Closed Chelsea - Bolton

[boshman 1,073]

Quite a poor match to watch actually.

Remy I thought was awful. Nothing went right for him. Had a fantastic chance 2nd half and hit it straight at the keeper.

Schurrle ran and ran and ran and shot and shot... a lot of work, huff & puff but not much end product.

Ake was fantastic in the midfield! Assured and confident on the ball. Made a glorious tackle in the 1st half. Was very impressed. Definitely needs and deserves more games.

Also nice to see Cech back between the sticks. :-)

Ok performance, nothing spectacular. Job done, now on to Villa!!

[OhForAGreavsie 5,892]

5) Not sure about Drogba, he really has lost touch and pace. Remy should be the sub for Costa when needed.

Drogba's touch was always hot and cold, mainly cold. We all remember the spectacular moments that built Didier's reputation and they are glorious memories but, throughout his Stamford Bridge career there were many more bad touches than great ones. The Drog has not lost his touch, on average it was never that great in the first place; what he's lost is his ability to make up for it.

[OhForAGreavsie 5,892]

Remy I thought was awful.

Remy has never convinced me. His touch is quite loose and seldom seems to really master the ball.

[OhForAGreavsie 5,892]

Yea, but he's versatile, can play CB and Mou is grooming him to that LB spot. We may have a gem on our hands:)

Agreed about his versatility but, and again it's only my opinion, Ake seems a rather average LB to me. Fair enough for Jose to use him to plug a squad gap at that position but I can't see the young man building his career in that role. Certainly I don't think he's anywhere near as good at LB as he is at DM.

[iseah100 5,612]

Agreed about his versatility but, and again it's only my opinion, Ake seems a rather average LB to me. Fair enough for Jose to use him to plug a squad gap at that position but I can't see the young man building his career in that role. Certainly I don't think he's anywhere near as good at LB as he is at DM.

That's a fair assesment, and I agree, I was just pointing out his versatility and with more playing time at LB I definitely think he can become a good left back.

[Kieran. 6,317]

What the fuck Schurrle!!

[zolayes 14,489]

NO POLL?

thank fuck ,, he was an awful REF nearly as bad as Cunten berg

[OhForAGreavsie 5,892]

That's a fair assesment, and I agree, I was just pointing out his versatility and with more playing time at LB I definitely think he can become a good left back.

My thought is that it would take a lot of effort to turn Ake into a barely acceptable LB, whereas he could become a really good DM. My preference would be to encourage Ake to become the best player he can possibly be and that would mean allowing him to play at his best position.

It could be though that the versatility you quite rightly point out will allow Ake to hold down a squad place and buy himself time to develop here.

[chelsea blue 615]

Goals highlights

http://hoofoot.com/?match=Chelsea_2_-_1_Bolton_2014_09_24

[Wizacar 93]

man of the match was def oscar. Ake a close second and luis 3rd

[thekid9 418]

Young players proved what they can do in 1st half, don't know what happened in 2nd half... Could be lack of games fitness

Wot?

proved what they can do? draw 1-1 with Bolton?

and lack of games fitness? they play in the u21's?

[Jase 43,479]

Apologies for the delay.

Man of the Match poll now inserted.

[thekid9 418]

My take on the match:

1) Ake is very good, we must give him chance

2) I like Zouma, looks composed, he is going to make it even if it takes 2 years.

3) Schurle needs one on one coaching on shooting

4) I thought we played very well despite the scoreline. If luck favoured us could have been 7-1

5) Not sure about Drogba, he really has lost touch and pace. Remy should be the sub for Costa when needed.

Bring on Shrewsbury

agree all-round expect for point 4.

Thought it was a terrible performance! lacked a cutting edge

[Jase 43,479]

My word. We really did make life difficult for ourselves with all those missed chances, didn't we? Relieved to see us win in the end. I was also pleased to see us having proper full backs playing in the correct position. Refreshing to see how much threat we had going forward from both sides with Luis and Azpi playing. On the other hand, 1 clean sheet from 7 matches this season is a major concern and frustrating as many of those goals are easily preventable!

[quickpassnmove 924]

frustrating again, but I'm very happy for Ake, J.Mikel, and Zouma. nice effort by Schuerrle, but not quite there. Also, good effort by Salah. What can we say? These guys have not played together before in a competitive match.

[AndersonBLUE 819]

Standard early game cup game, nothing special. Got the job done and some youngsters got a run about

[OneMoSalah 8,778]

If Schurrle can get a run in the team and keep getting shooting opportunities like tonight, I believe he will score about 15 goals this season. Think hes one of those guys who needs a sequence of goals to start a decent run. Sure he only got 3 shots on target out of 12 but hes getting shooting opportunities due to him not being afraid to shoot when others would maybe pass and that itself is encouraging giving how Hazard and Willian sometimes refuse to shoot when in a decent position a lot last season.

[mikeholiday 209]

Remy could have made it 3, but Lonergan made a great save. Thought he had a decent game in terms of linking up the play and moving to either flanks from time to time.

Bit selfish though in the counter attack that led to Oscar's goal.