Closed Hull City 0-2 Chelsea

[silviupastean 135]

although he hardly had a save to make, voted for Petr for his 209th clean sheet.

Hazard deserved it though!

[laura90 556]

People seem to overreact though about our 'lack of style'. First of all this is a lie, we have a style. We don't rely on our individual brilliance as much as people make it out to be. When you have such a brilliant defensive work done by the opponent ofc you're going to rely on individual plays! breaking collectively is hard because the other team makes it hard. I don't understand most complaints people had about that first half. It was a difficult first half, playing away against a very solid team. What was the expectation?

You can write a novel about our 'style of football' but it all comes to this:

When we score more than oposition it's great.

When we don't score or score less it sucks.

Effective football and clean sheets don't mean our style is inspiring and nice to watch, especially for neutrals.

In fact most of them say, and I agree, that with the talents we have, our style is rather pedestrian.

Of course winning ugly is better than losing with a style, but top teams usually manage both: winning and somewhat nice to watch football.

I wouldn't mind this football today if it doesn't happen in at least 6 out of 10 games we play.

What's even more astonishing than repeatedly moaning about midfield, is the fact that in last 5 transfer windows we got about 7 attacking midfielders and not 1 proper central midfielder.

Happy with win though. May long these clean sheets continue, Hazard and Oscar will need them.

[The only place to be 11,313]

especially for neutrals.

Are you a neutral? Then fuck'em.

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

We came. We saw. We conquered. Things starting to shape up well and defence looks rock solid this days. Move on now, big game coming. Hazard motm

[Irakozium257 350]

It was so worth it to go to bed at around 8 am gmt +1 after a great night out and wake up right at kick-off to watch the game. The team really played well collectively, and I'm so grateful that Hazard is showing what we've needed in ages, a player that gives you good vibes when he's on the ball and challenging defenders. To say that his goal was sublime would be an understatement. I was disappointed in how Oscar handled the ball on that first big chance, just shoot the ball in a primitive manner for more possibility of the keeper having no chance of saving FFS, I hate it when players try to score in a slick manner in a tight situation, it's not a video game, just shoot the fucking ball primitively, however awkward it looks. Torres really is frustrating, as in you want him to do well, but he keeps showing cowardly hesitation body language, but my god I went nuts when he scored, so kudos for him, but he really fucking needs to start exhibiting confidence and believing in himself for his own sake. A huge S/O to the CFC fans at the game. I was so happy seeing them celebrating and hearing their chants.

[Beirut_Blues 306]

yaaa

[Barbara 15,149]

You can write a novel about our 'style of football' but it all comes to this:

When we score more than oposition it's great.

When we don't score or score less it sucks.

Effective football and clean sheets don't mean our style is inspiring and nice to watch, especially for neutrals.

In fact most of them say, and I agree, that with the talents we have, our style is rather pedestrian.

Of course winning ugly is better than losing with a style, but top teams usually manage both: winning and somewhat nice to watch football.

I wouldn't mind this football today if it doesn't happen in at least 6 out of 10 games we play.

What's even more astonishing than repeatedly moaning about midfield, is the fact that in last 5 transfer windows we got about 7 attacking midfielders and not 1 proper central midfielder.

Happy with win though. May long these clean sheets continue, Hazard and Oscar will need them.

yeah, but there are difficult matches even for Barça and Bayern on their best days. Today was a difficult match but it wasn't ugly by any standards imo. We did what we had to do, it wasn't only about being effective, but especially being in control and having patience. We knew we were the best team and we tired them out and then played our game in the second. It seems strategical more than lacking inspiration. I'll take those matches along with some great performances we did have this season already.

My point had nothing to do with ugliness or inspiration, but how people simply overlooked the difficulty of the match. It was a tough match and that's why we didn't dominate, despite controlling. I think expecting that is being grounded... I didn't expect any less before or during the match. Hull is one of the best teams in the league playing at their turf and they had only conceded 6 goals there in all season (and they had a bad day in the office when they've conceded those three goals to ManU a week ago).

