@coco for manager. 

It's never a bad thing to win a game you haven't played that well in. We played really well against Milan twice, and Wolves last week. I don't think it is realistic to expect the players to be able to perform at those levels every single game. So to win whilst not playing that well isn't a bad thing.

Kepa hands down had his best performance in a Chelsea shirt yesterday, that save from the header reminded me of a few that Cech made in his prime (Andy Carroll in the FA cup final, and one against Man United in an FA cup game at the bridge). A good keeper will save you 10-15 points a season and Kepa certainly helped save us 3 points yesterday. 

Mount looks as though he is getting back to his best. Yes he was out of form for a while but quite absurd that a few on here were writing him off so quickly. 

Auba didn't play well yesterday but he is the sort of striker that could be missing for alot of the game and then pop up with a vital goal, so I understand why he started, but unfortunately he didn't have any clear chances in this game. Wouldn't be surprised if Broja or Kai start up front against Brentford just to give Auba a bit of a rest.

Cucu had an absolute stinker and was caught out of position quite alot in the first half. Well done to Potter for hooking him at half time. KK came on and we looked a bit more stable and solid in defence in the second half. In the same vain I thought it was harsh that Havertz came off at half time. I don't think any of our attacking players bar Mount were doing that well in the first half so felt it was harsh that Havertz was the one who went. Then again Gallagher coming on as an extra pair of legs in midfield helped us get a hold of the game a bit better. 

So far so good for Potter, if we can get scrappy wins when not playing all that well then I think that bodes well for us. It can't be pretty every week. The likes of City and Liverpool have had plenty of tricky away games over the last few years where they scrape a tricky game 1-0 or 2-0 (City only took a point from Villa park this season), and even Arsenal yesterday scraped a 1-0 at Leeds, despite Leeds arguably being the better team and having the better chances. 

Just watched the highlights of the game as I couldn't watch the game live, fair play to potter for realising things weren't working at half time and making changes rather than waiting until the 70th minute. It does annoy me though that Broja isn't getting more minutes, if Auba isn't performing Broja should be playing, not given 3 minutes at the end of the game.

16 hours ago, coco said:

Don't get stuck on starting positions, Potter plays fluid formations. We do our best defending up the pitch. Out of possession RLC covers the right wing with Trev in behind, left wing Mason does the same job with Cucu, either way you still have three in midfield. With our wide forwards up the pitch we will always have a threat and teams will not be able to attack us down the wings without leaving themselves open.

Fluid interchange football only work offensively not defensively unless you play crazy man to man as what leeds used to do under bielsa. 

Asking ruben n Mount to play as 10 and defend the flank is a lot to ask. Maybe if our dm are defensive lord then it is easier but they can't defend. 

The easiest solution is city

Puli - Kai - Sterling 

Mount - Gallagher 

Ruben

Azpi - silva - Chalo - cucu

And ask cucu to play as dm offensively. 

I think the hard part with our team is that we need to play with 3 cb because Silva need to play in 3 cb n our midfield can't defend otherwise I thought Tuchel 442/352 hybrid was fantastic 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 18, 20223 yr by Bob stark

Still early but the last two games have felt like TT never left.

He got a few things wrong again for me. Broja was clearly our brightest player in attack today, and just when he makes the attacking changes, he takes Broja off. Havertz staying on until the 80th minute was a joke, that was easliy the worst Chelsea performance for a while and if it was he who came off instead of Broja, I would have fancied Broja to get something from the game.

It felt like Broja was being punished because of his lack of experience more than performance because I cannot understand why he wasn't allowed to play on alongside Chukwuemeka, Sterling and Pulisic.

7 minutes ago, coco said:

Still early but the last two games have felt like TT never left.

Madness. We are pressing like donkeys and offering the opposition half the pitch. He's clearly left. 

Palpable discord in 2022 or 2023?

11 minutes ago, coco said:

Still early but the last two games have felt like TT never left.

Tuchel had Sterling scoring every other week.

Not basically man marking Kepa.

While we depend on a coalition of 4/5 players that score less goals combined per year than Sterling does alone to fluke 1 in.

Edited October 19, 20223 yr by HazardousChoice

Poor man’s Gareth Southgate!

If Todd likes young English Managers, I hear Gerrard will be available soon!

If these 2 performances are down to James being injured then Potter needs to change the system because we can’t rely on James or one player. One of Tuchel’s mistakes was when Chilwell and James got injured, he didn’t try to change the system and tried to replace like for like. 
 

