I'm possibly one of the least negative members but...

[byatt]

I think the slow and painful realisation that we're simply not good enough has started to kick in, at the moment we're a group of decent footballers and not anything that resembles a team, gone is the team spirit and togetherness that was evidently present under Jose.

Last night just put the proverbial icing on the cake, the performance really disappointed me and to a certain extent i felt a little ashamed of our performance... Any normal side playing with 10 men normally fires themselves up, works harder to make up for the last man and fights for every ball, we settled for a draw after 35 minutes in my opinion, and for a side with Premier League Title ambitions that's simply not good enough..

If we'd have fought to be first to every loose ball, and threw everything we had at the Everton goal last night and had lost, i'd have been a lot prouder and happier than i was with somewhat luckily snatching a point.

We can have no complaints with referee's or how other teams set themselves up to play against us, i think the simple fact of the matter is we haven't got the idea or the ability to break teams down...

Let's hope Scolari can adress all the issues we have, identify ways to change that and give the lads a kick up the backside ready to improve in the second half of the season...

As always... Keep the Faith ;)

[Paul Seery]

As always... Keep the Faith ;)

Here here!

As for the rest of the post I disagree with. I think that we have missed greatly Micheal Essien. He was terrific before he got injured at the start of the season and his absence has shown, likewise with Ricky C at the back. From what I heard about Alex and Ivanovic I am pretty pleased that they did well together at the back. That said I would not want them at the back when we go to OT next month. We should hopefully be back to full strength by that game.

[Mod]

Great post byatt! Just now, Scolari is clearly lacking in match changing second half situations that we were once use to.

(and welcome to Essex Mr.Seery!)

[loz]

That said I would not want them at the back when we go to OT next month. We should hopefully be back to full strength by that game.

Unless Carvalho picks up an injury or a suspension there is no reason why we shouldn't be as Terry will now miss the game against West Brom, Fulham and Southend.

However I don't share your concern about wither Alex or Ivanovic playing against United. Both have been more reliable than JT so far this season.

[Barn]

Here's my take on it;

To suggest that a team down to 10 men after 35 mins should be going for a win at what is still one of the better sides in the league is pure folley. After Terry ruined our chances of a win, with what really was a stupid and irresponsible challenge, to come away with a draw was a decent outcome.

I know way does that mean that I think we're doing well at the moment, there's something massively wrong and unfortunately I reckon we need to see big changes to the squad before it starts to get much better. The only positive to take from the season so far is that no-one else (apart from the scouse scum) wants to win the league. That means that if either us or manu get their game together they should win it because the theiving scum aren't good enough to win it we have to give it away to them.

I think we should get any player the manager identifies as soon as we can, even if they're cup-tied for the rest of this season they'd be ready to go for the start of next season. The manager also needs to make some blod decisions on the players we've got. If he doesn't rate Joey Cole, instead of taking him off every game regardless of who's playing well and who's not he should give one of the youngsters a try.

[Nibs]

I think the slow and painful realisation that we're simply not good enough has started to kick in, at the moment we're a group of decent footballers and not anything that resembles a team, gone is the team spirit and togetherness that was evidently present under Jose.

Last night just put the proverbial icing on the cake, the performance really disappointed me and to a certain extent i felt a little ashamed of our performance... Any normal side playing with 10 men normally fires themselves up, works harder to make up for the last man and fights for every ball, we settled for a draw after 35 minutes in my opinion, and for a side with Premier League Title ambitions that's simply not good enough..

If we'd have fought to be first to every loose ball, and threw everything we had at the Everton goal last night and had lost, i'd have been a lot prouder and happier than i was with somewhat luckily snatching a point.

We can have no complaints with referee's or how other teams set themselves up to play against us, i think the simple fact of the matter is we haven't got the idea or the ability to break teams down...

Let's hope Scolari can adress all the issues we have, identify ways to change that and give the lads a kick up the backside ready to improve in the second half of the season...

As always... Keep the Faith ;)

Very well put Byatt - pretty much my thoughts too.

I'm pinning my hopes on the fact that when Carvalho and Essien return, everything will be okay, but of course that isn't guaranteed. They can't make us play any worse than we have done of late, but it's putting a lot of pressure on them to expect we're gonna go from playing sh*te to looking world-beaters again.

