Chuckso

For me what is worst is he looks VERY relaxed. With Frankie - who was out of his depth -, and even Tuchel, Conte… you could see the stress on their faces when things were not going well. You could see they cared - trying to figure out how to get things right. We suffered together with them This guy is a loser who doesn’t really care. He doesn’t deserve us. It’s like being in a loveless relationship.

A good opposition team would have gone 2 goals up in the first half and would not have fallen to pieces like Preston did. There was hardly anything positive to be gotten from this match. In fact I see even more troubling signs of bad form coming up.

Had been playing reactively defensively all game - giving Preston confidence. The players have now been told to press and two goals are the result of the pressing Why did they take so long to react to organize and press? Poch asking for a friend….

When you’ve gotten a reputation for being soft, even a championship side feel they can come to your own patch and go toe to toe. The team is being outplayed on only better organization by the opposition - an indictment on the manager. This is a pre-Sheffield United performance. Gone totally backwards

This is the reaction we should expect from our manager - the Fergie hair dryer treatment - rather than the high-fiving and satisfaction he showed at the final whistle.

We are in reminiscent of the Vialli era - where we played decent good attacking football but were soft and it was widely known all you needed to do was to “get amongst them” and we’d fold like a cheap suit. It’s the manager’s job to demand toughness and work rate from his players.

I had declared we had turned the corner after the Sheffield game because we had upped - matched and surpassed - the (defensive) intensity of our opponents and carried it into our next match. I was wrong. The previous game our opponents upped their intensity/work rate mid-game and we did not respond. This game we did not match through out and the game gradually slipped away. Football is quite simple when you think of the basics. Score while preventing your opponents from scoring. For scoring, what gives the advantage is level of talent and elusiveness I.e not being “easy to see” - that is where “pass and move”, “finding space” and work rate and intensity comes in. The other part is defense, and the evolution of football has gone from catennacio type defense to all round pressing all over the pitch (this has been in combination with the increase in fitness and athleticism of players in the top leagues) - and it is quite simple - if you can prevent your opponents from settling and letting their talents shine through, you have gone some way to nullifying them while giving you confidence. The quality of players in the premier league has increased a great deal so there are fine margins at play here. Watch this match again and see how the Palace players pressed our players as they are receiving the ball while ours would arrive to press after the opponents have gotten control of the ball and are already making the next decision. We only play well when the opponents have a lowish intensity which happens “down” teams with the bigger games - Man City, Arsenal etc - because these opponents would rather not work as hard but let their talents do the work - however unlike us they recognize the smaller teams know they are at a disadvantage talent-wise and have to up their defensive work rate These bigger guys respond in kind to up theirs. Our manager does prepare the team for this. Think of it as a maths problem: Talent + work rate = performance. A 5 Talent + 7 work rate / intensity would defeat an 8 Talent + 2 work rate. This is what we are seeing. We are at the stage now where even the minnows smell blood and are no longer falling back to press us from their back third of the pitch but looking to match us toe to toe on our home patch, pressing us all over the pitch. Poch has brought sad times

This is a MANAGERIAL defeat. I had said Poch, long term, is not the man because he fails to see and react proactively and would be found out be more nimble managers. Wolves, to my surprise, because I heard of their recent good run at home, started the match with a lowish intensity to their play. I wondered how they as a lowly team were able to win without the work rate. We were matching their intensity and getting the better of them early in the game. Let us say the intensity rate was 50% They then upped their intensity rate - particularly defensive intensity - to about 75% - not that suffocating - at the minute 16th. A manager worth his salt would have recognized this and demanded his team respond -to match or surpass the opponents intensity. Even after the half time, it was clear this was not present. After their goal was scored we then went into the pre Sheffield way of lack of discipline, marking space and disorganization. Everything else fell apart from there. These are more fundamental problems than one or two missed chances here and there.

Not surprised the goal came from Ugochukwu. Previous games have shown he is not tenacious in his defensive duties. The lack of upping the intensity and the bad vibes of allowing players not be responsible for their defensive duties have been evident all game. 2 steps forward one step back.

