Cesc Fàbregas

[Dion 2,476]

I'm not trying to absolve Matic of any wrong-doing because he certainly has his faults/limitations as a player.

The way I see the mistake you've highlighted there is: Ramires is pressing the ball so Matic tries to cut out McGeady's seemingly only available passing option. That obviously isn't the smartest idea considering Azpilicueta and Terry have that passing lane covered. Ivanovic also makes the same mistake that Matic does - he is distracted by Lukaku's run despite Cahill being best placed to deal with a through-ball - and that allows Naismith to ghost in and score easily. It's a bad mistake on Matic's part but the initial press is beaten easily, he has gambled* and the players behind him have made mistakes too, that was a collective breakdown and not down to Matic on his own.

*Pressing isn't just about pressing the ball, it also means blocking any passing lanes and it's high risk, high reward. Matic is one of the few players in the team that is consistent at doing that. If the people alongside him and behind him were on the same wavelength we wouldn't be so exposed all the time.

Fair enough, and Azpi at CB doesn't sound that crazy.

Here's the Neville analysis by the way:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjP9KVWA91U

Matic has made very very similar mistakes against Everton. I've watched us against Everton with Barbara and there were a few times when Matic left the player he should be marking to chase the ball just like Fabregas did in that analysis. The whole system of pressing is malfunctioning right now, a lot of times players are chasing the ball when they should be holding position. It was even worse there because there were times Matic would do it and other times Fabregas would do it, so they had unmarked players and spaces all the freaking time. Our midfield against Everton was even more of a mess than against Swansea as it seems Matic was a little bit more disciplined in the latter, maybe Mourinho has already spoken to them about it and is trying to fix it.

[Special Juan 27,429]

He looks unbelievably happy here, that is just as much apparent as his assists.

[Daniel1980 1,425]

He looks unbelievably happy here, that is just as much apparent as his assists.

Yeah. Makes Arsenal fans' conviction that he's unhappy at Chelsea even more hilarious.

The definition of an unhappy player, yep.

[Shakez 755]

Yeah. Makes Arsenal fans' conviction that he's unhappy at Chelsea even more hilarious.

The definition of an unhappy player, yep.

Where is that footage from?

[Daniel1980 1,425]

Where is that footage from?

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x260vfl_training-ground-report-monday-15-september-hd_sport

[Rom2013 446]

Simply because some of the mistakes he's done have absolutely nothing to do with all that. Again I'll use Everton's second goal as example because I have the images for that, but he's made that mistake type on a number of occasions already this season:

Choosing to make the run that Matic did in the image above rather than cover the area where Naismith (who he was originally tracking) is in and in which McGeady eventually runs into, has absolutely nothing to do with tactics or anyone. It's just a poor decision. If he has a "pressing instinct" then the run should have been towards the ball where he would have been able to fill the gap and stop the goal, not away from it.

I can forgive mistakes from being too aggressive in pressing, but more often so far this season, the mistakes from Matic has been that he has been too eager to cover and hence being too late to press. Again, I'm sounding too harsh on Matic, but that's only because we're analyzing his mistakes alone. On a lot of occasions his pressing has been excellent, but it's the mistakes we remember.

But I get what you are trying to say. We don't have the CBs to compliment our style of pressing. Neither JT nor Cahill are able to push up and cover any gaps that appear and play 1vs1 (Azpi for CB? ). Now THAT, for me, is an issue much more likely to persist in the future than pressing mistakes from Cesc and Matic.

I genuinely believe it is something that we can solve, or at least improve, on the training ground. I guess time will tell.

There are 2 more Chelsea players near the area and Willian is also near Naismith. The team in that moment is balanced, Even when Ramires fails to stop the Everton player, the team is balanced and in the moment of the goal there are 3 players near Naismith but none of them try to stop him (I think Lukaku is offside in that moment). But the team and also Matic are well positioned.

[Footballover 222]

No chance in hell that Mourinho is going to play this Matic-Cesc duo in big games. I'm sorry but IMO Fabregas does lack that defensive discipline which Neville and Carragher were talking about, and I'm not criticizing him because he offers so much in attack, but this is only good for games against sides such as Swansea or Aston Villa. We saw Mourinho starting with Ramires at Everton and we will keep seeing him making this exact same decision as the season goes on, because there is no way Matic and Cesc can control or defend against a team like City. And to be honest, we look at our best when Ramires plays. I criticized him A LOT last season but he really deserves credit for his start of the season, three in midfield suits him much better than only two like last season.

