Barbara

and there is is. I knew when I was typing the above message, Coutinho would score, LOL Should have resisted the urge

have you read what I just said? Isn't almost general consensus here that any manager that comes here would have an immediate impact? How many times a team goes lively with a new manager after a situation with the former stretches? His Liverpool looks insipid. We're making them look better now, at the beginning of the match when we were nearly decent, they looked lost, even in their pressing, but then we decided to go back to the usual suckery and they grew. So if he couldn't do something inspiring to this team now, he wouldn't have done here either I suppose... What's so difficult to understand in the parallel? Next season is a new story for everyone, and hopefully for Chelsea too. What I really to read is Coutinho's worshipers. He's been sucking for a while now, as anyone with a brain could say he always does, but they pick one pass and one goal every 10-15 matches and he's a wonderkid. LOL

They're trying to provoke Diego. Let's hope he doesn't fall for it Skrtel tried to hit him in the face...

when a manager has been cooked for as long as Brendan was (or how Jose is now) and someone new comes, normally (almost all times) the team immediately picks an improvement (which is why some have been wanting José sacked now and not at the end of the season) that doesn't last a lot anyway. The only improvement I see in this Liverpool side is how much more violent they are. Killing every single play with a tough foul.

Hazard has been good for nothing after the goal. He ruined our attack in a way or other every single time...

have Cunt-burg brought his yellows or are they all saved for the players in blue?

It seems like I made a mistake assessing Klopp as someone to replace Mourinho... I've seen a bit of his Liverpool and it looks as bad or worse than Brendan's... but maybe I haven't watched enough

Zouma (who was offside) didn't touch or take a relevant part in the construction of the play... or am I wrong?

I guess you missed the word I used a few times when talking about it: recent. It's been a lifetime since that happened and Malouda had been a rollercoaster, one I'm happy we didn't have to deal with for longer than necessary. Oh yeah, Walsall and Maccabi are just like the challenges we needed to show a good attacking display. Not only I disagree those were our best attacking performances, but giving the attack any credit when they played those teams and didn't score at least 5-6 goals is a travesty. Haven't watched Stoke though, so you might have something there, although I read Hazard (playing through the middle) and Kenedy were the keys to our attack looking better. Haven't read one single mention of Baba.

What is depressing about this lineup in general is that if you take away Zouma who is only playing because Iva is injured, that's exactly the same team we had two years ago with the exception of Costa (and that's only because we currently don't have any of the strikers we had two seasons ago, thanks God for that). That shows how much we regressed as a team. The same way that team of two seasons ago wasn't good enough, this one won't ever be. Matic, Fabregas, Pedro - who were theoretically our best signings (keeping Costa out of it because he's actually in the team) being all benched (Pedro would have been benched even if not injured), just show how the squad management both by the manager (last two years) and the board (last transfer window) has been poor. We took several steps back and I applaud the posters who saw this coming a long time ago (I couldn't). We overachieved last season with this tactics and players. There are some serious misfits and while I think we might need some new players next season, it's imperative we have a new manager with new ideas. It's not that Mourinho is bad, it's just he needs some time off of football to reinvent himself. He lost the plot, both tactically and emotionally (given the things he says and does).

And you guys have all those pretty attack theories as if we had ever played wide in recent years even when we had better FBs and currently look well drilled and with attackers looking great. I mean, the only problem our strikers and AMs (except Willian) have not been nearly close to decent is because we lack a RB like Baba. Yeah, I can see him making a whole big difference. Sorry, but our problems in attack run much deeper than this obsession with width that never, ever, ever in recent years actually happened with Chelsea. Playing baba would make no difference in the attack, that's not how we play and having him in defense would be a nightmare, although ad DYC. said, Zouma may not defend all that well in the right. I'd start with the same lineup, but switched Zouma and Azpilicueta

He made stupid mistakes that didn't turn into goals because he only played really poor opposition. Against half decent EPL teams it could be as bad as Ivanovic as they made the same kind of mistakes, but let's have TC gurus and their logic pick the team. Mourinho is as good gone at this point, but the lack of respect and how no matter what you guys will say shit about him is an annoying diarrhea. Only a few actually address what really are the problems he has that should see him out. Not playing ducking Baba isn't one of them

I thought there would be more celebrations posts as Cesc was dropped like some of you have advocated for months... But only one poster actually stuck to his guns... The rest prefer talk nonsense about the Baba vs Zouma situation... As if Mourinho was stupid to play defensive useless Baba on this match... Well, nothing new around here

did you read the part when I said big stage? I said he did play well in some big games where there wasn't important things at stake. If I don't consider bundesliga a relevant league because of its one team, what do you think I - and everyone else with common sense - make out of German domestic cups? Wolfsburg NEVER threatened Bayern's title last season.

