1 hour ago, PloKoon13 said:

Hilariously enough that was actually the fourth-best result (or equal second if we don't count goals scored) anyone has achieved at the Etihad in the league so far this season...

I wonder where we stand on the shots on target table at the Etihad? 

4 hours ago, BiafranBlue said:

But he pulls get them playing some decent attacking football.

Conte’s tactics and team setup is abysmally over defensive.

Pep has sh*t loads of money to spend but he still gets City playing as a complete unit, something even Pullis manages on a budget.

1 hour ago, dansubrosa said:

We seem to be struggling to get rid of the park the bus tactic. We have been doing it for over a decade. I think it’s time we moved on, and start hiring attack minded managers from now to on.

AVB IN!

Thank God I missed this game.  Conte appears to be on a major downward trajectory.... 

39 minutes ago, cuppaT said:

AVB IN!

We had the likes of John Terry, Lampard and Drogba so AVB was a silly appointment.

Now we have the squad for attacking football not defensive football. It’s absolutely pathetic seeing the likes of Pedro, Hazard, Willian, Fabregas parking the bus!

Chelsea, for various reasons, are in a bad place at the moment.

The squad is notably thin and certainly not where the manager or the fans expected us to be this season but the problem is made worse by several players in one way or another not readily available for selection.

Conte doesn't seem to trust fully Morata or Giroud, Cahill and possibly Luiz are out of favour, Bakayoko is arguably a lost cause and several of the January signings including Barkley are recovering from long term injuries and are not match fit. This is blasting a big hole in the team selection.    

 

A good defensive display, similar to how we set up against Barca, but missing those Willian breaks. In fact that was the most disappointing part of the performance - sloppy passing on the limited occasions we did get the ball.

I thought DD and Cesc did okay. The trouble with Hazard is that you always hope he will eventually do something magical but yesterday he should have been called ashore much earlier. Giroud and even Morata - who almost got an assist - caused City more trouble in the short period they were on.

In fairness to Christensen this time it was a bit of bad luck on the clearance but I thought someone (Pedro?) sbhould have covered B. Silva.

Good to see DD and Giroud coming out supporting Conte after the match.

13 minutes ago, EmeraldBlue said:

A good defensive display, similar to how we set up against Barca, but missing those Willian breaks. In fact that was the most disappointing part of the performance - sloppy passing on the limited occasions we did get the ball.
 

Pep did his homework to stop Willian, every time he got the ball in defence primed to start a counter-attack he had one or two men on him. I never realised Pep did his homework like this.

31 minutes ago, EmeraldBlue said:

A good defensive display, similar to how we set up against Barca, but missing those Willian breaks. In fact that was the most disappointing part of the performance - sloppy passing on the limited occasions we did get the ball.

I thought DD and Cesc did okay. The trouble with Hazard is that you always hope he will eventually do something magical but yesterday he should have been called ashore much earlier. Giroud and even Morata - who almost got an assist - caused City more trouble in the short period they were on.

In fairness to Christensen this time it was a bit of bad luck on the clearance but I thought someone (Pedro?) sbhould have covered B. Silva.

Good to see DD and Giroud coming out supporting Conte after the match.

Im sure it was Alonso with B. Silva, he was never getting there with his pace.

We saw yesterday just how good City are with the football and their ability to totally dominate the game. A combination of great players and a great coach with a great philosophy. From 1-11 they are all pretty much assured and comfortable with the ball at their feet in tight spaces. Compare that to us when we treat it like a hot potato and you know it will end up going back to Courtois for the punt upfield straight back to City. It was painful and uncomfortable to watch.

Sorry, but these players, even the ones who have served us well are just not up to it at the very top level and wouldn't get anywhere near City's squad let alone the first 11:

Moses

Alonso

Pedro

Drinkwater

And Fabregas still has a squad role but again, shouldn't be starting in big games like this.

 

2 minutes ago, Nibs said:

We saw yesterday just how good City are with the football and their ability to totally dominate the game. A combination of great players and a great coach with a great philosophy. From 1-11 they are all pretty much assured and comfortable with the ball at their feet in tight spaces. Compare that to us when we treat it like a hot potato and you know it will end up going back to Courtois for the punt upfield straight back to City. It was painful and uncomfortable to watch.

