Closed Chelsea 0-1 QPR

[Hamilton 2,120]

Mata and Hazard should have come on at half time.

Mata, Hazard and Oscar, two of those three should always need to start imo to get a result. Maybe when we have Ba you could rest them more cause we will finally have a striker then..

[Jase 43,479]

  On 03/01/2013 at 09:52, The only place to be said:

That angle seems to show him marginally offside.

Hard to tell really. And maybe, the referee just want to make amends for not sending off Marin earlier.

[22mek22 133]

and Hazard has played 250 minutes in the 4 games before

[Stingray 9,441]

  On 03/01/2013 at 03:18, TorontoChelsea said:

I'm just ruling it out because we simply aren't going to win anything this year. We're out of the CL and we're way back in the PL. Next year, we absolutely could win. And I agree, you can mix youth in there if you do it right and it's only a couple of players at time. It will be very interesting to see next year how players like Lukaku and De Bruyne get worked in.

I'd get Lukaku and KDB back now actually. ST and CM are what we need, we actually have the players already and they are playing well (KDB is a boss right now)...

Especially KDB would improve the team is my feeling. Add Ba AND Lukaku into the mix and fucking bench Torres for the rest of his contract. Useless ass. Disgrace to wear that blue shirt!!

Edit: don't bench Torres. -21 him instead.

[MetsajCFC 1,255]

  On 03/01/2013 at 09:54, 22mek22 said:

the fact that we are reliant on Mata and Hazard is not a problem...they are our best players!

so therefore, you expect us to perform worse without them

that fat c*nt should be able to see that

Performing worse than usually isn't the main problem either. The problem seems to be that without them we can't get a result, meaning that some players are either underperforming or aren't on the level required to be in a club like Chelsea. Long story short - we have no depth and reliability in the squad to use any kind of rotation. Give it time, it'll improve.

I think Benitez did right there with resting Hazard and Mata. We still fielded a strong line-up if you think about it. Only ones who haven't proven themselves are Marin and Bertrand - the rest have shown their worth more or less, even Bertrand in Munich. So in that sense the team should have been able to beat QPR. The stats speak for themselves, 20 something chances and 2 on goal, we don't capitalize and make the wrong choices when we have the chance to attack. Replace Torres with in-form and consistent striker (let's hope Ba proves to be that) and things will change. It wasn't Benitez's fault, it was the underperforming team, we had plenty of chances, we just didn't take them .- not Rafa's fault.

[Jase 43,479]

  On 03/01/2013 at 09:57, 22mek22 said:

and Hazard has played 250 minutes in the 4 games before

That's the thing I don't get. Can possibly understand why Mata was rested given he has played the last 8-9 games without being rested. But Hazard?! He was already rested against Leeds and Norwich FHS!

The problem was of course then compounded by the fact that Benitez brought on Mata with just 15 minutes left when he should have done so way earlier!

[The only place to be 11,313]

  On 03/01/2013 at 10:00, MetsajCFC said:

I think Benitez did right there with resting Hazard and Mata.

Mata is our best player. He's been the player who has dug us out of holes this season (Leeds away, Spurs Away, Norwich away) and he should play every league game.

If we're talking about rotation, both Lampard and Luiz looked a little gassed last night so probably should've been rested. But Mata is too important to drop.

[MetsajCFC 1,255]

  On 03/01/2013 at 10:09, The only place to be said:

Mata is our best player. He's been the player who has dug us out of holes this season (Leeds away, Spurs Away, Norwich away) and he should play every league game.

If we're talking about rotation, both Lampard and Luiz looked a little gassed last night so probably should've been rested. But Mata is too important to drop.

Moreover Mata is a human, who also gets tired. I'd rather rest him than risk burning out or a muscular injury. My point is that you'd expect more from the squad players

[The only place to be 11,313]

  On 03/01/2013 at 10:11, MetsajCFC said:

Moreover Mata is a human, who also gets tired. I'd rather rest him than risk burning out or a muscular injury. My point is that you'd expect more from the squad players

Rest him at the weekend then. Don't forget he was still on the bench and still used.

