Servette 2-1 Chelsea

[Reddish-Blue 2,347]

9 hours ago, Vesper said:

Dreadful Chelsea pair continue their horrible run – don’t let them near the first team

https://Chelsea.news/2024/08/dreadful-Chelsea-pair-continue-their-horrible-run-dont-let-them-near-the-first-team/

Chelsea are through to the UEFA Europa Conference League proper, despite losing 2-1 to Servette in Switzerland.

If last week’s performance against the same team started badly and got better, this was the opposite.

Initially comfortable, Chelsea looked shakier and shakier. Manager Enzo Maresca eventually brought on the big guns, which improved things up front, but in defence and midfield the team remained totally porous.

Perhaps the most worrying part of it all was the connection (or lack of) between Axel Disasi and Benoit Badiashile at the back. Once again, the two Frenchmen were error prone and dreadful on the ball too.

The hopeful ideas we had of bringing in a ready made pair who knew each other from their time at Monaco has been shown to be laughably optimistic. They were horrible again tonight, as they always seem to be when paired together.

Disasi was playing as a sort of half centre-back, half right-back role. Whatever it was, it didn’t suit him. Badiashile is perhaps even more of a mystifying case. With Disasi, we knew we were getting a solid but unspectacular player. But Badiashile flashed some real moments of quality in his early games.

The fact he’s fallen to this level is really mind boggling.

The ratings from Football.London said it all:

Axel Disasi – Needs to be stronger for Servette’s first goal. Bring him down, man. 5.

Benoit Badiashile – Doesn’t cover himself in glory for the first goal. I just have no idea what he is trying to do. He has his arm in the air but why? 5.

5s seem generous to us. This is Servette, and these players are supposed to be capable of playing in the first team. This isn’t a youth side we put out, these are the players who step into the first XI the moment a player is out – and we’ve had no shortage of that in recent years.

Calafiori was right there to take from Serie A but Arteta was more serious than us and decided to shore up his defense! 

It's such a shame as we have a decent enough attack to go for top 4 but our defense and GK situation will cost us against the big teams this season. 

[Special Juan 27,429]

Shit show of a game and another disgraceful performance. I have said for a long time that while people focus on the tactics and the players, this lot have a serious issue with going to places and caving under pressure but not only pressure but intimidation from crowds. we go to places like Newcastle and cower like kittens, last night the small hostile grounds we simply cannot handle. forget the pitch, that's a weak excuse, the mentality is seriously missing with this lot, big time

[LAM09 6,752]

6 hours ago, YorkshireBlue said:

You just talked about ifs and buts hence my reply to your post in the first place…..

My post was largely directed at individuals who said there was an overreaction to the outcome; there was not.

4 hours ago, Reddish-Blue said:

"Limped over the line"...in all honesty, we had them beaten in the first leg and if the players could actually finish in front of goal, it would have been an easy 4+ goal lead going into a dead rubber 2nd leg. 

With this squad and the rubbish defenders we had on display today (Disaster and Badiashile should never be in the backline together again), I had a strong feeling we would struggle away from home. 

Only being up by two goals is far from a dead rubber. It felt like the players just thought it would be a breeze, which it clearly wasn't. Whether it was an ego thing or what, our squad should be up for each and every game regardless of the opposition. 

[King Kante 1,484]

So, after all the close options we get Kazakhstan, Armenia and Greece away. Pretty sure that is the worst draw possible for us in terms of distance. 

[Vesper 28,855]

2 minutes ago, King Kante said:

So, after all the close options we get Kazakhstan, Armenia and Greece away. Pretty sure that is the worst draw possible for us in terms of distance. 

my prediction ages ago about the Conference League being 8 to 12 thousand km round trips to the hellscape ex commie Stans and Caucasus region rings true

🤕

5 818,9 km each way

 

[LAM09 6,752]

15 minutes ago, King Kante said:

So, after all the close options we get Kazakhstan, Armenia and Greece away. Pretty sure that is the worst draw possible for us in terms of distance. 

You mean Germany instead of Armenia. Our fixture against Noah is at home.

 

Edited August 30 by LAM09

[Vesper 28,855]

14 minutes ago, LAM09 said:

Noah is at home

[nyikolajevics 2,578]

21 minutes ago, Vesper said:

my prediction ages ago about the Conference League being 8 to 12 thousand km round trips to the hellscape ex commie Stans and Caucasus region rings true

🤕

5 818,9 km each way

 

This map is pointing to middle of Kazakhstan. We will play in Almaty City, which is like 250 km from China border 😄 hello Europe nights.

[King Kante 1,484]

1 hour ago, LAM09 said:

You mean Germany instead of Armenia. Our fixture against Noah is at home.

 

Ah, I read Noah as away. Thank God for that. 

[ZAPHOD2319 4,487]

 

[cosmicway 1,326]

Is it 7 teams per group ? I did n'tknow that.
Noah eliminated AEK Athens !
Panathinaikos eliminated Lans and in the Europa they went out narrowly to Ajax on pens.
I 'd like to see a 6-0 win against Panathinaikos if Maresca fields the first squad.
We call Panathinaikos "the bird team" because of their connections with the dictatorship of the 21st of April.

[Magic Lamps 11,655]

3 hours ago, cosmicway said:

Is it 7 teams per group ? I did n'tknow that.
Noah eliminated AEK Athens !
Panathinaikos eliminated Lans and in the Europa they went out narrowly to Ajax on pens.
I 'd like to see a 6-0 win against Panathinaikos if Maresca fields the first squad.
We call Panathinaikos "the bird team" because of their connections with the dictatorship of the 21st of April.

It is 36 teams in one group with 6 matches drawn at random (with some constraints) 

Top 8 or so will directly qualify for 2nd round while some others play another stupid playoff mini tourney to make up the remaining spots in the actual knock out phase 

[YorkshireBlue 3,122]

54 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

It is 36 teams in one group with 6 matches drawn at random (with some constraints) 

Top 8 or so will directly qualify for 2nd round while some others play another stupid playoff mini tourney to make up the remaining spots in the actual knock out phase 

It’s a shocking format, people need to quit fixing shit that ain’t broke 

[Vesper 28,855]

12 hours ago, Magic Lamps said:

It is 36 teams in one group with 6 matches drawn at random (with some constraints) 

Top 8 or so will directly qualify for 2nd round while some others play another stupid playoff mini tourney to make up the remaining spots in the actual knock out phase 

that is just madness

[Vesper 28,855]

On 30/08/2024 at 15:24, nyikolajevics said:

This map is pointing to middle of Kazakhstan. We will play in Almaty City, which is like 250 km from China border 😄 hello Europe nights.

yikes!!!

6 887.1 km each way

🥺

Edited September 1 by Vesper