Closed Real Madrid 3-1 Chelsea

[Reddish-Blue 2,507]

Lampard was rubbish, don't understand why he started the game. He completely slowed down our midfield and basically gave Madrid a one man advantage.

Hopefully Van Ginkel can handle the step-up from the Dutch league to the EPL...can't wait to see him in a few seasons with a polished skill set

All in All, Real deserved the victory. The signing of Isco will be massive for them this season.

[didierforever 7,349]

Lampard was rubbish, don't understand why he started the game. He completely slowed down our midfield and basically gave Madrid a one man advantage.

Hopefully Van Ginkel can handle the step-up from the Dutch league to the EPL...can't wait to see him in a few seasons with a polished skill set

All in All, Real deserved the victory. The signing of Isco will be massive for them this season.

because jose took this match for exactly what it was - A PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY which is played with the purpose of getting our players to full fitness. lamps had not played in any of the games and his performance and fitness showed exactly why HE SHOULD HAVE STARTED THE GAME.

[Reddish-Blue 2,507]

reality check? how so? did you really think we were at real madrid level already? if so, then it's not chelsea that needed a reality check

No-one is expecting us to be on the level of Madrid just because the Special one has returned...but after a few good wins in pre-season,

we needed a loss against a strong side to show us where we need to improve.

[ANDRECHO 432]

Lampard was rubbish, don't understand why he started the game. He completely slowed down our midfield and basically gave Madrid a one man advantage.

Hopefully Van Ginkel can handle the step-up from the Dutch league to the EPL...can't wait to see him in a few seasons with a polished skill set

All in All, Real deserved the victory. The signing of Isco will be massive for them this season.

Ramires is a great player , but I think Essien is much better in this appreciation

[blu35_army 551]

it's simple guys,,we're not ready for champions leagu level. with defense and attacking style like that,,surely no idea how to face bayern, dortmund, barca and madrid.

but if only PL level,,we can be serious title chalenger as long as consistent from match to match. anyway,,the same problem since RDM that never be solved is "Pressure Line". do you feel the difference between madrid and us when we have he ball???

[Vybz Kartel 1,613]

Ivanovic at RB is a disastor waiting to happen, im getting pretty scared of Bayern right now

[Barbara 15,149]

I'm out of likes, so I'm commenting on some and agreeing on others

Luiz is hugely missed. JT+Cahill is a ticking bomb.

+1

Fuck this. That was bad.

+1

the long ball always happens when a team plays high pressure against usits like our cb and keeper resort to just kicking out but causing us to be under pressure...first half two pens not called and hazard chance in second half the difference here.. i hope ppl now see we do need mata and luiz cause cahill and terry leak goals one has no pace and the other backs off his man to allow him to shoot

+1

Smacked back down to earth, really.

Not the end of the world to lose to possibly the best first XI in the world, but I thought we'd at least compete better. Clearly we aren't quite there yet.

Not worried at all about us. Just need a player or two.

+1

(more than a few players - although another CB and a ST wouldn't hurt - I think we need more time)

Great work out. As I said, Madrid have a number of players in their prime right now, Ronaldo, Ozil, Benzema, Khedira, Marcelo, Ramos, Pepe

Where as we have young, rawish talent in Van Ginkel, Hazard, De Bruyne, Lukaku, Azpilcueta, Oscar.

Madrid look a week or two ahead of us, but thats nothing to worry about. We should be fine for Hull on Sunday week.

Van Ginkel looked excellent today. Roma selection is going to be intriguing, as I could see both Van Ginkel and Moses doing enough to start.

Onwards and Upwards, good preseason overall. Roll on Roma, should give us an indication into the teamsheet for the first game of the season

+1

If anything, this game just showed us our problems from last season are still present and not 'cured' like how some people have been making it out since Mourinho returned. We still got defensive deficiencies, as illustrated mainly for the 3rd goal (shocking, abject, abysmal defending!!!), lacking that bite in midfield and no top quality striker upfront that would make a huge difference for us.

