Chelsea v Man City

This topic contains 84 replies, has 18 voices, and was last updated by  CFC1905 6 years, 11 months ago.

Viewing 20 posts - 61 through 80 (of 85 total)
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  • #1460493

    bluepylon
    Spectator
    • :

    forgot to mention Hazard of course, he knew what he was doing with the penalty haha

    #1460545
    phwepsi
    phwepsi
    Spectator
    • :

    Notnice

    I think pedro played really well with hazard. Alonso and cahill were good. Luiz has been up to his old tricks in recent games. Cant understand it its just pure arrogance now as he keeps getting caught coming forward like he used to

    #1460576

    young_blue
    Participant
    • :

    All of a sudden everything is fine in this forum. what a difference a win can make ! thick the clock back to the past 24 hours and you will think Chelsea might have already lost the league let alone that game. personally i don’t want to focus the performance of individual players. but i was happy how we played as a team last night. Hazard was the standout performer. you have to feel for Costa, at the moment he is struggling for form which is a concern. we all know what he is capable if his head is in the right place. but we play with 11 players and every player will make their contribution at some point in the season. Costa was superb earlier in the season, but he is now struggling. could that China bid had any effect on his head? i hope not but it looks like that way. something isn’t right behind the scenes.

    #1460622
    notnice
    notnice
    Participant
    • :

    Costa will be gone next season and thats possibly why he may not be playing with 100% commitment

    #1460627

    bluepylon
    Spectator
    • :

    YB
    I cant recall fans beng over nagative after the loss on Saturday, main criticism was aimed at Costa not scoring or playing well lately, which you have also mentioned in your latest post.
    My criticism of him will remain until he starts playing well and hopefully scoring, win lose or draw.

    #1460701
    liquidator
    liquidator
    Participant
    • :

    Last night was the type of performance I was expecting and let’s face it, it’s generally what we see whenever we play the better more expansive opposition. Also, lets face it, it generally works for us, as indeed it did last night. We barely attacked so I don’t think we can be too harsh on the current whipping boy, Costa. Yes, he is not in great form, and I suspect he is off in the summer, but as always, I think I will leave it to Costa to decide to continue to play him. COnte’s recent comments suggest he still has faith in him. Obviously the negative last night was the goal we conceded, and it was a terrible error from Courtois. However, I think it runs a little deeper that that, in terms of how often we have comfortable possession in midfield and end up playing back to the keeper. In the lead up to their goal Azpi had the ball in the RWB position just inside our half with open space in front of him, and I could see no good reason why he wouldn’t move forward with it and look for Pedro, Fab or Costa. But he didn’t, he inexplicably (in my opinion) turned back and passed it back to Zouma, who passed it back to Courtois who passed it to Sane, and we know what happened next! From what could have been a promising attacking position, we ended up piling pressure on ourselves against a side pressing high and ended up conceding. I get very frustrated seeing how often we turn comfortable midfield possession into Courtois lumping it up field where at best we have a 50/50 chance of retaining possession. I have done a bit of coaching in my time, and don’t get it. Are there any budding UEFA A coaches out there who can enlighten me?

    #1460715

    nine nine nine
    Moderator
    • :

    young blue, good post, understandably I guess everyone is a little bit nervous because Spurs are winning and the unexpected loss to Palace reduced the lead to 7 points.

    I would be surprised if Spurs win all their games and they have a more difficult run in than us imo too.

    I think they might continue to close the gap with the B’mouth , United and Everton away games to come this month after which I think our fixtures v Spurs fixtures plus hopefully a bit of a points difference should be just enough to see us over the line, that’s what I’m hoping anyway.

    I do however anticipate that we will see a few nervous posts on here between now and the end of the season.

    I don’t quite get the Spurs will win every game bit though,they might of course but given their fixtures to come I think that’s probably unlikely.

    Had we lost or drawn last night coupled with the Spurs comeback I can only imagine the reaction especially in the media who are chomping at the bit to see Spurs catch us.

