2 hours ago, JM7 said:

So basically we’re better with less possession

Less possession = less chance for the defence/keeper to f**k up and give the opposition chances.

Mans in his lucky three piece Track suit. Needs to keep wearing it, we look sort of like a team so far.

Restricted Spurs to 3 shots at their own ground, shame we don't play like this every week

2 minutes ago, Drogba1 said:

Restricted Spurs to 3 shots at their own ground, shame we don't play like this every week

Pretty sure even when we finished bottom half we still beat Spurs.

Wow I must have been watching a different game to everybody else.

My main feeling after the game is that Enzo Maresca need to go.

We could have won the game 3-0 or 4-0 comfortably if it weren’t for Maresca.

14 minutes ago, dansubrosa said:

Wow I must have been watching a different game to everybody else.

My main feeling after the game is that Enzo Maresca need to go.

We could have won the game 3-0 or 4-0 comfortably if it weren’t for Maresca.

Fully agree. We really played with fire in a game we had no right to lose, seeing how pathetic Spurs were.

His squad management is so poor and for him to turn around and cry "injuries" all the time suggests he refuses to take responsibility. At 45 minutes, Neto was struggling and he was obviously gassed - no change. At 60 minutes, with Spence on a yellow card, Maresca instead takes off Garnacho with Neto visibly looking tired. By the time Neto is subbed he has actual cramp and has been run into the ground, but we were lucky not to concede chances on that side for 20 minutes given he was unable to run. Bring on Estevao and Gittens, score 2-3 goals, and see out the game comfortably instead of requiring already-fatigued players to have to give their all well past 90 minutes.

He just has no game sense and no idea of momentum. The team was crying out for support and leadership and he refused to show any. Lampard used to get criticised for more or less the same thing, even though it was to a much lesser degree and he had a fraction of Maresca's resources on the bench.

17 points from playing a bunch of sh*t teams like Brentford, Brighton and Spurs.

Would be right behind Arsenal and an actual challenging if we had proper recruitment.

Heck not throwing away home bankers vs Brighton and Sunderland would have been enough. One win over dross Spurs does not mask the failure of maresca and these owners.

4 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

17 points from playing a bunch of sh*t teams like Brentford, Brighton and Spurs.

Would be right behind Arsenal and an actual challenging if we had proper recruitment.

Heck not throwing away home bankers vs Brighton and Sunderland would have been enough. One win over dross Spurs does not mask the failure of maresca and these owners.

Manager*

19 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

Manager*

Both.

34 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

17 points from playing a bunch of sh*t teams like Brentford, Brighton and Spurs.

Would be right behind Arsenal and an actual challenging if we had proper recruitment.

Heck not throwing away home bankers vs Brighton and Sunderland would have been enough. One win over dross Spurs does not mask the failure of maresca and these owners.

Like Arsenal have played all the big clubs...

Both Chelsea and Arsenal have played three derby matches.

We have lost two stupid matches against Brighton and Sunderland at home from winning positions. Arsenal were outplayed by United, but won. Played an even game at Newcastle and won with the luckiest of goals very late in the game. They were average against both Fulham and Palace.

If this was Bayern walking the league, I would understand, but Arsenal have been just solid, not great. Football is about the smallest of details and they got some lucky wins and we lost some stupid matches from winning positions.

Arsenal is a mix of almost one billion invested and a manager in his 6th season and some really top players that a lot of them are now into their 4th consecutive season playing together. On top of that, they have added some others like Zubimendi, Gyokeres and Eze to further improve them.

Whereas Chelsea are missing the club's best player and the club's best center back. Delap's been out since August and Caicedo, Enzo and Joao Pedro have been nursing some injuries for the past month. I feel that a lot of you do not ever look at the bigger picture and only judge things by the transfer amounts and think that if Gittens was 60M he should be hitting the ground running, not thinking of their age, nor the fact they do not slot in into experienced teams. All these guys, already young, are coming into a young squad as well and everything takes time to gel.

Important to try and get a run of wins going now.

There will only be 4 points separating 2nd from 12th if Man City and Newcastle win tomorrow. It's very very tight !

I still think all to play for this season ... Arsenal will come back to the pack when they start playing better sides.

1 hour ago, axman2526 said:

17 points from playing a bunch of sh*t teams like Brentford, Brighton and Spurs.

Would be right behind Arsenal and an actual challenging if we had proper recruitment.

Heck not throwing away home bankers vs Brighton and Sunderland would have been enough. One win over dross Spurs does not mask the failure of maresca and these owners.

👍 Sobering thought after beating that awful Spurs team today.

They're on the same points as us and with a better goal difference.

H

53 minutes ago, petre ispirescu said:

Edited November 1, 2025Nov 1 by The Rising Sun
Information

I genuinely think we could end up in the champs league final.

And real Madrids best tactic will be to sit with 10 men behind the ball.

We're a weird weird side.

1 hour ago, Sexyfootball said:

Important to try and get a run of wins going now.

There will only be 4 points separating 2nd from 12th if Man City and Newcastle win tomorrow. It's very very tight !

I still think all to play for this season ... Arsenal will come back to the pack when they start playing better sides.

