Chelsea 1-1 Newcastle United (19/12/23) Chelsea win 4-2 on penalties

[mush]

3 minutes ago, Big Geordie said:

Eddie says Botman's half-time sub was planned (45mins only)

 

Thank fuck for that

[soyt]

Both can be true. Injuries have fucked us, but also i dont think Eddie has used the squad as well as he maybe could. I just dont get it why Hall and Dummett were not good enough to play some minutes this round? What was the point of totally exhausted Miggy being there at the end for example? Last sub was made at 52 mins, and we all know how tired the team must be. 

 

[LiquidAK]

1 minute ago, Ronaldo said:

We had a winger on the bench. You were seemingly happy Ritchie came on instead.

What are you talking about you utter parody?  I literally said "Hall for Gordon has to be the sub"

 

Richie was fine in the end for what he was asked to do, but can't run and can't press so didn't help relieve any pressure 

[christ]

1 minute ago, Mike said:

Ugh just utterly fucked off by the lot of it.

 

Seriously want the season to end asap.

Why? We’re sixth? 

[Geordie Boyo]

You sit back like that and mistakes will happen. Not sure on why our mentality is that way playing away - obviously injuries haven’t helped and I know that always gets said, but injuries haven’t helped. They haven’t. The injuries we’ve had. 

[Beren]

Really peeved with Almiron for not taking the ball to the corner flag in the 90th minute too. Win a few BS corners and it's done.  So daft shooting from that angle.

 

Some fundamental misunderstandings around strategy. You're playing against the clock. You're playing against your own finite reserves. The more they are in your box the more scope there is for fuckery.

[Oregon_Geordie]

22 minutes ago, Doctor Zaius said:

Also, Matt Ritchie is a complete waste of a shirt. He can barely run man. There's no point in putting him on unless it's a total last resort.

 

At what point would you say we are at last resort?

 

We look like we're running over the trenches the last few weeks. Players are playing too many games and we have bugger all options.

 

[Kid Icarus]

4 minutes ago, Optimistic Nut said:

I don't know how else we approach things? The couple of times we tried to attack, we had no legs to do anything. The few times we tried to press, they passed around us with ease. We sat back Rafa style and we were 2 minutes from it working. I don't know why it wasn't sustainable? They barely laid a glove on us the way we played. 

 

That's not true though, on the few occasions we pressed, we won the ball back or knocked it out of play, they were shaky on the ball. When we attacked in the first half it was on the break and we were a poor ball away from getting in at least 3 times.

 

Basically I think we suffered from poor performances and then when we reverted to soaking up pressure it never looked solid.

 

I don't think you can remove potential mistakes from your own tired players from the things that can happen when you play like that, it's just one of the many things that can happen. And it did, if it wasn't that it, then on another night it's Broja or Sterling or whoever  finishing when they should have.

[Oregon_Geordie]

6 minutes ago, Geordie Boyo said:

You sit back like that and mistakes will happen. Not sure on why our mentality is that way playing away - obviously injuries haven’t helped and I know that always gets said, but injuries haven’t helped. They haven’t. The injuries we’ve had. 

It's tough to press high after playing 3 games a week since September with 13 players.

 

Today was a shocker but it's only going to get better, I'd say. Eddie is the last guy to sit back, but damned if he does right now...

[Yorkie]

13 minutes ago, Mike said:

Ugh just utterly fucked off by the lot of it.

 

Seriously want the season to end asap.

 

Exiting the two competitions in the way that we have - i.e. an injury time injustice and an injury time self-destruction - has been incredibly painful. But there is a glass-half-full take here and it's that the squad is going to get what it so desperately needs: a chance to breathe. 

 

12.08-26.12: 28 games in 137 days

27.12-19.05: 20 games in 145 days (minimum, and bearing in mind the FA Cup doesn't congest the schedule in the same way Europe does).

 

I think we can look forward to a better half of the season. Regain fitness, recruit in January, crack at the cup, crack at the European places. It'll be good.

[madras]

10 minutes ago, midds said:

That's part of it absolutely, I know we're down to the bare bones and his hand are tied, I accept that 100%. But at some point you need to rely on the players to get over the line and see it through. It's a club issue as we've never had a squad full of 'winners' before. A squad that can cope mentally and physically with what is needed in order to shut games down like we've seen from the likes of Dortmund this season. They knew exactly what to do to see out 2 wins from 2 against us because they had that nous and experience that we're lacking in the squad. It'll come in time I'm sure but right now we've become soft as shit again. 2 wins away all season and it's nearly Christmas

Dortmund had the extra bodies and ability to freshen up from the bench mostly.

[Jinky]

Whos that comin over the hill?

 

Is it sunlun? is it Sunlun?

 

 

 

Edited December 19, 2023 by Jinky

[midds]

2 minutes ago, madras said:

Dortmund had the extra bodies and ability to freshen up from the bench mostly.

