Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal

[cosmicway 1,333]

No win in three derby matches but we managed to climb third on the table.
At a rather unmanageable distance to league leaders 'pool though.
Things will get better if we manage to avoid the old Chelsea tradition of the Christmas slump.

[The Rising Sun 711]

I was not sure earlier but at the risk of conceding more goals , we definitely need Enzo Fernandes or joao Felix in the team to be creative sparks as palmer alone can't do it. 

I would bench lavia for this.... Not sure how many times it will work vs not work but currently we can't score more than 1 in the league for the last 5-6 games.

[cosmicway 1,333]

32 minutes ago, The Rising Sun said:

I was not sure earlier but at the risk of conceding more goals , we definitely need Enzo Fernandes or joao Felix in the team to be creative sparks as palmer alone can't do it. 

I would bench lavia for this.... Not sure how many times it will work vs not work but currently we can't score more than 1 in the league for the last 5-6 games.

Gusto's free header was our best chance and Neto's goal also - it took him one instant when a gap was found.
They had several chances and also managed to limit our volume of attack (and it was n't as if we were settling for the draw).
Things could have been a little better if Palmer was fully fit.

[Special Juan 28,141]

Sanchez, say no more

[Special Juan 28,141]

10 hours ago, Stats said:

Maresca needs to stop giving Palmer 'untouchable' status. If he isn't playing great then take him off. In some of the biggest games this season such as Liverpool and United, he played him whole game and he did not do anything to change the game of note. So today, he was quite quiet, especially in second half and if he was indeed struggling, then he should have came off. Why are we buying likes of Felix and Nkunku who are really good bench options if we are afraid to use them.

Happy with the point but frustrated with the subs. Neto was MOTM for me. He was brilliant all game. Fofana I thought was brilliant today too.

He's not going to do that with palmer when he can't do it with Madueke who has been awful. Swap Madueke with Neto on the right and then you can play someone else on the left, but somehing has to give with Madueke, he's horrendous right now

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

Given how poor he is with his feet and decision making, Snachez has to have his shot stopping game spot on. This is not the first time he should have kept out a goal that made life really difficult for us. Otherwise he was ok but we can’t have a gk who is at fault for a goal roughly every other game on average. This will make top 4 way tougher than necessary plus throws our cup title challenges in serious doubt (for Jorgensen is not any better) 

[Reddish-Blue 2,509]

38 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

Otherwise he was ok but we can’t have a gk who is at fault for a goal roughly every other game on average. This will make top 4 way tougher than necessary plus throws our cup title challenges in serious doubt (for Jorgensen is not any better) 

If we don't get top 4, it'll be one of two reasons:

1. Sanchez being prone to errors

2. CB issues as we have no depth (wouldn't trust Badiashile or Disasi for an extended run of games). 

[Milan 17,958]

What is the situation regarding the 5th place? Is there a chance of the 5th place securing the CL place too?

[Reddish-Blue 2,509]

11 hours ago, Stats said:

Maresca needs to stop giving Palmer 'untouchable' status. If he isn't playing great then take him off. In some of the biggest games this season such as Liverpool and United, he played him whole game and he did not do anything to change the game of note.

Think most managers out there will keep their star playmaker on the pitch for as long as possible (unless they are injured or you really need to shake things up on the pitch). 

Imagine the headlines if we lost the game and Palmer was subbed off early just for Felix/Nkunku to be ineffective on the pitch as super subs. 

[King Kante 1,643]

There are a couple of players who seem to be getting a lot of minutes for unknown reasons. First is Sanchez. How this guy got dropped last season for costing us a goal every other game to being our No.1 again is ridiculous. As I mentioned on his thread, the club seem to think give him enough minutes and he will evolve like a fecking Pokèmon. Even if that where to happen, why is he not doing this on loan? Even more concerning is how we have 7 GK's and none of us our certain if any of them are better. 

Next is Noni. Personally, I actually really like Noni, but not when it comes at the expense of the team. For me, Palmer should be playing off the right so that he can stay in the final third more often. However, we cannot do that with Noni on the pitch, so he has to drop into midfield. Imo, we need to start exploring a AM setup of Neto Felix Palmer. I feel that would be super fluid and allow Felix to do the AM donkey work. Noni for me is also better off the bench as he is both direct and strong on the ball. Nightmare for FB's with 65-70 mins in their legs already. 

Edited November 11, 2024 by King Kante

[cosmicway 1,333]

The Arsenal goal was a silly nasty nutmeg.

[cosmicway 1,333]

53 minutes ago, King Kante said:

There are a couple of players who seem to be getting a lot of minutes for unknown reasons. First is Sanchez. How this guy got dropped last season for costing us a goal every other game to being our No.1 again is ridiculous. As I mentioned on his thread, the club seem to think give him enough minutes and he will evolve like a fecking Pokèmon. Even if that where to happen, why is he not doing this on loan? Even more concerning is how we have 7 GK's and none of us our certain if any of them are better. 

Next is Noni. Personally, I actually really like Noni, but not when it comes at the expense of the team. For me, Palmer should be playing off the right so that he can stay in the final third more often. However, we cannot do that with Noni on the pitch, so he has to drop into midfield. Imo, we need to start exploring a AM setup of Neto Felix Palmer. I feel that would be super fluid and allow Felix to do the AM donkey work. Noni for me is also better off the bench as he is both direct and strong on the ball. Nightmare for FB's with 65-70 mins in their legs already. 

Noni in the second half. Not a bad idea.

[mkh 596]

When Romeo Lavia was replaced by Enzo Fernandez, he headed straight to the tunnel. There was noticeable concern, as Lavia had been struggling before the change. The medical team will likely monitor his condition during the international break.

(@iamrahmanosman)

[Special Juan 28,141]

It will be another 4 months out no doubt

[Vytis33 1,272]

 

[Stats 7,147]

10 hours ago, Reddish-Blue said:

Think most managers out there will keep their star playmaker on the pitch for as long as possible (unless they are injured or you really need to shake things up on the pitch). 

Imagine the headlines if we lost the game and Palmer was subbed off early just for Felix/Nkunku to be ineffective on the pitch as super subs. 

Well this where I disagree. One, being, people are saying it looked like Palmer was struggling (injury-wise) and even so, he wasn't really influential. He done a nice couple passes but didn't do anything significant. Also, how much managers have the luxury of having Felix, Nkunku to come off the bench?? We do. I genuinely think with fresh legs, Felix would have posed more of a threat second half.

Postecoglou took of his main playmaker in Maddison at half-time against West Ham for tactical reasons and won the game.

Salah has been tremendous for Liverpool this season. Look at this, Slot took him off against Palace quite early against Palace whilst the game was still in the balance and they won the game. Even more surprisingly, they beat Leipzig few weeks ago away from home,1-0, whilst the game is still in the balance. Salah was subbed up off at the 63rd minute. I didn't thought Salah was bad and Salah was visibly frustrated but Slot obviously wasn't happy with something but he was not afraid to take off his best player and they looked comfortable. You can twist it this way and say imagine the headlines if he took off Palmer and brought on Felix who scored the winner. Works both ways. How I see it is, we have played United, Liverpool and Arsenal and not won any of the games and our main playmaker has not created much during the game so sub him off. It is not as if we have a weak bench, but could have a more fresh player offered something different? Possibly but if he keeps him on the field 90 mins, it is almost saying, you can be below-par but you will play the whole game regardless.

You either change his position or take him off. Managers have to be bold sometimes. Forget what the 'headlines' say.