i don't think there's any guarantees of qualifying for round of 16, let alone topping the group. looking at it logically, if we lost away vs roma and atletico beat quarabag at home then it gets nervy and roma will want to top this group and after last night, they will have massive confidence going into the next game against us. 

Azpilicueta has been sub-par for a few games now and was at fault for the Kolarov goal, I think it's time to give him a rest for a game or two. I know it's difficult to do so, but he's played every game for us and recently he's played for Spain too in the internationals, so he deserves a rest for us considering he's been a beast pretty much every game he's played since last season and beyond; he rarely has poor games up until now.

Willian was okay when he came on, definitely not poor, but looked to be trying to do something. Fabregas was slow and lethargic in midfield. Bakayoko was okay, but didn't have a great performance. Cahill was reasonably solid along with Christensen, both had a decent game. Zappacosta was positive going forward trying to get crosses in early and attacking their left flank, and defensively he was decent too.

Alonso was decent, nothing special, but I think his lack of pace hinders us on that left side of defence, especially with Cahill covering that side too, so the lack of pace between them makes us vulnerable to counter attacks and pacey wingers down that side. Morata just came back from injury but looked lively, but maybe trying too hard and misplaced some passes and holding up the ball was a little off, but he'll get back up to pace I'm positive of that.

Hazard linked up well with Morata, but unfortunately it was only him and Alvaro up top so hard to get much of an attack going with the set up of Roma's defence which was very good. Overall a less than ideal performance, but considering key injuries and going up against a tough Roma side who are no slouches, I think a draw is a good result for us. No need for overreaction or sh*tting on our players, we showed determination and we could have easily lost our heads after they got the 2nd goal or even the leading the game, but we showed grit to come back and start attacking them again and get the draw. I am happy we showed fight and sprit to battle back because 2 seasons ago we would have sh*t the bed and gave up. 

3 hours ago, yorkleyblue said:

Your reading and comprehension skills are really quite poor, for someone who claims to be at university.  Firstly, my point was that yes, the supporters in the stands can be as critical, if not more, and they have every right to criticise if the team are not trying in their eyes.

I was replying to someone who said "fans that pay exceedingly high prices for season and matchday tickets expect to watch the reigning champions put in a bit more effort. "  My first point was that yes, people who pay have a right to complain, and I do, regularly, at matches.  People who's only link to the club is that they have chosen Chelsea as the team they want to follow by watching on a stream in their bedrooms and bitching excessively and viciously on an internet forum have no rights to have any criticism they make taken seriously.

I think you'll find that people who actually go to games, regardless of how many a season they can get to, are far less critical in forums, no matter how critical they are when at matches.  Perhaps it's the keyboard warrior syndrome, or perhaps having a playstation and a sky sports subscription truly DOES make you a football tactical genius.

It's a bit unfair to say a fan has less right of a say if they don't go to games.  Everyones situation is different.  Some may have moved away, others may not be able to afford to go etc etc.  I agree that fans who go are less critical online, but that's because we have vented our frustrations at the match (having said that, you always get the plonker a seat behind who thinks it coincides with football manager and that we should play the 2-1-1-2-3-2 with banana balls over the top.)  It's a forum, and without opinions it's pointless so I'm to trying to knock yours back, but you have to understand how all our situations are different.  I also agree it can be tedious at times when the game doesn't go our way and toys get thrown out the pram, but we all support the same team and want the team to do well, and everyone should have a say in that.

Edited October 19, 20178 yr by Fendieta

I think the game was lost in midfield. Bakayoko has to play centrally in front of the back 4, he looked so uncomfortable last night. 

Luiz just chased the ball, hasn't not the tactical brain to play that role well enough. 

Fabregas looks finished. You can accept his poor defensive game, when he is dictating play and creating chances, but games have been passing him by this season. 

It's going to be painful until kante gets back, drinkwater isn't the sort of calibre of player that will take us to the next level. We drastically need a playmaker with a solid defensive game, as trying to play out from the back with the current midfield and defensive personnel, is simply not working against the better sides. 

Conte needs to set us up more aggressive, especially at home, we should be looking to take the initiative. We sat far too deep last night, it felt like an away game, which is poor for a club with ambitions to be the best in europe. 

A point is not the end of world, especially after that performance. Conte and the players need to improve, and the club need to give him better players to work with or this will only end one way. 

