2019/20 Rivals - Chelsea

always_hoping

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A few match stats for Chelsea v Wolves.

Chelsea haven't lost a league game against Wolves at home since 1979.

It's 2002 since Chelsea lost a final game of the season at home ( V Aston Villa)

Wolves have lost 4 of their last 5 closing day matches. Last win coming 10 years ago against Sunderland.
 

Mr Smith

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always_hoping said:
A few match stats for Chelsea v Wolves.

Chelsea haven't lost a league game against Wolves at home since 1979.

It's 2002 since Chelsea lost a final game of the season at home ( V Aston Villa)

Wolves have lost 4 of their last 5 closing day matches. Last win coming 10 years ago against Sunderland.
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Never understood the point of stats like this other than morbid curiosity. They have nothing to do with the form or ability of either team or the context of the current season.
 

Mr Smith

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BlueHaze said:
Never thought Werner and Havertz would end up at Chelsea out of all clubs. Werner, Havertz and Ziyech, three players that would imo walk right into our starting 11. Chelsea never mess about in the market I wish our club could be like that. Pulisic as well, another great signing by them. Lampard is signing incredibly smart.
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It's incredible business on paper, but lets wait and see if they actually settle. Better players than those three have failed at Chelsea.

I am a bit confused about how Ziyech and Havertz fit into the same team, they seem very similar players to me. I assume one at #10 and one drifting in from the right? Not sure how Mason Mount gets a game next season.
 

Dancfc

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Mr Smith said:
It's incredible business on paper, but lets wait and see if they actually settle. Better players than those three have failed at Chelsea.

I am a bit confused about how Ziyech and Havertz fit into the same team, they seem very similar players to me. I assume one at #10 and one drifting in from the right? Not sure how Mason Mount gets a game next season.
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Since the restart Lampard has played Mount and Barkley a lot as two #8's, even against City which was bold by anyone's standard, theory is he's preparing for Kai's arrival with Barkley playing Havertz, so to speak.

I think Ziyech and Havertz will hit the ground running, i think Werner may be the one who needs a bit of time to adjust.
 

roonster09

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Dancfc said:
Since the restart Lampard has played Mount and Barkley a lot as two #8's, even against City which was bold by anyone's standard, theory is he's preparing for Kai's arrival with Barkley playing Havertz, so to speak.

I think Ziyech and Havertz will hit the ground running, i think Werner may be the one who needs a bit of time to adjust.
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No manager will experiment like that when CL place is on line. It just means both of them offered more than other CMs. He will have plenty of time to experiment in pre season and next season, not the business end of the season, especially for the player who may or may not sign.
 

Mr Smith

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Dancfc said:
Since the restart Lampard has played Mount and Barkley a lot as two #8's, even against City which was bold by anyone's standard, theory is he's preparing for Kai's arrival with Barkley playing Havertz, so to speak.

I think Ziyech and Havertz will hit the ground running, i think Werner may be the one who needs a bit of time to adjust.
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So you're saying he'll play with Havertz as one of two free 8's, Guardiola style? As in:

-----------Kante-----------
Havertz-------Barkley/Mount

Ziyech--------------------Pulisic
--------------Werner----------------

Or have I misunderstood? Because personally I think that would almost doubling down on Chelsea's weaknesses; too open going forward, too exposed in defence. Even Kante can't cover that much ground. I'd be dropping out one of the 8's for Kovacic, but that's just me.
 

Pagh Wraith

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always_hoping said:
A few match stats for Chelsea v Wolves.

Chelsea haven't lost a league game against Wolves at home since 1979.

It's 2002 since Chelsea lost a final game of the season at home ( V Aston Villa)

Wolves have lost 4 of their last 5 closing day matches. Last win coming 10 years ago against Sunderland.
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All of which is completely irrelevant. So is the 5-2 from earlier this season which I've seen brought up by some.
 

