We also never seem to have much to show for all the pretty approach work, lovely to watch but they don't award points in football for style and artistic impression.
Yep we seem to have taken a leaf out of the Arsenal book. Often overplaying it and looking for the perfect goal.
Willian needs to play like he did in the second half yesterday. I'd stick him in the middle and put Cuardado on the right for a few games - he's looked shit so far, but he needs a chance before he goes the same way as Salah.
Willian needs to play like he did in the second half yesterday. I'd stick him in the middle and put Cuardado on the right for a few games - he's looked shit so far, but he needs a chance before he goes the same way as Salah.
Whoever scouted Cuardado must of seen something in his play.
As you say so far he's been shit.
I doubt Salah has a future here any more; Mourinho, for one reason or another, never trusted him and I doubt his goal scoring form is going to change that as playing for Chelsea and Fiorentina are two completely different situations.
A top CM should be our priority in the summer. We still struggle to cope defensively when teams press us (Hull, Southampton and West Ham games being the most notable examples). When Matic is off form, our midfield is non existent. Cesc is not someone who can control the tempo of the game on his own. We saw that against Southampton where Matic, who had his worst game in a Chelsea shirt, had to be substituted off for Ramires. Plus, we will never truly dominate against top teams with a Matic and Fab midfield. Every top team we've faced, Ramires has always come in the starting line-up with Cesc playing as a number 10.
Whilst Ramires is good at closing down space, tackling and marking players, his basic ball control, first touch and general decision making leave a lot to be desired. Hence, if we really want to dominate (especially in the CL), we need another CM to partner Matic. Right now our problem is not a lack of goals, but rather our inability to defend a lead. A CM who can play one touch football, operate in tight spaces and dictate the tempo of the game will help us immensely (someone like Modric would be an absolute dream here).
Five wins rather than five wins and a draw, still have to be careful with the games as leads have been thrown in April twice in last three years
Yes, we still have to play Man Utd (h), Arsenal (a) and Liverpool (h) in the run-in. So I'm not starting any celebrations just yet. But there's also Man Utd v Man City and Man Utd v Arsenal to come as well, so our 7 pont lead and game-in-hand is looking good.
If Chelsea don't win the title from here, something will have gone horribly wrong.
Get your mortgages on it.
No thanks. We're now 1-25 with most bookies. I'm not that brave.
Actually, Man Utd are quoted at 100-1 with William Hill (best elsewhere is 66-1)
Seeing their improvement in form recently those odds really aren't bad, they would have to win some tough games, but if I wasn't a Chelsea fan I'd risk a tenner.
I hope someone slips up against Liverpool, handing the title to Arsenal.
An odd thing for a chelsea supporter to say.
I think we should win the league, we will never get a better chance to from this position.
The Arsenal game has now become our 6 pointer, if we win or draw that, I think its done and dusted.
The fight for places under us is going to be interesting, but i cant help but think liverpool have thrown it all away after a fantastic season last year.
Its the QPR,Palace and Leicester games that worry me most.
Two of those games are against teams who count a win against us as making their season.
I am not quite getting the bunting ready to put out yet.
True, it is their cup final and have caused us trouble in the past. Liverpool are also out for revenge after we prevented them from winning the league last season.
But keep the faith, our young team are nearly there ahead of schedule.
All the other teams need a major rebuild this summer and perhaps changes of management too.
When Jose came back I thought he needed a season to sort out the mess left by Rafa (and previous managers) and expected this season for us to be either winning the title or in the hunt until the last couple of weeks and to win either the FA or League Cup.
IMO we are about where we should be at the moment.
IMO we are about where we should be at the moment.
If we manage to do a league and cup double, you have to say that we are exceeding expectations.
No team can expect to win the league now, those days are long gone. The competition between the current top 4 is far too fierce, the best you can hope for is "in the running".
Its far from over. Better teams have lost the title from places like where we are.
The main positive for me is I cannot see anyone from the teams who can catch us not dropping points.
