Just now, Brutos said:

Alot of people should give Southampton a little bit more respect with a manager players normally raise their game

I don't think this is about a lack of respect, just that they are the best option for us left in the hat ... would you rather be playing a SF against United or Tottenham ?

Its at Wembley 

My bad. Thanks

It is going to be Wembley for the semi finals for those saying we are going to be playing at home.

Southampton in the semi final. Well, it could have been a lot worse. Our fans deserve a day out at Wembley after the season we have endured. First we must beat Southampton. The other tie looks rather tasty. Hopw we end the season on a high.

2 minutes ago, Valerie said:

Confirmation that the corner flag took its revenge on Pedro 

After Willian using it as a prop to kee the ball in and then getting kicked by Pedro, it decided to stand up against the abuse

It could be Conte v Mourinho in a final.

Just now, dansubrosa said:

It could be Conte v Mourinho in a final.

I think it is written in the stars that we beat Tottenham "away" again in the final :-)

1 minute ago, dansubrosa said:

It could be Conte v Mourinho in a final.

 

OMG !!!!!!

Just scraped through in the end, can't honestly say either side particularly deserved the win over the other, on the balance of play. Long gone are the days when teams had to work really hard to get good chances against us, nowadays all it takes is a long diagonal ball between CB and WB.

Player Ratings

Cabellero - 7.5/10 - Unlucky with the goal, made a few decent saves and was commanding in the box towards the end
Rudiger - 7/10 - The best of the CBs today I thought
CHristensen - 6/10 - Decent, but still got lots of work to do
Azpilicueta - 5.5/10 - Poor game from dave today, gave the ball away quite a lot. Made a good block in the lead up to their goal.
Alonso - 6/10 - Nothing particularly great, but fairly dependable performance. Struggled when faced with the pace and trickery of Mahrez.
Kante - 9.5/10 - Wasn't even out of breath at the end. If anyone in football is doping, it's got to be this guy. He's just everywhere all game.
Bakayoko - By his standards - 7/10. By the standards of any other professional footballer - 4/10.
Moses - 6.5/10 - Got forward quite a lot, but as usual most of his crosses were poor. Did reasonably well defensively.
Hazard - 5/10 - A few flicks and dribbles, but nothing of any merit.
Morata - 6.5/10 - Finally scores a 1-on-1, which will hopefully help his confidence. Still poor hold-up play though, loses the ball a lot.
Willian - 6.5/10 - Some good runs and a good ball through for the first goal, but other than that he was quiet and lost the ball quite a lot, just throwing his arms in the air instead of trying to get it back

Subs:

Fabregas - 6/10 - Did all right, nothing special
Pedro - 6.5/10 - Good goal to win it
Cahill - N/A
Giroud - N/A

Just now, dansubrosa said:

It could be Conte v Mourinho in a final.

Or with Hughes last match being knocked out of the FA Cup with Stoke and then his next match winning through to the Semi final with Saints it may be the case that his name is on the cup.

1 minute ago, dansubrosa said:

It could be Conte v Mourinho in a final.

If we get through, I'd rather play Man Utd than Spurs. After their little spat, it looks odds on Jose and Antonio in the final.

3 minutes ago, dansubrosa said:

It could be Conte v Mourinho in a final.

The FA cup final is just an undercard for the ensuing boxing match

Might I suggest whatever wages we are paying Kante, that we double it.

5 minutes ago, Zeta said:

Just scraped through in the end, can't honestly say either side particularly deserved the win over the other, on the balance of play. Long gone are the days when teams had to work really hard to get good chances against us, nowadays all it takes is a long diagonal ball between CB and WB.

Player Ratings

Cabellero - 7.5/10 - Unlucky with the goal, made a few decent saves and was commanding in the box towards the end
Rudiger - 7/10 - The best of the CBs today I thought
CHristensen - 6/10 - Decent, but still got lots of work to do
Azpilicueta - 5.5/10 - Poor game from dave today, gave the ball away quite a lot. Made a good block in the lead up to their goal.
Alonso - 6/10 - Nothing particularly great, but fairly dependable performance. Struggled when faced with the pace and trickery of Mahrez.
Kante - 9.5/10 - Wasn't even out of breath at the end. If anyone in football is doping, it's got to be this guy. He's just everywhere all game.
Bakayoko - By his standards - 7/10. By the standards of any other professional footballer - 4/10.
Moses - 6.5/10 - Got forward quite a lot, but as usual most of his crosses were poor. Did reasonably well defensively.
Hazard - 5/10 - A few flicks and dribbles, but nothing of any merit.
Morata - 6.5/10 - Finally scores a 1-on-1, which will hopefully help his confidence. Still poor hold-up play though, loses the ball a lot.
Willian - 6.5/10 - Some good runs and a good ball through for the first goal, but other than that he was quiet and lost the ball quite a lot, just throwing his arms in the air instead of trying to get it back

Subs:

Fabregas - 6/10 - Did all right, nothing special
Pedro - 6.5/10 - Good goal to win it
Cahill - N/A
Giroud - N/A

4 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

Or with Hughes last match being knocked out of the FA Cup with Stoke and then his next match winning through to the Semi final with Saints it may be the case that his name is on the cup.

 I forgot Hughes was now at the Saints. 10 men behind the ball I reckon if I know Hughes.

We got there, didn’t see that goal coming, but we found a way. Average performance, but Kante was incredible, all credit to him. 

