Didn't get to see the game live, so avoided the score and watched full replay. I'm torn between absolutely fuming and not even bothering with them.

It was so predictable. So so so so so so predictable, that when you go away, midweek, to a team battling relegation, they will give it 110% from the start. We didn't play for 5 mins, and were 1-0 down. Slow pedantic football all first half, no real threat, and mess around in our half and suddenly 2-0.

We get an early goal in second half - there is hope. Nope, we revert to slow turgid nothing football. The ball would spend 60-90 seconds between Trev, Sanchez and Tosin, before we eventually hook it long and give it away.

Crap defense. Absent midfield. Toothless attack. Some were so bad they deserve to be mentioned:

• Badiashile - woeful, pitiful, weak performance. He looks scared of his own shadow

• Tosin - I'd pick Badiashile ahead of him. Worse thing is, he only ever seems to play with Trev, and they both have a magical way of highlighting each others shortcomings. Anyway, both Badiashile and Tosin should be behind Josh. I'm not particularly fussed if I never see Tosin in a Chelsea shirt again - do not rate him at all

• Gittens - alright, when he finally reached the byline he put in the cross for the goal, but what's the point of him playing? Seriously, what does he bring

• Delap - I just don't see it. His hold up play is awful, hes not that quick, and doesn't seem to know where the goal is when he shoots

• Trev - I don't trust him alongside anyone but Fofana or Levi. That says enough to me. Great pro, average footabller

• Gusto - crap performance. Perhaps hes forgotten how to play full back after all his midfield and no.10 endeavors

• Enzo / Santos - can't single one of them out as had zero partnership. Who stays back, who goes forward - no matter what they did, both were in the wrong place

• Sanchez - must have brought the wrong boots today as he over indexed on "Sanchez clearances that don't get off the ground"

Well done Maresca, well done. Another performance where Maresca totally underprepares the team from the very first kick. You knew from 15 seconds in Chelsea weren't at it. Pitiful.

So, on to the next game. Who wants to rotate 7 players again and go sideways. Perhaps we can try a backline of Gusto Tosin Josh Hato as that might be the only combination yet to play together. Absolute circus - disgusted with the lot of them.

3 hours ago, Munkunku said:

You must be really thick when Dean Saunders is showing more intelligence than you!

I don't agree with Dean. It's worse than that, it's ff'ing suicidal to keep rotating things at the back.

And it's even more stupid to tell the players, especially against the likes of Leeds, I'll understand if you're not up for this one so much because it's back to back ... which is our twat manager's message to those that he left in from the weekend.

The Team is a bit like a well tuned car... if it's going well - just leave it alone - and then the message is easy: just keep winning - sadly this prat cannot do that.

Edited December 4, 2025Dec 4 by Bebe1980

What a sh*tshow this was. Did not understand why so much tension from the start. They started better, scored, but then after the first 20 minutes we started to control the match, but still there was so much unnecessary tension in our game.

Some things I learned is that you can't rotate that much in a PL away match. The level is just too high and teams will punish you.

Delap just not good enough for a top club. Joao Pedro at "10" will never work without Caicedo in midfield because he simply does not put the necessary defensive work and leaves the midfield wide open.

Should be the end of Tosin as a Chelsea player and just get rid in the summer. Every match he has played this season he looked like a complete amateur. And Chalobah only seems to raise his level in big matches, otherwise he is bang average. Both Tosin and Chalobah should get good offers from PL clubs and we can use the money for a really good defender.

As I said some days ago, at the moment we look more fitted for a tournament type of game, rather than a league one. Let's aim for the two domestic Cups and a good run in the CL.

On 02/12/2025 at 19:37, axman2526 said:

You just know that, after our showing vs Barca and the amount of effort we had to put in vs Arsenal, that this game has "after the lord mayor's show" written all over it.

Utterly predictable.

And after all that back slapping the team, some fans and media did about a bloody home draw vs Arsenal. Such a spursy thing to do. Our standards in the toilet.

8 hours ago, Jackbuchanan said:

Ipswich on New Year last season. That is this performance.

That sums up this game for me.

6 hours ago, Caps_Lock_King said:

JUST HEARD COCO THE CLOWN BEING INTERVIEWED

SAME OLD BOLLOX

TRYING TO SAY WE HAVE TO ROTATE TO PROTECT THE PLAYERS FROM BURNOUT...

DEAN SAUNDERS CALLED HIM OUT AND SAID YOU CANT KEEP CHANGING THE DEFENCE AND WHY CANT SOME PLAYERS PLAY BACK TO BACK 90 MINUTES?

