Closed West Ham 3-1 Chelsea

[The only place to be 11,313]

The shit hit the fan.

Give Allardyce credit. Whatever he said at half-time worked and his changes all had impact.

Rafa on the other hand......

[The Skipper 20,593]

And we thought we dont need Lampard and Terry anymore.

Only short sighted people thought that. We need the likes of Terry, Lamps and Cole to stick around if we're going to take this transition seriously.

[Billy. 2,739]

Rafael Benitez is still searching for his first win as interim Chelsea manager after watching his side lose 3-1 away at West Ham United, having led 1-0 at the break.

Former Chelsea man Carlton Cole equalised for the hosts midway through the second half in controversial circumstances, before late goals by Mohamed Diame and Modibo Maiga secured the victory for Sam Allardyce's side.

We are now without a league win since October, and Benitez spoke of the need for improvement.

On today's performance

'It's not easy, in the first half we could have scored two or three and finished the game,' he said. 'It would have been completely different, but we didn't do it.

'In the second half we didn't start well, they got on top of us and we couldn't manage. Their first goal was controversial but it made a big difference.

'After that we weren't in control and gave the ball away too easily. We couldn't win the loose balls and weren't comfortable in possession.

'It's difficult to explain when you play so well in the first half, but you can manage the second half easier if you are 2-0 or 3-0 up.'

On striking the right balance between defence and attack

'The only way to turn it around is to keep working hard in training sessions. We have two games every week and it's not easy. We were a bit better in defence after two clean sheets, and today we conceded three goals but were better in attack. We now have a situation in defence that we need to improve again.

'We are working in defence, trying to improve the transitions and also working on creating more chances. We had the right balance in the first half.'

On our title assault slipping away

'I don't want to think about other teams. Our next game is in the Champions League which we will try to win and then we'll focus on the next one after that. You can't keep looking at the league table every day.'

On winning the supporters around

'We have to improve on the pitch in order for the fans to be happy. We have experienced players who have played at this level for a long time, you can see how the players train and it's clear they want to improve.'

[Blue Traveler 256]

Really? For a man that knows nothing on how to run a football club, he has managed to bring us a lot of trophies. That's a strange one.

This is sad! The amount of money he spent on the club is just a joke in comparison with what we achieved by it! other teams with just the money we spent on sacking managers would build a whole new team! but this is just too heavy for you to understand! and there is lot more you don't understand which i'm too tired for that!

[Land 331]

And we thought we dont need Lampard and Terry anymore.

When we were under AVB people kept saying it was the veterans' fault for our bad form, now people are blaming their absence.

[BlueSunshine 672]

On winning the supporters around

'We have to improve on the pitch in order for the fans to be happy. We have experienced players who have played at this level for a long time, you can see how the players train and it's clear they want to improve.'

Someone should tell this clown that the fans will only be happy if he fucks off. Roman i hope you are happy with this circus.

[Laylabelle 9,300]

This is sad! The amount of money he spent on the club is just a joke in comparison with what we achieved by it! other teams with just the money we spent on sacking managers would build a whole new team! but this is just too heavy for you to understand! and there is lot more you don't understand which i'm too tired for that!

City have spent money and although took a while they eventully geled together and it paid off..difference being he was given time!Maybe not after this season but still lasted a while there so far!

Everytime a new manager comes there is no chance to build a whole new team as somewhere down the line off they go...

[didierforever 7,349]

hahahah.. what a joke we have become... fucking pathetic... so where are all the "benitez is gonna bring a revolution" and "rdm is over his head" people. get them the fuck here... what a disgrace... the european champions are the biggest laughing stock of the town... shame...

[The Skipper 20,593]

thats what i mean.

Thats why a westham CM can come on and boss a game bcos he has a goal threat far better than mikel but we are satisfied with Mikels job to sit in front of the defence and pass to the back four.

Fair enough - but like I said that's Mikel's job, to protect the back four. The only person with the skillset to harass opponents on our team is Ramires - but we need a change in formation for the to happen. A 4-3-3 would be more suitable, as that'll allow Ramires to be free of the shackles he seems to be under in the pivot. If I was Rafa I'd try to stick to a rigid 4-3-3 whilst sticking out Hazard and Mata out wide but let them act as inside forwards, let Oscar/ Lampard and Ramires act as the two offensive midfielders whilst sticking Mikel in a true DM role. Keep it rigid and simple, keep the team sturdy.

