12 hours ago, erskblue said:

Foden has a very small head in this pic LOL

25 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Foden has a very small head in this pic LOL

Never even noticed it !😀

10 hours ago, mojo said:

reply to Matt Law’s question on 7:15

It’s a must 😁👌

 

 

Great reply was what I meant!😀

40 minutes ago, just said:

The part I have highlighted Don I disagree with because Jorginho should be attempting those passes from a much deeper position than Kante or Mount. The deep sitting area he plays in often affords him more time to play those balls than Kante or Mount get further up the pitch. Also with Kante and Mount further forwards the opposition have usually dropped back to defend, hence less time and compressed space for forwards to move into and obviously less space for the ball to played into.

What Jorginho should be doing IMO from that deep position, is attempting the sort of long, early balls that Luiz used to send from the same area. OK some might get intercepted, depends on how accurate he is, but if they are, there should be more than enough cover because he is still in his usual position and so is the rest of the team.

Don't get me wrong Don Jorginho has played well within Tuchel's system since the Leeds and WBA games but he still doesn't offer much creativity or attacking passing which IMO he should do. Yesterday he had 3 or 4 options to try those early forward passes to transition defence to attack but he chose not to. I can't understand why not when we have a striker with Werner's pace upfront.

To be fair I see your point. Jorginho is Very good at his job but would be even better if he could try some ambitious balls over the defence. I honestly always see him under pressure though  hence why I think it would be risky if he lost the ball in that position. I believe he is just playing to instruction by playing the safe passes which I have no problems with. THERE HAVE ALSO BEEN INSTANCES WHEN HE PLAYED A THROUGH BALL BUT OUR STRIKERS FLUFFED THEIR LINES 

I do agree with you about playing the ball early to Werner though. I really hate it when I see Werner make a run and the midfielders or defenders just play the safe pass ,even though I think Werner can learn to hold his run a little bit.

I was wondering though. With gilmour going on loan next season who do u suggest we buy to fulfil this trait that is clearly missing  in our midfield?

1 hour ago, STATS said:

Although he went off slightly earlier, I still give my MOTM to Mount. He was fantastic once again. Constantly got fouled, however he always looked to make things happen and caused Fernandinho nightmares. His awareness is so good and he is always one step ahead. Love the way he receives the ball and just sharply turns away from an opposing player and leaves them in no man's land. Chilwell's performances getting a lot stronger again too. Had a fantastic game also as did rest of team.

What truly amazes me is we witnessed this ‘Kicking on’ in front of our eyes, and very much this season, he must of improved 20% this year, he’s stronger, faster, more direct running, a hell of a lot of skill on show, we’d need to spend £100 million on a like like for like replacement, our very own Iniesta in the making..

10 hours ago, The Don Antonio said:

      The fact is he is instructed to measure the risk/ reward of his passes  hence the safe passes that help us keep possesion which is very crucial against the top sides. To you he should just pass the difficult pass and send werner through but if that pass is intercepted it is a very easy counter attack which will lead to a goal. Especially since it is our DM making the pass and wont be in position to protect the defence. The passes you are talking about should be made by Kante and Mount since they are ahead of him and to his credit Mount made the pass for Ziyechs goal.

      I do agree though that i would love to see jorginho take more risks when we play lower teams that just park the bus but to me his performance today against the best team in the prem was a 10 over 10.

For me, his best game was against Liverpool and surprisingly he did exactly what @just and others are arguing, long passes to the space behind the scouse defenders.

31 minutes ago, RMH said:

For me, his best game was against Liverpool and surprisingly he did exactly what @just and others are arguing, long passes to the space behind the scouse defenders.

And we cant forget the lofted pass against crystal palace when Havertz did the Gascoigne lob over the defender but missed. It would have been a goal of the season contender and Jorginho would have been associated with the play but unfortunately it is just history to no fault of Jorginhos

Edited April 18, 20215 yr by The Don Antonio

7 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

 

Re: Mikel I think he was better than we remember. 

Only if we remember him as ĺess effective than Jokanovich..

Still buzzing from yesterday, sometimes the mental implications of winning a specific match are much more significant than normal. Regardless of personnel, changes or anything like that from City's perspective, the manner of our performance was terrific. Ok the last 20 minutes I was shaking like a sh*tting dog but otherwise I was calm. I hope the entire team, which includes everyone from the kit man to tea lady are walking taller today, they deserve it.

Just to ask opinions if you can oblige me, do you think that the reluctance to put the ball between the defenders with Timo clearly playing off their shoulders, is a tactic from Tuchel, as in to retain the ball, or lack of confidence in Timo to produce the goods ?

Fantastic once again from the boys, although I was not overly confident when I seen who the ref was, terrible really to think that way, but his reputation really proceeds him.

KTBFFH

 

9 minutes ago, Liam said:

Only if we remember him as ĺess effective than Jokanovich..

If you remember the Mikel that nearly signed for Utd, was a truly talented kid, much in the Pogba when on song role, but Mourinho curtailed his extravagances and he became more rigid and workmanlike, always thought what he would of been like under say Ancelotti, he would of appreciated the skill set more, than the Pragmatic Portugeeza...

Edited April 18, 20215 yr by Ballack & Blu

It is difficult to do justice to how great a defensive performance that was from Chelsea. With any tactical plan, it is easy to set it up on paper but to produce that level of concentration, discipline, mental energy, communication and fitness for 95 minutes against a team of Man City’s quality was magnificent.

