Job done. Well done boys.

7 hours ago, Munkworth said:

Cahill tackling thin air before their goal sums up his fall from grace for me. Needs an upgrade next season. 

He's not the only one. Too many slow players that are incapable of releasing the ball quick enough. If you want to pass the ball from the back, you need the type of player to implement that.

6 hours ago, Strider6003 said:

Watching MOTD and saw Hazard scored yet was ruled out for off-side.

Looked to me they got it wrong,

Hazard was off-side when the shot was initially taken yet when it rebounded from the keeper he was no longer off-side and then slotted it home. Surely the keepers touch meant hazard was on-side?

 

 

Nope, it’s when the shot is originally hit, so he was offside by a good few yards! 

Giroud should be our main striker going forward, Morata needs to go at the end of the season as he's not the kind of striker that works for us. How the guy hasn't realised yet that being a wet blanket doesn't work in the Premier League. Giroud was unlucky not to score but at least he looks competent up top.

Happy with the 3 points against a team that seems to cause us problems, hopefully Bournemouth can take points off the Spuds.

Edited March 11, 20188 yr by Malcolm9

Thought I'd wait until this morning to post my thoughts as I was a bit pissed off after the match. In the first half Palace set up with a 442, which played into our hands, giving us more space in the middle and our wing-backs were able to push up the pitch. Hence Zappacosta having a great first half which also meant that a little focus was taken off Willian, giving him that little bit more freedom to express himself.

In the second half Roy realized his mistake and pushed his team further up the pitch, instructing his players to press us in our half rather than theirs, which as we all know is how our defense crumbles! Why Conte still persists with playing out from the back I'll never know, but we are sh*t at it! And again, he refuses to change tactics to counter teams and still persists with the late subs. The guy just doesn't want to be here!

 

Edited March 11, 20188 yr by Old Shaggy

9 hours ago, Famous CFC said:

Giroud such an underrated performer. Willian such a good technical player, great feet. Hazard very underwhelming. The guy needs to make his mind up. Sulking too much lately. 

 

I think it's only you and me noticing this, which I find very ironic. 

58 minutes ago, Slojo said:

I think it's only you and me noticing this, which I find very ironic. 

Nope, I also agree that Hazard doesn't provide no-where near enough for his stature.

2 hours ago, Old Shaggy said:

Thought I'd wait until this morning to post my thoughts as I was a bit pissed off after the match. In the first half Palace set up with a 442, which played into our hands, giving us more space in the middle and our wing-backs were able to push up the pitch. Hence Zappacosta having a great first half which also meant that a little focus was taken off Willian, giving him that little bit more freedom to express himself.

In the second half Roy realized his mistake and pushed his team further up the pitch, instructing his players to press us in our half rather than theirs, which as we all know is how our defense crumbles! Why Conte still persists with playing out from the back I'll never know, but we are sh*t at it! And again, he refuses to change tactics to counter teams and still persists with the late subs. The guy just doesn't want to be here!

 

Top post. 

A lot of problems on this side still, this is a really bad Palace side and we could only just about scrape a soppy 2-1 victory. Forget the chances we made, Palace could've scored about 3-4 as well due to our mistakes and their pressing alone. 

The philosophy of playing out the back isn't whats problematic, it's that we haven't got good enough players to do it. Pep's team does it and it's why they're unplayable, you just can't get the ball off them. Rudiger, Luiz & Azpilucueta are our only capable defenders of playing it out from the back, but with the David Luiz situation, it has caused us a lot of problems this season. Many people will disagree, they think Christensen has not only filled the void but he's upgraded, that's not necessarily true. I highly rate Christensen, he's actually our best defender when it comes to actual defending, but as a footballer, he's very limited, it's like another Kurt Zouma situation before his injury. And the distribution from the back compared to last season is what's really punished us, people won't see it because we've created a lot of chances but we just don't have that solid build-up play like we did last season. 

