robsblubot

Isn't hazard the highest pay on the roaster? If so, the 'slack' and the additional expectations have already been priced in. I'm disappointed with his form and his overall fitness after vacation. I also expect him to get better but it's something to keep an eye on.

Fair enough but we disagree on how good a ball winning mid Mikel is.Also there are other ways to win the ball back - pushing your def line up (zouma is used to play ball winning) of with other type of players like Ramires etc I just did not find the attempt, the strategy change wrong. He had to try and incur into risk because of the little time left.

The latter

It's truly amazing that you keep on thinking people misunderstand or don't understand your very simple points - we are discussing football here not physics. We simply disagree on this.

Mikel was subbed off when we were already losing the game so what grave mistake do you speak of? mikel slows down play - we needed to speed it up to attack them. Possession meant nothing once we were losing.

Yes yes Mikel is now a world class player Whatever... Lol Like I said, regardless how you rate him, his attacking stats speak for themselves. So from a strategy standpoint it's the same as adding attsckers - yes something always gotta give.

Regardless how you rate him, why would you keep a player with his feeble attacking numbers on the pitch when chasing a result with few minutes left.

RLC may or may not be ready to play and I am sure that any of top rated professional coaches at Chelsea is better at making that assessment than anyone around here, including myself. I know you like Mikel as a player and you know I dislike Mikel as a player, but removing the strict footballing aspects, this passive mentality that he shows is very strange to me. And I suspect is actually one of the reasons I dislike him as a player. Like I said before, I don't think (for one reason or other) that many people around here actually play any organized football. I've played in amateur leagues and when 15-17 players show up in a weekend and only 11 play, there is ALWAYS competition which is encouraged at all levels - have heard/read many times that clubs do the same. Now, perhaps it's just too soon for RLC, and he is still merely looking to learn as much as he can from the likes of Fabregas and Matic, and that's be fine. Again, that's an assessment the coaching staff needs to make: does he already have the ambition to go out there and compete? Compete being the keyword here. It's a competition because the opponent wants to hurt you and humiliate you if you let him do it; because doing that makes him a better player and makes him earn more money (as a professional). Some youngsters are ready for that, while others could be hurt by the experience when done too soon.

Matic, like many of our players, looks physically weak. Short or poor pre-season? Celebrations went too far? Whatever the reason is I think it's unfair to say they are not trying - they just aren't as fit as they were last season. Hazard for example, is no longer clearing his marker: he dribbles past him, but remains within reach for a tackle. His movement is also lacking which limits the passing options of the other players - it's all linked. The older players, Iva and Terry, make it more obvious (esp with the higher block this season), because they already lack pace, but I see all players suffering physically. Possible exception to Azpi and Ramires because of their build. Very difficult situation and I disagree with most here in that replacing them will only accomplish more loses and delay their inevitable recovery. The substitutes are not of the same caliber - not good enough or too young. Besides you employ youngsters when the team is well and playing as a unit not the other way around.

It's not just the defense - our attacking and possession stats are down too. No doubt about our terrible form which is another reason to play a bit more defensive. Newcastle are bad but they were playing at home.

ah I did not mean to say taking pedro off would do it... just that the manage must be cognizant of the fact he's got another attacker on the pitch. If Pedro deserves his starting positon ( so far he hasn't) then adapt in other areas - formation for example. I was shocked by our starting XI today. Too open too attacking for an away fixture.

I too think kane should be dropped or rotated, which would make Jan a perfect time for a strong bid...

worsens the problem IMO. Before Pedro we already had 3 poor markers (guys who can't tackle to save their lives): Hazard, Diego, and Fabregas. Then we have OK tacklers, like Oscar and William. Pedro who doesn't even know what a tackle is (he will foul on every attempt) has lowered the number of defensive minded players in our starting XI. That in addition to Hazard poor fitness, Oscar Injuries, and William's poor form IMO exacerbated the problem you mentioned. To make things worse, we are no longer employing a low block so we need to press more up front, not less. I am not surprised the defenders, esp the slower ones are suffering. Cahill will suffer too (because he's not that quick) if things don't improve soon.

