Closed Chelsea 0-1 QPR

[blue_swaggin_96 96]

cheer up lads, we are the european champions and we have game in hand on spuds, third is ours, i understand the expectations are very high at chelsea and johnny come lately fanbase need to realise we won't always win everything and we won't always compete nose to nose for titles, we are not champions material yet, ba is here.

hopefully torres fucks off this january for good, im actually glad he was soo shit, i dont want one of those torres is back games, i hope his shit till he leaves

Roman - striker - checked

Roman - pep guerdiola -checked

Roman - faillaini - checked

[blue_swaggin_96 96]

this will be a double post but let me add this

HAZARD has been shit - he won't win us games, trust me MATA is the only juan

[The Big Drog 1,110]

Because he rested our best player so he'd be ready for a FA Cup game against Southampton's reserves.

That angle seems to show him marginally offside.

I'm sorry but that opinion is just dumb. He rested TWO(!) players at the back end of an insanely busy scheduled. He then brought in a German international and a Nigerian international, both of whom we bought in the Summer for decent amounts of money. If he seriously can't rest two players at home against QPR and not expect to get a result then it's pretty obvious that the fault lies with the squad, not the manager.

[Spike 12,049]

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.

But he didn't score and he was shooting wildly off target. He had good intentions but those intentions didn't pay dividends, did they?

[kellzfresh 7,226]

The problem with that is because Oscar was either dropping deep or playing too high up that he wasn't playing as the link man as he's supposed to. For most of the first half especially, we looked like playing a 4-4-2 and because there's no one connecting the midfield and attack, we got the situation where either Lampard or Luiz bombing forward and leaving spaces behind. What made even worse was the lack of movement upfront. None of the front 4 of Torres, Oscar, Moses and Marin were moving about enough to drag QPR around and disrupt their shape. All were so static that it was so easy for them to defend and difficult for us to find those gaps and space. And when you see Ivanovic stepping out from the back and having a shot from distance, TWICE, you know your team is having massive problems!

This is exactly what happened. Mata usually comes deep, moves around and keeps the tempo going. Oscar did a terrible job in replacing him, he and marin didn't provide an outlet for the cm which left shooting any how.

[The only place to be 11,313]

I'm sorry but that opinion is just dumb. He rested TWO(!) players at the back end of an insanely busy scheduled. He then brought in a German international and a Nigerian international, both of whom we bought in the Summer for decent amounts of money. If he seriously can't rest two players at home against QPR and not expect to get a result then it's pretty obvious that the fault lies with the squad, not the manager.

So it's dumb to point out that Mata has been one of the three best players in the Premier League and that we rely on him for most of our offence?

Try watching some of the matches and seeing how much he contributes to bringing other players into the game. Then look at the game QPR set themselves up to play, where it was obvious they'd get men behind the ball and need to be broken down.

Oversimplifying things by saying he rested two players (arguably our two most penetrating attacking forces) and brought in two internationals is the definition of dumb.

[Corner 456]

Rafa resting both Mata and Hazard was a mistake, and it cost us the game.

But what really annoys me is that the line-ups most people on here posted before the game, the line-ups they wanted to see, had an attacking midfield trio of Oscar, Moses and Marin (the exact trio that Rafa played). A lot of people saying 'we need to rotate players' etc.

But after the match they're willing to say Rafa is an idiot and should be sacked. You can't get much more hypocritical than that. All of those people called it wrong, just like Rafa. The people who said we needed to field a strong 11 are the people who have the right to criticize Rafa here.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

If you are not upset with Oscar, why did you post saying he is underperforming and needed to step up? He is doing OK for someone with his experience. Your comparisson about Ronaldo being 1/1000 and your comparisson with Ronaldo's and Oscar's age are wrong and naive.