Edited October 19, 20178 yr by big blue

I don't think formation is an issue, We changed because we were too open with two centre backs. Saying players have worked us out isn't the problem. Oppositions look at hours of footage with the idea of finding weaknesses or mistakes. It's down to the players to up their game to build on the two issues. If we move the ball quicker and accurately going forward and pick up runners and not leave people free which has happened in the last few weeks we will turn it round.

5 hours ago, The Don Antonio said:

I am a New york Giants fan, have never been to the Met life Stadium and only watch my team on TV but i know the pain when we lose stupid games and the extacy from both Superbowl wins. Just because some fans are foreigners and dont live in the Uk doesnt give them less of a right to criticise their team

You haven't got a clue how much it hurts being a Chelsea fan. Have you ever had your schoolmates, workmates and family take the piss out of you after you've paid hundreds of pounds and travelled hundreds of miles to watch Chelsea lose. Supporting a club means watching a team on the internet is ridiculous you have no emotional attachment to them it's doubtful if you know any Chelsea fans people on Facebook don't count.

 

38 minutes ago, Droo Bar said:

You haven't got a clue how much it hurts being a Chelsea fan. Have you ever had your schoolmates, workmates and family take the piss out of you after you've paid hundreds of pounds and travelled hundreds of miles to watch Chelsea lose. Supporting a club means watching a team on the internet is ridiculous you have no emotional attachment to them it's doubtful if you know any Chelsea fans people on Facebook don't count.

 

It is obvious you are just trying to get a reaction from me. Chelsea fans who have never been to England have been killed in Nigeria and other countries because of disputes. Does that make them less emotionally attatched because they dont/cant go to the stadium to watch the team. 

LMAO at your comment of knowing only chelsea fans on facebook.  Try harder trol

44 minutes ago, Droo Bar said:

You haven't got a clue how much it hurts being a Chelsea fan. Have you ever had your schoolmates, workmates and family take the piss out of you after you've paid hundreds of pounds and travelled hundreds of miles to watch Chelsea lose. Supporting a club means watching a team on the internet is ridiculous you have no emotional attachment to them it's doubtful if you know any Chelsea fans people on Facebook don't count.

 

Also next time quote the whole text and show the whole thing i said instead of trying to conceal the truth. You probably work for the FAKE NEWS NETWORK

Team looks burnt out, lots of games and Contes grueling training catching up with them, and its only October. 

2 hours ago, Droo Bar said:

You haven't got a clue how much it hurts being a Chelsea fan. Have you ever had your schoolmates, workmates and family take the piss out of you after you've paid hundreds of pounds and travelled hundreds of miles to watch Chelsea lose. Supporting a club means watching a team on the internet is ridiculous you have no emotional attachment to them it's doubtful if you know any Chelsea fans people on Facebook don't count.

 

This rubbish "not being a true fan because you're watching from your seat at home" talk has cropped up again i see. The arrogance i see from some fans is pathetic, you're no more a fan of Chelsea than i am. Just because it's easier for you to go and watch Chelsea at the Bridge than it is for me, that doesn't make you more of a fan. If i lived close, had the money and if other personal issues didn't get in my way then i would go and watch the team as often as i could too. 

I also disagree with the point being made earlier that our opinions can't be taken as seriously because we are watching on our tv's rather than at the stadium, i think that is just ridiculous. What difference does it make either way ? So you are watching the game at the stadium, big deal, we are both seeing the same things. In some ways, the fans watching on tv have a better view of things. If you're standing at the opposite end of a stadium, it's hard to see what is going on properly, even at close range it's sometimes hard to have a good understanding of what is actually happening.

I agree with what the @The Don Antonio said, the emotional connection you have with the club is what matters most. If people felt nothing for the club, then you wouldn't see any kind of emotional response. You ask the armchair fans how they felt when they seen Drogba score that penalty to win us the Champions League, for me, it was one the happiest moments of my life, the joy i felt was like nothing i have ever experienced before. When we lost the F.A cup final to Arsenal in May, i was gutted. Win, lose or draw, i put a lot of my emotions into this club, i have probably had more up and down emotions in football than i have with anything else in life.

So when people say i am not a true fan of the club or my opinions don't matter because i can't watch games at the stadium, it really pisses me off. The emotions i go through and the time i put into the club is enough for me to be a true fan.

