but alonso will go back to being poor again and get criticised for it, and rightly so. tonight he still wasn't that good. he is a weak link for us, and against a better side he struggles. when he's pressed he doesn't know what to do with the ball unfortunately and it can be frustrating, along with his lack of pace which means he rarely beats his man. 

Edited December 12, 20178 yr by enigma

Hazard is just pure CLASS. He was handed the man of the match award and he ignored the interviewer and just gave the award to Willian. What a team player

18 minutes ago, enigma said:

but alonso will go back to being poor again and get criticised for it, and rightly so. tonight he still wasn't that good. he is a weak link for us, and against a better side he struggles. when he's pressed he doesn't know what to do with the ball unfortunately and it can be frustrating, along with his lack of pace which means he rarely beats his man. 

 

I agree unfortunately. He's good, but not good enough. We need someone more aggressive, more dynamic, more willing to take players on. Somebody more like Moses in other words, when he's on top form.

 

Today Alonso found himself in bags of space and for the first time ever put in a decent cross, and hey presto we scored. It happens all too seldom sadly, and he gets ample opportunity.

 

I like him, but as a regular starter we can do better, I don't think there's much doubt about that. WBs are so important the way we play, and we need a player with that extra little bit of spark.

 

He has many positives, not least his free-kicks. He's good technically, he's intelligent, he's elegant and decent in the air, but for me he's just too pedestrian, and an upgrade must be considered a must.

When we play the two up front Morata & Hazard, defenders look at our attack and know they need to concentrate on Hazard and keep half an eye on Morata.

But when our attack consists of Pedro Hazard Willian it's a nightmare for those defenders. Defenders love forwards like Morata, not that strong on the ball, not much pace, does'nt take free kicks, usually needs several chances on goal to convert.

I can see Barca having no problems with Morata.....but Pedro Hazard Willian will cause problems to any defence.

Job well done, the final score definitely flattered them, should have been 4 or 5 nil at least. The false 9 front 3 formation was a great choice for a game like this, a tired Morata would have struggled against their big defenders defending deep, just like the West Ham game. The fluid movement troubled them all game, and required their defenders to make decisions rather than just man marking our attackers. I thought Babayoko was the standout player, apart from the usual suspects Hazard and Kante. Although he didn't play against the best today, he was focused and energetic, and didn't make those errors he was making in the past games.

Great away win up north in near freezing precipitation, shame about the clean sheet but there’s no better way to improve than by a mistake (Ampadu). Nice to see Bakayoko have a good game, time should see him get up to snuff in the league...or not. Agree about mixing it up with no big striker - & that the false 9 has been good for Antonio, but let’s not 4get for all Moratas alleged issues he’s good with his head. Horses for courses. Do feel bad for Bats but each time AC leaves him out w a false 9 CFC have won so it’s a team sport & team win. He could do with a loan in Jan but won’t get it as can’t see a top striker coming in to compete w Morata. 

Let Huddersfield back in it for the last 10, dunno if it’s tired legs or what. Alonso has his pluses but he needs competition to improve  and he looks shagged out tbh.

Good result, players rested, a 17 yr old has a prem debut, momentum restored. 

Gonna watch again now on the DVR

carefree then !

 

 

3 hours ago, The Don Antonio said:

Hazard is just pure CLASS. He was handed the man of the match award and he ignored the interviewer and just gave the award to Willian. What a team player

 

3 hours ago, coco said:

When we play the two up front Morata & Hazard, defenders look at our attack and know they need to concentrate on Hazard and keep half an eye on Morata.

But when our attack consists of Pedro Hazard Willian it's a nightmare for those defenders. Defenders love forwards like Morata, not that strong on the ball, not much pace, does'nt take free kicks, usually needs several chances on goal to convert.

I can see Barca having no problems with Morata.....but Pedro Hazard Willian will cause problems to any defence.

you need to go easy on morata. He is good enough to cause problem to umtiti and pique and has scored against them in a CL final. He is a big match player gets a level above while playing a big opponent and arguably the best technical striker in PL barring aguero (Yes including kane). We wouldn't be having this much ball against barca for wllian and pedro to do what they did today.

We know we have player like this.... hahahahahahaa, I'm crying.

Eden Hazard must stay in this club! Period. Even as a number 9 he is unstoppable. I really enjoyed him, especially second half. 

Absolute class performance and 3-1 really flattered them.Our movement and passing was so good to watch.We must do all we can to keep our manager and Eden long term.Remember some on here,never too high,never too low.....UP THE CHELS !

8 hours ago, The Don Antonio said:

Hazard is just pure CLASS. He was handed the man of the match award and he ignored the interviewer and just gave the award to Willian. What a team player

the unselfish football wizard...

1 hour ago, Pendergast said:

We know we have player like this.... hahahahahahaa, I'm crying.

Eden Hazard must stay in this club! Period. Even as a number 9 he is unstoppable. I really enjoyed him, especially second half. 

true...give him whatever wages he want...to replace him effectively we will need 100 plus million anyway..

