Real Madrid vs Chelsea

[cosmicway 1,333]

Someone ought to have been plugged onto Vinicious - don't let him make a move.
If Benzema could outjump our defenders in a corner kick like in last year's 1-1 draw then so be it.
But someone should have been on Vinicious - don't move more than five centimeters from him.

 

 

Edited April 13, 2022 by cosmicway

[Milan 17,959]

Reece James being booked in minute 2 or when was not helpful against Vinicius (the ref surely took his time when booking Real players......) but he still manages to put in a fantastic defensive shift, despite the early booking. And we needed James on the pitch for the offensive purposes.

[milka 3,393]

[King Kante 1,643]

1 hour ago, nyikolajevics said:

 

Sealed? Mate, we turned it around and we were 10 minutes away from making it into the semifinals.

Of course, first match was shit, but I'm rather angry we couldn't keep it 0-3 for 10 minutes.

Can't get angry about being split open by that ball from Modric. That was up there with the best assit ever. Not sure there was much we could do there. 

Points that turned the tie where then Mendy howler, the RLC/Kante after you Claude for the second yesterday and I would say TC's save from Kai in the 77 minute. That save was very similar to the one he made from AM in 2014. When that happened and prevented 4-0 I turned to my GF and said that I bet Real take this to ET and win then as we run out of legs. 

[cosmicway 1,333]

Just now, King Kante said:

Can't get angry about being split open by that ball from Modric. That was up there with the best assit ever. Not sure there was much we could do there. 

Points that turned the tie where then Mendy howler, the RLC/Kante after you Claude for the second yesterday and I would say TC's save from Kai in the 77 minute. That save was very similar to the one he made from AM in 2014. When that happened and prevented 4-0 I turned to my GF and said that I bet Real take this to ET and win then as we run out of legs. 

There was a lousy ping-pong situation in the centre and Modric profited and was set free. Then he did his magic.

[Superblue 6,372]

5 hours ago, DDA said:

I felt he made a mistake in not trying to defend the lead at 3-0 but he is honestly the only reason we were able to pull of a 3-0 lead at the Berna in the first place. I really hope we are able to make changes to the squad in the summer. I think given another transfer window and we could really start pushing City and Liverpool for the title. 

I think that's always incredibly difficult in hindsight to judge. If we had gone ahead and gone into defence mode for the last 15 minutes and invited Madrid on to us and still conceded I think he'd be crucified more. We were in complete control and creating chances without going gung ho and I think it was right to carry on doing this. Ultimately the two Madrid goals have come as a result of us losing possession in transition and them punishing us. Anyone else in Modric position wouldn't make that pass and even then he'd struggle to make it that perfect again in 10 attempts. 

I think if there was a mistake it was the subs having no impact on the game whatsoever but again, easy to say this in hindsight with the effort the players on the pitch put in but I think taking Werner off for Pulisic gave some encouragement to the Madrid backline and with him off the pitch we no longer had a player running in behind to stretch them. Pulisic and Ziyech are very hot and cold players you generally get something incredible or something dreadful with no middle ground and both do usually seem more suited to starting games rather than coming off the bench to make an impact. 

Agree about Tuchel and the squad in general though. A number of our core group and more important players are a much younger age than City and Liverpool and are still evolving and developing. As I mentioned last night Pep got over £400m across 2 summer windows before he started seeing his vision and Klopp got 3 seasons (and spent a lot of money - that Coutinho money didn't last forever despite what they will argue) before his team mounted a title challenge.

I'm not sure we'll really ever know the ins and outs of the Lukaku transfer and can all speculate. In my opinion he was presented with Lukaku as an option and took it despite probably knowing he might not be the right fit and I don't blame him for that because if we had a poor season this year because none of our attackers stepped up and were scoring enough goals he'd have been shown the door. That's the result of the short term outlook and mentality of this club under Roman. It's worked on the basis of trophies won and success under him, but there will always be question marks over what if we'd planned a little more long term with transfers and coaches.

What Tuchel has done in the last 18 months both on the pitch and recently off the pitch representing our club has been incredible. You can see the players will run through a brick wall for him, the support is fully behind him, he just needs the new ownership to back him now too. Hopefully spending some money in the market and freshening up areas of the squad but also giving him the time and patience over the next season or two to plan and plot challenging for the league title and the biggest trophies not just as a one off but sustainably over the next few years.

