Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Chelsea – Tweets, Reports, Goals

1. Anonymous on 22 December, 2011 at 23:25

   Decent point (which I’d have settled for beforehand) but can’t help thinking we should have got more. Dominated the second half. Just seem to offer little threat beyond Studge at the moment. Doesn’t bare thinking about him getting injured in January.

   For me, yet more questions about Cech. With each replay of the Spurs goal, I simply can’t fathom how he doesnt get the ball. With noone to challenge him, he’s too comfortable at the moment. We need Courtois / A N Other next season to fight him all the way. Too harsh to fault him for another 2 points lost?

   It’s painful at times to watch a Chelsea team that’s simply a shadow of the machine we got used to. We’re compact and disciplined as much as ever, but not as exciting. Top 4 this season will be a result. It’s only going to be 3rd or 4th for us.

   More stories tomorrow about Lamps no doubt. Definitely the beginning of the end for him. Accept the reduced role of impact sub, or bid him a fond farewell in the summer. Either way, change is occurring.

2. NorthernVA on 23 December, 2011 at 05:17

   I just want to make a few points:

   1. There may be no better player across the spectrum of sport who responds to pressure better than John Terry. Whatever the conclusion of this last scandal is no one can ever take that from him. I reckon  if someone were to take a DNA sample of his make-up it would be 100% twisted, cold-blue steel. 

   As an aside I have to say the reaction of Liverpool Football Club and their fans has been a complete and utter disgrace. The only thing in US sport I can compare that to is the recent Penn State scandal. When the board of regents rightfully decided to sack Joe Paterno their idiotic student body decided to take to the streets in protest. Our entire nation sat back in horror at this misguided and shallow show display of civil unrest. We collectively said these buffoons “Just Don’t Get It.” 

   2. I stated this weeks ago: Drogba offers this team much more going forward than his current under study. Out of all the talented players on both sides of the pitch he had two of the “get out of your seat” moments of the game. One of which led to the first goal and the second which nearly broke the damn cross bar. He also played one the best balls of the night to Ramires which could have given us the lead.  It’s time some of our support wakes up to the reason AVB favors DD over FT and most other Chelsea managers have relied on DD over the other options at their disposal. He’s fucking class.

   3. I love Paulo Ferriera. Webster’s Dictionary should have a photo of him next to the term consummate professional. He deserves a place in the front office when he decides to hang his boots up and he should hang his boots up at Chelsea FC.

   4. Once Rambo learns how to finish consistently he will be the best midfielder on the planet. Kaka was not blowing smoke up our ass when he said we had signed the best midfielder in the world.

   5. Merry Christmas. We won’t win the league (should get top four) but we still have a chance at silverware. I personally love the FA Cup and trip to Wembley would more than satisfy me. Finally as much as we slate our team not too many clubs on the continent who would relish the opportunity of playing our Big Time Charlies.

3. Ganesh on 23 December, 2011 at 05:35

   I think regarding Lamps, he rual & ramires were on 4 yellow cards and AVB couldn’t risk him yesterday considering Rami will be banned for boxing day’s game…
   having said that, we performed coherently in the mid-field in the second half after mikel was taken off.. so unless Lamps ups the tempo during the game I think we have to prefer rual & rami as the first choice..
   Against wigan he constantly slowed down the game and was giving away possession quite easily.

4. Cunningplan on 23 December, 2011 at 07:20

   Excellent second half performance, and the the last 20mins of the first wasn’t too shabby either.
   On another day we could have done what City did, and scored 5 against them. the only cocern for me is, it appears we can raise our game against beter oppo, but can’t be arsed against lesser ones.

5. Anonymous on 23 December, 2011 at 07:43

   Credit to our players for playing on Boxing Day.  The tube drivers are on strike because they aren’t getting quadruple pay but all of our players are willing to work.

6. Anonymous on 23 December, 2011 at 09:57

   I’ve just received my customary pre match email from Chelsea.  The focus of the mailer is to get me to spend more in the shop, place a bet and buy a pre match burger.  Not a mention on how the hell am I supposed to get there with no tubes or trains.

   It’s good to see Ron is focussed on incremental margins over the Xmas period.

7. ravenous1 on 23 December, 2011 at 10:08

   I am O.K with conceding an early goal every game if it means that we stop playing in a semi-comatose state from then on.
   As soon as the Adebayor goal went in, Ramires started running about like an Energizer bunny. Someone really needs to work on his shooting technique or teach him how to gently lob the on-rushing keeper.
    My only other gripe was Meireles. His final balls for two games running are suicidal – finding an opponents feet with great accuracy and facilitating a counter-attack! However on current form, I think he shades Lampard in effectiveness.
   I am not going to pin any blame on Bosingwa but with Bale any RB is going to be a bit exposed.
   Petr Cech was culpable for the goal, but with his record, I’d rather concede a goal rather than having to risk another implant in his poor face again (unless of-course we have a solid back-up).
   Overall, entertaining game, we edged it on performance but thank father christmas for the Terry save or else we’d all be talking about what a poor decision it was to bring in Torres instead of Lampard@ChelseaClive:disqus

   On a side note, I cant help but think if someone does their hamstrings at this time of the year, they surely must’ve got strict instructions from their missus!

8. Anonymous on 23 December, 2011 at 10:27

   Great mid field in the second half tripple R midfield seems to be our best option (Romeu – Ramires – Raul). We were really unfortunate not to take all three points: two great chances missed by Ramires and one by Drog 🙁 Damn we could have taken it! Neveretheless I am ok with the result.    

9. Anonymous on 23 December, 2011 at 10:39

   OK, admission time. I didn’t watch the game live, preferring as I do from time to time to take the pain in one quick shot post game by checking the interwebtwitterversesphere. I watched SPOTY instead and rather enjoyed it barring the Man City lovefest with Mancini. Forgive my bitterness but I don’t recall seeing any Chelsea coach feature on this when we’ve been ACTUAL winners! 

   Yes, i ran the white flag up the pole, hid the iPhone and sat for 2 blissful hours ignorant of the game. Except when Fuckwit Lineker decided he’d tell Mancini the score. I used to like Lineker but more and more he’s falling into smug-celeb up his own arse culture.

   And so i watched after the game in glorious HD on my V+ box. yes, the goal was a shocker from several including JT. Bos and especially Cech. However, we did come back into the game well and at no point did Spurs look superior. To be fair they didn’t look inferior either and I’d have taken a draw at the start. So I’m happy not least of all because it feels like the transition has settled. 

   Plus points – Bosingwa at CB….who knew? Paolo managing to find a pocket big enough for Bale to sit in. Ramires looking better each game. Sturridge scoring again (yawn). Meireles and Romeu looking like utter bargains. Ashley Cole being back to his old self. JT showing that when the going gets tough……., top punditry from Hoddle and Souness. that JT block at the end, a point better than none

   Minus points – injuries to Ivan and Mikel, Ramires getting a 5th yellow, Cech being suspect, Drogba doing little again, Torres being expected to do loads in what amounts to no more than a cameo, Spurs being loathsome,  Adebayor not getting a second yellow despite committing around 4 offences worthy of one, two points lost.

   Two last observations. People criticising Sturridge, thinly veiled shit like ‘not the finished article’ and ‘needs better decision making’. Do I care? Do i fuck! The man is scoring goals, making goals, skinning people on both wings and yes, being an arrogant cocky bastard. When I think back to Rooney-fever that engulfed the nation when he first came on the scene and compare that to the underwhelming reaction to Sturridge I do start to think the world has flipped. 

   And finally, the finest chant I’ve heard in a long time Our fine away support singing ‘You Stupid Bastards, you burnt your own town’ – magic

   • Cunningplan on 23 December, 2011 at 11:39

     Agree with regard Sturridge, Tony, he may not be the finished article, but if he played for Utd the journos would be creaming their pants over him, just like they’re doing for Phil Jones.
     All you can ask of a goal scorer is to score goals, and he’s doing that while playing out of his favoured position.
     If Capello wants someone to replace Rooney for the first two games come June/July, then he need look no further than our man.

10. Anonymous on 23 December, 2011 at 12:52

    Brittish press is shallow and biased (I am talking regarding Sturridge), he scores, he creates he does everything! Fuck them all!  

    • Anonymous on 23 December, 2011 at 13:59

      Ok, hands up.  I was one of those who claimed he wasn’t the finished article.  I now accept that he is the finished article and has progressed to the packing department.

      He’s turning out much better than I envisaged and I wrote him off far too early.

      • Der_Kaiser on 23 December, 2011 at 14:09

        He still misses too many – sort of a cut price Andy Cole but with pace*

        * stated purely for the purposes of inciting a pre-Xmas row…

        • Cunningplan on 23 December, 2011 at 14:19

          Bastard! 😉

          • Der_Kaiser on 23 December, 2011 at 14:24

            Oh no he isn’t…  Oh yes he is…!  Look out, he’s behind you etc etc.