Thought the Sunderland loss would have taken the wind out of the sails, credit to the team and manager today, got it right, 3 points clean sheet away in a London derby. Character building win. Pray that Caicedo remains injury-free this season because I think we will struggle massively if he's out, current club lynch pin

2 hours ago, petre ispirescu said:

Like Arsenal have played all the big clubs...

Both Chelsea and Arsenal have played three derby matches.

We have lost two stupid matches against Brighton and Sunderland at home from winning positions. Arsenal were outplayed by United, but won. Played an even game at Newcastle and won with the luckiest of goals very late in the game. They were average against both Fulham and Palace.

If this was Bayern walking the league, I would understand, but Arsenal have been just solid, not great. Football is about the smallest of details and they got some lucky wins and we lost some stupid matches from winning positions.

Arsenal is a mix of almost one billion invested and a manager in his 6th season and some really top players that a lot of them are now into their 4th consecutive season playing together. On top of that, they have added some others like Zubimendi, Gyokeres and Eze to further improve them.

Whereas Chelsea are missing the club's best player and the club's best center back. Delap's been out since August and Caicedo, Enzo and Joao Pedro have been nursing some injuries for the past month. I feel that a lot of you do not ever look at the bigger picture and only judge things by the transfer amounts and think that if Gittens was 60M he should be hitting the ground running, not thinking of their age, nor the fact they do not slot in into experienced teams. All these guys, already young, are coming into a young squad as well and everything takes time to gel.

They've been to Old Trafford like we have, played Liverpool like we have. Difference is we have faced Spurs and they have faced city.

Otherwise we have each played 6 other dross sides. So I'd put their start a bit harder than ours as they went to anfield and have played city.

He's reached the 50-win milestone as coach.

Possible new manager spotted at the Bridge.

On 01/11/2025 at 22:03, JM7 said:

So basically we’re better with less possession

We are, when you take into context game state. This idea that more possession = more control is not true because football results are more complex than win/lose/draw. The draw can be a win or a loss, depending on the context of the two competing teams. For the vast majority of our opponents, a draw is an acceptable result, which means that our opponent 'wins' 2/3 game states. The only acceptable game state for us is winning.

To delve into some simple game theory and a bit of cliche - sometimes you have to give something up in order to make the opponent do what you want/need them to do. We play better against big teams because the game theory is different and both teams need a win.

Sunderland were practically out of the game at 1-0 and yet a defensive clearance is all it took to create a long throw situation that got them right back into it. At 1-1, the impetus then shifts back to Chelsea - a draw is great for them, but bad for us. We need to take the initiative to score goals, which in turn means more risks going forward. The clock adds jeopardy - the longer the game goes on, the more it tilts in Sunderland's favour. In these circumstances, Maresca's possession football controls the ball, but not the result. The slow build-up compounds the pressure to take the initiative, the pressure of time and the risk of a catastrophic counter-attack as more bodies are required to go forward in order to break down a set defence.

With the link between possession and control severed, the only logical thing to do is to cede more possession. Literally, kick the ball back to Sunderland. Make them try and break down a set defence, and counter attack accordingly.

4 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

We are, when you take into context game state. This idea that more possession = more control is not true because football results are more complex than win/lose/draw. The draw can be a win or a loss, depending on the context of the two competing teams. For the vast majority of our opponents, a draw is an acceptable result, which means that our opponent 'wins' 2/3 game states. The only acceptable game state for us is winning.

To delve into some simple game theory and a bit of cliche - sometimes you have to give something up in order to make the opponent do what you want/need them to do. We play better against big teams because the game theory is different and both teams need a win.

Sunderland were practically out of the game at 1-0 and yet a defensive clearance is all it took to create a long throw situation that got them right back into it. At 1-1, the impetus then shifts back to Chelsea - a draw is great for them, but bad for us. We need to take the initiative to score goals, which in turn means more risks going forward. The clock adds jeopardy - the longer the game goes on, the more it tilts in Sunderland's favour. In these circumstances, Maresca's possession football controls the ball, but not the result. The slow build-up compounds the pressure to take the initiative, the pressure of time and the risk of a catastrophic counter-attack as more bodies are required to go forward in order to break down a set defence.

With the link between possession and control severed, the only logical thing to do is to cede more possession. Literally, kick the ball back to Sunderland. Make them try and break down a set defence, and counter attack accordingly.

Case in point:

Spurs win doesn’t change my view. If you think about the problems Thomas Frank has given us over the years with Brentford then you know that’s a spurs performance rather than a Thomas Frank performance.

I think Frank is a better coach than Maresca.

Good performance and good win but he will then go and crumble against a relegation fodder.

Yeah wouldn’t be surprised if we make Wolves more difficult than it should be.

If you like tacticos, then Maresca is manager for you.

It is one thing following those tactics against the likes of PSG and Spurs and suffocating the opposition with constant positional rotation and another doing it against Sunderland.

The winner Sunderland scored, had that exact break happened against Spurs you bet we would've had 3 - 4 players making the 40-50 yard sprint back to help the CB's and not just our Captain.

Maresca. sigh. He is an inexperienced coach/manager and when you have a squad of amazing, but inexperienced players, it might be a good idea to get a manager with deep experience and good player management. Maresca has never felt right as a Chelsea manager. We all know this. That said, what manager out there would be better?