closed Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

[Vybz Kartel 1,613]

We have no hunger for more goals and lack urgency 

[DDA 9,924]

Bar one or two passes, Kepas kicking was of a high quality today.

[communicate 2,703]

Halfway to the season. Our problem is getting more obvious, we really lack of goal scorer. Other than Hazard, Pedro and maybe rlc at times, I honestly have 0 confidence of any of our player in term of scoring. Kante has scored more than Willian this season in epl. That is just shocking.

Giroud is too old and I think we have pretty much give up on Morata. Kovacic and jorginho cannot score. Barkley maybe but not sure 

So like today, when I saw that hazard look a bit tired. I have no idea how we are going to score. 

[Jase 43,479]

Just now, communicate said:

This is probably the more concerning problem. It has been like this for quite a while. We look to be in control but it was just sideway pass after sideway pass. Need to pass the ball with more speed and we definitely need a new striker 

At the risk of being dragged into the whole 'Sarri needs time or the players don't suit his style' argument again, we are basically watching the same football this season that we saw under Conte (last season) and Mourinho. Dominate possession against the lesser sides, which we have tended to do as well under Conte and Mourinho, but offer very little going forward. We always relied on someone to do something out of nothing in the past and it's the same now again under Sarri. Yet to see any of the trademark Sarri-ball that we keep hearing so much about. The football feels so rigid and the players don't look like they are having 'fun'.

[Laylabelle 9,534]

We're definitely not having fun. It's just pass pass pass.. Oh look they have it now run! 

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

1 minute ago, Vybz Kartel said:

We have no hunger for more goals and lack urgency 

tbf this Palace team under this manager suck any joy out of football, just stacking 11 men in the box, hoofing the ball upwards. If the opposition does not wanna play football and we can still beat them comfortably why bother wasting too much effort.

I have to admit i missed big parts of the game due to my shitty internet connection on the travel(Germany is stuck in medieval infrastructure-wise) but what i saw was that we patiently passed the ball around with maximum control (apart from willian who let it run out of play for fun) and palace barely had a look in. Even at 0-0 i was confident some individual magic would give us the win at some point. Ofc we are not an exciting team, we have almost 0 creativity. Barkley and Jorginho are hardly created too provide breakthroughs with their Apart from two zaha  shots to the stands i did not witness any chances from them, our defenders especially Luiz and Azpi were superb. Ofc our offense is shit apart from Hazard but that is a known problem and we know whose fault that is.

[!Hazard! 3,394]

38 minutes ago, whats happening said:

can i ask why does sarri play emerson on the right wing instead of zappacosta? sometimes i seriously dont get our manager

Perhaps he wanted a left footed player to play on that side for a while? Currently we have no players there that can comfortably pass with their left foot and it makes that side (and the entire team) even more predictable and vulnerable. If not then I dont either have a clue why he put Emerson there

I believe someone posted a tweet that pointed the lack of left footers in this thread as well...

[Alabama 1,992]

You want exciting football with Alonso Morata Willian and Giroud as major proponents that will spear the attack...Lol

[Jase 43,479]

The injuries are piling up...

[!Hazard! 3,394]

43 minutes ago, Vybz Kartel said:

True but those injuries are from his lack of rotation. Muscle injuries like hamstrings can be easily avoided if he rotates the players well. I'm not saying rotate the whole side but systematic rotation would have helped massively 

Very true. I wonder if Sarri will always continue to ignore the players outside of the core squad or will he start to rotate more frequently once he has the right players at his disposal and feels that all the players in the squad are extremely comfortable with his tactics. We don't really know the answer to this because at Napoli he didn't have the resources to build a squad full of quality players 

[Pizy 18,852]

This is nothing like Conte-ball at all under Sarri. Second half of last season we would regularly allow even small teams to dominate the run of play for large stretches of games. We often had no clue whatsoever positionally. Under Sarri, the ball retention, the pressing, the winning of the ball back, and the positions our players take up to receive the ball and form passing triangles is miles better than it's ever been.

The problem is we have literally one player in attack that scares anyone. Giroud is a good backup option but when he starts like today and has two CB focused in on him it's very difficult. When Morata plays he's soft as butter. Willian scores once every 15 matches it feels like. Pedro is clinical when he gets a good sight at goal but that doesn't happen often enough. Both Kovacic and Barkley seem scared to shoot most of the time.

Compare this to Liverpool, City, Spuds, and even Arse who each have at least THREE attackers who teams worry about,

 

[Jase 43,479]

Nothing new with Sarri's stubbornness in rotation but it's stupid. Didn't rotate much either at Napoli, only did it here and there in European games.

[Special Juan 28,096]

@Jason your more negative than a photo.

[Jase 43,479]

Just now, Special Juan said:

@Jason your more negative than a photo.

Rather face reality than sprinkle dust on things like they are okay. It's not like you don't moan about things either...

[Vesper 30,091]

Just now, Special Juan said:

@Jason your more negative than a photo.

He is spot on though. Eden and Azpi and Jorginho are being run into the ground. Willian and Alonso were already dirt so they didnt have nearly as far to go.