2 hours ago, Imran_CFC said:

I don't think it was really much of a choice for Frank, Azpi was clearly not fit to play the 90 & Emerson has had his foot out the door for 6 months now.

Even though Alonso didn't cover himself in glory but the decisive moment of the game was the madness from Chrstensen.

Im not picking on these two Imran, but my heart sinks when i see them in the side. Alonso is a desperately poor defender, Paceless and unbelievably Naive, and i dont need to explain Kepa, these two cost us goals time and time again, we will only appreciate how costly they've been when they are gone.

14 hours ago, The Don Antonio said:

Excuses , excuses excuses benefit only those who make them. We could easily have played a front 3 of werner Abraham and odoi if we wanted to have a go at them. Watford beat liverpool 3-0 last season when everyone thought they were invincible because Watford was brave and attacked them, and i am sure even with our 2 main Wingers and centre back missing our squad is still better than Watfords. I have no beef with lampard. I like his football but i have to call it out when i see my team playing like cowards.

How many teams did Liverpool destroy by the time they lost to Watford? So you choose to pick one game where they finally stumble while ignoring their winning run where they were tearing apart every side they faced for months?

Having a go at a well-settled world class side like  Liverpool when you're missing half of your starting eleven (Ziyech, Pulisic, Silva, Chilwell and even Mendy) and one of your new signings (Havertz) is still struggling to adapt to a new league and country after a couple of weeks of training, wiil get you destroyed nine times out of ten. Sure, you can pull a Watford once in a while, but exceptions only prove the rule.

If you go to any neutral football forum and suggest to posters that Chelsea would have a better shot at beating Pool with CHO and Tammy having a go instead of the cautious approach Frank employed last night people would think you're having a laugh. Truth of the matter is, this game happened too early for us, too many key players are still missing, no real preseason, we'll start getting the idea of what this team is really about in a couple of months or so, when it's more or less settled.

I remember when on this forum fans moans about cautious approach from other managers.

50 minutes ago, Osgoodwasgood said:

Im not picking on these two Imran, but my heart sinks when i see them in the side. Alonso is a desperately poor defender, Paceless and unbelievably Naive, and i dont need to explain Kepa, these two cost us goals time and time again, we will only appreciate how costly they've been when they are gone.

Definitely agree on both accounts with Kepa and Alonso, I felt as though if Lampard was planning on defending deep and having Alonso in the starting 11 he should've gone with a 3-5-2 formation and played Alonso as a Wingback. With 3 CB's we wouldve had cover for Alonso and James on the wings and the Central CB would've probably prevented the Mane run in behind which led to our downfall yesterday.

However the horse has bolted and we learn and move forward

Let’s be honest if Frank went at them and we got spanked 5-0 the media would be calling for his head. It’s really interesting to see how much they have turned after one defeat. He is severely hamstrung atm but some of his choices are bizarre. Some based on behind the scenes stuff we don’t know about no doubt. Now we need to go on a winning run until at least the United game. 

29 minutes ago, rtwelch said:

Let’s be honest if Frank went at them and we got spanked 5-0 the media would be calling for his head. It’s really interesting to see how much they have turned after one defeat. He is severely hamstrung atm but some of his choices are bizarre. Some based on behind the scenes stuff we don’t know about no doubt. Now we need to go on a winning run until at least the United game. 

Yes the media think Chelsea spend £200m+ now we can attack them when they are not playing well.

No account taken of missing Chillwell, Pulisic or Ziyech?

Frank beware.

Now that I've calmed down. It wasn't that bad of a game. It was level before Christensen's stupid mistake, Kepa also  made a terrible error.

We had good attacks but we're lacking a player that can link midfield to attack. Havertz and Werner constantly had spaces to run into but no one can make the pass because it's been so long since we had that kind of player. We always pass to feet hoping for moments of magic.

 

1 hour ago, abramovich said:

How many teams did Liverpool destroy by the time they lost to Watford? So you choose to pick one game where they finally stumble while ignoring their winning run where they were tearing apart every side they faced for months?

Having a go at a well-settled world class side like  Liverpool when you're missing half of your starting eleven (Ziyech, Pulisic, Silva, Chilwell and even Mendy) and one of your new signings (Havertz) is still struggling to adapt to a new league and country after a couple of weeks of training, wiil get you destroyed nine times out of ten. Sure, you can pull a Watford once in a while, but exceptions only prove the rule.

If you go to any neutral football forum and suggest to posters that Chelsea would have a better shot at beating Pool with CHO and Tammy having a go instead of the cautious approach Frank employed last night people would think you're having a laugh. Truth of the matter is, this game happened too early for us, too many key players are still missing, no real preseason, we'll start getting the idea of what this team is really about in a couple of months or so, when it's more or less settled.

     The point i was trying to make was that going to play liverpool with a negative approach is playing into their hands. Most of those teams that liverpool beat earlier last season where already defeated before they got on the field because they were on a winning run and seemed invincible and so they stupidly tried to park the bus . Watford did not go to the game with that mentality and showed that Liverpool have weaknesses . We did the same to Liverpool in the F.A cup last year and beat them 2-0 at the bridge.

