Wigan 1-1 Chelsea

[middleoftheshed 388]

Thank god I missed the coach...

[Kojo 4,676]

I agree 100% with Steve, Andre Villas Boas's tactics were an absolute shambles. This Manager has consistently made wrong decisions when it comes to tactics since he has joined. The players themselves had to readjust the high line last week without permission from Boas and today they were told to go defensive at 1-0 when he brought Obi on and Sturridge and Mata off. I don't care about the mistake from Cech that has nothing to do with it. AVB consistently puts us under pressure and if it was not for the heroics of Mata and Sturridge this season we would be in huge huge trouble.

I agree, I'm getting really concerned about him, he constantly makes the wrong decisions, and i always hate his subs because they always end up wrong.

[Kojo 4,676]

I am not defending Torres, i know he's been poor the last couple of games (when he played more than 10 minutes), but Drogba was poor as well a month or so ago. To be honest Torres was looking good before he got that sending off against Swansea.

What i was trying to say is that we shouldn't just write him off and say that he is automatically going to play bad, therefore we shouldn't play him.

You're an idiot wanting torres to play, Torres can only play if you give him chances and make them 90 percent for him, drogba sits deep and works, we can't play him till we get a better team, a winger and a playmaker, because at the moment he will come on and run around like a headless chicken.

[pyut898 14]

AVB should win manager of the year trophy

[Hd123 5]

AVB should win manager of the year trophy

Agreed. Just as long as Malouda recieves his deserved Ballon D'or

[nullabletype 987]

Today's match, evidently, was piss poor for a multitude of reasons. A combination of poor individual / team performance(s) and some strange managerial decisions (According to me, an non-tactical minded never to be football manager).

The squad as a whole didn't wow me at any point during the game. As individuals most of them were less than impressive. In my opinion Ivanovic, Meireles, Lampard and Drogba all had a woeful day, the rest bar Sturridge were lackluster at very best.

I've seen points for and against AVBs substitution decisions on here, so here's my take on them (I'm no expert, I know, I'm modest. So excuse me if I talk rubbish). Removing a DM for an attacking player, to then remove an attacking player for a DM, to then remove another attacking player for a lesser one is beyond me. The second change with the first in mind made AVB come across as indecisive which doesn't fill me with confidence. Removing our goal scorer and arguably best player this season at all, given the situation was crazy. The players he chose to play made those decisions even more mind boggling. If he wanted to change up tactics, I believe the players he had on the pitch were more than capable of carrying out the job, no need to even replace them with the sub-power players he did. Perhaps it was to keep the players he removed fresh for the upcoming fixtures? Maybe. I've personally never bought in to this idea that players at this level, guys in peak physical condition, can't perform at their best multiple times a week. No need to rest players for a game five days away in my opinion. I genuinely think AVBs mind just went blank. Oops.

Got to talk about Torres. What would a Chelsea game be without it? Fernando must not be doing the job in training otherwise he would be getting on. Now, I assume there's not much hope for the guy to get back to his best unless he's provided with some much needed game time. I know he hasn't proven himself worthy of it, but he can't even begin to do so if he doesn't get any whatsoever. Why then, when we have games like today, were Drogba offers absolutely nothing do we not give him a go? What have we to lose? If he comes out and plays rubbish, we're no worse off than we were with a struggling Didier. I'm all up for playing whoever before Torres if they can do the job. Drogba's inclusion in the last few games has been spot on since he's been on form. But if he comes out and gives a performance like today's, then it only seems fair to give our 50Million bench warmer a run out, and perhaps save him a few fresh splinters in his arse.

All in all a disappointing day. The only plus is we didn't get beat, which, by the way, we deserved to.

[Hysteria 159]

After Newcastle and Man City victories i was getting a little optimist...until now. Fuck this.

[Hd123 5]

Today's match, evidently, was piss poor for a multitude of reasons. A combination of poor individual / team performance(s) and some strange managerial decisions (According to me, an non-tactical minded never to be football manager).

The squad as a whole didn't wow me at any point during the game. As individuals most of them were less than impressive. In my opinion Ivanovic, Meireles, Lampard and Drogba all had a woeful day, the rest bar Sturridge were lackluster at very best.

I've seen points for and against AVBs substitution decisions on here, so here's my take on them (I'm no expert, I know, I'm modest. So excuse me if I talk rubbish). Removing a DM for an attacking player, to then remove an attacking player for a DM, to then remove another attacking player for a lesser one is beyond me. The second change with the first in mind made AVB come across as indecisive which doesn't fill me with confidence. Removing our goal scorer and arguably best player this season at all, given the situation was crazy. The players he chose to play made those decisions even more mind boggling. If he wanted to change up tactics, I believe the players he had on the pitch were more than capable of carrying out the job, no need to even replace them with the sub-power players he did. Perhaps it was to keep the players he removed fresh for the upcoming fixtures? Maybe. I've personally never bought in to this idea that players at this level, guys in peak physical condition, can't perform at their best multiple times a week. No need to rest players for a game five days away in my opinion. I genuinely think AVBs mind just went blank. Oops.

