Just now, DidierDrogbalala said:

Liverpool is in the FA cup

Right thanks. 

5 minutes ago, BadBlue said:

Sorry, i love Frank but this hat is too big for him at the moment. Historically other managers would have been gone by now on these results and way of playing. I think board will lose patience soon

Who else is going to do better with the current set of players and injuries?

1 minute ago, Spiller86 said:

Lucky to get a point in the end even if Alonso missed a sitter to win it. Good character to get that point it must be said. 

At the other end it's the same old story. Truth is our defensive setup including set pieces is a shambles and Frank needs to fix it quick smart or get someone in who can help him do that.

We've conceded 39 goals in the PL this season. Between set pieces and failed attempts to press the ball on the touchline I reckon that would account for at least 20. You can't keep making the same mistakes.

We know there is a low tolerance for failure with our hierarchy. If I'm honest I'm starting to fear for him a little.

If he gets Champions League football, then his job is safe, if our form continues as it has since December, and we keep losing or dropping points to bottom half sides, I think he could be in trouble if it costs us Top 4. 

I think he deserves anotjer season regardless, but he needs to turn the form around.

 Bournemouth getting relegated would seem a plus for us at the end of the season if they do go down, such a bogey team, it's 1 win, 1 draw and 3 losses in our last 5 Premier League matches against them, terrible form.

Still it is our own problems more the issue of course, so many unconvincing performances and points dropped against lower league sides this season, it's a problem that isn't going away and we need to fix it soon, or top 4 will be gone.

Woeful defensive performance again. The amount of goals conceded at set pieces IS down to the players AND. The manager and coaches. Derby we awful at the same last year

2 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

Right thanks. 

In all seriousness its Everton at home then Villa away then city at home so, gulp.

People need to stop blaming Frank. 4th place at this point of the season with no transfers after losing Hazard is no small feat. He should be judged after he gets a transfer window.

We may as well give Alonso a go as a centre forward! It's a win win really. It means Batshuayi and Giroud aren't on the park and means Alonso is nowhere near our goal.

That really was a painful watch. Alonso can clearly hold his head up high as can probably James.

Other than that you are really struggling to credit anyone with a decent performance. Particularly awful was Barkley, both strikers, Jorginho and Tomori. Those five put in league 1 performances.

No denying this is the weakest squad we have had for a sh*t load of seasons but the shift that five put in was embarrassing even with that acceptance. The ones I haven't mentioned were just decidedly average.

RLC has just been promoted from bring as good as Hazard to better than Messi after not playing for another 90 minutes.

Frank Lampard is the person that is not to be blamed here. He didn't get any player during the Winter break and with Tammy and Pulisic being injured this is the same team from last year just without Hazard = below average squad of players.

Abysmal defending and finishing once again. The light at the end of the tunnel this season is that we can afford to offload a lot of players who shouldn't be anywhere near the first team. 

we've got to sort out the spine of the team starting at the back. we cannot make any progress when our defending is as poor as it is.

the balance in midfield isn't too bad - Kovacic is coming on; I'd like to see RLC back in the running - Jorginho/Kante we've got options there

up front we lack real quality - have done since Didier left (apart from Costa maybe)

it's a big job - Frank can't do it without the backing of the Board but I still think Frank can take the team forward if he gets the chance to invest in some quality players 

1 minute ago, big blue said:

If he gets Champions League football, then his job is safe, if our form continues as it has since December, and we keep losing or dropping points to bottom half sides, I think he could be in trouble if it costs us Top 4. 

I think he deserves anotjer season regardless, but he needs to turn the form around.

I'd like to think he would be safe. At the start of the season who would have had us in 4th realistically?

However if we end up 6th or worse which at the moment wouldn't be suprising i could see the trigger being pulled but then i would seriouslt worry about us as a club, to hire a club legend who if you look at the bigger picture from the start of the season has us above expectation without any signins in two windows whislt all the rest improved and then sack him! That would be something even for us.

29 minutes ago, Deino said:

Sacking Conte was the right choice. What wasn't the right choice was not backing him the season after winning the league. The Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Zappacosta, Morata signing set us back 5 years. 

I doubt they were Conte's first choices, especially Drinkwater and Bakayoko, 

2 minutes ago, 2211 said:

We need the Man City ban to be upheld, then at least there's the safety net of 5th.

What makes you think that we would be safe of a 5 th place if the case above me old China ? The mancs as in utd seem to be 

the team that might be grabbing the 4 th spot on recent form . Then all it takes is one of the following TEAMS in the behind pack to pull its socks up for that 5 th spot since we are far more miss than hit at the moment .

 

Look at sheff utd as they at moment are playing AS a TEAM and just imagen if the blades can keep that going to end 

of the term as they will have earnt a CL place next season .

