closed Chelsea 5-0 Huddersfield

[El P. 1,354]

1 minute ago, Muzchap said:

Hang on prior to the win today, everybody wanted him back in his old role and Sarri was an absolute fucking idiot for thinking he could change his game?

I'm not saying you said that - but that was the general consensus 🤔

Gotta love how fickle the world is now.

Well, I was always AGAINST that consensus.

I am sure Kante is the best as box-to-box player, he is just too wild and energetic to be playing at the pivot. And Sarri has nothing to do with that, I'd play Kante as box-to-box in any setup. Or in 4-2-3-1 with one more static DMF, like Matić was.

For me, he should never be the last man in the midfield. And even 4-2-3-1 and 3-4-3 for example have on paper TWO DMFs. But I don't think that's the case - there's always one that goes more forward. And Kante is exactly that one for me.

[Unionjack 7,531]

Just now, Muzchap said:

Hang on prior to the win today, everybody wanted him back in his old role and Sarri was an absolute fucking idiot for thinking he could change his game?

I'm not saying you said that - but that was the general consensus 🤔

Gotta love how fickle the world is now.

I didn't!

I understood the reasoning.

But I do wish we played tighter - more compact but wider.

That allows him to get back to help Jorgi and to presss high up without running like a madman.

Love my wee baldy man!

I want one!

[y10edn 185]

19 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Couldn't disagree more, he was BY FAR our worst player on the pitch, he was burnt over and over, only reason we didn't see it on the scoresheet was because Huddersfield have one of the worst offences in the Big Five leagues

He contributes nothing of value

After Bournemouth, we know who is better. there is a reason we all look forward to free kicks 20 - 30 yards on the right side of the pitch - Alonso. He offers something going forward not so defensively but we have to live with that for now. I remember when we had Le Saux and Babayaro then Wayne Bridge. Since Ashley Cole many have come Rahman, Filipe etc and although Alonso would never rank as one of the best he is better than Emerson. one of the few dead ballers we have in this squad.

 

[Vesper 27,317]

1 minute ago, y10edn said:

After Bournemouth, we know who is better. there is a reason we all look forward to free kicks 20 - 30 yards on the right side of the pitch - Alonso. He offers something going forward not so defensively but we have to live with that for now. I remember when we had Le Saux and Babayaro then Wayne Bridge. Since Ashley Cole many have come Rahman, Filipe etc and although Alonso would never rank as one of the best he is better than Emerson. one of the few dead ballers we have in this squad.

 

Never, completely disagree, Emerson had fuckall to do with that loss, and he looked twice the player La Tortuga is  his last start before that.

Alonso is pure shit.

I want him off our team this summer. He is a massive weakpoint.

He makes Sarri look like a stupid fool for saying he is almost the best fullback in Europe. Like short bus stupid.

[Vesper 27,317]

11 minutes ago, y10edn said:

After Bournemouth, we know who is better. there is a reason we all look forward to free kicks 20 - 30 yards on the right side of the pitch - Alonso. He offers something going forward not so defensively but we have to live with that for now. I remember when we had Le Saux and Babayaro then Wayne Bridge. Since Ashley Cole many have come Rahman, Filipe etc and although Alonso would never rank as one of the best he is better than Emerson. one of the few dead ballers we have in this squad.

 

I am not even an Emerson fangirl btw

we need to buy Junior Firpo or Chilwell or Alex Telles

 

[Thor 2,122]

I thought Higuain's movement was fantastic. So nice to see a player actively looking for the ball, and wanting to put in proper shots at the goal. 

Say what you want, but Morata, and Giroud always half assed it, and that is why you see Giroud take those crazy shots, because he is not willing to put in the work, work his way to a better shot, and live with the consequences. He'd rather pot shot a hail mary attempt, and have everyone okay with it because it was such a hard chance to begin with. 

His link up play was lacking a bit giving the ball away a few times, but that looked more like becoming accustomed to how each of our players move. He had a few great sequences, then had a few where he completely misplaced the ball. Not a worry for me though.

 

Jorgi... Why is Luiz doing your job? To be fair it must be infuriating playing with Hazard and Willian as your wingers. Neither make direct runs behind the defence when we have the ball in the final third. One of the big reasons we can't create great chances. Fair enough with Hazard because he is great at carrying and breaking down defences. But Willian should be running that line and darting in behind so Jorgi has something to look for. This is why I prefer CHO. He has that directness to his game. He loses the ball a little bit more at the moment (largely due to being selfish and wanting to prove himself), but he runs in behind, looks to get in good positions, and doesn't feel like he needs the ball to work. Willian is beyond frustrating dropping back and picking up the ball, because he isn't great at running at players and getting around them, and it leads to Alonso being out of position half the time if he switches to the left. 

I was impressed with AC. One small mistake, but I never thought it was a penalty. He kept trying to push the defensive line up, unlike Luiz (who I thought was great, but obviously this is more of a repetition thing with him seeing as the whole team has been doing this). 

