Very happy for Graham and for us with the win. He should sleep well tonight.

 

Hope we get Real Madrid next. It's got that "meant to be" feeling.

4 minutes ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Hope we get Real Madrid next. It's got that "meant to be" feeling.

Hope we get AC Milan or Spurs. That's our best chance of getting to the semis. 

Good performance tonight and he needs to be praised for taking us through. But, I’m still not convinced that the subs were the right ones, it looked like going to a 352, though not as bad as the ones he made in the Leeds game, and we let Dortmund to dominate the game towards the end. But he got us the win, so good on him.

He’s been praised for reverting back to a back 3, but we played a back 4 in the first leg and we looked equally good, while looking dodgy with a back 3 against Leeds. I’m not entirely convinced that we shouldn’t be playing a back 4. But if it gives us wins, who am I to say? I hope that with the new players, we start looking into 433 or 4231, but maybe from next season.

I hope we not get real or bayern

the rest I think we can win

Another positive step forward taken last night under the new leadership and coaching team - with all delivering a top performance and result.

I have said on multiple occasions that there will be ups and downs during this process of rebuilding. Of course, most of the rabid and hysterical comments, and new usernames, on here don't seem to want to believe that and instead WANT RESULTS NOW AND WILL SHOUT LONG AND LOUD TO MAKE THEIR VOICE HEARD.

The same balanced message from me hasn't changed with this result. We continue to be a team in transition, and it would not surprise me to see another couple of less positive performances and results in the next few weeks, followed by more positive developments over a longer period etc etc 

But what many have demanded for, i.e a signal of progression, identity and a system, has been delivered here against Dortmund. It was a brilliant display, with top performances from those that many have maligned. 

It was a cracking atmosphere at the bridge with tremendous support. This is the type of thing that can happen when the fans are behind the team and things click.  It would be good for some of the more less balanced "fans" on here to remember this positivity and performance when the next dip comes. 

KTBFFH

So we look better in 343 and this is not a surprise. 

We know this since the beginning of the season. I even said it after Potter took over. 

Now what? If the plan going forward is to play 343/352 as our default formation then Boehly better keep those receipt for murdyk and madueke. 

Front line, we already have

Nkunku/sterling - Kai/Borja

Felix/Mount 

Midfield is not longer a critical problem. Yes having player like Kante can be the different between CL/PL title vs nothing but even without Kante we still can compete for top 4.

We have plenty of CB, a backup for chilwell is the only thing that is missing. Is Lewis hall ready? 
 

 

 

19 minutes ago, Bob stark said:

So we look better in 343 and this is not a surprise. 

We know this since the beginning of the season. I even said it after Potter took over. 

Now what? If the plan going forward is to play 343/352 as our default formation then Boehly better keep those receipt for murdyk and madueke. 

Front line, we already have

Nkunku/sterling - Kai/Borja

Felix/Mount 

Midfield is not longer a critical problem. Yes having player like Kante can be the different between CL/PL title vs nothing but even without Kante we still can compete for top 4.

We have plenty of CB, a backup for chilwell is the only thing that is missing. Is Lewis hall ready? 
 

 

 

Agreed. If we keep 343 then Madueke and Mudryk look surplus. TBH - I am not convinced Madueke is Chelsea quality whatever the system.

I would also argue that a proper dm to sit next to enzo would be beneficial. Kova is a regularly out and the Kante twins can no longer be relied upon. So an athletic and mobile dm would be a benefit. 

We're essentially just going back to Tuchel-ball, but I'm not complaining, we were far better under that system 

59 minutes ago, Drogba1 said:

We're essentially just going back to Tuchel-ball, but I'm not complaining, we were far better under that system 

More Conte-ball if anything. I don't think people give Conte enough credit for creating the 343 framework that both Frank and Tuchel used after him. Plus the way we played today with a counter-attack seemed more like Conte's style of play when he was here versus Frank and Tuchel's possession-based game. 

Edited March 8, 20233 yr by Frankie8Lampard

56 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

Agreed. If we keep 343 then Madueke and Mudryk look surplus. TBH - I am not convinced Madueke is Chelsea quality whatever the system.

I would also argue that a proper dm to sit next to enzo would be beneficial. Kova is a regularly out and the Kante twins can no longer be relied upon. So an athletic and mobile dm would be a benefit. 

Agree having a very good dm definitely help but it is no longer critical. So we can wait for a very good one before getting one. 

 

 

 

Yay for a very unexpected result, but old pots still has to trot.... 🙄🙄🙄

1 hour ago, Drogba1 said:

We're essentially just going back to Tuchel-ball, but I'm not complaining, we were far better under that system 

It's the classic Chelsea MO - lose the last 16 first leg, then win the second leg convincingly more or less by going back to what the previous manager was doing. This time we've just done it without the hassle of sacking the intermediary manager.

2 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

Agreed. If we keep 343 then Madueke and Mudryk look surplus. TBH - I am not convinced Madueke is Chelsea quality whatever the system.

I would also argue that a proper dm to sit next to enzo would be beneficial. Kova is a regularly out and the Kante twins can no longer be relied upon. So an athletic and mobile dm would be a benefit. 

I’m not convinced the 3-4-3 is what we should be wedded to in the future, but it might have proven to be one change to many to go to a back four in this season of endless chaos. 
If we want to move to a back four, its much easier to do it in pre season. Hopefully we’ve had a major clearout and a far more settled squad at that time as well, which will help

3 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

But what many have demanded for, i.e a signal of progression, identity and a system, has been delivered here against Dortmund.

