2 hours ago, Boston Blue said:

That's not entirely true...…...we've given up goals in the last three league games to Burnley, Southampton, and Watford, all bottom half teams.  Our GA is the worst in the top half.  Granted, Rudiger has not been part of things, and he may help shore things up.  But clearly depth is an issue.  

You can't always insert an unproven youth player in either...…...and we don't know how the young players will perform over a long season.  Remember when Christensem hit the wall and Conte?  I don't think he's reached the form or confidence he had in that first half of the season.

Actually on xGa we are 6th best. So don't know where you've got that stat from. 

2 hours ago, Dixons said:

Stop putting words into my mouth!  I do not want to lose any of our young players in the next window or next summer. Pedro, Geroud and probably Barkley are the ones who i'd move on.

I'm saying your actions will cause them to leave. Not that you want them to. 

Why would tomori want to stay if we sign a player ahead of him after a season like he's had. Seeing a Germany international and a £75m player in the team. I wouldn't stay then. That's what we've been doing wrong for years. 

But I think he's good enough. Some people don't for some reason. 

13 hours ago, bisright1 said:

Actually on xGa we are 6th best. So don't know where you've got that stat from. 

Is this for expected goals against? Because for actual goals against we have the worst in the top half. 

31 minutes ago, drjonesy1994 said:

Is this for expected goals against? Because for actual goals against we have the worst in the top half. 

You're right, however our xGA being so low does indicate our defence is actually doing something, our keeper is just letting in more shots then he should. (But the data needs to run for a whole season imo to be valid).

My point originally though was that we haven't been defensively dodgy for ages. In response to someone who it seems wants us to buy a centre back, a left back and a right back. 11 of the 17 goals we conceded were in the first 5 games. We've given up 4 in the last 5. It's improved, definitely and how we improve further for me is develop Tomori, Reece James, get Rudiger back and buy a Left Back. Much more realistic, sticks to a broader plan and puts the faith in our youth - who can deliver. 

Also, I don't think we can blame Tomori and Zouma for the 4 goals we conceded last night. We need a left back. We need a left back. We need a left back.

14 hours ago, bisright1 said:

 

But I think he's good enough. Some people don't for some reason. 

I don't think fans are saying he's not good enough or never will be good enough. Just saying he started very well,  but since the last 15 mins of the Lillr game he's been struggling a bit and making mistekes but getting away with them. Last night him and Alonso were at fault for a goal. 

Atm, the defence as a whole is not good enough to take us to a title contending team, no matter what combination of players we play. We'll have to wait and see if the likes of Tomori and James can step up and be longterm Chelsea players who are good enough to be in a title contending team. I hope they are, but only time will tell that.

Edited November 6, 20196 yr by Dixons

I want Chilwell. I know a lot of you think Emerson is fine but I'd hate to see him go to a rival.

1 hour ago, AlexTommo said:

I want Chilwell. I know a lot of you think Emerson is fine but I'd hate to see him go to a rival.

Maybe if you stamp your feet and pout Roman will get the chequebook out 

19 hours ago, bisright1 said:

Actually on xGa we are 6th best. So don't know where you've got that stat from. 

 

The league table...…...

4 hours ago, Dixons said:

I don't think fans are saying he's not good enough or never will be good enough. Just saying he started very well,  but since the last 15 mins of the Lillr game he's been struggling a bit and making mistekes but getting away with them. Last night him and Alonso were at fault for a goal. 

Atm, the defence as a whole is not good enough to take us to a title contending team, no matter what combination of players we play. We'll have to wait and see if the likes of Tomori and James can step up and be longterm Chelsea players who are good enough to be in a title contending team. I hope they are, but only time will tell that.

I dont think Tomori can be blamed for Ajax's 4th goal. Was just unfortunate. Also, every defender makes mistakes and gets away with them. 

But otherwise, yes. We need to wait until the end of the season. Personally I think if we start next season with Chilwell, Rudiger, Tomori, R.James, we would have a very effective back 4. But let's see how the year goes. 

4 minutes ago, Boston Blue said:

The league table...…...

I pointed this out later that I misread what you said

But you also misread what I said as you pointed out how many goals we conceded over the whole season in reaction to me saying our defence has improved recently. Which it has. 4 goals in last 5 is as good as anyone in the league. 

whats with everyone talking about "xGa" and other expected bullcrap these days?