+1

Although I'm not sure about the bite part. Is this expression meant to be defensively or offensively. I think the main problem with our MD is time. We need time, Mourinho needs time, those guys need time. I think we may have a midfield as good as Real Madrid (without Alonso), and almost as good as Bayern and Barça. The thing is it needs time, not only because there are many young guys, but also because Mourinho needs time to change the mentality and the style.

What screws us over the most is the defence (without Luiz) and the attack. We must have a guy between Luiz's level and Terry/Cahill level, or at least an improved version of Cahill. Injuries happen and Terry is quite prone to them at his age. The attack is something we all agree - except some Lukaku fans that think he's ready.

And this, my friends, is exactly what we should expect to happen in nearly every match against the big boys if we sell Luiz. Cahill might be a good fourth choice CB and a useful player to have in the squad but he simply put it isn't good enough to handle the likes of Ronaldo and other skillful forwards. Terry is not the same as he once was and Ivanovic will play a decent amount of games at RB so do some of the people saying we should sell DL to Barca really think Cahill is up to the task of being the club's first choice CB?

As for the game itself, I don't mind the result too much. It's clear that Real Madrid deployed their best XI and we certainly did not so the scoreline could have been even worse. At least the lads got a decent workout in chasing Ronaldo all game.

In addition to defence, he has a much better pass to make the transition, he himself takes charge of making the transition and his long passes are much better than anyone in our defence and DM.

1- With the current squad we do need another CB, but it seems some people think we should sell Luiz. Crazy.

2- Mourinho still has a lot to do, I still cant see what kind of football he wants,, or what of formation and players he has in mind.

3- a game like this is good to realize the weak points of players like De Bruyne and van Ginkel.

4- I have a feelling that Mourinho loves Ramire's game, and he will be a key figure under Mourinho.

I agree, except the point #3. This is RM on full throttle on the other side. It's not that easy and they aren't used to play matches at this stage for Chelsea. So let's give the boys some time. The same way we should give to Lukaku. It's just that some people think Lukaku will rescue us from the attacking issues when I think he's not ready for that at all. There are plenty of options for the positions Ginkel and Kevin play.

For me when watching the game when lamps or ramires(cm) MVG or KDB had the ball in midfield our attacking players were hiding behind the player marking them and not showing... we can't expect the mids to transition from defense to attack with no options presented... I honestly believe we are more than fine for the BPL with a combative two cm of MVG and ramires.. and lukaku is great and all but i see him as impact sub role a lot like moses.. cause torres had same service in second half and gave madrid more trouble.. but we can chalk that up to experience first time vs a team the quality of Madrid... All in all im very happy with the team we have and can't wait for Hull

Lamps haven't played a match in months and Mourinho thought it was better to give him a whole half - the first nonetheless - rather than give him the last 30 minutes and then more next match, etc. I understand his position, I just disagree. Marco was nervous at first, but later one he was quite good imo as well as Ramires. Let's not forget we were outplayed there, so I suppose it also makes some of the them sort of lost and makes things more difficult.

Real could have scored 4 more goals after they took MVG off

But I don't think that was on Marco alone as they had chances before too. He made a few mistakes, and he helped a lot, but I think defensively we were poor tonight.

[Barbara 15,149]

part II

From what I've seen of the game (missed the first half), the main difference is that Chelsea is still a work in progress, with players not quite fit, who are not used to play together yet, while Madrid played in full gear as if it was the mid season, with players who know each others for years

+1

That's the reality check I meant. We are nowhere ready as some might have thought we were. Some players aren't at the level some of us might have thought. Those things demand time and let's not forget the opposition.

I dont think any objective person is thinking we will do well in Europe this season.

