Just now, DP2 said:

F**k em all. Up the Chels.

Not a good result today, keeper and defence again could have done better but we're doing well.

Frank will sort that out. Bring on...

...cant remember who we have next, old age.

Lille midweek then Bournemouth weekend.... The way we've been lately, im honestly fearing the worst for the UCL game

Our main problem is that we dont have a left sided centre back besides tmrw.. It makes no sense playing Zouma there when he is already so limited technically. It would make more sense if Christensen was made to play at LCB. The worst thing is that Rudiger would also rather play RCB . So for now our best bet is to play tomori. Also can frank please Alonso back. I am glad he hasnt featured during this abysmal run of ours so cant be blamed. We have won once in our last 5 games . That is BLIP form

Their second goal summed up our central defence for me. Calvert-Lewin beat Christensen in the air and then proceded to go past Zouma to score. It was surreal to watch, just a shocking display.

Just now, The Don Antonio said:

Our main problem is that we dont have a left sided centre back besides tmrw.. It makes no sense playing Zouma there when he is already so limited technically. It would make more sense if Christensen was made to play at LCB. The worst thing is that Rudiger would also rather play RCB . So for now our best bet is to play tomori. Also can frank please Alonso back. I am glad he hasnt featured during this abysmal run of ours so cant be blamed. We have won once in our last 5 games . That is BLIP form

We don't have a single left footed player in the team!!

Just now, DisposeOfDeadwood said:

We don't have a single left footed player in the team!!

Exactly why i dont get lamps benching Alonso and hopefully we buy ziyech from ajax bcoz CHO is just a glorified Shawn Wright Philips. ( Nice skill and speed but No end Product)

He turned Laporte into one of the best CB's in the world and I think he has a fairly similar style (or at least did at one point) to AC.
I agree with the 2017/18 season, but I think literally ever since the Barca game where he had a shocker, he's never recovered. I had high hopes for him at one point, but its been 2/3 years since and if he still hasn't improved I dont have the patience anymore. All of our CB's are literally at the same level, so as soon as you swap one out and put in another - the defence is still sh*t!
We need a complete overhaul of the backline and I think kepa would benefit from that as well. I mean he hasn't done himself any favours, but he is a good keeper in my eyes who gets let down a lot by sh*tty defending

If it was a summer window I wouldn't be all that surprised of we were on the market for a left back, two centre halves and a goalkeeper. However, as its January, we won't be doing that level of business. I'd have Kepa sold in an instance of we could get a good replacement. I just don't think he is a top class goalkeeper. Far too average at too many of the basics and no defence is going to be confident with him behind them, especially not a shaky one like ours.

15 minutes ago, abramovich said:

Kepa is making too many mistakes and he doesn't command the area like a proper keeper should. We can see the cases of miscommunication between him and defenders in literally every game. He's nervy and unsure of himself and that makes everyone around him nervous and unsure.

Also, I'm not sure who's in charge of defensive training but that person's stealing a living. This is the softest and the most disorganized backline we've had in a very long time.

Kepa is 6 foot 1 inch but looks about 5 foot tall when those crosses are coming in. He likes the feel of the goal line under his boots as well. My January transfer window would start by signing a goalkeeper of stature, who commands his area and gives the centre backs confidence. 

5 minutes ago, DisposeOfDeadwood said:

Lille midweek then Bournemouth weekend.... The way we've been lately, im honestly fearing the worst for the UCL game

What scares me is SPURS..  I have nightmares of Jose f**king us Doggy Style

9 minutes ago, DisposeOfDeadwood said:

He turned Laporte into one of the best CB's in the world and I think he has a fairly similar style (or at least did at one point) to AC.

I agree with the 2017/18 season, but I think literally ever since the Barca game where he had a shocker, he's never recovered. I had high hopes for him at one point, but its been 2/3 years since and if he still hasn't improved I dont have the patience anymore. All of our CB's are literally at the same level, so as soon as you swap one out and put in another - the defence is still sh*t!

We need a complete overhaul of the backline and I think kepa would benefit from that as well. I mean he hasn't done himself any favours, but he is a good keeper in my eyes who gets let down a lot by sh*tty defending

Spot on about Christensen circa 2017-18 and his mistakes in every game after Barca, that cost us conceded goals and dropped points. He is just mentally weak on top of being physically weak. Any time he goes against physically imposing center forward, he's in trouble. He's more accurate passer than Zouma (who isn't) but he isn't a ball playing CB either, and he carries zero threat at set pieces, yet to score a single goal. Very limited player, whose flaws were overlooked for a long time because he was the first youngster to break into the team after a very long wait.

Edited December 7, 20196 yr by abramovich

2 minutes ago, The Don Antonio said:

What scares me is SPURS..  I have nightmares of Jose f**king us Doggy Style

22 December!

1 minute ago, Gol15 said:

22 December!

AAAARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

2 WEEKS AWAY

Edited December 7, 20196 yr by The Don Antonio

Basically we have one decent defender on our books at the moment and he is injured. Plus we have one promising right-back still learning his trade. That's it. 

There is no solution to our current defensive shambles that doesn't involve buying new players. 

11 minutes ago, DisposeOfDeadwood said:

Lille midweek then Bournemouth weekend.... The way we've been lately, im honestly fearing the worst for the UCL game

Think we'll be alright. A win against Lille and then everything ok (until Bournemouth haha)

you cant hope to score only through counter attacks goddamit

Lamps made poor selections again. Christensen over Tomori was confusing. Christensen was awful today. Richarlison and DCL won every tussle against him. People are criticizing Zouma but he has been one of the better players over the past few weeks. I also thought Christensen was the much worse out the pairing today. And seriously Lamps, starting James I agree but Azpi is not a good defensive LB anymore. If you are going to do play James, just start Emerson at LB. I have no idea why Emerson did not come on for Azpi in the second half also. Kovacic got caught being too arrogant on the ball sometimes, but again was our best player.