[chelsea_4_eva 1,182]

After that game i feel the mentality of this squad has risen to a new level.

[cosmicway 1,333]

2 hours ago, Superblue_1986 said:

I think that's always incredibly difficult in hindsight to judge. If we had gone ahead and gone into defence mode for the last 15 minutes and invited Madrid on to us and still conceded I think he'd be crucified more. We were in complete control and creating chances without going gung ho and I think it was right to carry on doing this. Ultimately the two Madrid goals have come as a result of us losing possession in transition and them punishing us. Anyone else in Modric position wouldn't make that pass and even then he'd struggle to make it that perfect again in 10 attempts. 

I think if there was a mistake it was the subs having no impact on the game whatsoever but again, easy to say this in hindsight with the effort the players on the pitch put in but I think taking Werner off for Pulisic gave some encouragement to the Madrid backline and with him off the pitch we no longer had a player running in behind to stretch them. Pulisic and Ziyech are very hot and cold players you generally get something incredible or something dreadful with no middle ground and both do usually seem more suited to starting games rather than coming off the bench to make an impact. 

Agree about Tuchel and the squad in general though. A number of our core group and more important players are a much younger age than City and Liverpool and are still evolving and developing. As I mentioned last night Pep got over £400m across 2 summer windows before he started seeing his vision and Klopp got 3 seasons (and spent a lot of money - that Coutinho money didn't last forever despite what they will argue) before his team mounted a title challenge.

I'm not sure we'll really ever know the ins and outs of the Lukaku transfer and can all speculate. In my opinion he was presented with Lukaku as an option and took it despite probably knowing he might not be the right fit and I don't blame him for that because if we had a poor season this year because none of our attackers stepped up and were scoring enough goals he'd have been shown the door. That's the result of the short term outlook and mentality of this club under Roman. It's worked on the basis of trophies won and success under him, but there will always be question marks over what if we'd planned a little more long term with transfers and coaches.

What Tuchel has done in the last 18 months both on the pitch and recently off the pitch representing our club has been incredible. You can see the players will run through a brick wall for him, the support is fully behind him, he just needs the new ownership to back him now too. Hopefully spending some money in the market and freshening up areas of the squad but also giving him the time and patience over the next season or two to plan and plot challenging for the league title and the biggest trophies not just as a one off but sustainably over the next few years.

Was Rodrigo's goal because we did not have defensive formation at that instant ? I don't think.

[Superblue 6,372]

2 minutes ago, cosmicway said:

Was Rodrigo's goal because we did not have defensive formation at that instant ? I don't think.

We've lost the ball in midfield which has left us a little stretched but where Modric is and the options available to him, it's taken an incredible pass to get Rodrygo in behind and his finish also needs a lot of credit because it was very well taken. I personally don't think you'd get the same outcome in 10 more attempts in that situation. 

But ultimately what this does highlight is why sit back and defend and give time and space to players like Modric for the last 15 minutes when he's capable of that? Why give them more opportunities to get Benzema the ball in and around the box when he'd been starved of service for the first 75 minutes? I think the tactics and approach employed were right and we got a sucker punch. It happens, it's not the first time we've been knocked out of europe when it feels underserved and I'm sure it won't be the last. Silver lining should be we're back at that point again where we are disappointed being knocked out in the latter stages by a Real Madrid, it'd been too long before Tuchel joined we were in that bracket.

[cosmicway 1,333]

9 minutes ago, Superblue_1986 said:

We've lost the ball in midfield which has left us a little stretched but where Modric is and the options available to him, it's taken an incredible pass to get Rodrygo in behind and his finish also needs a lot of credit because it was very well taken. I personally don't think you'd get the same outcome in 10 more attempts in that situation. 

But ultimately what this does highlight is why sit back and defend and give time and space to players like Modric for the last 15 minutes when he's capable of that? Why give them more opportunities to get Benzema the ball in and around the box when he'd been starved of service for the first 75 minutes? I think the tactics and approach employed were right and we got a sucker punch. It happens, it's not the first time we've been knocked out of europe when it feels underserved and I'm sure it won't be the last. Silver lining should be we're back at that point again where we are disappointed being knocked out in the latter stages by a Real Madrid, it'd been too long before Tuchel joined we were in that bracket.

