closed Chelsea 0-0 Man United

[Strike 7,217]

46 minutes ago, Atomiswave said:

Look at the uproar they have created like the little girls that they are, it came off Greenwoods arm first ffs. The first manager in history who used VAR as his main tactic. Ole the trophy dodger!

Didn't Maguire kick out at Batshuayi and RKO Azpilicueta in recent games. Hypocrites

[Jase 43,479]

7 minutes ago, Strike said:

Didn't Maguire kick out at Batshuayi and RKO Azpilicueta in recent games. Hypocrites

Yup, there seemed to be less furore about those incidents than yesterday's penalty incident...because Man United were the victims. What a surprise! 

[Jase 43,479]

Kante-Kovacic axis perfect for snuffing out Chelsea’s dangerous opponents

https://theathletic.com/2417398/2021/03/01/kante-kovacic-axis-perfect-for-snuffing-out-chelseas-dangerous-opponents/

For a frantic few seconds in the 90th minute of a match that had felt destined to end goalless for the best part of an hour, the door blew wide open for Manchester United to hand Thomas Tuchel his first defeat as Chelsea head coach.

Reece James’ deep free kick overran a crowded United penalty area and was gathered up by Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who slipped it infield to Fred. As he did so, Marcus Rashford, Daniel James and Scott McTominay turned on the turbo boosters one final time to join substitute Anthony Martial in racing upfield. One incisive pass later, Chelsea were faced with a nightmare transition attack from arguably the most dangerous counter-attacking team in the Premier League…

… until N’Golo Kante shut the door, flicking McTominay’s low cross away from Martial, behind Rashford and James and out of Chelsea’s penalty area to safety. Rather than a dramatic late winner for United, it became just the latest addition to a unique career showreel of potentially decisive moments that never actually happened because of his presence.

Kante looked like Kante again on Sunday, restored to the “double six” role that saw him scale Premier League-winning heights in back-to-back seasons with Leicester City and Chelsea. He led his team in tackles (seven) and interceptions (four), playing a key role in limiting United to less than a handful of good counter-attacking opportunities at Stamford Bridge. In partnership with Mateo Kovacic, he also provided the foundation for Tuchel’s side to dominate possession against opponents determined to disrupt their passing rhythm.

Kante touch map vs Man Utd

He might not have admitted so afterwards, but Tuchel was clearly surprised by the aggression of United’s pressing. Had he anticipated their desire to push so high up the pitch in a bid to force Chelsea mistakes close to their own goal, there is no way that he would have left Timo Werner and Christian Pulisic on the bench in favour of an attack totally devoid of speed or vertical running. In the event, United’s high defensive line made Olivier Giroud isolated and virtually redundant for long spells, while Hakim Ziyech and Mason Mount had to make do with more compressed pockets of space.

United’s pressing succeeded in throwing Chelsea out of their normal game; in the first half they had a mere 50.7 per cent of possession, which would have been comfortably their lowest share in any of Tuchel’s seven Premier League matches in charge. The main reason the visitors’ unexpected strategy didn’t cause more damage was the effectiveness of Kante, working in tandem with the excellent Mateo Kovacic, at maintaining midfield control under severe pressure and stifling the vast majority of opposition attacks at source.

Before it was brought back by Tuchel against Southampton, the Kante-Kovacic central midfield pairing hadn’t been seen since Chelsea’s disastrous first half against West Brom at The Hawthorns in September. Yet from the opening minutes against United there were signs of an improved understanding between the two men, primarily in terms of their positioning within the team’s broader tactical structure. They were almost always in close enough proximity to support one another in winning the ball and using it to get Chelsea on the front foot.

