The Roberto Di Matteo Thread

[Jype 6,398]

It always sucks to lose a game, but if I was given the choice of either winning the Super Cup or being gifted a win over a PL rival in a tough match, I would choose the league points any day. Maybe the points amount to fuck all come end of the season, but at this early stage every point matters more than the Super Cup.

[Spike 12,049]

All this back and forth argueing is making me hungry. Maybe someone should make me a sandwhich.

All I know is that Robbie D, looks like an alien and for that I salute him.

[Hutcho 8,443]

to the people who say: "atleast it happened in the super cup instead of the PL..."

getting humiliated on European stage with the world watching and losing out on a European cup is less important than a PL game, accourding to you...

nobody will remember the PL game in the future...

and it's not even about that, we have to try and win every game, something we didn't do on Friday.

I totallly agree with the last line... I disagree with the first bit... We lose in the premier league its on the backpage of newspapers first up on skysports news etc... We lost the super cup and it wasn't... Also the premier league games get far more european coverage than the premier league games. In terms of importance the premier legue games have always been more important. Perhaps the view for many in england is different for the rest of the world and i cannot speak for everyone in england and not for the rest of the world... But as you saif the most important thing is we try and win every game, be it the community shield or the champions league and we underperformed...

[Laylabelle 9,305]

If we lost by that score to any of the top 4 or any other league team for that matter it will be remembered and usually is remembered till come the end of the season.Whereas things like the Super Cup/Community Shield results and so forth are quickly forgotten except by the teams who took part.Yes we may have played utter shite and annoying as it is...best team won.Now time to move on quickly and put this behind us and get things right.Whats done is done...

[Gily 37]

It's funny how people are surprised about this, winning the CL was a fluke just like Greece in 2004.

Chelsea didn't beat the other teams, the other teams failed to beat Chelsea.

RDM has never had a gameplan, it couldn't be any more obvious for you. The players are just running around not knowing their spot, yea that might work with experienced players like you had last year but when you're building a new team they don't have these automatisms, you need someone with a strong grip and clear vision.

[Justin_3d 1,140]

I'm not trying to be a cunt, but everyone on this thread getting emotional and acting as if they want to commit suicide just because some of us like to voice our opinion on Di Matteo really need to STFU.

Also, I'd suggest no one else brings up "us fans don't deserve this club etc." because I'm positive that'll lead to some arguments regarding who 'real fans' are etc. by certain posters.

On-topic though -

I've met RDM 3 times.

Twice as a player, Once when he was assistant manager with us last season.

All I can say is; he's one of the nicest people I've ever met. Not just in football, but life in general.

There lies the problem though, in my opinion.

He honestly seems a bit like a pushover. He's quiet, looks quite 'scared' around the players, and doesn't take full command it would seem. (Highlighted well last season during the home game vs. Napoli where he sort of receded into himself and quietened down his orders from the touchline when Terry stood up to give his orders.)

Sir Alex Ferguson, Mourinho, Guardiola - They all create a family feel at their clubs; but you wouldn't really describe any of them as 'one of the nicest people I've ever met' or 'seen', I'm sure.

Mourinho = Arrogant & Cocky.

Ferguson = Rude, cry-baby at times, & just a bit of a cock.

Guardiola = Thinks he and his team are better than everyone.

Di Matteo could make a fine manager; he's already a decent tactician.

But I just don't think his man management skills, which we slated AVB for, are up to scratch yet.

I feel he's not ready to lead a club like ours forward.

We need someone who'll stand up to the players, and perhaps more importantly, to the board.

Of course he played a part in our Champions League triumph, but it seems like it was more about telling the players "Do what you want to get the win tonight. Play your defensive ways like you wanted under AVB."

This was Drogba's last run with us. RDM didn't rub some magic lotion on our players to make them play well in the final and semi's.

It was the player hunger throughout the team.

Who do I think is right to lead this team forward?

Mourinho.

Do I think we'll ever get him back? No.

He's a flirt. He 'loves' every club he manages, but really, I don't see that being quite the case.

Who I think realistically we could bring in to take us forward? I have absolutely no idea unfortunately.

P.S. - If you want to respond to this, due so maturely. I don't want any "FAKE FAN!!!!!! XXXXX" etc. from people.

Just because you're not blinded by what you love (Chelsea Football Club), all that's involved with that love and have no problem with voicing strong opinions regarding negatives, does not make one a 'fake fan'.

I only have one question.

Are you a Manchester City fan?

Cause in the Deadline Day thread you wrote:

I can't wait to see how Javi performs for us this season! I hope he and Rodwell build chemistry quickly!

Followed by:

Oh. This isn't the Manchester City forum . . .

sorry guys.