This is effectively a rebuilding year. Only reason people think we have a shot in league is because the 2 clubs that finished ahead of us have untested managers in this league(moyes sucks)

+1

It's a transition season to help us youngster mature and for the team to get used to Mourinho and Mourinho find the style that will work with us. He went through something similar when he arrived in Madrid. His first semester there was really difficult and that was basically a mature team with 2-3 players being 20, 21 and 22 as we have plenty. It makes a lot of difference

Did people really expect us to get to the level of Mardid & Bayern during one preseason? lmao wtf

this team needs at least one or two seasons to become that good (PL we can win this year though), unreal how people react after a preseason game

I agree. All EPL teams are going through some challenge this season. I think we may have a fair shot there, but I wouldn't expect much in Europe, although I think Bayern and Barça will also have a few challenges with their new managers for completely different reasons. I think Pep will do some harm in Bayern's level before he can finally improve because he doesn't want to continue the successful style, but to create his own. I disagree, but the weaker the competition gets, the better, I won't complain.

reality check? how so? did you really think we were at real madrid level already? if so, then it's not chelsea that needed a reality check

no, dear, I meant that some of us - I may even include myself about some things - saw a lot of progress in 5 pre-season matches that covered some problems we still have. The Asian matches were irrelevant, shouldn't comment on them and the Italian teams aren't that great currently.

EPL definitely will press us more than both Milan teams did. So I see now that some of the problems I thought were already being fixed may be simply a consequence of playing very weak sides and irrelevant sides. We don't need to talk about Bayern, Barça and Real. We could talk about Dortmund, Juventus, PSG and I particularly don't write ManUtd off easily. At first I don't think they'll be that strong, but I don't expect them to be Tottenham or Arsenal either. I mean the 2nd and 3rd tier of teams in Europe now. I don't think AC Milan makes even the 3rd tier... or maybe they will this season because they were particularly bad last season, especially the first 3-4 months and then had ups and downs.

My point about reality check is, we still have a lot of work to do to play teams our level because we still have areas to work on. I think those main three (although I wouldn't necessarily include Barça in the mix because I guess it's a mystery what will happen to them this season) are a level of their own and then there are teams our level. I think our current make me worry about facing teams our own level because it could be more unpredictable then it should. Which means Mourinho still has a lot of work to do.

Don't think there's much need for concern. We played a disjointed pick-n-mix team of new signings, returning loanees and some experience. We also lacked crucial players due to injury. Plus with players coming off and on you're toying with formations. All that against what is a well established Madrid team, put together by our current manager no less!

Yes, our play was brutal at times and we were completely out classed. But we aren't putting out our best side who are playing every week and in sync. We'll find our feet the first few weeks in to the season.

+1

when you loose 1-3 most likely the team wasnt good, so when people say he was good, its relative you have to understand that much

he was one of if not the best chelsea player, so not sure why you're making it out like just cause hes new he's getting hype, he actually was one of our better players today and people often look at the bright points during a loss and he was one of very few

people get overhyped during friendlies but some get discounted just as much even when they put in good performance because its preseason, it goes both ways

+1

Lampard was rubbish, don't understand why he started the game. He completely slowed down our midfield and basically gave Madrid a one man advantage.

Hopefully Van Ginkel can handle the step-up from the Dutch league to the EPL...can't wait to see him in a few seasons with a polished skill set

All in All, Real deserved the victory. The signing of Isco will be massive for them this season.

because jose took this match for exactly what it was - A PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY which is played with the purpose of getting our players to full fitness. lamps had not played in any of the games and his performance and fitness showed exactly why HE SHOULD HAVE STARTED THE GAME.

No, I agree with reddish here. Mourinho should have used him, but not to start the match. Even the Confed Cup guys were fitter than Lamps who hasn't played for months. You don't throw the guy against a fast team, for 45 minutes when he missed many complete training sessions and hasn't played one match yet.

Let him come in when the opposition is tired or has youngsters playing, as it was obvious would happen with Madrid in the end.

*************************************

one more comment of my own. We must play at least 10 guys from what Mou thinks is the best we have - saved for injuries of course - against Roma. I get it that friendlies are preparation, but I must say I feel like it's time to stop the tests and try to give some chemistry and guidance for the 12-13 players he'll use as starting XI in most matches in the season.