Less worried about his performances - which have been poor. Far more worried about the imbalance that his constant presence in the starting XI has created.

hmmm Wenger is great at developing the young....

because you only (want to) see his attacking contribution. I also want to see him on the pitch because he can create, but he hasn't been creating enough and he is part of the defensive problem we have - all players are. What I see is that all progress Hazard had made concerning his (sometimes lacking) defensive game seems to have gone down the drain this season. It's a matter of time until Jose starts criticizing him again for being lazy on the pitch and I'd have to agree with Jose on this one. Teams cannot have prima donnas anymore and every player needs to work hard. Hazard should be enjoying even less freedom this season because of pedro. That's IMO one of the reasons for the imbalance we see today.

I am not of of his biggest fans - remember TPTB and I concerned about how weak he has historically been (even for arsenal). Obviously Fabregas is a good player with lots of technique and vision. However, in that CM position he demands a lot of protection, which he did enjoy last season. Ironically, now with his buddy Pedro, he's enjoying a lot less protection from the attacking players - along with Oscar's injuries and Hazard's terrible form - lack of fitness IMO. In this current situation, with Pedro, I also think the formation is wrong and did not quite understand our transfer window movement or lack thereof. No I don't think Mikel should be anywhere near the starting XI - please don't mention macabbi as he also played against everton - so that leaves us with Ramires and RLC. I love RLC but was concerned about reports he ends up matches a bit tired, which could be a problem at this level so I assume he isn't quite ready for a starter position. That leaves us with a single solution (or at least a way to improve things): Ramires. Any way I look at it, not good enough. So I find it much easier to criticise Jose about the transfer window posture than what he does now. And there might be other variables we don't know about - board... owner... stadium... etc.

Fair enough, but that was not the point I made. Oscar did have a poor showing and did not step up. Though I find it funny that Hazard gets no criticism and he's been consistently one of the poorest performers this season.

agree - attacking play was as bad or worse than defending. But Remy's poor showing did not help either - he was terrible every time he got the ball. Some poor touches too whcih was actually surprising to me - I don't rate him as highly as people around here but still think he's a good player with decent technique.

Being fair... since some players are getting a lot of flack around here. Against Newcastle, Remy was a strong contender as worst player on the pitch.

Sorry but that's not a valid conclusion. You are making a direct connection between oscar and balance and that's just not right. Especially some that is related to every single playey with a possible exception of the gk. Oscar had a poor game - he tried things and they did not work. Others were as bad or worse. Oscar does improve the balance but the balance isn't right. I thought the lineup was a bit too attacking for this game tbh. Pedro is an attacker.

We finally agree on something.. I'd be fine with that too but the point being is that to get results at this time he needs the senior players to get their shit together and another coach under same pressure would do the same. It's still likely they will improve enough to get a top 4 but we are indeed wasting time with certain players who are over the hill. Too late now though as you need to fix that in the transfer window.

I agree about the attacking players being poor defensively - add that hazard and spec Pedro. Though I disagree that ivanovic has been as bad as people here say he's been. The same way you say lack of defending up front hurts Matic the defense is also affected.Hazards form is far worse and so is fabregas' Besides this is not tennis - replace ivanovic and nothing will change. Remy would still have been a zero up front for example. No wide plays etc. Pedro has been worse than Iva. The team is just off. Jose needs to address the overall team play and the terrible form of certain players-ivanovic is just the scapegoat which would change nothing esp because we don't really have better option on the roster.

Say Jose goes... Would you expect a lot of changes from the next manager? I bet a very similar line up - yes with ivanovic in the starting XI - will be employed. You heard it here first... Will bookmark this one.

Had a decent game but was at fault for first Newcastle goal. Bad protection still make defense like look exposed because they are. Nine of them look comfortable at the moment.