Closed Chelsea 1-2 Basel

[Hazardinho 88]

Kdb??? Best man in pre-season, man of de match against Hull, 60 bad minutes at Man u, star with NT, therr's just too much competition in midfield.

[Jase 43,479]

After the game yesterday, I was feeling rather dejected, restless and disappointed about the result and performance. But now, am feeling pissed off about it as well. It's a mess. It's simply a freaking mess everywhere! We have quite a number of players being overplayed and some being underplayed, for whatever reason, and then constant changes to the midfield and striker. As Henrique mentioned in the Mourinho thread, one game we suddenly see Ramires-Lampard in the pivot, the next Mikel-Ramires, Mikel-Lampard and then suddenly Lampard-MvG. Further forward, we have had five different attacking trio combo been used in the 6 games played so far and then the striker, we've gone from Torres to Ba to Schurrle to Torres and finally Eto'o. There's just no consistency in the lineup!

It feels as though Mourinho has picked those teams based on the oppositions that we have faced. He's reacting to them which then result in different approaches being taken from one game to another. With the exception of the first half against Hull, we haven't had any sort of consistency or fluidity in our play. It has looked disjointed and with players looking clueless with what they are supposed to do. It's probably time that Mourinho settles on a consistent starting XI and then making subtle changes here and there to the lineup rather constantly chopping and changing things around. It's not helping the team's performance and it's not helping the players' performances at all!

Moreover, it's an absolute joke that we keep on spending to buy so many attacking midfielders, even though they are talented and quality, in the team but turning a blind eye on the more fundamental flaws in the team like our midfield and striker. Can understand the purchase Schurrle to begin with earlier in the summer. Was bought to bolster the squad depth and by that time, we already had 6 AMs in Mata, Oscar, Hazard, De Bruyne, Schurrle and Moses which was good enough. But instead, we decided to waste another 30m for another AM that we don't need and not spending it on areas that really needed to be fixed like the midfield or striker! The more I look and think about it, don't think the club had any intention of getting Willian this summer. The club may have been keeping an eye on him but probably Spurs were close to signing him, we decided to just suddenly go out and sign him. It's almost like a similar situation with Oscar last season though his addition was welcomed then due to our lack of quality in the team.

Going back to the point, it's absolutely pointless to have all these bright attacking midfielders if the midfield duo or pivot behind them is being dysfunctional and then having an average striker upfront. There's just nobody in that midfield that can help keep possession, dictate the tempo and orchestrate our attack from deep areas without having to rely so much on our attacking trio and then not having a striker that can put away those chances created. Instead, we have to over-rely on those trio to drop deep and help the midfield out and even score the goals!

And also, for all these attacking players we have, it's really hilarious that we are still struggling to break down teams that sit deep after all these years. Basel did that tonight and we looked absolutely clueless and hopeless in breaking them down and ended up having to pass sideways and backwards partly because of their pressing and also the lack of movement from our players to pull them apart, get them out of shape etc. This problem has been apparent since the 2010/11 season and yet every manager that comes in after that can never seem to get it right and they seem to make it even worse everytime! There are just so many issues that need to be ironed out right now. It's absolutely frustrating!

[Kunter 22]

I was a little disapointed with the ine up but ok JM knows best.

In the first half we were not good enough and I expected JM to get the team focused in the halftime.

But that didn´t happen.

The first time we showed some fire was after 1:2. too late...

A deserved loss. Very dissapointing because it puts a lot of pressure on our team.

[Special Juan 28,141]

The fact Jose started with van ginkel and lampard tells me he underestimated Basel and this was his worst decision yet.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

Absolute Fukin joke.

Hazard, Luiz, Cole, Lampard deserve to get dropped

Lampard was our second best player last night and has actually been one of our better players all season. He had 4 key passes last night and was instrumental in almost all of our dangerous play. He seems to be working very well with Oscar in the middle so far, interchanging positions and building a rapport (which can happen when you actually play a string of games in the same position Jose!). Yes, he needs to be rested more and becomes much less effective when he plays too much (like Cole), but Mourinho likes him for a reason. Not only is he still one of our biggest threats going forward, he also does a lot of simple things right. For example, last night Chelsea were dispossessed 11 times and had 19 turnovers. Lampard had 0 of them. (Which brings me to how overrated dribbling can be. There are times when it's incredible, but a lot of the time, a simple pass is better because trying to dribble a lot leads to a lot of turnovers.)

