34 minutes ago, Davey Baby said:

All season long we've conceded from corners. It's a real problem. Again today, predictably. We had a million corners of our own today, far more than them, but they score from one and we don't. We have two CBs who are good in the air, Zouma and Rudiger. Neither are great CBs but nor are Christensen or Tomori great CBs, so you play the two who are good in the air. It's that simple. Sure, we're still vulnerable at corners with Zouma and Rudiger, but they're far more likely to get their head on the ball than Christensen, and furthermore, they're far more likely to score from a corner at the other end. Why does Christensen go up for corners? Anyone? What does Christensen do that Zouma can't? Anyone? Christensen's become an untouchable lately. No matter how sh*t he plays, he keeps his spot, a bit like Kante and a bit like Mount. I'm really starting to question Frank's judgement. Christensen should be nowhere near this side.

 

None of our CBs are too hot, that's why Frank is still undecided on his best two. That's why Frank has started playing three, to make us more secure, but nothing works. In this scenario we have to realise the importance of corners and set pieces. They make the difference in games like today. We can't score from a million corners, they get a few and score from one. Play your best two in the air. It's a no-brainer.

It's an interesting suggestion, though Frank did exactly that at home against Bournemouth ... and with Rudiger and Zouma we lost 1-0 ?

I think you pick one who is good in the air, and one who is good on the ground ... complementary skills as it were. I still think Zouma and Tomori has been our best pairing this season to date.

The big problem for me is that Frank still has no clue what his best defence is after 40 games ... the constant chopping and changing can't be helping ...

Edited February 29, 20206 yr by Sexyfootball

Wow for entertainment 10/10 for CFC 5.5/10.  The half for the away point.

So much for @Zeta prediction 0f 8-2, thankfully.

• We could have put the match to bed in the first yet even then in those first 10 minutes Bournemouth had a real go and were threatening to open us up.
• James's early defending was key here, the headed ball clearance to stop  them get a second chance in the box and generally holding the ball up while others got their shape, at one point taking on three defenders before offloading.
• James played well in the first yet apart from the goal is not finding any of our players with his crosses as they have little pace and are played into the player rather than the space he needs to attack. The one for the goal was where an overlap was created and he had a little more time to put over the first few defenders. Well done Marcos Alonso.
• Giroud's finishing does not look as sharp since he started against Spurs yet we should have been 2-0 or perhaps three at HT.
• Kova was a little lucky not to get booked for going through the back of someone and Jorgy booked once again, think he misses the next two matches. Jorgy is getting exposed as he is not a defensive midfielder and while Kova is trying to get us forward Jorgy if left to stop any breaks = too many yellows.
•  Second half they bombarded and seemed to target Tomori who dived in and this led to their first.
• Their second was the corner and both Tomori and Christensen shaped up against Lermer and Billings who standing stacked togther . Not sure what then happened next but it left Lermer against Kova and 2nd goal. Force of the header seemed to shock Willy.
•  We battled and Frank going to a back four seemed to give us more impetus though surprised he left Christensen with Azpi.
•  Surprised also to see Barkley rather than RLC, is the latter really fit?
• Alonso in the right place gets us even and then the hail and rain come down.
• Pedro was active all match and also thought Mount again put in shift.
•  Can't fault the effort today the boys never gave up and thought Barkley might steal it on the 90th minute only to miskisck. 

Bournemouth looked a threat all match on the counter and we might have got away with the odd dodgy challenge, re Kova and later Alonso on Fraser.

2-2 fair result for me and much improved on the 4-0 loss last season.

We have major work to do defensively.

Billings looks very much like Mings wonder if they are related.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 29, 20206 yr by Strider6003

16 minutes ago, The Brit said:

One of my biggest disappointments over how the season has gone is that in the first Three-four months, you could at least see a game-plan and exciting style which made the odd poor result easier to deal with - you felt we were going in the right direction. But for a long time now the football has been as sh*t as the results. Certainly don’t get the vibe the players are buzzing off Lampard’s presence as they were at the start. One wonders if like so many times in the past, some of them don’t believe is the man in charge.