I agree. Yesterday was really positive and if Potter continues on that track I will support him. As I've said I would if I saw signs of those three things you mentioned, which we've desperately lacked until yesterday. Now we obviously need to keep it up, he's still got work to do to convince us he should be the man to take us into next season.

But it does raise questions about what the hell we have been doing until now. Yesterday we were much better because we essentially returned to our starting point when Tuchel was sacked. Since the World Cup break he's been trying to force through a formation change that's now cost us Champions League for next season (bar a miracle) and we've also been signing players for that new system we have been working towards. Are we now going to scrap that or what are we doing? If we are scrapping it we've wasted months and probably wasted millions on certain signings as well but results will likely improve, at least in the short term but if it's actually all about building for the future with Potter then maybe he should persist with the 4-2-3-1 if that's the common goal for the club to become a back 4 side again.

Pleased for Potter that he got the result last night, and also for Boehly. Both of them have been under a lot of pressure in the last 6 months, and the delight and relief on their faces was nice to see. Let's hope we can kick on from here and get our top club mojo completely back. 

I don't think Real Madrid are going to come poaching our manager quite just yet, but that was a very welcome and very overdue step in the right direction.

 

2 hours ago, Frankie8Lampard said:

More Conte-ball if anything. I don't think people give Conte enough credit for creating the 343 framework that both Frank and Tuchel used after him. Plus the way we played today with a counter-attack seemed more like Conte's style of play when he was here versus Frank and Tuchel's possession-based game. 

That's fair comment, albeit Loftus-Cheek is the only player who featured yesterday who actually even played under Conte. Potter's style at Brighton was very definitely possession based so it could well have been an attempt at possession based 3 at the back that didn't quite come off.

Possession stats last night was 60:40 in Dortmund's favour, although that might well have tipped significantly when we went defensive in the last half a hour.

Edited March 8, 20233 yr by Sexyfootball

Just on a human level I'm really pleased for the bloke. He comes across as a calm, dignified guy. But last night you could see his emotion on the sidelines. Loved it when he couldn't watch the second penalty and his celebration at the end.

Happy for GP who's stood in waist levels of sh*t for a long time. 

Big risk with his subs tonight though. If Dortmund got one back at the end I would not have fancied us to get another with the team that finished the game. 

Anyway - hopefully we can build on the last two games going forward. Next match is Leicester away and I believe that's a bigger test than Leeds/Dortmund at home. Can't really remember the last win on the road. Think it was away at Villa sometime before the WC. 

4 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

I would also argue that a proper dm to sit next to enzo would be beneficial. Kova is a regularly out and the Kante twins can no longer be relied upon. So an athletic and mobile dm would be a benefit. 

We definitely need a "proper DM". Maybe Santos can be that player but he is more of a box to box midfielder as well apparently.

1 hour ago, Sexyfootball said:

That's fair comment, albeit Loftus-Cheek is the only player who featured yesterday who actually even played under Conte. Potter's style at Brighton was very definitely possession based so it could well have been an attempt at possession based 3 at the back that didn't quite come off.

Possession stats last night was 60:40 in Dortmund's favour, although that might well have tipped significantly when we went defensive in the last half a hour.

Dortmund had a lot of possession during the first half after our dominating opening 10 minutes and our strong end to the half.

4 hours ago, Frankie8Lampard said:

More Conte-ball if anything. I don't think people give Conte enough credit for creating the 343 framework that both Frank and Tuchel used after him. Plus the way we played today with a counter-attack seemed more like Conte's style of play when he was here versus Frank and Tuchel's possession-based game. 

Absolutely, Conte brought 343 formation to Chelsea and the PL, since he implemented it at Chelsea many teams started using it too. However, I don't think that the tactics of Conte and Tuchel are similar, despite the same formation, Conte set us up more as a counter attacking team while Tuchel got us playing possession based football (a kind of hybrid between Sarriball and Conteball). Nevertheless, Conte has to be recognised.

50 minutes ago, Cfc91 said:

Happy for GP who's stood in waist levels of sh*t for a long time. 

Big risk with his subs tonight though. If Dortmund got one back at the end I would not have fancied us to get another with the team that finished the game. 

Anyway - hopefully we can build on the last two games going forward. Next match is Leicester away and I believe that's a bigger test than Leeds/Dortmund at home. Can't really remember the last win on the road. Think it was away at Villa sometime before the WC. 

I don't think his subs were 100% pragmatic to this game. I think he always has alterior motives fielding players like; give a young player a chance to shine in the biggest stage so...and so on. Jose would have fielded someone like Robert Huth because he is tall.

2 hours ago, AndyDowsleftflank said:

I’m not convinced the 3-4-3 is what we should be wedded to in the future, but it might have proven to be one change to many to go to a back four in this season of endless chaos. 
If we want to move to a back four, its much easier to do it in pre season. Hopefully we’ve had a major clearout and a far more settled squad at that time as well, which will help

Agree with you. I already mentioned above that we played really well the first leg at Dortmund using a back 4, and if it weren't for our lack of goal, we should have scored 3 there. I'm happy that the back 3 worked yesterday, and we played really well except for the last 20 mins or so, but it wasn't that nice to see against Leeds. I'd like to see a back 4, it doesn't mean that we can't use James and Chilwell to attack, Klopp uses the FBs in the attacking phase quite successfully, and we've got the better ones at Chelsea. But this is probably better to implement during the preseason, as you say.