Had a problem with my login and got logged out for 30 minutes. Was going to post then, early in the game, Wolves have low intensity and are in for a hiding. They corrected and we did not match and got ourselves on the back foot. The manger did not address - the a few of our front guys - Borja and Palmer not putting in the work to close down. On the players, Raheem Sterling, as I had indicated in the last game was our weakest attacking link as he broke down momentum and was afraid to make incisive passes -happening THROUGHOUT the season. This game he has made more incisive passes this half than I have seen all season. His refusal to pass was unforgivable. However I would point out, and the manager ought to address, Cole Palmer - who Raheem was to pass to - and was my favourite player of the early season has developed a glory hunting and an arrogance in his play that should be stamped out. I wonder if that played a part in Sterling’s decision. It ought to be addressed before it infects the team.

EVERYONE was in poor form pre the Sheffield United match. It should be clear now that with almost EVERYONE playing better, it was down to the coach / manager who was not getting the best out of. Should be intelligent enough to see this and quit slagging off the players. There is no keeper that comes to mind that I can remember that possesses Sanchez’s distribution skills and calmness in possession. He is an upgrade on sweeper-keeper Manuel Nuer got his reputation on. Added to his, what I see is, decent shot stopping - we stole him off Brighton.

Mark my words!! I stand by them.

Delete

I had said the Sheffield game was likely the start of our turning our season around - and I was right. Regardless if we lose our performance is miles better pre-Sheffield and we shall only get better as confidence grows. Our intensity in defence has been kept as I thought and we are creating better quality chances than before and are outplaying Newcastle. Before the Sheffield game they would have battered us. Our intensity in attack needs to improve though we are making a better fist in this second half - our players particularly Raheem Sterling is wasteful and indecisive in transition. I shall archive our season as pre-Sheffield and post Sheffield.

I disagree. I was actually embarrassed by the Arsenal set up. Go watch the game again - we were AT HOME and played like the away team - how minnows used to come to the Bridge to play. We got goals but that displayed our inferiority stance, lack of confidence and fearful of Arsenal. I think that game counts as one of our worst game of the season just because - no joke. Even the ManCity and Tottenham game we came out to play toe to toe - not the Arsenal game. Such games also take a psychological toll on the players because it tells them they do not have what it takes to compete with what is supposed to be their equals. I remember during Frank 1.0, Frank came in playing with an attacking philosophy but defensive disorganization. We were getting some good results with iffy performances. The game against ManCity where Frank told the team to abandon its carefree attacking verve and concentrate almost exclusively on defense in that game because he was scared of what Mancity would do to us. We lost that game and THE VERY NEXT GAME we carried on the lack of belief - losing the positive attacking verve we had previously shown - into the rest of the games and the results followed. Go do a check of our points per game before and after the Mancity game to see. The players did not believe Frank had belief in them and the season completely collapsed thereafter. With yesterday’s game no individual pulled us up. It was a team effort for the first time in a long while. If we play like this the next 2 - 3 games - I can declare we have turned the corner. That it took half a season to do so that is for the management of the club to ask the manager.

Delete

Was unable to catch the game live and but watched the full game. What I saw - and I know it’s only Sheffield United - but this was our BEST performance this whole season. Better than the Man City and Tottenham games. It’s like the gaps I pointed out - not rocket science - was heeded and addressed. There was more intensity and proactivity in the defense and the tackle. Some imprecise and erratic offensive play but far more positive - pass and move - than all other games. The players played with more freedom - even Caicedo who had hardly ventured past the half way line all season was getting to the byline and putting in a few crosses. All this was evident even in the scoreless first half. It was no surprise the game was won rather comfortably. I do not understand some game-time comments here. Sheffield smelt blood and came to press us and make life difficult. We fought back and subdued them in the first half. Our goals was only a matter of when. The players are low on confidence right now but by the time there are a few games of performing this way and more likely to pick up wins - the team would become better. Let us see if this game was a one off. I would hope not but think it would not be. I also want to say a word about Conor Gallagher. Not since Frank Lampard - and Frank doesn’t compare - have I seen, in real time, a vast improvement in a player’s talent level - even evident in our bad stage. He must be an exceptionally hard worker. If he carries on this trajectory, he is going to be the current symbol of the club - our new JT.