        • Anonymous on 23 December, 2011 at 14:32

          I see your game pal. But I’m not going to rise to the bait. I mean just how short sighted can you get, and talk about disloyalty you plastic so called suporter………(repeat ad infinitum)

          • Der_Kaiser on 23 December, 2011 at 14:51

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y

          • Anonymous on 23 December, 2011 at 20:36

            Marvellous!

      • Anonymous on 23 December, 2011 at 14:27

        There is no begger man than one who can admit his mistakes 😉 

11. Anonymous on 23 December, 2011 at 14:23

    I mentioned somewhere (here; Twitter; work- I cant remember. Sue me, it’s Xmas and I’ve had a Special Brew) that it’s a scary proposition to consider how good City would be if Sturridge were there this season.

    Beyond Rooney (for whatever reason) there can’t be a more viable option than Studge. Bent is injured and less prolific. Welbeck doesn’t play enough. Carroll is as bad or slightly worse than Torres.

    And people are questioning if Sturridge wi make the squad in the summer? I’d be questioning why he hasn’t made the starting XI if it comes to that.

12. Anonymous on 23 December, 2011 at 15:01

    In an attempt to restore calm and some seasonal goodwill can we turn now to the matter of Rob Whatsisname and Alan Smith’s botched agenda in their Sky commentary.

    My favourite moment was around the 36th minute when they were still so deeply into their “fabulous start by Spuds and Chelsea equalised despite not turning up yet” spiel they hadn’t noticed we’d already taken over the game. Then the attempts at goal stats came up at the bottom of the screen to reveal we already had 3 on target and 3 off target to the Spuds’ 1 of each.

    So that’s their goal and 1 off target effort in that “fabulous start”. The embarrassed silence that ensued was deeply cherishable.

    Not sure where the pair are getting their interesting stats to drop into commentary at the right moment from either, but after Torres came on I heard one of them say “Torres has still scored more goals for Liverpool than Chelsea in 2011” – I even rewound my Skybox to check his words as it seemed unlikely to me.

    A quick browse of our matchday programme and the ‘Pool website shows he scored 3 goals for them in January before his transfer. If you exclude his 2 in the CL for us  [and I guess a sports pundit looking to slag him off will] he’s still scored 1 EPL goal last season and 2 so far this. Which is not exactly £50million form, but still makes it a duff stat.

    OK – back to the bickering, lads!

    • Cunningplan on 23 December, 2011 at 15:09

      Troll! 😉

13. Marco on 23 December, 2011 at 17:25

    Just to keep the trolling going….

    Last night’s result was achieved in spite of Villas-Boas rather than to anything he tried to do. 

    Van de Vaart was forced off leaving them outnumbered in midfield.

    ‘Arry got his tactics all wrong (again) when he brought on Pavlyuchenko for van der Vaart.

    Paolo – whom he hasn’t picked all season – gave us the best right back defensive performance we have seen this season so far and took Bale out of the game. 

    Mikel – his first choice – was also forced off and Romeu came on to ensure our second-half dominance.

    Ashley hand-balled before crossing for Dan to score (which possibly evened up Webb’s failure to send off Adebayor).

    We continued to play the ‘medium block line’ in contradiction to his chosen tactics at the start of the season.

    JT ‘managed’ the team for him on the pitch with another outstanding performance.

    Villas-Boas – as has already been said on here – is not a great manager but a good manager still learning his trade. Unfortunately, getting rid of him will create more problems than it solves.

    But I still predict that he won’t be here come May.

    • Anonymous on 23 December, 2011 at 20:38

      I truly hope that is done in jest. 

    • Anonymous on 24 December, 2011 at 07:31

      🙂 AVB is the best manager we could possibly have for this period of time. 

14. Ososdeoro on 23 December, 2011 at 20:27

    Ashley’s hand ball only makes up for the one some Spur committed in the box (Adebayor again?) just before getting off a potential game winning shot in injury time. It doesn’t make up for what should have been Ade’s sending off.

15. Premier League: Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Chelsea ? Tweets, Reports, Goals | horizondrinks.net on 24 December, 2011 at 06:12

    […] The tweets The buildup… BluesChronicle: Seems a quiet night so far on Tottenham High Rd (all 2 miles of it). Strangely devoid of the usual wailing sirens. Still, it’s early yet. chelseayouth: John Terry will score… […]

16. Gleb on 24 December, 2011 at 09:33

    He’s a great, proactive manager with tons of potential and just the right amount of arrogance and confidence. He’ll come good, I’m sure, and even now the club is, at least, vibrant in terms of what’s going on. Our previous managers since Jose, whilst (some) successful, were not exciting at all. The club wasn’t moving forward with them. Carlo, for instance, did his job, a great job, mind you, but there’s was always the “so… what’s next?..” factor, you just couldn’t expect Carlo to be here for long. In other words, we need a new line of tradition, something to hold on to, like we had with Jose. Because part of our love and respect for him stems not only from his success, but also from the atmosphere, the vibe that surrounded him and the club. Him and AVB are like feisty, bitchy, crazy young girlfriends. Sure, sometimes (even a lot) you just hate them for their shenanigans, but deep down inside you always prefer them to an experienced, calm, collected woman, who you’re bound to be “happy” and “settled” with, but where’s the fun in that, eh?

    Merry Christmas to all you folks!!! Russian Christmas comes a bit later, on the 7th of January. Don’t forget to wish Roman a Merry Christmas on that day 🙂  

17. Anonymous on 24 December, 2011 at 12:17

    Merry Christmas my dear friends Chelsea supporters and special Merry Christmas to dear to my heart ChelseaFC Blog ! 
    KTBFFH!!! 

18. Dillberino on 24 December, 2011 at 15:44

    The thing about Frankie is that he is not ready to play the scholes bit part. i would hate to see him leave the club for more minutes on the pitch.

    Maybe send him off on loan to Real MAdrid for 12 months so that when he returns he is ready to play a reduced role at the club.

19. Anonymous on 24 December, 2011 at 23:02

    Happy Christmas to bloggers all.

    This year Father Xmas will be bringing us all a sense of perspec … Oh, wait a minute, of course he won’t.

    Here’s to another year of brilliantly opinionated ranting! Cheers.

20. bluebayou on 24 December, 2011 at 23:14

    I’ve been born down upon by the immensities of life just recently and have had no time to add my tuppence h’alfpenny to the learned discourse.

    Well done Tony and Mark for a couple of good pieces and also to Pete for general use of the hand grenade. I was sorry to miss the chance to join in.

    I was at the Lane Thursday night and would have loved to pen some thoughts but I knew I wouldn’t get the chance to write it all.

    There’s Harry Redknap, Harry Potter (I’ve been working at Kings Cross a lot lately, though not on Platform 9 and 3/4), the fact part of Harry Potter was filmed at Alnwick Castle  home to the Percy family, Dukes of Northumberland, who own the land where Tottenham was built, their illustrious ancestor Harry Hotspur (cf Shakespeare’s Henry IV PArt 1) whose knickname was given to the team……..so much material to work with, so many Harry’s before you even talk about the football. But time and tide was against me.

    In the end I was happy with a point but we had the chances to get ahead. When Harry put on Pavlyuchenko to go two up on Terry and Bosingwa I feared the worst. But it actually worked to our advantage as we got on top for large periods in midfield and they never really got the service in to trouble us on a consistent basis.

    It was a decent, exciting game. I think they seemed to want it more as a team than we did at times. Not that anyone was disinterested and we certainly fought back into the game after a poor 20 minutes and coped with the disruptive injuries, but the sight of Sandro laying on the touchline trying to keep the ball in play with his head was indicative of Spurs attitude through the eleven.

    Cole, Terry, Sturridge, Ramires and Bosingwa seemed to have a bit more fire than some of the others, though I think Drogba worked hard. The first half was tough for him as they used Sandro to screen in front of him on the high ball so it was difficult to get any useful possession a lot of the time. That said it was the old Drogba the manufactured the chance that hit the post. Second half they had a man less in midfield and there was just more room all round.

    But if Terry hadn’t made that last minute clearance it was all for nothing. We just have to be a bit more clinical when the chances come. But it was a an enjoyable game looking back, if excruciating at the time.

    Anyway, let me wish all of you and particularly the regulars the season’s best, however you celebrate or endure it. It’s been great fun coming here and joining in in the serious stuff and the nonsense for another year.

    And a special Chrimbo thanks to Nick for all the hard work.

    (And don’t be worrying about what on earth the Special Resolutions 10 and 11 mean in the CPO AGM agenda. For now anyway ;-)………   )

    I was going to inflict the usual Jerry Lee Lewis Christmas record on you but then I thought, being among so many lovers of railways it had to be Hank Snow and the “Christmas Cannonball”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhOMLofiF6Q&feature=related

    On a more football related theme and bearing in mind how things have picked up since that bad night in Leverkusen, there’s Over the Rhine “All I ever get for Christmas is Blue”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyK7iXVhLEs

    Or if you don’t think we’ve had enough Harrys, here’s a better looking one

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYt8imX8h6Q&feature=related

    Have a good one all.