We need to make the line between that midfield and defence smaller. It will help Jorgi out a lot. Our defenders can pick up the ball earlier, shadow it, and allow Jorgi to get back quicker due to the gap being smaller. Though this would require our RB and LB to be any decent at their job. I'd just run Azpi at CB and look for two new fullbacks this summer. 

[communicate 2,703]

3 hours ago, El P. said:

Well, I was always AGAINST that consensus.

I am sure Kante is the best as box-to-box player, he is just too wild and energetic to be playing at the pivot. And Sarri has nothing to do with that, I'd play Kante as box-to-box in any setup. Or in 4-2-3-1 with one more static DMF, like Matić was.

For me, he should never be the last man in the midfield. And even 4-2-3-1 and 3-4-3 for example have on paper TWO DMFs. But I don't think that's the case - there's always one that goes more forward. And Kante is exactly that one for me.

Nah if you want to play counter attacking strategy it is fine to play kante as more static or defensive player. He was that with France, Leicester and us. Three title winners.  But if you want to play expansive game and dominate possession, it is better for him to play as box to box. 

[Unionjack 7,531]

Vidi well oh my droogs

 

 

[robsblubot 3,223]

Another bizarro world on TC I must say. Team plays well, Alonso plays well with great linkup play with Hazard, yes, even in the first half. People complain... Alonso is shit and what not.  

 

[El P. 1,354]

7 hours ago, communicate said:

Nah if you want to play counter attacking strategy it is fine to play kante as more static or defensive player. He was that with France, Leicester and us. Three title winners.  But if you want to play expansive game and dominate possession, it is better for him to play as box to box. 

Yes, it's fine, but for me even better with playing with one more static mid. Matić or Busquets would be perfect with Kante in counter-attacking 4-2-3-1 od 3-4-3.

[Special Juan 27,103]

Yes we must keep the opponent in mind, but we also must look at how the goals, especially Higuain's came about.

Movement, nothing but pure movement for the first, a quick point to where he wanted it and bang, goal, dead simple. The second was a great goal but what pleased me more was the 'risk' that he took. We have not be trying our luck or taking pot shots at goal lately, but merely trying to walk it in and being frustrated. The Mail today described GH performance as rusty...I think the opposite, it was workman like, he was positive and he scored two very good goals, that paints a different picture to what they claim.

Huddersfield are terrible, we all know that, but these sorts of performance help confidence. They will have given GH a massive lift and a belief he can score a lot more. There was little sparks of link play with Hazard and others that shown us what can only get better. Wednesday was awful, and we can only be pleased with yesterday as it was good performance and a good result. What must happen now is to be positive in the games coming up and be different and take risks.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

13 hours ago, Vesper said:

Couldn't disagree more, he was BY FAR our worst player on the pitch, he was burnt over and over, only reason we didn't see it on the scoresheet was because Huddersfield have one of the worst offences in the Big Five leagues

He contributes nothing of value

Agreed!

I went to the game yesterday, and, having realised I've been giving Alonso a harsh time recently, I kept an eye on him throughout the game. 

He contributes nothing. Defensively, his only real contributing factor is his height, which sometimes bails him out when he's caught ball-watching. Offensively, he is slow and negative, and simply cannot cross. I do not know what he offers the team at this time.

[BXL70 395]

It was just Huddersfield. Real tests will be against City, Spurs, United.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

3 minutes ago, BXL70 said:

It was just Huddersfield. Real tests will be against City, Spurs, United.

True, yet "Just Bournemouth" dicked us 4-0 three days beforehand, so let's enjoy our biggest win of the season, if that's allowed? 

[Laylabelle 9,296]

18 minutes ago, BlueLion. said:

True, yet "Just Bournemouth" dicked us 4-0 three days beforehand, so let's enjoy our biggest win of the season, if that's allowed? 

And plus we've had shock results so many times this could've easily been another way we've gone... 

Nice to score! 

[Jase 43,479]

7 hours ago, BlueLion. said:

True, yet "Just Bournemouth" dicked us 4-0 three days beforehand, so let's enjoy our biggest win of the season, if that's allowed? 

If we're being honest, Huddersfield are only a Premier League club by status but in actual fact, they are pretty much a Championship quality side. Barring Derby, we have beaten Championship sides with ease this season.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

2 hours ago, Jason said:

If we're being honest, Huddersfield are only a Premier League club by status but in actual fact, they are pretty much a Championship quality side. Barring Derby, we have beaten Championship sides with ease this season.

If we're being honest, that's pretty much by the by when you consider a - we're shit, and b - we're coming off the back of two straight hidings in the PL without scoring. 

[Jase 43,479]

3 minutes ago, BlueLion. said:

If we're being honest, that's pretty much by the by when you consider a - we're shit, and b - we're coming off the back of two straight hidings in the PL without scoring. 

We may be shit but aren't shittier than a Championship side.