Administrator Stan 18,428 Posted January 3, 2021 Author Administrator Share Posted January 3, 2021 2 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said: What did he say? Anything out of this thread mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFCMadLad 2,080 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Southampton manager would probably get much more out of a top heavy squad than lampard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Palace Fan 3,409 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFCMadLad 2,080 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 1 minute ago, Stan said: Anything out of this thread mate Haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cicero 5,267 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 5 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said: What did he say? The usual. Blamed the players. Said they did better in the 2nd half but it was too late. Didn’t take accountability what do ever. Season is crazy. Team is young. Learning curve, etc etc. Rinse and repeat. 3 minutes ago, Lucas said: I don't think anyone really need's to mention the money, it's an absolute given. I don't rate him but who goes in if he does go now? Who would you want? That’s not up to me, but when things are getting progressively worse with no signs of progression, a change is needed. All of our Top 4 rivals are on course to finish above 70 points. We are on course to finish well below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFCMadLad 2,080 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Just now, Cicero said: The usual. Blamed the players. Said they did better in the 2nd half but it was too late. Didn’t take accountability what do ever. Season is crazy. Team is young. Learning curve, etc etc. Rinse and repeat. That’s not up to me, but when things are getting progressively worse with no positive signs, a change is needed. All of our Top 4 rivals are on course to finish above 70 points. We are on course to finish well below. A lot can change in a short space of time though dude, especially this season. Look at Arteta and Arsenal.. 3 wins on the spin and.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cicero 5,267 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 1 minute ago, LFCMadLad said: A lot can change in a short space of time though dude, especially this season. Look at Arteta and Arsenal.. 3 wins on the spin and.... Did Arsenal and Arteta spend 250 million? Different circumstances and objectives. We are no where near accomplishing the basic minimum objective. Mind you, I still believe Arteta will be sacked from Arsenal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny 2,217 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 20 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said: Southampton manager would probably get much more out of a top heavy squad than lampard? I don’t think he’d turn down Chelsea necessarily because it’s Chelsea and they have Europeans football, but I think he’s a project manager and has something going at Southampton from the academy up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Artful Dodger 1,831 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 This season is also absurdly difficult to get something out of in the short term. You will have no time between games. Chelsea will likely have to write the season off to sack Lampard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny 2,217 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 7 minutes ago, The Artful Dodger said: This season is also absurdly difficult to get something out of in the short term. You will have no time between games. Chelsea will likely have to write the season off to sack Lampard. Do you not? That’s the case in the Championship, games per week for PL teams has been largely the same as previous seasons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carefreeluke 722 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 On 02/11/2020 at 19:30, carefreeluke said: Regarding sticking to a formation and system, I don't think the squad profile at the moment will allow Lampard to stick constantly to that shape anyway. Who can play in the 'eight role' apart from Mount and Havertz? Ziyech at a push? Mount and Havertz won't be able to play every game there together. It's why I was annoyed about letting Barkley go who looked good in that position and shape when we used it last season. We also ideally need another DM. The biggest problem is our midfield at the moment. The best we've looked under Lampard without any doubt has been in a 4-3-3 with two more progressive players ahead of Kanté holding. This is what we used after lockdown last year and what we were using earlier this season when we had that unbeaten run. This is the closest Lampard has looked to having some identity and structure. One of the reasons why we looked decent earlier in this season was that our midfield dominated a lot of things, you'd see Mount and Havertz picking up great positions, Kanté back to his best. Havertz got covid and then fixture after fixture and we went flat. Mount has been overplayed again, Kanté came off injured today? Lampard's only solution has been to put Kovacic and Jorginho in the side but they do not fit that type of football we were playing earlier. The team finally looked to have some identity earlier on, what Lampard's failed to do is manage the midfield correctly. The players that fit the system are not at the club. Gallagher, Barkley, even Bakayoko and Loftus-Cheek. What's happened is that Havertz and Mount have been overused and when they have been rotated it's been for players that don't suit the style. There's simply no room for Kovacic and Jorginho in that system Lampard has used, yes they can be used at times but as always in the last month we've been using them far too much and there's no wonder our form has dropped. I'm not blaming it on Kovacic and Jorginho, it's all down to Lampard's management. The reason we looked good earlier this season and last season after lockdown is because players were moving everywhere, we were full of energy, direct and playing at pace. Remember the Leeds game? Burnley away? Man City last season? Everton at home? The problem has not necessarily been the game plan and system, just the fact that Lampard's failed to manage and inject energy into the team when needed whilst choosing players that don't suit the style. Looking at the players I