    I don’t think though as a team we are firing on all cylinders at the moment which is a bit of a concern as is Costa’s form and Conte needs to be working with Costa on the training ground to try and get him back to somewhere near his early season form if that doesn’t work and he’s not contributing Conte will need to think about a change either via a false 9 or Bat’s but I’m still hoping Costa will sort his head out before seemingly moving on.

    But 7 points clear with 8 games to go and the City game behind us hand on hearts we would all have settled for that at the beginning of the season.

    We all also need to remember that at this stage of the season it’s more about points than performances albeit both would be nice. Cheers 999

    #1460717
    Romansdirtypants
    Romansdirtypants
    Spectator
    • :

    Delighted with the win, thought we were a little below par.. I thought Fabreagas was one of the better players on the pitch last night. Hazard won the game for us. Great reaction and another run of a few wins and we’ll almost be home and dry.

    #1460744

    CFC1905
    Participant
    • :

    Obviously delighted with the win but must admit to some surprise at the change at half time

    In the first half I thought we looked well balanced and in control of the game. Should have been 2-0 apart from the stupid error. However, IMO, the change upset us and we reverted to playing on the back foot which for a team like City I think was very dangerous. Hazard should have scored in the second but apart from that I can think of little else we did and they missed a couple of decent chances..?

    Regardless the result was all that mattered and we got it. Shame about the late Spurs rally but at the end of the day we should only focus on ourselves and our results

    I think the Palace result gave us the kick up the back side we needed, this result will provide further confidence and so looking forward to the game this weekend. KTBFFH

    #1460747
    liquidator
    liquidator
    Participant
    • :

    RDP – As usual, I thought going forward and in particularly in the second half, Fabregas was great. However, defensively in the first half he was a liability, as City’s midfield was just running past him. He tries bless him, but he is just too bloody slow to be a deep central midfielder against a side who will have most of the possession. Clearly, introducing Matic helped enormously in he second half, pushing Fab further up the pitch, where his ability to hold onto possession is unmatched, and giving our beleaguered defence the occasional rest!

    #1460789
    aindro
    aindro
    Participant
    • :

    I think the contrary: Spurs have less difficult matches than us. We still have away at Everton and Man Utd. Spurs have their difficult matches at home: against Arsenal and Man Utd. While IMO it’s possible to win against Everton as long as our defense is tight (like yesterday against City who were very potent in attacking), Man Utd I think will do whatever they can in order to not to lose (again) against us. For me they will focus on their defense like Palace and the match difficult for us. For me, I see it possible for Spurs to win all their remaining matches. They’ve done amazingly well so far without Kane and some of their key players.

    And not even speaking of ‘big matches’, the two next matches for me will be crucial where Spurs are expected to pick full 6 points, home matches against Watford and Bournemouth. And us we’ll have 2 tricky away games at Bournemouth and Man Utd. They may be able to close the gap there should we fail in one or both matches.

    A good and a very important win yesterday. In 3 days we’ll have an important match against Bournemouth.

    #1460791
    Romansdirtypants
    Romansdirtypants
    Spectator
    • :

    Liquids… I have a growing appreciation of Fab… Just gets on with it. Has had to adapt to two different managers formations and has always contributed and by in large has been highly professional… I reckon his best position would be behind the striker in the pocket… But he always offers and as recent game time suggests is prepared to do a lot of running.

    It’s the time he creates on the ball which is vry impressive. I hope he hangs around but I reckon we might have a couple of shocks in the summer.

    I thought costa was too isolated last night and needed more support around him and Kompany is a very useful defender.

    #1460802

    nine nine nine
    Moderator
    • :

    SkyBet title odds: Chelsea 1/20 on Spurs 8/1 against.

    Chelsea need 2.25 pts per game from their remaining 8 games to guarantee the title no matter what Spurs do.

    #1460806
    bort
    bort
    Participant
    • :

    First half I thought we played well but we were conceding too much space between Kante, Fabregas and the back three.