They were lucky the ball fell for them after the scrimmage.
It happens in 90 minutes of play.
It was like the Kai goal against Newcastle.
Imo the team was very well balanced on the pitch after the 3-0 and they d' have to really struggle to score (+ not concede).
I 'm less happy with the way the defense performed in extra time when they had their second.

Edited April 13, 2022 by cosmicway

[MoroccanBlue 5,383]

22 minutes ago, Superblue_1986 said:

We've lost the ball in midfield which has left us a little stretched but where Modric is and the options available to him, it's taken an incredible pass to get Rodrygo in behind and his finish also needs a lot of credit because it was very well taken. I personally don't think you'd get the same outcome in 10 more attempts in that situation. 

But ultimately what this does highlight is why sit back and defend and give time and space to players like Modric for the last 15 minutes when he's capable of that? Why give them more opportunities to get Benzema the ball in and around the box when he'd been starved of service for the first 75 minutes? I think the tactics and approach employed were right and we got a sucker punch. It happens, it's not the first time we've been knocked out of europe when it feels underserved and I'm sure it won't be the last. Silver lining should be we're back at that point again where we are disappointed being knocked out in the latter stages by a Real Madrid, it'd been too long before Tuchel joined we were in that bracket.

Silly ball from Kante to give away. 

[MoroccanBlue 5,383]

7 hours ago, Tomo said:

It was more a statement of how I really don't rate Pulisic but i do feel Callum has been denied chances to gain some momentum in this team.

First under Lampard when him and James were starting to look a serious pairing on the right flank. I went to watch the 3-0 Burnley game that year and the understanding between the pair was telepathic. I don't think we have seen them together on that side much if atall since which frustrates me a bit.

Then there's this year. Very good in the autumn only to be dropped after one so so game vs United (days after he destroyed Juve). Then at Christmas he is heavily involved in all three goals vs Villa and shortly after that his quality opened up the game for Ziyech to score that goal vs Spurs.

If/when he has another run like those examples above I hope this time we stick with him in the side a little bit longer (preferably on the right with Reece) and if he can't keep it up then fair enough but I feel he gets judged by a higher bar than any of our other attackers, Pulisic having a run of form like he did in the Autumn would win him an untouchable spot for months.

CHO has played 56 more games than Elanga from Mancheter United, and only has outscored him by 1 goal. This isn't a matter of being allowed a run of games. It's a matter of being influential in your attacking game, and when you are as predictable as CHO it explains the incredibly poor level of output we see from him. Doesn't take players on, always checks to his inside in a way Jack Grealish would be proud, poor finishing technique which contributes to his awful finishing. People want to go about his creative metrics but in all honesty he genuinely fails the eye test time and time again. 

I'm not even certain if there is a player in there, which is why I suggest we give him a 2 season loan somewhere. 

[Strike 7,492]

Kudos to Kovacic. Had a great game

[MoroccanBlue 5,383]

Rudiger straight to the point. 

 

[Tomo 21,751]

4 hours ago, MoroccanBlue said:

CHO has played 56 more games than Elanga from Mancheter United, and only has outscored him by 1 goal. This isn't a matter of being allowed a run of games. It's a matter of being influential in your attacking game, and when you are as predictable as CHO it explains the incredibly poor level of output we see from him. Doesn't take players on, always checks to his inside in a way Jack Grealish would be proud, poor finishing technique which contributes to his awful finishing. People want to go about his creative metrics but in all honesty he genuinely fails the eye test time and time again. 

I'm not even certain if there is a player in there, which is why I suggest we give him a 2 season loan somewhere. 

That's the thing, finishing aside he doesn't fail the eye test for me. His dribble and spot for Ziyech against Spurs (Ziyechs got the headline but his quality opened up that situation), his assist in the world cup final, his involvement vs Villa (prime reason I find assist stat needs redefining as on record he had one assist but in reality he had three) and his form in the autumn. He was fantastic vs Burnley, Leicester, Juve and set up the first goal against Newcastle (another assist he should have had but got robbed of it on a technicality because it shaved a defenders head on the way to Reece).