At the end of the day we're a better team than we've been in years imo. We're progressing right now and the prospects are good. I can see some serious evolution in the style, in the effectiveness, but also a lot of maturity, calm and patience when it's required. A lot of steps in the right direction and when we're finally the finished product I'm sure it'll be more beautiful and inspiring to watch. But then again that's my take of it. I'm not one of those people who's thirsty to see pretty, inspiring football by a team. I'm in for entertaining, good football with our players have a beautiful, inspiring moment a few times in the match. I'm here to be entertained by the match and many times I am without it being beautiful or inspiring. So at the end of the day it's how you approach the sport and what you expect from it. I've enjoyed a big deal our latest matches (before this one) and have been quite entertained by them, so I'm good with the team, the progress, the style, the evolution...

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Ended up being a pretty routine, workmanlike performance from the Blues! Early away fixtures have been a bit of an achilles heel recently but from the looks of it Jose had the team well drilled on what to expect and in the end we won it comfortably.

Lets just get this out of the way, Eden Hazard is looking a cut above everyone in the league at his position. Its not even close really, He's looking like he will be a perennial Ballon D'or candidate, only a matter of time.

Luiz in the midfield is starting to look like a masterstroke from Jose. His range of passing is unbelievable and I just love it when he hits it first time into space for our attackers to run on to... That will come off real soon its inches not yards.

The back 4 were never threatened. Terry got off to a bad start but the rest never played a foot wrong. Gonna be interesting to see what happens when Brana is back, Cole and Azpilicueta have been sound.

People can complain all they want about Torres... The objective of the striker is to score, he did that so job done. It was a very important goal too.

We are looking the business brothers and sisters! Rock solid in the back and lethal in attack!

I'll be at Stamford Bridge for Utd next week and I can't think of a better game for a first Chelsea game! CAN'T WAIT!!!

Up the Chels!

[manpe 10,861]

Decent game, very pleased. Exactly what you would expect from a chilly January afternoon against a resilient mid-table side away from home. These are the type of games that can ultimately decide the champion, so putting all the inevitable nigglings aside, all is well.

[didierforever 7,349]

brilliant win. TOP OF THE TABLE. we found it real hard to break hull down and it had to be a piece of brilliance which would have helped us across. also the timing of the goal was PERFECT, i think. jose was going to gamble with probably taking out a defender. anyways hazard was brilliant, luiz started very slow but by the end was simply running the match. deserved win and top of the table for atleast 24 hours.

cech - 209th clean sheet for chelsea. LEGEND. dint have much to do though today (it seems like a pattern now, our GKs dont have anything to do these days). a few long range shots were all he had to deal with. 7/10

cole- brilliant link up play. its not everyday that AC gets involved offensively and even has an impact but he definitely did today. that chip pass to put hazard thru was delicious and that link up with EH for the goal was exactly what we needed to break down a solid defence. 9/10

JT - some very uncharacteristic mistakes. missed a couple of clearances too as well as gave away that ball. not a great performance. 6/10

GC- ANOTHER brilliant game. and the operative word here is another. he has been a new player since the sunderland fiasco. covered JT perfectly and even his passing today was good. 8/10

azpi - another flawless display. and that is what he does. nothing flashy. reminds me so much of paulo. 8/10

luiz - as i said above, started slowly, a few poor passes, gave the ball away cheaply, sometimes in the first half he even got in the way of oscar and willian but a brilliant second half performance. some of the headed clearances were superb, his ball winning was emaculate and was a beast in the 2nd half. 8/10

rambo - quiet performance. barely saw him on the ball. mainly it was luiz who ran the show. tried to take a couple of bustling runs but gave the ball away more often than not. 6/10

oscar - workrate was rate, as usual, but simply lacked that final pass to break down a packed defence. does not have that mata-esque pass to create problems in the defence.missed a great oppurtunity to put us 1-0 up in the first half and had his shot blocked brilliantly in the second. 7/10

willian - bombastic. he was everywhere except probably on the wings giving us some much needed width. but nonethless brilliant workrate and football. he has really cemented his position in the team. 8/10

hazard - when i used to critisize him for putting an "average" performance, people used to chastise me. i did that because THIS is the performances that hazard should be putting. magical. the difference between a 0-0 and 2-0. the difference between a team winning/fighting for the PL and a team fighting for top 4. i have said that hazard can be our ronaldo. he can be our EH17 rather than CR7. he IS that special and there is no doubt about it. from the first moment it seemed that if we score it would involve EH in some way. he would be central to our goal and he perfectly was. i hope he continues in the same vein. 10/10