People slating our players for having no spine or leadership - that may be true, however as was rightly stated Drogba, Frank and Terry were the Chelsea zenith of strong mentality and leadership - they did succumb to the tactics of Andreas Villa Boas and were made to look like bumbling amateurs. There can be so much the players can do. #ManagementMatters

S: When you take a slightly terrible Tuchel team and turn it into absolute shite under Potter & Lampard: THAT'S when you can question the managerial impact. R: We have already seen some measure of managerial impact - that happened in their previous clubs under their previous managers and why they were acquired for serious money. S: When you chop up 3/4 th of the squad and replace it with inexperienced 'potential' , all in 2 transfer windows, you CANNOT really question managerial impact, because you really don't have a frame of reference for this team. And this team has 0 achievements to begin with. R: As I had said previously, it has been done before. I cited Alex Ferguson’s 1996 ManU team, Monaco’s 2016/17 team. There are many more examples if I can be bothered to do the research. As one poster has pointed out and I have explained why - we are going backwards. We should be seeing progress. S: Do you remember how LONG it took for them to even settle on Poch and hire him? How long are they going to wait till they bring in another real candidate. What low quality interim manager are they going to install R: So the argument is to stick with mediocrity because we MIGHT get mediocrity as a replacement? We should be afraid of the unknown. Roman who presided over our most successful time did so because he would not stand mediocrity and we were rewarded with the most successful period in the club’s history. Granted we began to run out of managers to chase, but that was one of the faults of the Roman era even though a minor one - he only went after proven winners - some of them were incompatible with the vision he wanted for the club and the way he wanted football to be played. However I digress a little. Bottom line: we are going backwards and if a leader cannot find solutions and quickly enough, he should get the sack. Our current manager fits the bill.

Did anyone notice last season, apart from our game against AC Milan (who allowed us the freedom of the pitch to play), our best performance was the lone game with Bruno Saltor in our 0-0 draw against Liverpool. We were pants the previous games under Potter, had a lone smashing game under Saltor, then went back to being absolute pants the very NEXT game under Frank. Now I am not saying Bruno would have carried the form on but it is an indication as to someone, who would not be called on, getting the best out of the players and doing so immediately. So this little case study shows that people who dismiss the impact of a manager or leader on his charges do not know what they are talking about. There are people out there that may not be known who could do this. It is about finding them - someone who CONSISTENTLY gets the best out of his players, a football philosophy in-line with the club’s and who are not fazed by the job and have ambition. (Like the punt Tottenham did with their manager). A tall order but that is what is needed. What is without a shadow of a doubt is Poch IS NOT IT. The reason why I say this is because as Charles Darwin said the specie that survives is the one most adaptable. The ones slow to adapt would perish. I have seen since the start of the season the problems with his team. We are more than half way into the season without changes. Even if he was to fix this particular problem his slowness to see and fix things means we would always be playing catch up to other more insightful and change-ready managers.

The truth is we have been very unlucky with managers. The last time we had a manager who played to the players TRUE talents - I.e their performance matched their quality was Mourinho 2.0 before the 6-3 loss to Tottenham. This was 2016 - 7 years ago. Before he lost the plot. Before that was Ancelotti in 2010. Before he lost the plot after Ray Wilkins’s sacking. All the others have been found wanting. The truth is the quality of this squad is masking Poch’s incompetence. For example, the goals Raheem Sterling (not a favorite player of mine) has scored this season - where he gets the ball and just runs at the opposition. No build up play - just individual talent. Other teams have to get by without a Raheem Sterling but they are scoring goals and doing better than us. Better organization, cohesion, intensity - MANAGEMENT.

