Chelsea 2021/22 - World and European Champions

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WeePat

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They had two or three brilliant chances in the first half that they screwed up.
That's quite an overstatement. They had one breakaway that Reguilon messed up (similar to our breakaway that Mount and Lukaku messed up) and that Son chance where he took a heavy touch. That's literally it. We had the same amount of half-chances probably, and then blew them away in the second half.
 

11101

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That's quite an overstatement. They had one breakaway that Reguilon messed up (similar to our breakaway that Mount and Lukaku messed up) and that Son chance where he took a heavy touch. That's literally it. We had the same amount of half-chances probably, and then blew them away in the second half.
The Reguilon was a simple pass to two waiting unopposed Spurs players in the box, Son was 1v1 with the keeper and should have scored. You'd expect a decent team to score one of those. There were a few very good last man clearances too.

Yes you'd expect more from your chance with Mount, but not when Lukaku is involved.
 

P-Ro

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They had two or three brilliant chances in the first half that they screwed up.
They didn't. They had one moment when Son was put through and his first touch let him down. It was probably offside too but VAR did not have to get involved.
 

WeePat

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The Reguilon was a simple pass to two waiting unopposed Spurs players in the box, Son was 1v1 with the keeper and should have scored. You'd expect a decent team to score one of those. There were a few very good last man clearances too.

Yes you'd expect more from your chance with Mount, but not when Lukaku is involved.
I know but cutting Chelsea open at will is what you said. They created two decent chances vs the one we created (well two if you consider Havertz fluffing his lines a good chance). We're arguing semantics, to be honest. I only objected 'cutting open at will' bit. Spurs were definitely the better side for much of the first half and would have warranted the lead, if they had scored.

We're not some unbeatable robot. We can be got at, which is what you're getting at I think. There are 7 teams who have a lower xGa than Chelsea through the first 5 games, if you put stock into that kind of thing.
 

Mickson

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The best team in the league at the moment. They have control, reflected by their manager who is a control freak. They are very good in every position too and have strength in depth in every department except the striker position. Their real test will not be in these games, they are by far the best team in big games, but rather against lesser opponents where they might have to find keys to unlock tight defenses.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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Spurs cut them open at will in the first half and really should have been 1 or 2 up at the break. They can be beaten at the back, as long as you don't let them settle in and get control in midfield.
You are not completely wrong, Spurs had some chances to score in that first half, Aston Vila also had chances and dominated the first half. But somehow, they still managed to keep a clean sheet. They are defensively very solid and organised and if somehow team can breakthrough their defense, Mendy often pulled a very good save.
 

11101

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I know but cutting Chelsea open at will is what you said. They created two decent chances vs the one we created (well two if you consider Havertz fluffing his lines a good chance). We're arguing semantics, to be honest. I only objected 'cutting open at will' bit. Spurs were definitely the better side for much of the first half and would have warranted the lead, if they had scored.

We're not some unbeatable robot. We can be got at, which is what you're getting at I think. There are 7 teams who have a lower xGa than Chelsea through the first 5 games, if you put stock into that kind of thing.
Exactly what i was getting at.

The three best attacking teams in the league (other than you) are us, City and Liverpool. The Liverpool game was unusual because you had to go ultra defensive with 10 men, and City are almost as unpredictable as us. Spurs have scored 3 goals all season, they were not the benchmark but playing with pace they managed to look dangerous. You would expect City to turn that threat up to 11 next week.
 

Chelskiing

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Ngolo Kante isn’t a match winner?

Literally without him you would have won feck all last year.

let’s not pretend Chelsea didn’t shit house their way to a champions league last year.
haha there are some rattled Utd fans in this thread. for what it's worth I think Ronaldo will probably have some joy against us. a poacher with a bit of pace and strength to either bully Azpi/Christensen or go past Thiago could expose our press. we are capable of withstanding counter pressing antics of teams like Liverpool, and make it difficult for teams to pass through us as we play the 5 at the back. so if we have a weakness it's a direct ball to a clinical no.9. Kane has the speed of a green-belt planning application and spent most of his time dropping to the half way line for some reason. Similarly Liverpool are most threatening from Salah and Mane out wide rather than playing direct to Firmino in the middle. And we've withstood City pretty comfortably for similar reasons, they don't have that direct presence in the middle. So as much as I think Ole is pretty average, and your midfield is a leaky sieve, I could see you getting results against us if Ronaldo is fit.
 

