5 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Not quite ... Azpi was playing at centre back ... making it all the more incredible that he popped up where he did !

That's where our full backs were going when we played back 4 with Lampard, doubling with  the wingers. So no surprise he showed where he did, habit?

 

Edited January 31, 20215 yr by mojo

2 minutes ago, Frankie8Lampard said:

I personally wouldn’t bring Kante back into the team unless we are playing teams where we’ll be on the defensive end. I’d keep Jorginho in the team against teams that are siting back against us and play Kante when we are playing against the cities and the Liverpool’s who will more likely attack us.

Yeah makes sense. Just factoring in the brilliance of Kante and what Tuchel himself has said about him and asking the question.

12 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

You could see how happy the players were for Alonso when he scored. 

That was quite telling for me says a lot about why Lampard couldn't continue the rift in the dressing room appears to have been bad

Great professional performance from the team, the rest will come with our attackers once it clicks. Tammy unfortunately didn't have a great game, we also need to shoot a bit more outside of the box when in space, we had a few moments like that.

Edited January 31, 20215 yr by Malcolm9

24 minutes ago, The Rising Sun said:

Bring on the Scum  !

1 hour ago, Nevamind said:

I dont see anything from this game that suggest defensive problems. He is doing fine. 

And then he showed up with a worldie... I'll have to slag off Werner lol

But seriously, all danger we carried was from CHO's side, and they targeted Alonso's side in he first half. I think that with Rudi there he was covered, but sometimes he was too late for the defensive job. But hey ho, what do I know, he got a superb goal and gave us the ease of mind we needed. 

Dominant performance and two cracking goals.....UP THE CHELS !

2 minutes ago, coco said:

Yeah it was, but i will get more excited when we eventually beat someone in the 9 places above us.

Anyone can beat anyone in this league and Burnley have showed that. I'm not getting carried away by beating them. A few weeks ago it would of been a nervy game for us. Like the Fulham game. It was encouraging to see us control and dominate the game. 

It gives us confidence going into the big game on Thursday now and hopefully we can repeat that performance against a Spurs side without Kane. 

 

Normal order starts to be resumed, we are back above Arsenal.

The side today seemed balanced which was interesting considering the changes.

• CHO played well as a right wing back and was heavily involved and could have had a goal yet certainly deserved an assist or two.
• Mount was lively too and looked to be one of our players that were going to get us a goal yet his finishing today was off.
• Kovacic was good in midfield continually looking to get us down the pitch and his distribution was reasonable too.
• Jorginho played well too, good positioning and closing down.
• Azpi worked well with CHO to score his goal, a clever strike as Pope was expecting a cross.
• Silva was good both defensively and coming forward at times when we were struggling to break Burnley’s defensive press.
• Rudiger didn’t notice any errors.
• Mendy worries me at times when he dribbles in the box though today he got away with it. Also not sure about that last corner he seemed rooted to the spot. He didn’t have a lot to save today, Burnley were poor offensively.
• Alonso was not heavily involved as most of our play went down the right and had Werner in front of him. He was his normal combative self. He had one chance with a header which to me looked like he was in two minds between an attempt on goal and heading across for someone else. After Pulisic was involved he was found on the edge of the box and he showed once again he can score as a well as any striker, what a goal!
• After the goal Alonso kissed the CFC emblem on his shirt.
• Werner very poor finishing, could have had a hattrick. Kept playing and making good moves. Think he needs help to sort out his mental block.
• Tammy, lost his touch today. Didn’t seem able to hold the ball and was lucky not to get booked in a push and shove with a Burnley player over what looked like a minor thing.
• Pulisic on in second half had good movement and always looked threatening. Good assist from the left wing into Alonso for the second goal. Maybe poor decision making in not finding Havertz for a late break.
• Havertz good energy and positioning after coming on.
• James also a late sub who continued out good work down the right though did not look as polished as CHO.

Manager

• Interesting line up with CHO at wing back again.
• Surprised to see Jorginho and Kova in the midfield.
• Team seem balanced and had a good energy and tempo.
• Sub at half time was surprising though Tammy was not playing well and Pulisic got us an assist.
• Other subs were neutral for me neither better or worse.

 

As I said earlier good to be back above the Gunners!

24 minutes ago, Bob stark said:

Chilwell is much better lb than Alonso that is obvious but Emerson is awful but for some reason lamp prefer him. 

