closed Atletico Madrid 0-1 Chelsea

[King Kante 1,302]

1 hour ago, Vesper said:

Chilwell would tear shit up if he was on Manure or Citeh or even back at Leicester (all 3 have LB issues), so than fuck he is not at any of those 3

I dunno Vesper. I personally didn't want him in the Summer because what I saw of him between Oct-Jan is what I saw of him when he was at Leicester. I admit I was starting to change my mind in Aug-Sept but now I am fairly convinced that was a purple patch similar to what he had in Oct-Jan 2019/20. Well that or he is a very patchy player.

Either way, he isn't a WB and we are currently playing a 343, so for me he is a square peg in a round hole at the moment. If we go back to 433, then he is the automatic LB as Alonso cannot run.  

What is lost around here is that in a WB role Alonso is decent, not world class, but decent and serviceable. Problem is that too many people made him a whipping boy and now they have to continue saying he is awful as they went so far with it. 

It is similar to the Mount detractors. First he was SFL's son, then it is 'he isn't as good as Grealish' (even though they aren't the same type of player and he is significantly younger.) The day SFL left and he got dropped they reached for the lube and unzipped. Now he is back in the team they are trying to figure out what else they can beat him down with. Me and Tomo are currently better that he will either; a) Be revealed as Granny's son, b) has elite level hacker skills to backmail the club with c) is a clairvoyant who is able to see who will be the next Chelsea manager then uses elite level spy skills to dig up dirt on said manager. 

Edited February 24, 2021 by King Kante

[Blue Armour 4,168]

4 hours ago, Vesper said:

was a defensive masterclass

And without Silva too!

[Blue Armour 4,168]

4 hours ago, Special Juan said:

This was a fucking massive win.

Do not fear united this weekend.

I'm pretty sure our players won't fear them either.

Just need to ensure that the lack of fear doe not turn into callousness. They are a shitty side that has managed to get the better of us in recent games through shithousery.

Edited February 24, 2021 by Blue Armour

[Johnnyeye 7,415]

Great win and result in the 1st leg away against a very stubborn and good Atletico side, great job lads. The job is still not done yet, we need to finish things at home in the 2nd leg, can’t get too carried away.

[Jase 43,479]

6 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

But still he didn't play even in the cup game. And Emerson did. From 1st choice he is 3rd now. 

He is Lampard's signing. Maybe Tuchel is using him to basically say: I'm the boss now! 

Emerson playing in a domestic cup game is hardly a surprise. Worth remembering that when Tuchel switched to a back 4 in the second half against Barnsley, he took Alonso off and moved Emerson to LB. That seemed to suggest that Tuchel knows Alonso doesn't work in a back 4 and that Chilwell will come in more into play when we play the back 4.

Chilwell may be a Lampard signing but am sure the board also didn't sign him for 50 million to just sit on the bench. If we are serious about building for the future, then we've gotta stop fucking around at some point and choose the player that is for the future. One is 24 years old and the other is 30 years old god damn it!

Moreover, it's fair to say Alonso has not been heavily tested under Tuchel so far? Almost all the teams we have played in the last month, for one reason or another, happily let us dominate them and did not bother to attack us much. Don't think the same will really happen against Man United, Liverpool, Everton and Leeds, especially when they have pacey players. Also unless Tuchel decides to run him into the ground, Alonso can't be playing every game. He has to rotate at some point and Chilwell isn't going to get back into form if he's just being left on the bench either. 

Managers often say things and then do the complete opposite but here's what Tuchel recently said about Chilwell...

https://www.goal.com/en/news/tuchel-i-asked-chilwell-to-trust-me-after-we-dropped-him-for/1qsqsx4r5kqtg10n9sta3lu0vx

"Yes, if he is [worried] I can understand," Tuchel told reporters ahead of Monday's clash with Newcastle at Stamford Bridge. "He has had some difficult decisions against him, where they were tight choices.

"I took the choice for Marcos [Alonso] where we played with a five because he was more familiar with the position. He played there under Antonio Conte and we opted for Marcos against Burnley for his strengths in the air for headers to defend and attack set-pieces.

"Marcos had a really good match where he scored a decisive goal and from there it was hard to come back for Tottenham. We didn’t make changes in this position. I spoke to him before the Tottenham match and said you have to trust me now that I see your talent and potential.

"I see also with Chilly a very nice guy, reflective guy and an intelligent guy. I maybe felt it in the first days that it is possible that he thinks a lot about this situation but hopefully not too much because he can trust himself and us as a staff that he can keep pushing and we will find possibilities to reward him.

