closed Chelsea 2-2 Man Utd

[Jase 43,479]

22 hours ago, kellzfresh said:

Alonso attacks leaving space behind but Kovacic provides defensive cover so that Luiz doesn't have to come out of shape. But Barkley doesn't have the mindset to man mark so when we lost the ball with Alonso high up the pitch, that forced Luiz to chase Mata and lose out which lead to Martial's second goal.

Kovacic may provide better defensive cover but even when he was playing in the first half, United still found space to attack down our left because Alonso went AWOL defensively. You can point the finger at the LCM for the lack of defensive cover but if the LB doesn't have any defensive awareness (worse if he doesn't have any pace!), then we're gonna be in trouble most of the time because let's not forget, Kovacic isn't there just to provide defensive cover, he's also there to link up play in the final third. Can't expect him to be charging up and down the field when he's not a box-to-box midfielder. One tactical option Sarri could maybe consider is shift Kante to the left side of the midfield but then again, not sure if that would work.

22 hours ago, kellzfresh said:

Kovacic's absence contributed a lot to what made us start hoofing the ball in the last 30 mins like Sarri complained about after the match.

No, it didn't. We started lumping the ball forward aimlessly when Giroud came on. Sarri clearly didn't want that approach judging by his post-match comments. So the players lost their composure and reverted to type with the route one football. Even before Kovacic went off, we already lost control of the game, we stopped passing the ball around and looked clueless going forward. And by the way, Kovacic came off in the 69th minute...

[robsblubot 3,214]

4 hours ago, Special Juan said:

You don't need to justify Hazard to anyone, what that poster put was absolute tosh.

Thanks and I also disagree with your opinion.

And if he does not do that (justify hazard) what the hell will he write about?

[kellzfresh 7,226]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

Kovacic may provide better defensive cover but even when he was playing in the first half, United still found space to attack down our left because Alonso went AWOL defensively. You can point the finger at the LCM for the lack of defensive cover but if the LB doesn't have any defensive awareness (worse if he doesn't have any pace!), then we're gonna be in trouble most of the time because let's not forget, Kovacic isn't there just to provide defensive cover, he's also there to link up play in the final third. Can't expect him to be charging up and down the field when he's not a box-to-box midfielder. One tactical option Sarri could maybe consider is shift Kante to the left side of the midfield but then again, not sure if that would work.

Alonso is a cross Chelsea has to carry. We have to find players to accommodate his defensive weaknesses instead of trying to improve other areas. Even Hazard had to track back to commit a tactical foul on Rashford, because Alonso was caught out of position again. Every big team targets his wing, Mancity kept Mahrez and Bernado silva on that wing and scored two goals and created many, Arsenal kept Mykiterian and Aubameyang on that wing and created even more, Defensive Mourinho kept a quick Rashford on his wing and created all ManUnited chances from Alonso's side. He scores 1 goal every 8 games to make his contribution look so huge, how he has managed to con his way to become one of our key players baffles my mind constantly.   

[Jase 43,479]

4 hours ago, kellzfresh said:

Alonso is a cross Chelsea has to carry. We have to find players to accommodate his defensive weaknesses instead of trying to improve other areas. Even Hazard had to track back to commit a tactical foul on Rashford, because Alonso was caught out of position again. Every big team targets his wing, Mancity kept Mahrez and Bernado silva on that wing and scored two goals and created many, Arsenal kept Mykiterian and Aubameyang on that wing and created even more, Defensive Mourinho kept a quick Rashford on his wing and created all ManUnited chances from Alonso's side. He scores 1 goal every 8 games to make his contribution look so huge, how he has managed to con his way to become one of our key players baffles my mind constantly.   

It could get worse, a lot worse...

https://www.goal.com/en-sg/news/alonso-to-sign-new-chelsea-contract-in-coming-days/l8rzsevh7ghg1vvn8nmg1zy8q

[Adnane 1,101]

The consistency of opinions in this board ( or lack thereof ) is incredible. 

One month ago Alonso was hailed as the best in the world, a real threat, a real asset, now he is the most useless players in the team and we should get worried if he extends. 

I don't have time to go back and look for those posts but I'm pretty sure a big portion of people changed voice so easily on his matter. 

I don't stand in either extreme camp tbf, dude has his limitations but isn't totally useless as some would suggest, in fact, with the right cover ( hence team organization ) he can look rarely out of place, as long as we're fielding Luiz-Alonso-Barkley-Hazard in the same flank, aka 4 less than average disciplined players position, we will  always be in trouble, and it can only improve by working on those specific mechanisms and triggers. 

[Vesper 27,307]

18 hours ago, Jason said:

It could get worse, a lot worse...

https://www.goal.com/en-sg/news/alonso-to-sign-new-chelsea-contract-in-coming-days/l8rzsevh7ghg1vvn8nmg1zy8q

Alonso is almost 28. His contract now runs until 2021.

In world football, there are only TWO world class LB's who are older than 28. Marcelo and Jordi Alaba.

This extension is more evidence the board is literally running the club into the ground. The only way this could possibly be of ANY good is IF we are going to sell Alonso in summer 2020 (when he will be months away from 30 and thus worth much less than he would have been this summer or January) so we have a bit of leverage.

BUT that also means 2 more years of Alonso as starting LB, and likely more, as we apparently have lost all will to sell deadwood and subpar players.

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

xG plot:

And pass map:

From this article:  https://betweentheposts.net/chelsea-manchester-united-2-2-tactical-analysis-sarri-mourinho/

[!Hazard! 3,394]

58 minutes ago, Sideshow Luiz said:

xG plot:

And pass map:

From this article:  https://betweentheposts.net/chelsea-manchester-united-2-2-tactical-analysis-sarri-mourinho/

That Kante-Willian-Azpilicueta triangle though....hardly any assists, goals or creativity in it. We can't keep being so dependent on the left side

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

31 minutes ago, !Hazard! said:

That Kante-Willian-Azpilicueta triangle though....hardly any assists, goals or creativity in it. We can't keep being so dependent on the left side

I'd say that Kante need to get forward more, at least a bit.

[Adnane 1,101]

Highlights two things for me as well : 

1- In terms of goal-scoring chances, the game was much more balanced before we scored, so a draw was probably the right result despite what Mourinho will want you to believe. 

2- Not a single Hazard pass to Morata.nor Willian, our play was so predictable and rigid, probably because of MU's low block but this is where I am expecting Hazard to think out of the box and impact the game differently than what he would do with any normal opposition.