9 minutes ago, Jangz said:

I just think that he needs to make more runs off the ball.. he always seems to come short to get the ball.. if we look at most modern forwards who score a lot.. they tend to make runs in between the CB and fullbacks.. something Pedro used to do a lot too..  

by coming short he literally takes up a position which means he will rarely score..

The thing is when have we ever seen Willian make a good off the ball run offensively? He only does that when defending. He is always waiting for a pass while standing still.

For me Emerson didn't seem productive down the left and Azpi was not great down the right and yet we had James on the bench that does cross well. I would have been tempted to bring on James and move Azpi to the left.

That alone might not have made a difference as Tammy seems to need help as he seems heavily marked. The only other player we have that can play that attacking m/f role is Barkley who hasn't done well this season.....

The only good thing is the market is open so at least we have a window to make changes. 

 

well that was painful to watch, again

Let's just make 40 points first and reassess, it's like the old days!!! "Boys in blue division 2 we won't be there for long"

9 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

For me Emerson didn't seem productive down the left and Azpi was not great down the right and yet we had James on the bench that does cross well. I would have been tempted to bring on James and move Azpi to the left.

That alone might not have made a difference as Tammy seems to need help as he seems heavily marked. The only other player we have that can play that attacking m/f role is Barkley who hasn't done well this season.....

The only good thing is the market is open so at least we have a window to make changes. 

 

Totally agree

A couple of people on here getting at Lampard far too quickly, it's crazy. Let's remember no one expected us to be 4th at this stage.

I think expectations have risen due to an excellent start. 

Granted we have had a few terrible results recently but let the guy mold this team and bring in some quality singings hopefully.

Let's face it we are nowhere near a top side anymore and need to rebuild.

Saw the game on the idiot box today and my take was that we pass the ball backwards and sidewards with no issues just like many other teams ,but when we play the ball forward and for various reasons we lose possession of the ball.

There was a 2 min spell in the 2nd half where we passed the ball forward 3 times and lost the possession of the ball ,to a team that has lost 5 prem games on the bounce .

bascially chelsea look sh*te today and have looked iffy for last 4 games or so ,which worry’s me as I don’t think we will now finish in 

top four since that cushion is now cut back to two points .

It’s a shxt run, playing really badly, but too much doom and gloom here. It’s a more volatile Chelsea and we need to get used to it.We’ll bounce back. Hardly  a ‘crisis’

This is why we need world class new players. They either save you this kind of game or win you this kind of game. Bottom line.

O well it's Saturday night, spurs next away, where's everyone drinking Liverpool Street? The big one

Bad performance today. Bournemouth were as dreadful as we were and just lucky with the var. But how on earth we lost to this lot is beyond me, really really poor. Something’s got to change, we can’t lose at home against dross like this.

It wasn't the best dominating performance, but we did create more genuine chances than them, if the finishing wasn't so poor we could still have won. It's officially a poor run now though, confidence won't be good and we face Jose next.

48 minutes ago, coco said:

Our home record coincides with our lock pickers departure. We need a new lock picker, especially for home games when teams are set up to defend first and second ball.

Spot on

26 minutes ago, Dr Gonzo said:

A couple of people on here getting at Lampard far too quickly, it's crazy. Let's remember no one expected us to be 4th at this stage.

I think expectations have risen due to an excellent start. 

Granted we have had a few terrible results recently but let the guy mold this team and bring in some quality singings hopefully.

Let's face it we are nowhere near a top side anymore and need to rebuild.

Agree. It’s painful. People really need to just lower expectations again after they got way ahead of themselves by the city game (the peak).

Consensus at the beginning of the season: ‘Not expecting much and prepared to give SFL time to rebuild.’

have a run-of-the-mill bad run but still in 4th: ‘we’re in trouble. Dunno about Lampard. Tottenham will kill us .’

42 minutes ago, Dean said:

Agree. It’s painful. People really need to just lower expectations again after they got way ahead of themselves by the city game (the peak).

