robsblubot

Not my opinion on the players - been there - but the why Oscar and Matic are given time... Because the club wants to keep them and don't want their poor form/or the preference of a temp manager antagonize them. The jury may still be out for Oscar as he struggles, but pretty sure the club don't want to lose Matic. also, about certain selections, bear in mind it's far easier to sell the players who play, who are in display. I have an idea that there will be indeed a big change in the summer. ---- on the result... As usual I take nothing from playing extremely poor opposition with our starting xi esp at home. means very little to me if we lose to soton and psg. FA offers a couple of challenging games, but that will take place later on. maybe good for confidence esp hazard, but even he won't be reading too much from it.

He's been exclusively playing RB like forever... Can't expect him to seamlessly switch to CB for a tough match like this one. still think that he is a good player and possibly our best defender as terry retires. Yes zouma is quality too but very different.

Common sense in disguise. would u be so sure that Oscar won't make elsewhere? Would u put money on it? no I no longer think he will make it here but would never put my money against him making elsewhere in a diff system and perhaps diff role.

I was not referring to the clubs or recent teams, but these lineups. we have players out of their depth, others can't be bothered, while others are n decline. Plus we are, as usual but more so, lacking strength in depth - Ramires might have helped today. the club has given up on this season and selling Ramires while getting no replacement attest to that imo. They are thinking next season.

Agree to disagree. they are better in almost every area except Gk and fullbacks. Their midfield is a lot better than ours.

My opinion wasnt based on stats alone - even though I've been following cups forever. it was based on the quality of the sides as my last bit implied. besides, we've been pretty vulnerable this season and conceding to almost anyone, so sorry I can't Imagine we will keep a clean sheet against a better team.

This was not a good result. It will take heroics to go though. yes 1x0 works, but every tie and any other win by a goal doesn't. we may also lose again simply because they are the better team.

One of the best passers I've ever seen play the game. must be a thorn to play against because he can hit a long ball and kill the game at any time. yes he can struggle when tightly market, but the thing is he causes the opponent to focus on him. Good player to have - just a bit difficult to fit in a system. Perhaps a 3cm system.

Look at the player faces and remember what they looked like in the beginning of the season... club wont release the info but they look visibly thinner and fitter now. It's quite obvious with ivanovic in particular. was it Jose letting them lose after the title win, or club poor preseason planning? Both? Whoever becomes the manager needs to do better.

The story isn't really whether he needs 6 weeks to play a match, but whether he will need 6 weeks to be fully match fit. I can certainly buy the latter. Imagine our own beginning of the season - a 'normal' season not this one - and how long it takes for the players to regain match sharpness. Well, Pato is in that stage right now.

I've never envisioned remembering Jose Mourinho as the attacking-minded one.... However, given the way we've been playing, the starting lineups, and the results, reckon it's a valid case to be made. A case for someone braver than I to make...

"because that's his role " that was also your conclusion. Point taken that you feel Matic was always a headless chicken - I disagree. I think his positioning is indeed his weaknesses - all players have weaknesses) however, the team's overall poor form is exposing matic's (and other players) deficiencies. Concerning Mikel, I find it pretty incredible that people do not see that Mikel affects Matic directly as Mikel sits - not very mobile anyway. 3 variables this season/lately: a Mikel starting next to Matic - changing Matic's role a bit. b team's overall poor form. c matic's poor form And yet you and others here focus exclusively on Matic's poor form - even though football is a team game. So, agreeing to disagree again here.

That is true, but he is very young and as he matures he will learn better positioning and reading of the game. Natuaral evolution.

Feel awful for him and the club. this sort of injury takes a heavy toll short term and sometimes another one long term. Hope for his career that the latter isn't as heavy. on one hand he's a CB so not entirely reliant on pace; on the other hand pace is his virtue as a CB.

agreed. but only if they provide a direct link for us who don't give a shit about what you've just said to like it too. Where the post so I can like it?

