How much of a factor this is I don't know yet I mention as no-one has recently done so in the thread, that is that Liverpool had two more days of preparation and rest for this fixture.

They played to home to Porto in the CL and of course were away in Prague playing Thursday night

12 hours ago, coco said:

city will win every game left imo.

City can lose points vs Tottenham in the next round. All remaining games they can to win, yes. 

img source

4 hours ago, Jonty said:

Don't think we were too bad to be honest, questionable whether Sarri got the decision to start Hazard as a false 9 correct, however with the form Higuain and Giroud are in, not like there are outstanding alternatives.

Realistically without a 15-20 league goal a season striker we're going to continue scrapping around the edge of the top 4. There's a reason the two titles we've won since Ancelotti were with Costa at his snarling peak.

See that's why I've changed my opinion about wanting Sarri gone if you look at the squad at his disposal apart from hazard and Kante the rest are either up and coming players or are past their best.We was never gonna win the league.

Really hope this transfer ban gets suspended so we can sign in the summer or next season will be the same or worse.

So this is what it’s come to ... every cliche in the book - ‘we gave them a good run for their money,’ ‘ if Eden hadn’t hit the post,’ ‘can’t do anything about a wonder goal’, ‘at least not losing 6-0 shows improvement,’ ‘offside’, ‘we had a game only 3 days before’ ......  Two years ago we won the league and now we’re making excuses for not getting mullered by the potential  champions!

leaving aside Sarri’s appalling management, how many of our players would be regular starters in another top 6 side, other than Hazard and  Kante? In today’s paper there’s an advert for VIP tickets for the Euro game with a photo featuring Chelsea ‘stars’ Willian, Pedro and Giroud .... enough said!

4 minutes ago, OnePeterOsgood said:

leaving aside Sarri’s appalling management, how many of our players would be regular starters in another top 6 side, other than Hazard and  Kante? In today’s paper there’s an advert for VIP tickets for the Euro game with a photo featuring Chelsea ‘stars’ Willian, Pedro and Giroud .... enough said!

So if you think 90% of our players wouldn't start for a top 6 side, then us currently being in 4th means Sarri's management can't be that appaling then?

Can't have it both ways surely.

3 minutes ago, Stim said:

So if you think 90% of our players wouldn't start for a top 6 side, then us currently being in 4th means Sarri's management can't be that appaling then?

Can't have it both ways surely.

thanks for saving me time typing.

Jeez, please don’t let Tottenham beat City.

Imagine losing to Liverpool, and then Tottenham play a masterclass and beat City, handing the scousers the title. Oh god please no...

9 minutes ago, dansubrosa said:

Jeez, please don’t let Tottenham beat City.

Imagine losing to Liverpool, and then Tottenham play a masterclass and beat City, handing the scousers the title. Oh god please no...

Spuds scraped past city at their new home with their best team on the pitch, city bossed them for most parts. Some people make suds favourites away from home with their top two players out, it's hard to wonder why they think that ?

So if you think 90% of our players wouldn't start for a top 6 side, then us currently being in 4th means Sarri's management can't be that appaling then?
Can't have it both ways surely.

Spot on

12 hours ago, enigma said:

Serious question. Do you genuinely think any other manager would have done a better job this season with this group of players and considering the competitive nature of the league this season? Take into consideration that Sarri has virtually had no striker up until late Jan/Early Feb? I personally don't. Of course, a new system will always have teething problems and we've had some crap results because of poor individual mistakes and adapting to the new style. However, I don't think the right decision is to sack every manager (especially not after 8 months!) just because we are not challenging for the title or a couple points off top four in arguably the most competitive season for many years. 

He had two strikers right from the start, they were just in poor form. Whether it's due to them being average or Sarri's coaching I don't know, but he did have strikers available. That group of players won two legue titles in the last four years, they're not as bad as Sarri's fans make them out to be. They're not good enough to fight for the title, but there's more than enough quality to finish in the top four, if you have the right man in charge. Spurs, Arse and MU aren't better than us, they all have flaws, they just have managers, who for the most part know what they're doing.

The manager's job, the way I see it, is to get the best out of the group he's got. Solskjaer, Emery and Pochettino are doing quite well in that department, Sarri clearly isn't, that's why we won't finish in the top four. He insists on playing his favourites in a system that's been figured out by the opponents for months now and he doesn't know any other way of playing, that has nothing to do with the quality of the players he's got and everything to do with his stubbornness, stupidity and arrogance. 

