57 minutes ago, Zeta said:

Pedro was a dive Morata was a dive. Willian wasn't a dive. 

If one of our defenders grabbed hold of the striker, you would be one of the first to say that our defender was stupid to pull the opposition player.

Edited January 17, 20188 yr by Scott Harris

3 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

If one of our defenders grabbed hold of the striker, you would be one of the first to say that our defender was stupid to pull the opposition player.

Like the one Luiz did on Griezmann?

Just got home. Referees need some form of accountability. Pedro was a dive. The player has come out and said he caught Willian and it was a penalty. Morata for me is a freekick outside the box which by the law should also mean penalty but it’s one of those ones that doesn’t get give. Not a dive at all. 

VAR could be good if the useless inept pricks bothered to use it. My mate watching on telly text me within seconds of all those decisions, it’s not that bloody difficult!

I also thought Bakayoko had a decent game with only a few dodgy moments. Maybe he’s found his level?

4 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

 

I also thought Bakayoko had a decent game with only a few dodgy moments. Maybe he’s found his level?

Yes. Playing in the Championship. 

That Willian booking is totally wrong, the only reason he went down is because a big leg was out stretched in front of him. If that's not a penalty then wtf is ?

10 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

If one of our defenders grabbed hold of the striker, you would be one of the first to say that our defender was stupid to pull the opposition player.

Absolutely. Don't give the referee a chance to blow. 

5 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

Just got home. Referees need some form of accountability. Pedro was a dive. The player has come out and said he caught Willian and it was a penalty. Morata for me is a freekick outside the box which by the law should also mean penalty but it’s one of those ones that doesn’t get give. Not a dive at all. 

VAR could be good if the useless inept pricks bothered to use it. My mate watching on telly text me within seconds of all those decisions, it’s not that bloody difficult!

I also thought Bakayoko had a decent game with only a few dodgy moments. Maybe he’s found his level?

Who are the people in charge of reviewing the VAR anyway? 

1 minute ago, coco said:

That Willian booking is totally wrong, the only reason he went down is because a big leg was out stretched in front of him. If that's not a penalty then wtf is ?

Ref also blew the whistle early on when Batshuayi was onside. Sure the linesman gave it but he had VAR to refute any goal if Bats scored anyway.

Ref was bonkers today

michy and morata can learn from each other

My view is a little different from some.

Firstly credit to Norwich they made it difficult for us and their left back looked promising.

Luiz looked at fault for their goal. 

Pedro - stupid - and up to the bookings had played ok.

Kenedy and Willian did ok too. Kenedy was fouled badly in the 1st half, grabbed around the neck and then caught by the chaps elbow and he reacted a bit.

Bats took his goal well though has no football brain, so many times in the wrong pace on the pitch and then making the wrong decisions.

Bakayoko actually played ok, rarely gave the ball away and his passes normally found their man. At times he looked like he was tripping over his own feet yet recovered, my major criticism was he slowed the game down when we wanted it to be played quickly.

Disappointed with Zappacosta as mostly no end product and also mostly run into trouble.

Drinkwater did ok, the odd shot - workman-like yet not exceptional.

Caballero, with the exception of the  mix up with Azpi (?) thought he did well and good save for the pens.

Subs:

Morata - three chances, one a miss the other two on target though without conviction. He also looked lacklustre and over-reacted to decisions going against him. For my mind it was either a penalty or free-kick.

Hazard lively yet no end product, this time.

Kante - superb racked up the pace which was sorely needed

Christensen looked like he was going to score the goal of the season and then with the last one to beat decides to stop 

 

Decisions - VAR - what a joke - not used when it should be and then the official sides with the ref!!

Conte - needs to appeal the Willian booking and the Morata red card. I think he should complain against the officials re- Kenedy, Willian and Morata.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 18, 20188 yr by Strider6003

5 hours ago, WeatherMan said:

Ffs you don't even know what competition we are playing in for this match

Wrong again, he's ineligible for this match.  If you are going to troll this forum at least try and make the effort to get some basic facts right.

I got mixed up between the 2 competitions (FA Cup Replay & Carabao Cup 2nd Leg Semi-Final). sh*t happens. Both these matches have been on my mind alot lately.

As for Barkley, my comment is 4 days old which was BEFORE the Press Conference in which Conte clarified he's ineligible. Don't sit here and act like you knew this FACT beforehand, because nobody did. I was surprised.

Everyone hoped Barkley would make his debut in today's match including Antonio himself. He said that he'd be in contention for today's match from the Leicester Pre-Match Press Conference.

