Closed Southampton 1-1 Chelsea

[bluesman2610 1,417]

I disagree. Every game is different and every situation should be judged as such. Refs can't be influenced by the media or they shouldn't be it's what makes a ref poor

The key word is shouldn't be but lets face it as humans we all have certain things that we were influenced to do. I fully believe that he and all other referees when a Chelsea player goes down in the box will think dive first unless the contact is a firm challenge, and we only have ourselves to blame for the poor sporting behaviour. Ivan is one of the most powerful fullbacks in Europe if not the most and goes down at slightest to no contact that should not be happening and had our players not been booked previously for simulation then we just may have gotten the pk today

but that is just my opinion I feel we will have to agree to disagree on this one

[quickpassnmove 924]

it's not even frustrating football anymore. just a load of defending.

I still say Chelsea need one more wide player to help unlock defenses--whether it's a RW or a RB. Not to mention a better CM for depth or quality in that area.

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

Felt like shit after the game, but at least Burnley saved the day.

Hazard and Cesc were class, but it's dissapointing to see that Chelsea could not exploit that right wing more.

Targett is inexperienced and should have been the key to this match. A more direct player would have tore him apart. Man this team screams for a Robben/Bale type of player.

No time to cry though. WHL in a few days and that game is a must win. Pretty sure Sunderland won't bail us out again, like Burnley did today.

[Clevemayer 764]

one shot on target not enough from us. away from that, so so first half, very nice and slick passing and movement second half, but couldn't get the ball into the box, not by brana and nor by Luis. I hope very much Luis gets a run out there at RB, and put Brana at CB or bench, he is no RB I'm stating this for 3 succesive seasons now.

Luis is a bit rusty so you can understand he doesn't deliver the ball quite to his standards, but Bane is the same week after week.

[Azpinator 2,325]

The behaviour of many members here resembles the behaviour of a toddler.. give them candy and they'll shut up (West Ham post-match thread: 4 pages), take away the candy and they'll go crazy (this thread: 10+ pages.. could have been more had City won).

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Luck is what wins you trophies.

Finaly someone who agrees on that.

"unlucky" isnt even excuse and people still say it. Its just so that you feel better instead of saying we were bad/uninspired/unorganised in final third.

Luck is what gives edge to winners but is closely connected to those teams with winning mentality, balls, fighting spirit. It doesnt just happen out of nowhere. Maybe one game but not whole tournament.

And if we will continue to being "unlucky" no fucking way we will win title. Thankfuly city drew too and its mental advantage for us because they were on winning streak and they drew easy match that was already won.

[mannyfreshh 164]

Top of the league boys and gals .... Hazard was great.... Matic, mikel,terry, Luis were very disappointing

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Still have to see how burnley managed to rescue a point from city, 2-0 up against that lot should be 3pts.

The football gods were not frowning on us that's for sure, we had good industry and probed well just couldn't get the decider. Willian was a useless sub would've liked to see Remy get more than a cameo.

[Footballover 222]

Haha, what a bunch of kids you lot are. We played great football today, dominated the 2nd half completely and were very unlucky in front of goal (and were robbed by the ref). We had many chances even though we didn't convert them to shooting opportunities and it was really a one game thing because we shoot more than most of the teams in the league.

The amount of BS that was written in this thread is beyond belief, "never play Schurrle, Luis is shit, Iva is shit"... Ridiculous.

We are in a better position now compared to the same moment of the double season and you are still bitching.

Shit happens, great game today, roll on to Spurs!

[Kieran. 6,317]

I'm not bothered because I believe if we won, city would have won as well.

[Tomo 21,751]

We don't have that United-Ferguson era winning mentality, when was the last time we won a game in the final minutes?..

Tbf, even during 04-10 we rarely scored late goals to win, has never really been our strong point.

[thekid9 418]

Luis was horrific in the first half! slightly better in patches of the second

and wait for it

SHOOOOOOOOOOOT! trying to walk the ball into the net far too much!

[supporter 3,088]

Sad tie. At least City also tied ...

I think today we did not play our best game but we played a good match. I think we had three errors:

1. Andre Schurrle. He has already shown many times that he do not have the level to play with us. I think we have to sell it right now.

2. The pair of Mikel - Matic today has not found the course of the game. Mikel is often a mystery and today his performance was quite lost after making good games in December. The strange to was the performance offered by Matic. he have now been misplaced on the pitch and the perfomance was very low after we have become accustomed to having a complete player in every game.

3. We have to solve the problem of shots on goal. In this forum we talked about that a solution would be the long distance shots, I comment that we could encourage the plays from the sidelines. I think today we use the moves of the side but lacking we shoot at goal. Diego Costa is the best striker we can have but for games in which we dominated much and we have so much space Diego has to make an effort to change their mindset to be ready for shots on goal as usually done Didier Drogba. Also we should try the long distance shots.

Also the referee was horrible.

Forgetting this, today we did a good match,we have controlled the game at all times, with Cesc playing spectacular with an incredible performance being an authentic leader. Jose could go wrong taking a Schurrle, yes, but he was brave with changes in the last minute and had several occasions where we could win the game.

It was a sad setback, but we have to rise because within four days we have the next stop to The Quadrupe against Tottenham on Thursday January 1st.

I believed, I believe, and still believe in our team.

[Term-X 7,891]

Tbf, even during 04-10 we rarely scored late goals to win, has never really been our strong point.