Consensus at the beginning of the season: ‘Not expecting much and prepared to give SFL time to rebuild.’

have a run-of-the-mill bad run but still in 4th: ‘we’re in trouble. Dunno about Lampard. Tottenham will kill us .’

I can't speak for others but my own expectations weren't high for this season and was quite happy for it to be a work in progress to allow youngsters to be integrated and identify what signings we might need when the ban was lifted. I guess expectations got adjusted after how well we were playing and the table position but we all know things can change so quickly and so it has proved. BUT, it's one thing dropping points to decent teams but we have lost at home to a very poor West Ham and now a very under strength Bournemouth side so I think it is only right that supporters are a little concerned, even though some are going a bit OTT.

Lamps will know better than anyone that he will need to halt this run as things can escalate so quickly and if the defeats and poor performances keep going through Christmas and into January, the pressure will mount. A much improved performance against Sp*rs and 3 points would be a real boost and give us all a great Christmas!

 

Edited December 14, 20196 yr by Nibs

31 minutes ago, Dean said:

Agree. It’s painful. People really need to just lower expectations again after they got way ahead of themselves by the city game (the peak).

Consensus at the beginning of the season: ‘Not expecting much and prepared to give SFL time to rebuild.’

have a run-of-the-mill bad run but still in 4th: ‘we’re in trouble. Dunno about Lampard. Tottenham will kill us .’

This last thing has a lot more going on, it's not just about high expectations or whatever. It would have been a very important fixture even if we were currently 9th in the league.

But being 4th and with other top managers and pundits saying that we have good players and that it's hard to find players that are better than the ones we already have changes the expectations anyway.

Well we know /knew the problems from the start, with the ban and all, but f**k me the last few games we've been utter f**king useless. I've been saying it for ages this idea of sideways, sideways backwards and repeat football is NOT f**king working, and people keep telling me it's the modern way. Well f**k the modern way. And anyone else tells me that piece of crap Willian deserves t be playing for us aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh f**k it all. Totally pissed off.

Rant over. 

5 minutes ago, Nibs said:

I can't speak for others but my own expectations weren't high for this season and was quite happy for it to be a work in progress to allow youngsters to be integrated and identify what signings we might need when the ban was lifted. I guess expectations got adjusted after how well we were playing and the table position but we all know things can change so quickly and so it has proved. BUT, it's one thing dropping points to decent teams but we have lost at home to a very poor West Ham and now a very under strength Bournemouth side so I think it is only right that supporters are a little concerned, even though some are going a bit OTT.

Lamps will know better than anyone that he will need to halt this run as things can escalate so quickly and if the defeats and poor performances keep going through Christmas and into January, the pressure will mount. A much improved performance against Sp*rs and 3 points would be a real boost and give us all a great Christmas!

 

Your points are all fair, Nibs. Really shouldn’t be losing to Bournemouth, West Ham and the like. Really just saying, as you are, that some of the takes are a bit OTT. I’m also not a big fan of the reliance now i’m seeing on the January transfer window: 1) it may not change much; 2) i thought we were going to give youth a chance? Are we really THAT fickle? I’d much rather see Frank fix things with the team we have and then reassess in the summer.

 

4 minutes ago, Kev56 said:

Well we know /knew the problems from the start, with the ban and all, but f**k me the last few games we've been utter f**king useless. I've been saying it for ages this idea of sideways, sideways backwards and repeat football is NOT f**king working, and people keep telling me it's the modern way. Well f**k the modern way. And anyone else tells me that piece of crap Willian deserves t be playing for us aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh f**k it all. Totally pissed off.

Rant over. 

 

Modern day football is press high and hard, steal the ball, and move it forward lightning fast and strike.

That's how Liverpool won the CL, how they going to win the PL this year, and that's how they destroyed Man City. Citeh had no clue what hit them.

All these side way passes are foreplay without penetration. Simply useless.

