A win is nice but it wasn’t a 5-0 win…

 

Having Silva and Sterling out of the team made a huge difference. I hope we sell Sterling in the summer to be honest, he's a frustrating player with the occasional goal here and there, but he's not a consistent team player.

We only looked to panic at the back when Badiashile went off and Silva came on. Hopefully he hasn't picked up to much of a knock, it looked thigh / groin related.

Edited February 7, 20242 yr by Malcolm9

I'm not knocking Thiago Silva, as I do like him, but this match proves that we need to move on from him.  As I have said before on this forum, a lot of the slow play starts with him.  None of that tonight....a fantastic, fast paced, enjoyable game!

6 minutes ago, Malcolm9 said:

Having Silva and Sterling out of the team made a huge difference. I hope we sell Sterling in the summer to be honest, he's a frustrating player with the occasional goal here and there, but he's not a consistent team player.

We only looked to panic at the back when Badiashile went off and Silva came on. Hopefully he hasn't picked up to much of a knock, it looked thigh / groin related.

Started before then. Lots of desperate tackles from 70 minutes onwards. The reason he brought Silva on was because Villa were putting on more pressure.

Edited February 7, 20242 yr by Scott Harris

3 minutes ago, Malcolm9 said:

We only looked to panic at the back when Badiashile went off and Silva came on. Hopefully he hasn't picked up to much of a knock, it looked thigh / groin related.

No way you can blame Thiago Silva for that. The whole team tend to panic last 10 minutes every game if not losing.

41 minutes ago, CFCCAN said:

Leeds it is then.....I'd like to see a replay of that 70 Cup Final

Not as much as I would!

We only had the commentary of it on an LP (that's vinyl for the young ones) for god knows how many years!

Edited February 7, 20242 yr by Bebe1980

Silva is a useful player to have had in the dressing room the last 2 seasons for his experience, leadership and setting an example to the young players

TT used him sensibly but this chap Mopp Po has played him for tons of games in a row, that's the issue not that he's 2 bob bc he isn't he's just at the end of a glittering career, he contributes nearly every game, has scored this season, some critical goal costing mistakes but he's not been alone in that dept.

Edited February 7, 20242 yr by General

Roy Keane gave us more credit on ITV than a lot of Chelsea fans on here.

Great result, come on you BLUES !

1 minute ago, The Rising Sun said:

Roy Keane gave us more credit on ITV than a lot of Chelsea fans on here.

Great result, come on you BLUES !

The thing I like about Roy Keane is he just says how it is, no hidden agenda or anything 

Real good perfomance, looked really positive and measured. Thought things would get a little sketchy towards the end, which they did. But some knocks forced subs which caused a bit of chaos.

Big difference looked to be that we sat higher and closer to the midfield. Not sure if thats becuase Silva didn't play or if we would have done regardless but if he has to sit for it to happen, then he has to sit. It transformed the way our midfield was able to work.

Good boost going into amlost a full week ahead of the Palace game, which we *should* be able to hopefully continue to build in

enjoy

@axman2526

I don't know much about formations or players being " closer together", for me there was desire, we wanted every second ball, we put in tackles to win the ball back, we closed down there players all over the pitch.

f**king great performance from the team

Come on you BLUES!

57 minutes ago, Gonoir Beniashile said:

Maybe, but Palace are likely to sit back, so I'd prefer Nkunku in for Gallagher.

In the match against Palace at the Bridge, I thought Gallagher pretty well nullified Eze. So perhaps worth trying that same match up being that he is one of their best players.

And two excellent goals from our midfielders ... and Jackson out wide without the pressure of being No 9 - scores!

No Sterling, no Silva... seems to work.

 

I am happy that we won.

 

Enzo stepped up his game tonight. Caicedo also stepped up a bit and he almost scored at the end there AND Gallagher finally – FINALLY – did score his first goal of the season. And so it is without a doubt that our midfield finally got their sh*t together and that is why we played better.

 

Madueke had a nice game. He is good in a one v one – Jackson should take some lessons from him.

 

We had two full backs playing as full backs that was a nice touch.