It was the last thing in my mind that he'd be ineligible due to some stupid transfer policy about him not signing him during the day but on an evening. I certainly wasn't trolling.

Edited January 18, 20188 yr by ChelseaFanBoy

What an awful way to get through to the next round, 2 red cards ( are they suspended for the weekend?) and had to play Hazard/Kante/Morata, even that we couldn't protect the 1:0. The performance was not that bad considering all the factors, but after the survived the early onslaught, we had little idea to break them down. As usual, we couldn't finish the normally 'easy' chances, and the goal was luck more than anything. The defence in the dying seconds was disgraceful, all we had to do was man mark the 2 players in the box and head it out, couldn't even bother to do that. WTF is with this referee, just pick this game to make a name for himself at our expense. I'm sorry, is it every unsuccessful penalty appeal an automatic yellow card now? Did the VAR tell him to give the yellow cards for diving? What's the point of VAR if a clear foul has been committed yet no actions, is it because Willian didn't get a broken ankle at the end of that tackle?

 

5 hours ago, acidicleo said:

glad its all over and we are through...

will morata and pedro be suspended for 1 match only as it was not a straight red? i hope soo!!

Yes, they won't be available for Brighton on Saturday.

4 hours ago, Strider6003 said:

My view is a little different from some.

Firstly credit to Norwich they made it difficult for us and their left back looked promising.

Luiz looked at fault for their goal. 

Pedro - stupid - and up to the bookings had played ok.

Kenedy and Willian did ok too. Kenedy was fouled badly in the 1st half, grabbed around the neck and then caught by the chaps elbow and he reacted a bit.

Bats took his goal well though has no football brain, so many times in the wrong pace on the pitch and then making the wrong decisions.

Bakayoko actually played ok, rarely gave the ball away and his passes normally found their man. At times he looked like he was tripping over his own feet yet recovered, my major criticism was he slowed the game down when we wanted it to be played quickly.

Disappointed with Zappacosta as mostly no end product and also mostly run into trouble.

Drinkwater did ok, the odd shot - workman-like yet not exceptional.

Caballero, with the exception of the  mix up with Azpi (?) thought he did well and good save for the pens.

Subs:

Morata - three chances, one a miss the other two on target though without conviction. He also looked lacklustre and over-reacted to decisions going against him. For my mind it was either a penalty or free-kick.

Hazard lively yet no end product, this time.

Kante - superb racked up the pace which was sorely needed

Christensen looked like he was going to score the goal of the season and then with the last one to beat decides to stop 

 

Decisions - VAR - what a joke - not used when it should be and then the official sides with the ref!!

Conte - needs to appeal the Willian booking and the Morata red card. I think he should complain against the officials re- Kenedy, Willian and Morata.

 

 

 

 

 

Good appraisal mate. Bakayoko's got that languid style of play. He hasn't got that instant acceleration but can certainly shift when he's 'on the hoof'. Morata has made a rod for his own back because he's gone down too easily in the past. Lastly, I'm astonished that Norwich are only 13th. in the Championship as they are well organised but have good pace in attack. That kid Lewis looks decent. They played much better last night than at Carrow Road. Their coach Daniel Farke impressed me with his decision making and general demeanour.

6 hours ago, Bobbywoodhogan said:

I don’t like that though, it’s like the refs can never be wrong. You aren’t allowed to question them and it seems VAR refs are sticking with their own

 

I somehow doubt it was questioning that was the issue.

This VAR is a huge piece of ridiculousness. From what I heard from the local pundit here, you've got 3 minutes after the situation to  check it. What if the ref gives a penalty for the other team in these 3 minutes and then you see they were both legit? What are you doing now? 2 penalties or what? And btw, why didn't he even look at the situations, the one on Willian was clear penalty, the same appliable for Morata. Even Arsene Wenger would admit it, those were 2 clear penalties. Did this junk even use the bloody VAR? 

For the match - pathetic. We need Barkley, we need even Caroll, we need some transfers. This team is low right now, some kind of improvement is very much needed. I don't care whom, I would be happy even with Andy, it's that bad.

2 good news anyway - Morata is out for the next game and Bakayoko 220 minutes in a row without rest, probably also means he'll sit on his a** at last. 

 

To me the biggest problem is the mentality and approach to games in England. In European competitions or other leagues the referee blows for a penalty in the Morata incident.

