closed Chelsea 2-1 Plymouth

[Blues Forever 1,232]

1 minute ago, Jase said:

If we sell them on the cheap, I'm sure some clubs would take their chances on them. They have either shown in glimpses what they can do here or at other clubs. There are reasons why some of those players were highly coveted by others before we got them. I don't think they suddenly became shit, especially when our attacking system continues to be confusing and no manager has been able to implement any sort of consistency over our attacking plays over the last decade or so. We have gotten away with it like 3/4 of the time because we had 2-3 individuals making the difference. 

Not happening under Marina, unless they have 1 year left in their contracts.

[Pizy 18,994]

It’s like we’re seriously cursed with every attacker player we buy.

Lukaku - coming off of 2 excellent seasons at Inter where he was scoring for fun. Comes back to Chelsea and looks like a donkey.

Werner - coming off of 2 excellent seasons at Leipzig where he was scoring for fun and looking unbelievably dangerous every time he got the ball in space. Scored worldies, tap ins, goals on the break, goals inside the box, goals outside of the box. Comes to Chelsea and looks like a terrified kid STILL after 2 years in the PL.

Havertz - one of the brightest young talents in world football who was well known for scoring loads of goals from midfield and as a false 9. Comes to Chelsea and has bursts where he looks class and then goes missing for long stretches.

Ziyech - dominated both domestically and in the CL against the very best opponents. Comes to Chelsea and is just now starting to look a proper player.

And that’s just in the past couple of years. Time and time and time again hugely expensive, supposedly top class attackers come to Chelsea and bomb. It’s depressing.

[Jase 43,479]

Just now, Pizy said:

It’s like we’re seriously cursed with every attacker player we buy.

Lukaku - coming off of 2 excellent seasons at Inter where he was scoring for fun. Comes back to Chelsea and looks like a donkey.

Werner - coming off of 2 excellent seasons at Leipzig where he was scoring for fun and looking unbelievably dangerous every time he got the ball in space. Scored worldies, tap ins, goals on the break, goals inside the box, goals outside of the box. Comes to Chelsea and looks like a terrified kid STILL after 2 years in the PL.

Havertz - one of the brightest young talents in world football who was well known for scoring loads of goals from midfield and as a false 9. Comes to Chelsea and has bursts where he looks class and then goes missing for long stretches.

Ziyech - dominated both domestically and in the CL against the very best opponents. Comes to Chelsea and is just now starting to look a proper player.

And that’s just in the past couple of years. Time and time and time again hugely expensive, supposedly top class attackers come to Chelsea and bomb. It’s depressing.

That's what happens when the club don't have a clear idea of how they want the team to play and they just go buy every shiny toy out there without consideration.

[Pizy 18,994]

1 minute ago, Jase said:

That's what happens when the club don't have a clear idea of how they want the team to play and they just go buy every shiny toy out there without consideration.

In the cases of Timo and Kai, these are the sorts of players you would’ve thought could fit into any team or system. Looking back now it’s easy to say Lukaku was a poor fit. But players like those two should flourish the way we set up.

Perhaps they will once we have 2 proper wingbacks again. But that won’t happen this season…

I would just go with no traditional striker the rest of the way and try to play a fluid front 4 over and over in hopes they can hit form. 

[chelsea_4_eva 1,182]

Match sharpness was basically nonexistent.

Also fck it, just spend big on the defence, that seem to work out for us more.

[Stats 7,156]

15 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

Who of our actual attackers/wingers are starting at other top clubs though?

Very easy to say its coaching but they’ve been very poor. We wouldn’t miss the likes of Pulisic, Werner, Ziyech etc if they were sold tomorrow.

Even Havertz recently, he has been, well, Havertz. Mount also has dipped. 

Jota looks ten times player that Jota does now and at the time we bought Werner and they bought Jota, who would have thought so? Havertz was getting into double figures 2 or maybe 3 seasons running at Leverkusen on and when we bought him, it was seen as a real coup because we were one of only teams who could afford him and he would of played a lot football and any teams in the league. Ziyech, the Ajax player too, these were players with top stats. But now, looks shadow of his former self, even though he has improved in recent weeks. Lukaku, I know people had doubts before the move but again a prolific scorer at most teams he is and now utter shit at us... Pulisic under Lamps looked for a while a top player and now inconsistent.

