Super Frank Thread

[Tomo 21,733]

1 hour ago, Pizy said:

Everyone here knows I still love Mou, but he does come off as super bitter here. He has been wrong about pretty much everything in regards to us this season. Almost like he's holding a grudge.

I personally think it's absolutely killed him we gave the job to Lampard while he was available and i feel that may come to the fore in a big way if he takes the Arsenal job and Lampard beat's him.

[Jase 43,479]

7 minutes ago, Tomo said:

I personally think it's absolutely killed him we gave the job to Lampard while he was available and i feel that may come to the fore in a big way if he takes the Arsenal job and Lampard beat's him.

You and your conspiracy theory! 

[Laylabelle 9,351]

3 hours ago, Jason said:

This period next year looks fun...

And to make it more super fun we have Spurs 22nd December and Arsenal 29th December.. 3 league games in between that first Arsenal game before we play them again in January 

[Tomo 21,733]

12 minutes ago, Laylabelle said:

And to make it more super fun we have Spurs 22nd December and Arsenal 29th December.. 3 league games in between that first Arsenal game before we play them again in January 

Unless something drastically changes within the next month I will be very disappointed if we don't take minimum 8/9 points from the games vs the North London clubs.

[Jase 43,479]

14 minutes ago, Laylabelle said:

And to make it more super fun we have Spurs 22nd December and Arsenal 29th December.. 3 league games in between that first Arsenal game before we play them again in January 

All the more important to rack up the points against the other sides. 

[!Hazard! 3,394]

Apparently there's a chance Lewis Hamilton is getting knighted as soon as at upcoming New Years Honours. When is Lampard gonna get it? 

[Milan 17,853]

6 hours ago, !Hazard! said:

Apparently there's a chance Lewis Hamilton is getting knighted as soon as at upcoming New Years Honours. When is Lampard gonna get it? 

Sir Lewis Hamilton  You've got to be kidding...

[LAM09 6,744]

No idea if this has been posted, but it's nice to see Lampard making sure the players stay in line.

[Jase 43,479]

How Chelsea beat the low block: Frank Lampard has devised clever way to beat defensive teams without being hit on the counter 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2019/11/11/chelsea-beat-low-block-frank-lampard-has-devised-clever-way/

An early season hammering by Manchester United raised a few concerns about the way Chelsea play, over-committing in attack at the expense of defensive stability, but with the club sat in second place in the table before Liverpool vs Manchester City, something is clearly working.

Frank Lampard’s Chelsea are getting results by playing entertaining football and opposition teams are so concerned about this they sit deep against them to prevent being opened up by slick forward play. It’s a conundrum Liverpool and Manchester City often encounter - how to beat a defending team sat in a compact block without being hit on the counter. 

Roy Hodgson opted for exactly this highly defensive setup in Crystal Palace’s 2-0 defeat on Saturday. By staying compact in a low block, Palace’s plan was to frustrate and tease Chelsea into sending players forward in an attempt to gain numerical superiority, leaving spaces to exploit on the counter as a result. It worked well in the first half, with Chelsea limited to few chances.

“We’ve had a few teams come here who are tough to break down and it is a test,” said Lampard after the match. “It’s about how do you break them down with the ball at your feet, it’s also switching on not to get hit with the sucker punch. Palace are absolutely setup to do that with Andros [Townsend] and Zaha.” 

However, Lampard appears to have devised a clever way to overcome this problem - overloading the wide areas.

Although nominally a 4-2-3-1, Lampard’s team attack in a front four with the forwards covering each others’ positions to keep a diamond shape in attack. Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Willian did this throughout, and it’s no coincidence that the majority of Chelsea’s play came down the left where the electric Pulisic was positioned. 39 per cent of Chelsea’s attacks were focused on this side.

For the first goal, Kovacic and N’Golo Kante both were both in the left half-space behind the front four. Emerson is wide left and Reece James right but the sheer number of bodies in the final third means Palace’s attackers must drop back to help, limiting their ability to counter.

Fluid movement off the ball ensured Chelsea maintained a forward diamond shape throughout and by positioning themselves in a four across the Palace defence, they kept every Palace defender busy.

The yellow line above is the run Willian makes to take a pass from Kovacic. In doing so, he restores the Chelsea forward diamond shape, drags a centre-back with him and is able to flick a brilliant pass through to Abraham.