     We showed them too much respect and where duly punished. Only God knows the amount of times we had the ball in midfield and just chose to pass backwards. I am 100 percent sure that most of our passes in that game were backwards and that was before the red card. We had a COWARDLY approach to the game and you trying to justify it because we had players missing and new players joining the team just sounds like excuses to me.

      May be Lampard's plan was to keep it tight and then bring on Giroud late on to win in it i have no clue. 

 You are right about only getting an idea of what this team is really about in 2 months though so i guess i will lower my standards for now. Thankfully we dont play any of the top 6 sides until october 24th  Hopefully we dont have the same approach to the Man u game in 5 weeks.

     

18 hours ago, Strider6003 said:

I thought we did ok first half up until Christensen tries a bear hug on Mane.

I noticed twice Kova go on his runs and actually lay the ball off well, Werner should have scored - 19th minute.

Kante in the first was everywhere and looked like he has finally shaken off the injuries.

Havertz with that excellent free kick and why was Alonso the only player going for it?

Werner is quick and had great movement yet was poor today when it came to shooting or playing someone else in.

Kepa was actually playing ok until that second goal.

Tammy had our best attempt on goal during his short cameo.

Allison the first keeper, I recall stopping a Jorgy penalty.

I think we will get better and just think of this as bad luck, a new keeper would be good as well as moving on Christensen to the bench. 

 

 

 

Am surprised nobody picked up on that Kova action. Seems many still see what they want to. Ok it’s just one piece of play but realistically you’re only going to get a few chances like that against Liverpool. It’s a “should-be” assist following a great run, yet goes unnoticed coz of bias and coz Werner (who is getting rave reviews and I don’t disagree with those by the way) failed to convert. 

2 hours ago, The Don Antonio said:

     The point i was trying to make was that going to play liverpool with a negative approach is playing into their hands. Most of those teams that liverpool beat earlier last season where already defeated before they got on the field because they were on a winning run and seemed invincible and so they stupidly tried to park the bus . Watford did not go to the game with that mentality and showed that Liverpool have weaknesses . We did the same to Liverpool in the F.A cup last year and beat them 2-0 at the bridge.

     We showed them too much respect and where duly punished. Only God knows the amount of times we had the ball in midfield and just chose to pass backwards. I am 100 percent sure that most of our passes in that game were backwards and that was before the red card. We had a COWARDLY approach to the game and you trying to justify it because we had players missing and new players joining the team just sounds like excuses to me.

      May be Lampard's plan was to keep it tight and then bring on Giroud late on to win in it i have no clue. 

 You are right about only getting an idea of what this team is really about in 2 months though so i guess i will lower my standards for now. Thankfully we dont play any of the top 6 sides until october 24th  Hopefully we dont have the same approach to the Man u game in 5 weeks.

     

You keep using that Watford game like it's an example of how to beat Liverpool when all it was just a rare off day for the best side in the league and a performance of the season from the Watford team where everything went their way in the match. It happens, but you can't use it as an instruction, simply because it requires your opponent (in this case, Liverpool) to play significantly below their usual standards for that to work. And no, not all teams parked the bus against them, some were more positive in their approach but the results were more or less the same because, and I don't take pleasure in saying that, Klopp created a very good side and they finished 18 points ahead of City last season for a reason.

Due to the poor timing and several key players missing Lampard had to play safer than he probably would have liked and until Christensen had a mental brainfart we were in the game. Once it was 10 vs 11 it was just a question of how badly we were going to lose. And it's nothing to do with being brave or cowardly, they're just a better side than us at the moment and we need to be at our absolute best both in playing personnel and performance on the pitch to expect a positive result against them.

Edited September 21, 20205 yr by abramovich

35 minutes ago, abramovich said:

You keep using that Watford game like it's an example of how to beat Liverpool when all it was just a rare off day for the best side in the league and a performance of the season from the Watford team where everything went their way in the match. It happens, but you can't use it as an instruction, simply because it requires your opponent (in this case, Liverpool) to play significantly below their usual standards for that to work. And no, not all teams parked the bus against them, some were more positive in their approach but the results were more or less the same because, and I don't take pleasure in saying that, Klopp created a very good side and they finished 18 points ahead of City last season for a reason.

Due to the poor timing and several key players missing Lampard had to play safer than he probably would have liked and until Christensen had a mental brainfart we were in the game. Once it was 10 vs 11 it was just a question of how badly we were going to lose. And it's nothing to do with being brave or cowardly, they're just a better side than us at the moment and we need to be at our absolute best both in playing personnel and performance on the pitch to expect a positive result against them.

     I get what you are trying to say and I wasn't saying we would have won if we played like Watford. My point was that Leeds were brave last week and almost got a result at Anfield .