26 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

This rubbish "not being a true fan because you're watching from your seat at home" talk has cropped up again i see. The arrogance i see from some fans is pathetic, you're no more a fan of Chelsea than i am. Just because it's easier for you to go and watch Chelsea at the Bridge than it is for me, that doesn't make you more of a fan. If i lived close, had the money and if other personal issues didn't get in my way then i would go and watch the team as often as i could too. 

I also disagree with the point being made earlier that our opinions can't be taken as seriously because we are watching on our tv's rather than at the stadium, i think that is just ridiculous. What difference does it make either way ? So you are watching the game at the stadium, big deal, we are both seeing the same things. In some ways, the fans watching on tv have a better view of things. If you're standing at the opposite end of a stadium, it's hard to see what is going on properly, even at close range it's sometimes hard to have a good understanding of what is actually happening.

I agree with what the @The Don Antonio said, the emotional connection you have with the club is what matters most. If people felt nothing for the club, then you wouldn't see any kind of emotional response. You ask the armchair fans how they felt when they seen Drogba score that penalty to win us the Champions League, for me, it was one the happiest moments of my life, the joy i felt was like nothing i have ever experienced before. When we lost the F.A cup final to Arsenal in May, i was gutted. Win, lose or draw, i put a lot of my emotions into this club, i have probably had more up and down emotions in football than i have with anything else in life.

So when people say i am not a true fan of the club or my opinions don't matter because i can't watch games at the stadium, it really pisses me off. The emotions i go through and the time i put into the club is enough for me to be a true fan.

So when we won the Champions League what did you do ?. You sat in your armchair on your own because you know no fellow Chelsea fans. When it comes to football fans it's them and us we have a history we can talk about all you can do is talk tactics and moan about quality of streams.

9 minutes ago, Droo Bar said:

So when we won the Champions League what did you do ?. You sat in your armchair on your own because you know no fellow Chelsea fans. When it comes to football fans it's them and us we have a history we can talk about all you can do is talk tactics and moan about quality of streams.

So now i have to be surrounded by Chelsea fans to be true fan too ?

Your argument is flawed because unless you were in Munich or at a pub surrounded by Chelsea fans, then there is a high chance that most Chelsea fans were watching this at home on tv with no other Chelsea fans around them. I guess all of those people aren't true fans either then......

We shouldn't all have to follow the same stupid rules to be classed as true fans. Maybe people prefer to watch a game on tv than at a stadium, maybe people prefer to watch Chelsea games without other people being around them, maybe people don't want to watch a game in a pub with a bunch of drunk people, maybe they don't want to talk with other fans about the club and it's history ( all of us on here do actually do that though seeing as this is a forum ) . It doesn't make them any less of a fan, just that they prefer to do things differently from you.

The most important part is emotional attachment you have with the club, all of the other things are just extra's.

7 hours ago, Richard P said:

I don't think formation is an issue, We changed because we were too open with two centre backs. Saying players have worked us out isn't the problem. Oppositions look at hours of footage with the idea of finding weaknesses or mistakes. It's down to the players to up their game to build on the two issues. If we move the ball quicker and accurately going forward and pick up runners and not leave people free which has happened in the last few weeks we will turn it round.

The problem is, starting from the back, we aren't moving the ball quickly because players are taking too many touches, probably due to a lack of movement elsewhere and that, is all down to a lack of confidence within the team. A couple of wins on the bounce and we'll be pinging the ball about. Crisis? What crisis?

17 hours ago, Fendieta said:

It's a bit unfair to say a fan has less right of a say if they don't go to games.  Everyones situation is different.  Some may have moved away, others may not be able to afford to go etc etc.  I agree that fans who go are less critical online, but that's because we have vented our frustrations at the match (having said that, you always get the plonker a seat behind who thinks it coincides with football manager and that we should play the 2-1-1-2-3-2 with banana balls over the top.)  It's a forum, and without opinions it's pointless so I'm to trying to knock yours back, but you have to understand how all our situations are different.  I also agree it can be tedious at times when the game doesn't go our way and toys get thrown out the pram, but we all support the same team and want the team to do well, and everyone should have a say in that.

I don't think it's unfair, but I take your points generally.  I think what I need to do is differentiate between a supporter and a fan or follower, and that is what I was trying to get across.  Someone who is a Chelsea fan who doesn't go to matches and watches on Sky or a stream might well feel that they have a deep connection to the club, but, in the true definition of the word, they are not a supporter because they do nothing financially to actually support the club.  That was the original true meaning of the word "supporter".  And, as I saaid before, even those of us who go to games have no actual right than to see the team doing their best.  We have no right to "expectations" over and above that.