 

23 minutes ago, Dean said:

Your points are all fair, Nibs. Really shouldn’t be losing to Bournemouth, West Ham and the like. Really just saying, as you are, that some of the takes are a bit OTT. I’m also not a big fan of the reliance now i’m seeing on the January transfer window: 1) it may not change much; 2) i thought we were going to give youth a chance? Are we really THAT fickle? I’d much rather see Frank fix things with the team we have and then reassess in the summer.

 

Lamps does have a real dilemma as I've touched on elsewhere. I too would like to see us stick with the youth but that's a gamble if some of them are struggling to regain the form they showed earlier. It would be better if CHO was already showing signs of being the player we hope he will be or if RLC was fit & available and raring to go. But right now, we are struggling and the squad does look a bit thin, so I would be all for replacing some of the players I don't see having a future at CFC (Giroud, Pedro, Barkley, Christensen) and signing better quality players in those positions. Not saying discard the youth, but rotate them when needed and just give ourselves a better, stronger looking squad.

 

Annual defeat to Bournemouth - tick. 
 

Mourinho, Conte, Sarri and now Frank have fallen victim. We were the better team today but predictable in our attack. Just not our day. The goal had a freak feel to it imo. 
 

i'm not happy with the way some of us come here and instead of just acknowledging that this squad is not good enough to win well organized teams, we come here and start claiming that this player or that player should start instead of this player or that player. 

There are numerous top quality players all over the world. We cannot continue to use average players and expect good results. All we can get from average players is mistakes week in week out, ignorance week in week out. 

When we had players like Hazard, Costa, Fabregas etc., the team had the quality to break teams down and win football matches. They were better than the opponents and so they were able to win matches. 

If Chelsea have the ambition to compete for trophies again in England, then we need to see it in this forth coming transfer window and in the summer. 

Edited December 14, 20196 yr by hephzibah

2 hours ago, Jackson27 said:

With Mount And Pulisic, You Have Two Players Who Want The Exact Same Area To Play In, You Can't Start Both, You Have To Start Either Or Put Pulisic On The Right Wing And Mason In His LMF Role, Fair Play To Bournemouth Though

Easy on the shift key bro.

 

2 minutes ago, Nibs said:

Lamps does have a real dilemma as I've touched on elsewhere. I too would like to see us stick with the youth but that's a gamble if some of them are struggling to regain the form they showed earlier. It would be better if CHO was already showing signs of being the player we hope he will be or if RLC was fit & available and raring to go. But right now, we are struggling and the squad does look a bit thin, so I would be all for replacing some of the players I don't see having a future at CFC (Giroud, Pedro, Barkley, Christensen) and signing better quality players in those positions. Not saying discard the youth, but rotate them when needed and just give ourselves a better, stronger looking squad.

 

If there are ways to do it in a sensible way (ie not panic buys that turn out to be flops) then sure. But we shouldn’t count on it. Overdoing it could be disruptive. We should also allow for the possibility that some of our current players are just having a dip in form and the reality that they are still youth: in theory their best playing days are ahead of them and so they SHOULD improve with time, though inevitably some of them won’t make the grade.

You called it. Serious note. Utter pathetic performance. Leicester dropped points. Bournemouth's injuries and even Harry Wilson got injured before kick off ffs.

We looked physically weak and did not get any foothole in the game. We just looked feeble and not willing to compete. Don't have anything positive to say about any of the players out there. Pulisic was not exactly good, but think Mount should have come instead of him as Mount was anonymous all game. Ryan Fraser roasted Azpi all game also. Azpi did not have the legs to deal with him. Sad to see such a good start come to a major stutter. It is realistic that by next weekend we may be not even be in the top 6. That can genuinely happen. With the form book, Spurs look more capable of beating us than we do of beating them. Hopefully that game gives motivation to the players and gets them to back their bloody ideas up.

The results are alarming. We just scraped past an under-strengthed Lille and we could easily be in the EL now, if they played their better players.

After this, there is no way Lamps will not be buying in January. Performances have dropped hugely.