CR7 and Oscar are/were not gambles, they may not turn out to be as great as everyone thought they would, but no one really have/had a doubt they would be somewhat relevant. A totally different perspective with the rest of the young promisses. There are two types of transfers regarding young players: the ones in hopes of the player developing an amazing set of skills and the ones the player has already proved his quality but still needs to be polished. The first option is where the gamble lies, one can't predict where the player's talent will stop. However, the second option is almost a certainty, the question lies on whether the player will have the necessary environment to flurish. Just like Messi, people did not know what he would become, but there are videos of scouts praising him when he was 13, they knew he was amazingly talented. Same with Neymar, people already knew he would be good when he had 9 years old, they just dont know how good.

However, it has nothing to do with the fact you cleared posted Oscar was underperforming from what you would expect from a 25million sign.

He does need to step it up if Chelsea hope to stay in the Champion's League spot. It's not fair, but Oscar is one of the most expensive midfielders in history and one of the most expensive players we've ever bought (6th), and because of that, we need to be getting better performances. Oscar was more expensive than Mata, David Silva, Alexis, Cazorla, Reus, Kagawa, Ozil, Dembele,etc... Young players who had established themselves in top leagues. It's not his fault he cost so much money which is why I'm not upset with him. but it's an insane amount of money to spend on someone you need to develop. Think of it this way, if Chelsea had chosen to sign (in a theoretical world) say Van Persie or Dembele and Ba i(or any other combination of ready players instead of Oscar in the summer, where would they be right now? Probably seriously challenging for the Premier League. So, Oscar might be worth it in the long run, but every year of development, costs us short-term both in terms of results and in terms of money.

And every young player is a gamble. Every player period is a bit of a gamble, but for someone who has not proven themselves, it's a big gamble. Ronaldo could have turned out to be Quaresma or any other number of flops. Yes, people knew Messi was going to be great when he was young but there are tons of players people "know" are going to be great and most of them aren't.. Here is a list of Don Balon's top-100 young footballers in 2001 (apologies for posting a link to a ManU blog, I feel dirty) http://www.redcafe.net/f7/top-100-young-players-2001-a-205125/ You can see what a complete crap-shoot young talent is. Even the elite of the elite of young players are vastly more likely to fail than to succeed. I do think Oscar will likely be a great player and his chances of being a complete flop are tiny because he has a lot of very good fundamental skills, but it's still a risk.

[blu35_army 550]

any of you have all moment (GIF) that Torres shoot was blocked?

[bushman 2,043]

I might have a gif of him playing with himself, soon.

[The only place to be 11,313]

He does need to step it up if Chelsea hope to stay in the Champion's League spot. It's not fair, but Oscar is one of the most expensive midfielders in history and one of the most expensive players we've ever bought (6th), and because of that, we need to be getting better performances. Oscar was more expensive than Mata, David Silva, Alexis, Cazorla, Reus, Kagawa, Ozil, Dembele,etc... Young players who had established themselves in top leagues. It's not his fault he cost so much money which is why I'm not upset with him. but it's an insane amount of money to spend on someone you need to develop.

Isn't the youngest player out of that lot at least two years older than Oscar?

A couple of years ago fans were moaning about us going after older, established players and now we're looking to develop younger players and people are still finding fault with it? For me he's shown enough for me to be happy with him, but now I actually think he's being mis-used by Benitez. We could have done with his creativity in the double pivot last night with Mata further ahead, but he was stuck in a position where he had no support from his striker yet he still showed some good flashes.

Think of it this way, if Chelsea had chosen to sign (in a theoretical world) say Van Persie or Dembele and Ba i(or any other combination of ready players instead of Oscar in the summer, where would they be right now? Probably seriously challenging for the Premier League. So, Oscar might be worth it in the long run, but every year of development, costs us short-term both in terms of results and in terms of money.

Personally I'm happy with the club valuing long-term, sustainable success over short-termist thinking which is actually what has led to our current problems in my opinion. The club are clearly trying to set themselves up for next season by targeting a quality manager and young players who fit his system and style of playing. I've said this before but we're not going to spend big like we did in 2004.