21. Austin Solari on 25 December, 2011 at 09:52

    As someone who is an avid reader of this Blog but a very infrequent poster (something to do with the excellent writing that takes place on here and no wish to embarrass myself trying to match it), I would like to thank all the contributors and those who run this marvellous Blog for another Years magnificent prose.

    Merry Xmas to one and all here hoping it is an easy three pts tomorrow and maybe Nando getting a hat trick just to liven things up.

    • ChrisE on 28 December, 2011 at 14:23

      …as I am also a daily reader of this excellent blog and am also in awe of the quality of the writing and argument which I could never hope to match….Happy New Year to all!

22. Ryan on 25 December, 2011 at 11:12

    Happy Xmas everyone. I wonder what Roman Claus will bring us in January?

    CB- Definitely.
    Midfielder- Possibly
    Winger- Hopefully
    Striker- Doubtful

    Cahill deal is as good as done (apparently)

    Top-class midfielder won’t be easy to come by in January. Tiote? Moutinho? Rodwell? Personally speaking I d like to see us sign Fellaini from Everton. I think he has the potential to be a Yaya Toure/Patrick Viera sort. A big, dirty bastard who can dominate midfield in attack and defence. He’s just signed a 5 year deal at Everton though.

    Krasic is desperate for a way out of Juve. Plenty of rumours linking him to us. Could happen. Would free Sturridge to play through the middle. Could be good.

    Don’t think we’ll splash the cash for a striker in January. Cavani? £50 million?Doubtful. Higuain? No idea if Real would sell him to us? Probably not mid-season. Torres to go for £25-£30 million? Unsure on two counts. Is that sort of offer really on the table? Would Roman accept it?
    We’ll see.

    Do we still need a RB now? Should Paulo be in the first team? Probably we still do. Who? Dunno? Not an easy position to fill. Even Alves and Ramos aren’t exactly faultless. I’m struggling to think of a better RB than Micah Richards at the moment.

    Hopefully AVB and Emanelo have a better idea what to do than me.
    Maybe you do too? I’d be interested to know what you all think.

    Best wishes. Hopefully a happy and successful 2012 for you all (and, crucially, for the Chels too!)

23. Anonymous on 25 December, 2011 at 22:06

    Cahil talk
    http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/69/transfer-zone/2011/12/23/2815750/chelsea-has-been-in-talks-to-sign-gary-cahill-bolton-boss

24. Anonymous on 26 December, 2011 at 14:44

    Heres hoping for the usual Fiftee-inspired pessimism turnaround at the Bridge.

    But, fuck me what is going on? Man U batter them 5-0 at home and us, now as the home team, are struggling to stay level.

    Second-rate and then some….

25. Benjami on 26 December, 2011 at 15:41

    Me and my dad always go to the boxing day game together and that was a shocker 😛 I can’t actually remember us winning on boxing day for ages (selective memory in the mood I am in +++)? 4-4 last year I think and 4-4 a few years ago vs Villa? Normally entertaining games we get, but today ;/

    Fulham should have gone for it they would have won, they only played for about 5 minutes after we scored (great finish by Mata) and we looked all over the place in that period.

    Instead of a goal giving the team motivation we just sat back and hide behind the sofa until the inevitable happened and then they scored a scruffy goal.

    Then they went defensive again.

    I fear we are turning into Liverpool from a few seasons ago (with added Torres features), in that we can get motivated for the big games and play above ourselves. But against smaller teams we just don’t turn up.

    Before this game, I thought It would be Man City, Man Utd, Us, Arsenal. But now I see us finishing in a lethargic 5th place and losing to Napoli on away goals.

    For me Lamps and Torres are over, and I don’t see Lamps playing in that Scholes/Giggs role. We should offer him to RM and Jose and see what we can get in return in terms of a striker. AVB needs to do a Ferguson here and make a big decision for the long term success of the club. Then Torres to Malaga/PSG for as much as we can get.

    I would have picked the same side AVB did and unfortunately Malouda on for Frank did improve our performance 🙁 which for me is a bad sign for Frank.

    Lets test Spurs resolve again re Modric. I thought we deserved the win against them the other night so hopefully that might help convince him the switch is good for his long term career. Plus at least he doesn’t have to go back to 3 point lane this season for the return game.

    We missed Ramires’ energy badly today, and him Modric and Romeu would be a very hard working midfield who can ping the ball around nicely and keep running right to the end of the game.

    Modric will help give the ball earlier to Mata, who will then have more space to feed Drogba = more goals! Plus with Ramires then arriving late or bursting forward, Modric will really improve our counter attacking football with fast passing and the ability to shoot from outside the box. We can’t let Modric go to Man Utd!

    That would leave us Mata, Sturridge and Drogba (give him the 2 years AVB!!) up front.

    Average age of our midfield would then be 20 + 26 + 24 =  23.3. Not bad!

    McEachran to Bolton on loan sell Kakuta 😛

    • Anonymous on 26 December, 2011 at 16:23

      Drogba? 2 years. After that miss? Torres did more in the first 15 minutes than Drogba did vs Wigan and Spurs. 

26. Anonymous on 26 December, 2011 at 15:55

    Perfect summary Benjami

27. Anonymous on 26 December, 2011 at 16:08

    Similar feelings here — don’t we always have a disappointing home draw on Boxing Day? Thought we looked reasonable balanced and composed, but too easy to defend against. Romeu was overdue an average-to-poor game and until Malouda came on and started to run directly at/past people the midfield was pancake-flat. Not helped by Cashley obviously hanging back to cover the threat of Ruiz (who ended up making their goal anyway).

    I thought Nando played almost as if he was Drogs — the way he set Mata up for the goal was exactly the kind of thing big centre-forwards are supposed to do, and his run onto Mata’s ball for his best chance was also very Droglike. I didn’t think he was all that terrible. No one really covered themselves in glory. JT and Crazy David were both good but otherwise a performance to match the post-Xmas lunchtime feeling of hung over bloatedness.

28. Benjami on 26 December, 2011 at 16:13

    Got bored and did some stats.

    If you look at our results in 2010/2011/2012 and remove all the teams that have been relegated or promoted and just look at the stable teams (14 of them) then compare our current campaign with previous ones then:

    Our points total at this stage in the season:

    2010 – 26
    2011 – 27
    2012 – 22

    🙁

    This season we have 12/15 points available against all the newly promoted (QPR!!) sides which is equal to our performance in 2010 and better than in 2011.

    Again this is excluding teams promoted and relegated but in 2010 based on this years fixtures list we now push on to win 12/15 of our remaining games and lose the remaining 3.

    This is what powers us to the title – 36/45 points at a 80% win rate.

    (To compare this with our results in 2011 these were 21/45 points for the remaining games)

    If our current form continues then I predict we will end up with:

    24 points from the promoted teams
    46 from stable teams

    Total 70 points – 3rd in 2011 / 4th equal with Spurs in 2010

    Or if we match last seasons remaining performances and continue our form vs relegated sides we will finish on 67 points 4th in 2011 and 5th equal with Man City.

    But of course it is looking this season like 70 points will not be enough, and we probably need at least 75 points to achieve 4th place. So our form relative to the previous seasons MUST improve or we will be outside the top 4 as it currently stands.

    Squeaky bum time!

29. Cunningplan on 26 December, 2011 at 16:18

    Similar performance and game, to the Wigan one, with lethargy being the order of the day. I don’t think anyone played well today, too many mince pies me thinks!

    On saying that Fulham have always been a bit of a thorn in the side for us, about time they got relegated.

30. Anonymous on 26 December, 2011 at 16:54

    Read some of the comments post Fulham. Struggling with the anti-Torres sentiment when he did more this game than Drogba did in Wigan and Spurs games combined. If Torres gets a run he’ll be awesome. Studge was off beam but had a great shot saved by Stockdale. In fact several of our players had shots stopped by him. Sadly our keep managed to louse up on one of their few chances again – seriously that sort of stuff should be meat and drink for Cech.

    Perhaps we should get Stockdale in and let them have Turnbull. Ashley Cole had a stinker in my eyes today and as for Lamps……words fail me but he was completely anonymous today. If he’s playing for his place then he’ll need a cushion for that hard bench. 

    However, the most depressing moment was when Luiz played a fantastic ball over the top to an unmarked Drogba, onside who cut in and rolled the ball in Stockdale’s arms. Disgracefully pathetic weedy finish from a so called top line striker. Give him 2 years? You’re having a laugh surely?

    And so, a team that Manchester United destroyed at home, come to our home and walk way with a draw. As TerrencetheCat tweeted, perhaps there should be a box next to each name on the teamsheet they can tick if they’re going to be arsed to put a shift in.

    And finally, was this down to AVB? Well, in that he picks the players I suppose so. But when those players decide to play the same as they did at Wigan, casual, arrogance they can’t carry off then it’s fair to say we’ve falled a long way behing the Mancs (both). Some of our more….ahem…comfortable players, earning their huge salaries, comfortably living in their gated community mansions need more than a kick up the arse. 

