Not the best performance. Few of the squad players really did anything to give Sarri anything to think about.

Cabellero was..meh.

Emerson - Good going forwards, but defensively still suspect. Hasn't had a whole lot of chances at Chelsea, but when he does, he never stands out

Christensen - Nothing remarkably bad, but he really struggles with the ball and plays it safe sideways/backwards nearly every time. The difference between him and Luiz when he came on, was stark. 

Cahill - Poor. Very slow on the ball, needs a few seconds to decide what to do. They got in behind him quite a few times. His time is up now I think.

Zappacosta - Good going forwards, put in some good crosses. Like Emerson, suspect defensively.

Fabregas - Slow

Kante - Ineffective in that position. DId a lot of running around, but it was often chasing shadows. The one time he got back and put in a great tackle, Cahill immediately gifted them the ball right back.

Kovacic - Tidy

Willian - Pretty good on the left, but he's not going to get that position unless Hazard leaves

Morata - Mostly invisible, though played a few good passes

Loftus-Cheek - Very good first half, faded second half.

Just now, WhiteWall said:

A valid point. However the question should be asked of second string players who are pushing for a first team place, should you really be taking your foot off the gas and playing in first gear. Personally if i was trying to push myself on i would have been running around like a jack russell all game.

Depends how they were instructed to play. It looks like it was a tactical move to slow things down in the second half and the players followed orders. I don't think we were awful today. It was mainly two players who were causing our problems, Cahill and Christensen.

Derby deserve credit for putting us under pressure at the back. They will have put serious questions in Sarri's mind about some of our players. Frank deserves credit for his side.

Tomori did well after his howler. 

Derby worked their asses off and pressed us very well all match. Not many teams, if any have done that against us so credit to Lamps tactics. It was an off day for us. You can't play well all the time, and credit should go to the opposition once in a while rather than just how lacklustre we were. At the end of the day this isn't Sarri's team and the second string are still learning Sarri's style. There's definitely two or three players in our side who just aren't suited to Sarriball though. Sarri needs another two transfer windows to bring in players who can make a stronger B side. 

Edited October 31, 20187 yr by enigma

Glad we won tonight, but thought Derby were particularly good, and with better composure in front of goal both ends that could've been 5-5.

Our second string defence performed like one, and I don't think any of the 4 will elbow their way up the pecking order on that evidence.

Thought the midfield was good under the high press, but we did miss the more direct threat Hazard, Pedro and recently Barkley show. And Morata still hesitating in and around the box, which is incredibly frustrating given his positioning (and midfield service) was really good tonight.

More food for thought than positives I reckon, but happy with another win.

Come onnnnn lets get Burton please! [emoji51]

good draw if we take it seriously.  

Oooh Arsenal V Spurs. Tasty!

We're at home to Bouremouth

Chelsea v Bournemouth

Boring draw for us. Was hoping for an away trip up to Boro for some weird reason

L'Arse vs Spuds. That looks like a cracker. One less Premiership team to contend with........two if we knock out Bournemouth.

3 minutes ago, charierre said:

Chelsea v Bournemouth

Well let's hope we don't play like we did tonight and with the same players or we will definitely loose against a strong Bournemouth side

Just now, CFCCAN said:

Well let's hope we don't play like we did tonight and with the same players or we will definitely loose against a strong Bournemouth side

I hope Sarri doesn't make the same mistake as tonight.

 

 

I think it's clear now that when Ampadu is back to fitness he should be starting ahead of Cahill. I'm happy with Ruben's performance tonight though.

Edited October 31, 20187 yr by DidierDidier

1 hour ago, Zeta said:

Not the best performance. Few of the squad players really did anything to give Sarri anything to think about.

Cabellero was..meh.

Emerson - Good going forwards, but defensively still suspect. Hasn't had a whole lot of chances at Chelsea, but when he does, he never stands out

Christensen - Nothing remarkably bad, but he really struggles with the ball and plays it safe sideways/backwards nearly every time. The difference between him and Luiz when he came on, was stark. 

