hjperdeath

I won't be analyzing like I used to last year, mostly due to time constraints, I still will be doing a few here and there and this would be the right kind of start for me. Instead of going directly into the scene , I'll start a few steps back. Oscar was close to phenomenal against Burnley. He was at the right places at the right time and has adapted brilliantly into a new kind of role. The three man midfield was heralded by new signing and the second coming of the Messiah himself, Cesc Fabregas but his rotational movement with Oscar was remarkable considering the short time they have spent together. Neither of the three were afraid to ask for the ball and were confident in every stride. Here we see Matic receiving the ball from the center-backs and playing it towards Cesc who looks around and asks for the ball. Two of them always stayed close to each other, with the third one staying behind them to cover. This also gave the midfield more passing options when pressed directly in the first phase, just like most teams that tend to park the bus do. After you get the ball past the first temporary block of two or more opposition pressers, you will be pressed in from behind by opposition defenders who want to transition back into their defensive structure. The only way past this , is by passing quickly, creating a moment of pure magic or pulling the ball back to give the opposition time to settle. Chelsea frequently adopted the third approach, making it rather frustrating for the attackers to penetrate the second block of four. Once past the initial temporary pressing phase, Costa drops deep to create more passing options. This is a vital component into breaking a team down. Burnley aimed at pressing directly at men, which left two or atleast one other player open. Last year Jose instructed Torres to stay up. His intention was that if he could create enough space between the central and last defensive block, he could have players penetrate that space. Which is why Chelsea played a lot of lateral and diagonal passes just outside the box. You couldn't call it exactly a 4-3-3, because the defensive line pushed up more, and there wasn't a midfield player who would cover. The three moved with the ball. This meant more possession and better ball retention. Even if they were to directly lose the ball, one could initially press, while the other two fell back to slow down the counter-attack. It sounds pretty good on paper, but it will take time and we are slowly adapting to it. The Burnley player wasn't really pleased with Chelsea's triangles though. The ball then went on to Schurrle who tapped it to Hazard. Hazard then went on to wreak havoc with Burnley's defensive structure as he attracted and destroyed defenders who's sole intention was to bring him down as quickly as possible. However an aerial view of the field before he made the run gives us a better look into Chelsea's amazing structure that does look pretty lopsided at first. First lets take a look at the full-backs who are much higher than they used to be last season. This is a considerable improvement as it gives us more width, another important factor that contributes to breaking down teams. The triangles are self explanatory really. If you watch the whole game aerially you can see how close the three are. This also gives Hazard and opportunity to play more in the #10 position, while opening up spaces for other players to penetrate into. I would like to note down three attributes of this ingeniously crafted goal. Firstly, Schurrle's run was so instinctive that is suggests great communication and the fact that they are already used to playing with each other. Borderline telepathic in other words. Secondly, Fabregas doesn't need a first touch. He initially did look like he was going to shoot, but his posture changed a second before Schurrle moved in behind the defender. Thirdly, Costa's involvement is also pretty heavy. He pushed back and drew the defensive line back. This played Schurrle onside with the margin of only two players. A fine line between a brilliant goal and a depressing offside. Click here to view article.

Son of a bitch. Torres's brother at Chelsea and a Beckham-Laudrup's love child at Beskitas...

Ivanovic will keep his spot. Sure of it.

He's fit into our pressing system so seamlessly. A tremendously intelligent player that should help us in more than one way.

No one ever said that. Stop putting words in people's mouth. Fact is EPL is the greatest league out there. That's not even debatable. Bundesliga certainly does come behind it but. That does not make it a weak league. and yes, I have a right to believe in what I actually see. Pretty sad? it's the truth. Truth you have to be proud of. We pulled off one of the best defensive campaigns Europe has seen. There's nothing to be sad about pulling something off that historic.

if you are talking in terms of Europe then 2011/12 was also a poor campaign for English Premier League teams even if Chelsea parked the bus all the way to the title. United got knocked out of the CL and then lowly Bilbao in Europa. City got knocked out of the CL as well and then Sporting in Europa. That didn't make the league week for that season. Just performances or individual strength does not characterize a league as weaker than the other. That's like taking the high ground without considering all the points.

You really should atleast try to research a bit you know. 2010/11 Dortmund finished as champions, Leverkusen came second and Bayern came 3rd. 2011/12 Dortmund champions again, Bayern came second and Schalke 3rd. You have confused lack of proper televising, with weaker. If anything, Bundesliga is more weaker last season with the dominance and poaching of a singular team.

