Closed Chelsea 2-3 Man City

[communicate 2,703]

I have no problem losing the game. City looked impressive, 3-4-1-2 with deadly combination of tevez and aguero.

For us,

- I like our front 4, it looks like ramires havs to play to give protection to our fullback.

- Mike is awful with the ball as usual

[blue_swaggin_96 96]

So if terry keeps having those issues with bigger oppositions (pace players) can we replace him cahill?

cole could be good leader if terry is not ther

[Eluwande Yomi 15]

Right my views on the game:

• Firstly Torres - love him or hate him, he is going to be our main striker, at least to start with, this season and we have to support him and hope he fires. Today was a good sign, against good opposition. His goal showed his predatory instincts, the type of chances we need him to put away when we're struggling to impose on teams. I was just as impressed by his second half performance. He chased down everything, and the times when we did attack he looked sharp running at their defence. His strength in holding up the ball and laying off for Sturridge was also crucial in the build up to Bertrand's goal. The signs are positive and it is important for him to hit the ground running.
  
• Ivanovic's tackle was a red card. These things happen, it was a stupid tackle but we move on. I was more annoyed that the referee bottled a potential decision with Savic, although it was in good spirits towards the end that he decided to show leniency for not giving Ramires a second yellow.
  
• Following on from the red card, we could have shut up shop á la Barcelona and attempted to see the game out. However RDM was quite right in sticking to his guns and keeping us set up to still attack City. Yes it would have been nice to win the trophy but it's not high on the list of importance. I think it was more important to give Mata and Torres a good run out each, and allow Hazard to acclimatise to an English game before Wigan next week. Keeping ourselves open was our downfall but I fully agree with RDM's decision to not 'park the bus'.
  
• Hazard looked good without pulling up trees. Forget his slip when trying to backheel (Aguero missed a sitter remember), he looked sharp and caused Savic problems. He was a lot more disciplined playing wide left today and showed a tenacity I hadn't yet seen in his play. He will be a big player for us, make no mistake.
  
• For me our biggest problem could be Terry. Whilst we won't be playing a highline like AVB, we also want to be closing up the space behind the pivot and pushing teams back. Terry's pace has become near enough non existant now and he pulls the defence back so deep. There were also times today he committed himself like David Luiz but without the pace to recover. His clearance for the first goal was poor because he was flat footed when the cross arrived, and Tevez strolled past him for the second. I love Terry, he's a club legend and still has a part to play, but if he remains an undisputed first choice it could cost us. The ironic thing is that a sizeable ban for Terry may actually play into our favour long term that it gives Cahill and Luiz the chance to establish a first choice partnership.
  
• Bertrand will play a big part this season and in the future of our team. We finally have a player I feel comfortable filling in for Cole.
  
• Ramires continues to frustrate me in terms of not being able to pinpoint a spot in the side that should be his. His distribution was poor today, but his stamina, and ability to both break up play and endlessly press teams is vital in pressurising teams when we don't have the ball. He has also developed a knack of producing a big moment in games even when not playing well - His assist for the Torres goal was excellent and came out of nothing. The problem is that there are deficiencies to his game which go against him in certain positions. Should he be number 1 choice in a certain position, or is he yet another vital squad player who's versatility to fill in anywhere down the right and centrally is priceless?
  
• In the second half Mata played on the right, and Hazard the left. When fully available and with 11 players on the pitch this is where the two should operate to allow Oscar to play in the centre of the '3'. I do however suspect him to play right and Mata central.
  

I most certainly agree!

Ivanovic's tacke was pretty not the wisest thing.

Torres IS our main striker. He proved that.

My doubts about Terry- Luiz continue to increase.

[Dylan_91 90]

i think were in need of a decent dm. Hopefully witsel or tiote but for some reason rdm believes lampard and mikel are a good enough cm partnership when theyre clearly not. cant remember the last game we actually controlled the match.

[Sami Ajina 1]

Am i the only one to think that Luiz was horrible ?

When you see the differences between Kompany and Luiz...

[chelsealukas23 79]

Mikel and his lost balls in danger space is very danger for us !!! I'd like to see Oriol Romeu on his position.

[Ryan Fong 2,776]

[didierforever 7,349]

i would say not a bad game. ivanovic's tackle was the changing point which gave city the impetus to fight back. luiz's positioning was bad for the 3rd goal. after being a man down we would normally have parked the bus with a 1 goal lead but for some reason we seemed reluctant to do.

but still it was good to see the blue character that was still pretty evident.

[Liquidator 5,176]

Everyone jizzing over City now..

SAYS YOU! The last few months you were non-stop telling us how they will rule English football for the next 10 years or whatever. I wouldn't say that people are crazy about City either- most people on this forum have accepted that they played better than us, we were poor and they deserved to win. I wouldn't say giving praise to them on a one-off occasion like this is jizzing over them in the same way that you continuously told us on the English football thread that nobody will be able to stop them for the next 10 years.

