2019/20 Rivals - Chelsea

Dancfc

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:confused: huh? Logic or math? Cause I can do the math for you if you want, think 3-0 is where it stops for you maybe...
If, buts and maybes isn't logic because it can work numerous ways.

For a start, the what if they shown up at Stamford Bridge question could also be applied to Old Trafford.
 

fps

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He didn't really have a choice re Jorginho. Gimour, Kante and Kovacic all injured. Plus Jorginho played really well when he came on earler in the week.
Ah ty re team news info
 

SirAnderson

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If, buts and maybes isn't logic because it can work numerous ways.

For a start, the what if they shown up at Stamford Bridge question could also be applied to Old Trafford.
Oh dude, please, you can do what ifs for us losing 3-0 against Sheffield if you want, no one is stopping you.
I will enjoy my what ifs, however "illogical" it may come across for you.

Peace out.
 

Prodigal7

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I think their squad is on par if not better than ours.

But they're royally fecking it up

Which is marvelous
Really? I don’t see that at all. None of there defenders or goalkeeper get into our team. Kante on a good day might take Matic’s place as a purely defensive midfielder but I’d still take Matic as an overall midfielder. No one is taking Pogba or Bruno’s place. Pulisic would probably get in ahead of Rashford, but I’d take Martial over Abraham or Giroud and whilst Willian is probably the best eighth winger I wouldn’t take him ahead of Greenwood on the pitch right now.

looking at our bench compared to theirs I’d probably only take Kovacic and Alonso.
 

charlenefan

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I think their squad is on par if not better than ours.

But they're royally fecking it up

Which is marvelous
There's not a single Chelsea player that gets in our XI. Even Kante is now living off past glories. Basically Chelsea's best players probably make our bench at best

EDIT: their new signings notwithstanding obviously
 

Cassidy

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Really? I don’t see that at all. None of there defenders or goalkeeper get into our team. Kante on a good day might take Matic’s place as a purely defensive midfielder but I’d still take Matic as an overall midfielder. No one is taking Pogba or Bruno’s place. Pulisic would probably get in ahead of Rashford, but I’d take Martial over Abraham or Giroud and whilst Willian is probably the best eighth winger I wouldn’t take him ahead of Greenwood on the pitch right now.

looking at our bench compared to theirs I’d probably only take Kovacic and Alonso.
Pulsic doesnt get ahead of Rashford
 

Open Goal

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Goalkeeper has been the biggest problem for the team throughout the year. Chelsea’s performances in goal, whether it be Kepa or Willy Caballero, have lost points due to simple errors or a small volume of saves that most goalkeepers would be expected to produce. Kepa has come in for the most criticism, and it is not undue. He has conceded 4.1 more goals than an average goalkeeper would have been expected to save, which is the joint-second-worst figure in the Premier League. Caballero is not much better. He has saved 0.13 goals fewer than an average goalkeeper per 90 minutes. Kepa, in comparison, is at 0.16 fewer per 90. After Kepa was dropped shortly before the current hiatus, Caballero started five successive matches across the league and Champions League. He conceded 10 goals and kept zero clean sheets. Given the outlay to sign him and the unquestioned talent, Lampard somehow needs to coax the best out of Kepa. In my opinion, Kepa needs to be sold.


Lampard has rotated heavily in the centre of defence. He has used a back three or back four throughout the season, rested and dropped different players at different periods, and has rarely settled on a secure pairing to anchor his defence.
Not including when Chelsea have lined up in a back three, Lampard has used six different partnerships at centre-back this season. Of the four primary candidates, Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger, and Fukayo Tomori, none have made 20 league starts. Equally, all have played more than 1,000 minutes and none have topped the 2,000 mark. Somehow, Chelsea have four centre-backs in their top 12 most-played players in the Premier League this season. Tomori, Christensen and Rudiger rank 10th, 11th, and 12th for minutes played in the Premier League and Zouma is only seventh. Compare that to Manchester United where Harry Maguire has played every single minute and he and Victor Lindelof are the top two most-played outfield players in the squad. Chelsea have conceded 10.9 goals more than their expected goals this season. Of course, much of this comes down to goalkeeping, but there is something to be said for the lack of chemistry and consistency in the heart of their defence. Lampard needs to develop a partnership.