Bit of conundrum now for TT and the Board as to which of the LB's they try and move out of possibly today or in the summer; just don't see a squad with 3 LB choices. I would still have Chilwell as my first choice with Alonso playing against the more defensive bottom feeders. Emerson looks like the odd man out now.  

 

19 minutes ago, Frankie8Lampard said:

I personally wouldn’t bring Kante back into the team unless we are playing teams where we’ll be on the defensive end. I’d keep Jorginho in the team against teams that are siting back against us and play Kante when we are playing against the cities and the Liverpool’s who will more likely attack us.

Kante is a must against Spurs, its going to be a battle of the midfields and you need someone like Kante against Ndombele and Hojberg, Jorginho and Kova will get out muscled. 

Tickle has done alright today ! 
Mason, CHO and in the 2nd Pully were all great, Jorginho & Kova looked decent and a lot of the sideways passing shtye was cut out. 
Burnley didn’t show up today and we have beaten them easily recently when they have done so there’s nothing learned today really, except maybe it’s better performance threatening goal today than it was midweek using the same system and most of the same players  

the panic induced football of late was also enjoyably missing, I was unusually calm all game (not  ? honest)  3 at the back with wingbacks worked for dividends for Conte so why not for old Tickle ?  

 

 

Aftee two games, few things that I learn. None of our three striker are playing well. Mount is always one our best performer everytime, him cho and kova was our best players today.

Alonso is cl quality wb so that goal wasn't a surprise. CHO is very good, same as against wolves but long term wise wb is not his position. Our back 3 is fine. Kova when he play well offer so much ball progression with his passing and dribbling.

Jorginho will be replaced by kante once he is fit, this is I am pretty sure. Our midfield does not really shield our d line very well but that is as expected, kante will fix that. A lot of people said but Jorginho offer passing against weaker team, it was Kovacic who offer the majority of ball forward ball. If I want a player to give 5 yard pass to kova, I much rather have a player who can cover the d line. 

Well that was interesting. It’s been a while since we looked so well organised. Thought we really controlled that. Silva was terrific at the back. Probably MOM. Kovacic and Jorginho excellent in midfield. Long time since one could say that. Jorginho also in contention for MOM. He was superb today. CHO as wing-back giving us a lot of threat. Mount such a composed player for his age. Pulisic looking as if he’s getting back to form.

A lot of positives for Tuchel. He’s clearly a smart manager and not afraid to change things. He wasn’t worried about bringing off Tammy at half time, who was having a stinker.

Lots to build on. Just needs to get our strikers firing but that was a breath of fresh air to see us looking like a proper football team again. 

2 minutes ago, Socrates said:

Probably MOM. 

9 minutes ago, CFCCAN said:

Bit of conundrum now for TT and the Board as to which of the LB's they try and move out of possibly today or in the summer; just don't see a squad with 3 LB choices. I would still have Chilwell as my first choice with Alonso playing against the more defensive bottom feeders. Emerson looks like the odd man out now.  

 

I think Alonso has always been excellent as a wing back and he excelled when used that way by Conte. However it is very different in a flat back 4 and that is why he hasn't featured much recently. It remains to be seen whether Tuchel persists with wing backs or plays different lineups depending on the opposition. Either way Chilwell may be fine as a wing back too but just needs time to adapt to the new position. Hopefully we will have 2 strong players on the left ultimately.

A decent 2nd half performance and a well earned 3 points.  Kovacic and Mount together with CHO were the standouts and of course Silva like a rock at the back; although I'd still like to see CHO taking on defenders one/one more than he does.  Tammy just couldn't get going and rightly was changed at HT. Werner was always looking for the early ball and seemed happier playing down the middle.   The midfield stills needs someone to be able to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and against better teams we will struggle to take control.  Overall though we looked better trying to play down the channels and middle, rather than keep tossing it down the wings putting in a hopeful cross and hoping someone would be on the end of it.  This win will certainly give the players confidence and I can see a win on the cards against Spuds in the week.

29 minutes ago, Bob stark said:

Aftee two games, few things that I learn. None of our three striker are playing well. Mount is always one our best performer everytime, him cho and kova was our best players today.

Alonso is cl quality wb so that goal wasn't a surprise. CHO is very good, same as against wolves but long term wise wb is not his position. Our back 3 is fine. Kova when he play well offer so much ball progression with his passing and dribbling.

