Some of the groupthink on this forum is absolutely ridiculous and hilarious.

Wibble.

LR has come out and said he needed to give the wider squad minutes and realised it was a gamble.

4 hours ago, Deino said:

It would have been better if Sarr and Josh played for the first half and build chemistry, inserting Badiashile and Tosin on the 60th minute if needed.

I'd rather he experiment with Jesse Derry than play all our CBs especially his go to sub every time.

As much as I don't rate Tosin and Badiashile, I think having 2 young CBs playing together for the first time would much more risky.

Wrexham are a good team, maybe if we had draw Mansfield instead I would be more comfortable with it.

1 hour ago, strider6004 said:

LR has come out and said he needed to give the wider squad minutes and realised it was a gamble.

2 hours ago, strider6004 said:

LR has come out and said he needed to give the wider squad minutes and realised it was a gamble.

Is that exactly what he said?

The phrase ‘and realised it was a gamble’

Is that Liam Rosenior saying he won’t do it again? Or am I clutching at straws here?

7 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I think it’s more than evident he’s instructed to rotate and constantly. We’ve already read Matt Law’s segment on the matter with regards to the sporting director’s influence on that and with Rosenior’s comments.

We’ve made more subs than any other team and we’ve also dropped more points from winning positions than any other team. Almost like we’re more worried about tomorrow vs what’s right in front of us.

Did everybody miss the period just before Maresca quit? It was evident he left because he was sick of being told how and when to play players. The Palmer sub and the aftermath of it proved it even further. Now Rosenior is doing the exact same thing and we're just supposed to pretend this isn't happening?

Most fans accepted this was happening under Maresca, so why the sudden push back on it?

12 minutes ago, dansubrosa said:

Is that exactly what he said?

The phrase ‘and realised it was a gamble’

Is that Liam Rosenior saying he won’t do it again? Or am I clutching at straws here?

You can read from here

BBC Sport

Chelsea: Liam Rosenior defends squad rotation after defea...

Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior defends his heavy squad rotation after his side edged past 10‑man Wrexham to reach the FA Cup quarter‑finals.

2 hours ago, Remodez said:

As much as I don't rate Tosin and Badiashile, I think having 2 young CBs playing together for the first time would much more risky.

Wrexham are a good team, maybe if we had draw Mansfield instead I would be more comfortable with it.

The "less risky" choice had us concede 2 goals. One of them was a direct long ball with both of them marking the striker.

I get what you're trying to say but it's simply not true

5 hours ago, RMH said:

I think that we’ll do well against PSG, to be honest. As I thought that we would get points from Arsenal and Villa, and it turned out that we didn’t play too shabby against LeArse and beat Villa convincingly. This team has shown that can play well against good teams that try to play, and we’ve been good before against them even under Maresca. So it’s not Rosenior’s touch, imo. Just like under Maresca, I think that we can give PSG a good go.

If we win that game, it'd be because the players are up for it. It won't be because of Rosenior.

23 hours ago, dermott said:

And currently missing midfield protection of the defence courtesy of injury to McGinn and Kamara.

I can't comment on their personnel but Aston villa defensive system is quite traditional and you can see why it is a rarity this days in pl.

1 hour ago, Bob stark said:

I can't comment on their personnel but Aston villa defensive system is quite traditional and you can see why it is a rarity this days in pl.

Is it really that rare? The only unusual thing is they defend with two "forwards" pressing the backline where most teams only have one. A lot of teams (including us under Maresca last season) use two banks of four as their defensive shape. They attack more like a 4-5-1, Watkins plays quite a bit ahead of Rogers/Buendia and is often tasked with holding the ball up.

I'd say their use of 4-4-2 combined with a high defensive line is rare, I haven't seen that since Rodgers or Villas-Boas days in the Prem. Villa's midfield injury crisis means they probably don't even have enough available midfielders for a modern midfield...

Regarding personnel, Onana and Douglas Luiz are a better defensive combination than McGinn or Kamara, but Kamara is so good defensively that he allows more freedom for Tielemans, McGinn and the forwards to focus on attacking and playmaking. Villa are struggling for goals because their only real source of chance creation at the moment is getting the ball to Rogers or Watkins on the counter-attack.

1 hour ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Is it really that rare? The only unusual thing is they defend with two "forwards" pressing the backline where most teams only have one. A lot of teams (including us under Maresca last season) use two banks of four as their defensive shape. They attack more like a 4-5-1, Watkins plays quite a bit ahead of Rogers/Buendia and is often tasked with holding the ball up.

I'd say their use of 4-4-2 combined with a high defensive line is rare, I haven't seen that since Rodgers or Villas-Boas days in the Prem. Villa's midfield injury crisis means they probably don't even have enough available midfielders for a modern midfield...

Regarding personnel, Onana and Douglas Luiz are a better defensive combination than McGinn or Kamara, but Kamara is so good defensively that he allows more freedom for Tielemans, McGinn and the forwards to focus on attacking and playmaking. Villa are struggling for goals because their only real source of chance creation at the moment is getting the ball to Rogers or Watkins on the counter-attack.

It is not the 442, you can find 442 everywhere. It is 442 sitting in mid block/high block with no pressure, this is extemely rare. This is how most team in cwc played against us.

Basically everyone this days run high press / low block or both with hybrid or full man to man, nobody run full zonal anymore.

Edited March 9Mar 9 by Bob stark

1 hour ago, Bob stark said:

It is not the 442, you can find 442 everywhere. It is 442 sitting in mid block/high block with no pressure, this is extemely rare. This is how most team in cwc played against us.