When Chelsea agreed a deal to sign Timo Werner, it was largely viewed as the beginning of the end for Tammy Abraham and his time as the starting striker. Lampard handed Abraham the role at the start of the season. Initially Abraham who was set to be given his first consistent run of starts in his career at Stamford Bridge, repaid that faith. In his first 14 Premier League appearances, he scored 11 goals. It was a terrific run of scoring form early in the season and suggested that Chelsea might have finally found their long-lost successor to Diego Costa. However, since scoring against Aston Villa on December 4, Abraham’s form has tailed off. He has just 2 goals in his last 1,117 minutes in all competitions and he was eventually replaced by Olivier Giroud. Last game he scored against Palace, but still missed an absolute sitter when he decided incorrectly to volley instead of controlling the ball and tapping it in. His early-season form proves that he is a hugely capable goalscorer and that he can hit purple patches, but Chelsea need him to be consistent, which he is not so far.

Alonso and Emerson are absolutely awful, while Azpi in Left Back offers nothing because he is extremely right footed. Reece James has been a let down since the restart. He has put in good crosses but defensively he is frail currently.
 
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Suedesi

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Really? I don’t see that at all. None of there defenders or goalkeeper get into our team. Kante on a good day might take Matic’s place as a purely defensive midfielder but I’d still take Matic as an overall midfielder. No one is taking Pogba or Bruno’s place. Pulisic would probably get in ahead of Rashford, but I’d take Martial over Abraham or Giroud and whilst Willian is probably the best eighth winger I wouldn’t take him ahead of Greenwood on the pitch right now.

looking at our bench compared to theirs I’d probably only take Kovacic and Alonso.
A lot of recency bias here. Let's just say I rate their squad as good as ours, AND I hope they crash and burn spectacularly.
 

Hugh Jass

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Really? I don’t see that at all. None of there defenders or goalkeeper get into our team. Kante on a good day might take Matic’s place as a purely defensive midfielder but I’d still take Matic as an overall midfielder. No one is taking Pogba or Bruno’s place. Pulisic would probably get in ahead of Rashford, but I’d take Martial over Abraham or Giroud and whilst Willian is probably the best eighth winger I wouldn’t take him ahead of Greenwood on the pitch right now.

looking at our bench compared to theirs I’d probably only take Kovacic and Alonso.
Totally agree. Maybe Pulisic for Rashford and Kante as a DM, but it is a poor Chelsea team and they know it, which is why they are spending money.
 

Idxomer

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I will play the devil's advocate. I don't think Lampard is doing badly. It's very difficult for a manager to overachieve much when the fans have usually big expectations. Then, the ban definitely affected them, I mean how many from the Chelsea team played their first minutes in the league this season? He basically had no input on the whole backline which many agree is below average. Their central forwards are also pretty underwhelming. I remember clearly when people here were saying that Abraham isn't a PL standard and the backup is Giroud, a player Lampard doesn't even want. That he actually got 14 goals from the former is a credit to him. And contrary to the last few Chelsea managers, he doesn't have a Hazard to save him when the going gets tough. His creative players are Willian, Mount, and Pulisic. Two are inexperienced but doing relatively well and the third, the same as Giroud, is playing because of lack of options and he needs some experience there.

Anyway, I don't think he will stay long and Abramovich probably saw him as a stop-gap or an experiment when there weren't any top managers who would agree to come to a team without any new transfers.
 

Hugh Jass

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Its a Conte/Mourinho team at present. But they are trying to change that with signing Werner and Ziyech.
 

Gandalf Greyhame

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I think Lampard needs some time to sort the squad out - I'm sure he's not overjoyed with the options he has in defence in particular. Another factor that gets overlooked is that this is very early in Lampard's managerial career - he's learning on the job. There are a lot of decisions he will not repeat next season - they're not only upgrading their squad, but also their manager.

If they miss out on CL, however, the rebuild may be harder than expected in terms of both pull and transfer budget.
 