I disagree with (almost) every point you made in this post. We'd need take it to another thread not to derail this one. BTW, Mata and Ramires are still looking for their position. Also, when you wrote Matic is not dynamic, who are you disagreeing with here? I for one did not say he was. However, a wide gulf separates "Not Dynamic" from "incredibly slow." I'd call Mikel incredibly slow, as Alexis would attest. Matic is slow just like Yaya is. They are both pretty tall and heavy. It's all really relative. DMs in general are more one dimensional players - it's a called a defensive specialist for a reason. Some are more than others... stats would help see that. A quite obvious way to go would be: Defense stats + Attacking stats / 2 = roundedness... hardly rocket science. I remember you going on an on about Matic missing that open goal chance in the counter HE PULLED! Am I the crazy one who wants the guy who had 6 MotM in the PL last season!!! back? 2015/2016 Chelsea EPL 19(4) 1653 1 - 4 1 1.2 88.7 1.3 - 6.96 2014/2015 Chelsea EPL 35(1) 3124 1 3 10 1 0.8 86.4 2.1 6 7.50 2013/2014 Chelsea EPL 15(2) 1364 - 4 3 - 0.8 84.8 2.8 1 7.63 https://www.whoscored.com/Players/38128/History/Nemanja-Matic BTW, Matic's worse form at Chelsea gets him a rounded 7 this season. That's the equivalent of Mikel's best PL in 10 years... hint: it's not this one. We just have to agree to disagree on this one. I am not going to change your mind and you are not going to change mine.

Mikel is that odd case we just accept - our mascot. On the rest of the squad we have to adapt to the new reality where Oscar is actually a good player for our squad - because we just cannot afford better.

Oscar is going nowhere.... In a squad where Mikel starts, Oscar is a fucking god!

You guys are missing the real story: the club cannot force the player to accept the offer. He prob has no interest in moving there and saying bye-bye to his international career. what the official note says is irrelevant.

Difficult to discuss your disagreement with a point I did not make. Did I say Hiddink told Matic to run around like a headless chicken? What do you suppose would happen if you asked Mikel to be a box-to-box CM? Or if you asked Fabregas to play DM? Or even Thibo to play winger? Get the point? He was obviously asked to do something he is not capable of doing; only to accommodate a DM whose role has to be explained over an over again: please check Mikel's *defensive* numbers in context of his "role" in the team. Or go ahead and check his attacking numbers then... Now if are telling me that Matic is incapable of playing DM I'd point you to tons of evidence showing otherwise. I know we don't like those around here as they come against colorful ideas and analogies. Of course Matic is slow, as is Mikel. However, the evidence, both market value as well as stats, tell the story I choose to buy. If you buy something different, then so be it.

You've just described Mikel to me. Check the stats - Matic in the worst form of his career has very similar stats to Mikel at his best? And yet this thread is very busy after each match. now that Mikel starts, the "does a job" does not fly anymore. He and Matic are starters and should be judged equally - actually Matic has played, consistently, at a level Mikel only dreams of... And not long ago. Consider we are pretty much playing for nothing. I feel the criticism on players in bad form have been inconsistent and unfair. My personal take is to look into the future. I know that Matic can play at a high level as I know Mikel (in 10 years) can't. All that's left this season is to keep the good players and get rid of the bad ones. Losing a player like Matic over bad form in a lost season (when multiple players were in bad form) makes no sense to me. i've seen youngsters struggle before - it ain't pretty. When they struggle, they do so catastrophically. You can lose or at least delay development of these promising players - baba may be a diff case btw. yes they may do ok, but they may not. Sometimes it's a feeling in practice or their attitude towards adversity.. That's why we pay the coaches.

true, but with a focus on building value through patient development of young players - not silverware. Wenger wouldn't last long at Chelsea or City.

Unfair IMO - people must know he's playing out of position, right? He's not the paciest of guys and is roaming around like a headless chicken because that's his role when sitting next to Mikel. Concerning our lack of creativity and attacking, that's on the manager - no other. He starts both DMs against Watford which invites the draw. He's playing safe. Stand by the obvious: Matic has played at a very high level before and very consistently at that. Ignore the evidence all you like, but for me you'd be dissing one of the the few excellent players we got in the squad.

and cooking his tv set too!

Comfortable win for me. Despite some limitations in the squad, Watform is hardly a challenge and with the key players (Diego and Eden) returning to form, we've become dangerous. These squad/team limitations will certainly hold us against the top dogs, but reckon not against Watford. Obviously anything can happen in football - e.g. a red card early on changes everything as it did against Arsenal.