Closed Chelsea 1 - 0 Stoke City

[Shaan 263]

I never thought my first post will be about how poor torres performnce was considering I was one of his big fan , his body lnguge clearly shows he is lacking motivation,

pls sturrige for nxt matches...

[Cosmin 2,484]

Look - Cosmic was a joke - chill - no offence meant - YouTube it, you'll see what I mean - also Rodney smoked 'Astro-turf'

I didn't know about that. I take back what I said.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

But Stoke is 1 GK - 9 Defenders and Crouch...

How else where we supposed to beat them?

Not critiising you - just trying to understand - how would you have approached it differently? Stoke would have stayed narrow, regardless of our width, and then we just have the ball out wide and it still has to come infield as we have no threat in the air up front?

Teams don't stay narrow no matter what. If you have a winger, it's not like teams are going to just let them get the ball and pass into the box without marking them. Creating width is about spreading the defence and creating lanes for your players to be able to get through. You need width in every single match, no matter who you are playing. It's about creating space. I'm not criticizing RDM, because he has to rest players and he was probably curious to see what the Hazard, Oscar, and Mata looked like together (and he took off Hazard when he needed to), but the result was not unpredictable. Ramires simply can't make outlet passes because he's not a good enough passer and we were not able to create any space because we were completely bunched into a small area. Where was he supposed to make his runs?

[Sheva. 5,373]

Basically I was watching a game without thinking, "this is the starting XI I want so it's going to be great". We had the majority of possession but we barely threatened goal. We had 4 shots on target. Yes, we prevented Stoke from scoring, but Stoke is probably the worst offensive away team in the Premier league. (11 goals in 19 games last season) and they could easily have scored a couple of goals. This side was actually our least balanced all season. We played with three #10s and 2 defensive midfielders, we had nobody to switch play, no creativity from midfield and nobody going wide. It wasn't until Moses came on, that we were able to open up the game. Before that, we were having all this possession that went nowhere that ended up with us taking long-distance shots. I would be very surprised if we see this formation again anytime soon.

This lineup was probably the best we have played all season, you're talking about balance but the only balance RDM knows is to play Ramires on the right and that would only have made it worse.

A lot of times in that first half we were 1 failed pass from having a chance on goal, but it didn't happen. This 3 players are only playing with each other for the first time against 10 defenders, every chance things will improve.

[Muzchap 8,966]

I didn't know about that. I take back what I said.

Yeah sorry Man - was excited and didn't realise you might not have understood this.

Keep forgetting what a multi-cultural board this is

How is Romania BTW - thinking of going there for a short break - my dentist in England tells me it's great...

[Naked Mole Rat 437]

It was nice to see di Matteo make some big changes after a series of disappointing results, and we were a lot better today with Oscar, Mata and Hazard all on the pitch at the same time. One thing we seemed to lack was width, and I guess that's where Moses or Marin comes in. Also, I thought Ramires played very well in the double pivot today. Even though he had a couple sloppy passes and first touches, he provided our defense so much protection with his pace, which we've always lacked in the middle of the park with both Mikel and Lampard playing there. Overall, we played fairly well and got just what we needed, so I'm not going to complain too much, but our attackers should take more shots.

[Muzchap 8,966]

Teams don't stay narrow no matter what. If you have a winger, it's not like teams are going to just let them get the ball and pass into the box without marking them. Creating width is about spreading the defence and creating lanes for your players to be able to get through. You need width in every single match, no matter who you are playing. It's about creating space. I'm not criticizing RDM, because he has to rest players and he was probably curious to see what the Hazard, Oscar, and Mata looked like together (and he took off Hazard when he needed to), but the result was not unpredictable. Ramires simply can't make outlet passes because he's not a good enough passer and we were not able to create any space because we were completely bunched into a small area. Where was he supposed to make his runs?

Yeah but how would you have changed it?

Marin is not fit, Studge is not fit - Moses was the only option and he did well when he came on?

We are light in Midfield options.

Ok - so only 4 shots - but as Sheva said - there were lots of last gasp tackles by Stoke that prevented us being clean through on numerous occassions...

I honestly thought this team looked better than when Lampard starts and Ramires is on the wing.

Ramires is better next to Mikel...

[DONI. 1,291]

Crouch and Luiz face :D

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

This lineup was probably the best we have played all season, you're talking about balance but the only balance RDM knows is to play Ramires on the right and that would only have made it worse.

A lot of times in that first half we were 1 failed pass from having a chance on goal, but it didn't happen. This 3 players are only playing with each other for the first time against 10 defenders, every chance things will improve.

The best we played all year? We barely squeaked a 1-0 win at home against Stoke and we barely even created any good chances. We've played 5 matches in the Premier League and this was our 2nd worst result. The conformation bias here is ridiculous.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

Yeah but how would you have changed it?

