Man City 4-0 Chelsea

[ZAPHOD2319 4,487]

PRE/POST-MATCH DISCUSSION, LIVE CHAT AND ANALYSIS

Sunday 8th January 2023
FA Cup 3rd Round
Etihad Stadium

4:30pm Kick Off (UK Time)

[Vesper 28,855]

play the youth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CuCu and Azpi can fuck off

and ffs, wake Kepa up

[OhForAGreavsie 5,892]

1 hour ago, Vesper said:

play the youth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CuCu and Azpi can fuck off

and ffs, wake Kepa up

Cucu is an issue for sure.

[Blue Armour 4,289]

Looking forward to the match.

Don't care about the result, but would be good to see what our youth can do.

Hopefully DDF will have a part to play.

[DDA 9,690]

Really hope Badiashille and DDFofana make an appearance in this one.

[Johnnyeye 7,441]

so many injuries my god, are these players made of glass or what? 

[Vesper 28,855]

5 minutes ago, Johnnyeye said:

so many injuries my god, are these players made of glass or what? 

[Blue Armour 4,289]

13 minutes ago, Johnnyeye said:

so many injuries my god, are these players made of glass or what? 

Probably some of them decided they'll become 'fit' only after James, Chillwell and Kante become available again.

On the plus side, Potter will be forced to play our youth more often. 

[Johnnyeye 7,441]

34 minutes ago, Blue Armour said:

Probably some of them decided they'll become 'fit' only after James, Chillwell and Kante become available again.

On the plus side, Potter will be forced to play our youth more often. 

if it means Potter will use the youth more often instead of the usual dross we have been witnessing, then im all for it.

Edited January 6, 2023 by Johnnyeye

[Tomo 21,733]

I actually think we may go through in this one.

I felt we were very unlucky not to take the league cup tie to penalties at the very least and with a league Cup quarter 3 days after (with only one other top team in it), next to no more room for error in league and the UCL they will badly want to win there's only so many balls even a squad like City's can juggle in a season as unique as this.

[Vesper 28,855]

A single step that cost Kepa Arrizabalaga and Chelsea the only goal against Manchester City

https://theathletic.com/4063440/2023/01/06/kepa-arrizabalaga-error-Chelsea-manchester-city/

Matt Pyzdrowski is a coach and former goalkeeper who played in the United States and Sweden. He serves as a goalkeeping analyst for The Athletic.

Here he analyses why Kepa Arrizabalaga’s misstep cost him and Chelsea against Manchester City.

---

There has been a big improvement in Kepa Arrizabalaga’s performances since Graham Potter and his staff took over at Chelsea but he was at fault for Riyad Mahrez’s winner for Manchester City.

He failed to cut out Jack Grealish’s cross and Mahrez snuck in at the back post ahead of Marc Cucurella to finish.

Where did it all go wrong?

Arrizabalaga’s initial positioning was good. He was facing the ball but slightly angled with his body open to see the play in front of him. He was almost in the sweet spot of being aggressive off his line to cut out the cross, yet close enough to his near post should Grealish try and sneak one past him.

As he is watching the play and waiting for the ball to be played by Grealish, Arrizabalaga needed to quickly determine if he was going to shoot or pass it to a team-mate.

It’s quite clear that because of Grealish’s angle as he received the ball that he was going to cross, most likely across his goalmouth — the positioning of his defenders in the box in addition to Mahrez’s back-post run were his signal.

Arrizabalaga set and waiting for the ball from Grealish with a good body angle

These are the moments when you want your goalkeeper to be proactive and anticipate the play. Waiting to react is often how mistakes can happen. Unfortunately for Arrizabalaga, he always appeared to be a step behind the play and his indecision cost him.

As the ball came in, instead of taking a step at a forward angle, towards the ball and attacking it with his hands, he hesitated and took his initial step backwards, which opened his hips (and, in turn, his entire body), making it virtually impossible to attack the ball in the necessary position to make the save.

Arrizabalaga taking his first step backwards and opening his hips/body

Had Kepa held his initial position, taken a step towards the ball and launched himself at it with his hands, it’s likely he would have cut out the cross. His step backwards was his step of no return and, by opening his hips and body, he made his path to the ball longer and created hesitation and uncertainty.

The ball sneaks in front of Arrizabalaga and toward Mahrez at the back post

He made up his mind too quickly that he was going to turn his body as the ball was played to defend the cutback, which made it that much harder for him to adjust.

