Closed Chelsea 2-0 Fulham

[didierforever 7,349]

sure thing, but we did not play Southampton or Villa, nor did we play away from home.

You know. it's extremely worrying to me that we had to start all our most defensive-minded players at once to play Fulham @ the bridge. Fulham are my pick for relegation,not only for their poor technical display, but especially for how tired they got in the second half. If I were a Fulham fan, I'd be asking what the hell they've been doing in the preseason.

I do understand why Mourinho did what he did though - he said that himself during the pre-game interview (build some confidence). And he also said the result was a lot better than the performance in the post-game interview; he actually said we played better against Everton even though we lost there. I tend to agree.

the team that we played tonight is our first team (maybe except for schurlle). and we will play these "defense-minded" players no matter what. moreover u cant blame mou for being extra-cautious today. a defeat today would have been disastorous. as for fulham, they got some decent players in that side. berba dint play, taraabt, rodalegga. they ll be fine. much like west ham last season. just surviving on the home form.

performance based, everton was a GOOD DISPLAY. we got very unlucky and made a big-big defensive mistake against them. everton is a side which makes u pay for every mistake and that is what happened.

[teignman 441]

Actually Mikel had the most touches in the match with 99. But I agree with your point, and it has been an issues since last season, but it has gotten a little better with Oscar dropping often.

Just to add on to your observation, deep into the second half Brana was leading the team in touches. I found that to be disturbing and rather damning of our play as a whole.

Yeah, I'm aware Mikel had the most touches in the match. My point was that up to a certain point deep in the game Brana had the most. Please don't take this post as being snarky either. I just wanted to clarify my original statement. Pedantic maybe, but definitely not snarky.

[Clevemayer 764]

If Mikel just works on and sharpens up his passing he'd be a brilliant player. Composed on the ball and stays within himself.

A nice run of games and I think he'd lock down a regular spot.

Finally after years and years another one sees The obvious I'm serious. Boy if I had his skills I would be Training 24/7 he Could be one of The greatest hes just soooo lazy

[Jase 43,479]

I made it the 70th minute when we started to look good ,,creating real chances

We only really started to create chances when Fulham tried to open up and chase the game, if you can say that as they didn't seem to bother too much. But anyway, up until then, it was exasperating. No urgency. No tempo. No intensity. No cutting edge upfront. And even though Schurrle did well to 'create' the goal, in the end, we needed a Stockdale error to score.

[Pizy 17,868]

This has nothing to do with the match itself, but did anyone else catch that perfect Eva ass shot when Ramires went down in the first half?

DAYUM!!!

[ulvhedin 474]

Do you know guys that we won every match that Mikel scored?

[Stats 6,990]

Do you know guys that we won every match that Mikel scored?

Well his other ones have been against lower league teams and you would expect to win those

[Jase 43,479]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8TDjZkSqk8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYcw7pZ0O6I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_Md-n_1HUs

[Barbara 15,149]

seeing the vid for Chelsea TV, do you guys remember when he said (I guess against Villa or Hull) that he wouldn't watch them anymore because they put too much pressure on him and something else?

He clearly watched Sky today as he commentated not only on Jamie's comments, but also on the stats comparison between Mata and Oscar.

José

And Oscar is so cute struggling with his English. At least he's trying

[Toli 977]

so mou is criticising Mata in public and saying he should play RW and change his style etc. Could mean that Juan is off already in January. showing no respect for our best player of the last 2 years...unbelievable.

[Fernando 6,387]

Thanks for the vid of Chelsea TV.

Not sure if anyone caught this but in the post match analysis that Mourinho said he mention something very important.

In that what was the point of doing high crosses when Ivan would get the ball?

And this is exactly what I been furious for the last season. When we started playing with RDM last season I would be dumbfounded why Cech would continuously kick the ball up high when he knew our players was small. And this always led to us giving away the possession.

Similar when Ivan would do those crosses into the area, no one will be there cause our team is very small.

Glad he notice this, because this was a major problem for us the last season. This cost us silly possession of the ball.

[Jase 43,479]

so mou is criticising Mata in public and saying he should play RW and change his style etc. Could mean that Juan is off already in January. showing no respect for our best player of the last 2 years...unbelievable.

Have found him to be contradicting really. He said Mata hasn't been playing well, needs to work harder and find that consistency. But yet at the same time, he continues to play Cole, Lampard, Hazard etc when they haven't exactly been doing all those things Mourinho asked Mata to do. And just like before the match today, said he rotated the midfield to keep things fresh after the tough game in midweek but continues to play Hazard when he has been struggling a bit of late.

[Korea 734]

Good win.

Rambo doesn't dart forward a lot this game. I wonder if that were direct Mourinho instructions....