31. Ryan on 26 December, 2011 at 17:31

    If this mediocre bunch can’t get themselves motivated because it’s the day after Xmas get rid of the cunts. The last three draws have been pathetic. Wigan. Didn’t start till the second half. Scored and continued to play like shit and let WIGAN dominate and put us under pressure. Yeah that is the same Wigan team that Utds reserves beat 5-0 today. While we were drawing with Fulham (who strangely also got a pasting from an injury hit Utd team). In-between we drew with Spurs. Against whom we couldn’t have looked worse until we were already 1-0 down. Even then we couldn’t go on and win the game when Spurs were really poor second half.

    AVB needs to have a good look at himself and his squad. No bastard seems to want to leave. Lampard, Drogba, Cech, Malouda etc. etc. These players are past their best but they’re never going to admit that and fuck off because they’ve got it too easy at Chelsea. This season has been a disaster so far and I can’t see it getting any better the way this lot are playing. So what do you do? Have a clearout is my suggestion. Too many players coasting here.

    Utd haven’t been anything special this year but guess what? They’re top of the league tonight. Because they’ve beaten shit like Fulham, QPR, Wigan etc. What have we done?

32. Jose_fan on 26 December, 2011 at 17:34

    The first half performance was an echo of last year’s ‘difficult moment’; defending deep, no pressure on the ball and slow build up play. Apparently this style suits our older players better.. 

33. Ryan on 26 December, 2011 at 17:35

    Oh sorry my mistake City are still top on GD. Anyway you see my point. While everyone has raved about City, Utd have just got on with it. Now they’re level on points.

34. Anonymous on 26 December, 2011 at 19:50

    Wherever lamps playing in midfield we become completely pedestrian. This bunch of old lazy bastards MUST be sold and sooner better.

35. Ryan on 26 December, 2011 at 21:34

    Yeah the whole team’s lack of creativity does seem to be magnified when Lampard starts. Despite the usual derogoratory Torres comments the commentators (well Mark Bright at least) was honest enough to make the point that if you just forget that it’s £50million Torres it would be fair to say that the team was playing badly, struggling to create anything and he was isolated. Basically if it was any other striker in the league (except maybe Carroll) the commentary would centre around how ineffective the team was. Not how bad the CF was. I thought that was a very fair point. It’s tough to play as the point-man in what is often more like a 4-5-1 than a 4-3-3. Especially when your midfield isn’t overflowing with creativity. I still can’t understand the reluctance to go 4-4-2 against some sides.

36. Anonymous on 26 December, 2011 at 22:03

    Fuck it. Who cares? Certainly not the players. Dis-jointed and dis-interested.

    All the hacks are jumping over (once again) how shit Torres is without stopping to think how shit the service to him is (clue : massively). Stick him on the right of a three man attack? Might as well put the fucking gloves on him and replace Cech. Sorry AVB, but you’re still a long way fron being the master tactician.

    If the players show little sign of interest, why should anyone else. Lamps being in the side merely slowed everything by 50%. Sod bitching about being on the bench Frank, you’ve got GCSE’s or something. Doesn’t take Einstein to see why things are no longer clicking.

    Overreaction? Probably. But not many can come on here and dismiss it as ‘one of those things’ (unless ‘those things’ are uninspired, lacking in creativity snore-fests against teams battered by our so-called equals). Is it indefensible? Some will try, but the serious questions continue to pile about AVB’s actual fit for the job and the standard of players we persist with. FFS, the title challenge has been over for a while. Lamps has been hindering us more than helping us lately, someone explain how Josh being given a chance would have had a lesser-impact.

37. Anonymous on 26 December, 2011 at 22:13

    Also, I’m getting mightily bored of how good the opposition always are according to AVB post match. Seemingly, week-after-week the mighty Chelsea world doninators have been stifled by somewhat surprisingly defiant opposition.

    I know he’s not going to come out and admit its his fault, but the Prem’s not that good. Fulham without their first choice strikers after a battering by Man U should be beaten.

    Yes, we’re in a transition. But still going down to find the level to build on. Forth is gone tomorrow night, and that’s a real concern. I for one don’t see it being made again by us.

38. Anonymous on 26 December, 2011 at 22:18

    … and I think Lamps contributed about 60% of our give-away balls today 

39. Ryan on 26 December, 2011 at 22:25

    Fuck knows! But what really hurts is not that the team is packed full of mediocrity. It’s that they look totally clueless. I mean United have half their first team injured and it’s an average (by their standards) squad anyway. They’re still doing the business week in, week out. Why? Desire. Ferguson’s leadership. Players who know they’ll never be bigger than the club and will never be allowed to dictate what happens at the club. Take your pick. You can probably think of reasons of your own.

    I don’t think it’s an overreaction to say that those in charge at Chelsea need to have a good look at themselves and the squad. It won’t be too radical to make some big changes in January because the way things are going we won’t be in the CL next year whatever happens.

    Seems like we beat Newcastle, Valencia and City and that was enough for some. They justified their huge wages and senior status for a week. Job done. Not good enough.

40. Ryan on 26 December, 2011 at 22:32

    Also on the Torres point… if Cavani, Higuain, Robinho or whoever saw today’s Chelsea performance there is absolutely fuck all chance that they’ll be queuing up to replace him anyway is there?. Bollocks I’d rather be Steve Kean’s PR officer than play upfront for Chelsea at the minute.

41. Benjami on 26 December, 2011 at 22:53

    Ok my opinion on Torres and Drogba is simple.

    I was a supporter of Torres until pretty much the middle of this game. In 1 month and a few days time he will have been here for one year. I don’t know what the stats are but his goals per minutes must be a shocker 😛 He has had a full injury free pre-season.

    Now imagine if we could magically replace Torres with Rooney. So Rooney is now getting the same service that Torres had today.

    Do you think the Chelsea side with Rooney is better than the one with Torres?

    The answer, that other football fans from other clubs would be, yes.

    Why? Because Rooney would actually make stuff happen around him or he would magic a goal from no-where. When has Torres scored a goal when we have been playing poor? The answer is never. How many times has Rooney done that for United when his service has been poor? Lots of times.

    He also creates stuff for other players, now don’t say today’s goal because actually Torres just messed up the control and thankfully Mata was on hand.

    I thought we bought Torres so he could run past people and score goals. Instead people defend him saying he is never given golden opportunities. Unfortunately when he does get great chances he usually misses them :p

    We have to take off our Torres glasses and realise that that £50m is a sunken cost and shouldn’t be included in our decision making.

    To anyone who says well Rooney is in “form” and Torres isn’t, well then why is RA paying him then? Torres is a striker but he doesn’t look like one. Do we have time for this?

    I want Torres to come back and prove me and everyone wrong during the African Cup of Nations, but I fear he wont. And right now we are NOT on target for 75+ points and 4th place in the league. It is almost panic stations, and if we don’t improve our results by the end of January who knows…

    Our other striker is Drogba. Why would I keep him for 2 years, because at least every few games when he turns up he wins us the game by himself. He ain’t what he was, but as an impact sub and player to have in the team he is key. Torres has never done this.

    Sell the lazy puta 😛

42. Ryan on 26 December, 2011 at 23:31

    I agree partly. I’ve mentioned on a previous thread that when you watch Rooney drop off to link play or come wide to get the ball watch him after he lays the ball off to someone else joining the attack. Lad absolutely knocks his bollocks out to get back into a dangerous position or find space further forward. Observe Torres and Drogba. Too often they’re just jogging back into any CF position. But it can be frustrating playing up front basically alone, having to drop off or come wide all the time just to get a touch.

    I’d also say we are sabotaging our own attempts to actually win games by regularly starting so poorly. Either giving away early goals or just not getting started until after half time. Also we can no longer hold on to a lead like we used to.

43. Ganesh on 27 December, 2011 at 05:31

    Ryan/Benjami,
    Its not just about dropping deep and doing a link play. Rooney’s link play will be of no use if you don’t have Pacy wingers or a midfield who moves the ball faster. Valencia/Nani & Welbeck are so good at that so when Rooney gives the ball to any of them during a break away he can just run at the defenders and can be sure that he will receive the ball at the right space…  But thats not the case yesterday, our midfield was so abysmal in pressing that Danny Murphy had acres of space before picking up a pass. Torres did try to press and won the ball couple of times, but in majority of the times he was running around the back four like a headless chicken, because no else was there to press.If AVB believes that giving full freedom to the players in deciding which way to play(low/medium/high block :D) on the pitch then he doesn’t need to be on the touchline..he can very well go home and watch the match on TV. It doesn’t take a master tactician to identify that there was no pressing in the first half and we were dropping too deep. He should have substituted Frank (or) Raul who was equally poor and bring on may be Kalou to provide more power upfront. Our goal just came out of the blue and I don’t believe it was due to any change in the system. For god sake it was against a untried fulham line-up and we were dropping so deep as if we were playing against barcelona.. We did miss the boundless energy of Ramires.Again on the matter of Rooney, He & Suaraz have gone 8-9 games without scoring, but still they were trusted by their managers and given a run out on every game. Fergie, benches berba for Rooney though he was the highest score in premier league last term, just shows that you have to have trust in your star man and provide him with enough ammunition.