[bushman 2,043]

What´s there to say about the loss ?

Last night´s loss is the result of shitty summer transfer policies. The club spent approximately 60m on unneeded players.

Meanwhile, Jose talks about fucking eggs instead of getting the team ready for respective competition.

The way I saw it, last night. The new players are not ready, unprepared, uncoordinated, the whole team is dis-harmonized. Meanwhile, Hazard plays on the wing, to no avail. Mata hardly plays & if Jose puts him on, nevertheless he is not ready.

The question, what´s next ? More excuses for Jose or Roman gives him 5 more games & sends him packing ?

[Pacquiao 1,834]

time to play 4-1-4-1?

Cech

Ivanovic - Luiz - Terry - Cole

Ramires

Willian - Mata - Oscar - Hazard

Eto'o

[English Freak 456]

Lampard was our second best player last night and has actually been one of our better players all season. He had 4 key passes last night and was instrumental in almost all of our dangerous play. He seems to be working very well with Oscar in the middle so far, interchanging positions and building a rapport (which can happen when you actually play a string of games in the same position Jose!). Yes, he needs to be rested more and becomes much less effective when he plays too much (like Cole), but Mourinho likes him for a reason. Not only is he still one of our biggest threats going forward, he also does a lot of simple things right. For example, last night Chelsea were dispossessed 11 times and had 19 turnovers. Lampard had 0 of them. (Which brings me to how overrated dribbling can be. There are times when it's incredible, but a lot of the time, a simple pass is better because trying to dribble a lot leads to a lot of turnovers.)

Oscar, De Bruyne and Schurrle have shown promising signs...Ramires has been up and down, Cech has done alright...but all in all, most of our players have performed well below the expected standard.

I haven't seen anything great from Lampard this season (apart from that free-kick against Hull)...he can only be classified as one of our better players this season because the rest of the team is performing extremely poorly.

[The only place to be 11,313]

I wasn't at the game but the atmosphere sounded (and felt) so bad. The fans really didn't make The Bridge a fortress tonight.

Nothing new in the group stages...lots of tourists who need the words to songs printed out for them and a cattle prod up their arse.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Solution: stop playing Lampard in the central mid. He creates nothing for the attackers

Except for the assist for the goal...and that ball through for Eto'o to 'run' (as well as a 32 year old Eto'o can) on to.

[coolhead23 1,147]

For starter, Hazard need to be rested for a few games ... not sure if it is confidence which has fallen or he is doing too much on the field ... Oscar was clearly the best player on the field, guess we should start using him or De Bruyne in the pivot along side Ramiers with Mata or De Bruyne in the no 10 role. Reduce the striker's role to just a striker, drop in the ball to him and let him finish it ... most of our strikers are whoever is playing is found everywhere but in the center .... I believe Jose would have to rethink his strategy because whatever he is trying is not working more important there is no more co-ordination among players... i mean same team by the end of the season were playing good one touch with almost the same set of players and now suddenly the pass are not getting completed, positioning is wayward.

I know it is early but i guess in all the games that we played we already have found the gaps so i hope Jose doesnt waste time.

[TrippingStep 336]

Would never have even dreamt this. Abramovich looks disappointed. Is he going to act? Dunno, not sure.

Oh and if someone posts that overreaction posts are coming up, then you are retarded!

WE'VE LOST TO FUCKING BASEL AT HOME, WHAT'S MORE WORTH REACTING THAN THAT!

Rubbish performance, our defence let us down and our attack let us down. Either way even if our defence let us down we should have been able to score 3 goals at least! We won here even under Rafa........

Why do you say even under Rafa.

Napoli won against Dortmund.

And with him, I knew what we were trying to do. And with him, we were playing in much more methodical way in our build-up.

He changed the way players were training to have them capable to play at a higher tempo.

And I really think we could be champion this year if we had kept Benitez, he would have bought midfielders, the physical preparation would have been better and the players were used to his system.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

A probably with that is probably because Mourinho has been reacting, perhaps a tad too much, to the opponents that we've been facing and in the process, constantly changing the midfield and striker. Against Hull, started like a house on fire and absolutely pummeled them with our quick attacking movement and passing. Against Villa, probably because of the threat from counter attacks, we took a more conservative and controlled approach and only narrowly won. At Old Trafford, because it's Man United away from home, we setup to play on the counter and the same thing goes against Bayern. Against Everton, there was like a bit of both and with Basel, we looked to dominate the game but were absolutely clueless and hopeless in breaking them down.

