closed Chelsea 3-0 West Ham

[Jase 43,479]

A much needed win but christ, that felt depressing to watch. A win that papers over the cracks. 

[King Kante 1,474]

Well that wasn't good but we should be mindful that last season we would've lost that, at least now we can defend which gives us a chance to pull something like this off. Further, I will take a win playing badly than play well and get a draw/loss. 

That said, midfield is a real issue at the moment as we aren't keeping hold of the ball enough. Hopefully, Ziyech can come back in and help with that. 

Not going to beat up on any players today as I do not think that is needed right now. However, Emerson did ok when he came on and Silva was man of the match. Not a glorious victory but today was all about the points so I am happy to take that. Everyone needs to remember we're still a work in progress and this season will have teething problems at times, hopefully today is a turning point and we can start playing better once we get our wingers back. 

[Strike 7,217]

3-0 but both fullbacks injured+ major improvement needed in performance

[Vesper 28,767]

BLUE CHRISTMAS

[Magic Lamps 11,653]

we failed to get a clean sheet when playing like shit everytime this season till today. We would probably have won vs Wolves with today's defending on the right side.

Winning when playing badly is the mark of champions but withstanding the pressure when low on confidence and match fitness while making the best out of our few chances is commendable even if we are far from being such.

[Vesper 28,767]

next 4 EPL games for Manure are all possible defeats

[different level 1,056]

I'm extremely disappointed with Werner. It's like the same old story with us and those big money strikers. They struggle and struggle, people keep saying "give him time, he'll come good in the end", but you just know that's not going to happen. When you think that in the last 15 years we've only had Drogba and Costa who managed to meet the expectations it's mental. It's no surprise that we've won the EPL titles only with those leading the line.

[Pizy 18,368]

I'd actually feel good going into Arse after this result if both our fullbacks weren't out. 

[Vesper 28,767]

Just now, different level said:

I'm extremely disappointed with Werner. It's like the same old story with us and those big money strikers. They struggle and struggle, people keep saying "give him time, he'll come good in the end", but you just know that's not going to happen. When you think that in the last 15 years we've only had Drogba and Costa who managed to meet the expectations it's mental. It's no surprise that we've won the EPL titles only with those leading the line.

he is not being played at striker

play him there he will instantly improve

[Blue Armour 4,278]

24 minutes ago, Tomo said:

Still feel a bit deflated despite the score, big big improvement needed.

Yeah at one nil, I was honestly wondering if it was going to be one of those games. The sky commentators also did nothing to improve the mood by bringing up names of W Ham players that messed things up last season.

The positive is that after the second goal, we started playing more confidently and with more slick passing.

Hope that's all it was. Something to restore confidence. 

[Muzchap 8,966]

2 minutes ago, different level said:

I'm extremely disappointed with Werner. It's like the same old story with us and those big money strikers. They struggle and struggle, people keep saying "give him time, he'll come good in the end", but you just know that's not going to happen. When you think that in the last 15 years we've only had Drogba and Costa who managed to meet the expectations it's mental. It's no surprise that we've won the EPL titles only with those leading the line.

Dude go watch Suarez in his first season. Couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo.

Did he come good? 

[Stats 7,053]

Honestly, think we were quite poor tonight. The scoreline flatters us but hopefully that is the kick we need. We were poor throughout large parts of that game. But on positive side the defence remained steady. I think if Antonio had played, the game may have been well different. Haller looked so lethargic. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw Antonio out. Azpi looked rusty but guess not too surprised when you consider that James has been the prominent RB. Praying to god that Chilwell's injury is not serious. Scoreline like I said is harsh on West Ham but Rice was top class. His passing has really gone top notch also.

Bring on Arsenal!

[different level 1,056]

Just now, Vesper said:

he is not being played at striker

play him there he will instantly improve

His finishing is what worries me. In the past month or so it's Morata levels of bad. One can only hope he turns it around, but I've just got this bad feeling...

[Alabama 1,992]

Thiago Silva is a wall of babylon...

[cosmicway 1,323]

Strange match. West Ham collapsed like a house of cards but we did n't play well.

[different level 1,056]

2 minutes ago, Muzchap said:

Dude go watch Suarez in his first season. Couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo.

Did he come good? 

Sure, you're probably right. Drogba's first season here was also not something to write home about. But with Werner I genuinely thought it will be different and that he'll start as a world beater kinda like Costa did.

[Jase 43,479]

9 minutes ago, different level said:

I'm extremely disappointed with Werner. It's like the same old story with us and those big money strikers. They struggle and struggle, people keep saying "give him time, he'll come good in the end", but you just know that's not going to happen. When you think that in the last 15 years we've only had Drogba and Costa who managed to meet the expectations it's mental. It's no surprise that we've won the EPL titles only with those leading the line.

Those missed chances aside, what do you expect him to do? He is not a winger but is being asked to do the winger things and when he doesn't it do well, people are surprised. Why? Even he pointed out pre-game that his position now is a lot different than what it was at Leipzig...

[King Kante 1,474]

10 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

we failed to get a clean sheet when playing like shit everytime this season till today. We would probably have won vs Wolves with today's defending on the right side.

Winning when playing badly is the mark of champions but withstanding the pressure when low on confidence and match fitness while making the best out of our few chances is commendable even if we are far from being such.

This is a good point and people should remember it. For me, this season isn't one where we are going to win the league, the Dippers unfortunately are still much better than us but being able to keep clean sheets even when not playing well is a promising sign. 

This season the games that have really annoyed me in the league were Soton and WBA as both those games involved ass clownery that was a trade mark of last season. I firmly believe if we had Mendy for those games we would've won both which would have us second behind the Dippers. We have also had two bad referring calls that have hit us, as we should've had a pen against Penchester Utd and in the Wolves game we should never have had that corner given against us (although tbf, against WBA Harvetz did handle it before the 3rd.) 

Either way, people need to keep in mind we are still 1-2 years away from being a top rank side and patches like this are going to happen. Of course, if we keep playing like this for 2 months or something then we may need to worry, but at the moment I am not too worried. Being able to defend properly is a big improvement on last season and the one before.