Abraham runs at goal and slots into the bottom corner. 

A goal down, Palace now needed to open up a bit to get back in the game but Chelsea kept sending players forward, buoyed after taking the lead. Reece James was kept busy minding Wilfried Zaha - Palace's main counter-attacking threat - which meant Willian needed to pull out wide right to ensure Chelsea kept their width.

With three forwards on one half of the pitch and Willian free on the other the attack took a lop-sided shape, and it is precisely this that allows Chelsea to gain numerical advantage against a team sat in a block.

Chelsea created overloads in the wide left channel and left half-space as Pulisic, Mount and Abraham attacked in a three against two Palace defenders. By loading players in wide areas Palace were unable to block the centre of the pitch due to being constantly outnumbered on the wings. 

In the buildup to Chelsea’s second goal, Matteo Kovacic runs with the ball on the right with four players occupying the left half of the pitch in a diamond.

The play is moved to the left, Pulisic gets on the ball in the final third, and Chelsea have an overload. Three Chelsea forwards occupy two Palace defenders with Michy Batshuayi (on for Abraham) pulling away to create a gap between the central defenders.

The ball is sent into the area and Batshuayi controls it. Palace’s defence has been pulled apart and scurries to get into a solid line.

Pulisic reads the play though and ghosts in behind the Palace defenders, whose attention has turned to the ball and the threat of Batshuayi…

And this allows him to arrive in space inside the six yard box to head past the goalkeeper. Willian has stayed wider on the right to offer another option in space and keep the Palace left-back away from the centre-backs.

"One can always hope you can meet an opponent who’s a bit jaded or not playing to their full potential," Hodgson said after the match. "We weathered the early storm well, the shape of the team [was good], the players worked hard to control an opponent in great form. I have no criticism of them in any shape or form."

Chelsea are great fun to watch when they flow forward like this but whether it will work against teams like Liverpool and Manchester City, their next opponent, is another matter. City will be wise to the wide overloads and built to hit Chelsea in transition, just as Manchester United did at the start of the season, and it could lead to an end-to-end goalfest or a pummelling for Lampard’s side. 

It’s a high risk, high reward strategy but at the moment few teams can cope with Chelsea’s attacking might.

[Jase 43,479]

59 minutes ago, LAM09 said:

No idea if this has been posted, but it's nice to see Lampard making sure the players stay in line.
 

I know football players earn a lot of money but those fines are brutal.

[LAM09 6,744]

I know football players earn a lot of money but those fines are brutal.

Once bitten, twice shy. [emoji1]

[Atomiswave 6,072]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

I know football players earn a lot of money but those fines are brutal.

Sure are....but hey if it works it works.....last thing we want is our youth going the spurs and utd way. They are more like celebs than ballers, more like clothing line sellers than ballers.

[manpe 10,861]

4 hours ago, LAM09 said:

No idea if this has been posted, but it's nice to see Lampard making sure the players stay in line.
 

Makes me wonder how much money the club has collected already  Also makes you realize the rich do live in a different world.

[LAM09 6,744]

Makes me wonder how much money the club has collected already [emoji3] Also makes you realize the rich do live in a different world.

Probably quite a bit. It does make you rethink life, though.

Hope a wage gap is introduced eventually tbh

[NikkiCFC 7,946]

13 hours ago, Atomiswave said:

They are more like celebs than ballers, more like clothing line sellers than ballers.

Speaking of this why the hell Lingard thought someone would want to buy his clothing!? He has his own brand 😂

[Atomiswave 6,072]

5 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

Speaking of this why the hell Lingard thought someone would want to buy his clothing!? He has his own brand 😂

Gods knows man....just cashing or trying to cashing in on their so called famousy. But if im not mistaken his line has crashed and burned.

[manpe 10,861]

6 hours ago, Atomiswave said:

Gods knows man....just cashing or trying to cashing in on their so called famousy. But if im not mistaken his line has crashed and burned.

Lingard is a horrible player, I never understood the hype around him other than a few good games he's had throughout the years. Willian is king of consistency compared to him.

[Iggy Doonican 4,186]

On 12/11/2019 at 1:56 PM, LAM09 said:

No idea if this has been posted, but it's nice to see Lampard making sure the players stay in line.
 

If there was a fine for being late for the ball Alonso would be skint !