Race for Top 4

[TheChelsRVA]

We’ve left it too late I’m afraid and without pointing fingers I’ll just say chelsea should be doing better than 5th. I think Liverpool is our best bet at dropping points. A hard fought tie is all we need and then everything is in our hands. With spurs we would absolutely need them to lose, and I just don’t see it happening. Maybe two draws...???

[Sexyfootball]

3rd anyone ? :-)

Liverpool draw their last game. We win our last two. Spurs draw and draw or win and lose. Chelsea 3rd !

 

Oh pretty please ... :-)

 

 

[didierforever]

6 hours ago, TheChelsRVA said:

We’ve left it too late I’m afraid and without pointing fingers I’ll just say chelsea should be doing better than 5th. I think Liverpool is our best bet at dropping points. A hard fought tie is all we need and then everything is in our hands. With spurs we would absolutely need them to lose, and I just don’t see it happening. Maybe two draws...???

Just cant move away from the WHU game. the way we drew that game and the lack of fight to get those 2 extra points. What could have been

[enigma]

We can pick out at least two matches we should have definitely won. Bournemouth at home is one of them, and the other is West Ham at home. We dropped 5 points from both games. Imagine having those extra 5 points now. Add another point for losing to Spurs at home. Losing at home to one of our rivals isn't a bad thing, but we should at the very least be getting a draw in those big games. 

Edited May 7, 2018 by enigma

[Blue Exile]

All the teams involved in this scrap could point to games throughout the season and say 'we should have won that one' or 'that was two points dropped'. We are exactly where we should be I'm afraid.

The premier league is ultra competitive, every year the gap between the top sides and the lesser teams seems to get smaller - look at Burnley this year. 

If you don't turn up you get punished. There aren't any 'gimmes'.

[icecoolguy22]

Still not convinced by our chances, but Spurs and Liverpool looked out of sorts lately with their star attackers not scoring goals. We will make them nervous once we beat Huddsfield. I don't think any of the Liverpool players fancy another game next weekend with the Cup final coming up, they practically select themselves for that game and don't want get injured in the last league game. Spurs has a history of f* it up in their final few games, no way they'd lose the WBA game a month ago.

[Bluefog]

17 minutes ago, icecoolguy22 said:

Still not convinced by our chances, but Spurs and Liverpool looked out of sorts lately with their star attackers not scoring goals. We will make them nervous once we beat Huddsfield. I don't think any of the Liverpool players fancy another game next weekend with the Cup final coming up, they practically select themselves for that game and don't want get injured in the last league game. Spurs has a history of f* it up in their final few games, no way they'd lose the WBA game a month ago.

West Brom had something to fight for... Leicester and Newcastle?  Same with Brighton. Still, sometimes these teams just up their game just to ruin the party.

They do against Chelsea anyway.

 

[Bluefog]

7 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

3rd anyone ? :-)

Liverpool draw their last game. We win our last two. Spurs draw and draw or win and lose. Chelsea 3rd !

 

Oh pretty please ... :-)

 

 

I think I'll just settle for fourth, thanks. :)

[didierforever]

Just need one f**k up. We have 3 games for that to happen.

Spurs losing any of their 2 or pool drawing/losing their 1 left. Weirder things have happened. Lets hope it happens in one of those 3 games.

[bisright1]

5 hours ago, didierforever said:

Just need one f**k up. We have 3 games for that to happen.

Spurs losing any of their 2 or pool drawing/losing their 1 left. Weirder things have happened. Lets hope it happens in one of those 3 games.

Let's just worry about beating Huddersfield first. 

[forbzy]

1 hour ago, benjsross said:

Let's just worry about beating Huddersfield first. 

Exactly. We need to focus on winning our own games first. Then we can worry about what the others do.

I do feel pretty relaxed about the whole situation because I honestly thought top 4 was lost a few weeks ago. If we do manage to make top 4 it will feel like such great finish when you think back to the way things looked after the draw against West Ham at home. Still 2 tricky games that we need to win though.

 

Edited May 7, 2018 by forbzy

[Osgood is Good]

1 hour ago, forbzy said:

Exactly. We need to focus on winning our own games first. Then we can worry about what the others do.

I do feel pretty relaxed about the whole situation because I honestly thought top 4 was lost a few weeks ago. If we do manage to make top 4 it will feel like such great finish when you think back to the way things looked after the draw against West Ham at home. Still 2 tricky games that we need to win though.

 

Newcastle away is not an easy ground for us, we seem to struggle there.

