Closed Werder Bremen 3-0 Chelsea

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,742]

take my advice I NEVER listen to his press conferences now ,, neither before or after games . I prefer to see what I see

Exactly.

Love him, but more often than not it will just be a load of bollocks.

He is good at deflecting the press criticism towards players though.

[The Chels 2,502]

While that would be amazing, it isnt even really that needed. We dont need another world claqss midfielder next to Fabregas. We just need somebody with pace who can be there is the ball is given up to close down the lanes so we are not wide open when Fabregas makes a mistake. In the pivot there is no room for that with a slow guy taking risks. We have fullbacks who bomb forward, so Matic isnt going to be right next to him working as a safety valve if the pass goes wrong as he will have to close down the lanes left by them.

That is one place where I see we would be really vulnerable. If Fabregas is at the 10 then it isnt such a big issue as there would be more protection in front of the defense, but right in front of them he does not have that same protection.

Fabregas is a lot weaker defensively than I expected. If we play him in the no. 10 role then what was the point in selling Mata? If we play him in the pivot with the FBs bombing forward, we're screwed. A 4-3-3 is probably the best way to go but Jose will play 4-2-3-1.

[LAB 1,030]

The big danger is that he has absolutely NO pace. If he is in the pivot then he will have to have high energy speedsters next to him at all time because if he gives the ball away in the middle he does not have the pace to win it back.

Not that quick indeed, but imo when you are no10 there's more pressure around you from the opposition in numbers and mistakes are more often. I think he rarely gives away possession when playing no8, his passing is also better there.

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,742]

Fabregas is a lot weaker defensively than I expected. If we play him in the no. 10 role then what was the point in selling Mata? If we play him in the pivot with the FBs bombing forward, we're screwed. A 4-3-3 is probably the best way to go but Jose will play 4-2-3-1.

That is why I am happy today went the way it did. Better now than this time next month.All this aside I do think Fabregas is an improvement to Mata. Whether or not was it worth the cash or not remains to be seen, but he is an improvement.

[Billy. 2,739]

Even tho it is pre season that game was a tad disappointing tbh. the next two games we should really see the 11 Jose is going for tho, everyone will be back in training for just under a week.

[DYC. 7,542]

If the club actually goes into the season with Drogba and Torres as cover for Costa, they'd be making such a HUGE mistake.

The way the board is persisting with Torres - they need to be careful because every time he's on the pitch he drags down the performances of the other players just by his sheer desperation to prove himself. It's not fair to the manager, it's not fair to the players and it's not even fair to Torres because he's being relied on to perform at a level that he's incapable of. Why continue with something that isn't working and that hasn't worked for the past three years? It's counter productive...

There's this striker at Lille. 30 goals and 9 assists in 61 league starts. Also capable of playing out wide. He might make a good option..

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,742]

Not that quick indeed, but imo when you are no10 there's more pressure around you from the opposition in numbers and mistakes are more often. I think he rarely gives away possession when playing no8, his passing is also better there.

The difference is if he makes the error at the 10 there are two guys behind him, plus someone like Willian next to him with the speed the run the length of the pitch, to close it down.

That is much different than when you are already further back.

[The Rising Sun 696]

How many players of theirs have participated the World Cup and how many of ours? Go figure.

That should work the other way as well, in terms of World class players and manager at Chelsea who should have done better.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

You know what, even if Lukaku is still here and playing in this match, I'm not sure he will score goal. Just saying.

[Barbara 15,149]

the overreaction in this thread is absolutely unbearable!!!! Get a grip, people!

I can't believe I'm seeing people asking more signings, others saying we shouldn't have signed Cesc, others saying Hazard is clearly out of form.

The only already in form player in the team is Torres. The sitters he missed against Vitesse and today are proof of that.

Everyone else is having ups and downs because they aren't entirely match fit yet. There are new players coming (new signings and players coming back from holidays), Mourinho is making tests (we played with Torres as a winger ffs), and while things were a hot mess today, it was just that, a test. One that didn't work out. So onwards with the next idea.

The squad will be complete as of tomorrow and hopefully all Brazilians (including Ramires *sighs*) and Shirley will get some minutes already on Friday.

Yeah, the EPL starts two weeks from now. Two weeks is as long as our top players bar Terry, Iva and Cech have been training. Also we'll face Burnley, not City. There's no reason to panic, the moaning is disproportional and it feels like some people's fingers itch to post their negative takes. It's almost like they can barely wait for a chance to put the team down.

It wasn't pretty. It wasn't supposed to be with Torres in the wing anyway. It was a test that didn't work, move on already! Some of the reactions here are so serious you'd think this was UCL knock-out stage. Yeah, the sarcasm from others may be too much (for you, not for me), but even if all those complaints make a lot of sense (most of them don't, tbh), this is a team that Mourinho is setting up now. If van Gaal already fixed Manchester United, good for them!!!!!! The only race I'm worried about is the race to the EPL title. As of now we have as many points as anyone else. God's sake, this place can damn right have its Torres moments...

[LAB 1,030]

The difference is if he makes the error at the 10 there are two guys behind him, plus someone like Willian next to him with the speed the run the length of the pitch, to close it down.

That is much different than when you are already further back.

This is sort of a negative way to think this. Why throw away the things he has to offer as no8 simply because there is a much minor possibility of a misplaced pass.

Again, not worth it imo, and obviously i am not saying we should go Matic-Fab all the games. Some games vs top teams might require Ramires there, but the majority should be simply Matic -Fab.

[zolayes 14,489]

Eden operated at about 25% of his potential ,, BUT was still our best option .. that is worrying

[didierforever 7,349]

You know what, even if Lukaku is still here and playing in this match, I'm not sure he will score goal. Just saying.

if it was lukaku playing instead of torres on the wing and those chances fell to him, i can bet anything that he would have scored.

[sherry33 234]

When is Cavani arriving?

[quickpassnmove 924]

wank all you want on the pre-season excuse, but it still looks like the Chelsea that don't play quick enough to break teams down. Hoping for some change in tempo, Torres to fall off the face of the Earth, and maybe a change of formation. I don't see the point in pushing one CM up every time the other team is packing it in; the striker can also drop deeper for possession. Pull them out.

[iseah100 5,612]

I will pay to see what exactly it is that we do in training. I refuse to believe we practise any meaningful attacking drills with the way we play and if we do then we need to try different drills. either that or our highly paid, experienced, int'l players lack the capacity to implement the work done on the training ground in real match situations. I want to believe it's the former. we can't go into the new season with the same shit football. doing the same things and expecting different results is insanity.

You should be the coach since you clearly know better than Jose.

Eden operated at about 25% of his potential ,, BUT was still our best option .. that is worrying

He was good. But he's an immense player and out if form is still better than 95% of players in the world.

No need to worry, once he plays/trains with Cesc, Luis, and Costa more we'll be better. We have 3 new players in the starting XI, it will take some time.

if it was lukaku playing instead of torres on the wing and those chances fell to him, i can bet anything that he would have scored.

Too bad he has no ambitions, he's not that good anyways.

[cosmicway 1,256]

Maybe indifference is an excuse for the overall result and the German's third goal was a gift by the referee, but CFC tried to pull one back in the second half and there was no finishing touch whatsoever. Bremen's keeper was needed in the two corner kicks only.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

if it was lukaku playing instead of torres on the wing and those chances fell to him, i can bet anything that he would have scored.

Yeah, if you compare it with Torres as a winger. I mean if even Costa couldn't score, I don't think Lukaku could do it better.