Chuckso

No belief in this team they are getting anything out of this game - against a subpar Man city. This manager is a few notches above Poch but not the quality to fulfill our ambitions. I have seen enough from him.

Yeah…. Look at the comments above and how many are about the manager and how many are about the players. The set up, organization, tempo and attack / defense mindset is set by the manager. We were TOTALLY OUTPLAYED in that first half and all you have to say is Noni.

The manager is totally responsible for the poor showing. After a strong start using ORGANIZED PRESSING, we get a goal from that and Man City are really rattled. We then decide to sit back, mostly marking space and not been close enough to opposing players to put them under pressure when receiving the ball, allowing them to build confidence and take complete control of the game. It was happening in real time, the goal was coming, and the manager stuck to his reactive team’s stance. Very poor.

Still no intensity.

Yes. Agreed. However Reece’s injury concerns definitely has a factor in that. Even so, Cucu’s intensity, decision making and all round play is superior to Gusto, even though Gusto is the better footballer talentwise. He has just not settled in the premier league yet.

Zero intensity

Not the greatest fan of Cucu but in no way is Gusto ready to be benching him right now. That is a crazy decision. ManU are not following Newcastle’s playbook even though it is clear Maresca has told team to stop faffing about at the back with Sanchez quickly clearing the ball under semi-pressure. At least that is a positive.

No… Newcastle outworked Chelsea in the first half with an organized press. Grabbed two goals from mistakes then because it was virtually the same team that played 3 days ago, conserved energy by sitting back in the second half. They won the match tactically. This does not bode well because carbon copy of the game over the weekend and our manager could not see this coming and adjust. Watch as other teams start to press us and copy the number Howe has done on us.

When our players, especially in defense, lose possession, they do not immediately front the opponent. They start running back looking for a midfielder or forward player to take the initiative to tackle the ball, inviting pressure and psychologically telling our opponents we are afraid which is why catennacio is no longer in vogue.

From the Saturday game vs Newcastle and previous games, I knew we were going to lose this and have given the template for other teams to play us. This Italian (catenaccio) does not instruct his team to increase intensity and press opponents who press us - ceding initiative to our opponents. The same with what I complained about pochetinno last season. It is insane it is so obvious. This is our second string team who do not play often. They can and should run harder to close down than a Newcastle who have the same team as 3 days ago.

You do not have to read…. You can watch the games to see that is clearly the case.

So far, Cucu’s best game in a Chelsea shirt, I think.

Arguably our best half of the season. Controlled and aggressive. Not flustered. However, these things don’t give me confidence because the lack of organization means we’ll get pegged back by a very preventable goal. For example: we conceded a goal just a few games ago, I think Arsenal, when there was a corner and we had our one player marking two players, they were able to fashion a shot and goal. In this game, did we learn our lesson? No. Just that Tottenham we’re not able to fashion a chance but it was two vs one bearing down on our goal.

If you say so but he looks a boy next to Romero.

This is not even about zonal marking or any fancy initiative. This is simple man on man marking. And you put a young small guy on a big attacking defender. And it was not a mistake as Gilcrest was picking him up again in the next set piece.

Question on organization… again!!! What is Gilcrest doing marking Romero? The height difference is clear.

Carbon copy of the first goal conceded vs Arsenal. Begs the question: What can you learn if you cannot learn from even your recent mistakes?? Poch, asking for a friend?

Lack of organization…. Again!!

At my previous Chelsea fan site, I had predicted Tuchel would not last more than 2 seasons at Bayern. I had explained it was because Tuchel is a control freak who, like Mourinho and Conte, values (defensive) organization of the team above all else to the detriment of creativity and initiative-taking of his players. They start off like a house on fire but peter out and start playing like robots bereft of freedom to improvise and afraid to make mistakes. It happens to them ALL the time and their teams implode. So no, thanks Poch is at the opposite side of the spectrum. No organization and intensity. Just initiative and freedom. Add a loser’s mentality unlike the guys above.

I give you data points supporting my arguments while you give me largely data / fact free opinion.

I would be very interested with the excuses you would come up with if they do get a proper manager, hopefully next season, and the about-turn you would make on most of these players you are ever slating while ever deflecting from Poch’s mismanagement. Here is a clue… we got rid of many players last season who miraculously have started playing to a standard we never saw from them while they were here. Maybe it’s the pitch at their new clubs making the difference.

Nonsense. The first half our players played better than Arsenal and showed their quality. We were let down by the first two goals that showed Poch is not organizing the team AT ALL. It was heads down from us and confidence up with Arsenal from there. It has mostly been our defense letting us down with a lack of organization and pressing as well as second half malaises. ALL DOWN TO POCH!!

The level of disorganization has been gobsmacking to see. Truly shocking. And as you said we have seen many times this season. The owners, because they are not fans who watch the games, are allowing the fans suffer through all this.

When I speak of a lack of organization, that goal speaks volumes. There was an Arsenal player with the corner kick taker and only one Chelsea player defending. When the ball was played it was obvious where the next passes were going and yet looked on as the obvious was created and scored from.

Player talent-wise they are not any far ahead… It is elsewhere the difference lies