The Chels

That last minute winner though. You must have gone absolutely mental celebrating.

Jose did it after the Stoke game.

I think whether there are noises of discontent or not depends more on the players than Jose's man-management skills. The 3 you mentioned seem to be very hard-working and professional whereas someone like Casillas obviously couldn't handle being dropped.

Even our FBs offer more going forward than him. In fact I reckon we'd have a greater attacking output if Hazard moved to the right and Luis played on the left in front of Azpi.

Definitely. It's interesting though that the team we played away to Stoke is the same we'd likely use against the likes of Real and Bayern! We certainly showed them a lot of respect and rightfully so. As for the RW position Willian will always be ahead of Oscar for these games because he has more pace.

Not sure playing Mikel and Azpi at LB is the best idea in this kind of game.

Nobody's saying that you should just a FB by their attacking qualities primarily. Of course defending is the priority but the attacking side of the game is hugely important in the modern game for FBs. There's a big difference between being the best defensive FB in the league and being the best (all-round) FB in the league. Azpi is the former only.

The best defensive FB in the league.

I understand what you're saying and agree that we don't have the players to dominate every team but there is a way to be pragmatic. And personally I'm not a big fan of Jose's defensive system when I compare it to the pressing systems used by Dortmund in recent years or by Simeone's Atletico, who really are the template for defensive stability and tactical balance in the big games. Compare our performance away to Atletico last year (or ours away to City this year) with Atletico's away to us last year (or away to Real this year). The only advantage ours has is it is perhaps less tiring for the players. Otherwise we concede more chances as we retreat and the opposition has more of the ball around our box; pressing (if any) is localised and disorganised which leaves big gaps and eliminates the opportunity for turnovers high up the pitch; and all it takes is one lapse of concentration, à la Hazard v Atletico or Schurrle/Ivanovic v City, and you're done for. We are more than capable of playing a high intensity pressing game but Jose for some reason prefers to 'park the bus' even though it relies a lot on luck and we are not good at counter attacking from deep. I firmly believe Atletico are again more likely to win the CL than us even though we have better players because Simeone's tactics (which are still very defensive and includes a low-block but with very organised and intense (counter) pressing) result in fewer clear-cut chances being conceded and more high-quality chances being created.

Don't you think the players were motivated at City or Newcastle (given Jose's poor record there) in particular? That didn't stop us playing badly. Being motivated can help you play closer to the best of your abilities but when your abilities are very limited in an attacking sense (Oscar and Willian in particular) and the tactics are somewhat restrictive then ultimately it won't help much in games where we face parked buses.

Motivation is all good and well but it won't help improve Willian's decision-making or force us to play with width (among other issues).

Completely agree. City probably loved our tactics - they attacked without having to worry about defending. I really can't see the advantages of a low-block, sitting-off approach compared to a high-intensity pressing game in games like this. The latter gives us a much bigger attacking threat and means we're not pinned back all the time having to make last-ditch clearances (e.g. Ramires').

We've only dominated them and deserved to win once in 4 attempts under Jose - the 1-0 away win last year when they had to play Demichelis in the midfield. I really don't understand Jose's cautiousness against City. They are not that good and they're certainly there to be got at. Compare our away performance to them this year with Atletico's against Real Madrid (a much more formidable opponent) and our tactics look amateurish.

We played for a draw in that game and got it in the end. I don't think that's a good idea though. City are much better flat track bullies than us and they will pick up more points from the smaller sides so we have to pick up more against the big sides (à la Atletico vs Real/Barca) and beating them away should have been our target as we are more than capable of it. The worst thing about our dropped points is the repetition of mistakes. Against City we drew after trying to hang on to a 1 goal lead and then we did the exact same thing against United. Against Sunderland we had no width and played too narrow and then did the exact same thing against Newcastle.

They're not bad results when you look at them on their own but if you consider how much stronger we tend to be away to the bigger sides than the smaller sides, then the results are disappointing especially given the circumstances as you say.

True. How did we lose our 8-point lead so quickly? Ugh.

I think they still have to score another to go level on GD.

A draw away to United and City doesn't look so good now. We were always more likely to win those games than Sunderland/Newcastle away.

City's FBs are always crucial to their attacks.

It's a difficult one. Is he a better CB than Cahill? Probably not as imo both are similarly error prone. Is he a better RB than Azpi is a RB/LB? Offensively yes, defensively no. Is he a better RB than Luis is a LB? Offensively no, defensively I'm unsure - neither is great 1v1, Ivanovic is stronger and better aerially but Luis switches off less and is better at tackling & pressing. Is Luis a better LB than Azpi is a RB/LB? Offensively yes, defensively no. Clearly each FB has their own merits and I don't think Cahill being dropped is realistic. The least we can hope for is a lot more rotation between the 3 FBs depending on the game just like we've been seeing recently.

I thought he'd be better off at CB but having watched him play there against Derby I have come to the conclusion that that he will suffer concentration lapses and defensive brain farts wherever he plays.

The majority of goals we've conceded have come down his side but that's not the problem in itself. The reason he is often slated is because the goal typically stems from his nonchalant defending or one of his customary lapses in concentration when he is in position - e.g. against City, Everton, United, Maribor, QPR, Derby. The excuse that he has to attack a lot and is obviously going to be out of position isn't really valid as you'll see he is usually back 'defending' or 'running' back (Schalke, Newcastle) when we do concede from down that side. Of course Ivanovic isn't the only one responsible for the goals conceded in these games or our lack of clean sheets this season (it certainly doesn't help having Cahill cover that side) but I'm surprised to see you defending him just a couple of days after he was very clearly responsible for yet another goal conceded!

Some nice analysis by Pat Nevin even though he does suggest Luis, who was a key cog in arguably the best pressing team in the world, has only just learnt how to press lol https://archive.org/details/AnalyseThatPatNevinFilipeLuisVDerbyCountyCoc2014-15Hd

in all seriousness though we need to get a good result at Anfield. That way we won't have to exert ourselves too much at SB and will be fresher for the crucial match against City a few days later. If we park the bus in the first leg things will likely be made unnecessarily difficult for the return leg. I trust (hope) Jose won't go too cautious in this match but his approach to SFs always has me worried.

Better to play them over 2 legs than in the final. Jose, can we please actually attack at Anfield in a SF for once?