Got to talk about Torres. What would a Chelsea game be without it? Fernando must not be doing the job in training otherwise he would be getting on. Now, I assume there's not much hope for the guy to get back to his best unless he's provided with some much needed game time. I know he hasn't proven himself worthy of it, but he can't even begin to do so if he doesn't get any whatsoever. Why then, when we have games like today, were Drogba offers absolutely nothing do we not give him a go? What have we to lose? If he comes out and plays rubbish, we're no worse off than we were with a struggling Didier. I'm all up for playing whoever before Torres if they can do the job. Drogba's inclusion in the last few games has been spot on since he's been on form. But if he comes out and gives a performance like today's, then it only seems fair to give our 50Million bench warmer a run out, and perhaps save him a few fresh splinters in his arse.

All in all a disappointing day. The only plus is we didn't get beat, which, by the way, we deserved to.

If I could type a lengthy post without any swearing, threatening or with class this would be it. Very spot on IMO. From the first minute on it looked like none of the players cared, but in my opinion the first defining moment was when Kalou came on. No, it's not about Kalou being useless or that it was wrong to bring him on. It's about taking off Romeu, and while he is a defensive midfielder, offered far more than the below par Meireles and Lampard. The pair have contributed nothing throughout the 90 minutes along with Drogba and Mata. They just gave the ball away, with absolutely 0 penetration. The Malouda sub was by far the worst, very idiotic indeed. It's almost as if AVB was trying his hardest to lose the match.

[The Rising Sun 711]

Our last 3 wins were a GLITCH in our season!

They played with passion to save face from humiliation and did it too.

Now normal service resumes from both, the manager( with his standardized post match interviews ) and the players. The Subs were Pathetic to say the least.

Why play Malouda? or Kalou> Mikel> Take off Romeu>? U fucking Genius!!

I thought You had finally got the team together under your control and had them playing the way YOU wanted them to play this December.

You were starting to win me over.

And then this comes along....players were piss poor but your management of the situation in terms of tactics as well as substitutions was of a boy trying to make a point to men that i am the boss and I Make the decisions. And Horrible ones too.

I dont think you will ever win me over, at this rate.

When every new manager comes in, you see a positive/different change in terms of style of play or something.

Under VB i havent seen much change. Sturridge got good at Bolton, he is not your product. Romeu if YOU bought, which i highly doubt...... is a good buy. I think he was already signed before you.

I AM TIRED OF AVB, and even if we win, i actually get a little tired watching his press conferences.He probably opened up a dictionary and spits out the same shit everytime.

I Still hope Avb takes control and shows signs that his philosophies are not theoretical, that he can practice them in the big stage with big players and egos.

I still hope he comes good.

But i dont give a shit if the guy comes good by the time we miss champions league places this season. If he misses Top 4, then even the guys on here that consider him a managerial god the day he signed with us, should realise ;.....our club is bigger than that, and we cannot afford to go out of the CL, like liverpool,,,,,never knowing if youll ever make it back.

[Hd123 5]

I'm pretty confident that Romeu was an AVB buy. Not to be confused with Lukaku, who I believe was an Abramovic/Club/Ancelotti signing.

[The Rising Sun 711]

'Ramires has a slight knock but should be okay for the game. It will be an interesting match between two title challengers and we need a result.' AVB on totenham

Are you Delusional???

[Tomo 21,751]

Look we knew what we were getting when we appointed AVB.

The best case was the Porto momentum carried on, worst case is not far off what has happened so far but even with that (long term atleast) things are not too bad.

Yes yesterday was disapointing but if were honest it is the first time we have really chucked away stupid points this season. Arsenal, Liverpool and United is hardly chucking away points as there big matches, Stoke away likewise and QPR we were robbed but still outplayed the R's with 2 less men.

Sometimes we just need to take a step back and think hold on a minute this time last year we would have bitten gods hand off for a player of the class of Juan Mata, we would have also bitten gods hand off for Danny Sturridge to get a proper chance and Kaloudanelka getting dropped and having their game time at a bare minimum. Hand on heart if those 3 situation's were offered to you this time last year would you have complained?

If we were going into this season with the squad at the peak of their powers off the back of a treble season (IE Rafa at Inter) then yes AVB will deserve all the stick we could throw at him but in reality that is not the case AVB took over a in general well fed squad of internatinal "superstars" and has to do 3 years worth of rebuilding. Yes despite the double in 2009/2010 i do believe the rebuilding process should have started after Moscow or at the very least the year later (Hiddink said just as much).

We just have to sit tight and see how this evolves, if we have shown no sign's of progression in 2 years then lets doubt AVB but right now im just happy to see a bit of energy, pace and creativity in the side (in comparision to last season).

