They were always going to drop more points like they did tonight. They’re flakey as; moreso than we are.
2019/20 Rivals - Chelsea
- Thread starter AkaAkuma
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Oh, that was super sweet!Thank you, West Ham!
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That chelsea starting team on paper is poor. Kovacic is very poor. Just passes it sideways all the time.
In fairness i think Lampard recognises the team is poor for the style he wants to play and hence is buying new players, which they need. I think us and Spurs on paper are much better, but Spurs will probably stagnate under Mourinho much like we did.
In fairness i think Lampard recognises the team is poor for the style he wants to play and hence is buying new players, which they need. I think us and Spurs on paper are much better, but Spurs will probably stagnate under Mourinho much like we did.
The best thing about the result tonight isn’t even the points, it’s how poor they looked. That has to give confidence to those behind them.
For how much did they sign Kepa ?
Google it.
Tagline doesn’t check out.
I'm being helpful! If he/she typed that into Google they'd get an instant answer, rather than have to wait.Tagline doesn’t check out.
"Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he won't ask questions in the wrong places" - Winston Churchill
Rudiger 
Didn't think Kepa did much wrong today. We all know he's not worth 70 million at this point. Chelsea are horrific at defending set pieces though, as evidenced by the fact that even we managed to score off a corner against them. Definitely something for Frank to look at. Rudiger had a hand in all three goals conceded as well, he's a weird one where I usually rate him as Chelsea's best CB despite his on-ball deficiencies, but then he throws in some absolute stinkers like this.
Edit: Never mind. “ValenciasDrilledCrosses” made the same point about Rudiger in his post above
This is true, and it's what I've been thinking every time I heard someone say Chelsea were guaranteed top 4 after the City game.
Chelsea were in the top 4 before the break because they have very good depth. They have a lot of youth pieces that can fit in to the side, but most of them need to be developed more before they become true stars. This leaves their starting 11 lacking in elite, consistent players. Chelsea had an advantage because the premier league season is very long, so the competition were tired and injury-ridden while Chelsea had a ton of solid youth options.
Chelsea were the team worst hit by the break in my opinion, because now most injured players are back and opposing teams have had several months of rest. This is a team that is built for longevity; better at the marathon rather than the sprint. That's why I think United, with Pogba and Rashford back, are at a strong advantage in the race for top 4 for the rest of the season.
That is, unless we face major injuries. Because depth is by far our biggest weakness.
First of many of these I suspectHe's the best of a bad bunch, it was funny while he was injured you'd think he was prime Desailly the way he was spoken of. I'm not even convinced he is a CB wasn't he more of a RB before he joined Chelsea?
Chelsea's defensive frailties are taking attention away from the fact that they have a very good attack which is only going to get better with Ziyech and Werner. Pulisic looks like a star already. It is also the sheer number of players who end up scoring for them that's impressive. Azpi and Alonso from full backs, Mount and Barkley from midfield, Willian and Pulisic cutting in and of course Tammy and Giroud upfront - all of them have scored for Chelsea, and Lampard likes to have numbers forward in attack (which leads to vulnerability on counters, but that's a different story).
Terrible defending from Rudiger on the third goal. Yarmolenko is as one-footed as they come. He was never going to go on the outside.
Plus he has to square it, he has a teammate on his own in the box and Rudiger gave him the chance to roll it for the easy goal.
Its so, so bad
Chelsea aren’t very good defensively as a team In general I think.
Lampard strikes me as a manager not too fussed about that side of the game. Didn’t even consider it a possibility that West Ham would get a winner- it just looked kinda reckless. It’s just about getting that right balance for a manager
They have conceded 3 goals more than banter Arsenal. Their defence is far too represented in combined 11 on here
Now i feel United's fans pain when LVG kept playing Rooney.
Lampard's insistence on always playing Kante when fit is becoming unbearable, it's broken our momentum not once but twice.
Lampard's insistence on always playing Kante when fit is becoming unbearable, it's broken our momentum not once but twice.
Their goalkeeper is terrible too. Arguably the worst starter in the division.
Wow, he really been that bad?
This is spot on. Love Kante, been a class player for us but since his injuries he’s been on the decline and even if they hypothetically didn’t happen, he’s never been a 6 anyway. Two big issues, his instinct is to hunt after the ball and he isn’t good enough at orchestrating attacks from deep. Fair enough if people don’t rate Jorginho, but Kante isn’t the answer there either. Frank has his pundits glasses on too often, seems to rate Kante and Rudiger highly when I’d argue they’re the two players holding us back most at the moment. The midfield before the virus, Gilmour, Mount and Barkley, was brilliant. Except the addition of Kova instead of Barkley, why ruin the balance and what has worked well?
They have the worse defence and keeper out of the current top 6 and by a fair margin too. Can sign all the attackers they want in the summer , their not finishing higher than 3rd with those defensive players.