Marin is not fit, Studge is not fit - Moses was the only option and he did well when he came on?

We are light in Midfield options.

Ok - so only 4 shots - but as Sheva said - there were lots of last gasp tackles by Stoke that prevented us being clean through on numerous occassions...

I honestly thought this team looked better than when Lampard starts and Ramires is on the wing.

Ramires is better next to Mikel...

No, he isn't. He's awful there. He's very good defensively, but he can't make outlet passes at all so Oscar and Mata had to drop way back to pick up the ball. He can't hit long balls, he doesn't have vision to create openings. I''m not saying that I would necessarily have started with a different lineup, just this "oh my god, our lineup was so amazing" stuff is absurd. There were very serious issues which it created that you are pretending don't exist. And being one tackle away from scoring a goal is like being one bullet away from winning at Russian Roulette.

[chelsea_4_eva 1,182]

haha this pic is hilarious! luiz looks like a jumping ninja and that face! haha

[Jase 43,479]

It was extremely hilarious to see the Stoke players going all pussy because of a robust challenge at the end. Ironic.

[Sheva. 5,373]

The best we played all year? We barely squeaked a 1-0 win at home against Stoke and we barely even created any good chances. We've played 5 matches in the Premier League and this was our 2nd worst result. The conformation bias here is ridiculous.

There's nothing like a "bad result" when you win. A win is a win whether it's 7-0 or 1-0.

And i didn't say it was the best we played all year, i said the lineup was. And the performance actually was up there with any we have produced this season.

Not many defensive lapses, solid double pivot and a lot of the ball.

[Hutcho 8,443]

we wasn't amazing but we got there in the end. Danny needs to get fit fast, Oscar Mata and hazard were making make great plays getting in great positions but it was like he wasn't there which led us to trying to do too much. but as i am sure many have said all it says on the scoresheet is 1-0.

man of the match for me is between Oscar and ashley cole and not just for the goal but he was winning the ball back all day.

was on the train back with a load of stoke fans which was a good bit of banter. roll on the next game.

up the chelsea! ktbffh!!

[The Rising Sun 711]

What a Brilliant performance from our boys!! Loved the passing and movement throughout the 90.

And Mikel!! Wow! He can be so good both defensively and offensively if he has the right DP partner.

Our best DP has been founf today. Mikel and Ramires worked so well. We could utilise ramires' pace and defensive abilities, while that allowed mikel to express himself and go forward so gracefully.

I really hope RDM continues with this pairing. Saying that, i also dont want lampard NOT to play. but Ramires and Mikel were Outstanding today, they compliment each other and looked RIGHT, Lamps and Mikel look wrong. It doesnt work as well.

WE ARE PROGRESSING.....Yay! RDM has balls....yay!!! only got good things to say today.

[Muzchap 8,966]

No, he isn't. He's awful there. He's very good defensively, but he can't make outlet passes at all so Oscar and Mata had to drop way back to pick up the ball. He can't hit long balls, he doesn't have vision to create openings. I''m not saying that I would necessarily have started with a different lineup, just this "oh my god, our lineup was so amazing" stuff is absurd. There were very serious issues which it created that you are pretending don't exist. And being one tackle away from scoring a goal is like being one bullet away from winning at Russian Roulette.

Hey - I never said this was perfect!

What I said is - "This is BETTER than Lampard + Mikel"

I agree, Ramy is NOT PERFECT for this role - but it's an improvement over what we had - so I'm pleased - as long as he wasn't on RW...

Hmm - I'm encouraged by the one pass from perfection stuff - it'll happen - we just need more playing time with the new players, then it will be immense...

[edetarod 2,155]

Mata has taken off

Oscar was the only one looking for a goal it seemed, every time he was infront of goal he wanted to shoot but got blocked by some defender

Moses brings so much more to our attacking play

Ramires didn't bother me as much as the previous games

things we need to work on:

players need to drop deep and ask for the ball to set up an attack, instead of Cech/Luiz hoofing the ball far away to no one

Torres must never play again, not just at Chelsea but football in general

[Ollie 4,400]

I thought it was our best performance if i'm honest. We attacked well and were very unlucky many times. We kept going and i dunno why Pulis is so pissed off, he should be happy at losing 1-0 because in the 2nd half, they were battered. They had a chance or 2, it happens but we played well. Some of our play and touches were sublime. Anyone pissed off, just go n support Barcelona, your life will be easy.

[Milan 17,958]

I loved how Terry came onto the pitch and immediately acted like a true leader and captain.

[Hutcho 8,443]

and the difference i rambo was amazing compared to when he was at right wing.

rambo and mikel is definitely the way forward with super frank as a super sub. we were much solid in midfield and compared to how we played against qpr we were able to keep hold of the ball which was a big difference.