It reminded me of the way France held off Belgium in the second half of their World Cup semi-final. It was monumental. It is so rare to see a team create so few chances, especially a Pep Guardiola one.

Thomas Tuchel pulled-off a tactical masterclass as Chelsea moved into the FA Cup final. The Blues' discipline and energy allowed them to completely shut Manchester City out

It was the perfect game plan from Thomas Tuchel. Chelsea’s back three were superb in their experience, physicality and positional play. And the two holding midfielders covered every blade of grass. It was possibly Jorginho’s best performance in a Chelsea shirt.

He and N’Golo Kante just filled all those pockets of space that City love to inhabit. They condensed the middle and did not get lulled into a false sense of security and come out on to Rodri and Fernandinho. The plan was to keep City in front of them. Let them have the ball in front of them and to the side of them. They rarely let them get behind. If they moved up, that middle five of the back three and the holding two moved as one. The wing-backs dropped in when they needed and suddenly the five became a seven. It was an impregnable wall of blue.

N'Golo Kante came into his own, harassing the City players and ensuring they got nowhere. They nullified Kevin De Bruyne, one of the best passers in Europe. We didn’t see much of him because of City’s shape and discipline. City could still be there next week and they wouldn’t have scored. But it was not just a defensive plan. The system allowed them to exploit City in attack. Because Chelsea used wing-backs, it meant Mason Mount and Hakim Ziyech could tuck inside. So when Chelsea won the ball, their wing-backs could push on and draw City’s full backs. Mount and Ziyech were narrow, which would leave them and Timo Werner out- numbering City’s centre backs.

You have to give Tuchel credit. I think I, along with many others, was quietly hoping it wouldn’t go quite as well for him so soon to show Chelsea’s poor form earlier in the season wasn’t down to Frank Lampard but the players. Apart from their West Brom performance they have been superb.

Thomas Tuchel's instant success at Chelsea has been down to quickly implementing a system

. The Blues were aggressive all afternoon and wouldn't let the Premier League leaders settle.

Tuchel has admitted that he inherited a super squad but the team has progressed. They have not played amazing free-flowing football but he has nailed his system down, they have been super-efficient and are now a strong bet for the FA Cup and the top four.

I can relate it to when Roy Hodgson came in at Fulham and we were doomed. He came in and nailed down one system. We worked on it every single day. We became hard to beat and confidence grew. We have seen that with Chelsea.

Danny Murphy

 

1 hour ago, Liam said:

Only if we remember him as ĺess effective than Jokanovich..

Jokanovic!?! Now who is being gratuitously insulting 😅

On 15/04/2021 at 23:06, Jezz said:

This would be Tuchel's best win to date if we can pull off a result here.

Quoting myself, but I think that was Tuchel's best win to date.

His reaction after the game said it all. He looked very proud.

1 hour ago, Ballack & Blu said:

If you remember the Mikel that nearly signed for Utd, was a truly talented kid

I remember that as a clever ruse Ferguson concocted to trick Loz into thinking that Mikel was the next Pele. 

Watching yesterday I was thinking that all Foden needs is a hoodie and he could find a job as a "businessman" harassing me as I cross the Liffey on the way to work n the morning. 

The Liffey?  That Dublin, right?  There are no thugees there, correct?

39 minutes ago, Phillip said:

The Liffey?  That Dublin, right?  There are no thugees there, correct?

That's right Philip. We all have a happy-go-lucky attitude and a couple of jiggily dance steps as we're stuffing the coke up our noses.

1 hour ago, Liam said:

I remember that as a clever ruse Ferguson concocted to trick Loz into thinking that Mikel was the next Pele. 

Watching yesterday I was thinking that all Foden needs is a hoodie and he could find a job as a "businessman" harassing me as I cross the Liffey on the way to work n the morning. 

I just remember him being an uncomplicated colossus in midfield, that was hard as nails, and kept us ticking, i remember him 'doing' a so called hard man, i actually thought he'd killed him...

17 hours ago, smileysmiles said:

Cannot believe people say Jorge is like Mikel. Seriously he has been on fire for a while now. Mikel, seriously who let his fan club out of the loony bin again.

Why? There are clearly similarities between the two. Both play the holding midfield position very conservatively and rarely venture forward. Jorginho is better with his feet, has a better understanding of the game and is more technical but Mikel was definitely stronger defensively due to his physique (particularly in the air). 

Fancy Southampton today for some reason...

A game between two tired team. That one extra day rest really helped us.

We didn't look troubled at the back. Tons of praise to everyone but you can tell both team are tired. 

 

 

so it's Leicester City in what, after today's news, could be our last ever appearance in the FA Cup

We're going to wear that horrible red kit in the final aren't we? 

2 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

We're going to wear that horrible red kit in the final aren't we? 

Hopefully that light blue one if Leicester get their choice, please not Red.

5 hours ago, Bob stark said:

A game between two tired team. That one extra day rest really helped us.

We didn't look troubled at the back. Tons of praise to everyone but you can tell both team are tired. 

 

 

City made 8 changes to the midweek team, rusty maybe not tired. 

10 hours ago, Jezz said:

Quoting myself, but I think that was Tuchel's best win to date.

His reaction after the game said it all. He looked very proud.

True...

I am not surprised by the result but am by the nature of the win..

I expected a 1 nil win but to be under siege constantly and needing a lot of luck not to concede..And a tense watch..

But it was a relaxing watch with us not letting City play their natural game...

TBH they didnt look like scoring unless Dean gave them a penalty..