Rajiztar

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Exactly what i was getting at.

The three best attacking teams in the league (other than you) are us, City and Liverpool. The Liverpool game was unusual because you had to go ultra defensive with 10 men, and City are almost as unpredictable as us. Spurs have scored 3 goals all season, they were not the benchmark but playing with pace they managed to look dangerous. You would expect City to turn that threat up to 11 next week.
Don't mind mate. City will not field their best 11 any way. That's nice cliche.
 

WeePat

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Exactly what i was getting at.

The three best attacking teams in the league (other than you) are us, City and Liverpool. The Liverpool game was unusual because you had to go ultra defensive with 10 men, and City are almost as unpredictable as us. Spurs have scored 3 goals all season, they were not the benchmark but playing with pace they managed to look dangerous. You would expect City to turn that threat up to 11 next week.
Yeah if good teams attack us aggressively with pace, we will cough up chances. As I said, we're not robots. Good attacking teams will get through sometimes. We're still looking really solid, despite that though. The idea isn't to never concede any chances ever. It's to limit them as much as possible, and Chelsea seem to be doing that better than most at the moment.
 

cyberman

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Beating this Spurs and Arsenal isnt much of an achievement. West Ham are better than both of those sides (who I expect Chelsea to beat anyway)
 

Rajiztar

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Yeah if good teams attack us aggressively with pace, we will cough up chances. As I said, we're not robots. Good attacking teams will get through sometimes. We're still looking really solid, despite that though. The idea isn't to never concede any chances ever. It's to limit them as much as possible, and Chelsea seem to be doing that better than most at the moment.
The teams attack us better we created the chances against them. Villa was anomaly and we didn't have regulars at back in that game.

Reece suspended cho started as wb chalobah started as one of cbs.And kante was not fit. Saul hooked out for jorginho we stifled villa and never looked back.And after international break too.
 

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Machine like again. Solid at the back, with the formation built for protecting the defence first & foremost. Very good in midfield, with Kante the shining light. And they have the quality & individual options in attack that scores them goals now, even when not playing at their best.

They have power, pace, technique, & now with Lukaku a bit of ruthlessness. The team is well organised, they all seem to know their roles, which means bar 1 or 2 individuals, you don't get the drop off when slotting players in & out. Will take some stopping.
 

Tony247

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Top of the league despite playing away to Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool in their 5 games. They are the team to beat this season
Absolutely. They may not have a superstar but they are a team stacked with very good players and depth everywhere. Tuchel has done fantastic job of getting them clicked. Previously I honestly thought as a team they were misfit and it would be difficult for him to get them work as it was for lampard. I was wrong!

Going to be 4 horse race this year so it seems. If we have to go all the way then we will need a cushion of at least 6-8 points by end of march. Chelsea and City both got last 8 relatively easy fixtures starting April. Both got 1 out of 8 against top teams that can go either way but rest they should be winning. Pool and United on the other hand have relatively tougher fixtures towards the end. By the end of March if all 4 are going neck to neck or separated by just 3-4 points then I think it would be very difficult for United to win the league. Lets see how it goes.
 

VanGaalEra

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According to the images, 1-1 would’ve been a fair result in your game based on XG. Chelsea on the other hand were dominant vs Spurs using the same measurement.
Shows our XG as 2.1? So 2-1 is the correct result in our game, although take away their pen and their XG is 0.1.
 

Nickelodeon

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Tuchel has signed one first team player to get where the team is right now. ONE. And I'm not basing my opinion of him based on this season's results or the CL win. It is how he has got his team to play in a certain way and getting the most out of his players. That's what a quality manager does. Contrast that with the excuses we make for Ole after the number of signings he's done.