[didierforever 7,349]

really poor performance, from the players and avb. i dont think bringing kalou on was a mistake or either bringin mikel on. he saw that romeu was not being needed as much and so removed him and put in a 4-2-3-1 which did make us a little more threating than the first half. then as far as mikel's sub is concerned, i think he got that right too, he reverted to 4-3-3 after being 1-0 up but removin sturridge was a mistake. anyways i dont think avb should be the only one to take blame. the players were absolutely pathetic. there was no passion, no tempo, no aggression. even in the lst 4 mins wigan were looking for the win not us. iva was uncharacteristically bad, cole(inspite of the assist),raul, cech and drogba were just pathetic. mata had on off day and that was what hurt us most. he is the heart and backbone of our attacks and if he has an off day this is what will happen. i just hope the players turn up for the tottenham match. come on chelsea...

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Some of the posts on here are shameful.

Granted its a poor result following a disappointing performance, but frankly I'm embarrassed to call myself a Chelsea fan when I read comments like I've seen this morning. There are some very spoilt fans on this forum! I'm all for everyone having their own opinions don't get me wrong, but some of these AVB-out posts are comedy gold Pathetic.

[The Rising Sun 711]

Our performance was Pathetic Yesterday. There are few AVB out fans around.

The way i see it, the manager has to win me over. I still support him in the form of "hope"...

He does have promise.

But yesterday against wigan. WIGAN. really bad after what we all thought was the turning point. and yes. if we did not concede, even though we all would criticise a bit, 3 [points in the bag.

But thats not the case. I blame our subs. really really bad ones.

Then when AVB came up and said that the totenham match is between 2 title challengers.... i Just hope he said that so that our players are still motivated.

If he really thinks we are title challengers then OMG.

Otherwise i would have accepted 7 points out of 9 in the newcastle city and wigan games. However after beating City, my expectations changed to 9 out of 9.

Still yet, if arsenal beat City we are still on track with only 6 points seperating us and them.

If they win however, 9 points becomes too much.

I Love Chelsea. I need Chelsea not to put in performances like they did yesterday to have better weekends and the week that follows.

Weird thing is that there was really nothing wrong with tactics before the subs. They somehow weren't motivated enough for some reason. Everyone was off their game?

We really need to beat totenham to show the world and the fans we are not Streaky.

And.... Romeu to play instead of Mikel forever. Mikel is not a good sub. Either you start him or not at all.

[francozola 2,040]

Purposely stayed away from the forums for 24 hours because I was in no mood to read the majority of views that I knew were going to be posted here. VERY frustrating game. The 2nd half has been discussed enough. I was more concerned with our first half because we were absolutely dire.

Wigan were practically picking the ball up off the ground and giving it to us and yet we'd put a shiny fucking bow on it and give it back.

Lampard & Meireles. Jesus Christ. The worst two performances of the season so far.

Everyone was off their game. Complete lack of desire. So now we're back to that same old shit that we were witnessing before the Newcastle game. Most of these twats need to go and hungry players that want to win need to play. McEachran should have played yesterday. Without Ramires, Meireles should have been the one providing some energy and zip to the team but he was atrocious. Josh would have been a bright spark in that first half. After watching how we played without Ramires, I've changed my opinion on who's been our player of the season so far. He brings so much to the team and if only his touch & control was better, he'd be unreal.

Malouda What is this guy doing that gets manager after manager to pick him (whether it be in a starting XI or as a sub). He offers nothing. And actually is a liability i.e. backpass to JT against Arsenal

[Tomo 21,751]

Lampard & Meireles. Jesus Christ. The worst two performances of the season so far.

The season? granted both were poor yesterday but i think Meireles has been in general very good when called upon and Lampard had a good couple of months.

[Melanicus 5,208]

Do you know why both, Lampard and Meireles were playing in midfield yesterday?

AVB watched Arsenal v Wigan game and he noticed that Wigan has a lot of problems, with shots from the distance. Lampard, Meireles, Essien and Alex are probably our best long-shot takers, so that's why he played Lampard and Meireles.

[Henrique 9,133]

Do you know why both, Lampard and Meireles were playing in midfield yesterday?

AVB watched Arsenal v Wigan game and he noticed that Wigan has a lot of problems, with shots from the distance. Lampard, Meireles, Essien and Alex are probably our best long-shot takers, so that's why he played Lampard and Meireles.

Actually he played Meireles and Lampard because with our current squad this was all he could do, because we only have Ramires, Lampard and Meireles, with the brazilian out of course he would play both yesterday.

As simple as that. We do need more players in next window.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Actually he played Meireles and Lampard because with our current squad this was all he could do, because we only have Ramires, Lampard and Meireles, with the brazilian out of course he would play both yesterday.

As simple as that. We do need more players in next window.

I don't know what's up with me at the minute but I find myself agreeing with Henrique once again. Our squad is too small! We are relying on the same five defenders (Bosingwa, Terry, Ivanovic, Luiz and Cole), four midfielders (Oriol, Ramires, Lampard and Meireles) and three forwards (Drogba, Mata and Sturridge) in every game, and we have precious few options on the bench.