Chelsea (H) Premier League - 21/1/23 - 12.30

[ZonkoVille77]

Anyone know when Mo is due back?

 

[stringvest]

Henderson and Fabinho.  And Jones.  That’s a relegation midfield there. 

[mike23]

Couldn't fault the effort but the quality and decision making just isn't there. Absolutely infuriating how many times players picked the wrong pass or made a mess of the right pass. I can't be bothered to get annoyed with it because I wrote this season off last week and the club haven't even tried to address any of the issues in this transfer window like they should have done. There were odd bits of quality and 1 little spell at the start of the second half (which as usual we couldn't sustain), but it was mostly pretty shit and a sad reminder of how dramatically we've somehow managed to regress. They kept talking in commentary about the players missing who would improve us, and we're certainly missing a lot up front, but they seemed to be including the midfielders left out of the starting 11 as well and if they honestly think they'd have improved us then they haven't watched us this year. 

 

Ref was a cunt all match as well. Shit decision after shit decision all in Chelsea's favour all match. Falling for Jorginho flopping to the floor when they couldn't clear a corner in the first half was especially egregious. They were in all sorts of trouble in that moment. The ref had no view of it at all and went completely off the the player's reaction. If it had led to a goal and then shown that Jorginho had been fouled then VAR could have looked at it.

[J-V]

2 minutes ago, ZonkoVille77 said:

Anyone know when Mo is due back?

 

 

He's still locked in Codes wardrobe.

[The Golden Eel]

5 minutes ago, KevieG said:

Gakpo reminds me of Huntelaar, a bit slow and weak but can, hopefully, finish. Not sure how he fits in to a Klopp team at all. 

 

Hope I'm way off in that evaluation. 

He hasn't looked like he can finish since he's been here 

[Planet Origi]

4 minutes ago, ZonkoVille77 said:

Anyone know when Mo is due back?

 

Not sure when the Afcon finishes, think they're still playing extra time

[3 Stacks]

We've clearly gone more defensive in the past two games, but now the attack is suffering. We just can't find the balance.

 

The Gakpo comments are pretty funny. Not sure what he's supposed to be doing more here. He's being put in a position where he's gotta win stuff in the air, he's receiving the ball under pressure 9 times out of 10, and all he's got are pot shot opportunities. When he gets around other players, he's combining really well, but we're not in those positions often enough at the moment. Probably owing to the fact we're trying to be more conservative. 

 

He's not like Darwin who we'll always be able to just punt balls down the pitch to, no matter what. We have to use his qualities.

[Carvalho Diablo]

Really enjoyed that.

 

Short on quality but great to see us playing with spirit and determination again.

 

The new look midfield is light years better without the Fabinho - Henderson fulcrum of woe and, along with a few proper signings along the way, it bodes well for a much better 23-24 season.

[J-V]

1 minute ago, Planet Origi said:

Not sure when the Afcon finishes, think they're still playing extra time

 

3rd place playoff as the Real African King already won it.

[Jordy Brouwer]

Sad days are these when a 0 - 0 borefest is looked kindly upon as a sort of victory. 

[The Golden Eel]

Just now, Carvalho Diablo said:

Really enjoyed that.

[Aventus]

23 minutes ago, Grinch said:

Yup, apart from being top goal scorer and only creative threat in a team so shite all they can do is send him down the line expecting him to beat three players on his own.

 

Deffo needs dropped for one of the non entities that do fuck all.

He's been shit recently. I'd rather have had Elliot or Doak there today. 

 

I'm not saying sell him, but nobody is immune to criticism. 

[Josef Svejk]

10 minutes ago, stringvest said:

Henderson and Fabinho.  And Jones.  That’s a relegation midfield there. 

 

Our midfield was shit before they got on the pitch. 

[KMD7]

1 minute ago, Josef Svejk said:

 

Our midfield was shit before they got on the pitch. 

We'd have lost if they both played from the start 

[Fallen Angel]

11 minutes ago, stringvest said:

Henderson and Fabinho.  And Jones.  That’s a relegation midfield there. 

And that’s our pick to change the game in the last 10 or so. Scraping the barrel…

[stringvest]

2 minutes ago, Josef Svejk said:

 

Our midfield was shit before they got on the pitch. 

 

Bajcetic and Keita had run themselves out after 60 minutes.  

[stringvest]

Just now, Fallen Angel said:

And that’s our pick to change the game in the last 10 or so. Scraping the barrel…

 

They'll change the game alright.  

[VladimirIlyich]

2 minutes ago, Aventus said:

He's been shit recently. I'd rather have had Elliot or Doak there today. 

 

I'm not saying sell him, but nobody is immune to criticism. 

Elliott gets away with a lot because of his age but I just dont see how he helps. Milner looked miles better than him at twice his age and defensively Elliott offers nothing I can see. I'd rather have pushed Milner in front of Trent and took Elliott off.

[KMD7]

8 minutes ago, Carvalho Diablo said:

Really enjoyed that.

 

Short on quality but great to see us playing with spirit and determination again.

 

The new look midfield is light years better without the Fabinho - Henderson fulcrum of woe and, along with a few proper signings along the way, it bodes well for a much better 23-24 season.

 This.

[Colonel Bumcunt]

Fuck it, looked far too cold to play football anyway.  Fuck off January. 

[John102]

Is that 19 games done now?

 

We are on the back 9 for this season, and the days are getting longer too. 

 

You have got to take the joy where you find it.

[Pidge]

20 minutes ago, J-V said:

 

How the fuck can you be inept against only one team and it's not the first time with this cunt either.

 

 

They had a perfectly good goal ruled out, so how do figure it was all one way? Clown.

[Trumo]

This looked like a game between 2 sides who are off the pace in the league. Each made the other look very ordinary. Chelsea are probably carrying as many injuries as we are, but they seem to have twice as many players as we do. Won't be surprised if they announce another 2 or 3 players before I finish this post.

 

Since the Brighton debacle, we've definitely gone down the pragmatic route, and it's more about keeping our shape, not defending too high, and being far more selective in the pressing. More or less the opposite of what most of these players have been used to.

 

Gakpo may come good but he's looked ropey so far. At the moment, much of that will be down to him coming into a team at its lowest ebb, but it would be nice to see some composure in front of goal. He's snatching at everything and I'm trying to think of a shot of his that has been both cleanly struck and accurate. The early chance against Wolves on his debut is the only one I can think of.

 

I was surprised that Naby was brought off before Harvey or Stefan as those two seemed to look more leggy in that second half, and I think that switch in particular, with Harvey dropping into midfield, hampered our tempo and allowed Chelsea to get back into the game. Prior to that, they'd been on the back foot pretty much from when the second half got under way.

 

If it takes a slow and steady approach to get back to where we'd like to be, then so be it. The trouble is that several teams have closed the gap.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

Kick off on Walton Road, with bottles flying between the Wetherspoons and the Iceland car park.

 

Classy.

[Leyton388]

This team is done. Its been allowed to become stagnant over the past 3 years and its completely fucked now. 

 

That being said i dont know why for the life of me we spent over £100m on Nunez and Gakpo when the money should have been better spent on areas that needed improvement. Thats not me having a go at either player but i just don't understand why they were signed.