If we look back further there's his assist to Azpi vs Burnley last season (moments Willian made a career of messing up), his quality of finding Chilwell in the lead up to Mounts goal at Fulham, becoming the first teenager since Michael Owen to assist in 3 PL games (and I'm not contradicting myself as they were three quality assists not token assists of passing one yard to a player who smashes it in from 25 yards), his assist to Pulisic at Anfield where he somehow managed to control it and then find Puli despite being in full flight, also twice he's come on at 3 down and we've gone to recover a draw (with him playing a crucial role both times), he also played well against that all conquering Bayern side admittedly in a game we were nowhere near, IIRC he was the one who made the through ball for the opener vs Everton last year.

Now if you were to say he has so far underwhelmed scaled for the potential we saw from the youth cup sides I'll be inclined to agree, and I'd understand if you say he should have more of those moments and I'll defiently agree his finishing needs serious work, but I can't agree with your view there's not a player in there, there's a reason he skipped the loan process (although maybe in hindsight it would have been better if he didn't).

[LAM09 7,056]

43 minutes ago, Tomo said:

That's the thing, finishing aside he doesn't fail the eye test for me. His dribble and spot for Ziyech against Spurs (Ziyechs got the headline but his quality opened up that situation), his assist in the world cup final, his involvement vs Villa (prime reason I find assist stat needs redefining as on record he had one assist but in reality he had three) and his form in the autumn. He was fantastic vs Burnley, Leicester, Juve and set up the first goal against Newcastle (another assist he should have had but got robbed of it on a technicality because it shaved a defenders head on the way to Reece).

If we look back further there's his assist to Azpi vs Burnley last season (moments Willian made a career of messing up), his quality of finding Chilwell in the lead up to Mounts goal at Fulham, becoming the first teenager since Michael Owen to assist in 3 PL games (and I'm not contradicting myself as they were three quality assists not token assists of passing one yard to a player who smashes it in from 25 yards), his assist to Pulisic at Anfield where he somehow managed to control it and then find Puli despite being in full flight, also twice he's come on at 3 down and we've gone to recover a draw (with him playing a crucial role both times), he also played well against that all conquering Bayern side admittedly in a game we were nowhere near, IIRC he was the one who made the through ball for the opener vs Everton last year.

Now if you were to say he has so far underwhelmed scaled for the potential we saw from the youth cup sides I'll be inclined to agree, and I'd understand if you say he should have more of those moments and I'll defiently agree his finishing needs serious work, but I can't agree with your view there's not a player in there, there's a reason he skipped the loan process (although maybe in hindsight it would have been better if he didn't).

It feels like you're taking the good on board but failing to realise/deliberately ignoring his notable flaws. None of our wide attackers/wingers are at the level we're trying to aim for, and there shouldn't be an discussion to state otherwise.

[Tomo 21,751]

1 hour ago, LAM09 said:

It feels like you're taking the good on board but failing to realise/deliberately ignoring his notable flaws. None of our wide attackers/wingers are at the level we're trying to aim for, and there shouldn't be an discussion to state otherwise.

Ofcourse I'm not and I said as much in my post.

Ofcourse he has to improve/gain more consistency to get a spot in the long run, all I'm saying is he has the attributes to do so. 

And a lot can change in a year with players his age, for example, imagine talking about long term Kante successors this time last year and Gallaghers name being banded about.

Edited April 13, 2022 by Tomo

[Vesper 30,202]

4 hours ago, MoroccanBlue said:

Rudiger straight to the point. 

 

re-sign him!!!!!!!!

[LAM09 7,056]

1 hour ago, Tomo said:

Ofcourse I'm not and I said as much in my post.

Ofcourse he has to improve/gain more consistency to get a spot in the long run, all I'm saying is he has the attributes to do so. 

And a lot can change in a year with players his age, for example, imagine talking about long term Kante successors this time last year and Gallaghers name being banded about.

He isn't going to get that chance here IMO. I think selling him to someone with a buy-back would be best for both parties.

[Clockwork 1,794]

14 hours ago, MoroccanBlue said:

Silly ball from Kante to give away. 

Idk I feel Kante is nowhere near his best nowdays.