With the table tightening up, we need to win vs United. 

8 minutes ago, JM7 said:

If these 2 performances are down to James being injured then Potter needs to change the system because we can’t rely on James or one player. One of Tuchel’s mistakes was when Chilwell and James got injured, he didn’t try to change the system and tried to replace like for like. 
 

With the table tightening up, we need to win vs United. 

Agreed. I said in the match thread if you don't have 2 players who can play the wingback rolls well then change the system. All 3 of Cucurella, RLC and Sterling were awful playing there and the latter 2 are not wingbacks so not a surprise.

38 minutes ago, coco said:

Still early but the last two games have felt like TT never left.

Interesting you say that because the team selection was Tuchel like too. Playing players out of position i,e loftus cheek and Mount. Playing 3 at the back and insisting of playing Havertz. 

Dont know why potter reverted to 3 at the back when clearly the first few games we did very well.

28 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Agreed. I said in the match thread if you don't have 2 players who can play the wingback rolls well then change the system. All 3 of Cucurella, RLC and Sterling were awful playing there and the latter 2 are not wingbacks so not a surprise.

I understand what you're saying axman. But he is a bit hamstrung at the moment. We have injuries to 3 important players and Silva has to be managed very carefully. We can't play a flat back four with Jorginho as the "defensive" screen. Especially against a strong, physical side like Brentford. 

One thing from tonight. I hope Potter is not scared to throw in youngsters from the start in big games if he believes in them.

 

 

1 hour ago, Scott Harris said:

He got a few things wrong again for me. Broja was clearly our brightest player in attack today, and just when he makes the attacking changes, he takes Broja off. Havertz staying on until the 80th minute was a joke, that was easliy the worst Chelsea performance for a while and if it was he who came off instead of Broja, I would have fancied Broja to get something from the game.

It felt like Broja was being punished because of his lack of experience more than performance because I cannot understand why he wasn't allowed to play on alongside Chukwuemeka, Sterling and Pulisic.

I would have liked to have seen Broja and Aubameyang together for a period. Auba knows how to play between the posts, he has the box craft, which Broja is clearly still learning. Broja with the pace and movement to go and collect the ball could have worked well with Auba for a 20 minute period or so at the end of the game.

8 minutes ago, just said:

I understand what you're saying axman. But he is a bit hamstrung at the moment. We have injuries to 3 important players and Silva has to be managed very carefully. We can't play a flat back four with Jorginho as the "defensive" screen. Especially against a strong, physical side like Brentford. 

One thing from tonight. I hope Potter is not scared to throw in youngsters from the start in big games if he believes in them.

 

 

But can't we play a flat back four with RLC as the defensive screen then until we have the personnel available to fit the style we want to play. Surely it has to be better then trying to shoehorn players into positions that they do not and cannot play.

Playing Sterling as a WB is not going to help him develop his overall game. He is in his late 20's, he's developed, he's done. All that will happen is that his confidence will be eroded and eroded until it is crushed

15 minutes ago, just said:

We can't play a flat back four with Jorginho as the "defensive" screen.

https://studentunionsports.com/italy-breaks-historic-defensive-record-and-barely-outlasts-austria-in-the-round-of-16/?amp=1

1 minute ago, Argo said:

https://studentunionsports.com/italy-breaks-historic-defensive-record-and-barely-outlasts-austria-in-the-round-of-16/?amp=1

In the EPL. You know we can't.

How well do you think he did tonight Argo? 

26 minutes ago, just said:

I understand what you're saying axman. But he is a bit hamstrung at the moment. We have injuries to 3 important players and Silva has to be managed very carefully. We can't play a flat back four with Jorginho as the "defensive" screen. Especially against a strong, physical side like Brentford. 

One thing from tonight. I hope Potter is not scared to throw in youngsters from the start in big games if he believes in them.

 

 

It does not have to be Jorginho though. It's like many feel he is the only one we can play there in our current squad and we have no other options. That is not right at all.

 

For one with a back 4 we can use one less CB, and that means we could play Trev as our most defensive midfielder. A position he has played for 2 seasons worth of his career in France and with Ipswich.

Another is RLC. Two of the things RLC does is have the strength to stop players nicking the ball off him and play simple passes, it is the creative part he struggles with.

Then there is the forgot man Denis Zakaria, who even with Potter looking to rest Kovacic still could not get any minutes. Supposedly he is strong and a good tackler. 