Its going to be tight very tight
Yes, that's why the bookies have us as certainties. The way the run-in looks, it's most likely that our rivals will take points from each other. It will need one of them to go on a remarkable run to catch us. Man Utd probably hold the key, they are unlikely to win the title themselves but have to play all the others involved.
If we manage to do a league and cup double, you have to say that we are exceeding expectations.
No team can expect to win the league now, those days are long gone. The competition between the current top 4 is far too fierce, the best you can hope for is "in the running".
We remain a team that's still 5 or 6 players short of where we need to be and could be.
Everyone has to be happy with a league and cup double!
However, this season has been a well below par one in terms of quality at the top. We have been the best of a very moderate bunch and that was proven in our clubs dismal performances in the CL.
One good signing in Costa, without whoom we might well have been struggling for a top four finish. There are several players who need to go and big question marks against a few more. Even our keeper makes errors of the kind Cech never made in his prime.
I can't believe anyone can still think there should be a place in the team next season for William, Ramirez or Oscar. Those three simply must go if we are to improve!
I'm not a Chelsea supporter, and it was a joke based on the events that stopped Liverpool winning the league last season. I've seen you posting in other supporters threads so you must be aware that they aren't exactly exclusive.
We remain a team that's still 5 or 6 players short of where we need to be and could be.
Everyone has to be happy with a league and cup double!
However, this season has been a well below par one in terms of quality at the top. We have been the best of a very moderate bunch and that was proven in our clubs dismal performances in the CL.
One good signing in Costa, without whoom we might well have been struggling for a top four finish. There are several players who need to go and big question marks against a few more. Even our keeper makes errors of the kind Cech never made in his prime.
I can't believe anyone can still think there should be a place in the team next season for William, Ramirez or Oscar. Those three simply must go if we are to improve!
William and Ramirez ?..at least get the spelling right if you're going to slag-off our players.
It's all subjective unless you're going to use some of those absurd stats that people seem so fond of these days. I think Willian has had a very good season, the goals and assists may not show that, but he's done precisely the job we (and Jose) wanted from him.
Oscar has been very inconsistent, I'll grant you that. But he hasn't become a poor player overnight, and we know from past performances that he is a class act. Ozil has only just started putting in a few decent performances at Arsenal, but nobody could deny that he's a quality player.
I'm inclined to agree with you about Ramires. He was terrific for us a couple of seasons ago, but unless he's carrying an injury his energy levels don't seem to the same as they used to be. If his energy is on the wane, the rest of his game is just not good enough to warrant a place. So maybe he should be moved on.
Comments
Yep we seem to have taken a leaf out of the Arsenal book. Often overplaying it and looking for the perfect goal.
Whoever scouted Cuardado must of seen something in his play.
As you say so far he's been shit.
Will you be looking to sell him in the summer, or look to bring him back into the squad for the start of next season?
A top CM should be our priority in the summer. We still struggle to cope defensively when teams press us (Hull, Southampton and West Ham games being the most notable examples). When Matic is off form, our midfield is non existent. Cesc is not someone who can control the tempo of the game on his own. We saw that against Southampton where Matic, who had his worst game in a Chelsea shirt, had to be substituted off for Ramires. Plus, we will never truly dominate against top teams with a Matic and Fab midfield. Every top team we've faced, Ramires has always come in the starting line-up with Cesc playing as a number 10.
Whilst Ramires is good at closing down space, tackling and marking players, his basic ball control, first touch and general decision making leave a lot to be desired. Hence, if we really want to dominate (especially in the CL), we need another CM to partner Matic. Right now our problem is not a lack of goals, but rather our inability to defend a lead. A CM who can play one touch football, operate in tight spaces and dictate the tempo of the game will help us immensely (someone like Modric would be an absolute dream here).
Title close to being wrapped up(without jinxing it i hope) now....
Five wins rather than five wins and a draw, still have to be careful with the games as leads have been thrown in April twice in last three years
Yes, we still have to play Man Utd (h), Arsenal (a) and Liverpool (h) in the run-in. So I'm not starting any celebrations just yet. But there's also Man Utd v Man City and Man Utd v Arsenal to come as well, so our 7 pont lead and game-in-hand is looking good.
Get your mortgages on it.