Last night, whilst it was 11 v 11, we seemed to have 80% plus possession but we still never looked that threatening. No-one will know, but I reckon there's a fair chance that would have finished 0-0 anyway.

Everton are not pushovers but lets not overlook that was an Everton side with plenty of injuries problems themselves and a side with not one recognised striker. On that basis, even allowing for the fact we were reduced to 10 men, that second half performance was v poor. Compare that to when we went down to 10 men against both West Ham and Arsenal in recent seasons and how we played even better.

What also stood out for me was the difference in quality of balls delivered into the box. Ours were forgetable but more or less every Everton ball whipped in looked likely to cause us problems.

Edited December 23, 2008 by Nibs

[Tim]

I have to say that Essien's come back cannot happen soon enough. Granted we will always miss Riccy, but his absence has not really been the problem, although you could argue that his surging runs from the back do sometimes spark our attack into action a bit.

What we do undoubtedly miss is Essien's drive, energy and power. Seeing Deco and Ballack fanny around, and Frank pretty quiet of late, it is clear we are crying out for someone to come in and show some real determination and galvanise the team. Whether he plays well or not, you can't accuse Michael of not putting in the effort, and hopefully he comes back asap with a real point to prove.

[Barn]

The trouble is even with Essien fit, I can't believe he'll replace one of Deco or Ballack and that looks to be one of our biggest problems at the moment, we've got three players doing the same thing in midfield - Lampard, Ballack and Deco, and even with the 3 of them them there not doing much.

[Nibs]

The trouble is even with Essien fit, I can't believe he'll replace one of Deco or Ballack and that looks to be one of our biggest problems at the moment, we've got three players doing the same thing in midfield - Lampard, Ballack and Deco, and even with the 3 of them them there not doing much.

So right. It's beginning to be a bit like the midfield of death or whatever it was labelled under Jose with Lamps, Essien, Ballack and Maka. At least then we were grinding out results. Now we look less and less likely to create something with each & every game whenever those three play together. It's too predictable and opposing teams are clearly finding it far too easy to defend against.

[ethicalstrategy]

To suggest that a team down to 10 men after 35 mins should be going for a win at what is still one of the better sides in the league is pure folley. After Terry ruined our chances of a win, with what really was a stupid and irresponsible challenge, to come away with a draw was a decent outcome.

I'd agree with that. There seems to be a general feeling that we have a god given right to win every match and if we don't then we are rubbish. I think that's nonsense.

Do we have problems? Of course we do. We have a captain who is not at his best and is clearly frustrated by that. We lack width and pace up front. We have a new manager who is not finding life as easy as when he started. We still have key players either injured or just returning from injury. We are struggling at home to break down well organised teams and we seem to be lacking the spirit and fight which has so characterised our play over the last four years.

Despite all that, we are still in with a decent chance of winning the PL and have a last 16 tie in the CL so we are hardly a disaster area either.

Last night we lost JT to a stupid tackle. Whether you agree it deserved a red or not it was still unnecessary and asking for trouble. After that a draw was a decent result and I thought on the whole that the changes the manager made were sensible. I would have been tempted to leave Anelka on and withdraw Deco so that we had more pace on the break but pushing Mikel back in to midfield and leaving Ballack on so that we had three combative players in the centre was the right move.

[Nibs]

There seems to be a general feeling that we have a god given right to win every match and if we don't then we are rubbish. I think that's nonsense.

Certainly not from me. No god given right to win every match. I just expect us to at least create a few chances and / or trouble the opponents keeper. Do a few decent things from set pieces when the chance arises. Just give the away fans something to get excited about in general.

We did none of that last night. It was poor.

[byatt]

I'd agree with that. There seems to be a general feeling that we have a god given right to win every match and if we don't then we are rubbish. I think that's nonsense.

Not at all, my problem is entirely with the effort we put in to try and win the match

[bjd]

I think the slow and painful realisation that we're simply not good enough has started to kick in, at the moment we're a group of decent footballers and not anything that resembles a team, gone is the team spirit and togetherness that was evidently present under Jose.