[MetsajCFC 1,255]

  On 03/01/2013 at 10:19, The only place to be said:

Rest him at the weekend then. Don't forget he was still on the bench and still used.

He was used because Marin, Moses and whoelse were supposed to bag the 3 points in theory weren't up for it. Either way it's a problem that needs solving, we can't play Mata 60+ games a season

[MHL 47 378]

During RB tenure two teams have played with predominately 11 men behind the ball and let us have easy possession in our half but closed everything down in their half, especially the last third of the pitch. Benitez's tactics have failed twice now, he made the wrong call with team selection and wasn't able or willing to admit this and change things around early enough.

This isn't a scenario Chelsea haven't had to face on multiple occasions previously and have mastered the majority of the time, he seems stuck in a small number of tactical scenario's and if they don't work, we don't win.

There was the opportunity last night to take off a full-back and replace them with Mata, Hazard. This was evident within the first half-hour.

It seems clear that he has no passion for us and this can come through in the players when faced with scenarios such as last night.

An example of the passion we seem to be lacking, recall the TV interview by Geoff Shreeves with Drogba and Cech just after the CL Win, Drogba says something like himself, Frank, John, Petr have been at Chelsea for eight or more years and we try to show the new players how to behave, perform like a Chelsea player, never give up, fight to the end. He and the others got that mentality from Manager/s they'd worked under here. The Interim seems to me to not have this mentality. I wonder how many texts, calls Benitez has had over the last 10hrs taking the mickey? I've had plenty, it's this empathy with the fans that he'll never get here.

[The only place to be 11,313]

  On 03/01/2013 at 10:25, MetsajCFC said:

He was used because Marin, Moses and whoelse were supposed to bag the 3 points in theory weren't up for it. Either way it's a problem that needs solving, we can't play Mata 60+ games a season

He doesn't have to play cup games, just league games. The league is the most important thing this season. We could throw the weekend game, throw the Swansea game and it wouldn't matter because the league is all important. Play Mata last night, send him on holiday if you want and then come back for the Stoke game.

I actually think Benitez sees the cup competitions as his best chance for success, to get his fat mug in a photo with a trophy. What's best for the club is a top four spot. If that's the case, we're fucked.

[Mufassir08 2,400]

  On 03/01/2013 at 09:58, Stingray said:

I'd get Lukaku and KDB back now actually. ST and CM are what we need, we actually have the players already and they are playing well (KDB is a boss right now)... Especially KDB would improve the team is my feeling. Add Ba AND Lukaku into the mix and fucking bench Torres for the rest of his contract. Useless ass. Disgrace to wear that blue shirt!! Edit: don't bench Torres. -21 him instead.

Completely agree i think KDB will help us a lot.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Not actually that mad. It's quite funny, in all honesty.

You can blame Benitez for being arrogant in his team selection, but that team was good enough to beat QPR. The players looked jaded and mentally exhausted, which is no surprise considering the amount of games they have played recently! The players just couldn't put in the sort of performance we expected, but it was nonetheless ridiculous to rest both Hazard and Mata. Stupid from Rafa. But poor finishing and a lethargic attitude are more to blame.

[Spike 12,049]

Ivanovic was really pissing me off during most of this match. SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT

[GermanBlue 82]

I was at a birthday party last night, so I couldn't watch the game and had to follow a liveticker. Now, I'm actually happy, I didn't saw it.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Can you blame him? The people in front of him were too bothered about scoring the perfect goal than just hitting the fucker. It says something about belief when the centre-back loses faith in the forwards and has to score a goal himself.

[Ramzi 233]

I know Benitez made a questionable decision with his team selection, but he put the team in a position to win. We had 2-3 sitters that were simply not scored, we can't expect him to go onto the pitch and score the goals. We can't say that we are dependent on Mata and Hazard to create chances because we had created chances before they came on! I kind of wish we had a striker like Chicharito, not very skilled but very smart, one that can put himself in a position where the ball falls to him, it's not luck it's a matter of knowledge of the game.