Here, as Andreas Christensen shapes to dink the ball out to Callum Hudson-Odoi from inside his own six-yard box, Kovacic and Kante are next to each other and primed to help the team play around United’s press:

Kovacic receives the ball from Hudson-Odoi, draws in Bruno Fernandes and then plays it to Kante…

… who then slips a pass beyond Fred into the stride of Hakim Ziyech, ready to lead a Chelsea counter-attack:

In the second half Chelsea’s share of possession went up to 63.3 per cent. That was partly due to the intensity of United’s press dropping off a little, but it was also because Tuchel’s side did a better job of winning and keeping the ball higher up the pitch. Once again, Kante and Kovacic worked well together to make this possible.

Here, Kovacic opts to go to ground to try to win the ball from Rashford, while Kante stands poised for the second ball:

It bounces loose to McTominay who tries to play it forward first time, but Kante pounces upon it and gets Chelsea on the front foot again with a progressive pass out to the left flank:

Late in the game, Kovacic again presses to win the ball, this time from James. He cushions it back to McTominay, who looks to move it quickly forward to the feet of Martial:

Kante anticipates the pass and leaves Fernandes to go and cut it out, ending a United counter before it has a chance to gain momentum:

Kovacic has an excellent understanding with Jorginho too, and Tuchel has built most of Chelsea’s early performances — including the signature win over Atletico Madrid — around their passing combinations and possession instincts. That decision has sat rather awkwardly with his repeated gushing praise of Kante in public, describing the France international as a world-class water-carrier and insisting that he has wanted to coach him for years.

Perhaps we will see Tuchel start all three at some stage but, as long as he remains committed to the “double six”, he will face a difficult selection decision that goes to the heart of this team’s identity.

It seems obvious that Kante-Kovacic has more to offer Chelsea defensively, purely by virtue of having Kante in it. In the first 10 minutes against United, he helped stifle this hugely promising counter-attack…

… by slowing down Rashford, denying him a clear path to goal and ultimately forcing him to attempt a difficult pass through for Mason Greenwood that Ben Chilwell intercepts:

In the second half he had a similar effect without ever touching the ball, confronting Fernandes on the halfway line and compelling him to hit an early pass towards Rashford that didn’t find its target:

Equally, the Jorginho-Kovacic midfield axis is probably a little more useful when it comes to meeting Tuchel’s most urgent need. Chelsea are less than thrilling to watch right now because they have control without much in the way of creation. There is plenty of cause to be optimistic that this problem could be solved with a little more collective chemistry and training time, both of which have been in desperately short supply during this unique season.

Until then, Tuchel will have to be content with the control he has brought to this Chelsea team — and in the Kante-Kovacic midfield pairing, he appears to have found another option to help tame more dangerous opponents.

[Johnnyeye 7,441]

1 hour ago, Atomiswave said:

Look at the uproar they have created like the little girls that they are, it came off Greenwoods arm first ffs. The first manager in history who used VAR as his main tactic. Ole the trophy dodger!

the nerve of those cunts, never a penalty, deluded twats.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Johnnyeye

[Johnnyeye 7,441]

shame we couldn’t beat these manc cunts, fuck United

[Jase 43,479]

Last 9 games (all under Tuchel) - 10 goals in 9 games

Last 9 games under Lampard - 15 goals in 9 games, including the 7 scored against Morecambe and Luton

If we take the FA Cup games (Morecambe, Luton, Barnsley) games out, then it's...

9 goals in 8 games under Tuchel

8 goals in last 7 games under Lampard

If only league games are considered...

8 goals in 7 games under Tuchel

8 goals in last 7 games under Lampard

[Tomo 21,733]

12 hours ago, Jason said:

Our record against Solskjaer's United...

L 0-2 (FA Cup)
D 1-1 (PL)
L 0-4 (PL)
L 1-2 (Carabao Cup)
L 0-2 (PL)
W 3-1 (FA Cup)
D 0-0 (PL)
D 0-0 (PL)

🤢

As bad as Conte's run of results against Wenger's Arsenal!

Says a lot about them that when it mattered the most we rolled them over. Story of Solskjaer's time there.

[Jase 43,479]

 

[NikkiCFC 7,950]

4 hours ago, Jason said:

How is it selective when by the time Lampard came in, Alonso had played in a back 4 for an entire season? How is it selective when selected as a LB under Lampard, Alonso was consistently dropping clangers? 