Sorry, but these players, even the ones who have served us well are just not up to it at the very top level and wouldn't get anywhere near City's squad let alone the first 11:

Moses

Alonso

Pedro

Drinkwater

And Fabregas still has a squad role but again, shouldn't be starting in big games like this.

 

 

Add Morata and Giroud, unless they are happy with #2 and #3 spots, which they basically are now we have no #1 striker.

 

 

Seeing them passive in that clip above not on,h brings back the nightmare of being there (thanks for that) but makes me wonder if they were saving their legs for Barca...it just doesn't make sense. This was the same system used to good effect against Barca when they pressed with purpose and intensity...but they didn't show any of that from the first minute...and city are not in a different league to Barca....

Just a theory but are they starting to concentrate on the cl already?  Big gamble if so. 

Obviously the tactics the manager told them to do. Just stand there in 2 lines and let them pass it around. Except when you're losing, you're supposed to change it up and he's too stubborn for that.

13 minutes ago, The Brit said:

Seeing them passive in that clip above not on,h brings back the nightmare of being there (thanks for that) but makes me wonder if they were saving their legs for Barca...it just doesn't make sense. This was the same system used to good effect against Barca when they pressed with purpose and intensity...but they didn't show any of that from the first minute...and city are not in a different league to Barca....

Just a theory but are they starting to concentrate on the cl already?  Big gamble if so. 

It's possible, but a place in the top 4 is more obtainable, than winning the CL, and us supporters can see that, 

2 hours ago, Osgood is Good said:

It's possible, but a place in the top 4 is more obtainable, than winning the CL, and us supporters can see that, 

We can see that, can Conte? Is it a coincidence that only time in recent months that he's looked remotely fired up like last season was the champions league match against Barca? He has a lot to prove in the competition, it's one he's desperate to win as a coach

Edited March 5, 20188 yr by The Brit

 

9 hours ago, enigma said:

you know what i would have liked to have seen? a formation change. something different. hardly anybody gave us a chance anyway, from our own fans to the media and it was a game which was going to be difficult to get anything from anyway. why not switch it up? go with 4 at the back, bring in barkley or chalobah into midfield, go with morata and giroud up top, maybe even giroud with hazard behind. something. you are being paid millions to coach and come up with a tactical plan, yet you're not coming up with anything new or hasn't been done before. where is the tactical nous that conte is known for? where is it?! was it all a load of crap and he got lucky last season? 

I have been asking for this all season. 3 at the back with our wing backs isn't working anymore, it hasn't worked all season. The only times it shows any sign of working is when we play with 2 wingers and a striker. So often this season we have switched to 3-5-2 and a false 9 and more often than not, it's been terrible. I think i have seen about 3 games this season where those formations have worked well.

Our tactics are so predictable too. Courtois -> Azpilicueta / Rudiger -> Moses / Alonso (who are both being heavily marked because we are so slowing and have no confidence when passing out from the back) and then one of those two will either try and hit it long with their back to goal, or they play it inside to Kante or Fabregas who are instantly surrounded by opposition players and end up playing rushed passes, or Kante has to use his quick feet and energy to get past 3 players. 

Our attacks (and they don't come around often) usually require a flick on from Hazard or Willian or Hazard or Willian running past 2 or 3 players into space. That's it, that is our attack, it's pitiful. We are basically relying on moments of magic in every game just to create chances. No club should have to rely on clever one touch flicks and backheel passes to score goals, but we try them in every game because that is all we have.

23 hours ago, Floyd25 said:

Just seen a clip from the game, players walking around, barely moving at all, whilst city pass it around, camera cuts to Fabregas who'd rather stroke his beard than close down Silva, sums it all up, I'm just done with most of these players now, downing tools like two years ago, most can leave as far as I'm concerned.

 

22 hours ago, Blueblur said:

This. No one gives a solitary f**k. That bit with Fabregas had me call him every name under the sun. An embarrassment. He, and a lot of the starting 11 can f**k off now. 

It was pathetic, players have given up when things have gotten tough again. There is no excuse to play like that at any level. My local team would put more effort and heart into that, and they don't even get paid anything. Our footballers are paid very well, the very least they should do is put the effort in.

That what i saw yesterday was something we have all been laughing at Arsenal for for over a decade. It was gutless, spineless and lacked any heart. I don't want Arsenal's sh*t mentality to filter through to Chelsea. There shouldn't be any excuses made for it. If we make it excuses, we turn into Arsenal.