Is that just a new stat for stat merchants to bring up in every debate?

1 hour ago, DisposeOfDeadwood said:

whats with everyone talking about "xGa" and other expected bullcrap these days?

Is that just a new stat for stat merchants to bring up in every debate?

Why bring up possession, shots on target, pass completion, etc stats are always a part of sport. 

23 hours ago, bisright1 said:

I pointed this out later that I misread what you said

But you also misread what I said as you pointed out how many goals we conceded over the whole season in reaction to me saying our defence has improved recently. Which it has. 4 goals in last 5 is as good as anyone in the league. 

I didn't misread your post.  The first part of my post included this statement regarding the previous (at the time) league games:

"...…...we've given up goals in the last three league games to Burnley, Southampton, and Watford, all bottom half teams."

I'm sorry, but I don't believe we are defensively solid.  We may be a little better than earlier in the season, but we have been bailed out by Kepa on several occasions, and opposing teams have not taken their chances as clinically as they could have.   I'm not confident we can hold a one or two goal lead against any league team at this particular time without severely anxious defensive periods.    

Maybe it gets a lot better when Kante is back.  It will definitely get better if Alonso is kept off the field so he stops committing stupid fouls in areas of the field that allow teams to launch dangerous free kicks into our box.  

20 hours ago, DisposeOfDeadwood said:

whats with everyone talking about "xGa" and other expected bullcrap these days?

Is that just a new stat for stat merchants to bring up in every debate?

It’s just the latest technical soundOMG bollocks to make people feign some sort of intelligence. It’s football, it rarely ever goes the way it’s expected to!

On 06/11/2019 at 14:09, AlexTommo said:

I want Chilwell. I know a lot of you think Emerson is fine but I'd hate to see him go to a rival.

Why is he so special? 

10 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

It’s just the latest technical soundOMG bollocks to make people feign some sort of intelligence. It’s football, it rarely ever goes the way it’s expected to!

It should be used with other stats. It is just a measure of the quality of chance. Slightly better measure than shots on target.

17 minutes ago, Boston Blue said:

I didn't misread your post.  The first part of my post included this statement regarding the previous (at the time) league games:

"...…...we've given up goals in the last three league games to Burnley, Southampton, and Watford, all bottom half teams."

I'm sorry, but I don't believe we are defensively solid.  We may be a little better than earlier in the season, but we have been bailed out by Kepa on several occasions, and opposing teams have not taken their chances as clinically as they could have.   I'm not confident we can hold a one or two goal lead against any league team at this particular time without severely anxious defensive periods.    

Maybe it gets a lot better when Kante is back.  It will definitely get better if Alonso is kept off the field so he stops committing stupid fouls in areas of the field that allow teams to launch dangerous free kicks into our box.  

I agree we need a better left back, I disagree that kepa has bailed us out. He’s meant to make saves, it’s his job. I actually think he doesn’t do it enough. i didn’t say we were solid, just that buying a centre back for 80m isn’t the right action. It won’t improve anything markedly and we should be spending our money on 2 or 3 other positions first.

1 hour ago, Munkworth said:

It’s just the latest technical soundOMG bollocks to make people feign some sort of intelligence. It’s football, it rarely ever goes the way it’s expected to!

Literally is lol, it was never really mentioned until recently and now thats all I ever here.. As if stats tend to reflect games when they hardly ever do

1 hour ago, bisright1 said:

I disagree that kepa has bailed us out. He’s meant to make saves, it’s his job. I actually think he doesn’t do it enough. 

The alarming stat of a goal against us from every two shots on target, suggests you are right.

"But otherwise, yes. We need to wait until the end of the season. Personally I think if we start next season with Chilwell, Rudiger, Tomori, R.James, we would have a very effective back 4. But let's see how the year goes. "

I like the pieces, I just don't know if there is a leader of the center backs... which seems to be the problem this season in my mind. David Luiz for his flaws helped keep us organized... and obviously JT took charge back there. We are missing that.

"Also, I don't think we can blame Tomori and Zouma for the 4 goals we conceded last night. We need a left back. We need a left back. We need a left back."

I put these somewhat on Zouma, he's done really well at a lot of things, but he really seems to struggle on balls played between him and Kepa. As a general rule on the second goal, I don't think a ball served in from just outside the box should go over our central defenders heads and hit the ground 8 from the goal in the center of the frame uncleared. We consistently see other teams running to this space and has to be corrected.