I agree accept for the last bit. I don't think so much they don't believe in Lamps but a lot of them probably know they are on borrowed time and aren't in his plans after this season so why bust a gut? We really do have too many average players who have to be replaced in the summer.

11 minutes ago, Nibs said:

I agree accept for the last bit. I don't think so much they don't believe in Lamps but a lot of them probably know they are on borrowed time and aren't in his plans after this season so why bust a gut? We really do have too many average players who have to be replaced in the summer.

Yeah good point Nibs. It could be that instead. A number know he doesn’t really rate them by the way he keeps dropping them - not that many should complain either given how they’ve performed. Certainly doesn’t feel like a happy camp at the moment - but then that’s inevitable with the run they’ve been on 

1 minute ago, Nibs said:

I agree accept for the last bit. I don't think so much they don't believe in Lamps but a lot of them probably know they are on borrowed time and aren't in his plans after this season so why bust a gut? We really do have too many average players who have to be replaced in the summer.

Because there are so many, is it possible to replace then all in one window? A LB, CB (possibly two) and a ST has to be top priority,and if Kante leaves, we will need another midfielder too, unless we plan to play Loftus-Cheek and one of the other midfielders together, but that would mean we need to sign an AM. There are question marks on the goalkeepers and the wingers are still an issue too. Pulisic still has a lot to prove before I am convinced he will be a great player, same with Hudson Odoi. Ziyech sorts out our RW, but with Willian and Pedro looking like they will leave, it probably means we need to bring in another. Pulisic, Hudson-Odoi and Ziyech would be a bit of a gamble.

We need to get deals done quickly for next season. It will be hard to do with the Euro's, but we really can't afford to be slow in the transfer market again. I highly doubt we can sort everything out in one window though. I think it's going to take two summer windows to sort out this squad.

The biggest blame for our predicament has to go to the board. So much money wasted on players not fit to lace the boots of their predecessors. 

4 minutes ago, The Brit said:

The biggest blame for our predicament has to go to the board. So much money wasted on players not fit to lace the boots of their predecessors. 

More specifically, whoever it is that is actually in charge of scouting and recruitment.

The board have sanctioned a good deal of expenditure ... it's just that hardly any of it has gone on players that actually improved our first XI.

Edited February 29, 20206 yr by Sexyfootball

Could do with just one of this lot in our team today what a difference it would make

We have a three matches coming up now where Jorgy can't play re bookings, league and CL.

It will be interesting to see who slots in, especially if Kante is still out.

1 minute ago, The Rising Sun said:

Could do with just one of this lot in our team today what a difference it would make

If we could pick just one, who would it be? For me, as hard as the task is, it’s JT. We sorely miss his leadership on and off the pitch and his dominance at the back.

17 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Because there are so many, is it possible to replace then all in one window? A LB, CB (possibly two) and a ST has to be top priority,and if Kante leaves, we will need another midfielder too, unless we plan to play Loftus-Cheek and one of the other midfielders together, but that would mean we need to sign an AM. There are question marks on the goalkeepers and the wingers are still an issue too. Pulisic still has a lot to prove before I am convinced he will be a great player, same with Hudson Odoi. Ziyech sorts out our RW, but with Willian and Pedro looking like they will leave, it probably means we need to bring in another. Pulisic, Hudson-Odoi and Ziyech would be a bit of a gamble.

We need to get deals done quickly for next season. It will be hard to do with the Euro's, but we really can't afford to be slow in the transfer market again. I highly doubt we can sort everything out in one window though. I think it's going to take two summer windows to sort out this squad.

Lamps must be sitting down with the powers that be and being "Frank" with them and tell them a lot of the squad are not good enough. Some once were but are in decline, others never have been good enough. They need telling that there are no miracles here - can't wave a magic wand and make everything okay. We have the nucleus of a good squad but the club have spent little money with the ban and we have the Hazard money so this summer they need to splash out BIG on

Keeper

CB (maybe 2)

Left back

Striker

One more wide player

Can still integrate the youngsters and we'll hopefully have RLC, Ampadu Pulisic and CHO (Gilmout too but he'll probably go on loan), but we do need to spend a sh*t-load if we want to be competitive.