And Sarri said that Alonso is one of the best LBs in the world? Just year ago he was nominated for player of the month under Lampard. 

Truth being told we didn't have better LB/LWB since Cole. Alonso gave us much more than Baba, Emerson, Luis, Bertrand... I'm confident Chilwell will be better for us in the future but for now I see no issues with Alonso playing over him especially in this setup. 

Edited March 1, 2021 by NikkiCFC

[Jase 43,479]

30 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

And Sarri said that Alonso is one of the best LBs in the world?

Managers say a lot of BS stuff.

30 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

Just year ago he was nominated for player of the month under Lampard. 

Err, so? Any player could have a purple patch of form and awards of like Player of the Month mean zilch. You have someone like Mourinho had been successful in the Premier League for most part and had won the Manager of the Month award like only 3-4 times, same amount as or less than some other average joes.

And we were talking about performances, not using some awards, nominations etc as barometers. 

[Fulham Broadway 16,846]

Lol looking at the 'penalty incident' again. The VAR ref from Manchester wanted it and the pitch ref said no. 

Gary Neville on Sky also was annoyed because a penalty wasnt given to Yernited for Green woods handball. They can both suck it up.

[coolhead23 1,146]

Had lot of expectation from this game to see how we play against a pacey opponents who are good on the counter and Boy! it turn out to be a damn boring game. 2 teams who just didnt want to take on the others, no wonder why United has not scored much and Chelsea are equally defensive against the top 4-6 sides. 

Not sure if it's just me, we dont look convincing in the final 3. Baring that save from De Gea which should have gone in, dont think there was any real threat on the goal (yes 2 good cross apart for the shot). The only positive is we looked solid defensively, Kante was the driver partnering well with Kovavic covering every inch in our half and breaking play specially keeping Bruno quiet. 

[Azul 1,615]

30 minutes ago, Fulham Broadway said:

Lol looking at the 'penalty incident' again. The VAR ref from Manchester wanted it and the pitch ref said no. 

Gary Neville on Sky also was annoyed because a penalty wasnt given to Yernited for Green woods handball. They can both suck it up.

No one seems to be talking about Mount being fouled by Mctominay for the free kick given to United which led to the pen incident.

[Atomiswave 6,072]

4 hours ago, Strike said:

Didn't Maguire kick out at Batshuayi and RKO Azpilicueta in recent games. Hypocrites

Sure did bro, but they swept that one under the carpet, everything for the scum.

4 hours ago, Jason said:

Yup, there seemed to be less furore about those incidents than yesterday's penalty incident...because Man United were the victims. What a surprise! 

Fuck them and the horse they rode in on.

3 hours ago, Johnnyeye said:

the nerve of those cunts, never a penalty, deluded twats.

Im glad many fans have made meme's of them cunts, crying girls.

47 minutes ago, Fulham Broadway said:

Lol looking at the 'penalty incident' again. The VAR ref from Manchester wanted it and the pitch ref said no. 

Gary Neville on Sky also was annoyed because a penalty wasnt given to Yernited for Green woods handball. They can both suck it up.

Fuck GN the biased bastard, they are up there with pool I swear.

15 minutes ago, Azul said:

No one seems to be talking about Mount being fouled by Mctominay for the free kick given to United which led to the pen incident.

Its disgusting, Eng media are biased mugs.

[Jase 43,479]

The Premier League Big Six table this season...

[King Kante 1,476]

10 minutes ago, Jason said:

The Premier League Big Six table this season...

Really need to beat the Dippers now.

[MoroccanBlue 5,299]

51 minutes ago, King Kante said:

Really need to beat the Dippers now.

Werner/Havertz/Mount front three I reckon could do a job. 

[Atomiswave 6,072]

Giroud should have scored, Werner should have scored, Ziyech should have scored and Mount had a good opportunity to score as well. Udt had jack shit.