England seems to pride itself with this "hardman" reputation. "Oh it's just a bit of contact", "Don't tell me a big guy like that is going over for such a light touch on him", "he needs to toughen up and stand his ground there"

My gripe with this is that the rules are not applied as they should. There is discretion and common sense I get it, but I don't understand why no matter how brief or light it was, anyone should rationalise any man, in a race towards goal against another man, stretching his hand out and pulling the guy back by his shoulder or grabbing his shirt or even attempting to make such a motion as part of the physicality of the game.

Let's call it what it is as we are quick to call out the players who go down easy as cheats. It is cheating, simple enough. A defender has tried to get an advantage over the attacker by impeding his progress. Holding, grappling, and all such similar have no place in football (only seems to be loved so much in "Hardman England") It is the worst sight in football for me. Couldn't count how many times Ivo Pinto had his arms literally around players to impede their progress. It's football not wrestling and I hate when I see Chelsea players do it too.

I don't care if my team concedes penalties in that way - don't be silly enough to allow the ref make that(right) decision -, but can the rules of the game be applied honestly to the letter is all I ask.  

And we wonder why our superstars that play in the supposedly best league in the world can't make a headway in tournament football. Or even in other top leagues for that matter. Can count on fingers of one hand how many British men have gone to leagues abroad and been a success.

This nonsense should stop simple and short, apply the rules as they are set out. Football called a contact sport doesn't mean you can make contact in glaringly wrong ways and get away with it. 

I was seething last night and refrained from posting but realise as I type this now the rage is still alive so rant over, will end it here.

I am still trying figure out how Willian received a Yellow card for diving

Last nights game was one of those that we usually wish upon our rivals. "Bad tempered draw with a few red card"! Never seems to happen to them though. 

Surprised people thought foul on Morata was soft. If the Norwich player didn't grab him he'd have gone past him. It's a penalty all day long. And I don't care if Morata is a moaner and has a reputation for falling down easily. That's what we have a referee on the pitch for, to judge everything and everybody on merit, and not on reputation. Instead that buffoon made two wrong calls on penaties, which he compounded by punishing Willian and Morata for diving which neither did. And, to add insult to an injury, he gave Morata a second yellow for daring to complain.

 

Edited January 18, 20188 yr by abramovich

That we felt we had to resort to cheating to try and beat a team from the Championship is an embarrassing reality of how poorly we've been playing since the turn of the year. 

We have a real problem breaking teams down that park the bus it’s very frustrating. Main positive I can take away from the game is at least we take good penalties.

Disgusting performance, it's always the same since 5 or 6 games, Conte need to change anything. 

Already why, when you are at home against one poor team from championship, your coaching is Christensen and Kante, whereas you must score for win the game... It's poor substitute.... Ok against Barcelona, or City but not against Norwich.... 

10 hours ago, Zeta said:

Pedro was a dive Morata was a dive. Willian wasn't a dive. 

Have to agree. Pedro was embarrassing and exactly what is trying to get stamped out of the game. I would fine him a weeks wages.

Morata, I would say not a dive as such, but f**k me why does he always have to fall to the floor at the slightest touch? His reputation is now earning him cards - he has to f**king learn to stay on his feet. He got what he deserved.

Willian was a joke decision - even the Norwich defender has said he thought it was a penalty!

 

In the end, it's what the FA cup is all about - full of drama after what was a very dull 90 minutes. It kinda masks just how bad we were for so long. Don't know where to start - so I won't bother!

 

 

29 minutes ago, abramovich said:

Surprised people thought foul on Morata was soft. If the Norwich player didn't grab him he'd have gone past him. It's a penalty all day long. And I don't care if Morata is a moaner and has a reputation for falling down easily. That's what we have a referee on the pitch for, to judge everything and everybody on merit, and not on reputation. Instead that buffoon made two wrong calls on penaties, which he compounded by punishing Willian and Morata for diving which neither did. And, to add insult to an injury, he gave Morata a second yellow for daring to complain.

 

The reasoning seems to be that, even though it's not legal to grab someone as they go past you, it was Morata's fault for going to ground. If he'd stayed on his feet he might have got a pen, but was booked for exaggerating the contact. 

When was the last time you saw a yellow brandished after a player whinged about being booked? If that was applied consistently you'd see that every game. 

The Willian decision was such a farce there's nothing more to say. Apart from the fact that the video ref was Mike Jones, who is up there with Anthony Taylor as probably the worst ref on the circuit. How can a ref look at that, see a player being wrongly booked for diving, see a team denied a clear pen, and tell the ref he  hasn't made a clear and obvious mistake?