"He showed a good performance in Sheffield United and it was important for him and the team. Sometimes it takes a little time and there are hard decision at the moment, at a club like Chelsea, with a squad of 22 players.

"Hopefully, we don’t have a lot of injuries but we have to deal with these situations. It is my job not to lose these players and to help them not lose trust. If he keeps on going, as a fantastic guy, he has a lot of potential and we will find possibilities for him on the pitch.

"At the same time, we wanted to give a fair start to everybody and not judge the amount of money that the club has spent but give everybody a feeling of a fresh start. Yes, Marcos is at the moment is a guy who took advantage of this situation but it is not the end of Chilly’s development. That’s for sure."

So, make that of what you will. 

[Fulham Broadway 16,410]

Just watched it again - stand out event - forgot what an odious shitcunt of a human being Suarez is

[Special Juan 27,104]

AM got what they deserved, constantly diving and acting like twats....screaming every time they went down.

[Superblue 6,331]

3 minutes ago, Special Juan said:

AM got what they deserved, constantly diving and acting like twats....screaming every time they went down.

Unfortunately, it's only going to get worse in the second leg when they're chasing the tie. 

[NikkiCFC 7,594]

10 minutes ago, Mana said:

I thought we were bad at Southampton, but from what I saw yesterday (not from us)...if I was an Atletico fan I would be screaming so hard on how disgusting their performance is.

Terrible, ugly, Katie Hopkins football at its finest.

My thoughts as well. 

Forget 1st place in the league. I would ask for Simeone sacking immediately. 

[Jase 43,479]

24 minutes ago, Mana said:

I thought we were bad at Southampton, but from what I saw yesterday (not from us)...if I was an Atletico fan I would be screaming so hard on how disgusting their performance is.

Terrible, ugly, Katie Hopkins football at its finest.

TBH, not sure if the performance at Southampton was really different than yesterday's. The game played out the same way against Atletico - we dominated the game, got into final third a lot but became braindead - but the only differences were we didn't concede a silly goal and we scored something out of nothing. Had this game ended 0-0 instead of 1-0, we would have been screaming in frustration about our malfunction in attack once again. 

[Fernando 6,376]

VAR was good yesterday. 

Very rare we get to see that where it actually got the called spot on and it would have never giving if not for VAR. 

VAR is good to have but the way it has been used in the season is what makes it a joy kill. 

 

[milka 3,308]

[Vesper 27,345]

Asking ‘new’ Atletico to get up to old tricks did not work for Simeone

https://theathletic.com/2401284/2021/02/24/simeones-hand-was-forced-but-relying-on-leaky-defence-did-not-work-for-atletico/

Tuesday’s Champions League last 16 first leg against Chelsea saw Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone send out his ‘new’ Rojiblanco side to play like the old El Cholo-coached teams from earlier in his decade-long reign.

It did not work. At all.

Most of the talk coming into the game — including from former Atletico captain Gabi to The Athletic — was of how Simeone had adapted his tactics and thinking to suit the characteristics of his current squad.

Atletico’s super-solid, dogged defenders of yore, symbolised by Gabi himself, along with fellow warriors including Diego Godin and Raul Garcia, were no longer around. In their place was a post-makeover team who actively want to take the initiative and play in the opposition half, with expensive talents such as Joao Felix and Thomas Lemar aiming to create opportunities for penalty-box poacher Luis Suarez.

This novel approach within a new 3-5-2 shape had Atletico flying around the time the last-16 draw was made in December, on their way to matching the historic record of 50 points at the halfway mark of the La Liga season. But since then pretty much everything that could go wrong has gone wrong for them. Simeone reacted by looking to return to his team’s previous core values — but now with players without the characteristics or personality to do so.

The first big blow was Kieran Trippier’s (pretty surreal) 10-week ban for betting offences being confirmed in early January. Trippier had been playing really well at right wing-back, and had no direct replacement in the squad. Then left wing-back Yannick Carrasco, who had been in the form of his life, tested positive for COVID-19. The two players key to making the 3-5-2 work were not available. Then, Simeone’s best centre-back, Jose Maria Gimenez, got injured again.

In the seven La Liga games since Trippier’s ban was confirmed, Atletico have kept no clean sheets, conceded 12 goals and dropped seven points. All the way through, Simeone kept the 3-5-2 shape, first moving midfielders Saul Niguez and converted attacker Marcos Llorente into the wing-back positions. Sime Vrsaljko, Renan Lodi, youngster Ricard Sanchez and Angel Correa were all tried out too through recent weeks — but none of it really worked. So, as the biggest game of the season so far arrived, Simeone went back to what had worked for him before.