[TrippingStep 336]

Well I think a few things should be considered.

Carlo played his first team, we played a mixed team.

After this important information, I disagree with whoever says it was decent. It far from decent it was somewhere between horrible and pathetic.

I don't mean the result, but how we behaved. That was the main point of such a match.

Defensively we were pathetic, there's no other word.

The transition from defence to attack was terrible at moment with long passes that were a waste of time. They should have passed the ball through the midfield and used our AM, but Oscar was out of position, Hazard wasn't there during the first half.

While we improved in the second half in general - and Moses was one of the responsible - the ball didn't reach Torres like reached Lukaku in the first, so in the end it was pointless...

There was a mess through and through with some good moments, but collectively? Terrible!!!!!

Lukaku needs a lot more to even dream about being the starting striker in those big matches. He was completely inefficient in all matches in the US against slightly better sides - from the Italian - and a great side on RM. So he might be a good option to start smaller teams and matchups that favor his style, but big stage matches shouldn't happen anytime soon. Let him be a 2nd half sub, but there's no way we can rely on him in big matches.

Oscar should never be played in the right wing when we have Moses, Mata and even Schurrle in the squad. They do much better. He can do okay in the left, but should be played centered. If that means going to the bench, then leave on the bench

I don't assess Eden Hazard;s performances on friendlies

We really need David Luiz

Lamps was completely out of a shape and it was a capital mistake to start him when he hasn't played for months. He should have been a sub for 20-30 minutes, but I understand Mourinho's reasons.

Ramires was great during the first half, as well as van Ginkel. At first Marco was very nervous. I think facing a team like RM even in a friendly makes a boy like him jittery and that's okay

Torres, Schurrle did okay at most in the second half. I just wish Torres would have received as many balls as Lukaku received in the first. He would probably do as bad as Romelu, but still I wanted to see it happen. Who knows? From time to time he blossoms.

We really need to work the transition. That was one of our biggest deficiencies (along with the poor defence). We can't have Cech, the defenders and the Rami-Ginkel crossing the ball from the first third to the last. It's raffling the ball 95% of times.

No Mata = no possession (especially quality possession). The team needs him, he is the players reference. It seems like when he comes in the rest of the players settle down to their position and do things more calmly.

Kevin didn't play as well as he played the previous matches... and it makes a lot of difference.

For the Madrid side - I'll have it on my Twitter because that would be basically an opposite review to this one. the only one that was really bad for them imo was Sergio Ramos - that some guy on David's thread said that is much better than Luiz because Luiz was never and will ever be as good as Sergio. FML.

Maybe the Mata Luiz rumors were true.

I really think that Mata Oscar Hazard will struggle this season as Mourinho is at first a counter-attack coach. Mata Oscar are better in a possession based game.

If we play Terry, the central defence will stay deep.

At Real, even if he had a good numbers of points in la liga, Real were much better at counter-attack than possession.

With the quality they had, I thought they should have destroyed Manchester United.

Terry Cahill were praised because of all the blocks against Ac Milan but We shouldn't have to block that many shots against AC Milan and expecting the same against Real.

[Vybz Kartel 1,613]

Dont care really abt losing but what was that??? Looked like Swansea all over again just a better version. The 3rd goal pissed me of really it was like time stood still, I love AC3 but in terms of attacking he kills it for us we look much more balanced when Cesar attacks

[didierforever 7,349]

No, I agree with reddish here. Mourinho should have used him, but not to start the match. Even the Confed Cup guys were fitter than Lamps who hasn't played for months. You don't throw the guy against a fast team, for 45 minutes when he missed many complete training sessions and hasn't played one match yet.

Let him come in when the opposition is tired or has youngsters playing, as it was obvious would happen with Madrid in the end.

precisely. even more reason for lamps to get some game time before the start of the season. lamps will play the role of a super-sub this season and might be needed as early as OT or in SUPER-CUP. do u really want him to play a pro game with no game time.

also as u said that jose should start with the 1st team that he plans to play against roma (i feel he will do that), then today's game was even more crucial for lamps to get a good work out. the result dint matter. it wont matter in a day's time because its in-consequential. also the point was for lamps to get a decent workout which was obvious would happen only in the 1st half and both teams would start making subs in the 2nd half which normally means no tempo/momentum to the game.

