Closed West Brom 1-1 Chelsea

[Special Juan 27,551]

Thought Matic did really well again and Willian also. You also to have to credit WBA too, we allowed them onto us and they really did come at us.

If you had told me that come February we would top of the league I would of been delighted.

[Jase 43,479]

didierforever, on 12 Feb 2014 - 5:12 PM, said:

yes I said all those things cos that is what would happen when a fullback charges against a winger who had the time to take a touch and infact shift the ball to hia right feet. Look at ridgewell's (I think) run. That is how it would have 2 on 1. Look at iva's position when berahino fiest touched the ball. And it was not like iva was positioned poorly but the fact that he was running half the length of the field. if Gc was fit enough he would have xlosed berahino down himself. Also if berahino had got goal side anichebe would have madr that run for sure.

Ivanovic was running half the length of the field?! He was already in the penalty box, in a defensive position when West Brom had the ball and Berahino got it. Moreover, as soon as it was clear Berahino was going to receive the ball, Ivanovic did go out to face the threat but he didn't do it quick and aggressive enough. He allowed all the time and space to him! And this 2 v 1 situation you're talking about, it wouldn't even be possible with Ridgewell a few yards behind Berahino and in line with him when he had the ball. Of course, Berahino can get past Ivanovic but nobody is asking the latter to get dive into a challenge or get very tight for that happen but close and enough pressure to put Berahino off. There's Mikel and even Ramires and Cahill to cover Ivanovic and any danger behind him!

didierforever, on 12 Feb 2014 - 5:12 PM, said:

And in place of all this iva simply let berahino lob the ball in the box, which should have been dealt by luiz.

That doesn't mean Ivanovic should be excused of his mistake.

[Eggman 118]

We may have been woeful, but with Terry instead of Luiz we would still have won the game.

And frankly, Luiz' contributions for build-up play from the back are not worth the backlash of defensive vulnerability. Often his long-range passes end up in no-one's land.

On the other hand, I wasn't a fan of Cahill when the season started, but he looks rock solid now imo.

[Cripen 110]

In my opinion crucial was not that we dont convert our chances (not like we had so much chances yesterday), but that at the end of the match we just let them come at us. We completely lose control of the game. It was look like WBA was that big team and they fight for the equalizer and just outplayed their oponents. Like i said we lost the control of the game and it wasn't so hard to predict that they will score.

[TrippingStep 336]

I think our problem this year against this kind of team is that if our offensive players don't make difference, we are struggling and even if they do, they have not often good options in the box as we often have seen players in the box do the same run towards the small box and not differents runs to stretch the defenders and not have them have easy by staying in line.

The fullbacks are also much less used in the build-up of play.

As our central defender are staying deeper, it means our fullbacks and central midfielders have less margin to do damages in the opponent half.

Against Hull, in the first half, they were doing an analysis of our play and it was the 4 offensive players that had to do everything in the final third against 8 defensive players, not very easy.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

yes I said all those things cos that is what would happen when a fullback charges against a winger who had the time to take a touch and infact shift the ball to hia right feet. Look at ridgewell's (I think) run. That is how it would have 2 on 1. Look at iva's position when berahino fiest touched the ball. And it was not like iva was positioned poorly but the fact that he was running half the length of the field. if Gc was fit enough he would have xlosed berahino down himself. Also if berahino had got goal side anichebe would have madr that run for sure.

And in place of all this iva simply let berahino lob the ball in the box, which should have been dealt by luiz.

He gets to about 5-6 yards away from him and just stops like he often does. When the winger touches the ball and switches it to his right foot, Iva makes no attempt what so ever to pressure him and put him off, he just stands there:

[Special Juan 27,551]

He gets to about 5-6 yards away from him and just stops like he often does. When the winger touches the ball and switches it to his right foot, Iva makes no attempt what so ever to pressure him and put him off, he just stands there:

Yep, should be right in his face yet he chose to be more worried about his hands behind his back.

Shove him to his left side and you don't have a problem.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

It's very easy to play good football against teams that play good football themselves. Newcastle gave a really good account for themselves on Saturday by attacking us. It gives us the time and space to counter. West Brom are just another lower table team that can't afford to be so suicidal. The people saying this would have been an easy win, I hope you feel stupid. No such thing as an easy win.

I told my mate yesterday that I had a bad feeling we wouldn't win. Wish I'd have put money on the draw.

[BleedsBlue 1,549]

Matic and Willian played really well. The result stings a little but there were a lot of positives and credit to WBA for not giving up.

I really do not think we need to panic about this result. We just need to kill games early on and not heavily rely upon a 1 goal lead.

