closed Chelsea 0-1 Leicester [FA Cup]

[Vesper 30,184]

2 minutes ago, Vesper said:

if you can find me a pic with ball in air AND he is onside (not saying that you cannot find this, I just did not see it)

then I will explode in rage

truly

this constantly being fucked over by refs is doing me head in

its not healthy

I need to detach more

😪

 

[Milan 17,958]

Can we have Kovacic back please?

[Jase 43,479]

5 minutes ago, El P. said:

Am I the only one confused of why Ziyech played from start?

My guess is that Havertz and Pulisic did nothing in the last game against Arsenal and Ziyech did score the winner in the semi-final. So, I guess it became a bit of a toss-up between the 3 and out of our attackers, Pulisic is arguably the best when it comes to coming off the bench.

If anything, it's probably baffling that Tuchel didn't start with Havertz-Werner upfront and Mount deeper in midfield considering it was working well recently. Werner can be OK at leading the line but he's better off playing off someone upfront. 

8 minutes ago, El P. said:

I am questioning choice of playing Kepa and Alonso too.

Kepa played because he has been the cup keeper - something Tuchel has mentioned - although you could argue that Tuchel could have been more ruthless but think there's also some club politics involved in this.

Tuchel said he played Alonso because of his height and experience but he brought Chilwell later on anyway. Chilwell was clearly desperate/motivated to play against his former side. No clue why Tuchel didn't try to harness that. Went with Alonso instead and we had 2 malfunctioned attacks from the wingbacks. 

[chelsea_4_eva 1,182]

5 minutes ago, Jas said:

Maybe Jorginho should do his job as a midfielder better first before expecting someone else to do it for him. 

And had Silva come out to close Tielemans, it would have opened up the space for him to make the pass to Vardy before he attempted to make the shot.

Yes everytime Kante is caught upfield and Jorgi is the one running back trying to defend.. i pray..

Silva is even faster than him

[El P. 1,354]

2 minutes ago, Jas said:

My guess is that Havertz and Pulisic did nothing in the last game against Arsenal and Ziyech did score the winner in the semi-final. So, I guess it became a bit of a toss-up between the 3 and out of our attackers, Pulisic is arguably the best when it comes to coming off the bench.

If anything, it's probably baffling that Tuchel didn't start with Havertz-Werner upfront and Mount deeper in midfield considering it was working well recently. Werner can be OK at leading the line but he's better off playing off someone upfront. 

Kepa played because he has been the cup keeper - something Tuchel has mentioned - although you could argue that Tuchel could have been more ruthless but think there's also some club politics involved in this.

Tuchel said he played Alonso because of his height and experience but he brought Chilwell later on anyway. Chilwell was clearly desperate/motivated to play against his former side. No clue why Tuchel didn't try to harness that. Went with Alonso instead and we had 2 malfunctioned attacks from the wingbacks. 

Havertz at #9 and Werner a little behind-left, with Mount behind them worked good. I don't know why he changed that for such a big game.

Also, Kepa being cup GK is bullshit to me. I don't know if Mendy would have saved that goal, but nevertheless.

Totally agree on Alonso. We looked retarded on WB.

Tuchel has some questions to answer. It would be crazy to play THAT good against Real/Porto first game/Atletico and then finish season with no trophies and barely getting into top 4 (that's my prediction of how season would end).

[Jase 43,479]

1 minute ago, El P. said:

Also, Kepa being cup GK is bullshit to me. I don't know if Mendy would have saved that goal, but nevertheless.

Mendy would have absolutely saved it, IMO.

2 minutes ago, El P. said:

Tuchel has some questions to answer. It would be crazy to play THAT good against Real/Porto first game/Atletico and then finish season with no trophies and barely getting into top 4 (that's my prediction of how season would end).

Questions must also be asked of the players. I don't know if they have let all the praise got into their head or have just hit a wall after the Man City game but no one looked bothered in the last two games. We didn't play with the same energy, desire and intensity and now the season is in danger of becoming a complete failure. The FA Cup was our best chance of winning something out of the two finals and we bottled it. God knows what's gonna happen with the Top 4 race now.

[chippy 342]

6 minutes ago, Milan said:

Can we have Kovacic back please?

Another player who is rated so much better than he actually is.

