"That is not football. It's hockey"

[just]

...............as the Special One once said.

It appears our ability to defend with any kind of method, composure and shape, not to mention our ability to defend set-pieces left on the 20th September 2007. The day Mr Jose Mourinho went.

Another 4-4. I wonder if Roman is happier with 4-4 draws or 1-0 wins? One point or three? I suppose it's entertaining, if you like that sort of thing. Doesn't win you much though.

Did you all see JT's face walking of that pitch tonight? Knew the league had probably gone with that result. Looked like he was going to burst into tears. I know exactly how he felt.

[Paul Seery]

Did you all see JT's face walking of that pitch tonight? Knew the league had probably gone with that result. Looked like he was going to burst into tears. I know exactly how he felt.

I didn't see the reaction by JT, but would have understood if he would have burst into tears. It was a chocker this evening. We should have won, should have won.

*Shakes head*

[bjd]

As ive said on another thread Just i think its belief and that 'champion' mentality and team solidarity we've lost. Everyone can make a mistake but tonight it was one after another.

People who gives the players the 'champion mentality' and the 'winning mentality' do not grow on trees.

I think its safe to say the rich bloke gets this now.

Well, i hope he does.

[Nibs]

...............Did you all see JT's face walking of that pitch tonight? Knew the league had probably gone with that result. Looked like he was going to burst into tears. I know exactly how he felt.

Maybe that was frustration with his own performance? He was poor tonight as was the whole back four / five and Maka.

[Paul Seery]

...............Did you all see JT's face walking of that pitch tonight? Knew the league had probably gone with that result. Looked like he was going to burst into tears. I know exactly how he felt.

Maybe that was frustration with his own performance? He was poor tonight as was the whole back four / five and Maka.

With all that at the back it baffles me that we still conceded those late goals. Its just a joke, an utter utter joke.

[TomP]

When Jose was in charge, we went 1-0 up and you just KNEW that we wouldn't concede. Under Grant we can be two or three goals up, and nothing is certain. He has no idea how to close down a match and grind out a result.

Two 4-4 draws in a season is inexcusable. I don't think we would have achieved that if Kevin Kegan was in charge.

Surely this is the final nail in the coffin for anyone who thinks Grant should be in charge for anything longer than the end of the season.

Realistically, we now HAVE to beat Arsenal and Man United at home, and hope for favours from Liverpool (who, mark my words, will roll over to both of them, as they only care about the champion's league now).

Also realistically, if we don't beat Arsenal on the weekend, we should probably do the same thing. Concentrate all efforts on the Champion's League and rest key players for the league matches.

[van Hooijdonk]

The character of Chelsea changed after the replacement of Jose Mourinho with Avram Grant. In Mourinho's time, Chelsea was a harder team to score against. They concedded less, had more football discipline, fought more and score critical goals that lead Chelsea to victories like 1-0 or 2-0. But now Chelsea's character became different. They started to score and concede more. With this kind of mentality Chelsea sometimes has difficulties in winning. But Mourinho's Chelsea always won when they scored because they nearly didn't concede :)

Mourinho was a very big part of Chelsea's success, I think. Any coach could not get two titles with just transferring the players of his favour. Keeping them in a solid football mentality and creating a team from ultra talented individuals was a very hard job and Mourinho did this very well for the most of his time.

Chelsea should win their games and wait for the top two to make mistakes but Ronaldo and United don't seem to slow down. I think taking the second place is a logical objective for Chelsea. But with 5 of the remaining 8 games at home and 6 points from Arsenal and Manchester United games will make Chelsea a strong candidate for the title.

Good luck in Premiere League and play the games, especially the ones near our matches :), very hard.

[van Hooijdonk]

When Jose was in charge, we went 1-0 up and you just KNEW that we wouldn't concede. Under Grant we can be two or three goals up, and nothing is certain. He has no idea how to close down a match and grind out a result.

Realistically, we now HAVE to beat Arsenal and Man United at home, and hope for favours from Liverpool (who, mark my words, will roll over to both of them, as they only care about the champion's league now).

Also realistically, if we don't beat Arsenal on the weekend, we should probably do the same thing. Concentrate all efforts on the Champion's League and rest key players for the league matches.

I strongly agree with you. Jose's style was maybe boring but nearly guaranteed the victory when you were 1-0 up. I still can not believe how Chelsea board made such a horrible mistake to let Jose go. Is there anyone on this planet that can win the Champions League with Porto. Avram's presence will cause problems I think and Chelsea should immediately return to its character of Mourinho's time.

