Cesc Fàbregas

[LAB 1,030]

Cesc really missed Ramires yesterday. It's his fault primarily that he didn't perform better though.

But what's with the big game bottler tag? You are out of your mind some ppl.

[bababoom 4,478]

He was marked out of the game, Felliaini was on him every second. Crystal Palace tried it but as Jose said we had Oscar to fill in and he made a big impact, sadly Oscar was pretty poor yesterday. At times Oscar could have put Drogba through on goal but the pass wasn't there and tbh Drogba's pace wasn't either.

[DH1988 1,273]

Oscar takes too many touches before the pass, ergh I do not like criticizing since he was in such good form and hindsight is a great thing.

I don't like Cesc so far back with Matic, allowed United to press easy although commentators/almost everyone is ignoring the fact we were missing serious movement up front and runs that take defenders away.

Pass into Drogba > touch > touch > lay off

Decent enough game for me, nothing spectacular but he's earnt that.

[Styles 9,790]

He was marked out of the game, Felliaini was on him every second. Crystal Palace tried it but as Jose said we had Oscar to fill in and he made a big impact, sadly Oscar was pretty poor yesterday. At times Oscar could have put Drogba through on goal but the pass wasn't there and tbh Drogba's pace wasn't either.

Marked out the game by one of the most immobile players around. That's wasn't great to watch to be honest.

[chelseafc9010 224]

Needs to find a way to use him in big games because he is easily marked out. Oscar was so poor yesterday though to be fair, United didn't really have to focus on him instead of Fab. I do think Oscar needs to play deep, so we play a 4-3-3, with Fab and Oscar as the more attacking mids, I think that would improve Fab a lot.

[DYC. 7,542]

Marked out the game by one of the most immobile players around. That's wasn't great to watch to be honest.

Fellaini immobile? I know he's slow and unagile but his energy and work-rate are his biggest strengths, bar his aerial ability.

Fellaini was surprisingly good yesterday. Didn't expect that at all.

[robsblubot 3,508]

Opposition...

Been warning people (or trying to) that the trashing of that outfit midweek was only natural due to the difference in quality. in football, your opposition has a say in what you can accomplish on the pitch. United had a good match and that caused us problems.

I'm glad Falcao did not play otherwise the "problems" might have been goals.

It was difficult for Fabregas and Oscar to pick up passes and keep possession as gaps were quickly closed and pressure was constant. This was even more evident against City as they are better than United atm. Still we had our chances and missed a couple of siters (Hazard and Drogba), so can't complain too much of our volume of play - it's not like United had 70% (cityesque) possession.

[Styles 9,790]

Fellaini immobile? I know he's slow and unagile but his energy and work-rate are his biggest strengths, bar his aerial ability.

Fellaini was surprisingly good yesterday. Didn't expect that at all.

Exactly, Fellaini is slow and lacks agility and yet Fabregas still couldn't lose him.

The Spaniard completed just four passes in the first half-hour, giving the ball away five times under pressure.

He's supposed to be the guy that makes the team tick and he completed 4 passes in 30 minutes of football.

[Jase 43,479]

One quiet game and the meltdown here is just

[Styles 9,790]

One quiet game and the meltdown here is just

I love a good troll job tbh

But anyways, back to the topic...4 passes in 30 minutes

[Special Juan 27,429]

I heard Dowd was immense against him.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Forget Fellaini, old man Dowd had him in his pocket all game: https://vine.co/v/OhLZrDBbe1l !

[DYC. 7,542]

Exactly, Fellaini is slow and lacks agility and yet Fabregas still couldn't lose him.

He's supposed to be the guy that makes the team tick and he completed 4 passes in 30 minutes of football.

Fabregas is slow and isn't the most agille haha. And unlike Fellaini, Fabregas isn't the most mobile of players. Add a poor day in the office and he'll struggle.

You're right. I never said he was good. He was very poor in the first half. Better in the 2nd half but still not a good game overall.

I've said this before but Fab is not the type to dominate the midfield. His style is not controlling. Which is not a bad thing, until you're looking for that kind of presence.

But it's not like Mourinho's style suits those type of players.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Kroos is "slow" and "immobile" as well and would have dominated that game yesterday. Still can't believe how shocking he was yesterday up against average footballers like Fellaini and Blind.

His minimal influence on the game affected the entire team.

[Cescy 40]

Coming to the conclusion that he can't hack it in big games or can't be a midfield controller because of this one game is silly. He has done a wonderful job in most games for us so far and has been showing improvement in his positioning and defending. He'll only get better as he gets more comfortable in his role at Chelsea. His passing was just really off yesterday. Happens to the best of them and is nothing to get in a panic over.

[stroey 2,525]

Kroos is "slow" and "immobile" as well and would have dominated that game yesterday. Still can't believe how shocking he was yesterday up against average footballers like Fellaini and Blind.

His minimal influence on the game affected the entire team.

The difference is Modric, Kroos has Modric next to him who can control a game too. Cesc had Oscar...If Kroos played for us yesterday, the difference wouldn't be big with Cesc.

[Daniel1980 1,425]

The overreaction here to one poor game is unbelievable. Suddenly Fabregas can't control midfield and can't make the team tick.

If anything, yesterday's game proved how much our entire play has come to depend on him, which is, in my opinion, not a good thing. If he plays well, the team looks like a well-oiled machine. If he makes mistakes or isn't influential, our entire midfield looks poor and error-prone. That shows how much playmaking he usually does.

Yesterday he couldn't do it properly and wasn't effective partly due to the absence of runners in the team, and was outmuscled, marked, and he misplaced 5 friggin' passes in the first half. And suddenly it's the end of the world and he can't do what he did very well in most of the previous games. If he's that ineffective in 5 games in a row, then such reaction will be appropriate. Shit happens. He had a bad day. If you expect him to play well in every single game, you're in for disappointment, because no player does.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

People will try to mark him out of the game. That's when either one of the attackers has to drop (Oscar tried but didn't do a good job this game) or one of the CBs should bring the ball out of defense (Cahill tries a couple times, but he's not that good on the ball).

I'm not heavily criticizing any of the players mentioned above or the team or Jose. It was a below par performance relative to the high expectations we've set so far but even so it wasn't so poor. Although, I would say one area we need to improve.

Zouma is highly rated but we need to also get (or promote) a proper quick ball playing CB for the future. Our CBs don't complement our defensive philosophy of high pressing. It's honestly a huge testament to the players and the coaching staff how good it's working. A more competent CB pairing will help considerably in controlling games too.

This is a controversial opinion but I think our CBs are holding back the full potential of this team. I'm not saying they are bad, Terry and Cahill have been fantastic but I don't think they fit the playing style Jose really wants.

Ugh I really wanted Benatia here.