closed Watford 1-2 Chelsea

[Milan 17,958]

2 minutes ago, CHOULO19 said:

I would like to add that, yes, Conte is making influential changes and subs in games (agree with Barbara that he's mostly correcting his own mistakes) but another factor that is helping us late in games so far is that we're in a better physical condition than most teams. We can't rely on that forever as teams will gradually catch up. 

Isn't this Conte's priority? There was a lot of running in the pre season and he keeps talking about the physical aspect of the game. Plus my boss who is a Juve fan says the players have to run like hell. This might come very, very handy when we have to chase the game (or defend the lead) and we have more stamina than the opponent.

[Melanicus 5,208]

19 minutes ago, Barbara said:

Conte fixed things... things he did wrong in the first place. There's merit fixing things, but he took a tad too long against West Ham to go all -attack (but I'm thankful he did) and today he had a bad lineup.

I mean, he 's new at the league , but seriously what tactical role was Matic doing there? Why start Pedro when Moses has been better so far (although he did little to nothing since he came, but nobody would do worse than Pedro did today). Then there's the big question, if Cesc isn't starting this kind of game, what kind of game he is? We won't need Matic in those matches, especially if Oscar is in the  match and can help Kante (as if he needs, but still).

And for the love of Jesus, someone just do a criminal tackle on Iva because it seems like no manager has  balls to actually bench him...

What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you for real?

[CHOULO19 24,332]

1 minute ago, milan.cech said:

Isn't this Conte's priority? There was a lot of running in the pre season and he keeps talking about the physical aspect of the game. Plus my boss who is a Juve fan says the players have to run like hell. This might come very, very handy when we have to chase the game (or defend the lead) and we have more stamina than the opponent.

Yes, absolutely. I reckon we had a better preseason than any other team in the league which couldn't be more of a contrast to last season's preseason! 

[Jase 43,479]

Some quick thoughts...

1. Don't think both sides played well but in our case, thought we were flat. Never mind the lack of good chances created, that energy, intensity we saw against West Ham were missing.

2. Probably got lucky with the win this time around but heck, will take that and run. 2 wins from 2 now. Need to continue building on it.

3. I'm seriously hoping Conte isn't another manager who waits till the last 10-20 minutes before changing things. Although they worked against West Ham and Watford, there's gonna come a game where this approach will be too little too late.

4. Is Conte giving Fabregas the cold shoulder treatment like Mourinho did with some players 2 years ago? Fabregas certainly has his defensive issues but given we rely so much on Hazard and are so braindead whenever we get into the final third, surely Fabregas should be starting against teams like Watford? We need his attacking qualities (as proven with that gorgeous pass to Costa!) to break down the lesser sides. Conte has serious questions to answer if he doesn't start Fabregas against Burnley next week.

5. Not convinced the 4-4-2 will work from the start, especially when there's so many issues with the current squad, but a tad curious to see it happen. Twice now changing to that has gotten us maximum points from 2 matches. Conte to try that out from the get-go against Bristol Rovers?

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Moses has to start. He can dribble past a defender, we cannot have only one player out of 11 that knows how to get past his marker so Moses has to start. 

Costa has terrible ball control and he prefers balls in behind the defence rather than ball to feet so a strike partner can make him play better. Enter batshuayi, very technical, good in the air, good with both feet, if we're serious about attacking, he should be starting as well.

What has happened to Matic? Ivanovic has always been terrible but Matic my word..... He's so clumsy on the ball, no right leg, no ball control, awful when asked to attack. You could see the difference between him and kante when kante was allowed to get forward. Matic should be the one sitting back, he has no ball control in tight spaces.  

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

23 minutes ago, Ryan Fong said:

I've been saying how poor Matic is for ages. Now hopefully Conte sees the enough of him. Without Cesc we looked completely clueless. God you have no idea how much I wish we could sign Nainggolan, the midfield trio of Naing Kante and Cesc would be awesome.

This is what I've been saying in the Fabs thread.

