And West Ham away. Chelsea can lose it of course, but I highly doubt Spurs will win every game. It would be fun if Chelsea somehow lose the next 2, and frustration set in with players like Costa. But it's just wishful thinking on my part.
2016/2017 Title race
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
If resent form suggests anything it feels like we always draw with Arsenal home or away. While we usually split the wins with United home or away.
Will be interesting considering the WHL connotations as those games could be the last NLD at WHL and simply the last match at WHL. All I can hope for is a healthy team for those games.
And if you look a layer deeper to see *why* the team were shite for a year, it's because the squad bottled it. Even if you disagree on the specific word I've used, which is bottle, my point still stands. They had the ability to completely bottle it / collapse / be shite for a year / buckle .... whatever word you would like me to use because I'm aware that #wordsMatter with you... if they had the ability to [Insert preferred word here], after winning the league, then they certainly have the ability to [insert preferred word here] mid way through the season, especially when the pressure increases.
I expect them to beat City this week, but if they lose, the whole country will be watching to see if Chelsea [insert preferred word here] for the rest of the season.
My choice of phrase. I think wranglings and breakdowns are part of someones bottle. Simple as that.
The idea is that you have to actually be in a position to win it as the season wanes down and then throw it away for it to actually be called a bottle job. Not the same when you're shit from day one. It was just a shit season in total. You're using the wrong word.
Being a Manchester United fan, I've seen my team and other teams win the league in 3-4 year cycles. Chelsea won the league, then the exact same squad, IN MY OPINION.... Bottled retaining it. Bottled mounting a title defence. There is no rule book anywhere to suggest I can only use the word bottle in a 9 month narrative.
I am entitled to my opinion, and mine is that Chelsea bottled it in 2015/16. They didn't get old, they didn't lose their star players, nothing physically changed. Therefore in my opinion, they bottled it when it came to retaining the title, or mounting a title challenge.
What do you actually understand by the term "bottling"?
By your logic, any team who have failed to retain the title the season after winning it has bottled it. Not sure you really know what the word means.
I described it in the post you quoted me in. Chelsea bottled it when they collapsed last season. The bottle that they had the season before. Bottle is something I link to mentality and nerve. They lost both when they bottled it last season.
No, my logic is a team that transform as dramatically as Chelsea last season, United under Moyes, Leicester this season, have completely bottled it from the season before. Teams that come in 2nd or 3rd the season after have there or thereabouts reached expectation. But to drop like a brick with the same set of players the following season, shows that they've lost their bottle.
You're arguing over an irrelevant point. I posted afterwards saying that my point still stands whether I use the word bottle or not, my point is that Chelsea completely f***** up last season when they shouldn't have, and they have the potential to f*** up again if they hit some bad form now. Jeez
Hmmm. Fair enough, you've redefined a word. Of course, it's not how the word is used by the overwhelming majority of people. But misappropriation is your right, I guess.
Bottle has to be the most overused and dumb phrase used in football today.
I am surprised that you even have to defend yourself. Your post was excellent and faultlessly accurate. For the defending champions to finish 10th is a clear example of "bottling", that was the worst performance by any defending champions in the PL era, ever. Unprecedented. Even if Leicester manage to smash that record this season, it was still an under-achievement of historical proportions. And so that fully qualifies as "bottling their entire season".
If Conte loses the title after having held a 13 point lead at one stage, that too will be historical - no team has ever not won the title after achieving their current points total, at a similar stage of the season.
I wonder if Chelsea will continue to rack up the unprecedented historical and record breaking "achievements" this season?
Agree 100%
You didn't. You have now in this post.
The link with nerve and ability to withstand pressure is correct but "mentality" is too broad a term to include as is.
For example, if someone fails due to a lack of focus/lazyness/low desire, then that is a mentality problem but not related to bottle.
Same with a team with infighting. It has little correlation with bottle.
Chelsea were terrible throughout the season. It wasn't nerve that they lacked. It was cohesion, good atmosphere/relationships and possibly tactics of the manager where they went missing. By winning the title previous season and easily it was obvious that at that time dealing with pressure wasn't a cronic issue.
Not just football but in all sport.
Even in tennis, if someone you dislike wins, the opponent has no doubt bottled it big time. Like "character" it's an easy go to place to pin the blame when you don't want to look deeper.
Yeah I was thinking American sport and so far the word isn't used (thankfully) at all yet for it.
You think Chelsea imploded last season and finished 10th due to the tactics of their manager?
The same manager whose exact same tactics won them the league just one season prior? Lol
Clearly it had nothing to do with the tactics, and everything to do with the mentality of the players. How did Hazard and Costa suddenly go from being zombies to scoring goals again this season?
TrebleWinning applauding you as is as good a sign as any that you posted something dodgy.
The same players that won the league just one season prior? Lol
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What an easy and silly argument to make. Lots of things that could go wrong did go wrong, and both the manager and the players were at fault.