     But  you are right that we were in the game until Christensens red card . If that hadn't occured and we happened to steal a win I would have called it a Lampard tactical masterclass . I guess I was just mad at losing to the Scouse . It is a new day and we move forward. Up the Chels.

8 hours ago, abramovich said:

How many teams did Liverpool destroy by the time they lost to Watford? So you choose to pick one game where they finally stumble while ignoring their winning run where they were tearing apart every side they faced for months?

Having a go at a well-settled world class side like  Liverpool when you're missing half of your starting eleven (Ziyech, Pulisic, Silva, Chilwell and even Mendy) and one of your new signings (Havertz) is still struggling to adapt to a new league and country after a couple of weeks of training, wiil get you destroyed nine times out of ten. Sure, you can pull a Watford once in a while, but exceptions only prove the rule.

If you go to any neutral football forum and suggest to posters that Chelsea would have a better shot at beating Pool with CHO and Tammy having a go instead of the cautious approach Frank employed last night people would think you're having a laugh. Truth of the matter is, this game happened too early for us, too many key players are still missing, no real preseason, we'll start getting the idea of what this team is really about in a couple of months or so, when it's more or less settled.

Quite a relief to read such a sensible post! I'm actually glad we don't have fans in the stadium at the moment otherwise judging from the general impatience, something potentially beautiful will be nipped in the bud as the players and manager are pressurized into failing.

4 hours ago, The Don Antonio said:

     I get what you are trying to say and I wasn't saying we would have won if we played like Watford. My point was that Leeds were brave last week and almost got a result at Anfield .

     But  you are right that we were in the game until Christensens red card . If that hadn't occured and we happened to steal a win I would have called it a Lampard tactical masterclass . I guess I was just mad at losing to the Scouse . It is a new day and we move forward. Up the Chels.

After watching open, adventurous football from most teams in the first two weeks, our timid ,cautious approach was disappointing. Liverpool's defence was all over the place trying to deal with Leeds constant attacks as they kept playing balls behind their high defensive line.

we were ideally placed to do the same , using Werners  pace.

Anyway, we gifted the game to them eventually, in defeat we learn .  Come on Chelsea !

Have calmed down a bit now and on reflection, just have to accept we were beaten by the better team.

It was frustrating to be playing that lot so early in the season with so many key players not available so Frank's options were limited and it was never a great game to watch. This season I hope and kind of expect to us to close the gap on Liverpool and City so that was the annoyance of yesterday that the gap looks as big as ever BUT once we have the new signings bedded in and some of the squad players out of the starting 11, then hopefully we will see the improvement and I'll take massive delight if (when) we turn the tables at Binfield in March.

Edited September 21, 20205 yr by Nibs

1 hour ago, ashwin said:

Quite a relief to read such a sensible post! I'm actually glad we don't have fans in the stadium at the moment otherwise judging from the general impatience, something potentially beautiful will be nipped in the bud as the players and manager are pressurized into failing.

Spot on mate... "Something potentially beautiful " is a wonderful phrase for our team and young manager.

On 20/09/2020 at 19:21, dkw said:

Yeah, this one game with our 2 main wingers, our new centre back, our new left back against the best team in england means we will definitely always play like that.... f**ks sake this place is getting worse. 

What happened at mighty Brighton then? Got dominated, created nothing and thankfully a lucky screamer and deflection saved us. 

Christ, remember when we had a few scrappy wins before getting spanked by Arsenal 3-0 in the league?

It was well and truly the end times then, the season just didn't get better after that...

It was just a bad day at the office, everyone has them. More important, is how we react. We desperately need Chilwell Thiago and Pulisic fit ASAP.  They will make a World of difference and maybe Frank will soon be able to settle down a regular starting XI. My biggest concern is the constant changing of personnel and formations. I get the personnel bit as we have still got injuries and lack of fitness but the formations look poorly thought out. With this squad, I think that 4-2-3-1 is the answer. Kepa, Christensen, Alonso and Dave are just not going to be good enough, so they should be released. We have to bring Mendy in this week, he starts, and when fit we go with, Thiago, Tomori, Chilwell James - Kante Kovacic -  Havertz, Pulisic Ziyech - Werner.  Subs Willy, Zouma, Rudiger, Giroud, Mount, Barkley, RLC, CHO, Rudiger. Lets keep our heads, most oppo lose to the Scouse Scum and this game just came too early for us.

It's time we saw some of these 1st team starters come off the physio bench...where's Pulisic, Ziyech or Chilwell? FL needs to start getting things right or Santa Roman will be giving him a Christmas present he'll not want...

Is FL gonna use his magic hands and heal their injuries? Where did you get your PHD from doctor

Edited September 22, 20205 yr by Stim

11 hours ago, cuppaT said:

What happened at mighty Brighton then? Got dominated, created nothing and thankfully a lucky screamer and deflection saved us. 

Are you for real?????  Got dominated, created nothing, a lucky screamer, my arse.

This is just revisionist bullsh*t and you should be ashamed to come in here and post bollocks like that.