Cech

Ivanovic - Luiz - Terry - Cole

Mikel

Ramires - Oscar/Lampard

Mata - Torres - Hazard.

[GermanBlue 82]

The current form isn't a product of the last few weeks, the origin of the problem happened at the beginning of the season. I don't know whose decision it was in the end, but letting Meireles and Essien leave was a big mistake in terms of the transfer politics. It was predictable that Lamps will have some difficulties with injuries, so it was clear that we're going to have depth-problems in the defensive midfield as we're playing in 4 competitions. Rafa mentioned that the team is tired and that's what we see on the pitch. RDM didn't rotate that much, but to me, he tried his best with the squad.

I don't know if Roman is the one to blame. Of course, sacking RDM wasn't a good decision in the end, but he wants the best for the club and is the man behind all the recent success. Without his money, the great moments like that magic night of Munich would've never been possible. And who should've followed RDM then? Rafa wasn't the best man for this job, but he's a Champions League winner and technically a good manager, just not for Chelsea. In this perspective, Roman could've expected that the fans won't accept him as the new team manager, but it's only until the end of the season. After all, Rafa is the one to take responsibility for the team and normally, he's to blame, but what should he do? The team is tired and he has no options. And risky decisions like leaving Mata on the bench against Fulham are immediatley criticized by the fans.

And to talk about the team, too, I think it's just human to be tired when playing in 4 competitions. I don't see the point in accusing Hazard or Mata. Of course, they showed a weak performance and lack a bit of dynamics these weeks, but do you forget these great games at the beginning of the season? No one talked about Hazard not fitting his price tag when he won 4 consecuitve MOTM awards in his first 4 games. All we can do is waiting for the January and hoping that Rafa or who ever is in charge then makes the right decisions and gets the players we need.

[Corner 456]

hahahah.. what a joke we have become... fucking pathetic... so where are all the "benitez is gonna bring a revolution" and "rdm is over his head" people. get them the fuck here... what a disgrace... the european champions are the biggest laughing stock of the town... shame...

I don't know why you're putting that in quotes because I don't recall anyone on here saying that.

[Henrique 9,133]

The general concensus here is that he's superaverage and can only play well when the team is built around him; hence he'll never play well in a top club.

Most will regret this next season when he plays for Manure tho.

well, the same can be said about Hazard.

[xPetrCechx 13,548]

Just pathetic.

[Henrique 9,133]

hahahah.. what a joke we have become... fucking pathetic... so where are all the "benitez is gonna bring a revolution" and "rdm is over his head" people. get them the fuck here... what a disgrace... the european champions are the biggest laughing stock of the town... shame...

who said Benitez would be a revolution? and I have to remember that RDM was the one that left the european champions on the verge of getting out in group stage of UCL, the first european champion to not reach the knockout stage.

[didierforever 7,349]

I don't know why you're putting that in quotes because I don't recall anyone on here saying that.

go to the benitez as chelsea manager thread... u ll find all idiotic quotes about rafa making wonders happen with this squad... u know what he has done wonders... i mean i dont think it was possible to play this bad with these players..

[didierforever 7,349]

who said Benitez would be a revolution? and I have to remember that RDM was the one that left the european champions on the verge of getting out in group stage of UCL, the first european champion to not reach the knockout stage.

u r comparing shakhtar n juve loss to this pathetic shit???

[Blue Traveler 256]

City have spent money and although took a while they eventully geled together and it paid off..difference being he was given time!Maybe not after this season but still lasted a while there so far!

Everytime a new manager comes there is no chance to build a whole new team as somewhere down the line off they go...

City have spent money and although took a while they eventully geled together and it paid off..difference being he was given time!Maybe not after this season but still lasted a while there so far!

Everytime a new manager comes there is no chance to build a whole new team as somewhere down the line off they go...

Why he should give the manager time when didn't gave any to the one who brought the ultimate prize in only 3 month?! why he should do so when he axed the manager which brought us the trophy after half a century? etc...!

[Henrique 9,133]

When we were under AVB people kept saying it was the veterans' fault for our bad form, now people are blaming their absence.

Under AVB, the poor results were not his fault. Under RDM the 4 games without a win in PL, the 3rd place in a UCL group stage with Shaktar on the lead wasnt italian fault.