[bluesman2610 1,417]

Lamps haven't played a match in months and Mourinho thought it was better to give him a whole half - the first nonetheless - rather than give him the last 30 minutes and then more next match, etc. I understand his position, I just disagree. Marco was nervous at first, but later one he was quite good imo as well as Ramires. Let's not forget we were outplayed there, so I suppose it also makes some of the them sort of lost and makes things more difficult.

I wasn't calling out our midfield players I was actually backing them up.. maybe because my back ground as a DM/CB but I find the brunt of the blame always falls on that player the one who does all the grunt work but people fail to realize you can only play what you see.. I found all our combos of cm/cdm had no real outlets when we were trying to spring from defense to attack but that comes with time and more tactical instruction from manager.. I still think that this same team by mid season rolling will be a force due to the youth in the positions we have it and the experience in the positions that we have it...

btw thanks for quoting me

[Dion 2,476]

Ramires never ceases to amaze me. He's not very flashy and people won't talk about him often but he's such a good player. Especially when the team is playing defensively. Such a classy goal

Not really surprised with the result. I hoped for a win but I think everyone knew RM were the favourites today. There's still plenty of time to fix our team, though.

[Dion 2,476]

Maybe the Mata Luiz rumors were true.

I really think that Mata Oscar Hazard will struggle this season as Mourinho is at first a counter-attack coach. Mata Oscar are better in a possession based game.

If we play Terry, the central defence will stay deep.

At Real, even if he had a good numbers of points in la liga, Real were much better at counter-attack than possession.

With the quality they had, I thought they should have destroyed Manchester United.

Terry Cahill were praised because of all the blocks against Ac Milan but We shouldn't have to block that many shots against AC Milan and expecting the same against Real.

I don't know about Oscar. Brazil NT doesn't play what we would call possession style football and still Oscar performs brilliantly. More so than in a blue shirt. I think Hazard's speed would also come handy in a counter-attacking style. Mata... I have my doubts.

[Ankit 3,176]

Looking at the some of the reactions here, it feels like we have been knocked out by Real in the CL. It's a ore season game! Chill the fuck out! It's a good wake-up call for the team but more so for the fans here!

[Vybz Kartel 1,613]

Im leaning towards a Kalas, Luiz partnership think it is our future, we can implement the high line which AVB envisioned for our attacking play

[Barbara 15,149]

Maybe the Mata Luiz rumors were true.

I really think that Mata Oscar Hazard will struggle this season as Mourinho is at first a counter-attack coach. Mata Oscar are better in a possession based game.

If we play Terry, the central defence will stay deep.

At Real, even if he had a good numbers of points in la liga, Real were much better at counter-attack than possession.

With the quality they had, I thought they should have destroyed Manchester United.

Terry Cahill were praised because of all the blocks against Ac Milan but We shouldn't have to block that many shots against AC Milan and expecting the same against Real.

I personally don't believe rumors they're leaving. I think Luiz is the kind of player Mourinho longs to work with because he sees the potential and based on how he played under two different managers on Brazil NT he can say that all Luiz needs is guidance and leadership (upon him). So I think he's excited to have a chance to do to him what he did to Marcelo. You can't compare the player Marcelo is now and the player he was 3 years ago, the merit of course belong to the player that always had had such potential, but the credit should go to the manager that was able to develop it while others couldn't.

If Luiz spent more time with the NT - especially under Felipão - it would reflect more on Chelsea, so I think Mourinho is looking forward to work with Luiz.