[Justin_3d 1,140]

This shit is getting annoying. Showing frustration does not make you 'plastic'. Stating facts and criticising players where criticism is due does not make you 'plastic'. Wanting the team to do better and play with some more pride does not make you 'plastic'. Everyone who does that still wakes up the next morning as a Chelsea fan. They still watch the next game as a Chelsea fan. You and many others on this forum need to stop with this bullshit opinion. I don't know why you do it, perhaps it gives you a false sense of superiority. Does it make you feel better about yourself?

This is coming from the guy that says those that criticize Torres are haters...

[The Skipper 20,593]

I haven't written him off, he did an amazing thing last season. Hopefully he will pull something out of the bag, but i think we definitely need new midfielders for the double pivot.

Nah I know you didn't, it was more of a general statement to this thread than anything.

[Jype 6,398]

I only have one question.

Are you a Manchester City fan?

Cause in the Deadline Day thread you wrote:

Followed by:

I believe he was trying to be sarcastic. Not funny though, I give you that.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

This shit is getting annoying. Showing frustration does not make you 'plastic'. Stating facts and criticising players where criticism is due does not make you 'plastic'. Wanting the team to do better and play with some more pride does not make you 'plastic'. Everyone who does that still wakes up the next morning as a Chelsea fan. They still watch the next game as a Chelsea fan. You and many others on this forum need to stop with this bullshit opinion. I don't know why you do it, perhaps it gives you a false sense of superiority. Does it make you feel better about yourself?

This is nonsense. You don't criticize players because they are due criticism, you have a few players you don't like and you criticize them and only them. It's Lampard and Mikel (or whoever else you decide to blame) who are at the root of all evil and you will ignore everything else. Luiz was atrocious? Well, must have been Lampard and Mike's fault. Torres can't score? Lampard and Mikel aren't moving the ball well enough for him. People call this sort of POV plastic because it's not a real attempt to understand what's wrong at Chelsea, it's just trying to create this black and white dichotomy of good players/bad players whereby the bad players are the ones who have been around for a while and the good ones are the new, exciting players. Oscar had an awful game against Reading? His passing percentage is worst among midfielders on our team? Well, let's just ignore that. He should start! Your criticisms are not factual, they are not based on anything except confirmation bias.

[zolayes 14,489]

I'm not trying to be a cunt, but everyone on this thread getting emotional and acting as if they want to commit suicide just because some of us like to voice our opinion on Di Matteo really need to STFU.

Also, I'd suggest no one else brings up "us fans don't deserve this club etc." because I'm positive that'll lead to some arguments regarding who 'real fans' are etc. by certain posters.

On-topic though -

I've met RDM 3 times.

Twice as a player, Once when he was assistant manager with us last season.

All I can say is; he's one of the nicest people I've ever met. Not just in football, but life in general.

There lies the problem though, in my opinion.

He honestly seems a bit like a pushover. He's quiet, looks quite 'scared' around the players, and doesn't take full command it would seem. (Highlighted well last season during the home game vs. Napoli where he sort of receded into himself and quietened down his orders from the touchline when Terry stood up to give his orders.)

Sir Alex Ferguson, Mourinho, Guardiola - They all create a family feel at their clubs; but you wouldn't really describe any of them as 'one of the nicest people I've ever met' or 'seen', I'm sure.

Mourinho = Arrogant & Cocky.

Ferguson = Rude, cry-baby at times, & just a bit of a cock.

Guardiola = Thinks he and his team are better than everyone.

Di Matteo could make a fine manager; he's already a decent tactician.

But I just don't think his man management skills, which we slated AVB for, are up to scratch yet.

I feel he's not ready to lead a club like ours forward.

We need someone who'll stand up to the players, and perhaps more importantly, to the board.

Of course he played a part in our Champions League triumph, but it seems like it was more about telling the players "Do what you want to get the win tonight. Play your defensive ways like you wanted under AVB."

This was Drogba's last run with us. RDM didn't rub some magic lotion on our players to make them play well in the final and semi's.

It was the player hunger throughout the team.

Who do I think is right to lead this team forward?

Mourinho.

Do I think we'll ever get him back? No.

He's a flirt. He 'loves' every club he manages, but really, I don't see that being quite the case.

Who I think realistically we could bring in to take us forward? I have absolutely no idea unfortunately.

P.S. - If you want to respond to this, due so maturely. I don't want any "FAKE FAN!!!!!! XXXXX" etc. from people.

Just because you're not blinded by what you love (Chelsea Football Club), all that's involved with that love and have no problem with voicing strong opinions regarding negatives, does not make one a 'fake fan'.

some points you have made I agree with ,,,but not all ...

disagree with your premise "that nice guys can't be winners " ,,,But must ask you "why are you so angry?"