 

9 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

We have a three matches coming up now where Jorgy can't play re bookings, league and CL.

It will be interesting to see who slots in, especially if Kante is still out.

Hopefully Gilmour.

44 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

Agree that it's not all about finishing. 39 goals conceded is the story and that is down not just to poor players (you could hardly suggest David Luiz would have improved our squad and he is the only difference to last season) .

The second goal I've watched a billion times this year. Ball is switched to the far side. Someone rushes out to press, the rest of the team are too slow to shuffle over and they pour through the middle and score. The set piece stuff is largely the same. For some reason Christensen is zonal and Kovacic is on the player. It seems simple but it keeps happening.

Challenge for Frank is that he has tried to be more open with the ball this season to compensate for the huge loss of Hazard and our general inability to finish a chance. That has meant we have conceded more, but he isn't getting reward in goals for being more open either. 

More and more I think he is running low on answers, which is fair because he is an inexperienced coach, and Conte and Sarri couldn't solve this conundrum between them either. I think Frank needs help in this area and I think our young team requires a headkicker to sort them out. We've got a young coach and multiple young assistants. An older head is needed to tighten us up and play the bad guy to do that if needed.

I think we need to be proactive on this, because we need solutions for the rest of the year. If we don't find them we won't be featuring in the CL and we won't therefore be improving our squad to the level we need to.

Frank shuffled our defensive pack today and it cost us a bit though to be fair both Christensen and Azpi sold themselves against Bayern and the only defender that has not is Zouma yet he has not played.

Our goal threat had evaporated so Frank changes it with 3CBs and welcomes back Giroud and Alonso and in our last two EPL matches and they have scored 4 between them.

The trick is to keep the goal threat and tighten up at the back. 

I'm hoping with Jorgy being out for 3 matches with suspensions we find a better defensive midfield solution, it won't solve the corners yet might stop other goals.

With Watford winning, Bournemouth are now officially in the bottom three  ?

2 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

It's an interesting suggestion, though Frank did exactly that at home against Bournemouth ... and with Rudiger and Zouma we lost 1-0 ?

I think you pick one who is good in the air, and one who is good on the ground ... complementary skills as it were. I still think Zouma and Tomori has been our best pairing this season to date.

The big problem for me is that Frank still has no clue what his best defence is after 40 games ... the constant chopping and changing can't be helping ...

 

I don't see how Christensen or Tomori are better on the ground though, but I take your point about our best pairing this season being Zouma and Tomori. We were actually doing well then, and they seemed to enjoy playing together, they had a real vibe between them. I fancy Zouma will be off in the summer. If you can't get a game ahead of Christensen you know the manager doesn't fancy you.

1 hour ago, The Brit said:

If we could pick just one, who would it be? For me, as hard as the task is, it’s JT. We sorely miss his leadership on and off the pitch and his dominance at the back.

 

100%.

1 hour ago, Sexyfootball said:

With Watford winning, Bournemouth are now officially in the bottom three  ?

Good.

3 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I don't understand the appeal in Ake at all. The people that want him must be guessing his quality rather than watching him, because he is a bang average defender. He is all over the place every time I watch him.

Sounds like he’d slot right in to our defence no problem then!

3 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

Sounds like he’d slot right in to our defence no problem then!

But I don't want to be more angry ?

2 hours ago, Davey Baby said:

 

I don't see how Christensen or Tomori are better on the ground though, but I take your point about our best pairing this season being Zouma and Tomori. We were actually doing well then, and they seemed to enjoy playing together, they had a real vibe between them. I fancy Zouma will be off in the summer. If you can't get a game ahead of Christensen you know the manager doesn't fancy you.

I wouldn't be too harsh on Tomori today. He had his worst game of the year after not playing for a couple of months. He was also skittish on the ball which is unusual. 

