Closed Southampton 2-1 Chelsea

[edetarod 2,155]

can't see us finishing top 4 now

[bushman 2,043]

How many fucking excuses am I going to read here ?

Today, there were good enough players sitting on the bench but weren´t used.

Wrong fucking line-up, that´s the bottom line here & not some stupid excuses posted here.

[Milan 17,958]

Terrible result at a terrible time. I know we rested players but it still shoulda been a lot better than that shit. The Southampton games have killed us this season and now us qualifying for the UCL will depend on the Tottenham game i guess. Arsenal have easy games, you know what they're like, they will make the top 4, they always do. This result really hurts us and if we fail to qualify for the UCL, it could be the end of us, seriously. We're in a hell of a lot of trouble right now, it's a fucking mess. Gutted with this result, thoroughly outplayed by an average team. Another gutless performance i'm afraid.

And to think we have Benitez who is supposed to get us out of these troubles...

[Beepu 1,714]

Well done Southampton, we didn't deserve it simple as that, stop bitching about Rafa he will be gone at the end of the season. We was out classed today pure and simple

we were outclassed because of the stupid line up, hence the bitching. Its warranted when a manager does not prioritize what the club needs.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Back down to 4th now, sitting 2 points behind Spurs and ONLY 2 ahead of Arsenal now. Two weeks ago, we were all feeling happy and positive that we can finish in the Top 4. Now, it's back to the worrying state again. AND all thanks to Benitez's idiotic rotation and prioritization of the FA Cup on Monday. We should be playing the strongest team here, get the 3 points and then think about Monday. Instead, we lost this game and lose on Monday and all hell will break loose once more. Benitez CLEARLY bothers about winning the trophies more than ensuring us finishing in the Top 4 because it boosts his CV. And heck, he probably wants to ensure we doesn't finish in there knowing Mourinho will only return if we are in the Champions League next season!

I heard he invented AIDS and was on the grassy knoll as well.....

I think there's logic in resting Mata today if you're trying to win 3 of the 4 matches. We knew we were going to have to rotate at some point and if Mata can only play alternate games then picking him for the United and Sunderland games makes some sense doesn't it?

can't see us finishing top 4 now

Have some perspective - we've still got a game in hand over Spurs and we've also got them at home.

[TrippingStep 336]

I hope we throw away the europa league games away.

Luiz Ramires Hazard Mata Ba must play every league games that we have left.

[Ollie 4,400]

Rafa wants a pay-off. He wants to get sacked, clearly.

[Korea 734]

Why didn't ake play

[Mufassir08 2,400]

I don't think Mata could handle two games in three days which is why he was rested today. I think he's got a better chance of playing Monday-Thursday-Sunday in all honesty, so not playing him today was perhaps understandable.

He should play the league game's as simple as that.On the bench in the fa cup and europa games.Today he was ill so did not play but i can bet my house that even if he was fit he would not have started.

[TrippingStep 336]

Rafa wants a pay-off. He wants to get sacked, clearly.

I think so, when he didn't bring Ba while we were having many crosses opportunity was the most anti-logic choice you can make.

[Weckerz 3,781]

I heard he invented AIDS and was on the grassy knoll as well.....

I think there's logic in resting Mata today if you're trying to win 3 of the 4 matches. We knew we were going to have to rotate at some point and if Mata can only play alternate games then picking him for the United and Sunderland games makes some sense doesn't it?

No sense in resting Hazard and bringing on Benayoun to save the day though

[Mundaka 243]

Ok so we've seen some crappy/unexplainable decision making already by Benitez,

Like ramires/lampard midfield against manchester united (FA cup) + no Hazard in start 11 (after playing him in EL) and several other cases come to mind.

And you would think he figured out by now you cant play with ramires/lampard in pivot but nooooo... the tard now subs hazard for marin (ok good, now we can start playing) but then goes ahead and takes of mikel (ok he didn't have a good game but we need him unless you sub him for luiz) for ramires and oscar for Benayoun??

We're done then against a decent soton side.

On top of all this he starts with marin/moses & oscar -> that's never going to work, or you add hazard (mata seems to be sick) in the mix or you leave oscar out, put lampard further in the field, and make it a battle at midfield by adding luiz/rarmires.

Now you have oscar who can do shit (not his fault), flanks that are no good and a hopeless targetman, how do you expect to score like that...

And all this while we couldve really used the 3 points in our battle for top 4 (heck we couldve ended as 2nd) just because Benitez started with a fucked up lineup against manchester united to begin with, whom we will have to play again in 2 days because of him.

If the board has any dignity left after sacking DM like that, they sack Benitez now or they are just a bunch of friggin hypocrits.

We cant do worse without him, just make the youthcoach orso manager for the time being.

As for the game,

Our wingers/"striker" couldve pressed/hold the ball more, mikel really shouldve used his head more dont know what he was thinking at times, one of his worst games this season he prolly had no clue what to do, and our fullbacks were also clueless after a while. Do we actually have any plan if we arent dominating games i wonder?