11 minutes ago, yorkleyblue said:

to matches and watches on Sky or a stream might well feel that they have a deep connection to the club, but, in the true definition of the word, they are not a supporter because they do nothing financially to actually support the club. 

This is simply untrue. The club makes a ton of money off the TV-deal which wouldn't happen for any club if supporters weren't sitting at home watching football.

That is true. Paying around £90 a month for Virgin Media to watch maybe 3 or 4 Chelsea games is definitely a contribution - even if indirect. This also opens up an issue of qualifying to be a 'true supporter' requires having a not insignificant amount of expendable income. A lot of lads that used to go regularly when I did gradually stopped when prices increased, games increasingly became all ticket and they married, got mortgages and families. Did they then stop being true supporters? I'm not saying that I know what defines a supporter or specifically how they should behave - I guess it's very subjective.

I know perhaps my biggest gripe now is that going to games in person has almost become a closed shop. Unless you're a season ticket holder (and very few of those are given up) or a club member in a position where you manage to attend practically every game in order to keep your loyalty points up, it's hellishly difficult to go to a game now. Even more so if you'd like to go with someone else and sit next to each other.

 

I swear we have this conversations here in each match thread we lose. 

It's a forum, let people express their views as long as it's not a personal attack on another user. Don't like to see people complaining? Just ignore their posts, pretty simple.  

These discussions of being a real fan or supporter or whatever does my head in every time. Get off your high horses.

If only the ones that attend matches regularly are real supporters, why are you wasting your time on here with us fakes?

Don't let a bigoted fool divide us.

Iv'e said it before and I'll repeat it again.

A Chelsea fan is a Chelsea fan, no matter where your feet are walking.

Everyone one of us are equal because of our love for Chelsea FC, from the little kid wearing his 1998 Chelsea shirt on the streets of Somalia, to the life long 80yo season ticket holder who lives next to the ground.

Personally couldn't think of anything worse than being an armchair fan, but each to their own. The only thing that makes me chuckle is when they comment on atmospheres, or a lack thereof, which they have no right to do.

3 minutes ago, buzzcfc said:

Personally couldn't think of anything worse than being an armchair fan, but each to their own. The only thing that makes me chuckle is when they comment on atmospheres, or a lack thereof, which they have no right to do.

But those who do go to games regularly today are the ones that are responsible for the lousy atmosphere at the Bridge these days. And on average the atmosphere is rubbish - you don't need to attend 20 home games a season to know that. (I acknowledge that Chelsea are far from alone in having a poor atmosphere in their home ground).

I'm a predominantly armchair fan these days, but I was there when many of today's fans didn't want to be, so I feel comfortable with it (not that I wouldn't like to go more but I've already explained why that's difficult).

2 minutes ago, Snedger said:

But those who do go to games regularly today are the ones that are responsible for the lousy atmosphere at the Bridge these days. And on average the atmosphere is rubbish - you don't need to attend 20 home games a season to know that. (I acknowledge that Chelsea are far from alone in having a poor atmosphere in their home ground).

I'm a predominantly armchair fan these days, but I was there when many of today's fans didn't want to be, so I feel comfortable with it (not that I wouldn't like to go more but I've already explained why that's difficult).

I'm aware the atmosphere at the Bridge is sh*te, but for armchair fans to slate it is laughable. You can see that, right?

Just to clarify, I'm not slating armchair fans at all, as each person's circumstances are different. I have to miss a lot of midweek games due to work and the distance and travelling from the midlands.

I do know where you're coming from and you're definitely not wrong, but I suppose some armchair fans might argue that if they were fortunate enough to be in the tiny minority of 'supporters' that get to go to the Bridge regularly they'd not just sit there passively as if watching a West End show. But then, if they were to go they'd quickly understand that one person standing up and trying to get those around them to join in and vocally encourage the players is usually a futile and frankly embarrassing experience.

Especially when the tickets from members and season ticket holders go to opponent team supporters as it happened this Wednesday (Maybe buzzcfc comment is intended for me after his reply to my post; he doesn't realise that I go to every match I can, midweek as well).

Roma fans have racially abused Rudiger it seems