LVG's played one official game and Kagawa is out of favor. The lengths one can go to put down a player they have never seen play...

Well since you haven't seen him play, then I won't read the above. Cheers.

My cousin's going for the game. He wanted to know which pubs would the fans be at. Anyone who can help?

You read the post. But you didn't understand it. You are way too angry on seeing the first statement, and that has shrouded your judgement. No one here has claimed that Kagawa is miles better than Mata, while the opposite has been done. In rebuttal it was put forward that Kagawa is quite good at things Mata can't do, while Mata is quite good at things Kagawa can't do. The most extreme comment you can find is that someone stated Kagawa was a more well rounded player. Atleast in Chelsea's perspective, that could be true. The Torres comparison made me cringe though, and someone made that point before. I really don't get it. Torres is past it, his injuries made him lose the attributes he depended most on. He's past it. Put him in any system, he can't score. The man is over both physically and psychologically. Kagawa on the other hand has been mishandled. It's obvious to see. At Dortmund he had positional freedom, something Chelsea's front three have. Their gegenpressing system meant that he would have to work really hard in dropping back and initiation counter-attacks. I would even go on to same that at the time, he was one of the best pressers in the team. No one came close to how hard he worked. I obviously didn't watch Dortmund anymore after he left ( which was pretty bad on my part), but Reus probably ended up as the next best presser. Getting the similarity now? This is what I believe lead the person to claim that he was a more well rounded player. With Chelsea's perspective in mind. At United he's given freedom to drop into the penalty box, something Rooney excels at. He's never going to be good at it. Fergie and Moyes then tried to play him on the left, but didn't give him the freedom to drop inside. This made him suffer. That does not make him shit as a player. Mata at Chelsea was given all the freedom in the world, and he excelled while Chelsea tactically did suffer. But he's so good of a player that no one needs to notice it. You're still awed by what he's pulled off. But when Mourinho came along and demanded that the players pick up extra tactical duties which included always working hard, he suffered. Against Swansea yesterday, he was responsible for letting go off Ki, who went on to score. These are huge flaws. But that does not make him shit as a player. The fact is no one has claimed that Mata is utter shit. He's not. There are things he can do that many attacking midfielders can't dream off, but he fits a system. Only that system. The same goes for Kagawa. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you haven't seen him being used by Klopp, than you wouldn't have been saying that, because that is pretty disrespectful. At United, in the wrong system, he's sadly a shirt seller. At Dortmund, and in the right kind of system, he isn't. I'm not using the past to support him. Past is the past, its over. You can't judge a player now cause of it. Drogba isn't even close to what he was at his prime. But Kagawa's situation is complex. Just like Miroslav 'I can only perform with Germany and not with my club' Klose is complex.

We are officially scousers...

Sad how Mourinho can't have 'reasons' to keep out Mata though..

Shinji under Jupp if he had moved to Bayern would have been pretty interesting though.

As I said, I don't want to get into any debate. I stated an opinion. You are free to disagree. You can think Mata is better than anyone, doesn't necessarily mean people will agree with you.

It was pretty disappointing when he moved to United. I knew Fergie would never him use him in the proper way. The cultural clash and difficulty in playing along with what he was told to do, made him suffer.

The fact that people kind off forget how good Kagawa was when he was at Dortmund makes you realize how fast football is. Don't want to get extensively into the debate, but if we still had Mata, I would have traded for Kagawa. It's hilarious that people think Mata's light years ahead of Shinji and Silva...

THIS IS MY CHANCE LADS.

Nice touch from Oscar and genuinely great to see him get number 8. Not a fan of retiring numbers.

Great attitude but. Was snapping at everything despite it being just a pre-season. Hopefully we keep him.

City Chelsea Arsenal United Everton Liverpool Arsenal and Chelsea to fight out the second spot.

Why would we buy him? Ivanovic to cover the CB spot and concentrate on phasing in Wallace to fill up the right-back spot in a year or two.

somebody needs to watch more..

Others might not be but I am. You haven't even see him and you have judged Sanchez to be better than him. Considering you don't know how Cuadrado plays, you shouldn't automatically be putting more famed players higher. The analogy gets worse because Cuadrado is more suited to the way Jose plays. We don't need a winger and we probably won't get him. I've said that before as well. I'm only pin-pointing out the flaw in your Sanchez and Griezmann are better than Willian or Cuadrado argument.

Stick to De Bruyne man..