Closed Shrewsbury Town 1-2 Chelsea

[Special Juan 28,141]

Salah was a hell of a lot better than Schurrle. He was making runs and beating players his end product on the other hand was awful granted. Schurrle done absolutely nothing of any substance all game.

Salah has the heart of pea. I was screaming at the TV 'Get at them' and time and time again he slowed down his run and checked back inside…….not good enough.

I'm not getting into a debate on who was better etc as it's all opinion, the fact remains that these two, who should be ready and raring to go were nothing short of shite.

[beyondinvisible 47]

I'm happy that we won the game but the performance wasn't the greatest. Fringe players were pretty bad and the youngsters were just about ok. Don't see any of them making the first team squad right now barring any injuries..

[CurlyHairLikeLuiz 1,625]

Why all of the Salah hate? I thought he gave his all for sure, the ball was greasy, the pitch was slippery (Hah, his left hand kick was quite funny) but he tried his best and the rest of the midfield weren't exactly outshining him all night either. He needs more confidence on the ball, but he is most definitely worthy of our subs' bench, at the very least.

Don't forget he has the whole season to improve.

However, I don't understand why Baker wasn't played last night If we're not careful he'll drop his Chelsea dream and fuck off somewhere that will give him more game time. Ake and Zouma were excellent, though. Who was that new lad, Christensen? He looked great last night, definitely rising star material. Mikel...Let's not go there

MOTM, however, it must be Drogba. Striking and tackling like it's 04/05 all over again!

Although, if Matic had been on for longer, would have definitely picked him as MOTM - the team instantly got much, much better when he came on.

[Special Juan 28,141]

Why all of the Salah hate? I thought he gave his all for sure, the ball was greasy, the pitch was slippery (Hah, his left hand kick was quite funny) but he tried his best and the rest of the midfield weren't exactly outshining him all night either. He needs more confidence on the ball, but he is most definitely worthy of our subs' bench, at the very least.

Don't forget he has the whole season to improve.

However, I don't understand why Baker wasn't played last night If we're not careful he'll drop his Chelsea dream and fuck off somewhere that will give him more game time. Ake and Zouma were excellent, though. Who was that new lad, Christensen? He looked great last night, definitely rising star material. Mikel...Let's not go there

MOTM, however, it must be Drogba. Striking and tackling like it's 04/05 all over again!

Although, if Matic had been on for longer, would have definitely picked him as MOTM - the team instantly got much, much better when he came on.

The word hate isn't right in the context you use it. It's not hate it's levelled and fair criticism.

I like Salah but right now I really am not sure which direction he is heading.

[CurlyHairLikeLuiz 1,625]

The word hate isn't right in the context you use it. It's not hate it's levelled and fair criticism.

I like Salah but right now I really am not sure which direction he is heading.

To quote one post in here:

"Salah and Schurrle played shit" is not constructive.

[Special Juan 28,141]

To quote one post in here:

"Salah and Schurrle played shit" is not constructive.

They did play shit, but that doesn't equate to 'hate' it's a persons opinion.

[TheChelseaDane 48]

Oy lads.

Didn't have the change of seeing this match yesterday, but what I can read from here, and the newspapers, Schürrle and Salah were crap? These are games (especially Salah) they have to show themselves. It seems as if Salah is moving more and more away from the first team, and will we see a sale in the winter or summer window? Schürrle is still a vital part of the team, even though he is playing some shit matches, he will redeem himself.

And what about Christensen? He is receiving a lot of praise in the Danish newspapers, and as a Dane I am absolutely delighted to see this

[Cescy 40]

wow. Wonder if Oscar disappointed him too

Doesn't seem like it.

Mourinho: ‘The message I want is the message Didier, Filipe, Oscar and Cahill gave: doing something that they shouldn’t be allowed to do, but they did, which is play two football matches in 48 hours. They were fantastic.'

http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2014/10/final-whistle-verdict--leading-by-example.html

[ILoveLamp 270]

To quote one post in here:

"Salah and Schurrle played shit" is not constructive.

He didn't say constructive he said levelled and fair. There's a big difference.

Both were awful last night. Levelled and fair. Not constructive and not claiming to be.

[Shakez 755]

Was severely dissapointed by some of the performances yesterday. We are lucky none of our starting AM's are injury prone else we would be in trouble. This squad doesn't need much upgrading but perhaps it's wise to add some new blood (players with potential) to give our current starters competition for their places.

Gotta hand it too Drogba though, class is permanent.

[ParNolio7 285]

Guys, it's the league cup, only thing that matters here is the result and the fact that we did it in 90 minutes. These matches are never any good, regardless of who plays, so don't expect anything from it. Unfair to judge players like Salah & Schürrle on a performance in a night like this. It's Kevin De Bruyne all over again. Either you give these guys a decent shot, by letting them play consecutive matches with importance (EPL, Champions League) or you don't pretend them to be anything more but back-ups, and then don't expect exceptional displays from them.

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

Yeah, class is permanent. Drogs motm, other than that it was a good football game for a Tuesday night. Glad they gave Chelsea a good fight, they are a decent side Schrewsbury. Schurrle and Salah meeeh, they will have to wait until the next Capital One fixture to start another game I guess.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Just watched the second half and boy do people around here love to whine! I half expected us to be shooting at our own goal by the comments here!