    Torres was excellent during the first 4-5 games in the league as well as against Valencia,Leverkusen & Genk. But when our midfield turns pedestrian he can’t do much, neither can drogba (or) rooney. Strikers make goals for themselves when they have confidence and that will come only if the manager shows that. Danny boy is playing so well, because AVB trusts him and he knows that he can try different things in a match or shoot at sight when there are other better options. Torres can’t do that because that may backfire for his chances to play the next game..

44. SweetDairyAir on 27 December, 2011 at 06:11

    I agree with most of the points being made above. However Torres did drop deep a few times yesterday and try to make things happen. He has no confidence or form right now, probably stemming from the fact that hardly anybody in the team does either, therefore meaning his running from deep basically came to nothing. We rely too much on Mata to create chances, and although good, Meirelles wasn’t our first choice and he isn’t as good as Modric. We need someone apart from Mata to create chances for the team.

    A lot of our older players are holding us back. Malouda may try (sometimes), but even then his best effort is too slow because he has no pace. Same goes for Lampard (whose touch appears to have gone too). Anelka and Alex have already been cast aside. 

    In a round about way I’m trying to say that I think our form will pick up if we get a few pacy, tricky players in January. Be pragmatic. Get them even if they’re cup tied (like Luiz last year). It will be good in the long term. Get players even if they’re only good and not world class, as long as they fit the new style of having pace and technique. Sometimes I feel we just need to run at teams. You see how successful it has been with Sturridge, a very good player but not world class yet. Imagine if we had a team full of players like him and technical ones like Mata, and less of Lampard and Malouda. 

    A few weeks ago Man City were apparently going to run away with it, and now they’re level on points. At the beginning of the season Man Utd were going to win it. At points last season we were fifth I believe, and we ended up second. In the double winning season it wasn’t all rosy either. We beat all the big teams, and if that happens you expect to run away with a league. But we had to beat Liverpool away and Man Utd away right at the end of the season to win the title that year. We didn’t beat the small teams that year either. Carlo’s first year was good, but papered over some cracks that were evident with our Champions’ League performances. And we have kept most of the spine of that team around still to this day.

    At the moment there is nobody to call on when we are struggling. Yay let’s bring on Kalou! Or a Drogba who will no doubt go back to being rubbish when he gets his contract. Or Lampard. Hmm. Of course AVB has to keep them on side, hoping they will improve, until he gets replacements. Of course he can’t slag them off in public. People are crazy if they expect that. Maybe it’s not a matter of desire from those players. Maybe they just can’t bring their A-game unless it’s a big match. Maybe they’re all just past it, and we all suspect that. I just wish we hadn’t waited so late to buy all their replacements. These things were evident even in our double winning season.

    If we get the right players this January to start the rebuilding process (that will hopefully carry on in a big way in the summer), I reckon we will easily finish third, possibly second. Going through the shittiest of form and still being in touching distance of third says something about the quality of teams this year. Improve slightly, and third is ours. 

45. Cunningplan on 27 December, 2011 at 08:45

    For all the rantings and disappointment on this blog, I have one word PERSPECTIVE!!!
    Yes it was a poor performance yesterday, just like the Wigan game, but our results were no worse than City’s or Liverpool’s, and just to point out, we are 3 points better off than we were at the same point last season, and were 5th in the table.

    We have 20 games to go, so lets see where we end up before any rash judgements are made on players, or the manager, lets give AVB a fucking chance, otherwise we may as well give every unemployed manager in football, a six month contract to manage our club.

46. Anonymous on 27 December, 2011 at 09:53

    CP,

    Fair point on the comparison with last season. Though, to counter that somewhat, Spuds have two games in hand and Arsenal one. The perspective makes it a little less rosy when / if their games in hand are won.

    Also, there was no ACN last season. We’re going to be missing our second-best (granted, that’s not saying much…) striker for a month.

47. Ryan on 27 December, 2011 at 11:35

    Just to clarify, I don’t want AVB sacked. When I say he needs to look at himself I mean only in the sense that he will need to be a bigger man than many who went before him and call time on Terry and Lamps little clique. Also he needs to question whether his players are motivated. Why are they starting every game so badly? Against teams like Wigan, Fulham, QPR if you begin slowly/poorly you allow them to play their way into the game and give them the confidence to get a result.

    Rooney is just an all round better player than Drogba or Torres at the moment and the reason he doesn’t get dropped when he fails to score is because he gives 100%+ every game. Drogba is prone to sulking, moping around and generally playing like a cunt if he feels he isn’t getting the right service sometimes. Torres never really looks like he is going to be capable of making anything happen on his own. Although I do think he’d be better suited to 2 upfront.

    Forget perspective. If we all accept performances like yesterday’s we’re finished as credible title challengers (and I’m not just talking about this year). Forget last year or the year before. This year Utd and City will finish with well over 90 points. On current form we’ll be on 70 if we’re lucky.

48. Nick on 27 December, 2011 at 12:09

    Apologies for the lack of a Fulham review post. Circumstances are such that I’ve had to put trivial matters like football and blogging to the back of my mind for a few days. Things should return to normal by the weekend.

    – Nick

49. Ryan on 27 December, 2011 at 15:27

    As if to illustrate my point on starting games properly Arsenal 1-0 up after ten minutes against bottom half opposition. Easy 3-0 win on the cards and we drop down to fifth.

50. Ryan on 27 December, 2011 at 16:09

    Oh no hang on. They’re a useless lot of wankers too. Fletcher could keep Wolves up this season if he stays clear of injuries. I’ve got a lot of time for Big Mick so that’d be no bad thing. Lets hope they do us a favour in the second half here.

    • Cunningplan on 27 December, 2011 at 16:56

      Should never post and predict while the game is still ongoing Ryan. 😉

      • Anonymous on 27 December, 2011 at 17:16

        Wise words, CP, just like  your comment earlier today countering all the doom and gloom on here in recent days.

        We can now add the Gooners to the top six teams messing up against the lower half of the table this week.

        I’d be even happier if it didn’t look increasingly like turning into another of those seasons where everyone else hands the EPL to Lord Ferg’s boys who grind out more results when playing poorly and prove the least mediocre of the bunch 🙁

        • Cunningplan on 27 December, 2011 at 17:31

          I fear you may be right with regards Utd, I think that was the case last year as well with them winning it, old purplenose just knows how to grind out those results.

          For all the talk of Citeh running away with it, I feel that they just might bottle it when it really matters, we’re already seeing small signs of that now.

          Still, long way to go yet.

51. Ryan on 27 December, 2011 at 17:14

    Yep. However in this case I was pretty happy to be wrong! Liverpool and Arsenal keep letting us off the hook. Surely we’ll start to see some improvement soon.

52. Benjami on 27 December, 2011 at 21:49

    Chelsea’s New Years Resolution

    a. Win on the *cough 31 December at SB to Villa, (no 4-4 draws beat them!, I saw Villa Liverpool they are v.poor right now)
    b. Win every game in January (this is achievable)
    c. With our confidence now at maximum, smash the Mancs at the bridge on the 5th of Feb.
    d. Top of the league! (well 3rd or better hopefully :P)

53. Benjami on 27 December, 2011 at 21:54

    I just checked others fixtures in the January period, we have the easiest, then Man Utd, Spurs could drop 7 points quite easily, and City is crazy congested.

    January is the month to turn it around AVB and the team cmon!

54. Anonymous on 27 December, 2011 at 22:41

    Nick,

    Sounds grim. Leave the whinging and pessimism to the usual grumpy shuts and concentrate in the important stuff.

    Spuds looked good versus the Canaries. Very good. Yet we drew with them.

    Arsenal dropped points against supposedly beatable Wolves and somehow had a man advantage. Stuart Attwell must be the worst referee in the history of the Prem. Never a red for Milijas, yet Alex Song makes 1 and a half red card worthy challenges in 10 seconds for the grand sum of one yellow. That’s simply favouritism.

    We’re still shit / fucked / not good enough / needing a massive rebuild in January etc.

55. Anonymous on 28 December, 2011 at 10:50

    Best wishes to you and yours Nick.

56. Biggs on 29 December, 2011 at 16:10

    http://media.englishrussia.com/112012/freaksfromsocialnetworks/freaksfromsocialnetworks-61.jpg

57. Anonymous on 30 December, 2011 at 08:35

    Happy New Year Dear Friends! Let’s hope we shall old 2011 going away with smiles on our faces (I refer to Villa game) 
    KTBFFH!!!!!

58. Cunningplan on 30 December, 2011 at 10:51

    First signing by the looks of things….. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16290837.stm
    I think the lad is a good aquisition.

    • Anonymous on 30 December, 2011 at 11:50

      Let’s hope, his last perfromance wan’t that good, but hopefully he rediscovers his last season form.

