Chelsea Discussion

[Cicero]

8 hours ago, Danny said:

Big clubs should be able to handle big egos though

We aren't a big club 

[carefreeluke]

 

Edited September 23, 2017 by carefreeluke

[Cicero]

Azpilicueta 6 games, 4 assists. 

 

Quote

Andreas Christensen completed more passes than any Chelsea player vs. Stoke. 78 attempted 75 completed 96.1% accuracy.

And a lot of these passes were not side to side 'Mikel' esq. Loads were forward direct passes. Guardiola's wet dream and I hope the club focuses on him long term. Don't want another KDB scenario. 

 

Edited September 23, 2017 by Cicero

[carefreeluke]

Azpilicueta will go down as an all time great at this club, model professional as well for young kids.

[Cicero]

2 hours ago, carefreeluke said:

Azpilicueta will go down as an all time great at this club, model professional as well for young kids.

Seven million...

[Batard]

4 hours ago, Cicero said:

Seven million...

Was a little more than that. Was disappointed we had to sell as well. He was superb at fullback for us. 

[Bluewolf]

I have a lot of time for Hughes normally but think he has had a case of the blinkers on or bad loser blues going on here... 

 

Quote

Chelsea were perhaps fortunate to not be reduced to 10 men in the second half after Marcos Alonso escaped a second booking for a foul on Mame Biram Diouf shortly after receiving a yellow card for bringing down Joe Allen.

And Hughes has complained that Conte and Chelsea looked to stifle the momentum of the match as they looked to close out the victory.

‘Second half… Chelsea do what they do, they are very much a reflection of their manager in terms of managing games, they were quite happy at 2-0,’ said the Stoke City boss.

‘I think the management of the game could’ve been asked questions of, certainly by the referee, I think he allowed them to stop the game and stop all momentum.

‘He made a call in terms of Alonso who could’ve been sent off – should’ve done in my view.

‘I think their manager [Conte] obviously agreed he was lucky because he took him off within seconds of him getting away with the second offence.’

https://streamable.com/gxsi0

 

I cant say that we changed the way we approached the game at all across the 90 minutes and of course Conte made the change. Why take the risk of another silly yellow being issued and then being down to 10 men?? sensible management of that situation I thought. Bit disappointed that he chose to point fingers at Alonso and no mention of the Crouch tackle on Fabregas.

Because its Hughes I will put it down to the fact his players fucked themselves over with errors which clearly he was not very happy about, but then who would be.. 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2017 by Bluewolf

[Bluewolf]

Whats up with the quote thingy??? 

[True Blue]

20 hours ago, carefreeluke said:

Azpilicueta will go down as an all time great at this club, model professional as well for young kids.

I want his babies

[True Blue]

On the game the early goal really helped out as we didn't need to rush and expose the defense. The Dave - Morata links works really good, even my fantasy team was happy. The 0-2 at half time did us no good as in the second half we did very little and Stoke was dominating and came close to scoring, two good breaks and we win 0-4. Obviously pleased with the win and the result but it wasn't a 0-4 performance, 100% accuracy as well. Repeat the 2nd half on wednesday or saturday and we will be punished.

[Cicero]

In response to our upcoming Atletico clash, this was our lineup when we faced them in 2014

 

Torrres

Hazard--------Willian---Azpilicueta

Ramires---Luiz

Cole----Terry---Cahill---Ivanovic

Schwarzer

 

[True Blue]

After the Atletico and City game, we have a fairly easier fixture list for complete October. No clue how to predict the outcome of the of the next two games, but a draw in Madrid and a win on saturday would be the ideal and realistic outcome.  

[Cicero]

8 minutes ago, True Blue said:

After the Atletico and City game, we have a fairly easier fixture list for complete October. No clue how to predict the outcome of the of the next two games, but a draw in Madrid and a win on saturday would be the ideal and realistic outcome.  

I'd be tempted to save Cesc for City at the weekend. Atletico are a solid outfit, but reckon we could play them at their own game with a two man midfield. 

 

Consider City's predicted lineup, having only Fernandinho as the recognizable 'central midfielder', we should be looking to win. Soak the pressure and expose them on the break. 

[True Blue]

2 hours ago, Cicero said:

I'd be tempted to save Cesc for City at the weekend. Atletico are a solid outfit, but reckon we could play them at their own game with a two man midfield. 

 

Consider City's predicted lineup, having only Fernandinho as the recognizable 'central midfielder', we should be looking to win. Soak the pressure and expose them on the break. 

Don't rate Cesc in any game against high quality midfield. He is a playmaker, he can't do what Kante and Baka do. His perfect position would be as an amf, behind the striker but we don't use that position. Both Baka and Kante have to start both games or we will get murdered. 

[The Liquidator]

While the game was enjoyable to watch because of the scoreline aided by the very early goal, I dont believe for one moment its time to be swinging our dicks above our heads.

I thought our defence was lucky on more than a couple of times when Stoke, with better luck n finishing, would have scored. I did not think Rüdiger had a good game & had to shake my head in disbelief when he chased a Stoke player from midway in our half to way past the Stoke semi circle if the first half. Very poor. Word is Cahill was rested for Weds game. We shall see. Choupo-Moting pushed up on both Rudiger & Dave (Nice words for him from people in this thread.... (id like him a few inches taller before I start lording him as a great) throughout the first half depending which flank Stoke attacked down. This left Christensen free for most of the game in the middle of our 3 with the two outstanding dogs infront of him. I lost count of the number of balls into our box in both halfs we failed to out first. The least said about Alonso in the 2nd half the better. Twat!

Our wonderful new CF again stamped his card with a great performance, although.... he again ran around his left foot for his first two goals. I know one should be happy for him, but its a bug bare for me, football players who run around their weaker foot. This weekend he got away with it, there will be games (games where defenders are not carrying fridges) he wont.