Tuesday against Chelsea was the first game since September that Atletico started with a back four, albeit with Llorente now as an orthodox right-back. On paper, it actually looked a truly attacking XI — with Felix and Correa supporting Suarez up front. In practice, it was a six-man defence whenever Chelsea had the ball — Correa was tracking left wing-back Marcos Alonso, with Lemar also falling back to cover Callum Hudson-Odoi on the other wing.

There was perhaps some method in this. Simeone’s old team had conceded just twice in their last 13 home Champions League knockout games, playing the way he knows best. They had also gone back to basics last season when knocking Liverpool out of the competition. Speaking after Tuesday’s game, which was their home leg despite being played in Bucharest because of COVID-19 restrictions, Simeone himself explained that had been the plan. “We wanted to be ordered, strong at the back, and use the talent we had when we won the ball back,” he said.

The way his team played suggested Atletico would have been quite happy with a 0-0, and for the away-goals rule to then be in their favour for the second leg in London on March 17. Maybe they were remembering how holding Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea to a goalless first game at their old Vicente Calderon home in the competition’s semi-finals seven years ago was followed by a 3-1 win in the decider at Stamford Bridge.

For the first hour on Tuesday, the plan did not go that badly, even if there was little entertainment for those of us watching.

Chelsea had most of the ball, but Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak had just one save to make — and dealt comfortably with Timo Werner’s snap shot. But Simeone was asking his players to do something they were not really prepared for, or used to doing, and it was not going to end well.

With 68 minutes gone, Llorente ventured away from his post at right-back, and was then caught out as Alonso got in behind him, with Correa out of position too. None of Atletico’s other defenders dealt with the cross — Stefan Savic miskicked, Felipe fell over and then Mario Hermoso’s attempt to flick the ball clear just set Olivier Giroud up for a superb bicycle-kick finish. It was really well taken, but also avoidable, and just the type of goal that the Diego Godin-Miranda partnership of that 2014 era would never have conceded.

So, relying on a team which had recently given up comically bad goals to Cadiz and Levante in La Liga to keep a clean sheet in a huge Champions League match turned out not to be the best idea. “The game did not go as we hoped,” said captain Koke on Spanish TV afterwards. “Our plan is always to defend well, no matter what formation you use,” said team-mate Oblak, wistfully.

It is true Simeone’s hand was forced, to quite a big extent. Between betting bans, COVID-19 absences and injury issues, the new-look Atletico team which was sailing through the autumn has been blown completely off course. Trying to remake some of those pieces back into the old indefatigable shape was perhaps understandable, but the trial did not work.

The creative players in the team — especially Felix and Lemar — were too busy doing unfamiliar tasks. Atletico’s only half-chances over the entire 90 minutes came by forcing mistakes by pressing a nervy-looking Chelsea back line. Goalkeeper Edouard Mendy seemed shaky all night but was not tested by even one shot on target.

Simeone appeared to accept afterwards that the timing of this game had not been good for his team, and said he hoped to have key players including Trippier and Carrasco back for the return. This would allow him to restore others, such as Llorente and Lemar, to the creative positions where they had been playing so well until recently.

Maybe at Stamford Bridge we will get to see how this ‘new’ Atletico Madrid perform on the biggest European stage. But already it looks too late.

Edited February 24, 2021 by Vesper

[Jase 43,479]

Cox: Was Tuchel taking Hudson-Odoi off a message to his team? If so, it worked

https://theathletic.com/2408307/2021/02/24/cox-was-tuchel-taking-hudson-odoi-off-a-message-to-his-team-if-so-it-worked/

In Chelsea’s 1-1 draw at Southampton on Saturday, Thomas Tuchel did something managers simply aren’t supposed to do — he substituted a substitute, for purely tactical reasons.

Callum Hudson-Odoi’s early departure, Tuchel explained, was because he “was not happy with his body language and counter-pressing”. It seemed odd reasoning. Analyse the footage — as, for example, Jamie Carragher did on Monday Night Football — and Hudson-Odoi’s energy levels seem perfectly fine.

But what if we were focusing on the wrong thing? What if Tuchel wasn’t making a point about an individual, but making a point about a particular concept?

Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid have, over much of the past decade, often been the best side in Europe at attacking transitions. A manager happy to sit back and contain the opposition before pouncing suddenly on the break, a notable feature of Atletico’s game is that, for underdogs who play deep, they don’t like making clearances. Clearances are about hoofing the ball wherever possible, whereas for Simeone’s Atletico, it’s the perfect moment to play an intelligent pass out of defence to launch an attack. That was always likely to be the main part of their approach against Chelsea, playing on the counter.

So Chelsea had to press the counter — they had to counter-press.

Sure enough, Chelsea’s counter-pressing against Atletico last night was superb. They barely allowed the Spanish league leaders to launch any notable counter-attacks. So here’s an analysis of Chelsea’s counter-pressing — specifically, moments when they lost the ball after a good spell of possession, with multiple players inside the opposition half.

The warning sign came in the first minute. Mateo Kovacic passed infield and Luis Suarez nipped in to intercept…

…before Atletico transferred the ball across to Joao Felix, their main counter-attacking weapon. This was a bad situation for Chelsea to find themselves in so quickly.

The only solution was for Mason Mount to dart back and make a tactical foul, earning him a booking and ruling him out of the return leg.

But that was very much an exception. In general, Chelsea were outstanding at blocking Atletico from playing forward after they won possession. Take this moment, when Marcos Llorente cleared a cross, in the direction of Angel Correa…

…both Mount and Marcos Alonso shut down any possible way out, meaning Chelsea conceded a throw-in rather than a counter-attack.

Boxing Atletico in towards the touchlines was a common feature of the counter-press. Here, after Hudson-Odoi lost possession, Olivier Giroud and Mount quickly shuffled over to back him up…

…and, with Hudson-Odoi forcing Thomas Lemar to retreat, both players were congesting that corner of the pitch. Cesar Azpilicueta, meanwhile, nipped in front of Felix to win possession.

Here’s a similar example. Atletico again regain possession in their left-back zone and work a combination out to Lemar…

…but Chelsea’s players are alive to the danger. Timo Werner moves over to block a backwards pass, Mount presses the passing lane towards Felix, and Azpilicueta runs up behind him. Hudson-Odoi, meanwhile, makes the tackle on Lemar and forces the ball out for a throw.

Chelsea also counter-pressed well in central areas. Here, Suarez is on the ball and there’s a danger that Atletico can quickly switch the ball to the near side, towards Llorente. But Alonso rushes in to close down Correa, while Werner tracks backwards quickly to cut out any ball towards Llorente…

…and this is nearly very effective. Alonso holds up Correa, who decides a pass out towards Llorente isn’t actually possible. Werner is trying to cut off that pass…

…and then, when Correa actually goes backwards to Stefan Savic, Werner is caught by surprise and misses this interception, the ball nutmegging him and reaching its intended target. This counter-press nearly resulted in a promising attacking situation.

But the primary aim wasn’t about creating attacking opportunities, it was about avoiding Atletico breaks. Chelsea dealt particularly well with Felix. Here, after Atletico win possession, Saul Niguez finds Felix towards the left…

…but Azpilicueta closes him down quickly, Hudson-Odoi and Kovacic crowd the space around him, and Chelsea prevent him breaking.

It wasn’t uncommon to see three Chelsea players surrounding the man receiving possession. Here, Suarez gets on the end of a headed clearance, but Andreas Christensen presses from behind, Jorginho does so from the front, and Kovacic moves in to join them…

…and it’s the second man, Jorginho, who wins the ball and knocks it to the third man, Kovacic. Again, a counter-attack is avoided.

This approach can be difficult to sustain into the second half, with tired legs and the game becoming more stretched. At times, it seemed Atletico would find their way through more quickly. When Werner misplaces this pass, for example, it seems simple enough for Atletico to push forward quickly, with men around the ball…

…but look at the situation three seconds later — Chelsea have congested that area again. Once more, it’s Hudson-Odoi who directly stops the break, blocking Lemar’s ball up the line towards Felix.

Here’s a particularly good example, because Mount found himself on the floor after dribbling straight at Mario Hermoso. The ball runs loose to Felix, and again Atletico seem to have space and men in attendance to work the ball out…

…but, five seconds later Mount is up on his feet and pressing Koke, Giroud has pressed backwards to pressure the man on the ball, Saul, while the midfield is pushing up and Azpilicueta has moved forward to confront Felix. Atletico have to play backwards.