[Sheva. 5,373]

Oscar had an awful game against Reading? His passing percentage is worst among midfielders on our team? Well, let's just ignore that. He should start! Your criticisms are not factual, they are not based on anything except confirmation bias.

Yeh he wasn't brilliant when he came on, but he made up for it - for me at least - with his performance against Atletico. He was our best player after he came on, he showed that he cared even though we were down by 3 goals.

And on criticism, i criticize anyone that doesn't play well, and i'm sure it's the case with most on here. But Kojo for example criticizes Mikel no matter what

Lampard has been bashed a lot lately because we haven't been defending well and it starts from the midfielders allowing people to have free runs at our defence, and not putting enough pressure on the opposition.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

Yeh he wasn't brilliant when he came on, but he made up for it - for me at least - with his performance against Atletico. He was our best player after he came on, he showed that he cared even though we were down by 3 goals.

And on criticism, i criticize anyone that doesn't play well, and i'm sure it's the case with most on here. But Kojo for example criticizes Mikel no matter what

Lampard has been bashed a lot lately because we haven't been defending well and it starts from the midfielders allowing people to have free runs at our defence, and not putting enough pressure on the opposition.

I have no problem with someone criticizing Lampard or anyone for having a bad game when he does/they do, it's that the criticisms are A) way too over the top, it's not "Ivanovic is having a poor spell", it's "we need to replace Ivanovic. He's past it". way too focused on Lampard and Mikel no matter what. I watched the Super Cup. Our entire team played badly (with Luiz being the worst of the bunch). To come away from that match with "Lampard needs to be replaced" as the lesson is ridiculous and clearly coming from someone who was interested in seeing that to begin with. C) Way too focused on individual games and even plays.

[Sheva. 5,373]

I watched the Super Cup. Our entire team played badly (with Luiz being the worst of the bunch). To come away from that match with "Lampard needs to be replaced" as the lesson is ridiculous and clearly coming from someone who was interested in seeing that to begin with.

The whole team played badly because before we could even settle into the game we were already down by 2 goals.

Then we had to attack more (and Atletico could just sit back) which opened up more spaces for them to counter.

Now who to blame for the first 2 goals? i'd obviously start with Mikel, Ramires and Lampard for not doing enough to prevent passes going to Falcao*

This was the aspect we did ever so well against Newcastle - with Lampard and Ramires on the bench.

And i know how well both played last season and how good they are, but they were very poor on Friday and deserve to be criticized. And also Ivanovic, who just couldn't stop anyone.

*In contrast, look at how the Atletico midfield did to stop Mata and Hazard having a lot of space to make things happen.

[zolayes 14,489]

I have no problem with someone criticizing Lampard or anyone for having a bad game when he does/they do, it's that the criticisms are A) way too over the top, it's not "Ivanovic is having a poor spell", it's "we need to replace Ivanovic. He's past it". way too focused on Lampard and Mikel no matter what. I watched the Super Cup. Our entire team played badly (with Luiz being the worst of the bunch). To come away from that match with "Lampard needs to be replaced" as the lesson is ridiculous and clearly coming from someone who was interested in seeing that to begin with. C) Way too focused on individual games and even plays.

well said ..but it is always like that after a defeat and even after victories. It seems some feel extreme language is the only way to get their point across. I think Madrid shocked us by the aggresiveness of their start and we never recovered . Very few of our team performed really well .

RDM is NOT stupid he will have learned from this .. better to learn before the CL group .

In the PL we expect teams to come to us with a high tempo in Europe they usually don't .. Friday is a warning that they could.

I am afraid you have to accept knee jerk reactions on match days ...

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Now who to blame for the first 2 goals? i'd obviously start with Mikel, Ramires and Lampard for not doing enough to prevent passes going to Falcao.

I on the other hand blame Luiz's abysmal positioning and (lack of) marking. For both the first two goals his bad positioning played Falcao onside. Not to say that he was the only one who played badly. Iva was playing as winger which left Cahil stranded. Ramires looked lost as did Mata. Lampard and especially Mikel were our best players on the field.

To single out one or two players from that terrible terrible night in Monaco does not make any sense to me.

[Sheva. 5,373]

To single out one or two players from that terrible terrible night in Monaco does not make any sense to me.

The team performed badly as a whole, but still when analyzing the goals we conceded it came down to mistakes from a couple players.

[Muzchap 8,966]

The team performed badly as a whole, but still when analyzing the goals we conceded it came down to mistakes from a couple players.

Agree - but it's consistent mistakes from the 'same' players that are driving me mad.

We have options, let's use them

RDM needs to pick on form, not reputation...

I would drop:

Ramires

Iva

Luiz

Lampard (against better teams, poor lad ain't got th legs anymore)

Until they show some form - if we haven't got players to fill those positions, then we made a mistake during our transfer window...

Just my opinion - plastic or not...