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Everton game, more of the same.

Discussion in 'Chelsea' started by Chelsea Pensioner, Nov 11, 2018.

  1. Chelsea Pensioner

    Chelsea Pensioner Well-Known Member

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    Still undefeated, still trying to find a way to score against determined defence. We made some chances but missed all of them,and came up against an excellent goalkeeper
    Some things are becoming better after each game, and some things are not improving..
    First the good.
    Rudiger and Luiz are our best pairing and both in good form. Luiz adds attack from the back and is playing well.
    Alonso is simply excellent, game after game.
    Hazard looks better, Morata looks sharper, but boy he has an attitude problem and poor linkage with midfield, far too often caught offside, far too whingey. He's sharpened up, but needs to toughen up.
    New keeper is playing very well.
    The not so good?
    Azpi is a shadow of last years player.
    The midfield is just not firing. Kante is lost and being wasted, Jorghino , good as he is, is not the pivot he was for Napoli with this system, and Kovacic looks our most rounded midfielder. All 3 are great players, but collectively they misfire and lack real power. The mixture is not right. Barkley, RLC and Ampadu have to be utilised and some new formation and player mix tried. It's there somewhere but just not happening. Either that or we sell Kante and bring in some totally different type of player. Madness in my opinion, but so is reducing Kante to ordinary by playing him out of position.
    Subsequently, the front 3 seem disjointed and the service doesn't suit Morata, while Hazard has to do, and tries to do, too much. Willian still looks very out of form and we need to think hard about moving him on.
    Still a very good start to what was always going to be a difficult year, but if that is our best 11, we have a way to go to match Liverpool and City who are both quicker, more direct and more lethal. Was always going to be the case, but unless we improve more, we need to think about reinforcements or rejigging starters.
     
    #1
  2. armchairblue

    armchairblue Well-Known Member

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    Getting a bit worried about our home form if i'm honest,we played well against liverpool but have been iffy since.
    Yesterday we just weren't good enough but would of won the game if Alonso had been luckier.I'd like to see the
    formation changed when necessary defensively or offensively.Think Hazard could play second striker when needed
    and Kante should play his old position when we're up against it.........Both everton and palace have known what to
    do against us,we need to change this.
     
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  3. The Ginger Marks

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    Take out Kante and replace with Berkley or Cesc.
     
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  4. Chelsea Pensioner

    Chelsea Pensioner Well-Known Member

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    Agree that should improve the midfield. But when Kante is the worlds best DM does it not seem weird he is being shafted playing out of position?
    We only have 2 world class players Hazard and Kante. We fall over each other trying to best use Hazard yet ignore Kantes' immense talent.
    I think it's time Sarri got a bit more pragmatic and better used who we have rather than try and make us Napoli Mark II.
     
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  5. The Ginger Marks

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    Everton have been the only team to date to stop Jorginho playing thus affecting him being the controlling factor in our midfield. Better finishing and a goalkeeper who wasn’t on his best form would have seen us 2-0 winners then everybody would be happy.
     
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  6. Chelsea Pensioner

    Chelsea Pensioner Well-Known Member

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    Well happier definiately.
    However our problems trying to break down parked buses are nothing new, and can be traced back a few seasons. The problem was always a mismatched midfield, and still is. Even though Jorghino has run pretty much every game as you rightly say, Kante has been sub par, and a round robin of Barkley, RLC and Kovacic has not solved the problem. With Kante out of position, his input is minimal, but when used correctly he's immense.
    Better we keep going as we are and stay in the top 4, but I hope someone is really working hard behind the scenes to resolve this, as I expect they are.
    Defence has stiffened, at least 1st 11 defence, and the recurring problems as I now them are, strikers we have not getting service that suits their style, Daves' drop in form, Kantes' drop in form and Willians sluggish form.
    Expect to see Sarri mix up first 11 a bit more and find the right blend.
     
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    Last edited: Nov 13, 2018
  7. chelsea - over 100 years of history

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    I get where you're coming from but isn't this all a bit distorted by how good City are? Take them out of the equation and we're in a genuine title race plus we are the only unbeaten side in the top 5 European leagues in all comps.