[Barbara 15,149]

Have found him to be contradicting really. He said Mata hasn't been playing well, needs to work harder and find that consistency. But yet at the same time, he continues to play Cole, Lampard, Hazard etc when they haven't exactly been doing all those things Mourinho asked Mata to do. And just like before the match today, said he rotated the midfield to keep things fresh after the tough game in midweek but continues to play Hazard when he has been struggling a bit of late.

I agree about Lamps - and only at some extent. He shouldn't play all matches - today he didn't start - because he can't perform on high level 2x a week, but when he's been fresh, he's played well for us (we could discuss if the partnership with Ramires and Mikel is better. I have different problems with both partnerships because Ramires passing is atrocious and when Lamps is fresh and sharp he has a good pass. Lamps on the other hand is slow, sometimes he doesn't have energy to do anything else but keep pointing to the player with the ball where he should pass the ball - normally in the defensive part of the second third). So Mourinho is being stubborn and contradicting himself there.

I disagree about Cole - but that's because I rate Ryan Bertrand below criticism.

As for Hazard yesterday I would have agreed with you, but today Mourinho said some of those players aren't ready to deal with the pressure... Hazard is having some problems and I can't say the root of them. We can't go all his career giving him excuses such as he's a slow starter that needs a couple of months to peak. That's acceptable when you're 19, 20, 21. It's about time he matures and starts owning his responsibilities as the season starts. How he can do that, I have no idea because I don't know the player [emotionally]. So what if he benches Hazard and instead of challenging him to bring better performances he goes depressed and sad? I'm for real, some players get depressed and/or sad and lose the passion for the sport and it's downhill and it takes weeks/months for them to recover.

Luiz and Mata skins are thicker than that because they're older, but also more rounded [Luiz especially with all the criticism he dealt with in NT when he first started playing for us there - and to a certain extent the criticism he receives in England because of his style]. I'm 100% sure Luiz will respond positively and if I had to guess I'd say Mata will as well. Mourinho said in one of those interviews that Mata is starting next match and that's his chance to prove to Mourinho he can start others. Mourinho said it to the press, what do you think Mata will try to do against Swindon more than anything else?

edit: didn't see it post here, but this is the interview where Mou says Mata will have a chance to prove him in the pitch that he can start

[Steve 10,227]

Match Downloads - http://forum.talkchelsea.net/topic/16822-downloads-chelsea-v-fulham-epl-gameweek-5/

[BluesChick 1,260]

so mou is criticising Mata in public and saying he should play RW and change his style etc. Could mean that Juan is off already in January. showing no respect for our best player of the last 2 years...unbelievable.

Have found him to be contradicting really. He said Mata hasn't been playing well, needs to work harder and find that consistency. But yet at the same time, he continues to play Cole, Lampard, Hazard etc when they haven't exactly been doing all those things Mourinho asked Mata to do. And just like before the match today, said he rotated the midfield to keep things fresh after the tough game in midweek but continues to play Hazard when he has been struggling a bit of late.

He is playing mind games as he always has done. He is pushing at Mata specifically. My guess (or fear) is that he wants Mata unhappy enough to request to permission to transfer but my hope is he is trying to make him fight for his spot. It is hard to say with Jose and one of my least favorite things about him. I detest mind games in any aspect of life.

I was shocked to hear Mikel scored... more than it shocked me to hear that it was his first for Chelsea! Someone above mentioned it above, that he could be a great player if he would just mature and be more composed. I have to agree but I have to wonder how long we are supposed to wait for this to happen. It isn't like he is 20 years old anymore or in his first few seasons.

Happy with the win, have read the review and your comments, but missed the game as it was on after midnight here and already asleep since I was not feeling well.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[The Mak 4,459]

Great to get the win but it wasn't convincing. It easily could've been another disappointing day at the office. I know they say it's a hallmark of a great team to be able to grind out a result or 'win ugly', but that usually implies that the team usually plays well - we really haven't so far this season (Bayern was a different type of game).

I can understand some of José's methods, like playing Brana because he's a boss from set-pieces, but as long as we're unconvincing on the pitch people will be (quite rightly) unconvinced with some of these methods (Mata etc.). Hoping we pick up form a.s.a.p.

One thing though, Hazard should've been dropped before this game.

He's been average thus far and had his worst game ever against Basel and he simply didn't face any repercussion for it. It was Schurrle from the LW who made the difference for the 1st goal today. It's one thing to have all of these quality AMs, but it's another to persist with an out of form player while the rest sit on the bench; Mourinho is asking for trouble if he continues like this.

[English Freak 456]

We needed the win and the 3 points.

The Positive from the game: Mikel finally scores in the PL.