    • Anonymous on 30 December, 2011 at 17:46

      Cahill’s haggling for more money so he should fit in well with our squad.

59. Cunningplan on 31 December, 2011 at 14:43

    Well itsn’t football a funny old game, who would have thought Blackburn would get 3 points at OT

60. Anonymous on 31 December, 2011 at 14:49

    Well whatever happens today, just want to point out what an amazing story it’s been for Sam Hutchinson. On the bench today.

    Kudos to him for his determination.

61. Anonymous on 31 December, 2011 at 16:46

    He should all these FUCKERS and play youth! They should all rotten in reserves all of them one by one: Drog, Lamps, Terry especcially ! Happy New Year Chelsea!

    • NorthernVA on 31 December, 2011 at 17:03

      Play youth? Rewatch the second goal and then tell me about the supposed virtues playing youth. What in the name of everything that is holy was going in David Luiz’s head. AVB backed the wrong Brazilian CB. We’re fucked!

      • Anonymous on 31 December, 2011 at 18:40

        And then watch the ‘experience’ of Frank Lampard at play for the 3rd goal.

        • Cunningplan on 31 December, 2011 at 19:17

          Yes a Xmas gift put on a plate.

          Fiftee, don’t want to get into any arguments, my perspective is still intact, nothing has changed.
          Utd lose to the bottom side at home, (god forbid had they done that to us today) Spurs drop points against a newly promoted side, and Arsenal scrape a win agaisnt another, after their poor result against Wolves. Now if City lose, or draw tomorrow, then our result in the grand scale of things makes little or no difference.

          Anyway not going to let our only defeat in December spoil my New Years Eve, so happy new year to everyone, lets hope we can kick on with a few better results, and a bit more luck.

62. Anonymous on 31 December, 2011 at 16:47

    Champions League is over-rated. Don’t want to be in it next season anyway.

    Premier League though, I’d like to stay in that though.

    We are a thoroughly broken machine.

63. Anonymous on 31 December, 2011 at 17:03

    CP,

    How’s that perspective holding up? What a fucking shambles.

    Wouldn’t be surprised if Cahill changes his mind. And Josh going out on loan? No. Keep him and play him every game now. Torres more of a threat than Drogs for his time on the pitch. The only positive.

    AVB will spout the usual spiel about how well organised and defensive Villa were blah blah blah. We hear it every week. We’re (supposedly) one of the top teams in the league yet lack anything approaching creativity. With Sturridge off the boil, we pose little goal threat. The new midfield 3 is just completely anonymous. And the defence? Well, there’s no defence for the slackness they exhibit every fucking week.

    We’ve been shit for too l

64. SweetDairyAir on 31 December, 2011 at 17:06

    Wow that was depressing. Maybe it’ll push the the management and board to buy more than a centre back, because we clearly need it. Perhaps we can buy a striker who can control and pass the simplest of balls, unlike Drogba. And a midfielder who isn’t as slow and useless as Lampard has become. And maybe just 5 other players because most of this lot are beyond useless anyway. 

65. Anonymous on 31 December, 2011 at 17:09

    We’ve been shit for too long.

    AVB seemingly unable to give an honest reason why, and people have the right to know.

    All this 3 year plan bullshit means nothing. He’s got his ideas and is right to stick to them. But are they in the best interest of the club?

    I’m going with no. He’s looking like a fraud; a man way out of his depth. A transfer window and open chequebook won’t make it better. We’re no longer an attractive option for signings – we can’t guarantee CL football next season.

    Is it a transition? Not for me. This is out beloved Chelsea

66. SweetDairyAir on 31 December, 2011 at 17:29

    I’m not sure whether it’s too much to do with the fact that AVB may be out of his depth (which I think is only partly true – he is a very young coach), but more to do with our players just not being good enough. It’s fairly simple really. The solution isn’t simple, but the problem is fairly easy to spot I think. 

    Cech is pretty good, but not the amazing player he used to be (be it through injuries, form, or overall team performance making everyone look bad), Terry is losing it unfortunately, our right backs are not good (Ivanovic is steady but offers little going forward), Luiz currently makes mistakes (although I maintain he will become a great player in the long term), Alex is slow and lazy (and leaving anyway), A. Cole is losing his pace and cutting attacking play, Mikel is the same average-to-just-above-average-and-probably-half-decent-squad-player he has always been, Romeu is already good and will get better (good signing), Meirelles was a good stop gap player until we got someone in the class of Modric, who we ACTUALLY wanted, Ramires offers a lot but creativity probably isn’t one of them, Lampard is just bad now, Anelka has left, Kalou offers little except running up blind alleys, Malouda is so slow it’s embarrassing (so that on the rare occasion he does try, he can’t run past anyone), Mata is great but we are way too over-reliant on him and he appears tired, Torres offers a bit and hopefully when he plays every game during the ACN his form will pick up, Drogba cannot control the ball or pass at all, not even one yard (!), and Sturridge is still pretty raw, no matter what anyone says (good, but needs a lot more polish as the performance today showed).

    The signings we made in the summer have turned out pretty well, but they barely make up half a first team, let alone a squad. We need a lot more changes. A lot of the players are too old so that even if we do turn their form around, it won’t be good enough for the long term. It’s actually a lot more of a daunting task when you think about it in detail, from player to player.

    • NorthernVA on 31 December, 2011 at 17:49

      Wow you almost ran out of players to scapegoat. Kudos for the swipes at Alex, Mikel, Malouda, and Kalou who correct me if I’m wrong had fuck all to do with this putrid display.  You were probably a lot closer to the root of the problem in your initial paragraph. You should have just stopped there.

      • SweetDairyAir on 31 December, 2011 at 18:28

        They may have had nothing to do with today, but they haven’t added to any good performances throughout this pretty poor season we’ve been having. We need to see the overall picture the season is painting, and it isn’t good. 

        Oh and Mikel I think we should keep. He is a pretty good player, and the squad should be filled with more roughly his age (but maybe a bit quicker). I was just saying that he probably isn’t up there in the outstanding players in his position, but he’s alright. 

        As for the others, I’m not sure I was too wrong on those. Maybe exaggerating a bit, but from this season don’t you think there’s a point to what is being said. I’m not the only ones making these type of observations. It just appears a lot worse when you make one big list.

67. Ganesh on 31 December, 2011 at 17:34

    I seriously believe AVB is out of depth. When it was pretty evident that the game was crying out for a wide men to exploit the place, he introduces Torres for Danny boy and we started playing diamond…. I am pretty sure this is going to hurt sturridge’s confidence and no wonder he will be benched soon.. 

    And then he brings Bosingwa for Ferriera, why not send Kalou or malouda(who was better when he came on last time out)… he just have to understand the fact that we need some spark to win games… his substitutions are bizzare and no wonder the crowd aren’t getting behind the team..For what stupid reason, does AVB keeps on playing Drogba when its pretty clear that he is not going to be around for the next season. for god’s sake give torres the required minutes on the pitch.. all he needs is bit of luck and trust..

68. Ganesh on 31 December, 2011 at 17:36

    When I meant Torres for Danny.. it should have been for Drogba

69. Machchan on 31 December, 2011 at 18:00

    Like I said in response to that poor 1:1 with Wigan, AVB’s tactics smacked of a teenager playing Football Manager.  Today we had further proof.  Will he come good eventually with plenty of experience at the cost of our beloved club, Russian patience allowing? 

    Another rant: letting player power get too strong was a critical mistake.  Now we have ex-thoroughbreads playing like donkeys… whither the “transition”?

    Painful times ahead.

70. Ryan on 31 December, 2011 at 19:33

    No excuses today. Combination of not being good enough, not wanting it badly enough, confidence being at rock-bottom and still looking disorganized.

    That AVB is a decent manager/tactician is not in question. Is he a managerial great? No. Not yet. Maybe not ever. Maybe just not at Chelsea. He doesn’t seem to be getting anything from this group of players. I’m not questioning his man-management or ability but it just strikes me that the players aren’t responding to him for whatever reason. I don’t want to criticize players individually or the coaching staff but something is just not right. I know most of the team is no longer world-class but they should still be good enough to beat Wigan, Fulham, Villa, QPR etc. but they haven’t.
    It reminds me of Brian Clough’s short time at Leeds. On the surface good players, good manager, no problem but when something is not right below the surface it is uncanny how quickly a good side can go bad and results dry-up.

    It seems to me there is a divide on here between those who back the old-guard (JT, Lamps, Didier etc.) and those who want rid. Personally I’m not bothered who is in the team (if the manager watches training everyday and thinks Torres isn’t up to starting it’s tough to argue because I don’t get to see what he sees) but when performances get so poor and confidence is so low it has to be either the players, the manager or both. Well that is Abramovich’s next decision. Does he back AVB and overhaul the squad (could be a 10 man clearout!)? Does he back the players (and send another manager down the road!)? Or does he realise we need an overhaul but entrust it to another manager (probably Hiddink)? I’m not sure but they’re the options. I think we can safely rule out carrying on the way things are.

