Closed Shrewsbury Town 1-2 Chelsea

[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.