Chelsea 0-1 Man City

[Magic Lamps 11,469]

I think many of our players really showed decent attitude today, even Cucu, esp Conor and Chucky but they are just not good enough.

Those next few years will probably the hardest ever for most us during our time as Chelsea fans. Club is overall in the worst situation in the last 30 or 40 years.

While I do think Potter is meh, does not have the answers and TT would probably have done better results wise, the problems of this club lay way deeper. Some new came with the cluelessness of the new ownership but many have been piled by poor squad planning and contract management of the previous administration as well as the crippling sanctions.

 

[Tomo 21,685]

6 minutes ago, Vesper said:

well fuck

at least we did not get blown away

and the young lads looked good

I thought Hutchinson was awful. Hall was good but he has to be doing better with that chance young player or not. That's twice now he should have been a gamechanger vs City.

[nyikolajevics 2,449]

Ok performance Today considering circumstances(~13 injured senior players)

I saw positivities and negativities:

+ Thiago superb as always

+ Zakaria best performance so far. Not sure if we should keep him, but Tonight was more than ok.

+ Carney is starboy, very mature. Must use more often

+ Hall and Hutch also promising. Hope to see them against some weeker sides. I feel they(especially Hall) should be subbed in in some games at 2-0/3-0 for 20-30 minutes to play without pressure. 

 

- Aubameyang is completey useless in matches like this. If we are attacking and spend lot of time by the opponent's box, he is still useful as he is natural goalscorer, but Today was completely failure to play him.

- Cucurella.. Just horrible.. He had some ok forward movements in the first half, but defensively he is truly shocking. Any player dribble past him with ease, cannot block any crosses, positioning wrongly.. Even his best performances in Chelsea(or Today stronger minutes) are OK at best.. But for his world record price, you would expect something like Alphonso Davies or Cancelo, at least outstanding in attack. But he is just bringing Kenedy vibes. 

- Gallagher.. Huge disapponitment so far. I feel he has no selling point. Like an angry dog, running up and down tiredless and brainless when he is on. No class, no expectional skill. Not even close to RLC or Mount. 

- Azpilicueta.. Fight like a brave, but he is just not good enough anymore, at least not for RB. 3 CB system RCB maybe still class.

 

 

Quite worrying that it's January and it seems completely open what system we are looking to play in and who are our starters.. Meanwhile, Benoit, Fofana and Santos sitting on the stand already.. Feels like a mess. But obviously we have lots of talents, hopefully Potter can get the best of it. 

[Magic Lamps 11,469]

1 minute ago, Vegetable said:

Sort of, but didn't see anything worth of noting since his arrival - we've basically got 60 million squad player. He doesn't provide the offensive pull of Alonso, yet isn't really rock solid defensively. And I would be completely okay with him being substitute LB, but this pricetag hurts.

Yeah he was a shit signing. Don't see anything in him. His good performances vs us and ManUre last season were probably flukes. No wonder his career in the Spanish NT ended after one game.

[bluesman2610 1,241]

1 minute ago, Tomo said:

I thought Hutchinson was awful. Hall was good but he has to be doing better with that chance young player or not. That's twice now he should have been a gamechanger vs City.

I feel Hall needs more first team football and Hutchinson showed against Villa what he was capable of I just think he was to afraid to make a mistake for fear that he’d never see the field again he just played timid. 

[Vegetable 790]

5 minutes ago, Tomo said:

I thought Hutchinson was awful. Hall was good but he has to be doing better with that chance young player or not. That's twice now he should have been a gamechanger vs City.

Given how much slack our manager and horrid 1st team players get, I wouldn't be harsh on those guys - thumbs up for not pissing their pants there, as one can be second Messi in U23 until he stands on the sideline vs City. Contrary to Potter and some of our stars, they actually DO have time, especially that they are not playing too often in the first team. 

Edited January 5, 2023 by Vegetable

[Vytis33 1,057]

6pts from our last 8 games. 

 

[robsblubot 3,262]

6 minutes ago, Vesper said:

can we PLEASE buy a fucking RB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I think this is the one big disagreement I have with you. I think Azpi is a tremendous backup esp because he can cover CB in a 3-at-the-back. He'd go back up to another big club for sure if he were to leave, imo.

The problem is that currently he's a de facto starter given James' injury proneness of late (ever?). That makes it difficult and then we may need a second starter as oppose to a backup, which again I think Azpi is great for. I guess maybe I agree with you that Azpi may not be a proper option on the right, but perhaps more because of circumstances.

It's hard to convince a top RB to come be a backup for James when he's fit.

[Fulham Broadway 16,436]

So both Mahrez and Grealish just said they thought it was a lost cause ball and that Kepa would grab it. He didnt he just sat down and watched it. 

[Vegetable 790]

I think we should focus on quickly finding viable method of freezing Thiago and only unfreezing him for the games, otherwise we may be toasted on many levels.

[Mhsc 667]

Tbh inevitable result, as I said before the game I don't think we score against City with this team, if we play 10 games maybe we score 1-2 goals and they score 15+ surely. Just a completely different level of attacking skill to us.

[Laylabelle 9,305]

Just now, Vytis33 said:

6pts from our last 8 games. 

 

Nothing against them but didn't think we would be a few points behind Fulham,Brighton and Brentford at this stage..or they'd have more goals scored then us! Again we've scored 20 goals! 7 teams have scored less..

[maxlev 45]

Same shit play, same result, same reaction. I am really getting used to this now. Sorry to say but pls when is the next loss coming up. Like our next match? 

The truth some people refuse to accept is that we have a very bad coach for a team of our caliber. Buy prime Messi and Rinaldo into this team and watch their confidence drop as well as performance. Solution is not mainly buying top names or talents as they come but having the right coach. We need a good coach. 

[NikkiCFC 7,623]

All games for the rest of the season are just to implement for next season and to try youths. Except CL of course. Other games I will watch very relaxing just like I did tonight. 

[robsblubot 3,262]

11 minutes ago, Vegetable said:

Sort of, but didn't see anything worth of noting since his arrival - we've basically got 60 million squad player. He doesn't provide the offensive pull of Alonso, yet isn't really rock solid defensively. And I would be completely okay with him being substitute LB, but this pricetag hurts.

Yeah so far he's been mediocre (which is an improvement from his first few games).

This is a common tale I'm afraid: this jump is a difficult one. The level of play needed, and pressure, time on the ball for a big club is completely different coming from Brighton. A LB/LWB would normally operate in a much deeper line at Brighton and with a lot more time on the ball.

I honestly think folks here underestimate these challenges.

[Magic Lamps 11,469]

4 minutes ago, Laylabelle said:

Nothing against them but didn't think we would be a few points behind Fulham,Brighton and Brentford at this stage..or they'd have more goals scored then us! Again we've scored 20 goals! 7 teams have scored less..

When you watch us play we look exactly like the position we are in, like a bottom 8 team. No clear gameplan, little movement, no precision, no belief. With a bit of conviction we could have easily at least grabbed a goal today. Maybe City would have the upped the tempo and scored a few but we look scared to score.

[TheHulk 1,427]

What an incredible trash squad, you really need something special to make a squad worse with 250M, takes some skill.

[robsblubot 3,262]

8 minutes ago, Fulham Broadway said:

So both Mahrez and Grealish just said they thought it was a lost cause ball and that Kepa would grab it. He didnt he just sat down and watched it. 

All said and done it was a gifted goal IMO - Kepa was back to his old self today.