Chelsea V PAOK Salonika (EL) Thurs 29th Nov 20:00 UK

[Valerie]

15 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

Blunters might be. Was it you starting trouble with the away fans?

I thought that was you and your pals in the Shed Lower? You've been so quiet during the match, you must have been plotting something.

[Munkunku]

Just now, Valerie said:

I thought that was you and your pals in the Shed Lower? You've been so quiet during the match, you must have been plotting something.

I don’t have any mates...

[Dr Gonzo]

1 hour ago, DannyLB said:

You must know something I don't. What makes it very likely?

Come on no one has come through since JT, pretty much says it all.

[robdog]

Gaffer after the match 

 

[Oli]

Just come back from the game, fantastic result albeit against a very poor side with a man down. I thought Christensen and Cahill were superb, Fabregas constant range of passing was a joy to behold, and glad for both our strikers to have scored. Hudson Odoi was brilliant too, not just the goal and assist, but he put in so many good crosses and also hit the crossbar with a peach of a shot. Every player put in a good performance.

[Floyd25]

Enjoyable game, needed that after the Spurs dibacle, helped that PAOK went down to ten men, but we took our chances very well. So pleased for Hudson-Odoi, Chelsea boy since the age of 8, scores his first goal, just hope he signs a new deal. I thought Emerson was positive as well, attacks well, puts in dangerous crosses, Fabregas and Giroud very good, RLC once again showing his power and technique. 

[Gol15]

 

[Jezq8]

Good result after that horror show at spurs. But we weren’t tested at all and it was against a poor side with 10men for about 80 mins, so we can’t get carried away, however it’s good to see mins given to CHO. Plus, seeing both strikers score is always a good thing

[Valerie]

12 hours ago, Munkworth said:

I don’t have any mates...

That'll teach you to spurn my offer of a pint 

[icecoolguy22]

Got pretty much everything we wanted from the match, won the game, scored some goals, played youth and bench players, and a number of players showed good form. CHO looked a great prospect, able to play with both foot and not afraid to have a go at goal, a breath of fresh air to our predictable attack. I understand Sarri will hold him back for a bit longer, but with the festive season coming up, he will get time in the league sooner or later if Sarri picks players on form. First time in a long time both strikers scored goals, and looked confident. I have never seen a player so angry after scoring a goal like Morata, somebody must have taken his lunch box, but it's better be angry and scoring than the other way around. The sent off made the game easy for us, but it's an error from our aggressive pressing, so the players could take credit for that. Christensen/Cahill looked solid, they aren't going to be spectacular but at least they are playing safe like normal defenders, something we don't get from Luiz these days. I reckon Barkley played deeper so he wasn't as threatening as RLC, either of those 2 must start on the weekend.

[The Brit]

Hudson-odoi made a mockery of Sarri's decision making in the Europa league last night. Let's be honest we're in a piss poor group and he, along with Ampadu, should have started every game (when fit)...hardly a big gamble given the opposition and the nine other more experienced players he could still select. We would have qualified anyway and these two are good enough to start in this competition regardless.

not only would it have given these guys valuable game time and made them feel more a part of his plans, it would have given others who have played far too much, e.g. Willian (or the farcical decision to play hazard in Belarus) a rest. 

I just hope it's not too little too late as far as Callum making a decision on his future goes.

[spadefx]

22 minutes ago, The Brit said:

Hudson-odoi made a mockery of Sarri's decision making in the Europa league last night. Let's be honest we're in a piss poor group and he, along with Ampadu, should have started every game (when fit)...hardly a big gamble given the opposition and the nine other more experienced players he could still select. We would have qualified anyway and these two are good enough to start in this competition regardless.

not only would it have given these guys valuable game time and made them feel more a part of his plans, it would have given others who have played far too much, e.g. Willian (or the farcical decision to play hazard in Belarus) a rest. 

I just hope it's not too little too late as far as Callum making a decision on his future goes.

Agree that Hudson Odoi absolutely delivered last night, but the selections up to this point have been fairly understandable. 

We're still only a few months into playing this new system, and we looked very raw in the opening Europa League games, even with relatively strong XI's. We have a big pool of players to choose from, and naturally the more experienced 'fringe' players would be given their opportunities first. 

Barkley broke into the league lineup from these games, Loftus Cheek is pushing too, and so long as Sarri sees the obvious progression from and gives more opportunities to the likes of Christensen and CHO off the back of these games then I think its pretty much been spot on. 

Can't agree with piss poor group either, every team's given us problems, particularly away from home. These are teams full of international players, maybe not British household names but the top level physicality and organisation was there to see, even if there was a technical gap in quality.

Won the group, not dropped a point, and almost the full squad had some part to play. Obviously not the European competition we want to be in but I'd say Sarri's made the most of it, it's been a good set of Thursday nights.

[Munkunku]

3 hours ago, Valerie said:

That'll teach you to spurn my offer of a pint 

You were more than welcome to join my 6k run...

[enigma]

7 hours ago, Jezq8 said:

Good result after that horror show at spurs. But we weren’t tested at all and it was against a poor side with 10men for about 80 mins, so we can’t get carried away, however it’s good to see mins given to CHO. Plus, seeing both strikers score is always a good thing

This is the thing. Although I am content with the result, we weren't tested and the players played against 10 men for 84/85 mins of the game. Although I want to big up the young guys, they did play against 10 men. 

[mojo]

 

 

 

[Valerie]

^^ When I saw PAOK's kit I initially wondered why they had brought so many reserve goalies