Decent technical ability and world class at dribbling past players around the middle of the pitch.  But that's it.

Both him and Jorgi have had long enough to improve the midfield but we're still seeing the same short comings that were there three years ago. 

Not bad players, just not good enough to take this team forward. Same can already said for Ziyech. 

 

[Blue Armour 4,442]

1 hour ago, milka said:

 

zero mentality  after 1st and last cup in their life .

 

 

Just seeing this video now

I'm really hoping that we are the team that will keep them out of the top 4 again.

[chippy 342]

1 minute ago, Jas said:

Mendy would have absolutely saved it, IMO.

Questions must also be asked of the players. I don't know if they have let all the praise got into their head or have just hit a wall after the Man City game but no one looked bothered in the last two games. We didn't play with the same energy, desire and intensity and now the season is in danger of becoming a complete failure. The FA Cup was our best chance of winning something out of the two finals and we bottled it. God knows what's gonna happen with the Top 4 race now.

After this gruelling season, i'm just hoping its a bit of mental fatigue asking the players to focus and be up for three different competitions. 

Do they go all out today and have not much left in a few days time?  

The picture is a bit clearer now. Tuesday is simply shit or bust so they have to throw the kitchen sink at Leicester. They might have another one of those games where nothing goes in,  but I fully expect a much better performance than today. I think we'll win and by a couple of goals too.

[Blue Armour 4,442]

34 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

It's a huge difference. we won the Fa Cup in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012 and not a single time during any of the games i was ever in doubt we would win this. 100% certain every time. Even the old guard got some streaky patches but they always brough their a game when it mattered and never let a lead slip or an early goal against dissuade them (with very little exception).when Lamps, Drogs, JT, Petr were still around we were absolute machines in finals. With the current crop I would be surprised if they actually perform at their best when it really matters and  fight to bring that thing home. The last player we had who would always turn up in finals is Hazard. Since he left we never really have looked like winning anything again and I dont feel we do until we get that x-factor back.

Yeah it's tough to gauge which players have that x factor.

From our current crop, I would say Pulisic, Mount...and at a stretch (a real long one), maybe Havertz too could be included in that bracket of players with the potential for it.

But the answer is still no until they've actually won a final.

[Jase 43,479]

2 minutes ago, chippy said:

The picture is a bit clearer now. Tuesday is simply shit or bust so they have to throw the kitchen sink at Leicester. They might have another one of those games where nothing goes in,  but I fully expect a much better performance than today. I think we'll win and by a couple of goals too.

Win by a couple of goals? At this point, think we would all just be happy with any kind of win! Even the worst 1-0 win ever!

It would be fucking tragic if we finish in the Top 4 but don't win anything again, despite reaching TWO finals OR it could end up worse...

[chelsea_4_eva 1,182]

Does anyone know if VAR even reviewed the leicester goal? With the chilwell goal there was a clear review with the whole VAR red screen. 

All we want is fairness.. flashbacks to when maguire chokeslamed azpi

[robsblubot 3,595]

12 minutes ago, chippy said:

Another player who is rated so much better than he actually is.

Decent technical ability and world class at dribbling past players around the middle of the pitch.  But that's it.

Both him and Jorgi have had long enough to improve the midfield but we're still seeing the same short comings that were there three years ago. 

Not bad players, just not good enough to take this team forward. Same can already said for Ziyech. 

 

Seconded.
Also goes from MotM to liability in the same game! he seems to lack mentality.

[robsblubot 3,595]

24 minutes ago, Jas said:

Mendy would have absolutely saved it, IMO.

Questions must also be asked of the players. I don't know if they have let all the praise got into their head or have just hit a wall after the Man City game but no one looked bothered in the last two games. We didn't play with the same energy, desire and intensity and now the season is in danger of becoming a complete failure. The FA Cup was our best chance of winning something out of the two finals and we bottled it. God knows what's gonna happen with the Top 4 race now.

I also think Mendy, due to his reach, had a much better chance of saving that shot. T-rex kepa (just stole that) must go... the problem of having him in the squad is that he will end up playing and then becoming a liability.

👍I think you hit the nail on the head regarding the players. There was a clear hungrier side on the pitch today, and it wasn't Chelsea!
We got a bit hungrier after conceding, but it's usually too late in these type of games.