3 minutes ago, big blue said:

If he gets Champions League football, then his job is safe, if our form continues as it has since December, and we keep losing or dropping points to bottom half sides, I think he could be in trouble if it costs us Top 4. 

I think he deserves anotjer season regardless, but he needs to turn the form around.

I hope it doesn't come to the choice, but given the choice between Champions League football and Frank I reckon I know who will be picked. Transfer windows and Hazard departing etc. won't give him much grace.

The facts are that he is still a very young manager and we should get him some help to deal with these defensive issues so we stay in the top 4. Some of it is the players but when the goals keep coming from the same situations it is the system. 

Giroud is crap. Not good enough for this level any more. 

1 minute ago, DukesOfHazard said:

I'd like to think he would be safe. At the start of the season who would have had us in 4th realistically?

However if we end up 6th or worse which at the moment wouldn't be suprising i could see the trigger being pulled but then i would seriouslt worry about us as a club, to hire a club legend who if you look at the bigger picture from the start of the season has us above expectation without any signins in two windows whislt all the rest improved and then sack him! That would be something even for us.

At the start of the season i was expecting us to finsh 6th. I thought we would struggle against the top sides, and put away the weaker teams, but it hasnt panned out like that at all. 

If we finish weak, anything is possible, we've sacked better managers for less. 

 

Just now, CFCCAN said:

I doubt they were Conte's first choices, especially Drinkwater and Bakayoko, 

I said the board didn't back Conte. Back then Abramovich tried to buy anyone that was considered good into the club.

Whoever in the club that thought Drinkwater and Bakayoko were good enough for Chelsea should be forced to watch clips of bad performances from those two for 10+ hours.

3 minutes ago, ddrblue said:

What makes you think that we would be safe of a 5 th place if the case above me old China ? The mancs as in utd seem to be 

the team that might be grabbing the 4 th spot on recent form . Then all it takes is one of the following TEAMS in the behind pack to pull its socks up for that 5 th spot since we are far more miss than hit at the moment .

 

Look at sheff utd as they at moment are playing AS a TEAM and just imagen if the blades can keep that going to end 

of the term as they will have earnt a CL place next season .

Safety net was probably the wrong phrase.

I kinda meant there would be another place up for grabs if we can hold our nerve.

Edited February 29, 20206 yr by 2211

1 minute ago, enigma said:

Giroud is crap. Not good enough for this level any more. 

Sad thing is he's a few levels ahead of Michy. Giroud made the first goal and he still has important moments in games, sadly Michys appearance gives the opposition important moments. 

Just now, big blue said:

At the start of the season i was expecting us to finsh 6th. I thought we would struggle against the top sides, and put away the weaker teams, but it hasnt panned out like that at all. 

If we finish weak, anything is possible, we've sacked better managers for less. 

 

I was expecting the same but what a shocker of a season it has been so far.

I hope we keep him, his style of play will suit Roman and many of us after years of pragmatic football but a the same time he needs backing from the board and at this point in time i think he'll have to admit he may need some help with the defensive side of things and bring in a different coach.

Michy is just a pineappple at this point, I don't think he should be on the bench even.

We got Liverpool, City and Everton (unless I'm missing someone) of the supposed toughest fixtures remaining. Looking at others fixtures, it's going to the wire. Injuries has affected us this season, or at least the latter half of the season anyway. 

4th for another weekend at least. It feels inevitable that we will drop out of it though. Once again, the weaknesses in this group were exposed. Basically, teams just need to sit off us for a bit, put pressure on in the second half and we crumble. We have one defender in this whole team that can defend, Azpilicueta, everybody else is terrible. We have sacrificed defending for ball playing cb's and it's made us a much weaker football team. The same goes with the midfield, it has zero stength in there, just weak ball players. Play a simple ball through them and we are in big trouble. Jorginho and Kovacic are our best CM pairing this season, no doubt about that, but in the long run, it will never bring us success. Jorginho and Kovacic will eventually be bullied as a pairing, they aren't Xavi and Iniesta and this isn't La Liga. There is almost zero physical presence in this team, almost every single one of our players on the field today was lightweight. Kante will bring some physicality to our game, but we will never take full advantage of it if we are going to keep giving him a free role and have him running around like a headless chicken.

We seriously need some muscle in this team and players that aren't going to crumble at the slightest bit of pressure. Loftus-Cheek's presence alone would improve this team, and he's good on the ball too. I can't wait until he is back playing. He won't be back to his best for a while, but it would be nice to see a player in our team that won't be bullied by the opposition so easily.

I still stand by the belief that we are overachieving so far. Even more so with the key injuries we have.