Jump to content

Chelsea 0 - 0 Newcastle United - 22/11/08 - post match reaction from page 15


Recommended Posts

HT. not too bad, had a couple of half chances but nothing too great. Chelsea should've put one of their chances away but by no means a rout.

 

on the downside - duff has been invisible both in attack and defence, Bosingwa ghosts past him time and time again. Enrique and Colo have been slightly dodgy, as has Beye in defence tho he's been better going forward. Lampard getting too much time on the ball, too.

 

on the plus side, Owen and Guthrie full of good touches. the latter is shit when he has time and space, but is much better when pressured into using his first touch in congested areas. Martins has been busy and provided some good linking and running down the channels. Jonas providing a hell of a lot in tracking back and Bassong has been solid.

 

Let's hope he doesn't tire as badly this week.

 

Hasn't had a chance to in recent weeks. Kinnear keeps bringing him off. I can see Shola coming on for Martins, which wouldn't be too bad late on.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Martins again. Has to hold the ball better than that.

 

It was fucking awful that, picked up in the middle, could have checked back, carried on out wide to the left flank, dropped his shoulder 4 time and backheeled it miles away from anyone to a Chelsea defender. Ffs.

 

Nice of Duff to give him an option as well like.

 

Exactly. He ended up in a blind alley if thats the phrase I'm after.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Yep, getting HT keeping a clean sheet is pretty good going. Its just a shame that we probably won't be able to keep this up for the full 90. Just hope we don't fall apart, as even if we do lose by a couple now think we can still walk out with our head held high.

Link to post
Share on other sites

We did well, considering who we're playing against.

 

Jonas and Bassong have been our best players. Oh, man, Jonas :smitten: Never loses the ball, keeps it well and he's not afraid to try stuff (and pull it off!)

 

Owen's been quiet and Martins hasn't done enough holding the ball up but we've been a pass away from scoring twice so it's been positive so far. Yes, they've dominated possession but we're covering and they haven't had a gilt-edge chance yet. I don't Anelka or Lampard have even had shots. Our whole backline has been good. Even though Jose's been quiet poor on the ball, he's kept J Cole very quiet and Beye, on the other side, has done likewise with Malouda.

 

Our CM pairing are still a bit slow in covering the space between them and the defence but we can't drop too deep or one goal will really open the floodgates. Most of their attacks have come from Bosingwa (who Duff just leaves for Enrique, who's marking to Cole, to also mark) or their wingers drifting into the space in the middle, so we've gotta watch out for that.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest timmy boy

Duff needs to track Bosingwa more often. They are getting a lot of joy with him overlapping Cole down our left.Maybe could swap Duff for Jonas as he has tracked back better so far.

The whole back for has been decent for me. Bassong has been a beast in the air.Going forward we haven't offered much.Butt and Guthrie are getting swamped in the centre of the park and are struggling to link up with the front two.Martins is in stupid mode where he can't control or make intelligent decisions.Jonas has been decent always offers an option and created our only chance so far.

 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Yep, getting HT keeping a clean sheet is pretty good going. Its just a shame that we probably won't be able to keep this up for the full 90. Just hope we don't fall apart, as even if we do lose by a couple now think we can still walk out with our head held high.

 

Yup. It's depressing to expect defeat, but if we come out of this with some semblance of pride and confidence intact I'll be reasonably content.

Link to post
Share on other sites

 

Duff gave him a simple pass not long before that and Martins let it roll under his foot for a throw-in. Can't go passing the buck just because Duff's the scapegoat. Martins has been the weak link first-half.

 

Duff offers nothing, N'Zogbia can offer more with one pass than Duff will offer in 90 minutes.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest Chris P

HOW does Duff keep his place?

 

he's absolutely disgraceful in defence and so easy to defend against

 

Sure your watching the right game

Link to post
Share on other sites

RE: Martins. Was a simple mistake when he miscontrolled the ball and let it roll under his foot, no doubt about that one.

 

however, he also had one superb knock-down and one superb lay-off, both to Guthrie in the first half, a skilful first touch swivel to win a freekick and a genuinely top class through ball to Jonas to create a chance. For the backheel he's worked the channel well, picks the ball up and uses good control and strength to hold off the defender. as he has his back turned to him, and doesnt have eyes in the back of his head, he backheels a ball into a dangerous, open space. Had Duff, or even Owen, been supporting him as they shouldve been by moving into that open space, we would be applauding an excellent piece of play. to criticise him for taking a risk in an upfield position like that completely misses the point, you have to try stuff like that, sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesnt. if you dont take risks you get Alan Smith.

Link to post
Share on other sites

 

 

 

 

Our CM pairing are still a bit slow in covering the space between them and the defence but we can't drop too deep or one goal will really open the floodgates.

 

And still you think Bassong has been our best player?  Way too many opportunities within our box.

Link to post
Share on other sites

We did well, considering who we're playing against.

 

 

 

Our CM pairing are still a bit slow in covering the space between them and the defence but we can't drop too deep or one goal will really open the floodgates.

 

And still you think Bassong has been our best player?

 

Yes. How many shots has Anelka had in the box? Zip, zero, zilch, nada. Bassong's overwhelmed their attackers in the air and he's made a couple of nice tackles as well. Done nothing wrong.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...