You think Chelsea imploded last season and finished 10th due to the ability of the players?
The same players that won the league just one season prior? Lol
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What an easy and silly argument to make. Lots of things that could go wrong did go wrong, and both the manager and the players were at fault.
Not really. It had to do with the players' mentality and attitude. Not so much their ability. It also had a lot to do with the way the club is run. Chelsea, as a club, are generally run using the continental model, which is different from most English clubs. That contributed greatly to the problems of last season, and the same problem will happen again in a few years. The 2015/16 season wasn't even the first time this happened. It also happened in 2011/12 with the ridiculous instability caused by player power and a mid-season managerial sacking. But no one talks about that because Di Matteo ended the season winning the CL, despite an underwhelming 6th place league finish in an era where the top four were a lot more entrenched than now. And of course, he too was sacked despite winning the CL. Has a manager of ANY club ever been sacked a few months after winning the CL?! And I thought Ancelotti being sacked for finishing 2nd the season after winning the double was bad - Di Matteo was totally hung out to dry by the club.
One really has to question the fundamental mentality when a team is capable of beating Barcelona and Bayern but finishes 6th in the league, and is capable of storming to the title and trouncing Arsenal 6-0 but finishing 10th in the league one year later.
Personally I think in Moses absence we should move Azpi to RWB and bring on a different CB like Zouma. Agree that with Pedro up front the outcome against Palace may have well been different.
Yes it may have increased though strangely City may be just the right opponents as they will come looking for Chelsea and be more open and Chelsea will be up for playing City and Pep they won't need extra motivation.
Always trying to fit the story to your narrative...that team that won the Champions League contained players that could have easily been winners in their prime, but certainly not at that point. It was one of the worst Chelsea teams in the last decade. Most of the spine were well aged and we lacked real quality throughout. If anything, the mentality of that team was beyond reproach to beat teams many, many times their superior in the semi finals and finals (as well as overturning a tricky fixture in the knockouts along the way). And yes, we rode our luck along the way but nothing about that finish to the season was a result of poor mentality.
As for the topic, I'll never be cheering until it's mathematically over but it is amusing that people called it done and dusted when we gained a 5 point lead, and now that it's dropped to 7 it's back on! Not too keen about tomorrow, would be happy with a draw and thrilled with a win. We still have some leeway so hopefully it doesn't end up being too important a fixture..
Apparently he might miss the City game as well. I wouldn't want to move Azpi away from that back 3. But I'm sure Conte will figure something out.
Have to admit I am not optimistic tonight though Conte has surprised us before. City likes to play quality wide forwards and Alonso is not the quickest yet with no proper RWB I can see us being penned in our own half.
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I think Treble_winning just has a serious dislike for Chelsea and Conte. It is coming across very bitter that Conte is doing better than his beloved Jose did last year
I also wonder why does he love Jose so much? Was he a Chelsea fan before who has now converted to a United one with Jose?
To be fair other than Chelsea fans who really likes Chelsea?
Biggest group of Conte's going.
Could say that for just about any club who've had some form of success over the past decade and half or even 20 years. If Spurs had won a bit, they'd be hated by the whole country too like Chelsea (and United and City). Unfortunately, it's just us, Arsenal and West Ham who know your lot are cnuts.
Chelsea finished 10th last season BECAUSE they sacked Jose in time . Saved the worry of the last 4 games being relegation battles.
If City can get a draw at Chelsea and Spurs beats Swansea, the gap will be down to 5 points which isn't impossible to catch with 9 more games and Chelsea still to face us at home. I hope City beats Chelsea and Swansea beat Spurs tonight, would love to see the title race go down to the wire.
"Choke" is the term that is used, albeit with a more narrow application. It is not widely thrown around and for good reason: very few losses happen due to a loss of mental fortitude.
Cnuts of a different order though.Could say that for just about any club who've had some form of success over the past decade and half or even 20 years. If Spurs had won a bit, they'd be hated by the whole country too like Chelsea (and United and City). Unfortunately, it's just us, Arsenal and West Ham who know your lot are cnuts.
Not really the kicking people off of trains type.
Err, if that happened then the title race would basically not change at all.
Right on. The entire Chelsea fan base should take the blame for 4 racist idiots. High IQ you've got there as there are no racist idiots at all in the Spurs fan base.
very high IQ he is probably a spurs fan who calls his team the Y ....
Close the thread, tie on the blue ribbons and prepare the guard of honour.
Would be a bit awkward if Mourinho had to give them one (guard of honour). Thankfully for him, Spurs keep winning to take their crowning past our game.
Hard to see anything other than a Chelsea title now although I'm really proud of us turning it around tonight. We showed guts and determination which was great to see.
Yep you're a different Spurs side these days. You'll be a force next season IF you can hold onto Poch and not get the Wembley Woes.