Excellent result ~ Hughes was right, it did flatter us.

How good is that Babayoko?

[The Liquidator]

1 hour ago, True Blue said:

Don't rate Cesc in any game against high quality midfield. He is a playmaker, he can't do what Kante and Baka do. His perfect position would be as an amf, behind the striker but we don't use that position. Both Baka and Kante have to start both games or we will get murdered. 

Spot on!

[Cicero]

1 hour ago, True Blue said:

Don't rate Cesc in any game against high quality midfield. He is a playmaker, he can't do what Kante and Baka do. His perfect position would be as an amf, behind the striker but we don't use that position. Both Baka and Kante have to start both games or we will get murdered. 

In a midfield two? Not a fucking chance. However, with Bakayoko and Kante behind him, he would be excellent. 

Still think our best option against top sides is the 3-5-2. Three mad midfield of Kante, Bakayoko, and Cesc with Morata and Hazard up top. 

3 minutes ago, The Liquidator said:

 

How good is that Babayoko?

Over priced midfielder in which Monaco got the better end of the deal apparently. 

Won every game with him on the pitch. 

Needs to improve on his decision making if there is any flaw, but then again, he is only 22. 

 

And mind you, Puyol and Dave are the same height 

[The Liquidator]

22 minutes ago, Cicero said:

In a midfield two? Not a fucking chance. However, with Bakayoko and Kante behind him, he would be excellent. 

Still think our best option against top sides is the 3-5-2. Three mad midfield of Kante, Bakayoko, and Cesc with Morata and Hazard up top. 

Over priced midfielder in which Monaco got the better end of the deal apparently. 

Won every game with him on the pitch. 

Needs to improve on his decision making if there is any flaw, but then again, he is only 22. 

 

And mind you, Puyol and Dave are the same height 

Yes, Fabregas could play in a line up you describe, however, we need legs in these big games, so I would prefer to introduce him near the end of the game so he can catch up with the ultra intelligent Fernandinho

Not a fan of Puyol (I understand he was very good off the field organizing club Christmas parties and the like), who didnt operate in the English league. Mascherano got a career at CH in Spain and he is just slightly taller than the Dog that lives at my local watering hole!  

[carefreeluke]

[carefreeluke]

 

[Danny]

15 hours ago, Cicero said:

I'd be tempted to save Cesc for City at the weekend. Atletico are a solid outfit, but reckon we could play them at their own game with a two man midfield. 

 

Consider City's predicted lineup, having only Fernandinho as the recognizable 'central midfielder', we should be looking to win. Soak the pressure and expose them on the break. 

David Silva? He's been quality so far this season playing centre mid, runs their midfield alongside De Bruyne.

Delph should be in good spirits after that screamer he scored.

[True Blue]

13 hours ago, Cicero said:

In a midfield two? Not a fucking chance. However, with Bakayoko and Kante behind him, he would be excellent. 

Still think our best option against top sides is the 3-5-2. Three mad midfield of Kante, Bakayoko, and Cesc with Morata and Hazard up top. 

Over priced midfielder in which Monaco got the better end of the deal apparently. 

Won every game with him on the pitch. 

Needs to improve on his decision making if there is any flaw, but then again, he is only 22. 

 

And mind you, Puyol and Dave are the same height 

Yes different story with a three man midfield, with Kante and Bakayoko doing the dirty work. I meant in a two man midfield him + Kante or Bakayoko.

[Cicero]

6 hours ago, Danny said:

David Silva? He's been quality so far this season playing centre mid, runs their midfield alongside De Bruyne.

Delph should be in good spirits after that screamer he scored.

Guardiola's best form of defence has always been keeping the ball and having players who excel at that. 

 

Just because you give a cat a bone, doesn't make it a dog. Silva and DeBruyne are playing more deep as City now play with only one recognisable central midfielder with the exclusion of Yaya Toure in their starting lineup. The burden of defensive duties lies solely on Fernandinho as Silva and DeBruyne are more responsible in joining in the attack. Hazard will have a field day with that much free space on the break. 

Willing to bet anything Delph won't start Saturday. 

 

 

 

Edited September 26, 2017 by Cicero

[Danny]

34 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Guardiola's best form of defence has always been keeping the ball and having players who excel at that. 

 

Just because you give a cat a bone, doesn't make it a dog. Silva and DeBruyne are playing more deep as City now play with only one recognizable central midfielder with the exclusion of Yaya Toure in their starting lineup. The burden of defensive duties lies solely on Fernandinho as Silva and DeBruyne are more responsible in joining in the attack. Hazard will have a field day with that much free space on the break. 

Willing to bet anything Delph won't start Saturday. 

 

 

 

Antonio Valencia makes a pretty good right back and David Silva has made a pretty good central midfielder, regardless of how many phrases you can come up with to describe a player.

[Cicero]

17 minutes ago, Teso dos Bichos said:

hazard have a field day?  Pep should focus on completely making Hazard irrelevant. he probably still has nightmares of herrera marking him 

With your logic Messi still has nightmares of Bosingwa and Cristiano Ronaldo of Boulahrouz

 

But I seriously doubt you know who they are without a google search. 

 

2 minutes ago, Danny said:

Antonio Valencia makes a pretty good right back and David Silva has made a pretty good central midfielder, regardless of how many phrases you can come up with to describe a player.

Well then I look forward to watching Silva and De Bruyne tracking back, making tackles and cutting passing lanes to the same extent of Fernandinho. 

 

Antonio Valencia was a wide midfielder who couldn't cross, pick out a pass, nor capable of finishing chances at an efficient level. Not really the same scenario.