torres - brilliantly taken goal. to even think people want etoo to start over him is laughable. as soon as we scored and the game opened up, he really got into it. won a lot of air balls, ran at defenders, closed players down. definitely our 1st striker among the 3 we have right now. but had a poor first half and worse was how much he was out of the game for most of the time in the first 45 minutes. 7/10

subs -

mikel - did what he does best. broke up the play a couple of times and started the counters. provided a good shield along with luiz. 7/10

schurrle & essien - n/a

[sutro 1,026]

brilliant win. TOP OF THE TABLE. we found it real hard to break hull down and it had to be a piece of brilliance which would have helped us across. also the timing of the goal was PERFECT, i think. jose was going to gamble with probably taking out a defender. anyways hazard was brilliant, luiz started very slow but by the end was simply running the match. deserved win and top of the table for atleast 24 hours.

cech - 209th clean sheet for chelsea. LEGEND. dint have much to do though today (it seems like a pattern now, our GKs dont have anything to do these days). a few long range shots were all he had to deal with. 7/10

cole- brilliant link up play. its not everyday that AC gets involved offensively and even has an impact but he definitely did today. that chip pass to put hazard thru was delicious and that link up with EH for the goal was exactly what we needed to break down a solid defence. 9/10

JT - some very uncharacteristic mistakes. missed a couple of clearances too as well as gave away that ball. not a great performance. 6/10

GC- ANOTHER brilliant game. and the operative word here is another. he has been a new player since the sunderland fiasco. covered JT perfectly and even his passing today was good. 8/10

azpi - another flawless display. and that is what he does. nothing flashy. reminds me so much of paulo. 8/10

luiz - as i said above, started slowly, a few poor passes, gave the ball away cheaply, sometimes in the first half he even got in the way of oscar and willian but a brilliant second half performance. some of the headed clearances were superb, his ball winning was emaculate and was a beast in the 2nd half. 8/10

rambo - quiet performance. barely saw him on the ball. mainly it was luiz who ran the show. tried to take a couple of bustling runs but gave the ball away more often than not. 6/10

oscar - workrate was rate, as usual, but simply lacked that final pass to break down a packed defence. does not have that mata-esque pass to create problems in the defence.missed a great oppurtunity to put us 1-0 up in the first half and had his shot blocked brilliantly in the second. 7/10

willian - bombastic. he was everywhere except probably on the wings giving us some much needed width. but nonethless brilliant workrate and football. he has really cemented his position in the team. 8/10

hazard - when i used to critisize him for putting an "average" performance, people used to chastise me. i did that because THIS is the performances that hazard should be putting. magical. the difference between a 0-0 and 2-0. the difference between a team winning/fighting for the PL and a team fighting for top 4. i have said that hazard can be our ronaldo. he can be our EH17 rather than CR7. he IS that special and there is no doubt about it. from the first moment it seemed that if we score it would involve EH in some way. he would be central to our goal and he perfectly was. i hope he continues in the same vein. 10/10

torres - brilliantly taken goal. to even think people want etoo to start over him is laughable. as soon as we scored and the game opened up, he really got into it. won a lot of air balls, ran at defenders, closed players down. definitely our 1st striker among the 3 we have right now. 8/10

subs -

mikel - did what he does best. broke up the play a couple of times and started the counters. provided a good shield along with luiz. 7/10

schurrle & essien - n/a

After every game im looking forward to read your player ratings, great stuff

[didierforever 7,349]

After every game im looking forward to read your player ratings, great stuff

thanks mate.

[Henrique 9,133]

I can't believe the reactions here when the match was 0-0. The team was okay, and the win was a matter of time. Same about the Brazilian commentators bitching about the "lack of creativity". For me its cleat that its not the same as the first matches of the season, when the team was boring, lacked urgency, and the goal always looked like an impossible task.

I'm glad we scored when Mourinho was planning changes. In fact I dont see how Mata or Schurlle would have helped the team today. Mata is not a player for this kind of away match, Willian and Oscar were both having a good match.

The team was solid, and it never looked like Hull would scored (in other matches, when the opponent was attacking you just get the felling that they would score at some point). Ramires had a bad game by his standards. Luiz was dominant in the air, made some good interceptions, despite his horrendous shoot in the beginning of the 2nd half, he had a good game. I think its just funny that Mourinho is using Luiz as a DM, he even said days ago that he think Luiz is a very good midfield player, and some thought it was just another bullshit coming from Benitez.