I get the rotational policy to a certain degree. Its unfortunate that some of our best players are our most fragile. James, Fofana, Lavia. Its unfortunate that any injury seems to take at least six times longer to heal than at most other clubs. I don't have a massive issue with the desire to rotate. I do have an issue however with the quality of the players being rotated in and the style of play being adopted.

Many of us have been critical of the recruitment policy adopted here and last night was the living embodiment of all of our concerns. The issue isn't (totally) about Fofana being rested, it's that the moden day equivalent of Per Mertesacker is deemed to be the de factor replacement. Furthermore, after Tosin had laboriously huffed and puffed his way onto the pitch I was infuriated to see us play an horrendous brand of football where players like him have the ball more than anyone else.

Why is there such a massive drop off in quality to our second choice players. Why buy half a dozen second rate or undercooked defenders when what was need was one extra, quality, player there.

Sanchez will get pelters again. Neville was at it last night. He might be right, but you could see from minute 1 Sanchez was nervous. Having gone from Chalobah and Fofana to Tug Boat Tosin and Badiashile had me raching for the Imodium, and I was just watching.

3 hours ago, PhilH930 said:

Didn't get to see the game live, so avoided the score and watched full replay. I'm torn between absolutely fuming and not even bothering with them.

It was so predictable. So so so so so so predictable, that when you go away, midweek, to a team battling relegation, they will give it 110% from the start. We didn't play for 5 mins, and were 1-0 down. Slow pedantic football all first half, no real threat, and mess around in our half and suddenly 2-0.

We get an early goal in second half - there is hope. Nope, we revert to slow turgid nothing football. The ball would spend 60-90 seconds between Trev, Sanchez and Tosin, before we eventually hook it long and give it away.

Crap defense. Absent midfield. Toothless attack. Some were so bad they deserve to be mentioned:

• Badiashile - woeful, pitiful, weak performance. He looks scared of his own shadow

• Tosin - I'd pick Badiashile ahead of him. Worse thing is, he only ever seems to play with Trev, and they both have a magical way of highlighting each others shortcomings. Anyway, both Badiashile and Tosin should be behind Josh. I'm not particularly fussed if I never see Tosin in a Chelsea shirt again - do not rate him at all

• Gittens - alright, when he finally reached the byline he put in the cross for the goal, but what's the point of him playing? Seriously, what does he bring

• Delap - I just don't see it. His hold up play is awful, hes not that quick, and doesn't seem to know where the goal is when he shoots

• Trev - I don't trust him alongside anyone but Fofana or Levi. That says enough to me. Great pro, average footabller

• Gusto - crap performance. Perhaps hes forgotten how to play full back after all his midfield and no.10 endeavors

• Enzo / Santos - can't single one of them out as had zero partnership. Who stays back, who goes forward - no matter what they did, both were in the wrong place

• Sanchez - must have brought the wrong boots today as he over indexed on "Sanchez clearances that don't get off the ground"

Well done Maresca, well done. Another performance where Maresca totally underprepares the team from the very first kick. You knew from 15 seconds in Chelsea weren't at it. Pitiful.

So, on to the next game. Who wants to rotate 7 players again and go sideways. Perhaps we can try a backline of Gusto Tosin Josh Hato as that might be the only combination yet to play together. Absolute circus - disgusted with the lot of them.

Excellent post. Agree on all points.

12 hours ago, CFCCAN said:

IMO -This will be a bigger test than Arsenal to determine if we are serious challengers or the same old Chelsea throughout December and the Xmas period when typically we’ve been a disaster dropping points to mediocre teams.

Has someone quoted this prescient post already?

2 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

I get the rotational policy to a certain degree. Its unfortunate that some of our best players are our most fragile. James, Fofana, Lavia. Its unfortunate that any injury seems to take at least six times longer to heal than at most other clubs. I don't have a massive issue with the desire to rotate. I do have an issue however with the quality of the players being rotated in and the style of play being adopted.

Many of us have been critical of the recruitment policy adopted here and last night was the living embodiment of all of our concerns. The issue isn't (totally) about Fofana being rested, it's that the moden day equivalent of Per Mertesacker is deemed to be the de factor replacement. Furthermore, after Tosin had laboriously huffed and puffed his way onto the pitch I was infuriated to see us play an horrendous brand of football where players like him have the ball more than anyone else.

Why is there such a massive drop off in quality to our second choice players. Why buy half a dozen second rate or undercooked defenders when what was need was one extra, quality, player there.

Sanchez will get pelters again. Neville was at it last night. He might be right, but you could see from minute 1 Sanchez was nervous. Having gone from Chalobah and Fofana to Tug Boat Tosin and Badiashile had me raching for the Imodium, and I was just watching.