It is largely the reason why he appeared to be caught in two minds. One, to go directly for the ball and claim it, or two, to track the ball across his goal and ready himself for the shot.

You can see him quickly try to adjust with his left leg at the final moment to take a step towards the ball and face it to propel himself forward. Arrizabalaga was too late and, because of it, he never had a chance to react.

Arrizabalaga attempting to adjust himself at the last moment toward the ball

Additionally, the angle and pace of the ball were just good enough to ask the right questions of Arrizabalaga from the attacking player’s perspective and it put the goalkeeper in two minds at a critical moment. It is what created that moment of doubt for Arrizabalaga. A ball of lesser quality would not have had the same impact.

Arrizabalaga comes so close to the ball but the pace takes it past him

This is the perfect example of a moment when a goalkeeper immediately knows what they should have done differently – even when the play is happening in front of you, only for your body to freeze and panic as you attempt to put yourself through the motions.

Having that clarity of thought and bravery to just go for the ball can be hard enough to do in a controlled environment at training; much harder in the heat of the match and with all those players in and around you with the game on the line.

The margin for error is minimal — getting the technique slightly wrong or hesitating can be the difference between a goal being scored rather than a save being made.

Had Arrizabalaga been proactive, thought one or two steps ahead and looked to defend the space and cut out the play — rather than defend the cutback — he would have likely claimed the ball.

He got it wrong and it cost Chelsea the chance to turn their miserable form around against City.

Edited January 7, 2023 by Vesper

[chelsea_4_eva 1,159]

I would like to see us start Hall and CC definitely.

[Vesper 28,855]

Chelsea reveal Edouard Mendy operation as injury crisis continues ahead of Man City

Chelsea injury news: The Blues shot-stopper has been out of action since the return with injury after playing at the World Cup.

https://www.football.london/Chelsea-fc/news/breaking-edouard-mendy-Chelsea-injury-25919827

Edouard Mendy has undergone an operation on a fractured finger after injuring it during training, the club have revealed.

The 30-year-old has been absent from the matchday squad since the Premier League's return with Marcus Bettinelli taking his place on the bench instead. Mendy was replaced as first-choice keeper by Kepa Arrizabalaga once Graham Potter was appointed and has only played five times since then, all coming when Kepa was injured himself.

The statement says he will be working with the club's medical department during the rehabilitation phase. The Senegal keeper is one of 10 first-team injuries for Graham Potter to deal with at the moment.

READ MORE: Pep Guardiola stunned by Chelsea star as Todd Boehly handed new £26.5m transfer conundrum

Potter saw Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic both go off injured inside the opening 20 minutes against Manchester City on Thursday and added them to a list including Reece James, N'Golo Kante, Ben Chilwell, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Armando Broja on the sidelines.

When asked about Mendy's fitness before the game, Potter said: "He’s been training a little bit more than he was. He’s not fully fit at the moment but hopefully the next week or so he will make progress." He played every game for Senegal at the World Cup, losing to England in the last-16 and also had a spell out injured in October after pulling out of his international camp then too.

Mendy has been going through his worst period of form since joining Chelsea in 2020 and hasn't kept a cleansheet under Graham Potter, losing all four league games under the new boss, conceding five goals in the process. Kepa on the other hand has been in inspired form under the new manager but was widely criticised for his role in Manchester City's goal at Stamford Bridge, appearing to pull out of blocking Jack Grealish's low cross.

 

Edited January 7, 2023 by Vesper

[milka 3,347]

Kepa

Azpilicueta Chalobah Koulibaly Hall

 Zakaria Kovacic

Hutchinson Gallagher Chukwuemeka

 Havertz 

[NikkiCFC 7,955]

People blame Kepa and Cucurella but Azpi was shockingly far away from Grealish. 

[Magic Lamps 11,655]

2 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

People blame Kepa and Cucurella but Azpi was shockingly far away from Grealish. 

They are both terrible still and should never be atthis club. To think we spent 130m on those two freeriders makes me wanna break something.

[Vesper 28,855]

1 hour ago, Magic Lamps said:

They are both terrible still and should never be atthis club. To think we spent 130m on those two freeriders makes me wanna break something.

quarter of a billion quid counting salaries 

🤬

[OneMoSalah 8,778]

Not looking forward to this. Too many injuries which means it’ll be a very untried team. Plus if City decide to go for it they will probably score 3 or 4. Even if they rotate heavily.