Oh and the comment on how you now hate Ivanovic was plain childish. Throwing your toys out the pram because we lost a friendly because of him yet he has scored vital goals and made vital tackles for us on several occasions. In fact the last few seasons he has been one of our most consistent and best players and how he has not won our player of the season award is beyond me. Essien has been consistently bad for over a year but one bad tackle from Ivanovic and you say that he is now 'a bigger pile of shit' or whatever you called him than Essien.

[Santiago. 1,500]

Hazard-------------------Mata

-------Oscar----Ramires------

------------Romeu--------------

[DDA 9,939]

Am i the only one to think that Luiz is horrible ?

When you the differences between Kompany and Luiz...

He didn't have a great game today to be honest... He's trying to win everything again when instead he should just usher the attacker out wide. He has a lot of skill for a CB and he is pacey with strength.... Hopefully someone will remind him to not rush into every challenge again. Make no mistake about it though.... he was immense for us at the end of last season, especially in our cup runs!

[Justin_3d 1,140]

Hazard-------------------Mata

-------Oscar----Ramires------

------------Romeu--------------

Half way through the season, or next season.

Don't see Lampard being drop just yet.

[The Big Drog 1,110]

Mikel and his lost balls in danger space is very danger for us !!! I'd like to see Oriol Romeu on his position.

I'd love to see Romeu in the side. Far more compared and assured on the ball, defensively solid, aggressive, he's an excellent player who warrants a chance.

[xPetrCechx 13,571]

And Some years ago we had the best Defence in europe...

[Sheva. 5,373]

Regarding the players' performance, Mikel was back to usual self. Being slow, sloppy and then got caught on the ball so many times. In the defensive midfielder position that he is playing, he can't be making mistakes like that! Hazard was good, looked lively at times but that one moment where he tried the backheel pass...couldn't help but to laugh! Sorry Eden. On Torres, have seen lots of people praising him for his good work but I thought he was average. Fair enough, he scored a good goal and then try to drive the team forward with his individual runs but then, it got a bit too far. As the game went on, whenever he got the ball, he tried to do all on his own. He always looked to take on 3-4 players at once and when the better option would be to pass and move the team forward!

Torres can never win, when he scores some will say he still didn't play well. When he plays well then "he's a striker, playing well does not matter, he just has to score"

Anyway glad he scored, he needed it, now has to just try to build on that.

On the game, the ref was fucking annoying from the first minute. Hazard was fouled a couple times and nothing, De jong and co tried to injure people and nothing, even that mofo Savic escaped red smh.

And like some said, there are positives to take from this. I believe we will be better with someone more technically gifted playing on the right - but the double pivot concerns me.

[chelsealukas23 79]

I'd love to see Romeu in the side. Far more compared and assured on the ball, defensively solid, aggressive, he's an excellent player who warrants a chance.

I really agree with you.

[Jase 43,479]

Torres can never win, when he scores some will say he still didn't play well. When he plays well then "he's a striker, playing well does not matter, he just has to score"

Torres doesn't help himself by trying to do silly things at times. Get his intentions but it wasn't quite ideal in the circumstances back then.

[chelsealukas23 79]

I think Ivan isn't technical player and we need surer player on the ball maybe Hutch or Todd Kane.

[xPetrCechx 13,571]

I think Ivan isn't technical player and we need surer player on the ball maybe Hutch or Todd Kane.

Or Azpi.

Another points:

* Ramires isn't a RB and RDM did a mistake to put him there.

* Luiz Still can't understand that he is a CB and not a midfielder. stupid decision and tackels.

[termninja 5,290]

We had it coming...when you can't beat MLS team, Milan's reserves and Brighton with a strong 11 good luck beating Champions of England with a man less.

Not a word to say on Ivanovic, completely idiotic tackle with 2 legs, it was a fair decision and I'm not really sure why he did it...

I am still not completely sure what's the true problem with our defense, but I wouldn't blame in on the back 4 but more on the 2 deep midfielders. We need to pass way better and to be running more of the ball. Mikel had a bad game and for me doesn't deserve a shot against Wigan.

Nice to see Torres in a good position for once and see him act as a striker. When Danny and Ryan were put on we looked much more determined, couldn't escape the feeling that Mata, Hazard and Torres were just to lazy to chase the ball.

I'm really happy for Bertrand for scoring that goal, he deserved it and got us back into the game and probably prevented the humiliation. Imagine that, European Champions losing to Champions of England 4-1 or something like that? Ouch.

Let's learn from mistakes and move on, this match wasn't that important though I would've been really happy if we won it. I will simply admit it, Manchester City have a better squad then us and a manager that has been there for a lot more then 6 months.