I want him sacked not because we're a couple of points off top four, I want him sacked because I've known long before today that he's the wrong man for the job. We had many chances to claim a top four spot and we failed time and again, because he's a loser, who commands neither fear, nor respect amongst his players, and whose rigid tactical approach has been sussed out since our loss to Spuds back in November and he's never learned from it. In fact, that's probably his worst flaw, he simply never learns, he refuses to learn from his own mistakes. His apologists keep bleating about him being a great student of the game, well, if a student keeps failing the same exam over and over again, I'd say he's either a lazy bum or an idiot. Arrogance can be useful to those who are successful, but when you accomplish nothing, you have no right to be arrogant. Just like Mourinho said, what's the point of having a vision if you don't win anything. That's what Sarri should be scribbling in his notepad time and again.

He phased out right from the start several players (Moses, Cahill, Drinkwater) because they aren't suited to his style. He waited two thirds of the season to start integrating CHO and RLC into the side, and that was when he had nothing to lose because it was obvious his preferred eleven were embarassingly bad for weeks and weeks. His signings Jorginho and Higuain are busts, he apparently knew nothing of the challenges of playing in England and didn't realize how wrong they both are for this league. Our mental fragility and lack of Plan B have been discussed for ages now, no progress there. We're terrible at set pieces on both ends, disorganized at the back, slow and toothless going forward and mentally weak to the point that we stop competing once we concede. Did I forget anything? 

Edited April 15, 20197 yr by abramovich

19 minutes ago, abramovich said:

He had two strikers right from the start, they were just in poor form. Whether it's due to them being average or Sarri's coaching

Morata was a failure for a whole year before Sarri even arrived. 

Giroud is just Giroud, not that good, nothing to do with Sarris coaching.

24 minutes ago, abramovich said:

He had two strikers right from the start, they were just in poor form. Whether it's due to them being average or Sarri's coaching I don't know, but he did have strikers available. That group of players won two legue titles in the last four years, they're not as bad as Sarri's fans make them out to be. They're not good enough to fight for the title, but there's more than enough quality to finish in the top four, if you have the right man in charge. Spurs, Arse and MU aren't better than us, they all have flaws, they just have managers, who for the most part know what they're doing.

The manager's job, the way I see it, is to get the best out of the group he's got. Solskjaer, Emery and Pochettino are doing quite well in that department, Sarri clearly isn't, that's why we won't finish in the top four. He insists on playing his favourites in a system that's been figured out by the opponents for months now and he doesn't know any other way of playing, that has nothing to do with the quality of the players he's got and everything to do with his stubbornness, stupidity and arrogance. 

I want him sacked not because we're a couple of points off top four, I want him sacked because I've known long before today that he's the wrong man for the job. We had many chances to claim a top four spot and we failed time and again, because he's a loser, who commands neither fear, nor respect amongst his players, and whose rigid tactical approach has been sussed out since our loss to Spuds back in November and he's never learned from it. In fact, that's probably his worst flaw, he simply never learns, he refuses to learn from his own mistakes. His apologists keep bleating about him being a great student of the game, well, if a student keeps failing the same exam over and over again, I'd say he's either a lazy bum or an idiot. Arrogance can be useful to those who are successful, but when you accomplish nothing, you have no right to be arrogant. Just like Mourinho said, what's the point of having a vision if you don't win anything. That's what Sarri should be scribbling in his notepad time and again.

He phased out right from the start several players (Moses, Cahill, Drinkwater) because they aren't suited to his style. He waited two thirds of the season to start integrating CHO and RLC into the side, and that was when he had nothing to lose because it was obvious his preferred eleven were embarassingly bad for weeks and weeks. His signings Jorginho and Higuain are busts, he apparently knew nothing of the challenges of playing in England and didn't realize how wrong they both are for this league. Our mental fragility and lack of Plan B have been discussed for ages now, no progress there. We're terrible at set pieces on both ends, disorganized at the back, slow and toothless going forward and mentally weak to the point that we stop competing once we concede. Did I forget anything? 

thanks for saving me time typing...

Devastated by the result, we all knew it's going to be a tough match, but the very least I expected the team to cause them problems at some stage in the match, and to be honest they were never in danger. The effort was there, but that's about it.  For a big match like this, we need to get most of our best players, and playing Hazard in the middle was clearly NOT. He's getting bullied all game by big defenders, unable to get the pass in space, and basically wasted again. How many times a manager need to play Hazard there just to prove he's not that effective playing there? If we are going to play a compact defensive game, play Kante close to the back 4 to cover it, it's not rocket science, again. I don't buy this whole we played well for parts of the game sh1t. We lost, and to conceded 2 goals 5 minutes after the HT was unforgivable, and we have been doing that quite a lot this season. I don't know what Sarri said during HT, whatever it was it had no positive effect on the players, they came out and looked lost, just remember the Bourmouth, Wolves, Everton game, Under this manager, we lose all away games against other big 6 teams, and none of the games were remotely close. We just lost the ability to win tough games, if tomorrow we play Europa league final against Arsenal, I don't reckon we will beat them. We lack a winning manager, a leader on the field, and a half decent striker who could score a goal. I have no idea how much shooting training they do, everytime there's a decent chance, players hitting the post if not a yard wide, it's not Unlucky, it's incompetence.