It's the most frustrating thing about us, and it's the ultimate test of character too, to be able to keep your head and step it up a level against the clock. We were panicky against Newcastle in similar moments, passes were not being strung together in the same way.

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

Felt like shit after the game, but at least Burnley saved the day.

Hazard and Cesc were class, but it's dissapointing to see that Chelsea could not exploit that right wing more.

Targett is inexperienced and should have been the key to this match. A more direct player would have tore him apart. Man this team screams for a Robben/Bale type of player.

No time to cry though. WHL in a few days and that game is a must win. Pretty sure Sunderland won't bail us out again, like Burnley did today.

Mo Salah? Left footed on the right. He could have been useful and coming inside would of gave Ivanovic much more room. Not the same level but to say we need a winger who comes in on his stronger foot to attack spaces is ridiculous considering we have one in Salah who in all honesty needs a chance.

[Starman60 1,343]

Very unlucky to come away with only one point today, but Burnley taking a point at City really made my day. Southampton is a tough place to go, and after a below average first half display I thought we played superbly in the second half.........up to the 18 yard box. Beyond that we were a little lacking to say the least, but hey, these things happen, and we are not going to win every match. A win at the Spuds and this game will be a distant memory and maybe even a good point gained come the end of the season.

But my gripe about today is that I dont like Mikel in the starting line-up. he's a liability in my book.And if you look you will see he was involved in their goal. Harsh on my behalf? maybe!!! But I think Ramires would have been a better choice for this match. I think we payed them too much respect by playing two defensive midfielders. I guessed correctly that Schurrle would start instead of Willian, but he was poor and failed to justify his selection. And finally, I think we are being harshly judged for previous diving antics, as Fabregas had a"nailed on" penalty turned down and he got booked into the bargain. WTF was the linesman watching? He would have had a perfect view of the incident but failed (miserably) to do the right thing. I wonder will we hear as much this as we did about Ivanovich's dive against West Ham? I dont think so.........

[CurlyHairLikeLuiz 1,625]

Frustrating game.

I have to say I much prefer Fabregas in the pivot against in the forward 3, influences the game far more effectively there. And in the F3, we were vastly ineffective - Hazard probably put in 60% effort, Cesc 35, 3rd winger 5%. Whether Schurrle or Willian, they are both clearly currently underperforming, either that or they simply needs to be replaced, even if the chances are Reus is going to Madrid, this will have to be addressed in the summer, keeping Salah or Willian/Schurrle as a back up (my personal candidate would be Salah, as a left footed winger would be more useful because Hazard can move onto the right. He also, in my opinion, has more potential.)

On a side note, where the flying fuck has Remy been? He's so out of favour, even though he would be far more suited to the no 10 role than Drogba, who ended up destroying the midfield as well as the already doomed width. Costa simply wasn't being serviced, and Mikel and Ivan were invisible for the most part of the game, with Ivan being more of a liability on the field - Usually, Dave would be behind Terry in case of what unfolded before - This time, he was not there to save him, and to be blunt, Azpi would be better off being at RB, on his stronger foot he would also be more attacking than usual anyway. Mikel was okay, but he simply just got walked over and dispossessed by So'ton whenever he got the ball.

Can Remy play on the wing? If so we should definitely try him, that way we can increase his game time.

I can see why Mou brought on Drog though - He's far more effective in set pieces than pretty much any other of our player apart from maybe JT.

It's a good thing Burnley bailed us out, otherwise we'd be truly in the shit, Frankie had mercy this time round...

On a side note, did anybody watch the City game? Is it worth watching the highights?

[MichaelDance 552]

That cue ball cunt, Anthony Taylor cost us 2pts... Hazard was getting fouled repeatedly and no calls. If that wasn't bad enough a fucking clear penalty not awarded!! And then he has the audacity to book Cesc for diving!! What a fucking prick...

Plays the advantage and when they we win the ball back he stops play for nothing. He's starting to become my least favourite referee mainly because he is so incompetent! Just do your fucking job and trying to make up for your the fact that no one gave two shits about you while you were growing you bald cunt! Pathetic excuse for a human being.

That ref is trying to be the next Phil Dowd

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

Mo Salah? Left footed on the right. He could have been useful and coming inside would of gave Ivanovic much more room. Not the same level but to say we need a winger who comes in on his stronger foot to attack spaces is ridiculous considering we have one in Salah who in all honesty needs a chance.

Salah is more of a Downing type of player and in this case I'd rather have Willian or Schurrle on the right wing. No disrespect to Salah, dude is ok, wish him all the best, but he is no Chelsea material. Him on the pitch today would not have made any difference to be honest.

Robben, Bale, they are explosive players, they kill you with pace and they can always bail you out with a long range shot. Remember Salah's long range effort at Shrewsbury? I think it hit some dude waiting for the bus here in Bucharest...

I get that he's had little to no time this season, but those five or six games he's had, you have to take your chances. So far he hasn't showed he could have been the man to infulence a game like this one today.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

It's the most frustrating thing about us, and it's the ultimate test of character too, to be able to keep your head and step it up a level against the clock. We were panicky against Newcastle in similar moments, passes were not being strung together in the same way.

Isn't that a positive, though, in a weird way? Shows we still have room to mature and grow - meaning we'll improve between now and the end of the season. I had been concerned we'd "peaked too early" as the expression goes; but clearly we can improve on our consistency in general but also our incisiveness in the final third. We were lucky to get a point today considering we had one serious attempt all game, so I can't complain too much. Southampton deserved their point.