I think Chelsea are the team to beat this season and if they were to beat City on the weekend, they would be outright favorites for the title if they aren't already. With Liverpool, City, Arsenal and Spurs already out of the way in the first 6 games, they have a chance to build a lead on the back of a really strong start they've had.
 

TheMagicFoolBus

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Have they ever played against a team with 10-11 players behind the ball this season though? i think just because they are doing well in a tough period against good teams it doesnt mean they will just roll smaller teams over. Different type of challenge. One thing i noticed about the Premier League in the last 2-3 years is that every game can be a banana skin. The only club that seemed invicible was Liverpool. They were doing good against both big and smaller teams.
Palace and Zenit both sat extremely deep. We were brilliant against Palace (especially in terms of counter-pressing) but against Zenit we were poor overall (Ziyech and Mount in particular didn't play well so Lukaku was too isolated).
 

Bob Rivers

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Beating this Spurs and Arsenal isnt much of an achievement. West Ham are better than both of those sides (who I expect Chelsea to beat anyway)
West Ham without Antonio up front is half the team they're with him and United were one penalty kick away from dropping two points there. I'd say United had a fairly easy start to the season and with the exception of Southampton game, picked up the ponts they were expected to. It's October and November fixtures that will really test Ole.
 

NasirTimothy

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How would any team cope with injuries to key players? That question could be applied across the board with all 4 title contenders. Injuries to Lukaku and Mendy is where could be fecked. I'm pretty comfortable with the options in the squad for the rest of the positions.
I don’t think you’ll win the title but good luck to you.
 

cyberman

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West Ham without Antonio up front is half the team they're with him and United were one penalty kick away from dropping two points there. I'd say United had a fairly easy start to the season and with the exception of Southampton game, picked up the ponts they were expected to. It's October and November fixtures that will really test Ole.
And Spurs, as they are, struggle to be a top 10 side?
I don’t think anybody is claiming Utd have had that toughest start but it’s a stretch to say Spurs and Arsenal are tough games in 2021. I’d choose Arsenal and Spurs over Wolves and West Ham away who are always a slog for us.
 

TheMagicFoolBus

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And Spurs, as they are, struggle to be a top 10 side?
I don’t think anybody is claiming Utd have had that toughest start but it’s a stretch to say Spurs and Arsenal are tough games in 2021. I’d choose Arsenal and Spurs over Wolves and West Ham away who are always a slog for us.
It's complicated by the fact that those are derbies for us. Also Spurs beat City already; it's not a stretch to say they're a tough game especially away.
 

cyberman

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It's complicated by the fact that those are derbies for us. Also Spurs beat City already; it's not a stretch to say they're a tough game especially away.
But City have their own troubles this season and everybody raises their game against us!
Again, not saying we had the toughest start or Chelsea’s was easy, it’s a bit of a foolhardy exercise when we are only 5 games in anyway.
id say the toughest fixtures for both of us won’t be the big games but breaking down the middle of the road teams who dig in and frustrate us.
 

TheMagicFoolBus

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But City have their own troubles this season and everybody raises their game against us!
Again, not saying we had the toughest start or Chelsea’s was easy, it’s a bit of a foolhardy exercise when we are only 5 games in anyway.
id say the toughest fixtures for both of us won’t be the big games but breaking down the middle of the road teams who dig in and frustrate us.
Yeah think that's fair overall. Just would say that playing Arsenal and Spurs will always be a bit trickier for Chelsea than United given the proximity.

As you say though it's definitely premature to draw any sweeping conclusions!
 

GoonerBear

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And Spurs, as they are, struggle to be a top 10 side?
I don’t think anybody is claiming Utd have had that toughest start but it’s a stretch to say Spurs and Arsenal are tough games in 2021. I’d choose Arsenal and Spurs over Wolves and West Ham away who are always a slog for us.
Think you've won 1 in 6 in the league at The Emirates, that might be called a bit of a slog for you as well.

You then go onto say

id say the toughest fixtures for both of us won’t be the big games but breaking down the middle of the road teams who dig in and frustrate us.
Is that not what we are just now? ;)
 
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