Very happy with the 3 points. I had a bad feeling about this match as the manchester clubs struggled there and due to contest press conference about tiredness and all...

Gutted with losing CS esp as an owner of Alonso in FPL...

 

No Cahill, no Fabregas and no Morata and we play much better. Some of the football was beautiful to watch but Huddersfield were shocking tactically. They were set up with 4 at the back, 5 in midfield and one upfront. They didn't press, which allowed us to play our game and we were all over them. They thought weight of numbers at the back would be enough but it most certainly wasn't. Bakayoko had a good game as did everyone. The blot on the landscape was tinkering with the defense by Conte at the end of the match. We conceded and could have kept a clean sheet. Batman must be on his way in January. Not playing him to start was a kick in the face. We didn't play Cesc against Stoke and we won 4-0. Maybe something for Conte to ponder. Happy with the 3 points and we need Bournemouth to do us a favour tonight. Southampton at the weekend and they will pose a bigger threat. We must take second in the Prem. Citeh have won it already. SHAME.

9 hours ago, enigma said:

but alonso will go back to being poor again and get criticised for it, and rightly so. tonight he still wasn't that good. he is a weak link for us, and against a better side he struggles. when he's pressed he doesn't know what to do with the ball unfortunately and it can be frustrating, along with his lack of pace which means he rarely beats his man. 

 

No, he's not a weak link for us. Moses and Alonso are very important for our shape. The problem is that Alonso hasn't got cover, so he plays nearly every game and he's completely knackered. We need cover for him in the January window and two strikers. The club f*cked up in the summer during the transfer window and our squad is very thin to challenge on all fronts, in comparison to Man City, Man Utd or Arsenal.

Make no mistake, we excelled against a very, very poor team.

Looks like the end of the line for Michy, though. 

46 minutes ago, TheBluesBrother said:

 

No, he's not a weak link for us. Moses and Alonso are very important for our shape. The problem is that Alonso hasn't got cover, so he plays nearly every game and he's completely knackered. We need cover for him in the January window and two strikers. The club f*cked up in the summer during the transfer window and our squad is very thin to challenge on all fronts, in comparison to Man City, Man Utd or Arsenal.

yes we need cover for alonso as a priority in summer especially with barcelona waiting..

hows luke shaw? i havent watched him recently...but was a fan of him in his southampton days.. heard utd is trying to offload him for 20 million..

Great to bounce back with a good performance after such a poor showing against West Ham. Sure, Huddersfield aren't great and despite a few good results they look dead certs for relegation, but we were so much better. We could have been more clinical and hit 6 but am happy with the way we played despite never being comfortable when we don't play with a "proper" striker.

But last night it worked well. Thought the defence didn't look nearly as good once Christensen went off and don't want to be too harsh on young Ampadu, as I know he's only 17, but he looks and plays like Luiz and that means he has mistakes in him!!

 

7 hours ago, haidertalal said:

you need to go easy on morata. He is good enough to cause problem to umtiti and pique and has scored against them in a CL final. He is a big match player gets a level above while playing a big opponent and arguably the best technical striker in PL barring aguero (Yes including kane). We wouldn't be having this much ball against barca for wllian and pedro to do what they did today.

I think Morata needs a kick up the backside, a spell on the bench with the hot water bottle kid, leave the three amigos up front to terrorise the premier league.

You say he is technically the best in the league, but without strength and some pace, you would need to be technically as good as Messi to get away with the lack of strength and pace. Could you imagine Messi missing that sitter against WHU ?

Very good away win. Pleased with result and performance.

Much more like it.

I think we ran them down and were comfortably ahead and little bit lost concentration. They smelled blood and wanted to give something to their crowd. Doesn't really matter concedeing a goal like that. We were verty very good for 89mins.

My concern is we don't score enough. And the form goes up and down. I mean we totally dominate Atletico Madrid for 2 games and lose to Palace after a dire display.

8 minutes ago, evissy said:

I think we ran them down and were comfortably ahead and little bit lost concentration. They smelled blood and wanted to give something to their crowd. Doesn't really matter concedeing a goal like that. We were verty very good for 89mins.

My concern is we don't score enough. And the form goes up and down. I mean we totally dominate Atletico Madrid for 2 games and lose to Palace after a dire display.

seems like we can focus better against big teams..

so i hope we can win against barca...

Might be a bit audacious here but...make Hazard captain.
I'd give him an incentive to stay, I love Azpi but he's not a strong character like Eden and Cahill...well, Cahill is Cahill.

Edited December 13, 20178 yr by TomCFC85

41 minutes ago, TomCFC85 said:

Might be a bit audacious here but...make Hazard captain.
I'd give him an incentive to stay, I love Azpi but he's not a strong character like Eden and Cahill...well, Cahill is Cahill.

Cahill

Luiz(if he stays)

Kante

Hazard

Courtois 

Azpilicueta

Due to character and charisma this should be the list with the captain's options. Dave is not even close IMO. 

You people put a lot of stock in the captains armband as if the job is anything more than wearing an armband and talking to a ref every now and then.

 

Edited December 13, 20178 yr by Stim