Gary Cahill gets much worse every season, Luiz has an attitude problem and has been riddled with injuries, so we are left with Christensen, although that's not really bad thing it is when we are playing in this system. People are only realising it now because the mistakes have caught up with us, but his distribution was never top tier, this system will not work right now, we just don't have the players for it because our spine is f**ked.

Bad

Good-Bad-Good

Good-Good-Bad-Good

Good-Bad-Good

For me the problem lies right there, not saying our wingbacks are world class or Willian is consistent, but they're minor problems and probably not even problems at all. The main issues are and I will probably get a lot of slack for saying this is Courtois in goal, this system definitely does not suit him. Not going to go into his shot stopping, but his distribution is piss poor, our middle centre-back can't play it out from the back when we had that creativity from the centre last season. We have nobody to play next to Kante, and Morata has gone missing for our key striker.

SO yes that's basically our spine that is f**ked, the most key part of a system. 

Hazard was bang in form before he moved to the striker position where he has lost momentum. Despite a quietish game yesterday, he set up the 2nd, and laid on a sitter for giroud, who should've buried it. 

5 minutes ago, big blue said:

Hazard was bang in form before he moved to the striker position where he has lost momentum. Despite a quietish game yesterday, he set up the 2nd, and laid on a sitter for giroud, who should've buried it. 

Hazard was just Hazard, he's an amazing player, our best player. 

But there are just too many times when he doesn't do it when it matters, he should have netted at least 1 today and that's me being generous. 

Although yes, at the same time I am being harsh but I think I'm allowed to be at the moment. I want Hazard to improve, I know players like Ronaldo, Messi, Suarez & Neymar have set ridiculous standards, but these are the standards now. Sanchez is lethal at scoring, Sterling is lethal at scoring, Salah is lethal at scoring, we need to see more of this from Hazard, he has all the ability there to score over 10 goals in the league a season excluding penalties. I think if he started shooting more and scoring goals he would gain a lot more confidence and take his game to another level. 

Edited March 11, 20188 yr by Slojo

2 minutes ago, Slojo said:

Hazard was just Hazard, he's an amazing player, our best player. 

But there are just too many times when he doesn't do it when it matters, he should have netted at least 1 today and that's me being generous. 

Although yes, at the same time I am being harsh but I think I'm allowed to be at the moment. I want Hazard to improve, I know players like Ronaldo, Messi, Suarez & Neymar have set ridiculous standards, but these are the standards now. Sanchez is lethal at scoring, Sterling is lethal at scoring, Salah is lethal at scoring, we need to see more of this from Hazard, he has all the ability there to score over 10 goals in the league a season excluding penalties. I think if he started shooting more and scoring goals he would gain a lot more confidence and take his game to another level. 

Hazard is 27, can't see him really improving his goal scoring output too much, he is just a very unselfish player. 

He is a creator, so as long as he is making chances, which he did yesterday, then for me, I'm just happy to see him express himself. 

Don't really care what Salah, Sanchez or sterling do, neither are fit enough to lace hazards boots.  

 

32 minutes ago, Slojo said:

Top post. 

A lot of problems on this side still, this is a really bad Palace side and we could only just about scrape a soppy 2-1 victory. Forget the chances we made, Palace could've scored about 3-4 as well due to our mistakes and their pressing alone. 

The philosophy of playing out the back isn't whats problematic, it's that we haven't got good enough players to do it. Pep's team does it and it's why they're unplayable, you just can't get the ball off them. Rudiger, Luiz & Azpilucueta are our only capable defenders of playing it out from the back, but with the David Luiz situation, it has caused us a lot of problems this season. Many people will disagree, they think Christensen has not only filled the void but he's upgraded, that's not necessarily true. I highly rate Christensen, he's actually our best defender when it comes to actual defending, but as a footballer, he's very limited, it's like another Kurt Zouma situation before his injury. And the distribution from the back compared to last season is what's really punished us, people won't see it because we've created a lot of chances but we just don't have that solid build-up play like we did last season. 

