Closed Chelsea 2-3 Man City

[robsblubot 3,502]

Don't know what Luiz has to do (aside from playing superbly in the CL last season) to win some pundits.

Defenders cannot do much if their midfield cannot protect them or keep possession. When Ramires moved to RB position, City won the midfield and the game.

BTW, Ivanovic does not excel in any position in my opinion (know he's got many fans here). He's a good player, but not really a top defender of right-back.

BTW2, Torres had a great game!

[Rambo 1,729]

It did concern me how uncomfortable we looked with the ball going forward. We just need that one solid performance to get everyone on track.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

We actually did much better than I thought we would considering it was the same team, bar Hazard, that finished 6th last season.

[RhonddaBlue88 14]

I actually thought we played a decent game we nullified most attacks city had going forward before ivanovic got sent off! Mikel though was dreadfull!!! Gave the ball away far too many times and never looked comfortable at all!

I was in the hole end ! And the whole stand was slating Mikel! How does bobby not see what everyone else does? Meireles would of been a far better choice to play alongside lamps!

I thought we broke well in the 1st half and hazard looked a handful! Torres looked sharp too some good signs there! Just need to keep our discipline and keep on doing what we are doing .

We have to remember we were playing man city who were 25 points ahead of us last season and a full of confidence after winning the league and played for 50minutes with 10 men and only lost 3-2! That's not bad in my eyes on another day could very easily of gone our way!

[Blu4Lyf 46]

Ridiculous? Very little evidence?

Let's see 2011-12 loopsided (4 goals+ difference) scores in the almighty EPL:

Arsenal-Blackburn 7-1

Blackburn-Man City 0-4

Bolton-Chelsea 1-5

Bolton-Man Utd 0-5

Bolton-Stoke 5-0

Chelsea-QPR 6-1

Everton-Fulham 4-0

Everton-Sunderland 4-0

Fulham-Man Utd 0-5

Fulham-QPR 6-0

Fulham-Wolves 5-0

Man City-Norwich 5-1

Man City-Swansea 4-0

Man City-West Brom 4-0

Man Utd-Arsenal 8-2

Man Utd-Aston Villa 4-0

Man Utd-Man City 1-6

Man Utd-Wigan 5-0

Norwich-Man City 1-6

QPR-Bolton 0-4

Sunderland-Stoke 4-0

Tottenham-Liverpool 4-0

Tottenham-Man Utd 1-5

Tottenham-Newcastle 5-0

West Brom-Sunderland 4-0

Wigan-Arsenal 0-4

Wigan-Newcastle 4-0

Wolves-Man Utd 0-5

Wolves-West Brom 1-5

La Liga has a lot of loopsided results too. Probably a lot more since Barcelona and Real Madrid are far too dominant than any other side in the world while there are a few Valencia, Atl Madrid and some other random teams with 4 goal margin wins.

Serie A:

Catania-Genoa 4-0

Fiorentina-Juventus 0-5

Inter-Parma 5-0

Juventus-Roma 4-0

Milan-Catania 4-0

Milan-Chievo 4-0

Napoli-Genoa 6-1

Novara-Juventus 0-4

Palermo-Lazio 5-1

Palermo-Milan 0-4

Roma-Cesena 5-1

Roma-Inter 4-0

Siena-Lazio 4-0

29 for EPL, 13 for Serie A. La Liga has 38. Excluding Barcelona and Real Madrid results, it's 17. Extremely top heavy league, but not as awkward as EPL. EPL without Manchester teams is 16 but it's not as top heavy as La Liga. Serie A without top two clubs goes to just 7...

Thats a ridiclouis point of view, with very little evidence to back it up. With Newcastle, Spurs, Liverpool and others all far better then they have been for the past few seasons, If anything the league got stronger, which is why we saw top teams losing to the lower ones.

United are a great side, still are. Valencia is a world class right winger, and they have Nani and Young on the other. Scholes, Carrick, Giggs, Fletcher (before his illness) and others gave them great balance in the middle, and a solid pairing. Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Jones and Smalling are all good defenders, and De Gea came up with the goods after Christmas. Not to mention Rooney and Hernandez upfront, with the latter having a quiet season.

Quote me on this now, It'll be either City, United or maybe both contesting the Champions League final this year, without a doubt.

?

[Kisho 33]

Just watched the game again and have to say terry and mikel were absolutely terrible. Lamps played ok but not upto standard. We need to change the pivot asap, slow and no creativity and defending horribly, maybe bison and lamps or bison and ramires or ramires and romeu, we got options. I would love to see ramires and luiz or luiz and romeu in the pivot. Ramires on .rw not working.

[RhonddaBlue88 14]

Was just wondering if there were any loyalty points given for the community shield game? random but just thought id ask

[RhonddaBlue88 14]

Just watched the game again and have to say terry and mikel were absolutely terrible. Lamps played ok but not upto standard. We need to change the pivot asap, slow and no creativity and defending horribly, maybe bison and lamps or bison and ramires or ramires and romeu, we got options. I would love to see ramires and luiz or luiz and romeu in the pivot. Ramires on .rw not working.

I agree with you terry and mikel were terrible would also like to see romeu given a chance again! he realy impressed when he had his chance last season and was only when di matteo took charge when he stopped playing again! i think essiens time is up to be honest as much as i love him! need to cut our losses and give romeu a chance and even josh!

[Kisho 33]

josh and romeu in pivot, if josh dont get loaned which i think he should, in the carling cup, would be awesome to see

[Blue Armour 4,278]

Don't know what Luiz has to do (aside from playing superbly in the CL last season) to win some pundits.

Defenders cannot do much if their midfield cannot protect them or keep possession. When Ramires moved to RB position, City won the midfield and the game.

BTW, Ivanovic does not excel in any position in my opinion (know he's got many fans here). He's a good player, but not really a top defender of right-back.

BTW2, Torres had a great game!

In all honestly he did not have a good game against city, losing out to more than one attacker (like Nasri for their third goal).

But am not too worried. He can easily play a lot better than how he did that day.

[robsblubot 3,502]

In all honestly he did not have a good game against city, losing out to more than one attacker (like Nasri for their third goal).

But am not too worried. He can easily play a lot better than how he did that day.

Agreed (he did not play that well). Others are saying Terry was worse. When both of your (excellent) CBs have a bad day at the office, you should be looking elsewhere for defensive problems (midfield?). David and Terry were exposed to excellent forwarders, sometimes having to chase them down a corner (esp Luiz).

I'm not too worried either, since these issues will be worked out soon. This is the time to improve on teamwork, especially with the arrival of new signings.