No thanks. We're now 1-25 with most bookies. I'm not that brave.
Actually, Man Utd are quoted at 100-1 with William Hill (best elsewhere is 66-1)
Seeing their improvement in form recently those odds really aren't bad, they would have to win some tough games, but if I wasn't a Chelsea fan I'd risk a tenner.
Or going outside.
I hope someone slips up against Liverpool, handing the title to Arsenal.
An odd thing for a chelsea supporter to say.
I think we should win the league, we will never get a better chance to from this position.
The Arsenal game has now become our 6 pointer, if we win or draw that, I think its done and dusted.
The fight for places under us is going to be interesting, but i cant help but think liverpool have thrown it all away after a fantastic season last year.
The main positive for me is I cannot see anyone from the teams who can catch us not dropping points.
Its going to be tight very tight
If we win our game in hand over Arsenal, it will be 10 points clear with 7 games to go - with a superior goal difference.
But you are correct, its never over until its not mathematically impossible for others to catch us.
QPR A
United H
Arsenal A
Leicester A
Palace H
Liverpool H
West Brom A
Sunderland H
These are our 8 games. Hopefully we will know a bit more about what we need to do before we play liverpool.
Basically we need to win against QPR, Leicester, Palace, West Brom and Sunderland.
Arsenal have an easier run in, but they also have to play united
City have to play united, spurs and southampton
Two of those games are against teams who count a win against us as making their season.
I am not quite getting the bunting ready to put out yet.
True, it is their cup final and have caused us trouble in the past. Liverpool are also out for revenge after we prevented them from winning the league last season.
But keep the faith, our young team are nearly there ahead of schedule.
All the other teams need a major rebuild this summer and perhaps changes of management too.
I would not say we ahead of schedule.
When Jose came back I thought he needed a season to sort out the mess left by Rafa (and previous managers) and expected this season for us to be either winning the title or in the hunt until the last couple of weeks and to win either the FA or League Cup.
IMO we are about where we should be at the moment.
If we manage to do a league and cup double, you have to say that we are exceeding expectations.
No team can expect to win the league now, those days are long gone. The competition between the current top 4 is far too fierce, the best you can hope for is "in the running".
Yes, that's why the bookies have us as certainties. The way the run-in looks, it's most likely that our rivals will take points from each other. It will need one of them to go on a remarkable run to catch us. Man Utd probably hold the key, they are unlikely to win the title themselves but have to play all the others involved.
We remain a team that's still 5 or 6 players short of where we need to be and could be.
Everyone has to be happy with a league and cup double!
However, this season has been a well below par one in terms of quality at the top. We have been the best of a very moderate bunch and that was proven in our clubs dismal performances in the CL.
One good signing in Costa, without whoom we might well have been struggling for a top four finish. There are several players who need to go and big question marks against a few more. Even our keeper makes errors of the kind Cech never made in his prime.
I can't believe anyone can still think there should be a place in the team next season for William, Ramirez or Oscar. Those three simply must go if we are to improve!
That only really applies to City, and to a lesser extent Liverpool.
United and especially Arsenal only need to make a couple of changes, and neither require a change of manager.
I'm not a Chelsea supporter, and it was a joke based on the events that stopped Liverpool winning the league last season. I've seen you posting in other supporters threads so you must be aware that they aren't exactly exclusive.
William and Ramirez ?..at least get the spelling right if you're going to slag-off our players.
It's all subjective unless you're going to use some of those absurd stats that people seem so fond of these days. I think Willian has had a very good season, the goals and assists may not show that, but he's done precisely the job we (and Jose) wanted from him.
Oscar has been very inconsistent, I'll grant you that. But he hasn't become a poor player overnight, and we know from past performances that he is a class act. Ozil has only just started putting in a few decent performances at Arsenal, but nobody could deny that he's a quality player.
I'm inclined to agree with you about Ramires. He was terrific for us a couple of seasons ago, but unless he's carrying an injury his energy levels don't seem to the same as they used to be. If his energy is on the wane, the rest of his game is just not good enough to warrant a place. So maybe he should be moved on.