closed Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Just now, WNDS said:

How long has it been since Arsenal played a season as the defending champions? Sure, you have valid concerns, but surely I can't be the only one who tires of the ridiculous hyperbole and sensationalism that that seems to pervade just about every aspect of football fandom nowadays. Why CAN'T we win the CL. We're not the favourites, but we're currently in much better shape than we were for much of the season we actuallt DID win it.

I thought that this was a decent performance and result against a good team. The negative aspect derives mainly from Conte being overly cautious in his approach: once he saw how Liverpool were struggling when Hazard ran at them, and how poorly Bakayoko was playing, he should probably switched the latter for one of Pedro/Willian and then introduced Fabregas on the 60-65 minute mark.

If you're asking this question then you're seriously deluded. We can't win the Champions league when we allow Liverpool to totally impose their will on us. We only equalized from a fluke. PSG, Barcelona and City will run riot on us. Bayern and Madrid will brush us aside. They all play a high tempo possession game. Conte and this team can't cope with such teams.

Liverpool are a good team but we're better. We have better players than them. If we were serious about retaining our title the goal was to come here and try to win not to hold out for a draw and try and nick a win. 

[WNDS 502]

Just now, MrExcalibur100 said:

If you're asking this question then you're seriously deluded. We can't win the Champions league when we allow Liverpool to totally impose their will on us. We only equalized from a fluke. PSG, Barcelona and City will run riot on us. Bayern and Madrid will brush us aside. They all play a high tempo possession game. Conte and this team can't cope with such teams.

Liverpool are a good team but we're better. We have better players than them. If we were serious about retaining our title the goal was to come here and try to win not to hold out for a draw and try and nick a win. 

I'm sorry, but we won the CL when Guardiola's Barca AND Heynckes' future treble-winning Bayern side were both active with a WORSE team/squad than the one we currently have. One minute you moan about our managers' negativity, the next you moan about how we stand no chance in the PL or the CL. Maybe our managers simply share your outlook, then. Maybe they feel that we stand no chance of winning either competition, so why bother trying?

[FabHazard 655]

1 minute ago, MrExcalibur100 said:

If you're asking this question then you're seriously deluded. We can't win the Champions league when we allow Liverpool to totally impose their will on us. We only equalized from a fluke. PSG, Barcelona and City will run riot on us. Bayern and Madrid will brush us aside. They all play a high tempo possession game. Conte and this team can't cope with such teams.

Liverpool are a good team but we're better. We have better players than them. If we were serious about retaining our title the goal was to come here and try to win not to hold out for a draw and try and nick a win. 

PSG will destroy us ..It is so disappointing to see negative football which does not exploit full potential of our attack..When we are spending millions we should expect to see atleast good football..If conte was more adventurous we could have easily won..That Liverpool's backline is waiting to be exploited...Why wait until we concede to play more on front foot

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Just now, WNDS said:

I'm sorry, but we won the CL when Guardiola's Barca AND Heynckes' future treble-winning Bayern side were both active with a WORSE team/squad than the one we currently have. One minute you moan about our managers' negativity, the next you moan about how we stand no chance in the PL or the CL. Maybe our managers simply share your outlook, then. Maybe they feel that we stand no chance of winning either competition, so why bother trying?

So you're going to use that CL team as a barometer? It was a fluke! And a fluke isn't sustainable success. United fluked a CL win the final vs Bayern in 1999 and didn't win again until they got a team good enough to win it. When they did they reached something like 2 finals. The goal is to build a team capable of sustainable success in the Champions league not a hit and hope outfit.

RIght now this side is a  round of 16/quarter-final team at best not a semi-final/finals team. And certainly not a potential CL winner. 

[whats happening 1,440]

this thread is fucking disgusting

[WNDS 502]

2 hours ago, MrExcalibur100 said:

So you're going to use that CL team as a barometer? It was a fluke! And a fluke isn't sustainable success. United fluked a CL win the final vs Bayern in 1999 and didn't win again until they got a team good enough to win it. When they did they reached something like 2 finals. The goal is to build a team capable of sustainable success in the Champions league not a hit and hope outfit.

RIght now this side is a  round of 16/quarter-final team at best not a semi-final/finals team. And certainly not a potential CL winner. 

I have yet to see anything indicating that we are conclusively incapable of building such a team under the current management. Things may change. My outlook my change, particularly if we have a disappointing transfer window this next summer. At the moment though, I stand by my assessment.

