15 hours ago, Ernie_blue said:

Havertz has shown nothing to be better than anyone in terms of passing in the final third so far, the bloke struggles to make 5 yard passes.

Jorginho isn’t looking too bad now is he! 

44 minutes ago, Slojo said:

Don't know about that, have you seen our next 7 fixtures? I would keep it for the time being. 

Your probably right, but if we want to be more offensive against teams below us in the table in poor form, we need to get away from a back three, it feels like a relegation fighting set up, not a club fighting for 2nd.

22 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

Jorginho isn’t looking too bad now is he! 

2 wrongs don't make a right...

3 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

Let's look at the form guide :

Atletico Madrid : last 4 in La Liga. D W D L - they are now being caught rapidly by the worst Real Madrid and Barcelona sides in several years.

Manchester United: won 2 drawn 3 lost 1 in their last 6 in the PL

Liverpool : lost their last 4 PL games ; lost their last 4 PL games at home as well

Everton: won 2 drawn 1 lost 3 in their last 6 in the PL

Leeds: won 3 lost 3 in their last 6 in the PL

 

Is there really anything coming up in this run of fixtures that means we need to sh*t the bed ? 🙂

Barnsley are from a league below - we struggled to beat them. Saints had lost 6 on the bounce - couldn't beat them. 
 

Plus general lack of attacking threat. 
 

so, yeah, I think the next run of games is a very stern test for this Chelsea team.

3 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

No, we didn't. But we needed a penalty to rescue a point against a side that had conceded fourteen goals in their last three games and lost their last six matches which included a 9-0 drubbing against United. 

If ever a team was there for the taking it was Southampton. 

We mustered just three shots on target all game. A 40 yard hit and hope from Rudiger, Zouma with a header from a set piece and Mount's penalty. 

Add in Tuchel deciding to throw CHO under the bus for no apparent reason and knowing we play league leaders Atletico Madrid next there was exactly a stream of positives to take away from the game yesterday. 

Well I for one didn't expect an easy win, I thought they would score first and we would have a difficult game to win.

It's not the first time we struggled against a team that has had bad results, we lack the decisive edge against teams that are really on the ropes this isn't anything new and I'm not surprised that Tuchel couldn't change that particular thing after such a short time period.

I think that Tuchel trusts CHO a lot and sees him as a player that can make a difference for us. I wish we had more players like that.

Tuchel did answer all the questions very straight forward after the game, you could see that he was very honest, he even said that his job is to get the wins and not to assemble some expensive set of players to play together, he was brutally honest.

I think that's the way to go, CHO is a great talent and if his manager specifically puts him in the game so that he changes it but he sees that the player doesn't do accordingly he has all the right to be unhappy with him, if he can correct certain things about CHO now while he's still developing CHO will become an amazing attacker.

We'll see just how well we can hold our ground after Atletico and Man United - Those that believe that we're not a good team are mistaken if you ask me, we have the talent for the top 4 but we need to claim it and keep it.

21 hours ago, Argo said:

I have bit my tongue for the first month or so because I understood people were still quite raw over the Frank sacking so I didn't want to rub salt in the wounds but to say there's been no improvement from those horror last two months is totally wrong.

In those times teams were cutting through our defense and midfield like they were nothing, the gaps between them was enormous, the most outrageous example being a header out in our opponents final third ending up being a clean through chance on goal something you shouldn't even be seeing in under 8s football, we were struggling to string passes together and even the times we won it was done in the most unconvincing manner possible and/or the opponents being down to ten. The fact James Madison came out and may aswell have said that we were piss easy to exploit says it all.

Are things superb under Tuchel so far? No, but apart from one horror show at Oakwell we are if all else fails mastering one thing we didn't get close to doing in those last month's (and even at times when things were looking good/promising under Frank like the two Sheffield games last season), the basics. Game management, stringing passes together and actually having a midfield (which has also translated to probably our best defensive performances for a while even when we've played Kepa and had no Silva) however chances creation needs improving I can't argue with that. Similar principal to when we brought Eto'o in and played him instead of Torres, was the former fantastic? No but if all else failed he got the bare basics right the vast majority of the time, there was also arguments lobbying the latter equally or favourably then.

