closed Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal

[Magic Lamps 11,655]

1 minute ago, Jas said:

I don't think it's that they can't shoot. They just don't even have a smell for goal.

Kovacic and Kante only score once every 100 years while Jorginho only gets his goals from the penalty spot. We are literally just relying on our front 3 to get the goals. The wing backs may contribute a few if we're lucky. But if the front 3 can't score, like against Real Madrid and Arsenal today, then we have a BIG problem!

well a smell for goal is necessary to be a good shooter. Plenty of players have good shooting technique but dont know when and how to execute it which makes them bad shooters still. All our midfielders have about average shooting technique but know nothing about what it takes to score with a shot from range so they are bad shooters as well I would say

[Superblue 6,370]

21 minutes ago, Jas said:

Well, the idea was certainly there. Press the midfield like West Brom, Fulham, Arsenal (for that goal) did, and you can easily make inroads to our goal. 

It's risk vs reward. There's plenty of times a team has attempted to press us and we've played through the opposition press to create our own inroads.

There are always going to be mistakes throughout a season playing this way. City made one against us for the equaliser at the weekend due to our press on them. But I do think we're one of the more accomplished teams currently keeping possession and playing out a press which makes it braver for a team to aggressively press us.

[DDA 9,690]

The lack of VAR and then the lack of mentioning of the lack of VAR by everyone involved in tonight's coverage seems very iffy to me. There were 3 clear cut moments In the game that deserved an extensive VAR review.. 2 penalty claims and the hand ball.

Nothing said. 

Weird.

[DDA 9,690]

1 hour ago, chippy said:

After that load of cack, if we blow top four as well, then his job might very well be on the line.

He took Arsendl too lightly and put more importance on the Cup than a CL place. Just  inexcusable from such an experienced manager!

Remember, he's only on an 18 month contract as well, so things are now very dodgy for him.

Fingers crossed we win both cups and secure top 4 🤞

[Superblue 6,370]

13 minutes ago, DDA said:

The lack of VAR and then the lack of mentioning of the lack of VAR by everyone involved in tonight's coverage seems very iffy to me. There were 3 clear cut moments In the game that deserved an extensive VAR review.. 2 penalty claims and the hand ball.

Nothing said. 

Weird.

Is this something new?

Sterling's tackle last week was barely mentioned, especially compared to the penalty claim not given to City.

Who cares, it makes it all the more sweeter when we win trophies. We've hardly ever had much support in the media and punditry.

[Tomo 21,733]

2 hours ago, chippy said:

Fair points.

But can we attract the level of player we need to challenge for the title without CL next season?

Off the top of my head Pirlo, Kante, Aubameyang, Suarez, Zlatan, Pogba, Modric, Ronaldinho (twice), David Silva, Tevez, Yaya, Kova, Di Maria, Vidal and Ribery were all attracted to clubs without CL football.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Tomo

[chippy 342]

1 hour ago, Azul said:

If we want to challenge for the title properly next season then we need another midfielder. Our squad depth in midfield is not good enough. 

Also we need to be able to change from a back 3 formation to a back 4 formation quickly. It's looking very hard for us to create chances when we're a goal down with the current formation. We need another formation to be flexible, and use it when we need a goal. We can't just rely on this system alone.

We've been moaning about our piss poor midfield for three years now. Its not going to get any better with Kova, Jorgi and Kante so we need to break it up and sell two of them. I'd like to see Kova and Jorgi sold in the summer. Neither gives anything to the team much further past the centre circle. Might get 60 million for the two, which is enough to buy a class player who can actually do something in the final third of the pitch. Had more than enough of Kova's mazy little dribbles around the middle of the pitch which result in the sum total of nothing.

 

[chippy 342]

1 hour ago, Vesper said:

yes, the EL is a fucking league title chances torture test

massive number of games

often 1000's of kilometres away in shit rathole dumpsters

I got stick for saying it last time, but I'd rather no Euro football than be in EL.

If we do end up in it then I'd play our weakest teams possible.

[Superblue 6,370]

4 minutes ago, chippy said:

I got stick for saying it last time, but I'd rather no Euro football than be in EL.

If we do end up in it then I'd play our weakest teams possible.

If we ended up in it, we'd rotate and play fringe players in it and should still have enough to make at least the quarters or semi's, at which point it could then become a bigger priority.

I believe though between the two chances we have, one will be taken for Champions League football next season.

[Kunka21 12]

we need to move on .. we can beat Leicester without problem 

simply unlucky tonight 

[OneMoSalah 8,778]

hace 1 hora, Jas dijo:

Have we become Arsenal?

It seems that way.

Not one person will care if we win both the CL and FA cup, even if we were sitting 10th.

