Chelsea 1-0 Fulham

[DH1988 1,201]

The lack of movement within the middle of the pitch is crazy, I've been harsh on Caicedo, in my opinion rightly so, however today it was more apparent the lack of movement options he has to play forward and I don't think he has anywhere near the confidence sadly to drive into space carrying the ball.

[Vytis33 1,053]

1 minute ago, DH1988 said:

The lack of movement within the middle of the pitch is crazy, I've been harsh on Caicedo, in my opinion rightly so, however today it was more apparent the lack of movement options he has to play forward and I don't think he has anywhere near the confidence sadly to drive into space carrying the ball.

I wish I could bold this even more.  Been apparent all year he refuses to drive into space and almost always takes the regressive option.

[Mário César 819]

42 minutes ago, Blue Armour said:

We played the same as we typically play. 

Nice chances, but no real killer instinct.

And no real control of the game, because our central midfield doesnt know how to do that.

It could have easily ended in a draw.

But no complaints. This is just how it's going to be this season.

we have no real control of the game in the last 10/15 minutes of the game but apart from that, I think we were ok 

we need to score more goals. simple as that 

[xPetrCechx 13,548]

Painful to watch really...

[Blue Armour 4,168]

Just now, Mário César said:

we have no real control of the game in the last 10/15 minutes of the game but apart from that, I think we were ok 

we need to score more goals. simple as that 

Tha lack of control over a game is not anything new, though.

It's been the case in nearly every game.

That's why the team is midtable. Chances of getting a positive result is like almost like a coin toss., with this team.

[Stats 6,987]

Not the pretties but a win nonetheless and I am pretty sure for the first time this season that is 3 league wins on the trot. Will take it. Slowly picking things up.

I thought knowing our luck, Gusto was going to get that card upgraded to a red. He needs to be more careful. You would think he would learn his lesson after being sent off against Villa or an identical challenge.

I thought Enzo was better today but I am surprised the pundits on TNT Sports gave him MOTM. For me MOTM was definitely Palmer or Colwill. Palmer is a joy to watch. Just doing the same things on a regular basis. Nothing new. Colwill was excellent going forward and had a real burst of pace and energy today. Was solid defensively but surprisingly he was more of a threat offensively today. Much improved from Tuesday's game and for me was my choice of MOTM.

I thought he brought Madueke on at the right time. One criticism was although it was nice to Chilwell back after so many months out, I thought he brought him on at the wrong stage. 2-0 I understand but at the time of the game, we should be looking to kill the game off with our offensive players. Missed a trick there and think Sterling would of got more space on the counter if he stayed on.

Anyway, just happy about another 3 points now. A good break we have now until our next league game. Focus now for the 2nd leg of the semis.

Next game in league Liverpool who for once we have a rival who have almost identical absentees for the game.

[TheHulk 1,424]

Whats up with Poch not knowing the ages of most of his players, yesterday he said Jackson and Broja are 21 and will be 23 this year now about Palmer.

 

[cosmicway 1,261]

Caicedo is the record transfer from English club to English club.
Given we are Chelsea and some of the world's biggest names have been playing for us, does Caicedo remind you anything of a) Beckenbauer, b) Essien, c) Kante, d) Platini - Tigana ?

[bluesman2610 1,232]

Our problem is our midfield and attackers hide behind the defenders. No one really shows for the ball bar Palmer. You can’t break teams down like that. If you watch Man city or Liverpool they make so many damn triangles and wall passes to break teams down it’s ridiculous. And honestly we’ve been playing like this for a very long time. The last time I’d seen our team really put passes together to break teams down we had Fabregas. I’ve gone back and watched preseason - and we are playing completely different than we did back in August. Now that could be injuries and what not but it really is like night and day the difference. 
 

I watch Enzo and Caicedo get on the ball and no one is showing and moving to create angles same thing happens when any of our backs get the ball. It’s so frustrating to watch. They need to sort this stuff out.

[Fulham Broadway 16,424]

Good day out - I swear Taylor was doing all he could to let them score, he really is a Grade A Berkshire hunt. 

Conversely had a feeling Willian didnt want to score against us in the last 10 minutes....

Bottom line 3 points onwards and upwards....

[cosmicway 1,261]

21 minutes ago, bluesman2610 said:

Our problem is our midfield and attackers hide behind the defenders. No one really shows for the ball bar Palmer. You can’t break teams down like that. If you watch Man city or Liverpool they make so many damn triangles and wall passes to break teams down it’s ridiculous. And honestly we’ve been playing like this for a very long time. The last time I’d seen our team really put passes together to break teams down we had Fabregas. I’ve gone back and watched preseason - and we are playing completely different than we did back in August. Now that could be injuries and what not but it really is like night and day the difference. 
 

I watch Enzo and Caicedo get on the ball and no one is showing and moving to create angles same thing happens when any of our backs get the ball. It’s so frustrating to watch. They need to sort this stuff out.

I suppose to do this the players have to run away from opponents but also be able to converge upon them when they have the ball.
It becomes a question of work rate.

[TheHulk 1,424]

 

[Mário César 819]

palmer is mata esqui 

[robsblubot 3,257]

1 hour ago, Mário César said:

palmer is mata esqui 

While the way he hits the ball reminds us of Mata, I'd be very disappointed if Palmer does not surpass Mata in every regard from what I see from him thus far. I'm talking key player for England and all that.

His age only makes him even more impressive as a player. Imagine his movement a couple of years from now, for example.... It's already pretty good!

[ZAPHOD2319 3,903]

 

[DDA 9,570]

Colwill had his first good game at LB today.

[NikkiCFC 7,604]

Still he made a lot of unnecessary fouls. 

[robsblubot 3,257]

2 hours ago, DDA said:

Colwill had his first good game at LB today.

Pretty sure it was the second "outstanding" game--he had another in the upper 8s rating as LB. He also had a couple/few? others in the good rating (~7), if memory serves.

His value as a player only goes up if he can play (def) LB even if not as comfortably as he plays CB. It also only makes him more likely to get a callup; being able to play in multiple positions is extremely important for international duty esp WC for obvious reasons.