Bwuk

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The defence is poor and they are spending on the front line.

Id feel comfortable playing them next season and killing them on the counter.
 

TrustInJanuzaj

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Barkely's a weird one,isn't he.
Very tidy on the ball and has a great knack of finding spaces but,when on the ball, seems to do very little with it.

Very surprised he took the freekick today with Willian beside him too. Perfect Willian territory . Oh well.
If by weird one you just mean... Shite
 

CM

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I do feel a result like this has been coming for Chelsea.

They usually look reasonable in attack but since the restart everything has gone through Pulisic. He has done well, but an off day will expose the flaws in that side. The defence is almost Arsenal levels atm.
 

SirScholes

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They defeated both Spurs and Chelsea by 3 goals each. Incredible.

Makes our easy 3-0 victory on them even more appreciated.
Just seen the game, their keeper is absolutely horrific, I haven’t seen much worse.
I’d be worried that it’s even the basics he’s getting wrong.

A massive thank you to all the over confident chelski fans, it was always going to end in tears after their comments
 

charlenefan

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No one in their right mind would take Matic before Kante, but Kante is not the same he once was to be honest. His form has dropped massively.
Indeed Kante hasn't been Kante for 2 maybe even 3 seasons now
 

Dancfc

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No one in their right mind would take Matic before Kante, but Kante is not the same he once was to be honest. His form has dropped massively.
Don't deny he's not what he was but not even this version is inferior to Matic especially not as an all rounder.

A massive thank you to all the over confident chelski fans,
You mean one?
 

sport2793

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Don't deny he's not what he was but not even this version is inferior to Matic especially not as an all rounder.
Don't think you would find too many United fans who would disagree with this, unless they are utterly insane.
 

Prodigal7

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Kante isn’t starting attacks anywhere near as well as Matić does and Matic’s passing is generally better. Kante is a lot higher energy and better at pressing, better off the ball. You’d never see Kante set up a goal like this though:

Chelsea fans salty about him not partnering Kante anymore? Matic was the creative outlet in that midfield two.
 

cyberman

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No one in their right mind would take Matic before Kante, but Kante is not the same he once was to be honest. His form has dropped massively.
If we want our Pogba and Bruno midfield to fail we would take Kante over Matic. Thats about it
 

Glorio

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Lampard today was sounding eerily like Ole did when the players appeared to down tools against Everton last season.
"I will not forget" - I sense a clear out coming (if he survives long enough)
 

Dancfc

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Kante isn’t starting attacks anywhere near as well as Matić does and Matic’s passing is generally better. Kante is a lot higher energy and better at pressing, better off the ball. You’d never see Kante set up a goal like this though:

Chelsea fans salty about him not partnering Kante anymore? Matic was the creative outlet in that midfield two.
I could find short videos that make Bakayoko look like prime Vieira, your point is?

For ages United fans have been slating Matic, a bit of good form with his contract on the line and not only all of a sudden this bollax narrative we miss him is back, he's also now apparently better than Kante :lol:
 

SAFMUTD

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If we want our Pogba and Bruno midfield to fail we would take Kante over Matic. Thats about it
Not really. Kante plays, or used to play, defensively great. But I agree Matic seems a perfect match for our current midfield.
 

Prodigal7

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I could find short videos that make Bakayoko look like prime Vieira, your point is?

For ages United fans have been slating Matic, a bit of good form with his contract on the line and not only all of a sudden this bollax narrative we miss him is back, he's also now apparently better than Kante :lol:
I’ve never slated him as our entire team have had issues until recently. Point is he offers things that Kante doesn’t and Kante offers things Matić doesn’t but I prefer Matic for what he brings. You couldn’t find a single video of Kante doing that sport of thing.
 

Mr Smith

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Doesn't matter how many attackers they buy, if they don't tighten up their defence, they're not going anywhere next season.

I rate Lampard as a manager, but I think this is a poor squad overall. I also think they really lack leaders. Kante and Willian are probably their two seasoned pro's who have won titles in the past, but they're not the kind of players to drive their team on and lift the younger lads who lack experience.