Haha. If he indeed said that, it reminds me of Mourinho 1.0 when Roman reminded him he bought the club to see winning but also good football, Mourinho responded by saying he needed class A eggs to make good football. This was after the biggest short term splash on a squad in footballing history - spending more than £300m. I asked then that were there not teams constructed for a fraction of the cost and were capable of presentable football? Pochetinno, like Mourinho before him, is doing a squirrel- look over there! When Pochetinno started dropping some of the the players, Caicedo and Enzo in particular, it was clear to me that like Mourinho, when things are going badly who dropped players, he blamed them publicly - Pochetino blames his players but does not voice it publicly. He has not figured out he is the problem. - He cannot organize a UNITED press. Meaning our opponents find it easy to play their way out from the back - He does not demand proactive defending. Our players only react to an opponent when the ball has reached the opponent, rather than anticipating the pass and putting them under pressure so they make a mistake. This is what our opponents do to us. - No one is given responsibility to pick people up and are told to mark space. Caicedo is told to just sit in the center - in front and between the center backs - he is not blessed with pace so if he is not instructed to be close to a player I.e just marking space he would struggle. There are countless times I see a 2 vs 1 on the wings because someone who should be picking the second opponent has been told to mark space so they are elsewhere. It is disorganized. This also leads to our players needing to make a lot of “recovery tackles” that lead to cards. Because they are being reactive to the play So in all, we are very easy to play and score against us. That is why those opponents who bring running and intensity outplay us and only need one chance to score. Poch has set the team up to fail. I had seen this since the 2nd game of the season and he has not changed it. That is why I say he is out of his depth - a dinosaur - and stealing a living at the moment. Added to this the lack of intensity and laid-backness of this team, which surprised me. I remember his Tottenham team who were beasts and ran you ragged. Perhaps Neymar and Messi had broken him and he is afraid to demand his players run into the ground, defensively. I would also add this mess up takes it toll on our offensive play. It is clear we have regressed offensively and I could predict this would be the case. This was from Conte’s second season where teams started to press us but we were not pressing back (because coaches like Conte, Tuchel and Mourinho value organization and control above all else). What transpired was that as the opponents were putting our players under pressure, tackling and sometimes dispossessing them, their players gained in confidence while ours dipped. This confidence was chipped at game by game before it became a full blown crisis. The crisis we are seeing now where our offense, which was pretty good at the start of the season, has now gone to pants. Mohammed Ali eventually paid a price for constantly relying on rope-a-dope.

Hey everyone. Exploded on the message boards in the manu game thread but have been following the site and game comment section for over a year now that my previous site, Chelsea closed down and was looking for a new home. Been a Chelsea fan since 22nd May 1996 when my favourite player ever, Gianluca Vialli, was reported to be moving to Chelsea. Also helps I lived in SW London. Glad to join and hope contribute to a great site

I was actually referring to reports where they used an injury ravaged team and had to use kids including our own Lewis Hall to dominate their opponent. To be fair when I did further research it was only the games of Newcastle vs ManU and us that cites using an injury ravaged team but when I went through the lineups it was still an experienced team like the one you referenced. However the point stands - which is you can use a young team to play well, be successful and win things IMMEDIATELY. Alex Ferguson’s 1996 team comes to mind. Honorable mention to Monaco’s 16/17 team. The talent in this squad is not a (deservedly) 11th place team and it is easy to perform a thought experiment to prove the case - know and watch earlier versions of our players and know what level they can play at. If you can look at the players in the teams above us and WILL substitute our player (playing at their potential) for the equivalent position player in theirs, this means our manager can be argued to be doing a relatively good job in comparison to other managers. If you would prefer OUR player, then simply it's on our manager. He is wasting the talent.

Just watching the post match interview fro Poch and reminds me of Graham Potter interviews. Poch, and Graham previously, struck me as very relaxed. This shows they are not being put under any pressure by the management team. The man is living an easy life at the moment.