Cahill - Poor. Very slow on the ball, needs a few seconds to decide what to do. They got in behind him quite a few times. His time is up now I think.

Zappacosta - Good going forwards, put in some good crosses. Like Emerson, suspect defensively.

Fabregas - Slow

Kante - Ineffective in that position. DId a lot of running around, but it was often chasing shadows. The one time he got back and put in a great tackle, Cahill immediately gifted them the ball right back.

Kovacic - Tidy

Willian - Pretty good on the left, but he's not going to get that position unless Hazard leaves

Morata - Mostly invisible, though played a few good passes

Loftus-Cheek - Very good first half, faded second half.

Good summary.We got away with that one and got a home draw.Onwards and upwards !

Caballero Dodgy

Zappacosta I don't really know what to make of him. He's decent. Nothing more nothing less.

Emerson I was hoping for more from him.

Christensen I don't see it.

Cahill Poor. Delusions of grandeur.

Fabregas Huddlestone looked the far more accomplished deep-lying playmaker.

Kante He doesn't fit the role.

Kovacic Technically gifted. Good on the ball. Keeps it all ticking over nicely. What does he do ? I'm f**ked if I know.

Morata He didn't fall over and he didn't give the ball away. I have nothing else positive to say.

Willian Thought he was excellent.

Loftus-Cheek Probably our only other player to catch the eye. Less casual than he used to be. Thought he was okay.

 

Luiz If Christensen wants to play more he better pull his finger out. Or join Spurs.

Pedro We should have signed Mahrez. We had ample time. It was so f**king obvious.

Azpilicueta He won't be sweating over his place just yet.

 

Lampard Legend.

40 minutes ago, Zeta said:

Loftus?-Cheek - Very good first half, faded second half.?

Disagree, easily our best player second half. 

Cant remember the last good game Christensen played. I hope Ampadu now starts over Cahill, Loftus Cheek our best player but still not sure about him playing out wide. We need to strengthen the wide positions.

1 minute ago, jack_super_class said:

Cant remember the last good game Christensen played. I hope Ampadu now starts over Cahill, Loftus Cheek our best player but still not sure about him playing out wide. We need to strengthen the wide positions.

People keep saying that they can't work out Loftus-Cheek's best position, but from my point of view, it's pretty obvious. It's not the wing or a right sided midfielder, he's better bursting from the center of midfield. He can play in Kante's position or as an attacking midfielder. That is the player I see every time he plays.

Agreed, i love his bursting runs from midfield so hard to stop him with his phsyique. i still not sure Sarri trust him enough in defence though to play him there in the league just yet.

Are there no highlight shows for the league cup anymore? 

3 hours ago, Davey Baby said:

Overall an incredibly poor performance.

 

Caballero Awful

Zappacosta Awful

Emerson Awful

Christensen Didn't participate in any way as a centre back - he existed merely as 'the bloke Cahill can immediately pass to'. Ultimately: awful.

Cahill Tried his best considering he was on his own as a centre back.

Fabregas Meh - lost the ball atrociously at times.

Kante Easily the best player on the pitch.

Kovacic Barkley and RLC won't be breaking out in a sweat any time soon. A solid 6/10.

Morata Awful.

Willian Very good.

Loftus-Cheek He looked weirdly good out of position.

I did enjoy nobody being able to remember what the Jody Morris song was.

Crap game, we were lucky to win.

 

Wow reading this thread we must be such  a crap team. We clearly have  no good players and probably lucky not to have lost every game this season. If Derby came up ahainr a good team like ManU they’d really get smashed. We are such a useless team. Let’s ship everyone out and start again then we might finally finish in the top half of the table. As it is we are stuffed, and we are so boring to watch , like we never score any goals, no style, no possession. Crap all over really. Glad that for once I didn’t have to watch our crap team.