Gary Cahill gets much worse every season, Luiz has an attitude problem and has been riddled with injuries, so we are left with Christensen, although that's not really bad thing it is when we are playing in this system. People are only realising it now because the mistakes have caught up with us, but his distribution was never top tier, this system will not work right now, we just don't have the players for it because our spine is f**ked.

Bad

Good-Bad-Good

Good-Good-Bad-Good

Good-Bad-Good

For me the problem lies right there, not saying our wingbacks are world class or Willian is consistent, but they're minor problems and probably not even problems at all. The main issues are and I will probably get a lot of slack for saying this is Courtois in goal, this system definitely does not suit him. Not going to go into his shot stopping, but his distribution is piss poor, our middle centre-back can't play it out from the back when we had that creativity from the centre last season. We have nobody to play next to Kante, and Morata has gone missing for our key striker.

SO yes that's basically our spine that is f**ked, the most key part of a system. 

Tend to agree with a lot of that, although I think that the coaching and tactics do not help the situation either. We are set up very rigid. There needs to be better movement from the midfield and attackers, either switching positions or dropping deep, so we can have at least 1 easy pass on all the time. We tend to pass it until there is nothing on, and just lump it forward anyway. 

Courtois isn't ideal, but I don't think it's his passing ability that is the issue, it looks like he has very simple instructions, play it short when possible, or play it wide to moses or alonso to try win the header. I think he does this okay. 

I think christiensen before this rin of poor games, has been fine playing out from the back, he has rarely given the ball away. He doesn't necessarily have that Hollywood ball in his locker, and I think he could fizz a few more direct passes, but at the same time if the movement was better, he wouldn't have to. 

Going forward, I think we would be better served playing more long balls to giroud and trying to win the ball further up the field.

If we get a new manager in the summer, that.ptefers a more flexible approach, I think we will see a big improvement in that area, especially if we manage to sort out the biggest problem in the team, which for me is kante's partner. 

3 hours ago, Slojo said:

I think it's only you and me noticing this, which I find very ironic. 

I also count myself as one of the few (?) that wouldn't be bothered if we sold him.  For all his amazing dribbling ball control skills his end product often disappoints.  As an oft touted contender for the one who could replace Messi/Ronaldo as the clock winds their abilities down, he doesn't cut the mustard for me.

His PL record for us on the goal scoring front is a fraction over 11 goals (& 6 assists) per season which is hardly outstanding.  But worse than that is his ability to disappear for long periods of time within some games.  Very frustrating.  Even in the game against Palace yesterday there were periods when he was drifting about at walking pace esp' second half.

I don't see him as instrumental to a successful future for our club.  If another club wants to throw silly money our way then let them.

Edited March 11, 20188 yr by Bloo

Thing with Hazard is, he believes his a lot better than he actually is. Stop your f**king moaning and get on with the game. Take a leaf out of Willian's book, performance wise and attuide wise. 

I'm kind of ambivalent on Hazard going, he has been our best performer. Sure he has a few games where he has not been so productive and he does not track back much.

The question is though he is the only real exciting player we currently have,  so if we do sell him the question becomes who do we bring in that will adequately replace him?

Re Willian, he blows hot and cold, he was snuffed out against Utd. When he is hot like now very good when is not.............

 

Edited March 11, 20188 yr by Strider6003

1 hour ago, Bloo said:

I also count myself as one of the few (?) that wouldn't be bothered if we sold him.  For all his amazing dribbling ball control skills his end product often disappoints.  As an oft touted contender for the one who could replace Messi/Ronaldo as the clock winds their abilities down, he doesn't cut the mustard for me.