In fact, the only way Atletico had any joy was when playing backwards after winning possession. In the first half, Christensen’s ball towards Giroud is intercepted by Felipe…

…who knocks the ball forward to Saul, who plays it back to Hermoso…

…who then has space to feed the ball into Felix. On this occasion, his touch let him down.

Here’s another example. Jorginho’s ball towards Werner is intercepted by Savic, who finds Felix.

Chelsea quickly press him from both sides, but Felix is able to go backwards to Hermoso…

…who can then play the ball out to Lemar…

…and Atletico are in a rare promising position on the break.

And here’s a very similar situation in the second half. A Mount pass towards Werner goes astray, Savic again finds Felix, who attacks Azpilicueta…

…and he knocks the ball back for Hermoso, who has Lemar sprinting forward into space…

…but Hermoso’s pass is overhit, and Christensen acts as the sweeper, making an interception.

But that, really, was it — four major incidents where Atletico allowed themselves to break. The opening minute, when Mount was forced to make a foul, and then three times where they were forced to play backwards before going forward.

Notably, these incidents all came at 0-0. After Olivier Giroud’s bicycle kick put Chelsea ahead, Tuchel barely risked conceding a counter-attack, sitting deeper and not losing the ball with men in the opposition half. They looked comfortable against an Atletico side who had seemingly planned only to play on the break.

It’s difficult to be certain of Tuchel’s motivations for substituting Hudson-Odoi at the weekend. But it’s perhaps telling that he picked on a player who had actually been a huge “winner” of the German’s appointment, having shown great form as both a wing-back and, in the win over Tottenham, a right-sided forward. It seems highly conceivable that Tuchel wasn’t making a point about a player, he was making a point about counter-pressing, and its importance ahead of this game. If so, he can feel justified in his decision.

[whats happening 1,440]

so will ziyech or havertz play instead of mount in that cam position. i kinda like the potential of ziyeches passing in counter-attack and in general. much more lethal than mount. he can create so much more and can be a dangerous player from distance. set-pieces too. big weakness will be tracking back and covering in which mount is much much better than ziyech.

i would play werner az a sole striker with two fast wingers pulisic and hudson-odoi. i think we will need james' defense on rwb since logically they would have to attack more. 

i am not sure if havertz would be a good option there.

[King Kante 1,302]

11 minutes ago, whats happening said:

so will ziyech or havertz play instead of mount in that cam position. i kinda like the potential of ziyeches passing in counter-attack and in general. much more lethal than mount. he can create so much more and can be a dangerous player from distance. set-pieces too. big weakness will be tracking back and covering in which mount is much much better than ziyech.

i would play werner az a sole striker with two fast wingers pulisic and hudson-odoi. i think we will need james' defense on rwb since logically they would have to attack more. 

i am not sure if havertz would be a good option there.

Nah, Giroud has to play as otherwise they will physically dominate Werner. You need to play Werner off someone so he gets a bit of room. 

As for the next game, it is far too early to say who will play. At this moment, I would suspect James comes in at RWB and CHO goes to Mount's position. 

This tie is also not over by a long chalk, we may have got an away goal, but the thing with away goals from first legs is that they only really hold any importance if you get two or more. For instance, if AM score early then they have the advantage in away goals as any goal they score after that equates to 1.5 goals. It is why, while I was happy with the result last night, I do think we should've pushed for another as AM were there for the taking and even if it ended 1-1 it would not really be that much different to a 1-0 win, as it would still mean a 0-0 in the second leg takes you through. However, if you win 2-0 away then you heap 3x more pressure on AM as it means they cannot risk conceeding early in the first game as then they starting having to quickly reach 3 or 4 goals as it kills the extra time route and they aren't really suited to chasing games. 

Edited February 24, 2021 by King Kante

[Jase 43,479]

LMAO

[Muzchap 8,966]

4 hours ago, whats happening said:

so will ziyech or havertz play instead of mount in that cam position. i kinda like the potential of ziyeches passing in counter-attack and in general. much more lethal than mount. he can create so much more and can be a dangerous player from distance. set-pieces too. big weakness will be tracking back and covering in which mount is much much better than ziyech.

i would play werner az a sole striker with two fast wingers pulisic and hudson-odoi. i think we will need james' defense on rwb since logically they would have to attack more. 

i am not sure if havertz would be a good option there.

Ziyech isn't in the same postcode as Mount.

I agree prime Ziyech would be devastating, same as prime Havertz. But sadly, they are way out of form and looking lost. 

I really hope they get their mojo back and soon, otherwise it will be another frustrating night of misplaced passes.