Closed Swindon 0-2 Chelsea

[Azpinator 2,325]

Y'all praising Torres but the way I see it is that he plays better with Mata around. They have great connection. That being said, he still misses sitters which isn't good at all.

KDB was the worst player on the pitch, others at least tried, Willian was quiet but unlucky not to score.

Hmmm I think Willian was the worst, had more minutes but it was mostly him being fast an all.. and it looks like he doesn't know how to make a proper cross and don't get me started on his finishing. KDB has some problems of getting past defenders but his passing is still good, he made an accurate final pass to Torres which was wasted and had a really dangerous volley. Bertrand was better than Willian. I know it's early but I wish we kept Moses instead of paying that amount for Willian.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Why is making a critique so attacked here?

It doesn't matter if it's 'just' Swindon with a 'B team'. This 'B' team has guys who were A-team last season like Mata, Luiz, Torres, Azpilicueta etc. It's not like they've just come into the squad not knowing who anyone is. The fact that it's Swindon doesn't make an ounce of difference when we're discussing how poor the finishing was tonight and other justified criticisms.

Yes, Torres was the best player on the pitch tonight, but that doesn't mean you can disregard the sitters he missed tonight. This is the most positive we've seen him play for a while and perhaps if we weren't playing Tottenham you could make a case that he does need a run of games. I personally think he shouldn't play against Tottenham because we can't afford the luxury of having him get into those positions and not finding the net.

Essien was a positive too, he was disciplined and showed there's still something in his worn out legs to carry us forward at times, but he didn't do enough to play against Spurs either IMO. It's a shame Ramires got injured because he and Mikel would have been a shoe in to be starting on Saturday, hopefully Lampard will be up for it because Ramires and MGV won't be playing.

Mata and KDB weren't impressive. Those two, however, I think it's fair to put blame on match fitness.. They haven't played much and it really did show tonight.

That being said, thankfully there weren't that many lapses in concentration and so I'm quite content with this result and subsequent performance. I just hope the tempo will be raised on Saturday, with the equal/extended concentration applied.

[TrippingStep 336]

I'm slightly worried about the players' fitness to be honest. Not physically, but technically. Too many of them playing sub-par. Of course it could come down to a motivation problem - but then I have a problem with them... they're professionals, fighting for positions should be a natural process to them.

But of course they're only human and maybe can't help how they feel. Either way I'm very disappointed with Mata, Kev and Luiz*. All of them could have done better, should have done better, but they were disappointing.

Mata had a few moments, but I feel not remotely enough to put a doubt on Mourinho's head. Kev was awful. And Luiz had one of those displays that make people so unsure about him. Too eager to go forward (before he was in the pivot), a little flustered in the defense, but his case isn't lost because Cahill was even worse. Usual Cahill mistakes that from time to time he does. So between the two of them I'd pick Terry

As for the match itself, I'm happy with it. We won, it wasn't as good as I expected, but Swindon played quite the decent match - especially defensively. I've seen worse defending by Wigan and Villa in City and Spurs goals.

If I were Mourinho I would add another hour to their daily training schedule just to the whole team could work on their finishing. It's hideous. At some point those many wasted chances will start to cause damage (more than it already did against Everton and Basel) and it's something I can only see improving with a lot of practicing...

Willian was also below par, but at least in his case we can understand as he hasn't play any match in 45 days prior to joining us, but still some mistakes he had there (especially in the goal chances) had little to do with fitness and more with sharpness.

Except the fitness aspect where I don't know what they have done, I think the simple explanation is that our attacking midfielders are struggling because of the slow build-up and lack of connection and clear patterns between our players. Not enough quick one touch passes in the build up and 1-2-3 moves in the final third.

[bushman 2,043]

Because he performed average against a team like Swindon? Makes sense..

Perhaps, you have not seen him well ?

The game against Swindon, there was nothing that indicated the team is playing well. Where is Jose´s project, if I may ask ?

Players that played last night are not in form. Some might say, they had a chance to show their stuff, but...

On Saturday, most likely none will play against the Spurs. Personally, I am worried whether Chelsea even score one goal, then.

[Stingray 9,441]

Except the fitness aspect where I don't know what they have done, I think the simple explanation is that our attacking midfielders are struggling because of the slow build-up and lack of connection and clear patterns between our players. Not enough quick one touch passes in the build up and 1-2-3 moves in the final third.

Yeah, but the lack of initiative, daring to do stuff, simple misplaced passes indicate low confidence levels as well, as I see it.

[Special Juan 28,141]

Still reading lots of negativity on here, it's as if nobody can be happy anymore with a win and everything has to be stripped down and people are looking for things to moan at.

A very professional job done last night, I'm pleased for Torres and hope he can produce that and more, I think that just may of gotten him a start against Spurs looking at Jose's reaction at HT. Quite easy to underestimate these sort of team at this stage of the competition and we did everything and more to make sure it wasn't a banana skin.