His PL record for us on the goal scoring front is a fraction over 11 goals (& 6 assists) per season which is hardly outstanding.  But worse than that is his ability to disappear for long periods of time within some games.  Very frustrating.  Even in the game against Palace yesterday there were periods when he was drifting about at walking pace esp' second half.

I don't see him as instrumental to a successful future for our club.  If another club wants to throw silly money our way then let them.

I can't agree with that I'm afraid, selling Hazard is just out of the question.

For me he's the best player to ever wear the Chelsea shirt in terms of talent, he's a very good consistent player I just think he has the ability to do more and he chooses not to, that's my only criticism. I think he could get better but to get better he needs to score more goals to break that deadlock, otherwise, I think he'll always be a support player.

1 hour ago, big blue said:

Tend to agree with a lot of that, although I think that the coaching and tactics do not help the situation either. We are set up very rigid. There needs to be better movement from the midfield and attackers, either switching positions or dropping deep, so we can have at least 1 easy pass on all the time. We tend to pass it until there is nothing on, and just lump it forward anyway. 

Courtois isn't ideal, but I don't think it's his passing ability that is the issue, it looks like he has very simple instructions, play it short when possible, or play it wide to moses or alonso to try win the header. I think he does this okay. 

I think christiensen before this rin of poor games, has been fine playing out from the back, he has rarely given the ball away. He doesn't necessarily have that Hollywood ball in his locker, and I think he could fizz a few more direct passes, but at the same time if the movement was better, he wouldn't have to. 

Going forward, I think we would be better served playing more long balls to giroud and trying to win the ball further up the field.

If we get a new manager in the summer, that.ptefers a more flexible approach, I think we will see a big improvement in that area, especially if we manage to sort out the biggest problem in the team, which for me is kante's partner. 

He played a lot of simple balls, he doesn't pass the ball forward very often. His pass completion looks impressive but if you watched him play it's a different story, he's limited. Once he gets pressed hard you see him struggling with the ball. Rudiger was nervous when he first came but you could see he had that natural ability with the ball and still wouldn't give it away and could play the ball forward. Now Rudiger looks much better and his bursting runs forward are brilliant, he needs to start every game, why Cahill even gets a whiff of game time I'll never know, he should be a last resort. 

It's not just Courtois's passing, I think I said distribution? So I'm applying to what you put in the sweeper-keeper role, what you get with Lloris & Ederson. Courtois is terrible at coming out for the ball, and his goal kicks are average at best. So he doesn't really inspire any confidence from the back like Ederson at City does. When the ball comes back to Courtois you know it's a 50/50 that he's giving the ball away because he'll most likely just hoof it forward. 

In this current system, it does not play to his strengths at all I feel. So for me, I still think we lack a lot of important players in this system. 

4 hours ago, Slojo said:

I think it's only you and me noticing this, which I find very ironic. 

He's too inconsistent, yes he'll have a great season, then he'll be in and out with his performances. He'll never get to the level of where Messi is, or even CR7, Neymar and a few others who you could argue about. 

His attuide at the minute is sh*t. I really don't know who the f**k he thinks he is. Frustrated? Yes. Annoyed? Yes. Thinking the world evolves around him and acting like the G.O.A.T when he's know where near that level? Yes. Maybe he and Courtois are cut from the same cloth. 

Edited March 11, 20188 yr by Famous CFC

2 hours ago, Famous CFC said:

He's too inconsistent, yes he'll have a great season, then he'll be in and out with his performances. He'll never get to the level of where Messi is, or even CR7, Neymar and a few others who you could argue about. 

His attuide at the minute is sh*t. I really don't know who the f**k he thinks he is. Frustrated? Yes. Annoyed? Yes. Thinking the world evolves around him and acting like the G.O.A.T when he's know where near that level? Yes. Maybe he and Courtois are cut from the same cloth. 

I am not seeing this side to Hazard at all. I thought he had a good game yesterday, especially in the first half and i don't think he is sulking or inconsistent either. If anything, he has easily been our most consistent player this season. If it wasn't for him, we would be having another season finishing 10th.