When his rotation "policy" includes putting our current best Centre back Chalobah to RB and bringing in 2 centre backs that have been awful for periods over a young player that has been excellent, then you know its absolute bo**ocks.

5 hours ago, PhilH930 said:

Didn't get to see the game live, so avoided the score and watched full replay. I'm torn between absolutely fuming and not even bothering with them.

It was so predictable. So so so so so so predictable, that when you go away, midweek, to a team battling relegation, they will give it 110% from the start. We didn't play for 5 mins, and were 1-0 down. Slow pedantic football all first half, no real threat, and mess around in our half and suddenly 2-0.

We get an early goal in second half - there is hope. Nope, we revert to slow turgid nothing football. The ball would spend 60-90 seconds between Trev, Sanchez and Tosin, before we eventually hook it long and give it away.

Crap defense. Absent midfield. Toothless attack. Some were so bad they deserve to be mentioned:

• Badiashile - woeful, pitiful, weak performance. He looks scared of his own shadow

• Tosin - I'd pick Badiashile ahead of him. Worse thing is, he only ever seems to play with Trev, and they both have a magical way of highlighting each others shortcomings. Anyway, both Badiashile and Tosin should be behind Josh. I'm not particularly fussed if I never see Tosin in a Chelsea shirt again - do not rate him at all

• Gittens - alright, when he finally reached the byline he put in the cross for the goal, but what's the point of him playing? Seriously, what does he bring

• Delap - I just don't see it. His hold up play is awful, hes not that quick, and doesn't seem to know where the goal is when he shoots

• Trev - I don't trust him alongside anyone but Fofana or Levi. That says enough to me. Great pro, average footabller

• Gusto - crap performance. Perhaps hes forgotten how to play full back after all his midfield and no.10 endeavors

• Enzo / Santos - can't single one of them out as had zero partnership. Who stays back, who goes forward - no matter what they did, both were in the wrong place

• Sanchez - must have brought the wrong boots today as he over indexed on "Sanchez clearances that don't get off the ground"

Well done Maresca, well done. Another performance where Maresca totally underprepares the team from the very first kick. You knew from 15 seconds in Chelsea weren't at it. Pitiful.

So, on to the next game. Who wants to rotate 7 players again and go sideways. Perhaps we can try a backline of Gusto Tosin Josh Hato as that might be the only combination yet to play together. Absolute circus - disgusted with the lot of them.

Spot on, was going to post almost exactly that.

Like you, am split between being angry and just fed up with it all. Inexcusable that a game against old rivals like Dirty Leeds, should be surrendered with so little fight. Leeds will have few more comfortable games this season and that's ALL on Maresca and his sh*t line-up.

Players who have looked good, like Chalobah, Cucurella, Santos and Sanchez, were all bad last night and that's because by playing the two clown CB's, the balance was completely lost. You're bang on when you say Trev only goods good alongside Colwill or Fofana. To be fair, think anyone would struggle alongside the other two. And Sanchez, back to his dithering worst.

I watched the whole game but had turned the sound down and understand Neville called out the dreadful tactic of our defence just knocking the ball about for miuntes at a time with little urgency. Criminal. So fed up with it all and really not looking forward to upcoming fixtures.

Biggest frustration is as a fan we all saw this coming a mile off.

Once the lineup was released, after the first 3 minutes of play.

f**king predictable. We get catfished by these Liverpool/Barcelona/Arsenal games.

An insane level of rotation ... he basically changed the entire outfield spine.

The only continuity from the Arsenal starting XI was Sanchez in goal, Cucurella at left back and Estevao at right wing.

I am gobsmacked that the owners would put up with the level of incompetence that we see regularly from their manager and their sporting directors.

Tosin and Badiashiele just crumble in uncomfortable games like these where you need a bit og grit and character to get through it.

I have seen enough of them here at Chelsea. They shouldn’t get near the pitch again this season. Too few good games and too many collapses.

Would rather give Achaempong the minutes to further his development. Hato as well although he hasn’t had the best start to his career here. He has time on his side still.

4 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

I get the rotational policy to a certain degree. Its unfortunate that some of our best players are our most fragile. James, Fofana, Lavia. Its unfortunate that any injury seems to take at least six times longer to heal than at most other clubs. I don't have a massive issue with the desire to rotate. I do have an issue however with the quality of the players being rotated in and the style of play being adopted.