Ah darn sorry for the DP.

Edited May 15, 2021 by robsblubot

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

5 hours ago, Magic Lamps said:

Kepa, Alonso are an absolute disaster. basically handing the towel.

It is really sad but just as I said, once we saw the lineup everybody probably got this sense of inevitability that we were about to lose. Everybody but Tuchel. this is what worries me.

[Jase 43,479]

3 minutes ago, robsblubot said:

I think you hit the nail on the head regarding the players. There was a clear hungrier side on the pitch today, and it wasn't Chelsea!
We got a bit hungrier after conceding, but it's usually too late in these type of games.

Not sure if Leicester were necessarily hungrier because both sides were rubbish going forward. Only difference was a long range goal from nowhere.

[chippy 342]

2 minutes ago, Jas said:

Win by a couple of goals? At this point, think we would all just be happy with any kind of win! Even the worst 1-0 win ever!

It would be fucking tragic if we finish in the Top 4 but don't win anything again, despite reaching TWO finals OR it could end up worse...

I think we need to put things into persoective.

Its been an incredibly difficult, tiring  season for all teams.

We're not really that great a side. Some good performances here and there but a lot of pretty average stuff too. A lot of our players having average or below average seasons.

Top goal scorer has 6 goals.

To get into the CL final, F A Cup final and still be in the race for top four, is more than good when you take those factors into consideration.

I still be happy enough with just top four, but obviously winning the CL would be massive and almost as unexpected as the first time we won when we were really struggling in the league.

.

 

[robsblubot 3,595]

5 minutes ago, Jas said:

Not sure if Leicester were necessarily hungrier because both sides were rubbish going forward. Only difference was a long range goal from nowhere.

that tells more about our superior quality than hunger iMO. Leicester had to be hungrier to match our play, and they did that by defending very well. While we mostly had the ball in midfield, we did not control actions there that comfortably. 

The surprise for me was how defensive our lineup and strategy were.

I disagree with most folks here that taking Alonso off was the right move: we needed a goal and his goal tally speaks for itself. Chilwell could've been brought in while still keeping alonso (also adding giroud much sooner), to put some pressure in their defense. Remember it was a heavy pitch and once they scored, spaces behind their defense line became very scarce.

Edited May 15, 2021 by robsblubot

[Jase 43,479]

3 minutes ago, robsblubot said:

that tells more about our superior quality than hunger iMO. Leicester had to be hungrier to match our play, and they did that by defending very well. While we mostly had the ball in midfield, we did not control actions there that comfortably. 

The surprise for me was how defensive our lineup and strategy were.

You could say the same for us. Vardy and Iheanacho were barely a threat upfront and Leicester created nothing. So defensively, we actually did well. Where we failed was going forward.

4 minutes ago, robsblubot said:

I disagree with most folks here that taking Alonso off was the right move: we needed a goal and his goal tally speaks for itself. Chilwell could've been brought in while still keeping alonso (also adding giroud much sooner), to put some pressure in their defense. Remember it was a heavy pitch and once they scored, spaces behind their defense line became very scarce.

As much as Alonso gets more into dangerous positions more than Chilwell, he's not exactly a goalscoring machine. Chilwell himself has managed a few goals this season. And Tuchel said he played Alonso because of his height and experience but that certainly didn't pay off at all because we had 2 malfunctioned attacks from the wingbacks!

[Blue Armour 4,442]

6 minutes ago, robsblubot said:

that tells more about our superior quality than hunger iMO. Leicester had to be hungrier to match our play, and they did that by defending very well. While we mostly had the ball in midfield, we did not control actions there that comfortably. 

The surprise for me was how defensive our lineup and strategy were.

I disagree with most folks here that taking Alonso off was the right move: we needed a goal and his goal tally speaks for itself. Chilwell could've been brought in while still keeping alonso (also adding giroud much sooner), to put some pressure in their defense. Remember it was a heavy pitch and once they scored, spaces behind their defense line became very scarce.

Yep, instead of bringing on Chillwell,.it would.have been sufficient to switch James and Azpi, with James playing WB,..and bring on Giroud much sooner. 

Tactics have been off the last couple of games.

Hope Tuchel doesn't undo all his good work just because of a few decisions like these.