That's without considering moving anyone in to a position not natural to them or looking at the youth team.

11 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

But can't we play a flat back four with RLC as the defensive screen then until we have the personnel available to fit the style we want to play. Surely it has to be better then trying to shoehorn players into positions that they do not and cannot play.

Playing Sterling as a WB is not going to help him develop his overall game. He is in his late 20's, he's developed, he's done. All that will happen is that his confidence will be eroded and eroded until it is crushed

I don't believe we can WW. I honestly feel RLC has been playing very well in central midfield. He is a starter in that position for me at the moment, but he isn't a natural defender and isn't the fastest with recovery runs. If Ampadu was still around I think it is a role he could do as I have seen him play there for Wales and to me he looked more comfortable there than at centre back. Doesn't look Zakaria is gonna get chance either. So for me the DM slot is arguably the biggest problem we have in the squad. We have to try and fix it in January or bring someone through now from the youngsters.

Totally agree with you on Sterling.

I don't think we get top 4. Losing James and not having Kante have been damaging.

Be a tough season for Potter. Could honestly see us 6th or lower depending on what Newcastle do.

His true test of ability as a manager comes this weekend. 
 

Sink or swim. 

Pros

- Gave Broja a start

- We look more interested in getting a goal than passing it around the back 

- Seems keen on giving our youngsters a chance 

- Not gonna get ahead of myself but Pulisic looked a threat when allowed to be more direct

Cons

- The subs were hit and miss, he gave Havertz way too much time, honestly he was awful to watch. RLC and Havertz should have been hooked but instead he took off Broja and Cucurella 

- I think if he brought Aubameyang on sooner we would have won that game

- Most of the first half was rubbish

All in all it's obviously disappointing not to win against a mid table team but they aren't a push over team, let's not forget they battered us earlier this year. That's also one of the best performances that Brentford will put in all season and they couldn't score against us. 
 

I'm not gonna start slagging off our own fans but some people need to just relax a bit. We're 7 games into his tenure and we haven't lost a game yet and some people are slagging him off it's weird. You can't come into a club not even half way through a season and change the style of play immediately, these things take time.

2 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

Pros

- Gave Broja a start

- We look more interested in getting a goal than passing it around the back 

- Seems keen on giving our youngsters a chance 

- Not gonna get ahead of myself but Pulisic looked a threat when allowed to be more direct

Cons

- The subs were hit and miss, he gave Havertz way too much time, honestly he was awful to watch. RLC and Havertz should have been hooked but instead he took off Broja and Cucurella 

- I think if he brought Aubameyang on sooner we would have won that game

- Most of the first half was rubbish

All in all it's obviously disappointing not to win against a mid table team but they aren't a push over team, let's not forget they battered us earlier this year. That's also one of the best performances that Brentford will put in all season and they couldn't score against us. 
 

I'm not gonna start slagging off our own fans but some people need to just relax a bit. We're 7 games into his tenure and we haven't lost a game yet and some people are slagging him off it's weird. You can't come into a club not even half way through a season and change the style of play immediately, these things take time.

Good post. If Potter gets the time to remould us to the style that he wants us to play it surely cannot be a linear progression. That is what has previously happened to us, only to crash from the peak back down again. There will undoubtedly be setbacks and a slowing of progression now and again.

He has to use the players that we have and that appears to be requiring shoehorning some players into unfamiliar positions. Unfortunately he has found no pearls in doing this. If this is an intentional strategic ploy then he may have a rocky road ahead. If, as we suspect, he is having to adopt the approach of adversity being the mother of invention, then there should be some allowances made when these problems are not easily solved. 

Whilst it is clearly someones fault it is not Potter's that he has joined a club with 50 odd paid professional footballers and only one of them can play RWB

10 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

I'm not gonna start slagging off our own fans but some people need to just relax a bit. We're 7 games into his tenure and we haven't lost a game yet and some people are slagging him off it's weird. You can't come into a club not even half way through a season and change the style of play immediately, these things take time.

Mod has not rated Potter from the get go but I don't think most of us are slagging him off.

He has rightly been given praise for Kepas return to the side and excellent form, at the same time he rightly gets criticism for mistakes.

For example he spoke about not overplaying players to the point of injury. How about in terms of tiredness as well? Will Mount be fresh for United or would have we been better served to start Pulisic or Carney on his place for both today and for mounts sake on Saturday?

Why does Havertz keep playing even though he continues to be poor? Why is Sterling being used at wingback? 

These are fair points and questions.