Other Matches - 14-15th December, 2019

[Stan]

all kick-offs 15.00 unless stated

Saturday 14th December, 2019
Burnley vs Newcastle
Chelsea vs Bournemouth
Leicester vs Norwich
Sheffield United vs Aston Villa

Sunday 15th December, 2019
Wolves vs Tottenham, 14.00

[Fairy In Boots]

Tough place to go but I’d like a point 

[Cicero]

Kovacic finally given a rest 

[LFCMike]

Norwich 1-0 up

[DeadLinesman]

One fucking job Leicester. You’ve got one fucking job.

[Cicero]

And I’m back to despising Willian 

[Bluewolf]

Got what we deserved from this today... nothing, zero creativity up front and it's been awful to watch... 

[Cicero]

We don’t belong in the top 4 

[Bluewolf]

1 minute ago, Cicero said:

We don’t belong in the top 4 

We are not going to be there much longer anyway.. despite our promising start I think we will end up where most of us predicted we would be, around 6th or 7th come the end of the season.. 

[Cicero]

Just now, Bluewolf said:

We are not going to be there much longer anyway.. despite our promising start I think we will end up where most of us predicted we would be, around 6th or 7th come the end of the season.. 

Lampard’s game management for me now a glaring weakness 

[carefreeluke]

Rudiger takes about 50 minutes to play a pass. I put him at a similar level to our other centre backs but he’s been put on a pedestal this season by Chelsea fans because of his absence and our defensive problems. Been defensively very poor 2nd half and even worse on the ball but every once and a while he puts in a big tackle, shows a bit of passion and serenades the fans so a lot of Chelsea fans think he’s better than he is.

[The Artful Dodger]

Given the state of Bournemouth in terms of injuries that's really poor from Chelsea. 

[The Artful Dodger]

Leicester costing my 200 here ffs.

[6666]

4 losses in the last 7 league games for Chelsea and they've been comfortably in the top 4 for some time and they'll still be in the top 4 after this weekend. A damning indictment on how shit Man Utd, Tottenham and Arsenal have been this season.

[Cicero]

11 minutes ago, carefreeluke said:

Rudiger takes about 50 minutes to play a pass. I put him at a similar level to our other centre backs but he’s been put on a pedestal this season by Chelsea fans because of his absence and our defensive problems. Been defensively very poor 2nd half and even worse on the ball but every once and a while he puts in a big tackle, shows a bit of passion and serenades the fans so a lot of Chelsea fans think he’s better than he is.

He's still blatantly better than what we have. I'll forgive some of his passes given he's probably still rusty, but in two games now he's already improved us defensively. 

Speaking of which, our attacking players really let our defence down. Though that was our best defensive display all season. 

[DeadLinesman]

21 minutes ago, Cicero said:

We don’t belong in the top 4 

You do though tbf. You’re not any shitter than United, Arsenal or Tottenham. 

[CaaC (John)+]

4 minutes ago, DeadLinesman said:

You do though tbf. You’re not any shitter than United, Arsenal or Tottenham. 

Just waiting on @Teso dos Bichos answer to that 

Strange though, United win tomorrow and then we are only 2 points behind Chelsea for the 4th spot...gulp...    

[Dan+]

Shite from us today. To be honest I think at home it's been coming a bit. That's the third home game in a row we've not really turned up but in the last couple we got away with it and still won. Norwich were well worth a point. Far too many off days throughout. Vardy's run gone as well although it's a bit dubious.

Congratulations to Liverpool. Whatever tiny chance we had went today I think.

[Stan]

59 minutes ago, Dan said:

Shite from us today. To be honest I think at home it's been coming a bit. That's the third home game in a row we've not really turned up but in the last couple we got away with it and still won. Norwich were well worth a point. Far too many off days throughout. Vardy's run gone as well although it's a bit dubious.

Congratulations to Liverpool. Whatever tiny chance we had went today I think.

Not dubious at all. Takes a clear deflection in to the net and his header wasn't on target.

10 points behind Liverpool. I couldn't see the 8 point gap being clawed back in the slightest so 10 points just accentuates the fact they're winning it this year. 

One point further away in 2nd than anyone below us. Fancy Arsenal to take points off Man City (don't ask why, just gut feeling ).

We were poor today. Norwich were crap. Poor game. Too many underperformers across the park. Only Ndidi and perhaps Chilwell (at a push) come away with any kind of credit  today. 

Maddison, Tielemans, Gray, even Pereira looked off the boil. We looked leggy and tired in the final 10-15 mins but Norwich barely threatened in 2nd half, seemed happy with a point.

Look out for some controversy on MOTD - Norwich put the ball out for their player (who literally got up as soon as the ball went out). We threw it back on and Iheanacho carried on playing as normal. Gets hacked down and then a few Norwich players get overly physical on him in their anger as he lays on the ground injured. I've not seen it back but I thought there'd have been more yellow cards. Oh well. Will have to watch it back later.

Next 3 games are big. Everton away in the League Cup - it's a serious trophy/silverware we should aim for while not in Europe. Then Man City and Liverpool...