We nicked a fairly even game.

Thought Cabellero was excellent in goal and should be first choice going forward...

Really calm and assured.

Caballero commanded the box. Forget Courtois because hopefully he's on his way out of Chelsea FC.

We looked very tired. Conditions looked awful though. Congrats to the 5000 in the away end for braving that.

We needed a win and got it. Thank god for Kante. He really does need a proper partner next season. 

Great result, great draw

 

Happy days

The chaps did well.

Impressed with Caballero, Christensen, Rudiger, Willian and Kante.

Fab did ok and Morata took his goal well, Pedro full of running as a sub and good to see him get the winner. 

It got stretched at the end and feel we had some luck in avoiding penalties.

This was always going to be a difficult match after the exertions and disappoinment of Wednesday. Energy conservation being key against a side who are known for pace up top. To a large extent we managed the game without being spectacular, nullified Vardy being able to stretch the defence, sadly not to the chance in the box. Overall our big game experience came into play and was the difference between the teams. Our own performance as an attacking outlet left much to be desired, often making the wrong choices at key moments and inexplicably slowing things down to a walk to go backwards when in good positions...Eden I'm looking at you! Not sure what has happened to him but his recent performances have been far from the world class we have come to expect. Mind already in Russia perhaps and the Bernabau next season. I said on Wednesday we would play much worse and win and today proved the point. A good draw now and a day out at Wembley with hopefully another at the end of the season. Question is do we want to piss the Spuds off again or Mourinho in the final?

What a wonderful cup tie. Had it all, no team on top , end to end, ET and the decisive winner by Pedro

Team & us lot needed that and the semi draw is the other result of the day. 

Carefree !!

Kante was superb, as he has been of late. Hazard has lost a bit of form but that's okay, it happens. Luckily Willian is bang on form.

 

Morata was sh*t, despite his goal. I mean he wasn't as sh*t as he usually is but he's never a top striker. Still, at least he didn't get booked and he was less petulant than normal, maybe the penny has finally dropped, albeit way later than it should have done.

 

The problem is we're not that good. We can't hold a lead, and if we ever go behind, we certainly can't claw it back. Christensen isn't rugged enough for me, he's just not solid enough, not yet anyway. Once again our WBs had lots of time and space going forward but they're just not top quality, so we seldom capitalise, although I thought both did well, defensively. 

 

The real problem however is midfield. Bakayoko is just not a footballer, and if he is, he's permanently stoned. We're basically playing with 10 men when he plays, which we got away with first half because Kante reigned supreme. Second half, Fabregas, better footballer but a luxury. We do not have the players to play a 2 in midfield, and if we play a 3 to accommodate Fabregas, we have to sacrifice Willian or Hazard for Bakayoko or Drinkwater. It's a conundrum Conte hasn't really solved. We are too weak in the middle of the park, and a weak midfield makes you a weak side. We can't dominate sides, we're easily dominated by piss poor sides for long periods of a game, it's a problem.

 

Anyway we've avoided Spurs and Utd so that's good. Mind you the thought of losing to either in the final is too much to bear. We simply have to win that one. Mind you we have to beat Southampton first, and the way we're playing, that's far from a formality. Anyway well done Chelsea.

 

Message to you Antonio. Bakayoko. No more. There's a good boy.

Player Ratings

Cabellero - 6/10 - Did reasonably well. Spills most shots at him and aerially challenged, but he makes up with it with a decent starting position and cojones. When he goes he goes all in.
Rudiger - 4/10 - I really like Rudi. Miles off for me today. Allways looked nervous and uncomfortable in posession. Couldn't handle a pressing opposition
CHristensen - 4/10 - Similarly, i like AC, especially as he is homegrown. But his confidence is low and his form is poor. Ditto re care of the ball and trouble when being pressed.
Azpilicueta - 4/10 - Poor from Dave as well. Decision making poor when passing. Looked tired to me.
Alonso - 5/10 - Okay going forwards although constantly hit the first man with his crosses. Defensively poor and couldn't beat Cacasrino in a foot race.
Kante - 9/10 - Where would we be without this lad. Kante is the most valuable person in the club next to RA. Everybody else can do one.
Bakayoko - 3/10 - Hahaha. Looks like an audition for Space Jam whenever he is on the pitch. What a shockingly poor player. I was miles off with this fella.
Moses - 4/10 - I don't like him, i don't rate him. The way we play means his position is one of the most dangerous on the pitch as he is always the overload. He provides fck all. Agree that he did reasonably well defensively towards the end, however Albrighton had free rein for over an hour.
Hazard - 5/10 - A few flicks and dribbles, easily read and cut out. Got pocketed by various defenders. Disinterested performance and looked gutted about blowing his midweek job interview.  Possibly knackered.
Morata - 6/10 - For Morata this was a bit of an improvement. He did score and put himself about a little bit more. Got some decisions without have to wet himself and cry all the time.
Willian - 6/10 - Tried hard for a while but tired quickly. Needs a breather.

Subs:

Fabregas - 5/10 - Bland. Often decision making is poor, always looking for a further pass rather than shooting himself, although he does have the shot of a twelve year old.     Pedro - 7/10 - Good goal and did nothing wrong to be fair. Got dumped into a pile of sh!te and was able to climb out with some credit.
Cahill - Thankfully didn't have enough time to fck it up.
Giroud - He played for 15 mnutes and wore tights