LOL. 5% his fault? LMAO I still stay firm in my belief, he isn't a big stage player. If that's yet or not time will say because he's quite young. He'll shine and thrive when there isn't much pressure. But against big teams with big things at stake (top of the table) or deep knock outs, he's been a failure wherever he played (Belgium WC, Wolfburg EL). He played well in some big games before, but there wasn't something really important at stake. He's easily neutralized if a little more of attention (and quality attention on that) is given to him. About this speed liability, I've never paid attention to this before, my only instances on him are that he thinks only of himself and has no concept of team if it threatens his big star status (if the manager and team mates are willing to see to his every little whim, then he can be a team player) and when time of the truth comes, he just fades... But I think none of this is definite yet. He's young, he has a lot (A LOT) to mature both mentally and his game. If he takes the right routes, I'm positive he can be a player with better return than Hazard, although Hazard will always be the more talented because Hazard has a gift... but at the end what's more important, talent or how big a player becomes? The biggest example of not so awesome talent and still out of this world size is Cristiano imo. He isn't a very talented guy, but he's so success oriented, and so determined and works so hard that he found a way to get in the discussion of the best player in the world when a certain Messi also plays. People keep comparing both and saying all kind of things, but do they ever stop to think that Ronaldo isn't anywhere, nearly, close talented to Messi and he still put himself in the discussion?

Mourinho needs to go, but I really don't know who has to come. Ancelotti doesn't know the first thing about turning a crisis around, he's literally the last guy for the job, even as a stop gas. I'm not too affected by the results tbh. This happens... ask United a couple of seasons ago... every big club has been through a slump at least once. We will get over it. But Mourinho made it impossible for him to continue. If someone in football needs a sabbatical, that's him. I really can't stand Guardiola, I think he's way more arrogant than Mourinho, but he tries to hide it better. I think he's overrated as hell and couldn't do as good with Bayern as expected. Yes, winning UCL ain't easy. Losing 7-0 in the SF isn't either... the team hasn't even slightly produced what could have with a really good manager. Klopp - imo - would have taken that Bayern much further than Pep did - all things considered and not only titles. I can't stand the guy, again, I think he's overrated, his success at Barcelona was a very ideal situation, with a lot of factors helping, a perfect marriage of philosophies (club and manager). I'm not saying he's bad, just that he isn't nearly as good as people make him out to be. His biggest accomplishments were winning everything with one of the best teams ever (most of the players were already there even before him, although he did add a couple key players) and winning Bundesliga with his Bayern side. With the squad he has, reaching UCL SF - especially given the teams they faced in the knock-outs was merely an obligation. Still, is there anyone better? We already saw that if one club is new to the football elite, also having a fairly inexperienced manager doesn't work, so we can't bet in one of the young names coming through the last few years. The old foxes are either outdated, or the few nearly good enough well employed where they are. I've always said my two names were Klopp and Simeone, but both seem out of reach now and Simeone whole being a personal preference doesn't match the style Roman seems to want to the team any better than Mourinho does. It seems like a dead end, but one thing is for sure, Mourinho has to really leave and I'm one breath away of changing my opinion that it should wait the end of the season. He desperately needs a break from football. He's lost, outdated and seems to have developed a deep victim complex, stopping to acknowledge his own mistakes. One manager and one season won't sink Chelsea irremediably, but just because it's not the end of the world, it doesn't mean it has to continue the way it is.

yellow card my ass. I'm done with this shit. bye bye (not because of Chelsea, but because this is fucking frustrating)

fucking Matic it pays well for Mourinho not playing RLC

we've been so fucking unlucky about an inch today And I really dig this Willian too

we've been playing better than we were a month ago, but we still look sort of disjointed

are you ducking kid me? ughhhhhh

I do, he's trying to clean his image by making Fabregas his wife now

not really. Can't remember many of them. He had his problems with RM - which he was right btw. Kevin criticized him a lot, and I think Mata and Schurrle let out some comments too, but is it a coincidence it's always by scorned players? If there's one thing he used to have before RM was players praising him, and like Ibra saying they'd die for him. RM ruined Mourinho in more ways than one, and ever since he scorned some players and mostly all of them had a few words to say, but then again, he chose others oven them, so I don't think they'd feel that great to speak positively? I just want the end of the season to be here and for him to be gone. Hazard is the long term asset here, not Mourinho.

you're not. I'm with you. So either we have a point or we can be mad together I think the passing was there, he tried some things, had some very good and key passes peppered in the 90 minutes, but it was either wasted (like that one to Pedro in the first that his first touch betrayed him and it was wasted) or the assist to Costa. He can still do much better than this, but I thought he was decent and as you said in the previous post, he's just the antithesis of athleticism and power, he's more about touch and intelligence and maybe I'm too naïve or just as outdated as Mourinho, but I believe modern football still has space for the likes of him if the whole system isn't compromised just to accommodate him - which I think it isn't. Thing is, for him to work on his best, everything around him has to be an oiled machine working to perfection. He doesn't change a team, he doesn't turn things around on himself. He can control the tempo, if others play their part perfectly, he can change and decide a match, if attacking players are moving well and taking well their chances, he won't compromise the midfield, if others help him to keep the midfield compact. He can't do any of those things all by himself.

I wouldn't say pretty bad, it was a slow burn towards the bottom rock. He was getting worse and worse, but I think we've only seen the very worst at the end and then it carried on to this season. He continued from where he stopped.