mentioned above, we know Barkley, Loftus-Cheek, Bakayoko have their problems but there's no doubt they fit that system a lot better and could have been used to give the midfield rest bite which has been the area of the pitch that has probably been the heart of anything good we've done under Lampard. What about Gallagher's energy by the way? Perfect rotation option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carefreeluke 722 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Tell me what good Jorginho and Kovacic bring to the team? They're useful options if we want to get hold of the ball and maybe see out games but they are used far too much and when used not used correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUFC 1,513 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 1 hour ago, Cicero said: And the fact we spent 250 million. Lot of people are failing to acknowledge that. Utter bollocks post match interview from Lampard as per norm. Imagine you brought in an established manager and he had that money to spend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUFC 1,513 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 2 hours ago, carefreeluke said: What does Kovacic do? Full time professional footballer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewolf 7,164 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Well a bit like the Arsenal loss you could see this defeat coming a mile off... just seen the score and not surprised at all, lucky I was working today so didn't have to sit through the agony of another inevitable defeat.. The one thing about our club is they are alarmingly predictable when it comes to some things... We beat West Ham then knew we would throw it away to a struggling Arsenal and we did, And on a weekend where all the other clubs in the hunt like United, Spurs, Leicester were all winning you just knew we wouldn't... and we didn't, and that sums us up... No point in going over the same old ground about what's wrong etc.. we have already covered it in depth after every draw and loss so it's pretty well documented already.. Pretty funny reading some of the comments on here about Lampard and the team though... Most of you had us down as nailed on title contenders a couple of weeks ago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carefreeluke 722 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 22 minutes ago, Bluewolf said: Well a bit like the Arsenal loss you could see this defeat coming a mile off... just seen the score and not surprised at all, lucky I was working today so didn't have to sit through the agony of another inevitable defeat.. The one thing about our club is they are alarmingly predictable when it comes to some things... We beat West Ham then knew we would throw it away to a struggling Arsenal and we did, And on a weekend where all the other clubs in the hunt like United, Spurs, Leicester were all winning you just knew we wouldn't... and we didn't, and that sums us up... No point in going over the same old ground about what's wrong etc.. we have already covered it in depth after every draw and loss so it's pretty well documented already.. Pretty funny reading some of the comments on here about Lampard and the team though... Most of you had us down as nailed on title contenders a couple of weeks ago... Criticism has well and truly been justified but do you get rid of a manager after a month of poor form? We've been up and down beforehand yes but give him to the end of the season at least to pass true judgement. Why would you bring a new manager in now? With a worldwide pandemic and a congested fixture list. Lampard should be judged on his Chelsea managerial career so far rather than just the last month particularly in a season that's been a bit of a crazy one to date. We had one of the best defences in Europe not long ago but all of a sudden we've got too many attacking players again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cicero 5,267 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 26 minutes ago, carefreeluke said: We had one of the best defences in Europe not long ago but all of a sudden we've got too many attacking players again? I admit, it is funny hearing the ‘Chelsea bought too many attackers/didn’t fix the defence’ narrative being brought up again. These lot were ghosts during our 11 game unbeaten streak. Still, as mentioned previously, things are getting progressively worse as each game passes. Devoid of belief is what I see in our performances, where even our most experienced just couldn’t look arsed or just become tuned to this one dimensional play we are seeing. Two weeks until our next league game. Curious to see what our board decide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny 2,217 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 53 minutes ago, Bluewolf said: Well a bit like the Arsenal loss you could see this defeat coming a mile off... just seen the score and not surprised at all, lucky I was working today so didn't have to sit through the agony of another inevitable defeat.. The one thing about our club is they are alarmingly predictable when it comes to some things... We beat West Ham then knew we would throw it away to a struggling Arsenal and we did, And on a weekend where all the other clubs in the hunt like United, Spurs, Leicester were all winning you just knew we wouldn't... and we didn't, and that sums us up... No point in going over the same old ground about what's wrong etc.. we have already covered it in depth after every draw and loss so it's pretty well documented already.. Pretty funny reading some of the comments on here about Lampard and the team though... Most of you had us down as nailed on title contenders a couple of weeks ago... Had you down as title contenders because of what you’ve spent and who you’ve brought in, failing fairly drastically now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan 18,428 Posted January 3, 2021 Author Administrator Share Posted January 3, 2021 32 minutes ago, carefreeluke said: Criticism has well and truly been justified but do you get rid of a manager after a month of poor form? We've been up and down beforehand yes but give him to the end of the season at least to pass true judgement. Why would you bring a new manager in now? With a worldwide pandemic and a congested fixture list. Lampard should be judged on his Chelsea managerial career so far rather than just the last month particularly in a season that's been a bit of a crazy one to date. We had one of the best defences in Europe not long ago but all of a sudden we've got too many attacking players again? 