[zolayes 14,489]

No chance in hell that Mourinho is going to play this Matic-Cesc duo in big games. I'm sorry but IMO Fabregas does lack that defensive discipline which Neville and Carragher were talking about, and I'm not criticizing him because he offers so much in attack, but this is only good for games against sides such as Swansea or Aston Villa. We saw Mourinho starting with Ramires at Everton and we will keep seeing him making this exact same decision as the season goes on, because there is no way Matic and Cesc can control or defend against a team like City. And to be honest, we look at our best when Ramires plays. I criticized him A LOT last season but he really deserves credit for his start of the season, three in midfield suits him much better than only two like last season.

so you would leave Cesc out of big games ,,??? perhaps you should break that news to Diego

[Footballover 222]

so you would leave Cesc out of big games ,,??? perhaps you should break that news to Diego

Didn't make myself clear I suppose... Matic, Ramires and Fabregas in front of them.

[Daniel1980 1,425]

so you would leave Cesc out of big games ,,??? perhaps you should break that news to Diego

I think he means he wants Cesc-Matic-Ramires in big games, and I agree. 4-3-3 suits better both Ramires and Fabregas. The problem is, they played very little time together in a true 4-3-3, so it'd probably take some time before they develop great understanding with each other.

[DH1988 1,273]

I will be utterly shocked if Jose doesn't line up with 4-3-3 on Sunday, surely there is like a 1% chance of that happening? Even less.

Neville was harsh but I can't disagree there? I feel its a completely fair assessment of him and Matic in the 'pivot'. Spot on in my eyes and I look forward to seeing 4-3-3 with Cesc getting more assists.

[zolayes 14,489]

Didn't make myself clear I suppose... Matic, Ramires and Fabregas in front of them.

THAT wasn't clear from the post

[zolayes 14,489]

I think he means he wants Cesc-Matic-Ramires in big games, and I agree. 4-3-3 suits better both Ramires and Fabregas. The problem is, they played very little time together in a true 4-3-3, so it'd probably take some time before they develop great understanding with each other.

you can obviously read his mind I couldn't

[The Mak 4,459]

I don't know what the fuss is about. Ramires (and Willian) always started the big games and will continue to do so. The arrival of Cesc was never going to change that.

It seems on this occasion that the movement and passing play of Swansea was a bit too much for the very young partnership of Cesc & Matic. Cesc will continue to play a deeper role against the lesser teams to help break them down and both Matic and Ramires will cover his defensive deficiencies in the bigger games.

Oh, and I can't remember who it was, but screw you to the guy who didn't believe me when I said Fabregas will often take Oscars role as the main AM.

[bababoom 4,478]

I must say, In the second half against Swansea i really enjoyed Matic, Ramires, Cesc and Oscar all playing together. On paper Oscar was out wide but in reality he was more central while Ivan kept the width. Against City i would probably play Willian just because of his pace and how good he is on the counter. Regarding Oscar, I'll be interested to see what Jose does with him in the coming months.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Gary Neville is the man. Always seems to see the game for exactly what it is... A shame he singled out Cesc but there was no denying we had trouble against Swansea partly due to Cesc not being disciplined.

I'm not so sure it all just comes down to Fab though... In the previous games Oscar did a great job of playing off of him and filling in when Cesc did get go forward, on Saturday that was non-existent. The front four of Schurrle, OScar, Hazard and Costa didn't do a good job of pressing high and as a result Cesc tried to over compensate and it made things worse. He doesn't have to do that and will learn not, when the press is ineffective sit back a bit and wait for opportunities. One man pressuring the ball is never gonna work...

[Jase 43,479]

Here's the Neville analysis by the way:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjP9KVWA91U

Absolutely spot on analysis by Neville there and in some ways, Fabregas' defensive issues in the pivot should come of no surprise really. For most of his career, he has played in a 4-3-3, with Barcelona and Spain and they have always played the pressing game and press as a unit high up the pitch. It has probably got to the point where he's used to that approach and now, he's not really yet used to ours where we don't always press that high up (just like what Neville highlighted about getting too eager to press and leave too much space behind him). Even when he did play in the pivot for Arsenal, I doubt they really did much on the defensive side of things either since they are getting constantly raped defensively by other teams.

[Dion 2,476]

Gary Neville is the man. Always seems to see the game for exactly what it is... A shame he singled out Cesc but there was no denying we had trouble against Swansea partly due to Cesc not being disciplined.

I'm not so sure it all just comes down to Fab though... In the previous games Oscar did a great job of playing off of him and filling in when Cesc did get go forward, on Saturday that was non-existent. The front four of Schurrle, OScar, Hazard and Costa didn't do a good job of pressing high and as a result Cesc tried to over compensate and it made things worse. He doesn't have to do that and will learn not, when the press is ineffective sit back a bit and wait for opportunities. One man pressuring the ball is never gonna work...

Oscar played more offensively on saturday. Until the moment Ramires came on, Fabregas was playing mostly deep and Oscar ahead with little if any interchangeability. You may remember that Oscar had a few shots on goal against Swansea and was generally playing around the box, which he had not been doing as frequently in the other games. I think Brazilian commentators mentioned it during the game too, I could be remembering it wrong though. I prefer the Oscar that appears everywhere he's needed on the pitch, I think that's one of his biggest qualities, I don't like it when he seems too focused on trying to score.