It's nonsense to say a players attitude is poor when that player has saved us more than a handful of times this season. If his attitude is poor, then what about the rest of the team? I don't see how you can criticise Hazard's attitude when most of the team have been playing like zombies for most of the season.

He's also a better player than Neymar. Neymar has only played in attacking teams, of course he is going to score more goals. If Hazard was playing for PSG, Barcelona or Real Madrid, i wouldn't be surprised if he scored 30 goals or more a season. If you want to see a player with a poor attitude, then Neymar is the player you should be looking at. Now there is a player that thinks everything revolves around him. If Neymar played for us, he wouldn't be anywhere as effective as Hazard. One tough tackle on him and he would be go quiet for the rest of the game. If we were playing a defensive game, he would offer us nothing. I guarantee that it Neymar player for us, he wouldn't get 20 goals.

 

Hazard had no pre-season, missed the start of the season because he was recovering from a broken ankle, has been moved out of his favoured position for half of the season, has been expected to win us games often playing in a team with only 2 attacking players, and he is still by far our most consistent and dangerous player this season. If there is one player that doesn't deserve any criticism this season, it is Eden Hazard.

2 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

I am not seeing this side to Hazard at all. I thought he had a good game yesterday, especially in the first half and i don't think he is sulking or inconsistent either. If anything, he has easily been our most consistent player this season. If it wasn't for him, we would be having another season finishing 10th.

It's nonsense to say a players attitude is poor when that player has saved us more than a handful of times this season. If his attitude is poor, then what about the rest of the team? I don't see how you can criticise Hazard's attitude when most of the team have been playing like zombies for most of the season.

He's also a better player than Neymar. Neymar has only played in attacking teams, of course he is going to score more goals. If Hazard was playing for PSG, Barcelona or Real Madrid, i wouldn't be surprised if he scored 30 goals or more a season. If you want to see a player with a poor attitude, then Neymar is the player you should be looking at. Now there is a player that thinks everything revolves around him. If Neymar played for us, he wouldn't be anywhere as effective as Hazard. One tough tackle on him and he would be go quiet for the rest of the game. If we were playing a defensive game, he would offer us nothing. I guarantee that it Neymar player for us, he wouldn't get 20 goals.

 

Hazard had no pre-season, missed the start of the season because he was recovering from a broken ankle, has been moved out of his favoured position for half of the season, has been expected to win us games often playing in a team with only 2 attacking players, and he is still by far our most consistent and dangerous player this season. If there is one player that doesn't deserve any criticism this season, it is Eden Hazard.

He isn't a better player than Neymar. Neymar is more consistent than Hazard. 27 years old and he hasn't moved onto the next level, the elite level. His attuide last few games hasn't been good enough, it's the attuide of a player that doesn't want to be here and is throwing his toys out of the pram so to speak. Our best player this season? I'd disagree with that. If he gets our player of the year it wouldn't be deserved. Each to their own. Some people are homers no matter what. 

Just now, Famous CFC said:

He isn't a better player than Neymar. Neymar is more consistent than Hazard. 27 years old and he hasn't moved onto the next level, the elite level. His attuide last few games hasn't been good enough, it's the attuide of a player that doesn't want to be here and is throwing his toys out of the pram so to speak. Our best player this season? I'd disagree with that. If he gets our player of the year it wouldn't be deserved. Each to their own. Some people are homers no matter what. 

What makes Neymar better than Hazard? Neymar disappeared when it mattered most for PSG and he wasn't anything special at Barcelona last season. Neymar did nothing against Real Madrid, he was anonymous, they made him look average. Put Neymar in our team in the Premier League and he would sh*t himself and sulk his a way through games because we are so defensive.

How is Hazard throwing his toys out of the pram exactly? it just seems to me that you are seeing things that aren't there. Also, if Hazard isn't player of the season for us then who else would you choose? Nobody else has been anywhere near as consistent as he has. 