Last night just put the proverbial icing on the cake, the performance really disappointed me and to a certain extent i felt a little ashamed of our performance... Any normal side playing with 10 men normally fires themselves up, works harder to make up for the last man and fights for every ball, we settled for a draw after 35 minutes in my opinion, and for a side with Premier League Title ambitions that's simply not good enough..

If we'd have fought to be first to every loose ball, and threw everything we had at the Everton goal last night and had lost, i'd have been a lot prouder and happier than i was with somewhat luckily snatching a point.

We can have no complaints with referee's or how other teams set themselves up to play against us, i think the simple fact of the matter is we haven't got the idea or the ability to break teams down...

Let's hope Scolari can adress all the issues we have, identify ways to change that and give the lads a kick up the backside ready to improve in the second half of the season...

As always... Keep the Faith :P

Good post and Certainly a good summary of how i feel. However... i havent given up yet.

Last year around this time i felt the same , totally confused as to what was happening, why it was happening and felt totally alienated from the club i love - but at the end of the season we came a Heskey goal and a lick of paint from having the best season ever. Id never have believed it last December but it happened, and so - who knows ?

Im not giving up on BPS yet. He is in a new country and a new league we have a complete new backroom staff and a squad still getting to grips with a new way of playing. He has been handed an ageing squad and yes, we do seem to have a few players coasting and yes some of his tactical decisions, particularly substitutions are bafflying and it is up to him to sort it out but he is going to get the full season support from me. However i fear we are few more dodgy home results from a media frenzy and worse still a canape eating Gooner style booing situation. Something we really could do without.

I hope he is given some cash in Jan, im hoping Kenyons denials of players coming in is simply a smokescreen because any who watches us can see we need new blood. Out wide mainly.

We are well in the title race, no point in going down the what couldve been route looking at our last few results we need to be thankful that we are still up there right in the mix that Liverpool havent taken advantage and that everything that could be going wrong for Arsenal is. There is no doubt that Man Utd are the looming challengers and they are going to be right up there come the end of Jan. We have to make sure we keep up with them.

2009 and is a big year for Chelsea i think. We need to address the squad, we cannot take being part of the 'Big 4' for granted anymore. Villa with their young players and clever manager are on the up, and then there are Citys trillions. I think we have to pray Roman isnt losing interest because if he is we are in trouble , on and off the pitch. Still, lets get this season done first , there is a along way to go!

[clubhappy]

Were well in the title race but on recent form were lucky to be where we are . I'd like to think its our bad patch but on the evidence of our recent games , were just not good enough and just dont have enough quality in certain areas. We cant break down teams the way we used to, our delivery of balls from free kicks, corners and wide positions is a huge problem and we dont create chances . I get the impression the players themselves have lost belief after the Liverpool and Arsenal games . . Having said that , i believe we can turn things around , if we can win our next 2 games i feel confidence will return and we can go on a run of victories.

[Paul Seery]

Great post byatt! Just now, Scolari is clearly lacking in match changing second half situations that we were once use to.

(and welcome to Essex Mr.Seery!)

Thanks :) I am currently back in London at the moment on my christmas break but should be back in Essex or rather Colchester by round the time Chelsea play Southend in the third round of the FA Cup.

[ph0bolus]

Agree with most of what you say and some of the problems are due to Carvahlo and Essien being out, but I don't think that's the only reason we are playing bad. Yesterday there was absolutely no passion from any of the players except for JT and his challenge.

If you looked at Arsenal after they went down to 10 men they didn't give up, and kept playing football...

I just hope by the time the players find the passion or togetherness that we haven't fallen too far from the top.

[BLUENUT]

Agree with most of what you say and some of the problems are due to Carvahlo and Essien being out, but I don't think that's the only reason we are playing bad. Yesterday there was absolutely no passion from any of the players except for JT and his challenge.

If you looked at Arsenal after they went down to 10 men they didn't give up, and kept playing football...

I just hope by the time the players find the passion or togetherness that we haven't fallen too far from the top.

The players togetherness seems to be lacking somewhat, and we have players getting booked for dissent aswell. A side that bickers and blames the ref is not going to win the league, they need to show the spirit that they'd die for the cause or each other. There are too many players looking around when it's not going our way, rather than taking responsibility to do something about it there are too many looking towards others, this goes for the manager aswell who is now blaming the board for the lack of funds, referees for poor dicisions, the oppositions tactics etc.....