For the record I thought he got his selections wrong today, he should have put Werner up top (if there's one game that can work it's this one given the space they leave in behind), took Alonso and Kante (instead of Kova) off and left Ziyech firmly on the bench but I'm not having this there's been no improvement from those December/January horror shows. If you said there's not much if any improvement from the Autumn that I could understand there's certainly not a million miles in it (but then if we maintained that level Frank would still be here) but from the complete collapse of the winter? Absolutely no chance has there been no improvement.

👌🏾👍🏾 You said everything I wanted to write but can't be bothered to type it out.

No matter what Tuchel does or any manager after you will have few would thinks Lampard was going to get us challenging for titles when he couldn't even get Derby out of the championship.

I have seen a clear plan and structure Tuchel is trying to develop but he's hardly had any time in between matches, there I say getting our midweek back wouldn't be the worst thing in the world even though I want us to progress but either way I can see the big picture.

6 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

Well I for one didn't expect an easy win, I thought they would score first and we would have a difficult game to win.

It's not the first time we struggled against a team that has had bad results, we lack the decisive edge against teams that are really on the ropes this isn't anything new and I'm not surprised that Tuchel couldn't change that particular thing after such a short time period.

I think that Tuchel trusts CHO a lot and sees him as a player that can make a difference for us. I wish we had more players like that.

Tuchel did answer all the questions very straight forward after the game, you could see that he was very honest, he even said that his job is to get the wins and not to assemble some expensive set of players to play together, he was brutally honest.

I think that's the way to go, CHO is a great talent and if his manager specifically puts him in the game so that he changes it but he sees that the player doesn't do accordingly he has all the right to be unhappy with him, if he can correct certain things about CHO now while he's still developing CHO will become an amazing attacker.

We'll see just how well we can hold our ground after Atletico and Man United - Those that believe that we're not a good team are mistaken if you ask me, we have the talent for the top 4 but we need to claim it and keep it.

We are indeed a collective of good players, but we make fundamental mistakes, are not decisive enough, and definitely not incisive enough, the changing of a personnel from a winning team, seemed to bite us hard, Werner must be thinking, wow the difference from a more open bundesliga, where the emphasis is on not to play more open football mindset, to the claustrophobic, hardly any space to run in to PL, teams are definitely defending deeper, where room behind is paramount, my observation of course, but the PL has become hard to watch lately...

22 minutes ago, Ballack & Blu said:

We are indeed a collective of good players, but we make fundamental mistakes, are not decisive enough, and definitely not incisive enough, the changing of a personnel from a winning team, seemed to bite us hard, Werner must be thinking, wow the difference from a more open bundesliga, where the emphasis is on not to play more open football mindset, to the claustrophobic, hardly any space to run in to PL, teams are definitely defending deeper, where room behind is paramount, my observation of course, but the PL has become hard to watch lately...

We are desperate for someone to become a top attacker, if Pulisic comes back strong or Havertz it would be so huge for us and it would make the games much more enjoyable to watch.

Impressed with Tuchel and how he has tried to change things but im just baffled how good our squad looks on paper but still cannot create any meaningful attacks.

Been like this since we lost Costa and Cesc. Then we relied on Hazard and Pedro and since then its turned into the same even with so much money spent. Painful seeing a group of expensive players hold so much of the ball yet unable to break teams down whether they park the bus or not.

44 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

Well I for one didn't expect an easy win, I thought they would score first and we would have a difficult game to win.

You expected the team on a run of 6 consecutive league losses to score first against a side that had conceded once in 6 games? 

Blimey. 

2 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

You expected the team on a run of 6 consecutive league losses to score first against a side that had conceded once in 6 games? 