I actually think if Jota came here, he would be in similar predicament. Pitch is not too big as well compared to likes of Etihad and Emirates I am sure, and always thought does this maybe affect the way our wingers aren't able to influence games as much. We can buy players but again will they just fall into a system where they struggle to impact.. possibly.

 

16 minutes ago, Alabama said:

Under the current set up....yes they are shit...am not exonerating the coaching structure especially the way Tuchel has been rotating the attacking line up for a while now (which now I can clearly see) but damm Lukaku Werner Pulisic Odoi and now Havertz are all shit...under better quality end product the game would have been done by 1st half which has been the hallmark of our attacking players two season in a row now....

They were poor today but I struggle to believe all these players have turned bad overnight. It is not just one attacker, all our attackers return is shit. Mount has a decent return but again, the goals has fallen off for him also.

[Seymop 90]

6 minutes ago, Stats said:

Jota looks ten times player that Jota does now and at the time we bought Werner and they bought Jota, who would have thought so? Havertz was getting into double figures 2 or maybe 3 seasons running at Leverkusen on and when we bought him, it was seen as a real coup because we were one of only teams who could afford him and he would of played a lot football and any teams in the league. Ziyech, the Ajax player too, these were players with top stats. But now, looks shadow of his former self, even though he has improved in recent weeks. Lukaku, I know people had doubts before the move but again a prolific scorer at most teams he is and now utter shit at us... Pulisic under Lamps looked for a while a top player and now inconsistent.

I actually think if Jota came here, he would be in similar predicament. Pitch is not too big as well compared to likes of Etihad and Emirates I am sure, and always thought does this maybe affect the way our wingers aren't able to influence games as much. We can buy players but again will they just fall into a system where they struggle to impact.. possibly.

 

They were poor today but I struggle to believe all these players have turned bad overnight. It is not just one attacker, all our attackers return is shit. Mount has a decent return but again, the goals has fallen off for him also.

 

[Jase 43,479]

I was just trying to find some positives about the game such as it was alright to play 120 minutes after like 2 weeks off but christ, that was 120 minutes worth of pain and against a League One side at that.

Tuchel is really going all-in on Lukaku, huh? The way we're playing right now feels like 10 players who move about and then there's the 1 who's like a statue upfront. So many things, especially in the first half, was happening around Lukaku today and he did zilch. Maybe it's because he was the leading the line or maybe it's because of whatever grand plan Tuchel has, but so much of the game was just us putting hopeful crosses into the box for Lukaku and players taking shots from range (isn't that exciting!?). On top of that, it also means the others are getting moved around to facilitate his inclusion, even if it's to the detriment of the team (isn't that lovely!?). 

[Jase 43,479]

7 minutes ago, Stats said:

They were poor today but I struggle to believe all these players have turned bad overnight. It is not just one attacker, all our attackers return is shit. Mount has a decent return but again, the goals has fallen off for him also.

Mount had what people call a "purple patch". And if we're being honest, the bar isn't set very high if we compare Mount with the other attackers. 

[Jase 43,479]

9 minutes ago, Stats said:

Pitch is not too big as well compared to likes of Etihad and Emirates I am sure, and always thought does this maybe affect the way our wingers aren't able to influence games as much. We can buy players but again will they just fall into a system where they struggle to impact.. possibly.

This is a new one. 

[Seymop 90]

Just now, Seymop said:

 

As an attacking force we are non existent, but still think it’s down to the game plan we try and use. We give any opposition who wants to pack their box all the time in the world to set up, because we take too long playing the ball round in circles. But the time we get the ball anywhere near the box we have 7 or 8 defenders to shoot or dribble round and we are not good enough to do it !!

[Jase 43,479]

11 minutes ago, Pizy said:

In the cases of Timo and Kai, these are the sorts of players you would’ve thought could fit into any team or system. Looking back now it’s easy to say Lukaku was a poor fit. But players like those two should flourish the way we set up.

That won't happen as long as Tuchel is trying to shoehorn Lukaku into everything. Fair enough to say they did F all today but Havertz and Werner did combine for the winner.