Absolute class goal from Ramires, I have said it before and will say it again I think he is the best finisher at the club I really do. Thought Mata did well considering the lack of game time and also thought Willian did well showing a great turn of pace and unlucky not to score.

Another step closer to Wembley........Carefree!!!

[spidy 33]

OK let's talk ....

schwarzer = if it's not for that cracky clearnce in the beggining of the match I would say he's superb

bertrand = great berformance I liked the sprint he did in 2nd half and BA passed to him on the left flank

LUIZ = I like when he takes the ball and try to build up from the back line, I always like him when he is in midfield

cahil = thumbs up

JT = C . L . L .. what more can I say

azpi = TBH IMO he deserve to be our No.1 right back, Ivanovic can play as CB or backup RB

MVG= he was lost in that match befoer getting injured . needs more time

Essien = was my 2nd MOTM ... really impressed

willian = either he's getting bad because of that russian league or he needs more time to adabt ... in this match he was SHIT

Mata = felling sorry for him but Mourinho wins the challange he did nothing but that magnificeant pass to Torres which hit the head of the keeper.

KDB= he must do better than what he did !! disappointed

BA = great movment on the wing .. was a real threat though he played little time.

TORRES = MOTM .... scored, creat . did a lot of good job ... he is our best striker yet.

it's my own opinion

[Special Juan 28,141]

That save from Schwarzer from the header which was offside has gone un-noticed.....Absolute incredible save.

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Schwarzer and azpi were brilliant.Such a shame about MVG's injury,poor guy

[didierforever 7,349]

we did what we had to do. the scoreline could have been MIGHTILY different if we had finished our chances, i mean kdb should have been on the scoresheet, willian should have been on it twice, torres twice. should have been 5-0/6-0. our finishing altogether is POOR and i can safely say that among the 25 people squad if u give me an option of choosing one player who i would like to have the ball when any of our player goes one-on-one with the opposition GK, then i would say it should be RAMBO. just goes on to show how poor the finishing of our strikers and AMs is.

here is my take on the players

schwarzer - good display. the reflex to stop that goal on the line (even though it was off) was brilliant. the distribution was good too except for that one poor kick. 8.5/10

azpi - should be our no.1 RB. gives so much more in attack and performs the duties of a RB by closing wingers. but sometimes lets players take runs behind him. i m not sure he knew where the striker was when that guy went one v one on schwarzer but was called off. happens too often with azpi. still a very solid performanc. 8/10

cahill - very unlike cahill performance.too many mistakes from him. he has been solid for us this season so far and i hope it continues. 6/10

luiz - keeps wanting to go ahead. makes mistakes. i can easily see him being relegated to our 3rd choice CB. shame since he is such a talent. 7/10

bertrand- solid. provides so much more than cole in attack. should have had atleast one assist. defensively was brilliant too. he should be getting a lot more playing time than he currently is.8.5/10

mvg - unlucky. injured. dint get much time.

essien - impressive. made some great runs in the mid like the BISON of old. 8/10

willian - poor finishing, poor link-up play, brilliant workrate. give him time to settle, he ll be great. 6/10

kdb - was not much impressed. should have been on the scoresheet. 6/10

mata - dint do much in the match. put torres one on one but that is pretty much it. but did try defensively and committed fouls deep in our half but just dint do anything to get him into the TOTTENHAM match. 7/10

torres - brilliant. MOTM for me. good hold up play, brilliant runs. 9/10

subs -

ramires - our best mid-fielder by a mile. our best finisher by our mile. i ll be gutted and we ll have a very very hard time if he is injured. 8.5/10

JT - our best CB by a mile. 8/10

BA - was better on the wings than kdb and willian. 8/10

[spidy 33]

do any one notice ...

what if we kept moses and marin instead of willian ..... !!!

I think it would be better...

I'm not pushing willian out but he needs time beside we had moses so I don't see why we got him YET

[AndersonBLUE 819]

Did you have cow dung smeared on your screen at home ?

What? He was awful the whole match, bad passes, missed chances and running around like a headless chicken. He only got into decent positions a couple of times, dunno what you were watching mate.

[Jase 43,479]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn-9jvyG01w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GEA-eFciG4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA-gYpmHgUk

[Sidzeret 2,257]

Would have been a massive victory if we had finished off our chances and had a little bit of luck.

Atleast we did what we do best- creating chances.

[Kish9 50]

Nyome know if the draw is televised tonight or link to stream it maybe?

[Stats 7,142]

We got the job done but I really do hate it when post-match analysts say "Chelsea done a professional job" etc. Makes us sound like we are a defensive minded team who don't have an interest in playing an attractive style. Same thing I heard after the game against Fulham. I hope we turn on the style against some team where we absolutely batter them!

[Jase 43,479]

Pat Nevin analyzing the game with main focus on Mata and Torres. Well worth a watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYEZ37xg8sw

[Stingray 9,441]

Pat Nevin analyzing the game with main focus on Mata and Torres. Well worth a watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYEZ37xg8sw

Loved that tbh.