Basically everyone this days run high press / low block or both with hybrid or full man to man, nobody run full zonal anymore.

Ah yeah. I don't know if it is Emery's tactic or whether it just falls apart when his teams lose momentum, but lots of Emery's teams have been caught out by this. They get stuck trying to defend passes and close down passing lanes and players between the lines end up having a field day. It is the worst possible tactic against this Chelsea team lol

11 hours ago, Deino said:

If we win that game, it'd be because the players are up for it. It won't be because of Rosenior.

Does this mean that any time we lose its because the players weren't up for it and Rosenior isn't at fault?

Let’s be honest anything could happen against PSG.

We have shown plenty of fight in Recent weeks which is a good sign for LR.

We have shown We can compete with and beat top teams but we can also concede scruffy goals against lesser teams like Leeds, Burnley and Wrexham.

Our side of the CL draw is a nightmare I don’t fear anybody though and a lot of clubs have a chance to lift it. Arsenal are some people’s favourites but they ain’t playing well and have no pedigree. I feel it’s fairly open.

25 minutes ago, C3blue said:

Let’s be honest anything could happen against PSG.

We have shown plenty of fight in Recent weeks which is a good sign for LR.

We have shown We can compete with and beat top teams but we can also concede scruffy goals against lesser teams like Leeds, Burnley and Wrexham.

Our side of the CL draw is a nightmare I don’t fear anybody though and a lot of clubs have a chance to lift it. Arsenal are some people’s favourites but they ain’t playing well and have no pedigree. I feel it’s fairly open.

Arsenal?

Do you think the Arsenal's Dark Arts (and dirty play) will be treated as leniently in Europe as it seems to be here ?

How they got away with some of the things they did when we played them was beyond me - especially that scumbag Rice.

1 hour ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Does this mean that any time we lose its because the players weren't up for it and Rosenior isn't at fault?

Who picks the team, strategizes the gameplay and picks the subs? By your logic, Maresca's blameless too

4 minutes ago, Deino said:

Who picks the team, strategizes the gameplay and picks the subs? By your logic, Maresca's blameless too

This isn't my logic, its just your logic turned on its head...

9 minutes ago, Bebe1980 said:

Arsenal?

Do you think the Arsenal's Dark Arts (and dirty play) will be treated as leniently in Europe as it seems to be here ?

How they got away with some of the things they did when we played them was beyond me - especially that scumbag Rice.

Bookies favourite, not mine. Any number of clubs could win it if their the favourites is my point.

You’re right about their tactics, they are stumbling towards the finish line in a poor premier league season.

Hard to tell how good Bayern are, been much better Barca and RM teams than these but again all will feel they can beat anybody on their day over 2 legs so will the prem teams. It’s wide open.

48 minutes ago, C3blue said:

Let’s be honest anything could happen against PSG.

We have shown plenty of fight in Recent weeks which is a good sign for LR.

We have shown We can compete with and beat top teams but we can also concede scruffy goals against lesser teams like Leeds, Burnley and Wrexham.

Our side of the CL draw is a nightmare I don’t fear anybody though and a lot of clubs have a chance to lift it. Arsenal are some people’s favourites but they ain’t playing well and have no pedigree. I feel it’s fairly open.

It's not in recent weeks only, though, is it? We've seen that even under Maresca, being the better team against Arsenal, being down to 10 men, against Liverpool or the famous CWC final against PSG. This team can play well very sporadically, and mostly against teams that open up, but we've seen it for two seasons now, with Maresca or Rosenior.

8 minutes ago, GarnachoCheese said:

This isn't my logic, its just your logic turned on its head...

Resorting to gaslighting tactics again.

8 minutes ago, RMH said:

It's not in recent weeks only, though, is it? We've seen that even under Maresca, being the better team against Arsenal, being down to 10 men, against Liverpool or the famous CWC final against PSG. This team can play well very sporadically, and mostly against teams that open up, but we've seen it for two seasons now, with Maresca or Rosenior.

This team can win in any given game. The things that tips the scales heavily is predominantly on the manager

As much as we rag on the players, we have edged out wins from individual moments more often than not.

14 minutes ago, Deino said:

Resorting to gaslighting tactics again.

what are you talking about lmao you sound like a bitter ex.

You made a silly statement, i reversed your logic and now you've gone on the attack.

Just be happy we've upgraded our manager.

24 minutes ago, RMH said:

It's not in recent weeks only, though, is it? We've seen that even under Maresca, being the better team against Arsenal, being down to 10 men, against Liverpool or the famous CWC final against PSG. This team can play well very sporadically, and mostly against teams that open up, but we've seen it for two seasons now, with Maresca or Rosenior.

Difference being that LR is playing people in their natural positions and maximising their potential.

A.Santos, J.Pedro, Hato, Garnacho, Gusto etc. all come into form when they barely resembled footballers under TheBaldOne.

Reece James getting a look in at full back again at last. Caicedo not having to play in midfield by himself.

I've noticed LR often says about a player who is either high profile, on form or both, typically Jaoa Pedro Reece James & Estevao.....

"He can improve or get better.." ( if he listens to me, learns from me)

Very clever but you've been sussed simply trying to gain some personal praise for developing one of our class players. I'm not buying it.

Comparing LR to Maresca isn't necessarily a good thing, he may or may not be better than Maresca but sadly he's not good enough to manage Chelsea or any other similarly placed Premier League team.

If he was available during 2026 or 2027 do you think a queue would be forming with a top teams representative in it? Nope.

Edited March 11Mar 11 by OTL