Blimey. 

Yes I thought we would underestimate them and concede but I still thought we would win... It's not the first time it has happened, we haven't shown up against teams that are desperate for points both during last season and this season before this game.

6 minutes ago, KonaKai Blue said:

Impressed with Tuchel and how he has tried to change things but im just baffled how good our squad looks on paper but still cannot create any meaningful attacks.

There's no way this squad should be struggling for shots on target let alone goals. 

If not for penalties Tuchel's start at Chelsea would look very different. 

We have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to attacking players but their output this season has been terrible. 

Is it a coaching or a confidence problem? Or something else? But these players are capable of doing a lot more than what they're giving in a Chelsea shirt this season. 

21 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Alonso was playing a stinker today. He had TWO left backs on the bench but instead chose to sub off the player he subbed on because of his body language? 

And replaces him with the player with the worse body language I’ve seen in years at the club

Just now, ForeverCarefree said:

There's no way this squad should be struggling for shots on target let alone goals. 

If not for penalties Tuchel's start at Chelsea would look very different. 

We have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to attacking players but their output this season has been terrible. 

Is it a coaching or a confidence problem? Or something else? But these players are capable of doing a lot more than what they're giving in a Chelsea shirt this season. 

It starts with the coaches not having time at all on the training pitch in this strange season. Throw six new players into the mix and the dressing room dynamic changes. Injuries and lack of training time will impact on players forming relationships on the pitch. How many times do we see Werner calling for the through ball or over the top and it never materialise? Add to this our midfield is very easy to defend against, goals and chance creation from midfield is woeful. 

2 minutes ago, charierre said:

It starts with the coaches not having time at all on the training pitch in this strange season. 

Perhaps Tuchel shouldn't have given the entire squad two full days off this week in the build up to the Southampton game? 

Just now, ForeverCarefree said:

Perhaps Tuchel shouldn't have given the entire squad two full days off this week in the build up to the Southampton game? 

From a footballing side probably not, though from a human side the players do need some free time with their families. Fatigue both mentally and physically will have a massive effect in the final third of the season. It though would really help our cause in the final third if we still had a fully fit and functioning Hazard who took the weight away from our underperforming midfield attack wise.

4 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

Well he had moved across as Rudiger moved over to where Alonso was. Dave hadn't and so a gap opened up. Issue is as much that there was no pressure on the ball in midfield. Not absolving Zouma just saying he wasn't the only one to blame. Similar tactic that has bought us undone for years. If it was an individual mistake then the pattern wouldn't have been repeated with multiple different defenders over the years.

And as for only chances we conceded, our issue for about 3 seasons is we don't concede many chances but the ones we do concede are big chances and we normally let a goal in. Combined with not taking your chances (Alonso should have scored after about 5 minutes) you don't win games.

Tonight was a wakeup call. A team pressed and harried us and it didn't go as well. Others will have been watching that approach.

Nah, alonso pressed Redmond, we played back 5 so that wasn't a problem. we had back 4 intact with a dm in front shadowing the ball, that is pretty basic. The problem was Zouma, what the hell was he doing. He was running back defending no one, azpi was distracted by ings, that is why he was late in covering Takumi run. It was just school boy defending. 

Honestly with Kante, we has alway been solid defending attack through the middle this seaaon and last except against city where he got confused. 

2 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

There's no way this squad should be struggling for shots on target let alone goals. 

If not for penalties Tuchel's start at Chelsea would look very different. 

We have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to attacking players but their output this season has been terrible. 

Is it a coaching or a confidence problem? Or something else? But these players are capable of doing a lot more than what they're giving in a Chelsea shirt this season. 

Quite right on the pens, 2 less points from Spurs and Sheff United, 1 less from Saints.

With the run we have coming up and how useless our forwards are, bar Mount, I can see us back down to 8th or lower soon.