As for Mata, there are a few things about Mata that I don't think Mourinho particularly likes, but Mata is such a humble guy and he works so hard, that I think whatever difficulty Mourinho sees now could be overlooked and overcame depending on how Mata reacts. Their personalities may clash because I feel like Mourinho is a bit too much for Mata too, so I don't know if could have some relationship issues, he could be benched once the other guys improve their levels (Hazard, Oscar, de Bruyne and Moses, as I think Schurrle may take longer). But I doubt Mourinho wants Mata out of the team. I fear for Mata wanting to be out of the team if he feels left out or not valued enough. Although again the guy has no ego, and I love how he handles himself, so maybe it won't happen at all.

I agree Oscar will struggle a bit to work under Mourinho, but for different reasons than Mata. I think Mourinho likes Oscar attitude while playing better than he likes Mata's - although Mata obviously produces better offensive results. Mourinho likes the balance. His players - except the guys he calls untouchables - all have to excel in their ability (defending or attacking), but also have responsibilities in the weaker side. So if Hazard really develops further I think he may favor Hazard over Mata, not Oscar over Mata (because that makes no sense) for Oscar hard work, allowing Hazard to have more freedom.

I think Mourinho loves Ramires and I'm sure he's very happy with Marco, Moses and Kevin because those guys are like gems in his hands. No one can deny Mourinho is vain (I mean in the vanity sense, to have his ego stroked), he likes to be recognized, he likes to take credit for the things he does and he knows he can make those three (along with Hazard) much better than they are. Much, much better. Whereas I think he will work more about tactical development with Oscar and Mata rather than technical as with those three.

I have no idea what Mourinho thinks of our three strikers though. I think Lukaku will have special attention because of his age, but I'm curious to see what he means to do with Ba and Torres and if he's able to do it.

I for one praised how our defence blocked AC Milan, but the styles are completely different and so is the level of players when you have Real Madrid on the side. It exposes our problems. It's normal - and even expected - to lose to them, but it does show where we must improve to turn this situation around just like he did in Madrid against Barça.

[Peppen 934]

3-1 against one of the absolute best sides in the world (Bayern, Barca and Madrid) is not bad at all, considering our line-ups, changes and missing two of our nailed on starters Luiz and Mata.

The attitude may not have been the best, but seriously CALM down. I've just read the post-match thoughts of Mourinho, and I completely agree. Preseason is the time to make mistakes so he can analyse them and correct them. We have a young team, and they are bound to make mistakes throughout a season, and show dire attitude too. If we overreact everytime this happens, Roman may as well end up doing something stupid.

Give the team some support (not blindly), Madrid is not easy opponent. Considering our victories against Inter and Milan with the exact same youthful setup and the vast changes made at halftime, I think this team has an unbelievable amount of potential both in the short term and long term.

I for one can't wait, and don't really care about the result!

[Ankit 3,176]

'For me, it's perfect we made mistakes so that we have them to work on. As I said last week, we had five victories in pre-season and zero points. Now we have five victories and one defeat, we still have zero points, it's not a drama.'

'They play in La Liga, we play in the Premier League, if we meet them in the Champions League and lose it's a different story but a summer tournament is a summer tournament.'-Jose Mourinho

[Dion 2,476]

3-1 against one of the absolute best sides in the world (Bayern, Barca and Madrid) is not bad at all, considering our line-ups, changes and missing two of our nailed on starters Luiz and Mata.

The attitude may not have been the best, but seriously CALM down. I've just read the post-match thoughts of Mourinho, and I completely agree. Preseason is the time to make mistakes so he can analyse them and correct them. We have a young team, and they are bound to make mistakes throughout a season, and show dire attitude too. If we overreact everytime this happens, Roman may as well end up doing something stupid.

Give the team some support (not blindly), Madrid is not easy opponent. Considering our victories against Inter and Milan with the exact same youthful setup and the vast changes made at halftime, I think this team has an unbelievable amount of potential both in the short term and long term.

I for one can't wait, and don't really care about the result!

Totally agree. We've learned more in this game than in all other pre-season games together. If pre-season ended before we faced RM we wouldn't have realized there's still a lot of work to do before we can take on the top3 teams in the world today.