That what i said. Him changing the starting lineup too much has caused no team chemistry in the team.

There is absolutely no width in our team to stretch out opponents, and for some reason the wide players (fullbacks and AMR or AML) refuse to do a simple 1-2 pass and movement or even link up to provide crosses.

[Beirut_Blues 306]

Perfect.

We should be fortunate to get slapped in the face so early in the season.

Not even gona read this thread to avoid the usual bullshit.

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Going back to the point, it's absolutely pointless to have all these bright attacking midfielders if the midfield duo or pivot behind them is being dysfunctional and then having an average striker upfront. There's just nobody in that midfield that can help keep possession, dictate the tempo and orchestrate our attack from deep areas without having to rely so much on our attacking trio and then not having a striker that can put away those chances created. Instead, we have to over-rely on those trio to drop deep and help the midfield out and even score the goals!

This!I was so sure that this summer we would finally add a world class midfielder like moutinho,witsel or De Rossi to the team but nope,jose is happy with essien and 35 year's old lampard who nowadays offers us absolutely nothing except some goals here and there.

[Mouri_Matic 560]

This!I was so sure that this summer we would finally add a world class midfielder like moutinho,witsel or De Rossi to the team but nope,jose is happy with essien and 35 year's old lampard who nowadays offers us absolutely nothing except some goals here and there.

We could of sign Khedira for £15m, De Rossi for £11m, Witsel for £30-£40m and a striker like Cavani/Falcao for £50m but eventually we miss out on them all and decided to sign MVK and Eto'o. Mean while Cavani and Falcao are scoring for fun atm. Sometime you really get what you paid for.

Is this worth it if your free striker scores 2 goals in 10 matches compared to a £50m striker who has scored 5 goals in 6 games and will probably get 15-20 goals by Feb next year?

This is what happen when you are being cheap. If we didn't sign Schurrle and Willian we would have got £48m left that we could use to sign Falcao/Cavani.

[English Freak 456]

This!I was so sure that this summer we would finally add a world class midfielder like moutinho,witsel or De Rossi to the team but nope,jose is happy with essien and 35 year's old lampard who nowadays offers us absolutely nothing except some goals here and there.

Yeh, could of spent that 30 million on a top-class central midfielder. But for some reason, we just had to buy Willian.

Our situation is like what Zidane said when Madrid sold Makelele..'why add another player of gold paint when your taking away the engine'.

Unfortunately at Chelsea, our midfield engine isn't good enough.

[Special Juan 28,141]

Perfect.

We should be fortunate to get slapped in the face so early in the season.

Not even gona read this thread to avoid the usual bullshit.

Well if it's bullshit then how about adding your own take so we can all dissect what bullshit you post.

Two can play that game.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Please elaborate. What positives did you take from this game?

Well Oscar had a great game. He was involved in every thing, scored a great goal and almost scored an absolute stunner. Could have had a couple of assists as well if it weren't for some bad finishing. I also thought Willian did very well for his first game with the club. Looked threatening on that right wing and like he was always favorite to beat his man. Tried to put in a few crosses which is something we usually lack, but could have used Azpi instead of Iva behind him for the overlap. Eto'o was better than the Everton game. His movement was very good, especially in the first half, he's just missing that final touch, atm. I think Jose maybe, should have started with two strikers, because Eto'o moves very well but he isn't a huge threat in the box.

It was decent performance by the boys, but the inexperience of our key players in finishing the game off has cost us again. Tbf, Basel played an incredible game, both tactically and individually, they were brilliant and Salah proved why he won the award for best youngster in Africa. But it's a game of very small margins. At 1-0 Hazard, one-on-one with the keeper, if he hits the back of the net like he should instead of finding row-z, we would have won 2/3-0 and everyone here would be saying that it was a good performance and a job well done.

[npaul2811 1]

I think we need a power striker, someone like Rooney who could be a powerhouse like Drogba and create a sense of caution in the oppposing defence line. That's the only thing we lack, Hazard needs to wake up, but we all know what happens when he does. i hope we solve the striker issue soon, nobody lose faith in Mou!!