Ess and Riccy will give us a bit of the bite back and some of the spirit we've been lacking, but our problems are up front as they have been all season, we are just not creating enough chances. It was always going to be difficult going into this season with our lack of options up front, Manu's bench have more attacking options than our whole squad!! Essien will give us a new dimension, but if we're pinning our hopes on a centre half, and a defensive midfielder to get us amongst the goals then we truely are clutching at straws. We need to mix it up a bit up front, change the formation and/or personel.

Edited December 24, 2008 by BLUENUT

[TheWestwayWonder]

Alot of sense going around in this thread, and I cant quote it all, but I think BJD had a great point when he says last year at this time, we were equally dire and things looked far bleaker than this and then something happened. And we got oh so close to seeing two dreams fulfilled.This season, I think, is no different. We can be celebrating a trophy come may, but it comes down to self belief in this team.

Right now, nobody is running away with this league, and we are still very much in teh conversation. This is despite having played terribly over the last few games (and I expect it to get worse before it gets better) and, imo, experiencing the "blip" that all teams will go through over the course of a season. Yet we have won so many points early in the season that our form can now let us go through a rough patch and still leave us up there. And with the league the way it is, that should be fuel enough to show our players that the task is far from impossible, and that we have set ourselves up for success.

Let us remember something about LFS. We havent won a top/tough rivalry game yet this year, despite several attempts. But he has taken players who have played a rigid, defense first system the last few years, and turned them into both functional and fluid parts of an attacking menace. We have seen five goals a game several times this season, and IMO will see it again. I know it means nothing against relegation fodder, but nobody else is doing that, and its only a matter of time until we put the puzzle together against those top teams that have beguiled us.

Right now, not much is going according to plan, but when we have our best defender and our best midfielder back, I think things will start to click. The reintroduction of Drogba paid almost immediate dividends and i think we will see a similar impact with Essien and Riccy. I think everyone can see that we need more attacking quality but the fact that we are in the conversation, even with these obvious flaws gives me hope. It should give our players hope, and more importantly, confidence as well

Paul, quick question. Is that you in your avatar or a Jimmy Carr lookalike? I know that sounds funny, but im being serious! :D

[Paul Seery]

Paul, quick question. Is that you in your avatar or a Jimmy Carr lookalike? I know that sounds funny, but im being serious! :)

TWW, that is me in my avatar ;) ;)

[mad_mac]

I'd really love for this season to end in this fashion, and it is still plausible: Man Ut'd make the most of their games in hand and put themselves on top of the league. Liverpool finally faulter and head to 3rd. We continue to struggle, underperforming, but making the most of playing against lower opposition. Then, we get Essien and Carvalho back as well as a fully fit and focused Drogba. We crash out of the CL to Juve as we have struggled in Italy in recent years.

So, now all we have to concentrate on is the Cup and the League. Essien and Lampard form a midfield dynamo that dominates, Terry comes back to full fitness with Percy at his side, and Drogba starts slamming them in. Chelsea, premier league champions....Wenger sacked, and Sir Red Face retires. Oh, and the icing on the cake......The gay waiter goes to take over form the ex spuds manager, and fails in Real too

Scott

[PloKoon13]

I'd really love for this season to end in this fashion, and it is still plausible: Man Ut'd make the most of their games in hand and put themselves on top of the league. Liverpool finally faulter and head to 3rd. We continue to struggle, underperforming, but making the most of playing against lower opposition. Then, we get Essien and Carvalho back as well as a fully fit and focused Drogba. We crash out of the CL to Juve as we have struggled in Italy in recent years.

So, now all we have to concentrate on is the Cup and the League. Essien and Lampard form a midfield dynamo that dominates, Terry comes back to full fitness with Percy at his side, and Drogba starts slamming them in. Chelsea, premier league champions....Wenger sacked, and Sir Red Face retires. Oh, and the icing on the cake......The gay waiter goes to take over form the ex spuds manager, and fails in Real too

Scott

And the world-stopping replacement for Red Nose... Paul Ince.