At the end of the day the players needed a kick up the arse and I hope Tuchel has given them it in the dressing room. We don't have one player playing at a world class level at the moment and for the money they're earning and the money we paid for them that is unacceptable. Someone needs to step up. starting on Tuesday.

1 hour ago, axman2526 said:

Quite right on the pens, 2 less points from Spurs and Sheff United, 1 less from Saints.

With the run we have coming up and how useless our forwards are, bar Mount, I can see us back down to 8th or lower soon.

Agreed. I will be surprised if we see anything different. Our best run this season under Lampard was during a similarly favorable set of fixtures. We dipped when we cam across tougher opposition. So far I have seen nothing to suggest things will be drastically different under Tuchel. 

25 minutes ago, forbzy said:

Agreed. I will be surprised if we see anything different. Our best run this season under Lampard was during a similarly favorable set of fixtures. We dipped when we cam across tougher opposition. So far I have seen nothing to suggest things will be drastically different under Tuchel. 

For all that some say that there’s an improvement, there really isn’t an improvement other than coming out of a slump during the most congested period in a very weird season where spammers are in top 4. Barnsley or Southampton were no better than Luton and Fulham (Barnsley was more disgraceful than Arsenal, tbh). Some don’t realise it’s not about the coach but that this group of players haven’t got what it takes to become world class, we have a good team but not better than Leicester or Everton at the moment.

13 minutes ago, RMH said:

For all that some say that there’s an improvement, there really isn’t an improvement other than coming out of a slump during the most congested period in a very weird season where spammers are in top 4. Barnsley or Southampton were no better than Luton and Fulham (Barnsley was more disgraceful than Arsenal, tbh). Some don’t realise it’s not about the coach but that this group of players haven’t got what it takes to become world class, we have a good team but not better than Leicester or Everton at the moment.

C’mon you really think we don’t have better players than Everton & Leicester? Bar City I and maybe Liverpool I don’t think I would swap our squad for anyone’s.

What we lack is genuine pace in the final third, bar Werner & CHO we lack anyone willing to run with the ball. Every team ahead of us has that in abundance.

16 hours ago, Slojo said:

Thank god for you on here, that's all I can say. 

Some f**king pathetic posts on here. Every time we drop points it's going to be the same story, Lampard gets brought up, every single time. But don't you dare suggest that people revel in us dropping points. 

And as I type City are currently having an all the possession not many chances created type of game or as some say "boring watch".

Should have kept Pellegrini!

Edited February 21, 20215 yr by Argo

5 hours ago, Brutos said:

👌🏾👍🏾 You said everything I wanted to write but can't be bothered to type it out.

No matter what Tuchel does or any manager after you will have few would thinks Lampard was going to get us challenging for titles when he couldn't even get Derby out of the championship.

I have seen a clear plan and structure Tuchel is trying to develop but he's hardly had any time in between matches, there I say getting our midweek back wouldn't be the worst thing in the world even though I want us to progress but either way I can see the big picture.

Tbh (and I think we clashed a couple of times due to it) I did like the potential from last season, expected inconsistency's but when it came together things did look very good.

The hope from my side is that as time went on the raw sides of Frank management eroded and the promise became more dominant but unfortunately the total opposite happened.

2 minutes ago, ducavis said:

C’mon you really think we don’t have better players than Everton & Leicester? Bar City I and maybe Liverpool I don’t think I would swap our squad for anyone’s.

What we lack is genuine pace in the final third, bar Werner & CHO we lack anyone willing to run with the ball. Every team ahead of us has that in abundance.

Do you really think that our defence is better than Leicester’s or Everton? Our attacking front better than Richarlison+Calvert-Lewis, Madison+Barnes+Vardy? Our midfield better than theirs? We have a good team, but the quality is no better than other teams, and more importantly, they are not playing like a team but a bunch of guys that just got together. Weave loads of players with a lot of great potential, but at the moment our position in the classification shows our level at the moment.