9 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

What makes Neymar better than Hazard? Neymar disappeared when it mattered most for PSG and he wasn't anything special at Barcelona last season. Neymar did nothing against Real Madrid, he was anonymous, they made him look average. Put Neymar in our team in the Premier League and he would sh*t himself and sulk his a way through games because we are so defensive.

How is Hazard throwing his toys out of the pram exactly? it just seems to me that you are seeing things that aren't there. Also, if Hazard isn't player of the season for us then who else would you choose? Nobody else has been anywhere near as consistent as he has. 

I think you hit the nail on the head! I'm seeing things you clearly ain't seeing. I'm not the only one who isn't thrilled with his current form. Take your homer glasses off. I wouldn't pick Hazard as player of the year. Azpilicueta, Christensen and Alonso would be my top 3. I think Willian is making a late push for it. 

Edited March 11, 20188 yr by Famous CFC

14 minutes ago, Famous CFC said:

I think you hit the nail on the head! I'm seeing things you clearly ain't seeing. I'm not the only one who isn't thrilled with his current form. Take your homer glasses off. I wouldn't pick Hazard as player of the year. Azpilicueta, Christensen and Alonso would be my top 3. I think Willian is making a late push for it. 

No defender deserves player of the season this season, none of them have been solid enough. The amount of times they have all given the ball away in dangerous areas in every game proves that. None of them are coping well when closed down either. At the start of the season, everyone was noticing how much the defenders were struggling to get the ball clear. Roma ripped us apart in both games in the Champions League, since then, every team has been closing us down high up the pitch and every one of our defenders isn't coping well. Even average Premier League teams are making it hard for them. 

Azpilicueta (as brilliant as he is) has probably had his most inconsistent season as a defender this season, he's still been very good but it's been his weakest season since he joined the club. Christensen has had a good season, but it's not been brilliant. I would say he has been mostly solid. Alonso is nowhere near player of the season. He has struggled defensively, especially in the first 3 months of the season. The guy was easily getting beaten by wingers in every game and has struggled to get forward and support Hazard in attack. He's been nowhere near as good defensively or as good offensively as he was last season. 

Edited March 11, 20188 yr by Scott Harris

39 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

No defender deserves player of the season this season, none of them have been solid enough. The amount of times they have all given the ball away in dangerous areas in every game proves that. None of them are coping well when closed down either. At the start of the season, everyone was noticing how much the defenders were struggling to get the ball clear. Roma ripped us apart in both games in the Champions League, since then, every team has been closing us down high up the pitch and every one of our defenders isn't coping well. Even average Premier League teams are making it hard for them. 

Azpilicueta (as brilliant as he is) has probably had his most inconsistent season as a defender this season, he's still been very good but it's been his weakest season since he joined the club. Christensen has had a good season, but it's not been brilliant. I would say he has been mostly solid. Alonso is nowhere near player of the season. He has struggled defensively, especially in the first 3 months of the season. The guy was easily getting beaten by wingers in every game and has struggled to get forward and support Hazard in attack. He's been nowhere near as good defensively or as good offensively as he was last season. 

Well if no defender deserves it as you say, nor does any attackers. They couldn't hit a barn door at one point this season. Obviously the players who have started have been inconsistent, the team is placed 5th having played inconsistent football all year. The player of the year award won't be won by someone who's had a great season, because nobody has had one. I don't think of this teams player of the year been Hazard. Alonso's goal from Wingback should be enough on its own to have him in the reckoning. It will be very interesting to see who wins it. As of now there is no standout. 

Edited March 11, 20188 yr by Famous CFC

Not that I want to encourage the scumbags but you could always get one off a tout. If you can lower yourself that low of course. 

Got lucky and a season ticket holder whose son couldn't make the match helped me out. Great to be a Chelsea fan and great to be at a live match.