closed Chelsea 1-1 Leicester

[Vesper 30,107]

Not to toss a turd into the Blue punchbowl, but we have to at least take into account that we may sell CHO if he still refuses to sign a new contract, rather than lose him on a free

Tuesday makes 4 weeks since he supposedly agreed to renew, and still no sig on the old parchment

his poison brother is doing his goddamn utmost to shiv us in the arse, from all that I see

 

[Pizy 18,866]

Really can't wait for CHO to be back fit. Pedro and Willian already look to be carrying on where they've let off. Willian hasn't had a preseason and it showed today. He was dreadful. Pedro did what Pedro always does. Sensational one match and really poor the next. He gives the ball away so cheaply and fouls players in dangerous areas so often.

We need a wide player who has huge pace and scares defenders to pin them back. 

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

I guess this was expected. As usual we came out red hot ouf of the blocks and then tired but thats understandable.

For the first time i think we scored the number of goals we deserved. Given the chances creates. The result was fair as well. Tammy once againnwas an absolute let down.

Willian was the usual clusterfuck. Absolute shit show. Has learned nothing, does not track back properly and 0 end product. Pedro has declined visibly losing the ball in dangerous positions. 

Same for Azpi. Really should have done better with the header vs Ndidi. 

Pulisic was anyonymous as was Emerson. Zouma and Christensen were quite ok given they had nonprotection and they bypassed our midfield easily. Really need to defend better. We need Rlc badly. We are so weak always getzing physically dominated in midfield.

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

The first 15 minutes were simply brilliant, but at the same time it's impossible to keep that monstrous intensity for a long time. It is the exact same football Klopp used to play in his first two seasons at Liverpool when they looked brilliant for the first half of the season and then crumbled miserably because their tank was totally empty come late February. 

Now Klopp changed his approach a bit and keeps the same intensity, but in patches and deliberately gives possession away and that's what I am expecting from Lampard to do, too. I was thinking he'd go back to that totall football in the second half at some point, but my feeling is that the legs were too heavy after 120 minutes in Turkey and just three days rest.

Let's see how we do in the next two matches with proper rest in between both. 

[positivefootball 195]

RLC and CHO are big players?? The delusions are reaching epic proportions.

[killer1257 3,282]

Just now, positivefootball said:

RLC and CHO are big players?? The delusions are reaching epic proportions.

RLC was one of our best players last season. Even Man City had problems dealing with his physical attributes combined with his technique. You could agrue that maybe CHO is not the type of big player we need at thsi current state, but RLC definetely is a great player. His has everything apart from stamina.  

[Vesper 30,107]

23 minutes ago, positivefootball said:

RLC and CHO are big players?? The delusions are reaching epic proportions.

RLC on a full seasons minutes was on pace to score 20 goals and have 10 assists, many of then in the EPL, so yes, he is a big player for us

CHO has bags of potential and if we lose him it is a massive blow

you coming on here and shitting on the majority of the board are the delusional one m8

 

[MoroccanBlue 5,378]

To have a player that has been with us since he was 6, to score his first goal on his debut at the bridge wearing the Chelsea kit. 

One of our own. 

 

[Blue Armour 4,436]

4 hours ago, the wes said:

 

Doesn't mince words here.

I'm glad that he acknowledges the problem and has admitted that we were absolute tosh in the 2nd half of the game.

First step towards fixing the problems.

[OneMoSalah 8,885]

38 minutes ago, Blue Armour said:

Doesn't mince words here.

I'm glad that he acknowledges the problem and has admitted that we were absolute tosh in the 2nd half of the game.

First step towards fixing the problems.

But it was the same in pre-season and really the defensive structure of the whole team hasnt drastically changed bar the Liverpool performance.

Yes we are only say 10 games (including pre-season) into Lampard's tenure so this could come as premature but I am a bit concerned with how we concede so many chances and look so bad defending set plays.

For me, it is similar to how Andre Villas Boas' team got on defensively. Couldnt stop conceding chances from open play, unorganised at set plays and eventually goals started going in and it was a matter of could Chelsea get back into the game. Without an improvement defensively as a team (although I think AC-Zouma both played decent today as a pairing but I mean as a whole from front to back) and seeing as we lack a top striker to bail us out, we could potentially end up dropping points. 

As for the attacking play, yeah it is good and exciting at times as well as the high press but there were also elements again in some of our games very similar to how we played under Sarri at times, very congested in middle. We also arent as composed in some phases of the game as we could be and that is also resulting in us turning the ball over and getting done on transitions far too often. Again with time, like the defensive structure, I really hope it improves.

I have seen a lot of positives so far with Frank, the high press when it works is really good (example first 15 mins today), as well as the more direct attacking play (although still gets congested at times) and obviously trying to integrate the academy kids. I was apprehensive about his appointment and still think theres been alarms like I said similar to Villas-Boas' team defensively and for me, most good teams are built on a good defensive structure and shape. Liverpool, Spurs and City without the ball, press from the front. Theyve all bought into it and the distances are good, then if they dont win it they drop back in and are organised. We used to be very organised under Jose and Conte, being able to grind out results. Man United with Fergie as well could grind games out if they werent playing great.

Basically if you cant keep goals out from set plays or concede too many big chances (think of Brendans Liverpool team that finished 2nd), your going to have to end up scoring 3 or 4 goals every game. Teams that have to score 3 or 4 goals a game because they cant keep a clean sheet dont traditionally win leagues or cups. Its probably easier to keep clean sheets than need to score 3 or 4 goals a game. 

[robsblubot 3,595]

Think zouma remains a problem, once again not for having a poor game, or making mistakes, but by being unable to work in a high press. And his positioning is also a bit disappointing considering his other shortcomings.

second half was as bad as it gets. Bullied, esp once giroud left, because then we lost all second balls and could not keep possession. Another 15 minutes and Leicester would’ve easily won the match.

lots of work to do and I’m worried by what I see from Lampard. I’m yet to see an improvement coming from the locker room. His subs rarely improve the team and are ill-timed.

[Jase 43,479]

3 hours ago, Blue Armour said:

Doesn't mince words here.

I'm glad that he acknowledges the problem and has admitted that we were absolute tosh in the 2nd half of the game.

First step towards fixing the problems.

I know we are a work in progress but only 3 games into the season and we are already talking about the same thing every game. Show positives, play well, create chances BUT we do not convert them and then concede because of stupid mistakes at the back (including pre-season, we have only one clean sheet in 10 games. ONE!). Lampard's sentiment is gonna wear thin if the same thing keeps on happening and especially if we don't start picking up results soon. 

[NikkiCFC 8,294]

United away and Leicester at home... Funny thing is that in two previous seasons with Conte and Sarri we also took one point from these games so it's nothing new. 

[cosmicway 1,333]

Yesterday we were outplayed, for the first time in years by a midtable team.
Against Utd we were unlucky, yesterday we were outplayed.

[OhForAGreavsie 6,061]

12 hours ago, Pizy said:

Also, you could really easily pick out the players who were struggling after the Liverpool match. Emerson especially wasn't nearly as good today going forward. 

One posiitive I'll single out is Zouma. As poor as he is on the ball most of the time, his pure defending has been very good since the United match. Getting more and more confident.

I thought Emerson was as poor as usual in the first half. Indeed it looked like we should shift LB from second priority in the transfer market, up to joint first. I thought he had a better second half however, even when everything around him had gone to pot. I don't say he was good, but I felt he was definitely better.