[Jase 43,479]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhdnjmgWDJo

[BlueLion. 21,491]

But he didn't score and he was shooting wildly off target. He had good intentions but those intentions didn't pay dividends, did they?

It's better to try and fail than to fail by not trying.

[Spike 12,049]

It's better to try and fail than to fail by not trying.

True, but as Andy Cole (I think) always says: 'It doesn't matter if you don't score, just get your shots on target at least.'

[The Big Drog 1,110]

So it's dumb to point out that Mata has been one of the three best players in the Premier League and that we rely on him for most of our offence?

Try watching some of the matches and seeing how much he contributes to bringing other players into the game. Then look at the game QPR set themselves up to play, where it was obvious they'd get men behind the ball and need to be broken down.

Oversimplifying things by saying he rested two players (arguably our two most penetrating attacking forces) and brought in two internationals is the definition of dumb.

Against smaller sides Barcelona will routinely rest Iniesta or Xavi or both. Real Madrid have no problem resting Ozil or Alonso against smaller sides if the manager feels they need rest. Ferguson for years has been able to rest Rooney occasionally and previously Ronaldo and now Van Persie and still feel confident of getting a result.

Are you telling me that we can't put Brazil's starting number 10 and German international Marko Marin into the side and not expect to break down QPR?

If the manager can no longer rest two players against bloody QPR, bring in two highly rated young players only to be called complacent then I give up, I really do, with that ridiculously stupid logic what is the fucking point in even having a squad? Let's just use the same 11 players every week.

[TrippingStep 336]

Against smaller sides Barcelona will routinely rest Iniesta or Xavi or both. Real Madrid have no problem resting Ozil or Alonso against smaller sides if the manager feels they need rest. Ferguson for years has been able to rest Rooney occasionally and previously Ronaldo and now Van Persie and still feel confident of getting a result.

Are you telling me that we can't put Brazil's starting number 10 and German international Marko Marin into the side and not expect to break down QPR?

If the manager can no longer rest two players against bloody QPR, bring in two highly rated young players only to be called complacent then I give up, I really do, with that ridiculously stupid logic what is the fucking point in even having a squad? Let's just use the same 11 players every week.

But to make a metaphor with Rugby, we have shitty fly-halfs, first center in our squad.

The players that organise the play, the defensive and central midfielders in the two in front of the defense.

If the english clubs are struggling more in Europa, it's because the quality of the defensive midfielders have declined in the top english clubs.

[The Big Drog 1,110]

But to make a metaphor with Rugby, we have shitty fly-halfs, first center in our squad.

The players that organise the play, the defensive and central midfielders in the two in front of the defense.

I agree that there are problems in the squad. Far too many average players on the pitch last night starting with the striker. Nor am I saying that Oscar and Marin are as good as Mata and Hazard but surely they can be trusted at home against QPR after the scheduled we've had.

[Vybz Kartel 1,613]

Against smaller sides Barcelona will routinely rest Iniesta or Xavi or both. Real Madrid have no problem resting Ozil or Alonso against smaller sides if the manager feels they need rest. Ferguson for years has been able to rest Rooney occasionally and previously Ronaldo and now Van Persie and still feel confident of getting a result.

Are you telling me that we can't put Brazil's starting number 10 and German international Marko Marin into the side and not expect to break down QPR?

If the manager can no longer rest two players against bloody QPR, bring in two highly rated young players only to be called complacent then I give up, I really do, with that ridiculously stupid logic what is the fucking point in even having a squad? Let's just use the same 11 players every week.

We are not saying he should not rest his players but everyone could see they was something wrong at half time he had to make changes. If we are to believe what the press say RDM was fired for being tactically inept and thts why Rafa was brought in but he again failed the same goes for the west ham and Corinthians games were he made his subs reallly late on Hazard only came on in the 59th minute which was un acceptable