[Argo]

3 minutes ago, Osgood is Good said:

Newcastle away is not an easy ground for us, we seem to struggle there.

Our struggles there in the past stemmed from Pardew bizzarely having Jose's number. 

[mwblue10]

7 minutes ago, Osgood is Good said:

Newcastle away is not an easy ground for us, we seem to struggle there.

At least Kenedy cannot play that match, unless I’m mistaken.

[Osgood is Good]

5 minutes ago, mwblue10 said:

At least Kenedy cannot play that match, unless I’m mistaken.

If I am correct the last time we won at Newcastle was 2011, I think

[mwblue10]

26 minutes ago, Osgood is Good said:

If I am correct the last time we won at Newcastle was 2011, I think

Yeah what I meant was, it should be easier for us to win there in the coming match since Kenedy won’t be able to play against his parent club.

[mclovin83]

It still feels like far too much has to go our way to be completely honest...

That said, let's get the job done against Huddersfield, and if we go into the last match on the same points as Liverpool, and 2 behind Spurs (or hopefully better off), then it would feel like anything can happen and you wouldn't bet too much of your hard earned cash against it would you. Top 4 roulette. 

If there is a single team on planet Earth that is capable of bottling top 4 from the favourable  position they are in now, I'm telling you it's Tottenham Hotspur. 

[Zeta]

I'm not expecting top 4, so I won't be too disappointed if it doesn't happen. All we can do is try to win our remaining games and see what happens elsewhere.

[Davey Baby]

Leicester don't play tonight, whereas ourselves, Tottenham and Newcastle do.

 

Theoretically this could work against Tottenham, should we prevail tonight.

 

#clutchingatstraws

[buzzcfc]

4 hours ago, Davey Baby said:

Leicester don't play tonight, whereas ourselves, Tottenham and Newcastle do.

 

Theoretically this could work against Tottenham, should we prevail tonight.

 

#clutchingatstraws

I thought Leicester have got Arsenal tonight?

[Stim]

8 minutes ago, buzzcfc said:

I thought Leicester have got Arsenal tonight?

You are correct

[Delnino]

We can stick a fork in this topic, its done after last night.

An abject performance not helped by utter incompetence from that fat c**t Lee Mason.

 

[yorkleyblue]

So we're not spoilt at all, but decide that a match that we totally dominated with 78% possession, 22 shots at goal, and the opposition making 64 clearances is an "abject performance" against a team fighting for a single point to avoid relegation, and who have taken a point off the footballing gods that are "Pep" and his amazing football superstars up that Citeh. 

Jeez, some of us are very demanding.

 

 

Match Stats

Chelsea		Huddersfield Town
77.9	Possession %	22.1
5	Shots on target	2
22	Shots	3
1053	Touches	456
831	Passes	243
13	Tackles	24
7	Clearances	64
9	Corners	0
2	Offsides	0
0	Yellow cards	1
7	Fouls conceded	10

[Blue Exile]

18 minutes ago, yorkleyblue said:

So we're not spoilt at all, but decide that a match that we totally dominated with 78% possession, 22 shots at goal, and the opposition making 64 clearances is an "abject performance" against a team fighting for a single point to avoid relegation, and who have taken a point off the footballing gods that are "Pep" and his amazing football superstars up that Citeh. 

Jeez, some of us are very demanding.

 

 

Match Stats

Chelsea		Huddersfield Town
77.9	Possession %	22.1
5	Shots on target	2
22	Shots	3
1053	Touches	456
831	Passes	243
13	Tackles	24
7	Clearances	64
9	Corners	0
2	Offsides	0
0	Yellow cards	1
7	Fouls conceded	10

Those stats are handed to you when a team basically sets up camp in their own 3rd of the field and let's you play the ball from the back 3 through the midfield every possession.

Stats aren't everything, I rather like the eye test too. The stat that stands out though is 5 shots on target from all that possession, and how many of those 5 were clear goalscoring opportunities? 

Edited May 10, 2018 by Blue Exile

[yorkleyblue]

The stat  I prefer is what I saw.  We dominated completely, Huddersfield rode their luck and their keeper played a blinder.

We could have had 5 or 6 and their goal was a bollocks combination of a thuggish tackle and a hoof upfield, a back three that were off their game for a split second and a big lumbering bloke running straight through our goalkeeper without sanction.

Just imagine, if you can, Diego last year running through a keeper like that.  Can you honestly say he wouldn't have been penalised?

We didn't play like champions, I'll grant you, but to call that performance "abject" is just hyperbolic nonsense, or just being contrary for contrary's sake,