12 minutes ago, Pizy said:

I would just go with no traditional striker the rest of the way and try to play a fluid front 4 over and over in hopes they can hit form. 

It won't happen in this universe. Maybe in another one. 

[Seymop 90]

1 minute ago, Seymop said:

As an attacking force we are non existent, but still think it’s down to the game plan we try and use. We give any opposition who wants to pack their box all the time in the world to set up, because we take too long playing the ball round in circles. But the time we get the ball anywhere near the box we have 7 or 8 defenders to shoot or dribble round and we are not good enough to do it !!

Look at our results in last few months against lower ranked teams, who set themselves up to defend in depth. We get 80%+ possession and no goals !!! Until we get the ball forward quicker it wouldn’t matter who we had up front, they would still struggle

[MoroccanBlue 5,384]

There really isn’t a solution if the only attackers that are tailored for this system are constantly benched or played out of position for Lukaku. 
 

Our defenders are the only reason we haven’t completely capitulated already. 

Edited February 5, 2022 by MoroccanBlue

[ZAPHOD2319 4,823]

One positive is we pulled through and are moving on and Man Utd is not.

[Jase 43,479]

2 minutes ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

One positive is we pulled through and are moving on and Man Utd is not.

Not the time, Zaphod. NOT. THE. TIME. 

[Jase 43,479]

41 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

Yep.

Round peg in a square hole unfortunately but its an option we have to use until the summer.

If we go back to a 3 more often than a 4 he would be better suited as a LCB though undoubtedly.

This has been obvious in some of the recent games with this back 4. CHO is the only one doing the attacking bit on the left while we are trying to overload the right side with Ziyech, Mount and Azpi. It seems to be helping Ziyech but the whole thing just makes us look very predictable, especially with a statue upfront. 

[milka 3,395]

33 minutes ago, Pizy said:

It’s like we’re seriously cursed with every attacker player we buy.

Lukaku - coming off of 2 excellent seasons at Inter where he was scoring for fun. Comes back to Chelsea and looks like a donkey.

Werner - coming off of 2 excellent seasons at Leipzig where he was scoring for fun and looking unbelievably dangerous every time he got the ball in space. Scored worldies, tap ins, goals on the break, goals inside the box, goals outside of the box. Comes to Chelsea and looks like a terrified kid STILL after 2 years in the PL.

Havertz - one of the brightest young talents in world football who was well known for scoring loads of goals from midfield and as a false 9. Comes to Chelsea and has bursts where he looks class and then goes missing for long stretches.

Ziyech - dominated both domestically and in the CL against the very best opponents. Comes to Chelsea and is just now starting to look a proper player.

And that’s just in the past couple of years. Time and time and time again hugely expensive, supposedly top class attackers come to Chelsea and bomb. It’s depressing.

Giroud for 18millions was miles  better than Lukaku in every part of the game  .

what is the conclusion - stop buying expensive attackers like Lukaku , Morata 

[Pizy 18,994]

If we could at least see some idea of what Tuchel wants from our attack I’d be more positive about our future outlook. Some patterns of play, some attacking moves that we try repeatedly, some chemistry between certain players. But there’s none of that. All season (and last) we look like an assemblage of random strangers who have never played together before.

Even when we were at our flying best up to that Juve match it was our two wingbacks looking like our most dangerous attackers rather than the actual forwards.

I ask myself what a attacking genius like Pep would do with our current personnel. He’d likely go with Pulisic left, Ziyech right, Havertz up top, and Mount in behind. Lukaku wouldn’t get a sniff because she’s not good enough technically and CHO wouldn’t either because he’s dumb as a rock around the box. 
 

We need to work on quick, short passing, triangles, one touch football. Not what we’re seeing now which is dominate 70% of the ball but grind to a halt over the half way line.

[ZAPHOD2319 4,823]

23 minutes ago, Jase said:

Not the time, Zaphod. NOT. THE. TIME. 

It is the time. Honestly, I dont know how some enjoy the game at all when it is a weekly ritual to pick apart the players. The attacking players have been shit but we are still in all comps. We can still finish the season with three cups or more… realistically. If you cannot bring yourself to enjoying that because every week is teeth gnashing session about player deficits, it might be time to do something else. 
 

I am going to enjoy the cup runs.