Replicate Conte's Juve midfield where Pirlo had 2 B2B midfielder's around him.  Pirlo with 2 of Pogba/Vidal/Marchisio

Cesc with Kante and someone else:

Some sort of Nainggolan-Saul-Koke-esque type player.

 

 

 

 

 

[Chelsea Buzz 487]

My fellow Chelsea mates, enjoy your night and weekend. 6 points out of a max 6 two games in. We will only get better. We certainly can get better and Conte will make sure it happens, starting with the XI. Conte is a better judge of talent in my opinion than Jose based on his career and clearly a better strategist.

Come on you Chelsea!!

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

Kante shouldn't be a holding midfielder. He did ok there but looks so much better when he has freedom of the entire pitch to play as a box to box. Let Matic sit instead and play Kante as a box to box.

[different level 1,056]

A win is a win and I'm extremely happy with the result. We're still looking the same way we did last year though, especially in defense. We need to act quickly and bring in more new faces this transfer window.

[Parky 739]

Lucky win. We were shit until the last 15 mins when Cesc and Batshuayi subbed in.

Some assumptions I have come to watching the last two games:

• We are better with 2 forwards upfront
• We seriously need a natrual LB so Cesar can switch to RB and Ivanovic can fuck off.
• Cesc>>>Oscar all day long.
• If Conte insists on a 4-1-4-1 then Matic or even better Chalobah should be DM. We are wasting Kante's many qualities playing him as DM.
• It's clear we need to spend the money and make a number of quality signings if we are to challenge for the top 4 let alone the title.

 

[Johnnyeye 7,510]

[Barbara 15,149]

What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you for real?

Nothing. Didn't say break his leg, but if managers don't do it, let nature do it. If he stays a few weeks out he won't come back. So let me rephrase for the sensitive.

For the love of Jesus let him have a muscular problem and be out.

Sent from my SM-J700M using Tapatalk

[Footballover 222]

The only real significant change I see from this Chelsea compared to last season is the magnificent amount of work the players make without the ball. I craved for Mourinho's Chelsea to do that for 2 years and thankfully we can see it under Conte, it wins you games. Westham and Watford created two (well, three at max) real chances, and they both had two insane shots to beat Tibo, apart from that they weren't really able to create anything. Most of the credit goes to one N'golo Kante - an absolute beast in midfield. He was my fantasy last year and if I had one player to choose this transfer window it would be him.

We really lacked Cesc's creativity in those two games, Oscar is better at pressing the opposition but that's it, he has got nothing on Fabregas. 

I also think you are a bit harsh on Ivanovic. He had a decent game against Westham and although he is at fault for the goal today, he wasn't bad as last year and wasn't below the standards the team put up today. I do believe he needs to be replaced, as is JT, who will suffer greatly against stronger sides. (Cahiil might work alongside a WC CB). 

Still a lot of work to be done but for now, let's celebrate! Up the Chels!! 

[Melanicus 5,208]

11 minutes ago, Barbara said:

Nothing. Didn't say break his leg, but if managers don't do it, let nature do it. If he stays a few weeks out he won't come back. So let me rephrase for the sensitive.

For the love of Jesus let him have a muscular problem and be out.

Sent from my SM-J700M using Tapatalk

It's not about being sensitive or tough. You know exactly what you meant, don't try to find a way out of it now.

Disliking a player is okay, I also don't like how Ivanovic plays and I think he should be nowhere near the first team. But that's when it ends. Hoping he gets injured, breaks his leg or threatening his family or anything similar is what a scum person would do. Hiding behind Jesus doesn't change this either. It seems like you have no clue about what Jesus preached.

 

[Vytis33 1,272]

This is a game we would've lost last term.  At best scraped one point out of the game.  Still buzzing about the win. 

 

Pedro was abysmal today.  And Oscar returned to form of course, after what I thought was a really strong opening match.  Guy was like a ghost out there today. 

Happy for Cesc to come on and have a huge impact in the result.  

 

3pts in the bag!

[xPetrCechx 13,571]

First 70 minutes:
Watford shots 6-4 Chelsea.