But it was an average performance by the team. The Pitch was terrible and the grass was way too long and the weather conditions pretty bad which all combined to make moving the ball on the ground very difficult and slow, Shrewsburry played very very physically and the ref was really not helping us out by not producing any cards.

But despite all that, we were pretty comfortably in control of the game, they scored with the only chance in the half which came from lapse of concentration from Zouma. They were back on level terms with us for just 4 minutes. We raised our game when we needed to. Schurrle wasn't good but I don't think Salah was nearly as bad as people are trying to make him out. He was trying to make things happen but we already know that his decision making in the final third is pretty bad.

All in all, it was a league cup game, and we had a bunch of youth and fringe players in the XI. We got the win without getting out of first gear and gave some youngsters a chance. There is absolutely nothing to moan about!

[bethos1 802]

I don't really care if we win this but a trophy might give our guys a boost for the rest of the season.

[beyondinvisible 47]

Up next is Derby.

[Starman60 1,343]

This game could have been a banana skin for us, but we came through on a difficult wet night on a poor pitch. But saying that, Salah, Mikel and especially Shurrle were poor to say the least. Salah needs to focus on team play more (like he did for the goal) and not be shooting from impossible angles. Pass the ball, link the play and put in crosses , thats what he should be doing. Shurrle, well he seems to think that since he won the World Cup he is the "finished item" Well you're not. Again he needs to cut out the shooting from impossible angles. I really thought that this game was set up for him, but he failed the test, big time.

And Mikel? I always fear for us when he plays because I just dont rate the guy (sorry). too many unforced errors in his game and he just looks lazy.i dont think he brings anything to the game when he plays.

The young guys done well, nothing outstanding, just solid safe performances. And finally Drogba............F@cking Legend

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Just watched the second half and boy do people around here love to whine! I half expected us to be shooting at our own goal by the comments here!

But it was an average performance by the team. The Pitch was terrible and the grass was way too long and the weather conditions pretty bad which all combined to make moving the ball on the ground very difficult and slow, Shrewsburry played very very physically and the ref was really not helping us out by not producing any cards.

But despite all that, we were pretty comfortably in control of the game, they scored with the only chance in the half which came from lapse of concentration from Zouma. They were back on level terms with us for just 4 minutes. We raised our game when we needed to. Schurrle wasn't good but I don't think Salah was nearly as bad as people are trying to make him out. He was trying to make things happen but we already know that his decision making in the final third is pretty bad.

All in all, it was a league cup game, and we had a bunch of youth and fringe players in the XI. We got the win without getting out of first gear and gave some youngsters a chance. There is absolutely nothing to moan about!

Depends on how you interpret what was being said here. Its fucking Shrewsbury for crissakes... they're something like 90 places below us in the english standings(league two!!!), that is significant! We should be smashing teams like that with players like Schurrle and Salah on the pitch.

Jose has already come out and said they were disappointments so take from that what you will.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Depends on how you interpret what was being said here. Its fucking Shrewsbury for crissakes... they're something like 90 places below us in the english standings(league two!!!), that is significant! We should be smashing teams like that with players like Schurrle and Salah on the pitch.

Jose has already come out and said they were disappointments so take from that what you will.

They play very different football than what our players, especially the light weights like Salah, are used to. They were very very physical and like I said, the ref was not getting any cards out which encourages them to be even more physical. Add to that the terrible pitch and weather conditions.

Means absolutely nothing in which league they play in when they want to defend in numbers and play physically. Last night I watched a team of amateurs (literally) keep up with Real Madrid for 45 minutes and only conceded from 2 corners. Those kind of teams are difficult to break down.

I do agree with Pat Nevin's analysis that we did make it difficult for ourselves by not trying to keep the ball in midfield and by going for the hollywood pass and long range shot way too often. But I do think we played decently in the second half.

End of the day, we go through to the next round and we got Derby who I genuinely believe will be easier than Shrewsburry and we can play a couple of youngsters again. So, it's all good.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

They play very different football than what our players, especially the light weights like Salah, are used to. They were very very physical and like I said, the ref was not getting any cards out which encourages them to be even more physical. Add to that the terrible pitch and weather conditions.

Means absolutely nothing in which league they play in when they want to defend in numbers and play physically. Last night I watched a team of amateurs (literally) keep up with Real Madrid for 45 minutes and only conceded from 2 corners. Those kind of teams are difficult to break down.

I do agree with Pat Nevin's analysis that we did make it difficult for ourselves by not trying to keep the ball in midfield and by going for the hollywood pass and long range shot way too often. But I do think we played decently in the second half.

End of the day, we go through to the next round and we got Derby who I genuinely believe will be easier than Shrewsburry and we can play a couple of youngsters again. So, it's all good.

This would hold true if we didn't generate enough chances to smash them, we did, it was just poor decision making from Salah and Schurrle that led to this being closer than it needed to be.

Agree the pitch was shit and our build up was mostly hollywood balls but that doesn't detract from the fact that those two had something to prove and looked poor trying to do it.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

This would hold true if we didn't generate enough chances to smash them, we did, it was just poor decision making from Salah and Schurrle that led to this being closer than it needed to be.

Agree the pitch was shit and our build up was mostly hollywood balls but that doesn't detract from the fact that those two had something to prove and looked poor trying to do it.

But we already know that about Andre and Salah, don't we? They have terrible decision making in the final third, even Oscar's is inconsistent and even Hazard's is not not par with top forwards. And I reckon Salah and Schurrle were extra desperate on Tuesday because they are trying to get into the team.