Many of us have been critical of the recruitment policy adopted here and last night was the living embodiment of all of our concerns. The issue isn't (totally) about Fofana being rested, it's that the moden day equivalent of Per Mertesacker is deemed to be the de factor replacement. Furthermore, after Tosin had laboriously huffed and puffed his way onto the pitch I was infuriated to see us play an horrendous brand of football where players like him have the ball more than anyone else.

Why is there such a massive drop off in quality to our second choice players. Why buy half a dozen second rate or undercooked defenders when what was need was one extra, quality, player there.

Sanchez will get pelters again. Neville was at it last night. He might be right, but you could see from minute 1 Sanchez was nervous. Having gone from Chalobah and Fofana to Tug Boat Tosin and Badiashile had me raching for the Imodium, and I was just watching.

Exactly. There's rotation and there's ripping up units and throwing players together. Last night's approach was suicidal.

A midfield with no Caicedo is not something any Chelsea defence is used to, so don't pick one that hasn't played together. And at least James offers some defensive protection in Caicedo's absence, so to leave him out too was asking for trouble. Fernandez is not a defensive midfielder, but picking Pedro as the third man in the midfield suggests Fernandez is going to shoulder some of the defensive responsibilities, which we know he can't do. Especially when his partner is relatively inexperienced and unproven in the Prem.

And do Gusto and Garnacho really need rotating at this stage? And maybe chucking in an inexperienced 18 year old to start in a hostile environment when Neto is available is just a teeny bit thoughtless. And to pick another inexperienced, unproven youngster on the other wing who has yet to hit any kind of form, well...

Rotating players makes sense, but not like that. That was appalling from Maresca.

Edited December 4, 2025Dec 4 by Backbiter

I really feel for the travelling supporters. They were making good noise in that first half but the team gave them little to cheer. It has been a long time since I went to a mid-week away game but to go all that way, get back at some God forsaken hour in the morning just to witness a performance like that, fair play to each and every one of them.

3 hours ago, Nibs said:

I watched the whole game but had turned the sound down and understand Neville called out the dreadful tactic of our defence just knocking the ball about for minutes at a time with little urgency. Criminal. So fed up with it all and really not looking forward to upcoming fixtures.

The dreadful passing around of the ball at the back is frustrating as it usually comes to nothing and has caused us problems in other matches. Last night's 3rd goal was just abysmal, especially when we were only a goal behind. Sometimes you need to try something new. If Delap' s on the pitch why not try a big hoof up the pitch to "the big old fashioned striker" occasionally. Bizarre tactics

2 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

An insane level of rotation ... he basically changed the entire outfield spine.

The only continuity from the Arsenal starting XI was Sanchez in goal, Cucurella at left back and Estevao at right wing.

I am gobsmacked that the owners would put up with the level of incompetence that we see regularly from their manager and their sporting directors.

Hope Maresca doesn't see this line upside down. He might just think it starts with Delap in goal and Sanchez up front.

3 minutes ago, BewareoftheDrog said:

Hope Maresca doesn't see this line upside down. He might just think it starts with Delap in goal and Sanchez up front.

Hahaha

Sanchez is probably a better striker option than Delap too LOL

JT speaks so much good sense on footballing matters.

Borderline criminal that the club don't/won't make more use of him.

20 minutes ago, BewareoftheDrog said:

The dreadful passing around of the ball at the back is frustrating as it usually comes to nothing and has caused us problems in other matches. Last night's 3rd goal was just abysmal, especially when we were only a goal behind. Sometimes you need to try something new. If Delap' s on the pitch why not try a big hoof up the pitch to "the big old fashioned striker" occasionally. Bizarre tactics

Even more so when he starting sacrificing midfielders to bring on more attacking options and then had the two most technically inadequate players on the ball the longest. I have never rated Badiashile as this hopeless standing around, baiting a press and then passing sideways to the nearest player has never fooled me, but when the player being passed to couldn't outrun Daniel Farke let alone the Leeds attack, it truly beggars belief.

1 minute ago, Sexyfootball said:

JT speaks so much good sense on footballing matters.

Borderline criminal that the club don't/won't make more use of him.

I'd play him ahead of Tosin. I bet he'd beat him in a sprint, even now.

15 hours ago, Caps_Lock_King said:

I said he could be gone by Christmas, lose our next 3 and it could happen

We have far too much individual quality to at least finish Top 4/5. That is what the SDs are content with.

I reiterate. It's just a matter of how long the club and SDs are willing to persist with that. Just a Top 5 battle every season, because that is Maresca's peak.

25 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

JT speaks so much good sense on footballing matters.

Borderline criminal that the club don't/won't make more use of him.

He's not a yes man. He'd probably have too much to say