Dancfc

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roonster09 said:
No manager will experiment like that when CL place is on line. It just means both of them offered more than other CMs. He will have plenty of time to experiment in pre season and next season, not the business end of the season, especially for the player who may or may not sign.
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Usually I'd agree but he could have looked at it over lockdown.

Mr Smith said:
So you're saying he'll play with Havertz as one of two free 8's, Guardiola style? As in:

-----------Kante-----------
Havertz-------Barkley/Mount

Ziyech--------------------Pulisic
--------------Werner----------------

Or have I misunderstood? Because personally I think that would almost doubling down on Chelsea's weaknesses; too open going forward, too exposed in defence. Even Kante can't cover that much ground. I'd be dropping out one of the 8's for Kovacic, but that's just me.
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Personally I think failure to take our chances and Kepa are much bigger problems than the CBs (although I'm not atall trying to claim they're amazing). Our wastefulness Infront of goal combined with any clean strike going in puts a ludicrous amount of pressure of them. They've had their games where they've looked like clowns (Wednesday vs Liverpool) but they've also had games where they've completely shut down the opposition only for their work to get completely undone by a weak shot trickling in (Arsenal at home main example of too many).

If I had to chose between upgrading the keeper (it's getting to the point I'd even take Ben Foster as a stop gap :houllier:) and boosting our attack massively or buying defenders and leaving our attack alone and giving Kepa another a shot, I'll chose the former no question. In an ideal world we're do all of them but even we probably can't afford to sign 7 big players in one window.
 

Mb194dc

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Dancfc said:
Usually I'd agree but he could have looked at it over lockdown.


Personally I think failure to take our chances and Kepa are much bigger problems than the CBs (although I'm not atall trying to claim they're amazing). Our wastefulness Infront of goal combined with any clean strike going in puts a ludicrous amount of pressure of them. They've had their games where they've looked like clowns (Wednesday vs Liverpool) but they've also had games where they've completely shut down the opposition only for their work to get completely undone by a weak shot trickling in (Arsenal at home main example of too many).

If I had to chose between upgrading the keeper (it's getting to the point I'd even take Ben Foster as a stop gap :houllier:) and boosting our attack massively or buying defenders and leaving our attack alone and giving Kepa another a shot, I'll chose the former no question. In an ideal world we're do all of them but even we probably can't afford to sign 7 big players in one window.
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You think Kepa was responsible for draw with Arsenal? What about Kante slipping so they just ran from one end of the pitch to the other for a one on one, for the second goal Tammy tracks inside with Emerson instead of closing him down cutting inside to shoot, awful defending. Should Kepa get a hand on it? Is his starting position wrong not expecting Bellerin to shoot on weaker foot? Probably, though those other defensive errors are far more glaring in my opinion, Bellerin shouldn't be able to get a shot off surrounded like that and Arsenal shouldn't be able to just go straight down the middle to score from our corner...

The narrative around Kepa is a shallow one, personally think he should go now because will be impossible to regain his confidence playing for us due to the narrative against him. I reckon he'll go back to Spain(Valencia could be good for him) and be a top keeper, so at least we'll get some fee back for him, this is how football works these days.
 

Pagh Wraith

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Mb194dc said:
You think Kepa was responsible for draw with Arsenal? What about Kante slipping so they just ran from one end of the pitch to the other for a one on one, for the second goal Tammy tracks inside with Emerson instead of closing him down cutting inside to shoot, awful defending. Should Kepa get a hand on it? Is his starting position wrong not expecting Bellerin to shoot on weaker foot? Probably, though those other defensive errors are far more glaring in my opinion, Bellerin shouldn't be able to get a shot off surrounded like that and Arsenal shouldn't be able to just go straight down the middle to score from our corner...