 

The thing with a team of young and inexperienced talent like our team is, is that the performances are erratic and inconsistent.  Tonight we played well against a very good team.  Our last game we were fcucking atrocious. This is not the fault of Mauricio. This good result is not due to Thiago Silva not playing.   This result, it is simply the way things go. Thiago Silva is a better player than Badashile and that is just an obvious fact.  

 

Sterling? I have always rated Sterling. I like him as a player. BUT WE – Chelsea – should never have signed him, he was never a good fit for us. Using him as a sub now makes a lot of sense.

 

 

 

Very good tonight, made a good Villa team look ordinary.

More of the same against Palace please.

 

1 hour ago, dan_cfc said:

Superb for about 70mins there then the panic set in, Villa were poor but we did the job hopefully can continue going into the next one UTC

It'd be nice if they can be superb for 90 minutes but realistically most teams can't, even City. The most important thing is when you're on top or superb for 70 mins as you put it, you've got to make that period count. The more dominant you are and put the game to bed, the less likely the other team will get a boost to play for anything other than pride. But when they know the game is lost, your job is half done.

Edited February 7, 20242 yr by abister1
Spell

Phenomenal support tonight too in the ground.

Sure I heard 7,000 if so well done lads.

2 hours ago, Bebe1980 said:

Not as much as I would!

We only had the commentary of it on an LP (that's vinyl for the young ones) for god knows how many years!

Gee you thought they would have at least had it on a laser disc..😂

2 hours ago, dansubrosa said:

The thing I like about Roy Keane is he just says how it is, no hidden agenda or anything 

And....unlike Craig Burley on ESPN who took about 10 secs to tell us Villa were awful and Chelsea were decent and Villa made it easy for us....I doubt if that man and together with Danny Murphy and Jim White will ever in their life time give the team credit where credit is due.

Caicedo dropped, split the two cb. Imagine if we didn't score from this and our cb is silva. One long ball to the wide are and it is is 1 - 1 and everyone will say poch can't coach. 

 

Not like we’ve been asking Poch to drop Silva for ages…

Should have made the subs earlier put chucky in there moved Jackson central and taken Palmer off at the 60 minute mark. Also gilchrist for gusto at the same time. 

6 hours ago, TheCeleryKing said:

I am happy that we won.

 

 

 

Enzo stepped up his game tonight. Caicedo also stepped up a bit and he almost scored at the end there AND Gallagher finally – FINALLY – did score his first goal of the season. And so it is without a doubt that our midfield finally got their sh*t together and that is why we played better.

 

 

 

Madueke had a nice game. He is good in a one v one – Jackson should take some lessons from him.

 

 

 

We had two full backs playing as full backs that was a nice touch.

 

 

 

The thing with a team of young and inexperienced talent like our team is, is that the performances are erratic and inconsistent.  Tonight we played well against a very good team.  Our last game we were fcucking atrocious. This is not the fault of Mauricio. This good result is not due to Thiago Silva not playing.   This result, it is simply the way things go. Thiago Silva is a better player than Badashile and that is just an obvious fact.  

 

 

 

Sterling? I have always rated Sterling. I like him as a player. BUT WE – Chelsea – should never have signed him, he was never a good fit for us. Using him as a sub now makes a lot of sense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enzo remains who he is, he never lowers his game or increases his game. You either like him or you don't like him. 

Now Chelsea fans say it is a midfield of Gallagher, Enzo and Caicedo, so even if Gallagher spoils the party, it is a Midfield of Gallagher, Enzo and Caicedo, they must all take the blame.

Instead of removing Gallagher and playing a better midfield trio, they won't do that.

7 hours ago, fun2sh said:

I really wonder why we stop playing after 65/70 mins or so even when we are having good game ?  Last 2 games , did Liverpool  or wolves stopped playing anywhere in the entire game ?  

Knackered.

It showed to me where the fitness levels are over a sustained period and brought into sharp focus during one game exactly what the necessary level of performance is and what the result can be for not maintaining that.

Their goal was a microcosm of our season. Midfield too gassed to press or track, defence slow to get our, marking space rather than getting tight and a soft goal conceded.

As great as last night was, play like this against Man City with that ending and from 3-0 up with 10 to play I still don't think we win that game.

We need to build on this by repeating this level of performance every week and work on developing our stamina in some key positions.