Wow those midweek games really helped us with the results swinging our way. Another learning curve. 

Tomori had a poor run of games but he is still way better than Christensen. Hopefully Rudi will be back next week. We could do with his leadership as much as his quality.

2 minutes ago, STATS said:

Lamps made poor selections again. Christensen over Tomori was confusing. Christensen was awful today. Richarlison and DCL won every tussle against him. People are criticizing Zouma but he has been one of the better players over the past few weeks. I also thought Christensen was the much worse out the pairing today. And seriously Lamps, starting James I agree but Azpi is not a good defensive LB anymore. If you are going to do play James, just start Emerson at LB. I have no idea why Emerson did not come on for Azpi in the second half also. Kovacic got caught being too arrogant on the ball sometimes, but again was our best player.

Wow those midweek games really helped us with the results swinging our way. Another learning curve. 

that amount of learning curves feels like a circle now considering the amount of talent we have

29 minutes ago, Dean said:

Yes. Credit where it’s due. They set about the task of frustrating us very well. We could have used their defenders today.

people have forgotten how to give credit when it is due. Today was largely because we have very few decent players at the moment. Everton have very good players at the moment. Look all over pitch today, Sidibe, Digne, sigurdson, Richarlisson, Calvert Lewis, Schnerderlin, Iwobi, Walcott, Keane, Holgate, all great players. At the moment, this Chelsea squad needs an overhaul. Pulisic for me is still too young to compete at the highest level, Willian is past his best, Mount is too young, we need a new left back, we need at least one central defender, we need an extra positional midfielder..... 

we need at least around seven players if we want to beat a team like Everton. Everton themselves had to buy around seven players last season to get the team that has beaten us consecutively two times last season and this season at Goodisson Park. We need an overhaul and I doubt Abramovich would do the type of thing Everton did last season by buying seven players in January or in the summer. 

 

 

 

 

 

4 minutes ago, DP2 said:

Think we'll be alright. A win against Lille and then everything ok (until Bournemouth haha)

We need to win both of those home games so we can go into the holiday fixtures with our heads up

4 minutes ago, hephzibah said:

people have forgotten how to give credit when it is due. Today was largely because we have very few decent players at the moment. Everton have very good players at the moment. Look all over pitch today, Sidibe, Digne, sigurdson, Richarlisson, Calvert Lewis, Schnerderlin, Iwobi, Walcott, Keane, Holgate, all great players. At the moment, this Chelsea squad needs an overhaul. Pulisic for me is still too young to compete at the highest level, Willian is past his best, Mount is too young, we need a new left back, we need at least one central defender, we need an extra positional midfielder..... 

we need at least around seven players if we want to beat a team like Everton. Everton themselves had to buy around seven players last season to get the team that has beaten us consecutively two times last season and this season at Goodisson Park. We need an overhaul and I doubt Abramovich would do the type of thing Everton did last season by buying seven players in January or in the summer. 

 

 

 

 

 

Walcott and Iwobi? Great players??

This Everton team is trying to get out of a relegation scrap. These are the sort of teams we need to put to bed and outfight them. Look at the number of players they used to trouble our front 4. You are lowering our squad's standards and raising Everton's. We should have beat them and would've beat them had our backline concentrated.

Edited December 7, 20196 yr by Deino

Hello Ake...welcome back...left side please...next to Rudiger...

I hope Frank and Jody go over the tape of that game to see where it went wrong.

We put in a lot of crosses, some good and some hit behind with no-one there. 

Pulisic had a right battle with Sidibe and lost his composure, what does that tell us?

James has an excellent cross but won't use his left foot so when he is marked even loosely will always play a defensive ball back the way it comes.

Kante did not play badly today yet gave away possession a couple of times and maybe just a shade slower than before.

 

6 minutes ago, doctorblue said:

Hello Ake...welcome back...left side please...next to Rudiger...

just injured his hamstring

8 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

I hope Frank and Jody go over the tape of that game to see where it went wrong.

We put in a lot of crosses, some good and some hit behind with no-one there. 

Pulisic had a right battle with Sidibe and lost his composure, what does that tell us?

James has an excellent cross but won't use his left foot so when he is marked even loosely will always play a defensive ball back the way it comes.

Kante did not play badly today yet gave away possession a couple of times and maybe just a shade slower than before.

 

Pulisic needs to develop his lower body strength and learn how to draw fouls when he can't breakthrough. That was the key to Hazard's phenomenal balance and maturity as he was very similar to Pulisic when he first joined. Sidibe also had support to keep Pulisic quiet so I'm not worried too much regarding him.

Mount on the other hand needs to run more in training. He's always so gassed out by the 70th minute. 

James is being restricted by the formation. He's better played like a Dani Alves, running onto a layoff then whacks a fizzing cross into the box. He's not dangerous when he has time to look for teammates.

Edited December 7, 20196 yr by Deino

25 minutes ago, Deino said:

Walcott and Iwobi? Great players??

This Everton team is trying to get out of a relegation scrap. These are the sort of teams we need to put to bed and outfight them. Look at the number of players they used to trouble our front 4. 

Pick on what I said all you want but even our best players were not allowed to play so well today, it shows they were playing against a very good team.