In the final 20 minutes + inj time:
Watford 1-8 Chelsea.

Maybe the subs had something to do with it

[Chelsea Buzz 487]

Want to have a laugh, go to the Sky Sports match report page. Other than the laugh about Costa dive with no mention of Watford handball, look at the player ratings. Chelsea with four players rated the best as a "7": Terry, Hazard, Costa and, wait for it........Ivanovic.

Worst Chelsea player in the match with only "4" rating you ask? Cesc of course.

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

One thing I am sure of is that Conte has not found the ideal starting line-up yet and I could not be more happier because it is still early in the season and he has plenty of time to fix it. I am glad that although Chelsea has not played the best football so far, we've managed to get two wins and most importantly I hope Conte has figured out that he still needs to makes changes before finding the ideal line-up. Starting with Oscar in place of Cesc on the bench. Oscar, just like Coutinho and the entire Liverpool FC fan base, cannot be trusted and taken serious because it's always the same story. Over and over again, it's in their DNA, total failures. Oscar, one football match he is playing decent, the next 10 he is gash. Coutinho, scores a scream, the next three weeks he is trash. Liverpool FC score 4 at the Emirates, then get battered by Burnley. 

Team is solid overall - West Ham have scored with their only shot on target, and today Watford have had only two shots, one of which was the goal. But midfield is a big problem because there is no creativity there and must be reshaped IMO. As most of the guys on here said already, a midfield of Nainggolan (or another similar, dynamic b2b midfielder), Kante and Fabregas would be perfect. But it's still early days and Conte is not stupid, these two matches must have shown him that there is certain players that do not deserve to play from the start. There is no wonder for me that both games had been won after Oscar was subbed off. 

One month and a few days into Conte's new life at Chelsea, but things are looking decent so far for me. We will be there with the right players no doubt. The attitude is there, the fight, the will, the manager who is the copy of a Chelsea fan on the touchline. Up the Chels!!!

[Chelsea Buzz 487]

Want to have a laugh, go to the Sky Sports match report page. Other than the laugh about Costa dive with no mention of Watford handball, look at the player ratings. Chelsea with four players rated the best as a "7": Terry, Hazard, Costa and, wait for it........Ivanovic.

Worst Chelsea player in the match with only "4" rating you ask? Cesc of course.

[Ryan Fong 2,776]

One thing I am sure of is that Conte has not found the ideal starting line-up yet and I could not be more happier because it is still early in the season and he has plenty of time to fix it. I am glad that although Chelsea has not played the best football so far, we've managed to get two wins and most importantly I hope Conte has figured out that he still needs to makes changes before finding the ideal line-up. Starting with Oscar in place of Cesc on the bench. Oscar, just like Coutinho and the entire Liverpool FC fan base, cannot be trusted and taken serious because it's always the same story. Over and over again, it's in their DNA, total failures. Oscar, one football match he is playing decent, the next 10 he is gash. Coutinho, scores a scream, the next three weeks he is trash. Liverpool FC score 4 at the Emirates, then get battered by Burnley. 

Team is solid overall - West Ham have scored with their only shot on target, and today Watford have had only two shots, one of which was the goal. But midfield is a big problem because there is no creativity there and must be reshaped IMO. As most of the guys on here said already, a midfield of Nainggolan (or another similar, dynamic b2b midfielder), Kante and Fabregas would be perfect. But it's still early days and Conte is not stupid, these two matches must have shown him that there is certain players that do not deserve to play from the start. There is no wonder for me that both games had been won after Oscar was subbed off. 

One month and a few days into Conte's new life at Chelsea, but things are looking decent so far for me. We will be there with the right players no doubt. The attitude is there, the fight, the will, the manager who is the copy of a Chelsea fan on the touchline. Up the Chels!!!

Words right from my mouth, kudos mate. I also think he is still in the process of figuring out our best lineup, and 2 wins out of 2 during this process is a big big bonus. Hopefully we can see a much better, more stable and more cohesive team in the very near future with the potential new signings if there's any.