8 hours ago, Zola said:

fabregas may be lazy, but its obvious in that small phase the city guys were just dicking about, and passing it back and forth without any intent, other than maybe to get their passing stats up...

But why let them? Get in their faces a bit. Barcelona used to be exactly the same and we had none of it. What would the players do if City just did that all game? would we stand off them and let them do it? It was pathetic, Terry, Carvalho, Ivanovic, Wise, Essien, Makelele, Ballack, Lampard, Drogba, the two Cole's, none of these players would stand for any of that sh*t.

On 04/03/2018 at 18:47, Chelsbear said:

Yeah we are lower on numbers and quality. It's all about paying off the stadium unfortunately so will be like this for a while id imagine 

If this is how we are doing things now then it's a very risky thing to do. We will want to go into that new stadium in a strong position, not missing out on Champions League every other season. It would suck to see the new stadium built and sacrifice top quality players and Champions League football.

1 hour ago, The Brit said:

We can see that, can Conte? Is it a coincidence that only time in recent months that he's looked remotely fired up like last season was the champions league match against Barca? He has a lot to prove in the competition, it's one he's desperate to win as a coach

Spot on.

As fine a side as City are, pundits who get paid a handsome salary are telling us they are the best ever, give me a break. No disrespect intended, I envy them currently, but teams play in to their hands, they lay out the red bloddy carpet for them. Defending these days - non existent, you have players who can't cross a ball, it's the most overrated league in Europe right now and of coarse City look like the best ever, where's the competition?

18 minutes ago, Floyd25 said:

As fine a side as City are, pundits who get paid a handsome salary are telling us they are the best ever, give me a break. No disrespect intended, I envy them currently, but teams play in to their hands, they lay out the red bloddy carpet for them. Defending these days - non existent, you have players who can't cross a ball, it's the most overrated league in Europe right now and of coarse City look like the best ever, where's the competition?

The Premier League is going soft. Remember that game against Blackburn in Mourinho's first season with us? We had to really work for our win, Blackburn weren't about to just roll over and give us the 3 points. I'm not seeing any team give City a tough game, they all just stand off them. It's amazing that a team like Wigan had to be the team to show how it should be done. Defend with your lives, make life hard for City players when they are on the ball and actually have an attacking plan going forward. Liverpool tried it a different way and that worked too. They just went toe to toe with City and got the win. All of this standing off and waiting for a misplaced pass is a terrible way to approach games against City, they will just pick you off eventually.

Easier said than done.

51 minutes ago, Floyd25 said:

As fine a side as City are, pundits who get paid a handsome salary are telling us they are the best ever, give me a break. No disrespect intended, I envy them currently, but teams play in to their hands, they lay out the red bloddy carpet for them. Defending these days - non existent, you have players who can't cross a ball, it's the most overrated league in Europe right now and of coarse City look like the best ever, where's the competition?

The fact Man Utd are (a distant) second exposes how sh*t the so-called challenge from other big teams has been...I'd argue the pl was strongest around 1998-2010 because there was always at least two really good sides fighting it out at the top...

Man City are very good obviously, but they haven't had to play under any pressure all season - they've never gone into a game where the lead was cut to within a few points and the onus was on them to respond. 

Even we had that last year when sp*rs had a very strong run in second half of the season...City have been able to cruise through most games as teams, sadly including our own, don't even try to beat them

 

And here it is! Our disgusting, lackadaisical, gutless, feckless display against City made it into David Squires's weekly satirical cartoon strip:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2018/mar/06/david-squires-on-vars-at-the-world-cup-and-footballs-brave-new-world 

As soon as I saw Hazard was our false 9 again all hope was lost for me. 
It worked surprisingly well against Barca, but a lot of that was down to them not pressuring us much, as we knew City would.
The tactic comes down to us hoofing long balls op to Hazard who doesn't get a sniff all game. The tactic has been sh*t all season and it will remain sh*t all season.
If Conte wants to redeem himself he needs to find something different to help us finish the season strong. Top 4 is gone for me, but a few nice performances to finish the season off would be nice.

I think its mostly down to him not having much confidence in our 2 strikers, for me i think he needs to be given more control on players brought in