Hazard speaks for himself, and Torres scored, so he redeemed himself after killing 1000 attacking opportunities.

ps: I hope Ivanovic won't be playing as a RB any time soon, Cole and Azi should be our full backs.

[chelsea blue 615]

Goals video :blue scalf: Hazard MOTM

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x19jac2_all-goals-hull-city-vs-chelsea-0-2-11-1-2014_sport

[zolayes 14,489]

I can't believe the reactions here when the match was 0-0. The team was okay, and the win was a matter of time. Same about the Brazilian commentators bitching about the "lack of creativity". For me its cleat that its not the same as the first matches of the season, when the team was boring, lacked urgency, and the goal always looked like an impossible task.

I'm glad we scored when Mourinho was planning changes. In fact I dont see how Mata or Schurlle would have helped the team today. Mata is not a player for this kind of away match, Willian and Oscar were both having a good match.

The team was solid, and it never looked like Hull would scored (in other matches, when the opponent was attacking you just get the felling that they would score at some point). Ramires had a bad game by his standards. Luiz was dominant in the air, made some good interceptions, despite his horrendous shoot in the beginning of the 2nd half, he had a good game. I think its just funny that Mourinho is using Luiz as a DM, he even said days ago that he think Luiz is a very good midfield player, and some thought it was just another bullshit coming from Benitez.

Hazard speaks for himself, and Torres scored, so he redeemed himself after killing 1000 attacking opportunities.

ps: I hope Ivanovic won't be playing as a RB any time soon, Cole and Azi should be our full backs.

ive stopped reading the match thread while the game is going on ,, PANIC ,,IMPATIENCE and NEGATIVITY live there

[dee25 1,044]

I said at half time that the most important thing is that we didn't concede a goal. That, to me, is the difference between our performances of late.....we're a lot more in control of games now & better adapt at coping with pressure from the opponent. So I feel we're making huge improvements.

Also very impressed with Torres, he was pretty much shit for the majority of the game but at the very least, he worked hard, kept going till the end and reaped the rewards from that effort. It would have been nice to see him applaud the away fans, who are continuously so supportive of him & chant his name every time but hats off to Hazard (and the others) for thanking the fans.

Effective football and clean sheets don't mean our style is inspiring and nice to watch, especially for neutrals.

In fact most of them say, and I agree, that with the talents we have, our style is rather pedestrian.

Of course winning ugly is better than losing with a style, but top teams usually manage both: winning and somewhat nice to watch football.

Pretty much agree. In all honesty, the passing worries me & it's not just a problem that pertains only to the double pivot.....the whole team's passing is very sloppy & below the standards of a top team. But I think you might be expecting too much. It's a gradual process, we've improved on our ball recovery & our defensive organization, yes we need to improve on our attack but it's all a process.

This is the first time since Carlo's last season that we're actually looking to finish the season with the same manager. The important thing now is that the team is looking like a solid unit, players understand what their roles and responsibilities are & there's actually a viable structure.

Those things need to be in place in order to play the kind of stylistic football that gets results. I feel we're moving in the right direction

The club now needs to do its own part by making funds available to Mourinho & giving him control over transfers so he can bring in the right players.

[nate91 36]

Hazard needs to stop passing and be more individual, that's the way to go if he wants to score more goals. he needs to take on players, he's the best dribbiler I've ever seen in my life.

Uhh... Theirs also that guy Messi.

[The Mak 4,459]

I'm glad we scored when Mourinho was planning changes. In fact I dont see how Mata or Schurlle would have helped the team today. Mata is not a player for this kind of away match, Willian and Oscar were both having a good match.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing...

[Cech's helmet 220]

Our movement without the ball has changed 360 degrees from what we've been seeing for the last few years. every player is trying to win the ball back; it's refreshing to see us pressuring teams and not letting them have their time build from the back.

[borriske 330]

Uhh... Theirs also that guy Messi.

vs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g1hs-Cxjno

still messi for me

Still, they have a very similar style of dribbling, just gliding past players. Always found him more 'the next messi' rather than 'the next CR7'