1 minute ago, Cicero said: I admit, it is funny hearing the ‘Chelsea bought too many attackers/didn’t fix the defence’ narrative being brought up again. These lot were ghosts during our 11 game unbeaten streak. Still, as mentioned previously, things are getting progressively worse as each game passes. Devoid of belief is what I see in our performances, where even our most experienced just couldn’t look arsed or just become tuned to this one dimensional play we are seeing. Two weeks until our next league game. Curious to see what our board decide. You could still have the best defence (at that time) and still have too many attacking players? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cicero 5,267 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 1 minute ago, Stan said: You could still have the best defence (at that time) and still have too many attacking players? But how has having ‘too many attackers’ jeapordised our season? It doesn’t make sense. Our squad is fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFCMadLad 2,080 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 4 minutes ago, Cicero said: But how has having ‘too many attackers’ jeapordised our season? It doesn’t make sense. Our squad is fine. The £250+ m could have been spent better I think is what people are saying. You don't need ALL them attacking players, whereas you do need a few players that can defend. Maybe if these attacking players learnt how to defend as well as attack? Just an example (because its my club and I know a fair bit about it), but take Mane, Firmino and Salah? They work as hard defensively when we don't have the ball as they do trying to score when we have it. The balance is all wrong at Chelsea, both tactically and personnel wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carefreeluke 722 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Can someone explain what having 'too many attacking players' means? Balance? What about Chilwell? Silva? And Mendy then? If anything I'd say the squad is lacking attacking midfielders (which I've explained above) and a more defensive-minded midfielder to help out Kanté. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFCMadLad 2,080 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 4 minutes ago, carefreeluke said: Can someone explain what having 'too many attacking players' means? Balance? What about Chilwell? Silva? And Mendy then? If anything I'd say the squad is lacking attacking midfielders (which I've explained above) and a more defensive-minded midfielder. Balance meaning how to defend when you don't have the ball. Your wide forwards don't track back and press as they should when you lose the ball for instance. Your midfielders don't drop and cover space when your fullbacks advance! You are basically wide open whenever anyone wins the ball and counters. This isn't FIFA where you buy all the best young players in each position, its about balance and everyone knowing exactly what they are doing when with the ball and without it. Chelsea just seem a bunch of individuals not knowing what to do really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan 18,428 Posted January 3, 2021 Author Administrator Share Posted January 3, 2021 4 minutes ago, carefreeluke said: Can someone explain what having 'too many attacking players' means? Balance? What about Chilwell? Silva? And Mendy then? If anything I'd say the squad is lacking attacking midfielders (which I've explained above) and a more defensive-minded midfielder to help out Kanté. As in, too many attacking players but a manager that not doesn't know how to use them/get the best out of them. How many times has he shifted Werner out wide? Is it too out-there to say having too many means that players can't get a good stint in the side and develop those connections with others in the team? Also - Chilwell, dare I say myself and @Dan 'warned' you about his defensive weaknesses? I distinctly remember us saying that you'll get the attacking side to him no problem, but defensively he's lacking. Positioning can be a bit awry, not great in the air and sometimes loses concentration. So has he improved your 'defence'? I thought Mendy is fine as is Silva. Latter clearly has the experience. Perhaps Mendy is in a bit of a blip at the moment. He'll get over it as long as he continues to be supported. Hindsight is great and all that but perhaps there could have been better cover for James? If I recall correctly you and other Chelsea fans here have mentioned how Azpilicueta is past it and isn't good enough for this league any more despite how good he's been in previous seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cicero 5,267 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 13 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said: The £250+ m could have been spent better I think is what people are saying. You don't need ALL them attacking players, whereas you do need a few players that can defend. Maybe if these attacking players learnt how to defend as well as attack? Just an example (because its my club and I know a fair bit about it), but take Mane, Firmino and Salah? They work as hard defensively when we don't have the ball as they do trying to score when we have it. The balance is all wrong at Chelsea, both tactically and personnel wise. The only player that could've been considered surplus was Havertz. But even then, this was a generational player that was available where there was no competition to secure his signature because of Covid. Balance isn't an issue. As Luke mentioned, we needed a holding midfielder but the issues within the team isn't solely down to missing a holding midfielder. This one dimensional play we are seeing has progressed to a point where there's no cohesion and no fluidity within the team. It's getting progressively worse given now performances have dropped as a result. This tracking back issue you speak of, is coached. But the biggest issue is our lack of identity in our play. What's nonsensical is @Devil-Dick Willie finding it amusing I think our squad is better than losing to a depleted Everton, Wolves, Arsenal, and Manchester City side. But hey, I'm not slating him for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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