For me I wonder how much influence Jody is having on all this. He is a huge fan of Christensen referring to him as a Rolls Royce defender a few times last year. I still think Andreas is first out the door. He just isn't strong enough to win key challenges in the air. He lost two crucial ones again today.

A Boateng or Chiellini or Thiago Silva is what is required in the summer to organise and teach the other defenders. Even if they only play half the games. In the same way as JT learned a mountain from Desailly that is what we need from someone.

The defence isn’t going to improve in a hurry. No combination or formation has resulted in a confidence building  defence. So actually Frank is right when he says we need to score more goals, it’s the only way for the team this season. 
 

as soon as you say that then you realize the injuries really are a big deal. We knew before the season started that all the strikers were crap but that Tammy was the only one with a potential X factor and that’s the way it turned out until he was injured either against Valencia or Ajax can’t remember. but he needs creative pact players and both pulisic and cho have been out. I suspect pulisic injury may be quite long term he didn’t play that much for Dortmund last season and not much for us this season. Then Kante has been nowhere near fully fit all season. Rlc’s  also always injured. he had “back” problems last season. 
 

I didn’t think frank should have got the job but I reckon he’s done ok considering the talent.  A defensive minded manager of lower league teams might have run the team quite differently but I don’t want to watch Mourinho lite. 
 

looking forward seems like billy Gilmours going to get some minutes it’s either him or RLC for the vacant midfield spot with Jorginho out. Gilmour has impressed me but doing against the big boys is a big ask. RLC and Kovacic running the midfield is also a worry though, RLC doesn’t do defence and is more of a mount alternative. 
 

we can still make 4th but will have to get some of the attackers fitvand in form. 

Edited March 1, 20206 yr by ozboy

Looking at the goals I believe Willy Cab should be saving the first. A bit like the one Kepa let in against the toon.

The second was woeful defending on our left side.

Just not good enough, for about 88 minutes we looked decent, then 2 minutes we conceded 2 goals. In the end, we had to rely on a Left back to bail us out. Who ever is playing as the striker is not doing enough, it's time to play Alonso up front if we have another game tomorrow. The line up is somewhat confusing too, Tomori hasn't played for few weeks and all the sudden he's getting a start, Willian just not getting start but came on everytime we are in trouble. Caballero hasn't been bad up to this game, but everyone knew his limitations, and he's been conceding 2 a goal, so is Kepa really that bad in training that he doesn't get a game from now on? If Cabellero is dropped next game, is it another statement of GK makes mistakes, get dropped the next game. To the players' credit, we didn't stop and got a draw in the end, but looked like we lost the ability to even win on the road now.

4 hours ago, icecoolguy22 said:

Just not good enough, for about 88 minutes we looked decent, then 2 minutes we conceded 2 goals. In the end, we had to rely on a Left back to bail us out. Who ever is playing as the striker is not doing enough, it's time to play Alonso up front if we have another game tomorrow. The line up is somewhat confusing too, Tomori hasn't played for few weeks and all the sudden he's getting a start, Willian just not getting start but came on everytime we are in trouble. Caballero hasn't been bad up to this game, but everyone knew his limitations, and he's been conceding 2 a goal, so is Kepa really that bad in training that he doesn't get a game from now on? If Cabellero is dropped next game, is it another statement of GK makes mistakes, get dropped the next game. To the players' credit, we didn't stop and got a draw in the end, but looked like we lost the ability to even win on the road now.

We have an injury crisis with attacking players, defenders I agree we have options yet there are no stand-out performers.

Willy has been somewhat better than Kepa for me yet we are still conceding.

Willian has contract negotiations ongoing and they think this might affect his head in the game so he is a last throw of the dice.

Since 2017, Bornemouth have become a bogey team for us, they have beaten us home and away. 

Alonso is probably successful up-front because he is not a forward player, he ghosts into positions unmarked yet don't think he would work as an outright forward player.

 

 

Today’s match report in the Times describes Bournemouth and Chelsea as “two well-matched teams” - how depressing is that?