[TrippingStep 336]

He gets to about 5-6 yards away from him and just stops like he often does. When the winger touches the ball and switches it to his right foot, Iva makes no attempt what so ever to pressure him and put him off, he just stands there:

I don't understand the hands behind the back that some players do, ok if you're in your box and just staying in your position is good but otherwise you're just hampering yourself as you can't move and have a quick reaction with your hands in your back.

[TrippingStep 336]

It's very easy to play good football against teams that play good football themselves. Newcastle gave a really good account for themselves on Saturday by attacking us. It gives us the time and space to counter. West Brom are just another lower table team that can't afford to be so suicidal. The people saying this would have been an easy win, I hope you feel stupid. No such thing as an easy win.

I told my mate yesterday that I had a bad feeling we wouldn't win. Wish I'd have put money on the draw.

I had also a bad feeling, especially when I was reading that it snowed in the afternoon in that region and meaning that the pitch would be quite heavy, as that is the worst conditions for our offensive players that are relying on quick change of direction.

[manpe 10,861]

I don't understand the hands behind the back that some players do, ok if you're in your box and just staying in your position is good but otherwise you're just hampering yourself as you can't move and have a quick reaction with your hands in your back.

And to be fair refs rarely give the handball in those situations unless you intentionally flap your arms about. He wasn't even in the box. But meh, whatever, it was probably one of those split second decisions he made not really thinking it through, it happens.

[Jase 43,479]

Just want to throw in this...

Chelsea are now unbeaten in their last 11 Premier League matches - W8 D3; the longest unbeaten they have had in one season since 2007/08 where the Blues went unbeaten in 21 league games between December 2007 and May 2008 - W15 D6.

[Jase 43,479]

Matic and Willian played really well. The result stings a little but there were a lot of positives and credit to WBA for not giving up.

I really do not think we need to panic about this result. We just need to kill games early on and not heavily rely upon a 1 goal lead.

No reason to panic yes but unfortunately, we are not that good in killing games/teams off early.

I don't understand the hands behind the back that some players do, ok if you're in your box and just staying in your position is good but otherwise you're just hampering yourself as you can't move and have a quick reaction with your hands in your back.

Ivanovic always seem to do that and even Luiz too who has a tendency to do the same.

[didierforever 7,349]

Ivanovic was running half the length of the field?! He was already in the penalty box, in a defensive position when West Brom had the ball and Berahino got it. Moreover, as soon as it was clear Berahino was going to receive the ball, Ivanovic did go out to face the threat but he didn't do it quick and aggressive enough. He allowed all the time and space to him! And this 2 v 1 situation you're talking about, it wouldn't even be possible with Ridgewell a few yards behind Berahino and in line with him when he had the ball. Of course, Berahino can get past Ivanovic but nobody is asking the latter to get dive into a challenge or get very tight for that happen but close and enough pressure to put Berahino off. There's Mikel and even Ramires and Cahill to cover Ivanovic and any danger behind him!

That doesn't mean Ivanovic should be excused of his mistake.

half the BREADTH of the field (my mistake there). Dude. Watch again how far iva was when berahino got the ball. He was running and charging towards him from an LCB position where he was coveribg for GC. At that moment not commitibg himself and letting him get goalside was rhe better option.

[Jase 43,479]

half the BREADTH of the field (my mistake there). Dude. Watch again how far iva was when berahino got the ball. He was running and charging towards him from an LCB position where he was coveribg for GC. At that moment not commitibg himself and letting him get goalside was rhe better option.

Like Choulo said above, Ivanovic charged towards Berahino and then just stopped to watch the latter put in a cross with all the time and space given. Already feeling like a broken record at this point but again, nobody ask Ivanovic to go commit and sell himself easily to be owned by Berahino but for goodness sake, having got there, he should be a tad closer, put more pressure on the ball and not let it come in so easily!

Seriously if you're gonna come back with similar counter points, then best to just leave it here than going in circles.

[Jase 43,479]

[The only place to be 11,313]

Like Choulo said above, Ivanovic charged towards Berahino and then just stopped to watch the latter put in a cross with all the time and space given. Already feeling like a broken record at this point but again, nobody ask Ivanovic to go commit and sell himself easily to be owned by Berahino but for goodness sake, having got there, he should be a tad closer, put more pressure on the ball and not let it come in so easily!

Seriously if you're gonna come back with similar counter points, then best to just leave it here than going in circles.

Ivanovic should be maybe 1 yard closer but he's also got to watch the overlapping run of the full-back. Considering he's just made his way across from the other side of the pitch and is probably a little fatigued it's a minor point. The fact is that West Brom put in 20 crosses and managed one shot on target all match. If Anichebe's marker is doing his job properly then it's not an issue.

In instances like this every player will be a few inches off where they should be, but the big errors are the ones where people lose their marking assignments completely.

Basically - No JT.