    What do you think? What would you do if you were Abramovich? Or AVB? I’m fucked if I know what to do with this lot? Strangle one a week until they start winning I suppose.

71. Anonymous on 31 December, 2011 at 19:53

    CP,

    Not after an argument – was meant very much tongue in cheek! Utd did have their reserves playing today though, not an excuse we can fall back on….

    Chelsea have kind of shat all over my festive period, and it’s odd as it hasn’t been that bad for years. Spoilt kid syndrome and all that. Massive personnel changes seem to be required, seems like we never really planned THAT well for the future. Managers came and went, players to leave a legacy not so much. AVB is faced with the ultimate decline of so many title winners. Those ageing stars now getting impatient at their lack of playing minutes, yet given the chances, largely failing again and again to do anything of note.

    Drogs has been way behind Studge as our best attacker this season. Lamps cameo’s have merely highlighted his sharp decline in form (yes some can be attributed to a lack of minutes leaving him a bit out of touch, but he’s been found wanting in nearly every game this season). Malouda’s not changed a single game that I can remember this year.

    I feel sorry for AVB in that there’s only so much he is able to do, but he’s got a big enough squad with enough experience to have got better results in the past 4 matches than we’ve had to endure. Something’s really not right. He’s certainly culpable to a degree with his selections and behaviour towards some players.

    • Cunningplan on 31 December, 2011 at 20:09

      Don’t disagree with your sentiments, Fiftee, we have seen a decline, and it started last season and continues.
      I’m sure there’s a plan, well I hope there’s a plan with the heirarchy at the club, but in the meantime we’re just going to have to suffer with our erract form.

      Anyway have a few beers tonight, and help numb the pain. 😉

      • Anonymous on 31 December, 2011 at 20:57

        This defeat is no worse than the 1-3 to Sunderland last year so I don’t think we’re declining, we’re as bad as last season.  The team is per last year aside from Mata, Meireles and Romeu, so AVB hasn’t got a lot of fresh meat to work with and the old warriors have declined a little futher.

        Getting a new team will be like giving birth; it’s going to be painful so brace yourselves.

        • Cunningplan on 31 December, 2011 at 21:11

          I thought Sunderland beat us 0-3, Mark, you’re giving us too much credit by scoring.

          And I would like to know, can you share with us your personal experiences on pain while giving birth? 😉

          • Anonymous on 31 December, 2011 at 21:42

            By empathising with my wife’s pain through a “mirror matching” mechanism I was able to experience it first hand.

        • Leznikm8 on 31 December, 2011 at 22:06

          I do agree with you Mark, but it is very painfull to watch it and experience it!

        • Peterw on 1 January, 2012 at 11:02

          That was with an injury hit side that had already been weakened by ridiculous summer transfers – this is with a much stronger squad that has barely had a single injury 
          of note.

          Ancelotti’s second place finish last year is now looking nothing short of miraculous, given his weak squad, injuries and the fact he was 
          obliged to accommodate the hopeless Torres. Given that second wasn’t good enough for some people, I wonder what they will accept from AVB? 

          I think I can already hear the goal posts being shifted…

          Never mind, enjoy the bed you made for yourself Roman.

          or am I just being bitter and twisted again?

          • Ryan on 1 January, 2012 at 11:30

            I think the Ancelotti problem goes deeper than results. He did magnificently all things considered but he intended to resign after Wilkins was sacked and only stayed to protect his staff. He obviously fell out with those above. That was why he was sacked so unceremoniously. Shame. Never understood why there was no gradual redevelopment in the squad regardless of who was in charge. Arnesen’s second-rate youth policy was obviously misguided. Too many young players who were tipped to be the future of Chelsea didn’t make the grade. now we have a gaping hole where that talent should be. That is what Emanelo is trying to fill by buying players like Lukaku, Piazon, Courtois, Mexican lad whose name temporarily eludes me etc.

            Yeah Roman has made his bed. Unfortunately he seems to have had a shit in it. Now he’s going to have to throw out the sheets and the duvet and send someone down John Lewis for some replacements. Question is does he send AVB or someone else?

          • Peterw on 1 January, 2012 at 11:59

            Yeah, the decision to kick Ray out and not replace him was critical. I undervalued the impact it had at the time. Again, stupid from the board who have made mistake after mistake – far more than any player or manager – yet remain completely unaccountable.

            We had a good manager with known weaknesses in Carlo: a sensible club would seek to play to his strengths and support him where he needed it. Instead we hung him out to dry and replaced him with a complete unknown quantity in AVB. 

          • Anonymous on 1 January, 2012 at 13:21

            I don’t think you’re being bitter and twisted but surely you’ve ground your axe down to the handle by now!

    • Fuzzy Dunlop on 1 January, 2012 at 16:37

      Malouda scored a late winner against WBA, created our goal against Valencia in Spain and set up our extra time winner against Everton in the Carling Cup.  Not bad for a player who has done nothing this season.

72. rahulcfc26 on 1 January, 2012 at 00:24

    absolutely agree with fiftee, but avb is certainly to blame. he has misused lampard, bizzarely expelled alex and anelka. alex is clearly a good player still, he is 28/29 which is a prime age for a  CB. some decisions i just dont understand. lampard isn’t half the player from 2 years ago but he’s still got more to offer in a creative sense then ramires and mereiles who are just a bundle of energy and not much else. 

73. rahulcfc26 on 1 January, 2012 at 00:28

    you can also talk about tactics, formations, what have you but one thing is for sure. 

    these players aren’t playing for the manager, and it’s absolutely clear. they are not fighting for his cause, they probably don’t like him and don’t believe in his methods. even when man untied lost today, they lost trying. we lost without really fighting for a cause. that’s a key difference. united, despite having a pretty damn bad squad particularly in midfield will always finish above us because they have a manager who they fear and respect and will fight for. 

    our team on the other hand….the opposite although our squad is just as bad. 

    • Cunningplan on 1 January, 2012 at 09:42

      Total speculation on your part with regard if they’re playing for the manager or not.
      My slant on the game yesterday, they came for a draw, it was just a shame they equalised so quickly after we scored.

      The second half there was only one time trying to go onto win it, and that was us,
      then in our naievity, we leave gaps and space for them to counter, which they did with aplomb.

      The difference was, that they took they’re chances, and we didn’t, and yet again we’re undone by late goals, which is a concern.

      Have we actually scored in the last 10 mins of a game this season to draw or win it?

74. Ryan on 1 January, 2012 at 10:07

    Well it does rather seem everyone is taking their chances against us this year (probably due to their gilt-edged nature) and we are being punished on the break whilst seemingly controlling games. All a bit reminiscent of Scolari’s tenure really. Of course we can only speculate about the players relationship with the manager but would you care to speculate about our current form CP? Do you think we’ve just been unlucky in playing teams that have previously struggled but raised their game against us? Do you think that this season has so far been roughly what the owner, board and manager expected? Do you think there is something not right? Or are we just in transition? Manager learning his job in this league and too many players not up to it? I’d be interested to know what your opinion is on what needs doing (if anything) to turn things around.

    • Cunningplan on 1 January, 2012 at 10:31

      Don’t have any magic answers, Ryan, that’s why I don’t manage a football team. 😉
      I certainly think we’ve been a little bit unlucky in some games, when a draw would have been a fairer result, on the balance, and the chances we’ve had. (Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool to name but a few)

      Whatever the pain we’re suffering as fans, I think we’re just going to have to put up with it in the short term. I still maintain we have to give him a chance, and I don’t see anything wrong with 2 to 3 seasons providing we see some improvement over the course.

      We are seeing the dying embers of a very good team, which to be fair is still very much JM’s team, so for AVB to make any sort of mark, he needs his own players, then he can be judged.

    • Anonymous on 1 January, 2012 at 11:58

      I think it’s more than just teams taking their chances, as much as us not taking ours. We’ve created a fair few, yet always come up against inspired goalkeeping performances.

      And the defence is nothing short of a shambles. Have no confidence that Luiz will improve. WTF was he doing with the second one yesterday?

      Also, and I’m no keeper, but Cech seems to prefer going with his feet rather than hands at advancing strikers. The way he approaches Bent for the third (and yes, game was done by then) he seems to dive the wrong way. As I say, I’m no authority on goalkeeping, but he seems to have made some strange decisions nearly all season. Complacency? He’s under no pressure as number 1. Maybe the injuries are taking their toll.

      Whatever the reason, we’re miles away from being formidable. Teams are nowhere near being scared of us any more. We can be got at. The defence looks shit to bits and shorn of all confidence. If you can restrict us as an attacking force, you’ve got a chance whoever you are, wherever you are in the league.

      Just over halfway through the season and I want it over already. Id love to be less pessimistic as we enter a new year. But I’m not. Top 4 will be a struggle for me.