    The second half was very hard to watch. We turned over possession way too often and I really don’t like Pedro playing at wing back. Also Matic came on filled that first half gap that was being exploited but overall he was bad. He is another id imagine that may follow Costa out the door this summer. He isn’t going to get back to his previous form from a couple seasons ago.

    #1460836

    CFC1905
    Participant
    • :

    I am still far from convinced regarding Fabregas. no doubt when on his game he can create out of nothing but agree with poster who said that defensively he is a liability

    For me, he was the player to come off so that Matic could be bought on as we had no midfield in the first half. I appreciate that our games are based on quick breaks and not possession but against a team like city and Spurs that is a dangerous game

    Have to admit my preference is for Fabregas to play the role of super sub and come on with 20 minutes or so to go to influence a game unless we decide to try and hold a lead. KTBFFH

    #1460838

    CFC1905
    Participant
    • :

    bort – if it is true that we are going to get the midfield player from Monaco then I think we can afford to let Matic go

    I agree that even under Conte he has not regained the form of a couple of seasons ago and we need someone like Kante but also who can compliment him as well. KTBFFH

    #1460853
    aindro
    aindro
    Participant
    • :

    We have to admit that Fabregas gives his best everytime he plays. He does not complain having to start from bench most of times. For me he gives Conte option depending on opponents. We can start Matic and Kante for an offensive opponent and we can start Kante/Matic and Fabregas for a more defensive opponent.

    For me still the problem is we don’t have backup for Moses/Alonso. Putting Pedro there should not be an option, he has no defensive ability. And I don’t see Zouma put a wrong foot yesterday, I think his substitution is technical to allow us to control the midfield.
    It failed as we know but City did not score on the 2nd half. Matic’s height is also needed to defend/attack in case of corners/set pieces.

    And for those blaming Costa, while everybody has to admit that he did not have a good game, but he tried so hard. Look at him helping in defense for so many times when City attacked us. I cannot imagine Lukaku would help to do same amount of defensive jobs as Costa when needed. Costa played a bit behind yesterday to allow Hazard & Pedro who are quicker than him to perform the counter attacks.

    #1460922
    liquidator
    liquidator
    Participant
    • :

    RDP – I love Fabragas, and he has been a model professional this season. If we could accommodate him in an attacking three or four, playing behind or off a striker that would be perfect. I also don’t mind him as a deep lying midfielder when we are playing sides who just want to defend against us, as effectively he just pushes forward more anyway. However, I feel you have to take into account his physical limitations and against a side like City, he is a liability in that position. From my perch in the MHU, there were times in the first half that it looked like we were facing the charge of the light brigade as City’s offensive players (and I’m not just talking about the colour of their shirts!) were coming at us in waves!

    #1460939

    nine nine nine
    Moderator
    • :

    FA to take no retrospective action against Costa for his coming together with Kompany.

    #1461021

    CFC1905
    Participant
    • :

    With respect to the discussion over Fabregas, for me that is the beauty of the squad of 25. It allows us (and any club) the option to make changes based on the opposition on the day and during a game if a wrong call is made

    We have to assume that in most cases teams will come to the Bridge to defend and this is where Fabregas is at his best as he can unlock those defences with one pass

    For the more offensive teams then you have 2 options as I see it (1) you go without Fabregas and play 2 strong midfielders that offer that much better protection. Question is – is that deemed to be too negative especially at home…? (2) you still play Fabregas as he is good for a pass to create a quick break but like we saw on Wednesday, you leave yourselves wide open to the possibility of being overrun in midfield

    That is what Conte gets paid for and I think it was clear he made a mistake on Wednesday and although I think we all agree that cover in midfield was required I think he took the wrong player off and left us unbalanced. For me, Zouma had done nothing wrong and still allowed us to play Pedro in an advanced role. The change implemented virtually isolated Costa and all he could do was harry and harass as he did not have a single ball to work with or try to score

    But maybe that’s why I am not a mnanager…? KTBFFH

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