2 hours ago, Ray_Cfc said:

See that's why I've changed my opinion about wanting Sarri gone if you look at the squad at his disposal apart from hazard and Kante the rest are either up and coming players or are past their best.We was never gonna win the league.

Really hope this transfer ban gets suspended so we can sign in the summer or next season will be the same or worse.

Yes. We need to keep Hazard and get rid of Jorginho. He should have got in front of the Salah shot and blocked it. He doesn’t have the heart for Chelsea.

1 hour ago, coco said:

Morata was a failure for a whole year before Sarri even arrived. 

Giroud is just Giroud, not that good, nothing to do with Sarris coaching.

Giroud did quite well in the second half of the season when he was brought in January 2018. He also was a starting striker for the world champions last summer. I'm not saying I want him as a starter for Chelsea, but he could have certainly helped the team more, given a chance.

Sarri wanted Chelsea to buy Higuain in the summer, and now that we've got him on loan, we can see that not spending money on the fat bastard was the best transfer decision Marina has made in a very long time. So you could argue if Sarri got the striker he wanted right from the start, we'd be still be sh*t up front.

Edited April 15, 20197 yr by abramovich

I hate losing to that lot.

I didn't think we played all that badly to be honest.

I think we improved when we played with a central striker, and this allowed Hazard to go to his favourite position wider left.

The media hype surrounding Liverpool is, once again, way over the top.

 

6 minutes ago, abramovich said:

Giroud did quite well in the second half of the season when he was brought in January 2018. He also was a starting striker for the world champions last summer. I'm not saying I want him as a starter for Chelsea, but he could have certainly helped the team more, given a chance.

Sarri wanted Chelsea to buy Higuain in the summer, and now that we've got him on loan, we can see that not spending money on the fat bastard was the best transfer decision Marina has made in a very long time. So you could argue if Sarri got the striker he wanted right from the start, we'd be still be sh*t up front.

Giroud is and always has been not very good most of the time, don't try dressing him up.

Higuain, .... i have already said elsewhere, this would be the turning point for me personally in my support of Sarri, if he keeps him on for next season (if he himself is still here) then i'm done with him too.

5 minutes ago, erskblue said:

I hate losing to that lot.

I didn't think we played all that badly to be honest.

I think we improved when we played with a central striker, and this allowed Hazard to go to his favourite position wider left.

The media hype surrounding Liverpool is, once again, way over the top.

So disappointed to see Higuaín come on rather than Giroud, it might not have made a difference yet Higuaín seems lost a Chelsea, he seems to drift in midfield when what we need is a striker on the shoulders of the defenders waiting for the ball. Instead he places himself in space in the middle of the park away from the action and the box!

Edited April 15, 20197 yr by Strider6003

2 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

So disappointed to see Higuaín come on rather than Giroud, it might not have made a difference yet Higuaín seems lost a Chelsea, he seems to drift in midfield when what we need is a striker on the shoulders of the defenders waiting for the ball. Instead he places himself in space in the middle of the park away from the action and the box!

Yeah agreed. I was hoping that we might even have seen Giroud on at half time.

We do need a 'focal point' for our attack.

Cant really expect to beat Liverpool at their ground and given where we are in the table this season. That said we were much more competitive against them earlier on in the season. We've stood still or gone backwards and they've improved. Keita and Fabinho have improved their midfield heaps.

Without being critical this game showed to me that neither RLC or CHO aren't quite ready for the big games yet. That's more on RLC who is further along than CHO.

Mostly I prefer RLC now but for this game I honestly think Kovacic might have been a better choice and yes losing Rudigier didn't help.

Top 4 is a challenge but still much more than a mathematical possibility.

The analysis that showed how badly we've done against the top sides away is great data although I'm not sure what the conclusion is. Its probably that we'd be better off playing Kante in the holding role in those games and that would let us use RLC and Kovacic/Barkely 

Other than Hazard and sometimes Willian our attack is completely useless this season CHO improves it but not yet sufficiently to get on top in really big games.

The team needed a complete rebuild and basically was screwed, with the benefit of hindsight by a combination of:

1. Mourinho getting rid of De Bruyne and Salah. I'll never completely forgive that especially De Bruyne 

2 Not adequately replacing Costa

3 Losing Emelano who with the benefit of hindsight can be seen as the person who was  associated with much of the talent brought into the club up until he left

4 Abramovitch not being in england much.

For me the judgement on Sarri is mixed. I agree with a lot of the criticism particularly refusing to use Kante in his best position at least sometimes. That's just dumb. On the other hand he's been brave and tried a new way of football which looked pretty good at the start of the season  and he had no pre season and he's inherited a seemingly dysfunctional squad. 