75. Ryan on 1 January, 2012 at 11:08

    Yeah it’s hard to judge. I don’t think anyone else would do a better job than AVB long-term. It really does feel like we’re starting from scratch though eh? I actually think that AVB has inherited a weaker squad than JM did. This season has been a big wake-up call for AVB though. This league does not allow anyone to coast for a season even when undergoing a transition. I still maintain that this side ought to be good enough to beat teams in the bottom half but they aren’t and I’m not sure why. Maybe it is that teams no longer fear us. They seem to show a belief they can get a result against us now where perhaps they didn’t before. That can play a huge part. It is a bit of a vicious circle though as too often we allow teams a foothold in the game and their belief grows.

76. Anonymous on 1 January, 2012 at 11:31

    A while ago we tagged Luis as liability. But I can see
    improvement, so my man of the match. Now we have Daniel as another liability.
    Some weeks back many discussed that his future in Chelsea is brighter but I
    cant see it really happening. His chance in the squad now is because we don’t have
    a better option and it is a pity that we have to rely on him while we are
    trying to improve him. Sometimes we say best way to defend is to attack. But when
    you have your attackers wobbling and fumbling you have to pay for it in the defense.
    (Good mid-field and attack can cover up for bad defense. But good defense and
    mid-field may not be able to cover up for bad attack). Yes, all of them didn’t perform
    yesterday but I want to sight our match against Arsenal. I can say that Daniel
    contributed majorly to our defeat. I pray that he improves quickly so that he
    wont be starting on bench when we have better options.

    I want to agree that there is something wrong between the coach
    and the players on formation and tactics. They don’t seem to get themselves or
    there is more to that. Imagine when our player holding the ball at right half
    of Villa raising the two hands, calling for someone to give a pass and there were
    four of our players at the left end of villa. I also think there is personal
    interest in the Boas selection. This is firstly shown in the release of Alex
    and Anelka while Malouda, Bosigwa, and the likes are still in the club. Now Lamps,
    Malouda, Cole, others continued to feature when they were playing badly. I’m so
    sorry for Josh and Betrand.

     I noticed that we
    always paid for it whenever we have Meireles to block. I don’t think he is good
    in doing that and the coach seems not to realize this. Truly Mikel is too slow
    but he has the ability to block and distribute accurate passes. So when he
    removes Mikel to be replaced by Meireles in other to play attacking football we
    concede more goals.

    There is problem in the team and in trying to fix it the
    coach made some personal decisions which may differ if I or you were Boas. Your
    own decisions too may not get good result because football is not mathematics
    and so 1 + 1 may not be two. Yes, he made some mistakes. Even now Ferguson too does
    the same. This is to say that there is more to boas’ mistakes.

    KTBFFH!

77. Ryan on 1 January, 2012 at 12:27

    I don’t know if Wilkins was a loss technically (I’m hardly qualified to comment on his coaching abilities) but something changed there after his brutal sacking. Relationships between board and manager, manager and players were damaged irrevocably and it showed in the “bad moment” (injuries not withstanding). When everyone most needed to pull together they couldn’t.

    I understand your reservations about AVB and you might be proved right long-term. However he’s come so far so quickly that it might be premature to write his obituary just yet. He must have something about him. Mancini was hardly an overnight success at City but I doubt they’d swap him now.

78. WorkingClassPost on 1 January, 2012 at 15:45

    With a house full of visitors and kids, computer time has been a bit lacking, but watched all the action so far, and I’m a bit puzzled.

    Apart from the 10 minutes after we scored, we seemed to turn the corner against Fulham – the starting selection was good and the changes worked, we created chances etc, so wtf was yesterday all about?

    Torres must start and the only clue we he’s been out of favour came when AVB brought him on and proceeded to lecture him on how he should play – surely all you need to say to a £50m forward is “Go get us some goals”.

    Someone mentioned Brian Clough earlier and his assessment of a manager’s job was simple – team selection.
    If you pick your best team, then you get the best performance, everything else is wishful thinking and I hope that Andre sorts this out before it’s too late.

    We seem to be over complicating things now and compressing the play by slow build-ups and defending high just squeezes our game so nobody has room to move. Too many times we didn’t have space to control the ball or make passes because we were surrounded by their guys.

    His season started well and if he let the press get to him about naive tactics, then he’s probably gone too far enough in the other direction and should revert to his natural attacking game, because we sure as shit can’t defend right now.

79. mike12 on 1 January, 2012 at 16:21

    I reckon wholesale changes wouldn’t be a bad idea. AVB has a style of play, and he can’t really use his tactical ideas with this squad. We get rid of the players who don’t, and keep the most positive influences. Think Barcelona under Rijkaard, the last season. Ronnie, Deco out, players who were the cornerstones of their previous successes, to focus on their future plans. They were by no means bad players, just not positive to keep around. So, by that logic, we remove all the players who don’t fit. Terry, Malouda, Didier and Ashley should perhaps go, not because it’s al their fault we suck balls this year, but because AVB would prefer different types of players.

    I think the clear out shouldn’t be the dramatic process everyone believes it to be, we just sell off the players we don’t want, bring in those we would, and build a new team from that squad. Like Juventus, RM, Man United and yes, Barcelona all have done.

80. Cunningplan on 1 January, 2012 at 16:55

    So we’re back to perspective after Sunderland’s win. I know we haven’t capitalised on the results, but nothing has changed, and still a long way to go.

    I reckon Blackburn could win the league! 😉

    • Ryan on 1 January, 2012 at 17:13

      On current form they’ve got a better chance than us!

      • Cunningplan on 1 January, 2012 at 18:11

        What? last two games we’ve both got 1 point out of 6…. their form is no better than ours.
        Lets all vent at the end of the season. 🙂

        • Ryan on 1 January, 2012 at 18:42

          I’m talking about Blackburn CP. Sorry. I’ve given up venting. I’m having air-conditioning installed Tuesday morning.

          • Cunningplan on 1 January, 2012 at 19:01

            Ah yes I missread…

            I can recommend a hairdryer that was in full flow in the Utd dressing room at halftime!

81. Ryan on 1 January, 2012 at 16:59

    Unbelievable weekend. Sunderland score 3 minutes into stoppage time against City with the last kick of the game. For all we try to talk sense here about football, sometimes it just doesn’t make any sense. We haven’t been good enough this season but you just never know what is going to happen next this year. What price would you have got for City, Utd and us to all get turned over this weekend. Astonishing.

82. Ryan on 1 January, 2012 at 17:01

    Also that old fucker Ferguson must be laughing his bollocks off. Happy New Year indeed.

83. Ryan on 1 January, 2012 at 17:07

    Also also. Fair play to Martin O Neill. Top bloke. Top manager.

84. Anonymous on 1 January, 2012 at 18:20

    Does anyone here agree that perhaps selling off Frank Lampard and Drogba (a given in any case) might be the most beneficial thing for team development.

    Drogs being on the chopping block has become obvious because he has now become detrimental to the striker development. Any new blood or current signings will still be sidelined by his miraculous comebacks anytime contract negotiations are due. It happened last year as well.

    I have been seriously contemplating for the last 3 weeks, the wisdom of selling Lampard and all the pros outweigh the cons. Firstly his selling perhaps more than any other squad player will send a clear cut message that no one is invaluable.

    Arguments can be made for Terry, but he has proven time and time again that he more drive and passion than Frank. Ashley, I really laughed at those who suggested it, is by far one the hardest working players on the pitch, badly in need of a rest.

    Frank becomes a logical choice simply to get the backroom cliques smashed good and proper. Other than this I have sneaking suspicion that Mata and Mireles can really give a flying fuck for his seniority simply based on the mediocrity of his performances this season. His starting 2 games back lent some credence to this where the both simply did not involve him in play as he dithered too long on the ball.

    Torres really needs to start or be sold with apologies. His treatment along with Kalou is borderline bizzare. You have 2 players who play rather unselfishly when on the pitch, one being hammered for not scoring goals and the other for running down blind alleys. The flipside is the Drogs who has decided to do an impersonation of a tree in the opponents half for the last 2 games and the flash fuck Daniel Sturridge watch these stepovers, there are unmarked players in the box but who gives a shit.

    Lets not forget last year Ancelloti started both Torres and Kalou in the centre and there was brilliant combination play between the 2. However since no goals came from that one cameo, wisdom said lets go back to Drogba and lob balls at him again.

    Lastly all this talk of tactics. We still play a fucking 4-3-3 for I forget how many years now with no bloody wingers. In terms of stupidity AG is fucking savant compared to AVB. He had 4 strikers at the start of the season but persisted in playing a 4-3-3. Our home games are a fucking joke because teams defend against us as they did when we were a powerhouse and Drogs won every ball tossed his way. This setup as you will have noticed is not really conducive to a passing game when they are defending with 8 men at the back.

    Prime example one lobbed ball to Drogs in the last game and there defense was done apart, which then leads to the wrongful conclusion of hey Drogs is better choice than Torres.

    I have no doubt the team is badly in need of at the very least 5 more players. Till then we must persist and hopefully not fire AVB for all his flaws becasue seriously it seems most of the players are waiting for this to gain another year on their contracts. By that I mean Drogs, Malouda, Bosingwa and Lamps.

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