Again, I agree but I still think they've got something we still lack in their squad and that's the nous to see games out. 

 

This isn't a pop at Howe, he's doing brilliantly given the circumstances, but it's something lacking in the club. It's the killer instinct and it only comes with experience, we saw the same thing in the Final in Feb, some players have it and a lot don't. We don't have any of it at all and we need to get it to get to the next level. I know injuries are killing us this season but even so, we need to get better at seeing games like tonight out

[Holloway]

26 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

 

When we won the game except for the part when the referee decided to write Mbappe (98) on his scorecard?

did we win the last half hour like?  There was a semblance of a collapse imo, despite our defensive blocks and last ditch tackles arousing us

[madras]

4 minutes ago, midds said:

Again, I agree but I still think they've got something we still lack in their squad and that's the nous to see games out. 

 

This isn't a pop at Howe, he's doing brilliantly given the circumstances, but it's something lacking in the club. It's the killer instinct and it only comes with experience, we saw the same thing in the Final in Feb, some players have it and a lot don't. We don't have any of it at all and we need to get it to get to the next level. I know injuries are killing us this season but even so, we need to get better at seeing games like tonight out

I personally think 2 or 3 extra bodies and we are in the semis.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 19, 2023 by madras

[Amir_9]

You know what, the FA cup is a sexier trophy to win to end the trophy drought anyway. More of the squad back for that one too.

 

Onwards and upwards.

 

(Still gutted for tonight though).

[Wilson]

45 minutes ago, Gawalls said:

He’s the option when you’re attacking but when they have 74% possession and are raining down on you the knackered tripps is not the best option. Put hall LB and move livs over - he’ll even put Burn LB and play Alex Murphy CB but use this chance to give him a full weeks rest.

 

The established right back is definitely the option.. hindsight doesn't change that.  He's had a couple of stinkers lately but compare that to what he's done for us? 

 

 

'Put hall LB and move livs over' 

 

It's not quite as simple as that, which is one of the reasons Howe's the manager and not you. 

[midds]

Just now, madras said:

I personally think 2 or 3 extra bodies and we are in the semis.

 

I've never believed this mentality bit as there are plenty of occasions when those who are supposed to have it, hadn't.

2 or 3 would have helped like

 

It is what it is, I just think we need to learn how to win and shut games down when it gets to just a couple of minutes to play. Not sure it's all about ability when there's 93+ mins on the clock and you're hanging on away from home. Yeah, fresh legs and options are nice but it's about making good decisions and seeing it out and atm we don't seem to be capable of doing that, we need to improve on that asap

[Guest]

1 hour ago, joeyt said:

 

No need for the homophobia like

Can male prostitutes not be hired by women like? 

[WideopenMag]

We just seem lost when we haven't got the ability to press and play with high intensity, we don't seem to be able to retain the ball and play a possession based game for even a short period of time currently.

[Rod]

We win this until the Trippier f#ck up.  Why does  nobody mention this?

[madras]

1 minute ago, midds said:

2 or 3 would have helped like

 

It is what it is, I just think we need to learn how to win and shut games down when it gets to just a couple of minutes to play. Not sure it's all about ability when there's 93+ mins on the clock and you're hanging on away from home. Yeah, fresh legs and options are nice but it's about making good decisions and seeing it out and atm we don't seem to be capable of doing that, we need to improve on that asap

But that's it, I think we probably would have with the extra bodies, like we did last season when we saw many a game out.

[cubaricho]

3 minutes ago, midds said:

It is what it is, I just think we need to learn how to win and shut games down when it gets to just a couple of minutes to play.

Miggy taking that shot and not taking it into the corner, leading to their counter that became the goal, is the best example of this. 

[SimplyAnth]

I just think the real kicker from tonight’s exit and the PSG game is that due to the timings of the goals, as much as it didn’t seem sustainable, it turned out it actually was. Hard to criticise the game plan or management when the ref has made a horror decision in one, and Trippier has made a mistake from a zero pressure situation a Sunday League player would have probably handled, both so late on.
 

If we drew both by a goal due to the pressure and approach then fair enough and we couldn’t complain but I don’t think we did tonight and we definitely didn’t in Paris. Can sort of see the argument it’s poor performance meaning the margins are so tight, but for me we’d still be in both competitions if not for what are two really unexpected and freak situations.

 

Obviously not enjoyable watching us sit so deep and barely able to string a pass together but can’t argue it could have been very different, and even worse, with a different approach. That’s not even mentioning that I don’t think we really have much of a choice on the approach with the state of our squad.

[madras]

Just now, WideopenMag said:

We just seem lost when we haven't got the ability to press and play with high intensity, we don't seem to be able to retain the ball and play a possession based game for even a short period of time currently.

That was where (imo) where Tonali was supposed to fit in. I don't see him as some do as merely a Longstaff upgrade.