3 hours ago, bisright1 said:

It should be used with other stats. It is just a measure of the quality of chance. Slightly better measure than shots on target.

I agree we need a better left back, I disagree that kepa has bailed us out. He’s meant to make saves, it’s his job. I actually think he doesn’t do it enough. i didn’t say we were solid, just that buying a centre back for 80m isn’t the right action. It won’t improve anything markedly and we should be spending our money on 2 or 3 other positions first.

Kepa has made some saves that have preserved leads and games.  I believe he should better command his area, come for balls into the box, etc, but that is for another thread.

I don't know of a player like him that is available, but Van Dijk has made a pretty significant difference for Liverpool.  JT made a pretty significant difference for us.  Look at City without Kompany.  Warrior like commanding CB leaders make a huge difference.

Summer window:

Chilwell, Sancho, Werner and maybe Ake and we're challenging for the league.

Edited November 8, 20196 yr by JMaher94

1 hour ago, JMaher94 said:

Summer window:

Chilwell, Sancho, Werner and maybe Ake and we're challenging for the league.

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head as far as the positions we will target.  I wouldn’t mind signing Sancho, but there’s probably a handful of cheaper wingers out there that are on the same level.  I could probably talk myself into liking the Chilwell signing, but I think there are other options out there that would be cheaper, better, or both (namely Gaya or Grimaldo).

Unless Werner just really wants to increase his wages, I don’t see why he would come here.  Abraham will be our number 1 for the foreseeable future.

I don’t see what all the fuss about Ake is about. He’s ok.  It’s just the fact that he was previously our player that has any of the fan base wanting him.  We can and should target a better quality CB if we are going to sign one - I like Skriniar.

Edited November 8, 20196 yr by mwblue10

On 06/11/2019 at 17:28, bisright1 said:

I dont think Tomori can be blamed for Ajax's 4th goal. Was just unfortunate. Also, every defender makes mistakes and gets away with them. 

But otherwise, yes. We need to wait until the end of the season. Personally I think if we start next season with Chilwell, Rudiger, Tomori, R.James, we would have a very effective back 4. But let's see how the year goes. 

Tomori definately not at fault for 4th goal, it was glaringly obvious to me Dave was at fault, couldn't get back, to slow, not any point during that goal did he come into the picture, he was left way up top, and couldn't make it back, desperate for a left back 

Edited November 8, 20196 yr by chi blue

Buy: Moreno, Mings, Chilwell, Grealish
Sell: Christensen, Emerson, Alonso, Pedro

10 hours ago, Boston Blue said:

I believe he should better command his area, come for balls into the box, etc, but that is for another thread.

I don't know of a player like him that is available, but Van Dijk has made a pretty significant difference for Liverpool.  JT made a pretty significant difference for us.  Look at City without Kompany.  Warrior like commanding CB leaders make a huge difference.

I fell though that the lack of command does also come into your second point, While Zooms and Tomi have covered well at CB we dont have that calming organised presence in there, I feel that (yes stats show that Kepa has let in a lot of goals per shot) he has also been let down by the areas that the opposition are shooting from, not much he can do if the ball is hit from the 6 yrd box after clearing the CB's 

5 hours ago, mwblue10 said:

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head as far as the positions we will target.  I wouldn’t mind signing Sancho, but there’s probably a handful of cheaper wingers out there that are on the same level.  I could probably talk myself into liking the Chilwell signing, but I think there are other options out there that would be cheaper, better, or both (namely Gaya or Grimaldo).

Unless Werner just really wants to increase his wages, I don’t see why he would come here.  Abraham will be our number 1 for the foreseeable future.

I don’t see what all the fuss about Ake is about. He’s ok.  It’s just the fact that he was previously our player that has any of the fan base wanting him.  We can and should target a better quality CB if we are going to sign one - I like Skriniar.

Cheaper wingers?

Sancho is a statement. Chelsea at the top table again. Chelsea with the most exciting squad in Europe. Planning to dominate the 20s. Don't give me cheaper wingers, go out and buy the best and spend the money. 

I agree on ake, I don't think he'd improve our back 4 and would just replace a Christensen. His appeal is his ability to play across the back 4.