    That's pretty impressive for a first season from Sarri.

    Sarri has been brought in to bring his brand of football to the bridge. That brand of football involves a regista in Jorginho / Fabregas rather than an enforcer in front of the back 4. I think it's better he sets the team up how he wants to give us the long term goals rather than set it up to suit individual players for short term goals. Lets not forget we finished 5th last year with Kante at defensive mid. Not his fault but the system itself is not the reason we're not scoring for fun.

    I said from day 1, this team lacks goals. The set up isn;t the problem, it's the lack of goal from 9 and from midfield. Barkley, Kante, RLC and Kovacic aren't going to chip in enough goals and less said about the forwards the better in terms of goals. That means heavy reliance on the wide forwards and particularly Hazard. We're also missing set piece goals without the likes of Terry, Cahill, and Ivanovic in the team anymore.

    But City have the best manager, the best team, the best squad, the biggest resources etc. And Pep took a year and hundreds of millions to get City purring.

    Patience my dear boy.
     
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  8. Chelsea Pensioner

    Chelsea Pensioner Well-Known Member

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    I see your point and it's well thought out and explained. Nevertheless, I don't completely agree that there are not enough goals in Barkley, Kante RLC and Kovacic. If the mids were set up differently there should be plenty of goals in Barkley and RLC though maybe not Kante. They might also better suit our strikers, who sure have been woeful, and take some of the strain off Hazard. Given this is a big rebuild/set up year, I would simply like Sarri to try something different. If it doesn't work, bin it and carry on. Maybe he can tell from the training pitch, in which case hats off to him, he's one in a million.
    We definately know what our regular top 11 can and can't do, would like to see if there is a combination that play the Sarri method better than they do.
    I assure you I haven't run out of patience, every game is a new experience and still not over how much better we attack and hold the ball.
     
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  9. chelsea - over 100 years of history

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    I'm not so sure.....Barkley's best ever goals return is 8 league goals in a season and he's averaged more like 4/5. Kovacic's record is worse still (albeit probably from a more withdrawn role for his previous clubs). Of the 3, RLC should get more goals given a run but can't see that happening bar injuries.

    I'm just not sure what system Sarri could pick that would lead to better results (whilst also maintaining the improved aesthetic of the football). Pep didn't compromise his style of football and it has paid off for them, albeit they had to make a lot of signings to fit in with this style.

    I'd be amazed if we didn't go for new players in the summer that specifically suit this system. Otherwise why bring Sarri in? It's not for his winning mentality like when we got Conte or Jose as he's not won anything yet. There must have been a conscious decision to bring in a more entertaining coach and then hope the extra resources available would result in success as well.
     
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  10. The Ginger Marks

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    This midfield is not the most dynamic since 2004/5 but with a striker like Costa or Drogba we would be in 1st place.
     
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  11. Chelsea Pensioner

    Chelsea Pensioner Well-Known Member

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    On chances screwed up, we'd have heaps more goals that's for sure.
    And with Lampard or Ballack in midfield, we'd be uncatchable.
    PS. Interesting stat I just read, we are second (behind City) on goals scored, with 27, which is 4 ahead of Liverpool (23).
    That surprised me, as I feel like we've struggled for goals all year. Those pesky stats are doing my head in again.
     
    #11
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2018
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  12. BobbyD

    BobbyD President

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    Watched the game.

    We played well but morata pretty much offered f all as usual. Probs should have had a pen from mina but he just goes down so easily and whinges his arse off all game no wonder the refs give him **** all. It was also unbelievable the amount of times the ****er was offside in the second half.

    We had quite a few good chances and pickford made some awesome saves. Kovacic, kante and jorginho could probably change against teams who park the bus. Maybe someone like pedro needs to play for willian too as he likes to get in the box. Likewise rlc and barkley do too.

    We did miss a couple of 1 on 1s (hazard and willian) and pickfords save for the hazard deflection and alonsos shot were unbelievable.

    Overall happy.

    Oh last thing we bring on cesc barkley and hazard is trying to find some space so why the hell in the last 15 mins after we put some noce pressure on did we keep hoofing the ball upfield (to be headed away or morata to be offside) than passing it with our techical talent
     
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