closed Chelsea 2-3 Burnley

[BMox81 193]

5 minutes ago, LAM09 said:

We have injuries. Do they?

Not the point.

The issue is that Conte had nothing on the bench that could have changed the game once Cahill had gone off. Christensen was only brought on after Cahill got sent off and it was a gimme that Morata was going to come on. We had no one else that could have made that extra bit of difference.

Thats the issue here. I don’t want mere squad members to make up the numbers. I want top quality talent that can make us better as a team.

 

[CHOULO19 24,332]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

That's no doubt an essential trait to have in the team and it's great to see it but pardon me if I'm being harsh here, I'm kinda sick of seeing us go AWOL in the first half and then play well in the second to claim some sort of moral victory. It's happened too often (dating back to games at the back end of last season). Why we didn't we start the game today like we ended it? Why did we only turn up after going 3-0 down? Had the mentality been right from the first second, we wouldn't be sitting here and complaining about the referee, red cards, performance etc.

I don't think we went AWOL as a team in the first half.

That's not to say that we played well or that we didn't improve massively in the second half. But we were pretty comfortable until the sending off. Sure we were lacking some sharpness in our passing, but it was the first match of the season.

Even after the sending off, we certainly weren't 3 goals worse than Burnley in terms of performance. We made ridiculous mistakes 'defending' crosses into the box and Burnley to their credit took every single chance they got. But no one would have said it was massively unfair had went into the break goalless with that performance.

But of course scorelines are all that matter in the end... 

[LAM09 7,043]

6 minutes ago, Jason said:

Even including our injured players Hazard, Bakayoko and Pedro, our options are still thin compared to theirs.

The days of us being the big spenders are gone. We've need a few more since the window opened.

1 minute ago, Dingus said:

Not the point.

The issue is that Conte had nothing on the bench that could have changed the game once Cahill had gone off. Christensen was only brought on after Cahill got sent off and it was a gimme that Morata was going to come on. We had no one else that could have made that extra bit of difference.

Thats the issue here. I don’t want mere squad members to make up the numbers. I want top quality talent that can make us better as a team.

 

Musonda should have come on much earlier. We're currently short on numbers thanks to a few injuries and suspensions instead of not having players There's no doubt we need 3-4 players, but that's more down to improving our XI instead of adding numbers for the sake of it.

I'd be shocked if no one is signed this week, just hope it isn't Drinkwater.

[Jase 43,479]

2 minutes ago, CHOULO19 said:

I don't think we went AWOL as a team in the first half.

That's not to say that we played well or that we didn't improve massively in the second half. But we were pretty comfortable until the sending off. Sure we were lacking some sharpness in our passing, but it was the first match of the season.

Even after the sending off, we certainly weren't 3 goals worse than Burnley in terms of performance. We made ridiculous mistakes 'defending' crosses into the box and Burnley to their credit took every single chance they got. But no one would have said it was massively unfair had went into the break goalless with that performance.

But of course scorelines are all that matter in the end... 

We weren't like super bad or anything but we certainly weren't 100% there. The manner in which we allowed Burnley to score highlights that and Conte himself alluded to it as well. We certainly didn't play or react well, when we should have, after going down to 10 men.

[Jase 43,479]

1 minute ago, LAM09 said:

I'd be shocked if no one is signed this week, just hope it isn't Drinkwater.

At this point, we should probably be happy with someone like Drinkwater because we'll be very lucky if we get top class players before Aug 31.

[LAM09 7,043]

1 minute ago, Jason said:

At this point, we should probably be happy with someone like Drinkwater because we'll be very lucky if we get top class players before Aug 31.

Could easily get someone like Seri from Nice IMO. Just the longer the board try to haggle, the smaller the pool.

[robsblubot 3,595]

Ref needlessly ruining the game aside, I still think there have been pretty unacceptable individual performances in the first half.

Bats, kante, fab, and esp Luiz come to mind. 2 goals conceded where luiz was ball watching and marking no one.

[bluephoenix 1,131]

I am so happy for Morata glad that he got a goal on the first game of PL itself, so the media can now go  and get the eff off his back.

 

[quickpassnmove 924]

After this match was finished, all I could see were positive things coming from what transpired.

I am 100% happy with what happened today at Stamford Bridge and on top of everything, no players were badly injured.

 

We need another striker, two centre midfielders and two wingbacks. Hoping that at least four of those arrive this month.

Also, I'm pretty sure that my next Chelsea shirt will bear "Lionheart Luiz"  "30" on the back.

 

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

The result itself is not the problem. Sure losing at home vs bloody Burnley never looks good but the worst thing about it is the timing. We have been written off and rightly so because of our horrendous transfer window. Conte looks frustrated the team is not gelling yet not sure about the harmony in the team and then we lose when we needed nothing more urgently than a win against a side we usually should brush aside. Now the pressure is already on and we are heading into a gruelling fixture list. 

[El P. 1,354]

This is why Matić's transfer was problem. When we sort our squad shit out, Premier league will be long gone. Hope those who wanted Matić out ate their words. Who will play against Spurs, Chelsea U19?

[xPetrCechx 13,570]

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

14 minutes ago, El P. said:

This is why Matić's transfer was problem. When we sort our squad shit out, Premier league will be long gone. Hope those who wanted Matić out ate their words. Who will play against Spurs, Chelsea U19?

I still believe that was the correct decision. Today, Matic would probably not have started anyway. Conte likes to play Cesc when teams park the bus and Burnley were expected to do so. Also Matic would not have prevented the referee being an absolute wanker and sending off two players needlessly. Neither would Matic have mad Luiz place himself better for the two crosses he let in. 

Matic was and is a bang average player who becomes useless against good sides and offers nothing offensively except the occasional fluke goal or assist, which Cesc does regularly. The release of Matic itself was no mistake. To do so before we brought in an actual replacement/ a third fit centre mid was the mistake and that has been acknowledged by everyone who wanted matic out.

[milka 3,390]

15/16 

 

[El P. 1,354]

9 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

I still believe that was the correct decision. Today, Matic would probably not have started anyway. Conte likes to play Cesc when teams park the bus and Burnley were expected to do so. Also Matic would not have prevented the referee being an absolute wanker and sending off two players needlessly. Neither would Matic have mad Luiz place himself better for the two crosses he let in. 

Matic was and is a bang average player who becomes useless against good sides and offers nothing offensively except the occasional fluke goal or assist, which Cesc does regularly. The release of Matic itself was no mistake. To do so before we brought in an actual replacement/ a third fit centre mid was the mistake and that has been acknowledged by everyone who wanted matic out.

I agree, it's not this game that is problem. Next game is, we have no players to play in midfield. It's not MATIĆ per se, it's any decent midfielder, we have none, bar Kante.