Jorginho will be replaced by kante once he is fit, this is I am pretty sure. Our midfield does not really shield our d line very well but that is as expected, kante will fix that. A lot of people said but Jorginho offer passing against weaker team, it was Kovacic who offer the majority of ball forward ball. If I want a player to give 5 yard pass to kova, I much rather have a player who can cover the d line. 

 

2 games in a row without a single shot on target against us. ??

We have now 6 clean sheets with Jorginho in the starting lineup in the league. ??

We haven't lost a game with Jorginho in the starting lineup since the second game of the season vs Liverpool. ??

You proably missed the games where we had Kante and Kovacic playing together, we were horrible. That was the lowest point of this season in many ways, Tuchel would be a smart man if he avoided that trap.

Edited January 31, 20215 yr by Gol15

11 minutes ago, Imran_CFC said:

Kante is a must against Spurs, its going to be a battle of the midfields and you need someone like Kante against Ndombele and Hojberg, Jorginho and Kova will get out muscled. 

To be honest I was worried about Jorginho/Kovacic against a physical Burnley team, but it wasn't an issue in the end. That being said Ndombele/Hojberg will be tough opposition. At least Kante was on the bench and in contention again after injury. I am sure he will get some time on the field against Spurs. Remains to be seen if he starts.

3 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

2 games in a row without a single shot on target against us. ??

We have now 7 clean sheets with Jorginho in the starting lineup in the league. ??

We haven't lost a game with Jorginho in the starting lineup since the second game of the season vs Liverpool. ??

You proably missed the games where we had Kante and Kovacic playing together, we were horrible. That was the lowest point of this season in many ways, Tuchel would be a smart man if he avoided that trap.

We played Burnley and wolves with back 3, not exactly two great offensive team

The test will come once we play team who can really hurt us through the middle. 

Just now, Bob stark said:

We played Burnley and wolves with back 3, not exactly two great offensive team

The test will come once we play team who can really hurt us through the middle. 

Regardless of who we play against, there has been plenty of evidence during the previous season and this season as well that strongly suggest that when we play Kante-Kovacic we suffer.

Well played Chelsea. 2-0 win .

We could have had a 4 or 5-0 win and it wouldn’t have flattered us today.

Pleased with both the  result and the performance,after the week we have had.

CHO was our best player again. Mount had a quality game too. Dominant performance. Annoyed the scoreline was only 2-0 though, as we have seen goal difference can make a huge difference. Last season United finished above us based on this. Burnley only had 1 headed shot and that was their only shot this whole game. We need to be more ruthless. Unlike the Wolves game, at least Tuchel didnt wait till the 70th minute to make a change. In hindsight if he made those changes at H/T against Wolves, we win that game which is frustrating as it was clear against Wolves we were struggling to penetrate them. At lease he has got his first win now anyway. Big game next against a Spurs-less Kane.

My thoughts on the game.

Rudiger. I think Rudiger plays as a starter not because he has superior defensive qualities compared to Zouma(think they are on par), but because of the long passes. He played well in both matches.

Azpi. Good in the system with 3 central defenders. His ability helps CHO and his right flank. He destabilizes the right side when he push up.

Silva. There's not much to talk about. Best summer transfer.

Alonso. It can be seen that he plays after a long time. Quality goal, did not impress me in the rest of his game. But I can say the same about Chilwell in the previous game.

Kovacic. I was pleasantly impressed by him in both matches.

Jorginho. Clearly we shouldn't expect him to play like he did under Sarri. It does not have the same tactical attributes. Good in both games, but i will drop him when Kante will be fit.

CHO. It's like we're seeing another player. Although he has to put more effort, he has the advantage of spaces created by this tactic. He seems a much more confident player.

Mount. Mount had good game, above the team average. I expected him to be a competitor on the same position with Havertz, because it suits him better than playing as no8. Better than what I saw from Havertz in the first match.

Werner. Clearly lack of confidence in his case. 
I think he will compete with Abraham and Giroud for the top spot.

Abraham. Poor game on his part, but the same can be said about Giroud in the last match. It seems that both are not adapted to the new style of play.

On defensive. Looks much more solid, even when our midfilders loose ball. Pressing is good, it does not take us out of positions that remain uncovered. Didn't have too many emotions in this 2 games. Palyers look like they have more tactical awareness.

On offensive. We verticalize more and we create some spaces. The players look and try to pass forward than a safe pass back to the central defenders. I will expect more in the near future. We don't know yet who is the best striker for Tuchel's tactics is. None of them impressed
so far.