But two losses (WBA & tonight) when we are still pretty much in control of our own destiny and everyone loses their mind and starts thinking the “safe option” of regularly finishing top 4 is better than winning a European cup by the looks of it. 

Top clubs celebrate trophy wins not finishing 4th place I thought? Obviously still think we will manage the top 4 but if we miss out and win the CL it makes no difference anyway.

hace 1 hora, chippy dijo:

Its all about CL next season. Get that and everybody should be satisfied with the season. Any trophy on top of that would of course make for a great season.

No CL and things will be very different for a manager on a short contract.

As Jason said, we aren’t Arsenal. Being satisfied with 4th place is settling for a near nothing achievement now a days for a club like us. Go have a look at Arsenal over the years as an example of what making top 4 or top 6 finishes as a major achievement gets you. Or Tottenham. 

Personally, Id rather see us win the CL and FA cup than lose both and finish 4th because its a massive achievement to win any sort of major double, especially one including the CL. Plus these younger or newer players with a few trophy wins its just the beginning, the Havertz, James, Mounts, Chilwells, Gilmours, Pulisics, Werners etc if they get a taste for winning the big trophies, it only aids their development and pushes this group on even more. Everyone in the media always says Man United need to win a trophy under Ole but this group here need it. 100%. Thats why not winning the FA cup or Super Cup last season was huge. It was the same with City winning that FA Cup and then their first PL then Pellegrini came in and then Pep but they’ve never really stopped winning in the last 10 years. This group has been refreshed and need the taste for it.

I still refuse to believe we’ve sacked the season off for 2 cup finals or underestimated anyone.... That starting 11 was more than good enough to beat Arsenal and probably compete v most teams we play. He said he wasn’t happy and what not but that team was good enough to win and with the chances we had still should have won.

Why does the contract length matter? Or no CL for that matter if it comes to it? Look at what no CL did for Antonio Conte in his first season. We aren’t going to sack someone who got us from 8/9th to in the running for the top 4 as well as 2 cup finals. Not only that but showing obvious huge signs of improvement, who wants to be a title contender next season. Plus he has an option for an additional year on his deal. And there were rumours that the the club apparently want to discuss new terms with him prior to the Madrid second leg. So aye, one loss v Arsenal wont change that. 

[cosmicway 1,326]

This team has a doctor Jeckyl and mister Haydn syndrome.
Start of the season: Awful, with Kepa's errors aggravating the situation.
Then all is well: 4-0 against Sevilla.
Then Lampard wall.
With Tuchel we had three big flops: Albion, Burnley and yesterday.
Against this Arsenal it's not even a local derby yet we lost.
In the crucial weeks to come what face are we going to see ?
If Tuchel finds the rhythm hopefully the good face (doctor Jeckyl). Otherwise ... even Europa for next season is possible.
The low defense lines seems to be a permanent problem and yesterday the situation cried for Oliver's presence but he used him only the last fifteen minutes.
Another thing is the passing game inside our own penalty area (!). This is supposed to drag opponents forward and hence open their defense, when the ball does eventually go through. But the effect is marginal and we concede giveaway goals all the time. We open defenses like that when the opposition is desperate to attack us (aka Real Madrid in the second leg), not with the passing game. The passing game in our own penalty area is a guillotine thing.

 

 

[Johnnyeye 7,441]

So frustrating, of course Arsenal do the double over us, fuck off 😡. This loss is on Tuchel, he took a huge risk and it backfired unfortunately.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Johnnyeye

[cosmicway 1,326]

39 minutes ago, Johnnyeye said:

So frustrating, of course Arsenal do the double over us, fuck off 😡. This loss is on Tuchel, he took a huge risk and it backfired unfortunately.

Kai fcuked it. He could even dribble the goalkeeper.
There is no way Arsenal could have returned.
But after their fluke goal our reaction was minimal if not non existent.
The way to break such defensive lines is -I 'm afraid- to pound them with crosses. I don't know of any other way even if it reminds of the old England team under Alf Ramsey.

[ZAPHOD2319 4,487]

Tuchel was always going to play Jorginho. It wasnt a tactical change that cost us. Our finishing is dreadful. Hard to blame that on Tuchel either.

[coolhead23 1,146]

One match I dislike losing and we lost that when we are having such a good run. Bad day in office, I hope we r now done with losing games for this season and lets achieve the impossible. 

[Strike 7,217]

Good to get such a rusty performance out of the way. I'm certain TT will have the team set up sharper for the next 4 games.

[Jase 43,479]

Tuchel revealed on Chelsea TV that Kante was rested due to pain management because he has some achilles problem while Rudiger was rested because he was in the red zone.