The narrative around Kepa is a shallow one, personally think he should go now because will be impossible to regain his confidence playing for us due to the narrative against him. I reckon he'll go back to Spain(Valencia could be good for him) and be a top keeper, so at least we'll get some fee back for him, this is how football works these days.
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The Arsenal game was just a freak result. 18-2 shots, 7-2 on target, 2.9 - 0.5 xG. There is no point dwelling on that for too long as it is nothing more than bad luck. And there is nothing wrong with acknowledging that. And complaining about Bellerin getting a shot off is being results-oriented to the extreme. I'd be happy to let him (or anyone else) shoot from there all day long. Outside the box, at an angle, with defenders in the way that is an extremely low-percentage shot.

I'd say there is overwhelming evidence that Kepa is by far the biggest problem Chelsea have. He has the lowest save % in the league by far and it is not because Chelsea concede shots of higher quality on average. Just look at some of the graphs in this article from Sky: https://www.skysports.com/football/...nce-is-a-massive-problem-says-jamie-carragher
 

Dancfc

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Mb194dc said:
You think Kepa was responsible for draw with Arsenal? What about Kante slipping so they just ran from one end of the pitch to the other for a one on one, for the second goal Tammy tracks inside with Emerson instead of closing him down cutting inside to shoot, awful defending. Should Kepa get a hand on it? Is his starting position wrong not expecting Bellerin to shoot on weaker foot? Probably, though those other defensive errors are far more glaring in my opinion, Bellerin shouldn't be able to get a shot off surrounded like that and Arsenal shouldn't be able to just go straight down the middle to score from our corner...

The narrative around Kepa is a shallow one, personally think he should go now because will be impossible to regain his confidence playing for us due to the narrative against him. I reckon he'll go back to Spain(Valencia could be good for him) and be a top keeper, so at least we'll get some fee back for him, this is how football works these days.
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It's not really a narrative, he's saved just over half the shots he's faced all season and is statistically having the worst season ever for a first choice PL keeper (even worse than Claudio Bravo's season that duped people into thinking Joe Hart was still a world class keeper), I actually think he had an okay first season under the circumstances but there was more scope to defend Mou in 15/16 than there is Kepa this season.

In fairness to him he doesn't tend to make those mind-blowing errors that you see from a Karius, Roberto banter type keeper (which is probably why the media/oppo fans don't really target him) but he also doesn't do the things that we need from a keeper. He's rooted to his line (and unlike prime DDG doesn't have the reflexes to make amends for it), let's in so many shots that he gets a hand too, is beaten far too often from long range (I knew when Keita was running towards us on Wednesday that he scores if he shoots), doesn't make many 'impossible' saves (I know I've worded that slightly wrong, but what I mean is how often does he save shots you think he doesn't have the right to get too? To compete at the top level you need at, had Cech conceded 5 goals in Munich he wouldn't have been blamed for any but he saved them, that's the difference at the top level) and his distribution is pretty average and that was the main attribute we signed him for as Sarri needed a specific type of keeper.

Do I think replacing him will suddenly turn us into a rock solid defense on par with Liverpool? No ofcourse I don't, but I do believe he's on his own holding us back in ways I haven't felt one player has done since Torres (as bad as the likes of Cuadrado, Bakayoko were they were shafted within months), remember how much difference even playing Eto'o instead did let alone Costa? We're in a similar position now where even a keeper on a level of Leno could make a huge difference, in my opinion.

There's nothing more I'd love more than to be wrong with Kepa and I've tried to convince myself I am as recently as lockdown, but he makes it harder with every passing game.
 

always_hoping

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Pagh Wraith said:
All of which is completely irrelevant. So is the 5-2 from earlier this season which I've seen brought up by some.
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Maybe so but it will be brought on in commertary and will get a mention by pundits, journalists if Wolves pull off a unlikely and rare win in Stamford Bridge this Sunday.
 

TheMagicFoolBus

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Interesting - Christian Falk is hit or miss but if true all but confirms Pulisic is viewed (correctly) as undroppable. Probably means that Werner will take longer to get into his stride; also makes sense why Havertz is being prioritised as an aerial threat in and out of possession.
 