[Strike 6,961]

The negativity on here is toxic.

Comparing this to Mourinho away performances is a huge exaggeration. Sure, Fabregas could have been introduced earlier. Could even have started the game but it was by no means a team set out to defend 

[Jase 43,479]

2 minutes ago, Strike said:

The negativity on here is toxic.

Comparing this to Mourinho away performances is a huge exaggeration. Sure, Fabregas could have been introduced earlier. Could even have started the game but it was by no means a team set out to defend 

Exactly. We actually looked dangerous in the game. Had numerous chances to score, more than I can remember when watching us under Mourinho against the big teams. Not Conte's fault that Hazard couldn't convert the chances he created himself or Drinkwater couldn't put away the one he got or Morata played like Torres or Zappacosta/Alonso etc couldn't pick out a teammate with crosses. It's one thing to take a positive approach, it's another to just go out and dominate them and play like headless chickens (aka Arsenal).

[Yeboii 1,844]

3 hours ago, Leif said:

'Fabregas? Why would I play Fabregas when I have a slide-tackle master?' 

I was referring to Ampadu's crazy slide tackles when he has played for our senior team

[El P. 1,354]

Some may say that we are playing with 5 defenders, but remember that every of that 5 defenders have some quality going forward, unlike Mourinho's team. Azpi has great cross, Christy is great passer and decent on the ball, Alonso and Zappacosta have decent dribble or cross here and there... Moses is ok dribbler and Rudy is decent on the ball too. No need to mention Luiz.

Mourinho had Ivanović, Cahill, Terry and Azpi out of the position. Those 4 never did anything else than defending.

Our team may look very negative on paper sometimes, but don't ever compare this to Mourinho.

[Supermonkey92 1,428]

42 minutes ago, eemanyooel said:

Zappacosta Alonso Drinkwater Bakayoko shouldnt be anywhere near d starting XI...

Which is why im not having a meltdown. I keep saying outside of Azpi, Kante, Hazard and Morata (soon probably Christensen) we really arent that good. The players you mention are all average. Add flickedy flick Cahill to the mix. Thats half the outfield team! Conte has done a brilliant job. I thought our passing was actually quite good at least unil the final third. 

[Jase 43,479]

13 minutes ago, El P. said:

Some may say that we are playing with 5 defenders, but remember that every of that 5 defenders have some quality going forward, unlike Mourinho's team. Azpi has great cross, Christy is great passer and decent on the ball, Alonso and Zappacosta have decent dribble or cross here and there... Moses is ok dribbler and Rudy is decent on the ball too. No need to mention Luiz.

Mourinho had Ivanović, Cahill, Terry and Azpi out of the position. Those 4 never did anything else than defending.

Our team may look very negative on paper sometimes, but don't ever compare this to Mourinho.

Some times I wonder if people actually even watch our games. It's as if they just look at the result and depending on what it is, take up lazy narratives.

[Fulham Broadway 16,392]

We would have been ripped apart without Kante and Dave. Players who need to be more clinical imo  Zappacosta, Bakayoko and, Morata,  maybe Drinkwater can be excused with little match play.

On the positive unbeaten there since 2013 and some nice fixtures coming up when Conte won't be hamstringed by selection because of a ridiculous fly back from Azerbaijan

[xPetrCechx 13,546]

Disappointing Result. We had a good game.

as usual, not clinical enough in the final third + coward approach from conte. we can and should dominate and attack average teams like liverpool.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Probably did enough to get more than a point, but given the Spurs result I'm content with a draw. 

Tbh, and I've probably been saying this for 3 seasons now, the realistic target for us is top 3/4 and challenging for the title is not really possible unless we exceed a lot of expectations and go on some amazing run. 

[chelseawise 115]

2 hours ago, eemanyooel said:

Zappacosta Alonso Drinkwater Bakayoko shouldnt be anywhere near d starting XI...

I agree with the rest but I thought Drinkwater was decent

[!Hazard! 3,394]

10 minutes ago, chelseawise said:

I agree with the rest but I thought Drinkwater was decent

Was surprised how mobile he looked, I thought he is a slow player like Cesc. 

I wonder how Fabregas - Kante - Drinkwater midfield would work out. If that doesn't work then let's put Luiz in that Bakayoko-role since Bakayoko himself just doesn't have enough qualities to play at this level.

[iceboy 992]

2 points dropped. Very good performance.