Gary did delay and had no reason to.

It was a simple decision and 99/100 the right decision would have happened but for me it was just a silly mistake and think we need to stand up and take these sort of things on the chin. We was in total control and did not show the killer mentality needed, last season it would have been 0 points game and we done well this season but need to cut down on this sort of thing as it will be the difference to where we finish.

I don't blame Swansea for playing the game like they did. I think any of us would have set out a team the same way if we was playing us.

Be interesting to see what Conte does for the next couple of games. Much tougher opposition and we need to be stronger defensively. Looks like it will be the CL winning pair of Luiz and Cahill reunited.
The extra pace of Luiz will help against Liverpool.

The ref had a poor game, the tackles flying in from Swansea went unpunished.

Dreadful

[quote=The_don1
I don't blame Swansea for playing the game like they did. I think any of us would have set out a team the same way if we was playing us.[/QUOTE]

Yes, I guess so. It's just so annoying coming away with a point from a game we should have won comfortably. Still, could have been worse. I'm sure we'd have taken 10 points from the first four games before the season began.

Very annoying but we have nobody but to blame but ourselfs.

We had more then enough chances but in this league if you don't take a majority of your chances then you will get punished and that's what happened today.

We have done very well this season so far because of how bad we was last last season and rightly we should be pleased how things have gone so far but even so needing to be more clinical has been something we need to improve on during all the games so far. That will come with time hopefully

Disappointed not to come away with a win today. It was a definite foul on Cahill but he took a terrible first touch which incited Fer to chase the ball down. I hope we get to see Fabregas starting soon; I don't have faith in Oscar and Matic working out long term as our centre-mids. On another note Kante was impressive once again - seriously, whenever our team is in a pinch he is right there waiting to win the ball back. We're so lucky to have him in our team.

Agree with you about Kante, he was immense again today, particularly in the first half. I've said it before, his reading of the game reminds me of Makelele. He just always appears to be in the right place, at the right time, without even breaking sweat.

I don't agree with you about Oscar and Matic though. Unless there's a significant downturn in their form I think they're currently doing a good job. I accept you lose some creativity without Fabregas, but Oscar adds a lot more energy to the midfield and it's not like he's totally incapable of playing decisive balls himself.

I don't think we did a lot wrong today apart from not taking our chances. Oh, and a couple of brain-fart moments which are difficult to avoid even with the best preparation in the world. We were just unlucky to have been punished badly for both of them.

Yup, I know Kante received a lot of praise last season but now that he's in our team and watching him play for 90 minutes you really appreciate how good he really is.

Oscar is doing a decent job at the moment but I just think we can do better than him. He's got a good work rate which I have always admired but aside from that he doesn't really excel in any other attribute. He's not the best passer in the team or a final ball specialist, he's not the best dribbler in the team, he's not the fastest guy in the team and he's not a particularly effective goal scorer. Fabregas and Hazard are the two most technically gifted and intelligent players we have in our squad and I guess I'm just annoyed that we can't fit both into the team. Against the smaller sides, I just don't think we need both Matic and Kante together. But I also accept we were terrible defensively last season so I can understand why Conte may want to improve our defensive aspect first.

Moreover, for selfish reasons, I love watching Fab and Costa playing together. Fabregas knows how to play to Costa's strengths whereas Willian and Hazard tend to prefer playing the ball to Costa's feet. I love Diego but he's a terrible dribbler and he gets dispossessed a lot. At the end of the day, I guess it boils down to what you prefer. For me, I believe we are a better team with Fabregas than without.

Without Fabregas we seem to be very reliant on Hazard creating the chances.
I wonder if he might try him instead of Oscar.

Yes, I take your point. I just wish Fabregas had a bit more to bring to the team. He's got to be on top of his game in my opinion, otherwise he's a bit of a luxury (I'm trying to avoid saying liability because that sounds unfair) if he's not producing those wonderful passes.
As I've said previously, Oscar is a kind of "jack of all trades" who is competent (or really quite good) at a lot of things without being truly great at anything.
It's a difficult one, but you can't see Fabregas changing at this stage in his career. Whereas Oscar still has time to fulfil the promise he showed when he first joined us.

Oscar doesn't create or score nearly enough goals. The same applies to Willian, even though they're productive in other ways. The problem is the lack of creativity with the both of them in the team. Hazard can't do it on his own, that's why we need Fabregas playing too.

Be interesting to see who/how he plays tonight. I would hope Cesc will start.

I think the only change will be Luiz in place of the injured JT. I'd start with Oscar against Liverpool. Yes, we lose a bit in creativity, but we'll need his energy and ability to close down opponents against their talented midfield.
Forget entertainment. I'm hoping we keep it tight and bore everyone to death, coming out winning 1-0 with a lucky scrambled goal in the 89th minute.

89th minute? To early for me. 93rd minute and a own goal for Strudridge (if he is not injured again) will do me, The more we upset Liverpool fans the better the feeling

Same team then except Luiz coming in. Thought Cesc might of got a start.

Don't think Conte is that sure of him as a starter yet, maybe a couple of weeks from that stage

Shocking defending. There were 3/4 Liverpool players queuing up to put that one in.

This is utter garbage.

We look like we're playing with 2-3 players less than them.

edit: Absolute bollocks.

This could get embarrassing. People were worried about Luiz, but Ivanovic and Cahill heve been bloody awful. We're lucky it's only 0-2.

In for a hammering by the looks of it.

So glad we're playing with so many midfielders who are good at tracking back and defending.
if only we could get rid of Hazard, then we'd be no threat to anyone at all.

To be fair, Willian was a bigger threat than Hazard in that first half. It's been terrible, the nightmares of last season have returned.

No subs. He'll leave it too late again.

Does Conte know he has a subs bench? Even Klopp has made a change now.