ZolaWasMagic

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TheMagicFoolBus said:

Interesting - Christian Falk is hit or miss but if true all but confirms Pulisic is viewed (correctly) as undroppable. Probably means that Werner will take longer to get into his stride; also makes sense why Havertz is being prioritised as an aerial threat in and out of possession.
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I think if Havertz joins, the attacking line will be

Werner

Pulisic Havertz Ziyech (even though hes supposedly been signed to play the CAM position)
 

SilentWitness

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I don't get why Lampard has been criticised on here so heavily. He's done a great job considering.
 

Maluco

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SilentWitness said:
I don't get why Lampard has been criticised on here so heavily. He's done a great job considering.
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It’s been ok, nothing more, nothing less. He has had the 3rd best team and 2nd best squad available to him all season (even with injuries) and he will finish on 66 points with a woeful defensive record. That’s just ok.

They can play some nice stuff from time to time, but I think the jury is still out. Certainly nothing praiseworthy as of yet. I don’t think I would agree that he has done anything great, bar telling Klopp to f——— off :lol:
 

SilentWitness

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Maluco said:
It’s been ok, nothing more, nothing less. He has had the 3rd best team and 2nd best squad available to him all season (even with injuries) and he will finish on 66 points with a woeful defensive record. That’s just ok.

They can play some nice stuff from time to time, but I think the jury is still out. Certainly nothing praiseworthy as of yet. I don’t think I would agree that he has done anything great, bar telling Klopp to f——— off :lol:
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In context I think he's done a great job. No transfer window and it's his first PL job. If it was a big name manager that had a transfer window it wouldn't be great but in the variables he's had to work with I think he's done great. They could still win a final too.
 

Dancfc

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Maluco said:
It’s been ok, nothing more, nothing less. He has had the 3rd best team and 2nd best squad available to him all season (even with injuries) and he will finish on 66 points with a woeful defensive record. That’s just ok.
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Hold on, just a few weeks ago we kept being told United were better than us in every position.....
 

Mb194dc

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Top 4 and in cup final above expectations for the season, no Hazard and Lampard making couple of players who only played in championship key parts of the team all season.

Lampard done very well, we've been quite lucky also, Arsenal and Spurs had woeful seasons, Leicester collapsed, Utd been inconsistent. Whenever we've lost in the run in they didn't take advantage.
 

UweBein

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SilentWitness said:
I don't get why Lampard has been criticised on here so heavily. He's done a great job considering.
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Maybe he deserved it in some instances.
Overall a great job and a tremendous season for him.
 

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That is an excellent achievement from Lampard, the coaching staff and the players. Everything was stacked against us this season. We sold Hazard, we had a transfer ban, and a lot of our key players from the season before were injured. We were in no position to challenge for top 4, but we did and we actually finished 4th too. My expectations have been exceeded, it's been a very successful season, even if we don't manage to beat Arsenal in the final of the F.A cup.

All of this in his second year in management!

Also congrats to United, I was rooting for yall to beat Leceister!! I called it that you would win with a penalty hahah
 
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Amarsdd

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Well done Chelsea... Chelsea fans have been alright here compared to most opposition fans here.
 

Dave Smith

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If the Dippers hadn't won the league, I reckon Lampard would get the manager of the season.

Worst GK in the league, had to blood a load of youth, best player (Kante) injured for 50% of the season, best player for the past five years who scored/assisted 50% of their goals last season sold and four CB's that all have a ric in them.

To get CL and a cup final is pretty astonishing. I wasn't expecting mid table from them, but I certainly expected 6th-8th.
 

Sandikan

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No-one saw Chelsea getting top 4. Hazard off, Rookie manager, no transfers allowed.

Exceeded expectations for sure.
 

cyberman

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Sandikan said:
No-one saw Chelsea getting top 4. Hazard off, Rookie manager, no transfers allowed.

Exceeded expectations for sure.
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But nobody saw Spurs falling away as much as they did.
The only reason top 4 looks like any sort of achievement for Ole or Frank is because of Leicesters ridiculous form pre Christmas.
 
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