[Leif 6,006]

In our entire squad, excluding loans, look how many players are in their prime -

Mata (maybe)

Mikel (depending on who you ask)

Ba

Cahill

That's 4 players in their 'prime'.

Now out of those 4 players, how many of them could walk into almost any side in the world? Who is actually a top player?

1. Mata.

That's it.

How this loss comes as a surprise to anyone baffles me. We don't have top players. We have a top player.

This is just a sign of things to come unless someone like Jose comes and fixes shit.

Cech is past his best. As are Terry, Cole (yes I know he wasn't involved today), Lampard, Ivanovic, Torres, Ferreira, Benayoun etc.

As for players yet to reach their best, Luiz is certainly taking his time, Ramires is a yo-yo, Oscar looks like he'll take quite a while, Moses doesn't look to have as high of a ceiling as first thought, Marin is shit, Azpi will be very solid in the near future, and then that's it.

We are a shamble of a team. Full of has-beens and too many 'prospects'.

The only players I consider currently good enough for a team with our aspirations are Cech, Cole, Mata, Hazard, Azpi. That's it. It's fucking sad.

Fuck the board. This one is not down to Rafa.

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Have some perspective - we've still got a game in hand over Spurs and we've also got them at home.

We also have to go to old trafford,anfield and craven cottage.

[Mundaka 243]

Fuck the board. This one is not down to Rafa.

dude it is, with this selection a top 3 is a must.

[The Mak 4,459]

After this shit, the F.A. Cup may as well be the Emirates Cup as far as I’m concerned.

Obviously, this was the more important game, every league game from now is like a final, but it honestly seems like our piece of shit of a manager is deciding to put himself in front of the club. With much more difficult games down the road, including Tottenham and United, the importance of this game was glaring to anyone.

I said it a while ago; all he cares about is trophies on his C.V. It rings in my head the unusual amount of times that man has said the word ‘tropies’, as he calls them, it’s all he wants. If he wins one, he’ll say to his next employer, “Look! Shiny!” and then blame RDM on the league, saying “oh, the damage was already done there.”.

The greedy bastard is actually doing his best to destroy next season as well, and there’s nothing we can do, just watch the horror show. Unbelievable anger right now.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

What type of tactics were we playing with cech, ivanovic, lampard and terry pumping the ball anywhere foward anytime??

[The only place to be 11,313]

In our entire squad, excluding loans, look how many players are in their prime -

Mata (maybe)

Mikel (depending on who you ask)

Ba

Cahill

That's 4 players in their 'prime'.

Now out of those 4 players, how many of them could walk into almost any side in the world? Who is actually a top player?

1. Mata.

That's it.

How this loss comes as a surprise to anyone baffles me. We don't have top players. We have a top player.

This is just a sign of things to come unless someone like Jose comes and fixes shit.

Cech is past his best. As are Terry, Cole (yes I know he wasn't involved today), Lampard, Ivanovic, Torres, Ferreira, Benayoun etc.

As for players yet to reach their best, Luiz is certainly taking his time, Ramires is a yo-yo, Oscar looks like he'll take quite a while, Moses doesn't look to have as high of a ceiling as first thought, Marin is shit, Azpi will be very solid in the near future, and then that's it.

We are a shamble of a team. Full of has-beens and too many 'prospects'.

The only players I consider currently good enough for a team with our aspirations are Cech, Cole, Mata, Hazard, Azpi. That's it. It's fucking sad.

Fuck the board. This one is not down to Rafa.

We're a team in transition. We were sixth in the league last season and we're reaping the consequences of mistakes made 5 years ago.

Regardless of what happens this season, we've got a great future. If that means missing out on the Champions League for one season then so be it, but the long-term plan at this club is sound.

[Jase 43,479]

I think there's logic in resting Mata today if you're trying to win 3 of the 4 matches. We knew we were going to have to rotate at some point and if Mata can only play alternate games then picking him for the United and Sunderland games makes some sense doesn't it?

Mata was apparently ill today, hence why he didn't play. And even if he was available, I would have played him today and next Sunday. League comes first before the two cups but Benitez obviously doesn't bother.

Have some perspective - we've still got a game in hand over Spurs and we've also got them at home.

The game in hand would be better if it was our insurance policy in the sense it allows us to pull further clear of the rest. Not so much of a must-win but now, it has become a must win! Furthermore, that game in hand is Fulham at the Cottage, where we have not done well in recent times and not played well against them. And yes, we've still got Spurs to come but forget them for a moment. The major concern now is Arsenal in 5th. Only 2 points behind and we don't have a game in hand on them. Slip up one more time and they'll overtake us into 4th. They can concentrate solely on the league while we can't. That's the big worry now!

[edetarod 2,155]

our tactics for scoring:

step 1 : pass the ball back to Cech

step 2: watch Cech hoof the ball

step 3: ???