Not in terms of individual performances he's still giving solid 6/7 but in terms of the team shape he's a square peg in a round hole. He's "okay" at DM but Jorginho is better there, likewise RCM but Kova is better, even his energy isn't missed these days now we have Mount putting in such yards.
Three times this season we've found a perfect balance with a midfield 3 of Jorgi/Gilmour, Kova(even Barkley on one occasion) and Mount we were playing really well and bringing Kante straight back in messed with those dynamics.
What makes it even worse is every player who started that Everton have been available for selection since the restart, it's outrageous that we haven't seen anything close to that team since then. Kante not only starts unconditionally but plays 90 minutes no matter what, against Villa and West Ham Kova was a better performer yet who was brought off?
I did worry that Kante would have walked back in but never in my worst fears did I think it would be in the deeper position at the expense of Jorginho or Gilmour. I don't think a selection has wound me up so much since Torres kept being picked ahead of Sturridge.
Like you I love Kante for what he's done and don't blame him for this, it's on Frank for constantly picking him.
Playing total guessing game here but i could see the window closing and us having signed Werner, Ziyech, Havertz, Rice/Ake, Chilwell/Tagliafico. Talk of keeper arriving but i just cannot see Kepa going, unless we pay partial wages on a loan deal. In that case I'd take Onana off Ajax. Sounds fantasy football, but i think this is going to be a huge window for us, where a big push is made to close the gap at the top
Juat read that Chelsea have conceded 11 less goals than Southampton in a season the Saints lost a game 9-0.
Theres only so much player blaming that can be done, thats down to coaching imo
Theres only so much player blaming that can be done, thats down to coaching imo
Christ.
I always felt like opponent always scored with their only shots on target or convert one of their very few genuine chances against us. We always dominate games and get sucker punched out of nowhere. Those stats validate those feelings
Yeah it's been awful. I also think Kepa is a malign influence on the rest of the defense - his total reluctance to come off his line results in our CBs having to take unfavoured 1v1s in the air which just exacerbates everything.
At this point he's a write off in my opinion - for me Onana has to be our #1 target no matter what this summer.
My girlfriend loves Jorginho's hair 
Good for me that she doesn't know Giroud
Good for me that she doesn't know Giroud
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Excellent stats these.
Chelsea have quite an inflated squad at the moment which they have spent a fortune putting together. Below are the ones that jump out as having question marks over their future;
Kepa £72m
Emerson £18m
Zappacosta £23m
Jorginho £52m
Kovacic £40m
Bakayoko £36m
Drinkwater £35m
Barkley £15m
Batshuayi £35m
You also have the likes of the below still out on loan with no future at the club;
Kennedy
Moses
Rahman
Piazon
van Ginkle
When you add all of the above to the list of soon departing older players like Willian and Pedro then the likes of Alonso, Azipulcueta and Giroud who won't be around all that much longer you have to wonder just how much money Chelsea are going to need to spend and just how much money they have wasted in recent times. It's quite eye watering really.
Yes they have made what appear to be good signings in Ziyech, Werner and Pulisic but again it's more big money to replace more big money that hasn't worked again. You also have to wonder what message those signings send to Gilmour, CHO, Mount, RLC and Tammy who will undoubtedly see their pathway to the first team hindered. Especially when you consider there are likely to be more signings to come given the work that needs doing on the squad.
Kepa £72m
Emerson £18m
Zappacosta £23m
Jorginho £52m
Kovacic £40m
Bakayoko £36m
Drinkwater £35m
Barkley £15m
Batshuayi £35m
You also have the likes of the below still out on loan with no future at the club;
Kennedy
Moses
Rahman
Piazon
van Ginkle
When you add all of the above to the list of soon departing older players like Willian and Pedro then the likes of Alonso, Azipulcueta and Giroud who won't be around all that much longer you have to wonder just how much money Chelsea are going to need to spend and just how much money they have wasted in recent times. It's quite eye watering really.
Yes they have made what appear to be good signings in Ziyech, Werner and Pulisic but again it's more big money to replace more big money that hasn't worked again. You also have to wonder what message those signings send to Gilmour, CHO, Mount, RLC and Tammy who will undoubtedly see their pathway to the first team hindered. Especially when you consider there are likely to be more signings to come given the work that needs doing on the squad.
Gilmour is playing ahead of Jorginho today while Mount will have enough games because it's a long season and few players will be rotated, the guy can play in midfield 3, no 10 & wide area. They seem to trust James to replace Azpi in the future. I think they'll be fine, may be need two summer transfer window to fix their defense if they are planning to spend money on Havertz this summer.
Ziyech, Werner and potentially Havertz alongside Lampard's style of play will have them challenging for the title with a LB (Alex Telles, Chillwell) and another CB (Koulibaly, Ake). Don't underestimate them.
Keeper before cbs. This goalkeeper is gash. Needs to be the first out the door.
Those signings would be them spending close to £300 million in one transfer market which I’m pretty sure isn’t going to happen.