I hope you win the game against Arsenal and take your revenge for the game at the Emirates. I hope Chelsea will carry its hopes of the title until the final game of the season and so that they have less time to concentrate on the Champions League. We are at the same situation in our league. Let's compete under similar conditions

[g3.7]

didn't see the game but now am masochistically (if that is a word) watching it on chelsea tv... it's 2-1 at the moment and this is something I want to ask:

why does drogba mark players at set pieces?

he is great in the air, and can make great clearing headers but his marking has cost us a lot of goals. it happened under jose and continues under grant with no sign of change. couldn't we put him near post / first man... somewhere where he can attack the ball without the responsibility of man marking the opposition's best headers?

[Chippy]

...............Did you all see JT's face walking of that pitch tonight? Knew the league had probably gone with that result. Looked like he was going to burst into tears. I know exactly how he felt.

Maybe that was frustration with his own performance? He was poor tonight as was the whole back four / five and Maka.

I think JT is his own worst critic, he knows the defence let the team down tonight.

Check the CL record and our clean sheets...the ability to defend never left in september,

negatives tonight..the defence all had a bad day at the same time, we dropped 2 points on UTD

Positives we scored four goals away from home, Joe Cole

[ethicalstrategy]

...............Did you all see JT's face walking of that pitch tonight? Knew the league had probably gone with that result. Looked like he was going to burst into tears. I know exactly how he felt.

Maybe that was frustration with his own performance? He was poor tonight as was the whole back four / five and Maka.

I think JT is his own worst critic, he knows the defence let the team down tonight.

Check the CL record and our clean sheets...the ability to defend never left in september,

negatives tonight..the defence all had a bad day at the same time, we dropped 2 points on UTD

Positives we scored four goals away from home, Joe Cole

Negatives: we lost the lead 3 times - yes, that's three times.

Positives: absolutely none.

[The Brit]

Chippy, whatever you're on I want some...it will help me get through the tough times in life

[just]

I think JT is his own worst critic, he knows the defence let the team down tonight.

Check the CL record and our clean sheets...the ability to defend never left in september,

negatives tonight..the defence all had a bad day at the same time, we dropped 2 points on UTD

Positives we scored four goals away from home, Joe Cole

Sorry Chippy, but for me, your arguments are starting to lose any form of coherence.

What teams in the CL, (so far), have put us under any sort of sustained pressure? None.

Do you really, honestly think a Mourinho team would defend like we did against Villa, Spurts or Everton in the 1-1?

Our marking at set-pieces tonight was an absolute farking joke. Three goals conceded from set-pieces in one game !!!!!!!!!!!!! The players looked like they didn't know what they were doing and that has to be down to the manager.

Don't they work on these situations in training? Aren't they told who to pick up before going out to play?

[BLUENUT]

5 Out of the last 6 goals Spurs have scored against us were from set pieces

[Lofty]

I think JT is his own worst critic, he knows the defence let the team down tonight.

Check the CL record and our clean sheets...the ability to defend never left in september,

negatives tonight..the defence all had a bad day at the same time, we dropped 2 points on UTD

Positives we scored four goals away from home, Joe Cole

Sorry Chippy, but for me, your arguments are starting to lose any form of coherence.

What teams in the CL, (so far), have put us under any sort of sustained pressure? None.

Do you really, honestly think a Mourinho team would defend like we did against Villa, Spurts or Everton in the 1-1?

Our marking at set-pieces tonight was an absolute f**king joke. Three goals conceded from set-pieces in one game !!!!!!!!!!!!! The players looked like they didn't know what they were doing and that has to be down to the manager.

Don't they work on these situations in training? Aren't they told who to pick up before going out to play?

Each and every Grant apologist - "I blame the players" and all the rest of it - should be made to memorise the above and recite it mantra-style every time they feel the slightest urge to justify the man's position at the club.

[Barn]

I remember when Jose hadn't been at the club for long, JT was interviewed and he said they have to study whoever they're going to be picking up at set peices, the manager gave each deffensive player a dvd highlighting the sort of runs the opposition make. I just can't imagine that sort of level of detail is happening any more. It looked more like a team talk of; "John you pick up the biggest one of theirs, Drogs next then Carv, the rest of you just mill around in the box...."

I hope Roman is suitably entertained, because for the fans it's sh*t!

[BLUENUT]

Saw the same interview, they were asking JT what differences Jose had introduced. He said (pre Liverpool game) that he'd been watching the last 25 corners Liverpool had taken. He said he'd been watching Hypia and he knew who he was picking up ' I can watch their last 50 if I need to'' he added.

This is the difference between a top world class manager and kit man at Pompey I'm afraid!

[c3blu]

The manager is a cu*t, an abselute cu*t.

[Blue Sun Tzu]

The manager is a cu*t, an abselute cu*t.

Again not the most eloquent of posts but I have to agree!