Luiz, Higuain, Giroud , Pedro could no longer go to a top class club. All are cast offs although France won the world cup with Giroud even if Arsenal won nothing. Kovacic wasn't starting at Real, Palmeri wasn't starting in Italy

In the stockbroking terms I am used to Chelsea look like a sell right now. All that said we can still get into the Champions League next season...Anyhow postmortems after losses are rarely much fun.

Edited April 15, 20197 yr by ozboy

Periods of domination in football moves in cycles. We've achieved alot of success in the last 15 years and at the moment, everything seems to be a bit of a mess. We're fumbling through from week to week, season to season.

Liverpool are enjoying their peak (although whether they actually win anything is another matter) and are clearly better equiped to win football matches right now than what we are. I really didn't understand all the hype spouted by the media prior to the match giving it the big build up, especially official chelsea social media giving it the big'un. It's embarrasing. Talk about comparing apples with oranges. Liverpool are flying. They've bought wisely in recent years, know exactly how they want to play, and have a manager that's drilled his methods into them over a number of seasons. Could our club's position be any more opposite?...

As much as I dislike that lot, sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say they've done things the right way. Our board should be taking notes. If this isn't a wake up call to them, I don't know what will be.

 

Not sure why people care about Liverpool winning the league. How is City winning the league twice in two years a good thing? Liverpool winning it means the league would have had four different winners in the past 4 seasons. For me that's the sign of a strong and unpredictable league. 

I will cry if Liverpool win the league

1 hour ago, abramovich said:

Giroud did quite well in the second half of the season when he was brought in January 2018. He also was a starting striker for the world champions last summer. I'm not saying I want him as a starter for Chelsea, but he could have certainly helped the team more, given a chance.

Sarri wanted Chelsea to buy Higuain in the summer, and now that we've got him on loan, we can see that not spending money on the fat bastard was the best transfer decision Marina has made in a very long time. So you could argue if Sarri got the striker he wanted right from the start, we'd be still be sh*t up front.

It's tricky to assess, Giroud has some very good games and others where he is less effective.

Equally Higuaín's move was very late in the window which meant he got very little prep time with the team before the matches came thick and fast and haven't stopped. Sarri or the club got it wrong though as you say, good that it was just a loan.

1 minute ago, Strider6003 said:

It's tricky to assess, Giroud has some very good games and others where he is less effective.

Equally Higuaín's move was very late in the window which meant he got very little prep time with the team before the matches came thick and fast and haven't stopped. Sarri or the club got it wrong though as you say, good that it was just a loan.

But it was a well-known fact that back in the summer Sarri desperately wanted Higuain and the club didn't.

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/gonzalo-higuain-explains-chelsea-snub-maurizio-sarri-only-one-who-wanted-me-a3903411.html

Cant really expect to beat Liverpool at their ground and given where we are in the table this season. That said we were much more competitive against them earlier on in the season. We've stood still or gone backwards and they've improved. Keita and Fabinho have improved their midfield heaps.
Without being critical this game showed to me that neither RLC or CHO aren't quite ready for the big games yet. That's more on RLC who is further along than CHO.
Mostly I prefer RLC now but for this game I honestly think Kovacic might have been a better choice and yes losing Rudigier didn't help.
Top 4 is a challenge but still much more than a mathematical possibility.
The analysis that showed how badly we've done against the top sides away is great data although I'm not sure what the conclusion is. Its probably that we'd be better off playing Kante in the holding role in those games and that would let us use RLC and Kovacic/Barkely 
Other than Hazard and sometimes Willian our attack is completely useless this season CHO improves it but not yet sufficiently to get on top in really big games.
The team needed a complete rebuild and basically was screwed, with the benefit of hindsight by a combination of:
1. Mourinho getting rid of De Bruyne and Salah. I'll never completely forgive that especially De Bruyne 
2 Not adequately replacing Costa
3 Losing Emelano who with the benefit of hindsight can be seen as the person who was  associated with much of the talent brought into the club up until he left
4 Abramovitch not being in england much.
For me the judgement on Sarri is mixed. I agree with a lot of the criticism particularly refusing to use Kante in his best position at least sometimes. That's just dumb. On the other hand he's been brave and tried a new way of football which looked pretty good at the start of the season  and he had no pre season and he's inherited a seemingly dysfunctional squad. 
Luiz, Higuain, Giroud , Pedro could no longer go to a top class club. All are cast offs although France won the world cup with Giroud even if Arsenal won nothing. Kovacic wasn't starting at Real, Palmeri wasn't starting in Italy
In the stockbroking terms I am used to Chelsea look like a sell right now. All that said we can still get into the Champions League next season...Anyhow postmortems after losses are rarely much fun.

I agree with you about CHO and RLC. Pedro and Kovacic should have start over them.
No way Conte or Mourinho would have started CHO and RLC away to Liverpool. Immediately I saw the line up, I knew how it will end.