2 days after a massive game against Atletico... It's impossible.

Manchester City players was clearly less tired than us, with one day off more than us, and a opponent less stronger than us tuesday. Well for them, but i dont think that they have do a massive game against us, they had the ball, it's natural with Guardiala team, but they didn't set up very opportunity to score.. Only after De Bruyne goal, but in counter.. 

I know it didn't affect the result motd at least showed scissor tackle on Willian yesterday but again didn't talk about it. I will wait and see if they talk about another chelsea tackle this season.

It was nothing new really, we always struggle against sides how press high up the pitch with intensity, like Liverpool twice last season, Spurs last season, Man City last season (despite the end results, as they were a little weaker last year). We just don't have the technical ability and composure to play around it, and we don't have a Drogba-type up front who could be an outball for long balls instead, so we end up conceding so much possession.

4 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Didn't watch the after show or MOTD but was there any mention from the pundits about Otamendi's knee high, off the ground scissor tackle to Willian?

 

 

That was the one bad tackle in the whole game - it lacked a bit of Luiz v Aguero aggro!! Was a poor tackle and needless as Willian wasn't going anywhere, Would have been great to nick a late equaliser from such a needless free-kick.

Conte and Guadiola were both complimentary about each other on MOTD. First win for Guadiola at The Bridge and it clearly meant a lot to him. Huge win for him and his team and they deserved it on the day.

We just have to take it on the chin and trust them to bounce back. The real disappointing aspect for me yesterday was how City looked so comfortable building from the back whereas we kept hoofing it long - you just can't do that at this level.