[Bluewolf]

2 hours ago, The Artful Dodger said:

Given the state of Bournemouth in terms of injuries that's really poor from Chelsea. 

 

2 hours ago, 6666 said:

4 losses in the last 7 league games for Chelsea and they've been comfortably in the top 4 for some time and they'll still be in the top 4 after this weekend. A damning indictment on how shit Man Utd, Tottenham and Arsenal have been this season.

It is poor, What's worse is we have now lost games against Bournemouth, Everton & West Ham who are struggling and not got the best defensive records, I am surprised at how all these sides despite their form were able to not only score against us but keep a clean sheet, and yet we were not able to do the same?? Our hopes of being able to stay in a top 4 or 5 position in the league do not rely on us beating the likes of City or Liverpool but being able to make the best of it from 6th spot down and when you are throwing away points against sides we should be at least scoring once against we have no chance of holding on to it.. 

We have taken a sudden dip in form, We all knew our defence was not great but at least going forward we were very creative and scoring goals which gave us the edge but it's noticeable that Mounts form has dipped and CHO just seems well off the pace since coming back as an example and in general we are lacking that killer instinct or composure in the final third. I think the honeymoon period is over now and Lampard is struggling tactically... it's great we always have a lot of the ball but no good if we can't get goals with it... 

I won't be too down about it as we knew this season was going to be more experimental than those that have gone before and the younger players have to have some adversity to learn how to overcome it but it's runs like this that have always raised question marks over the manager and I wonder now that the transfer ban has been lifted will they stick with Lampard regardless or bring down the sword if things don't get any better?? We all know how Chelsea operate in that regard and him coming on board was a nice cosy fit for all parties given the circumstances at the start of the season but when we crash out of the CL which we will, and then maybe start looking like we won't be in a qualifying spot for next season then what I wonder?? 

[Dan+]

Gray and Iheanacho were back to their usual today sadly. Don't want to go in too hard on anyone because we've been on a phenomenal run but we've gotten away with it a couple of times lately I think. Wasn't just those two either. Tielemans has been iffy for a little while and Barnes just isn't quite cutting it.

I had a feeling Norwich would make it tougher than many expected. It's rare that struggling teams come here and roll over, they often make us work for it.

Too many just not at the races but to be honest you can't go in too hard. We've been excellent so far.

Tough to know what to do regarding our next few. This really wasn't the one to drop points in. I really don't want us to take Wednesday nightly but I can see us prioritising the league games.

Wouldn't be against him using the diamond on Wednesday but it was a mistake today, although I'm not sure it was totally tactics either and as much just players having off days. Too many of them.

We are too reliant on Vardy for goals. Still.

[Harry]

6 hours ago, Bluewolf said:

 

It is poor, What's worse is we have now lost games against Bournemouth, Everton & West Ham who are struggling and not got the best defensive records, I am surprised at how all these sides despite their form were able to not only score against us but keep a clean sheet, and yet we were not able to do the same?? Our hopes of being able to stay in a top 4 or 5 position in the league do not rely on us beating the likes of City or Liverpool but being able to make the best of it from 6th spot down and when you are throwing away points against sides we should be at least scoring once against we have no chance of holding on to it.. 

We have taken a sudden dip in form, We all knew our defence was not great but at least going forward we were very creative and scoring goals which gave us the edge but it's noticeable that Mounts form has dipped and CHO just seems well off the pace since coming back as an example and in general we are lacking that killer instinct or composure in the final third. I think the honeymoon period is over now and Lampard is struggling tactically... it's great we always have a lot of the ball but no good if we can't get goals with it... 

I won't be too down about it as we knew this season was going to be more experimental than those that have gone before and the younger players have to have some adversity to learn how to overcome it but it's runs like this that have always raised question marks over the manager and I wonder now that the transfer ban has been lifted will they stick with Lampard regardless or bring down the sword if things don't get any better?? We all know how Chelsea operate in that regard and him coming on board was a nice cosy fit for all parties given the circumstances at the start of the season but when we crash out of the CL which we will, and then maybe start looking like we won't be in a qualifying spot for next season then what I wonder?? 

I'm wondering whether it's the same effect as United had under Ole.... A new likeable manager comes in and rallies the troops and they lift and play out of their skins for a bit but it's an adrenaline based motivation that isn't sustainable long term.

[Cicero]

It's form more than anything. But then again, you need to really look at what we have. 

Tammy and Mount just came from the Championship. 

This is Pulisic's first season in the Prem. 

Willian is 31 and has never had end product. 

Pedro is 32 and has declined massively. 

CHO still lacks sharpness, and was still very raw before his injury. 

Batshuayi is brainless.

Giroud is 33 and doesn't really fit the system

 

So we either have a mixture of raw talent, players who aren't good enough and/or players who are over the hill. 

 

 

 

[carefreeluke]

Only two youth players on show yesterday. If we want to spend the whole game playing the ball between our two centre backs, then for them to ping a 30 yard pass out of play then so be it. There was a time earlier this season where we’d play at pace and get players on the ball in between the lines but we’ve entered that time of season where nothing is new and we’ve been found out.

[DNA]

Europe here we come!