Chelsea 2 Sheffield United 0

[Max Fowler]

3 minutes ago, Ham said:

He was our best player in the first half.  Gave their right back a tough time. 

The shot was his worst moment so fully expected you to get all squelchy about it.  

I mean it was a woeful first half for us, but he definitely wasn't our best player, Gallagher was. 

What was Mudryk's best moment?

I thought his end product was absolutely non existent again, even if he can run in straight lines now.

[JaneB]

9 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

Can you teach a football brain? Judging by some of the regulars on here, I’m genuinely not sure if you can.

Don’t insult our other members Max ☹️
 

And btw I thought you were meant to be up in the air ✈️ ?

[ShedMiddle]

3 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

Can you teach a football brain? Judging by some of the regulars on here, I’m genuinely not sure if you can.

29 minutes ago, boratsbrother said:

Really?

Poch is clearly losing patience with him! Hauling him off every game. Openly critical of his performances and now dropping him to the bench. 

I'll ask this. When Nkunku is up to speed, who will Poch drop to fit in Enzo? I'll put money on it now that Enzo will be a clear second choice player by the end of next month and I'll be very surprised if he doesn't hand in a transfer request in the summer. Dreadful, dreadful waste of money!

 

 

We have some quality players. One of those is Enzo. The others that should definitely be here are Caciedo, Palmer and Thiago..  I would also put Badiashille in that bracket.. 

If you can't see the quality of Enzo then you are a numpty.

[My Blood Is Blue]

5 minutes ago, Ham said:

No we weren't crap at all.  A bit toothless in the final third in the first half but comfortable after we went ahead. 

The usual knee jerk negative opinions from those with player agendas on the match day forum might have given you an inaccurate picture of the game.  Watch and judge for yourself.

He was our best player in the first half.  Gave their right back a tough time. 

The shot was his worst moment so fully expected you to get all squelchy about it.  

Thats good to hear. I should know better than to judge it based on some of the comments on here and on twitter!

I just watched the very short highlights and didn’t get much more from that other than being impressed by Palmer’s goal, a well worked move.

Ultimately, 3 points is all the counts and will probably be the case for the rest of the season. I’m more interested in results than quality of football for now.

[Max Fowler]

4 minutes ago, JaneB said:

Don’t insult our other members Max ☹️
 

And btw I thought you were meant to be up in the air ✈️ ?

Apologies Jane, it was meant to be tongue in cheek and I should have added an emoji to make that clear. I love the other members! 

*the flight was a joke to say that Ham had his head in the clouds, although am travelling Tuesday 🙂

Edited December 16, 2023 by Max Fowler

[Max Fowler]

3 minutes ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

Thats good to hear. I should know better than to judge it based on some of the comments on here and on twitter!

I just watched the very short highlights and didn’t get much more from that other than being impressed by Palmer’s goal, a well worked move.

Ultimately, 3 points is all the counts and will probably be the case for the rest of the season. I’m more interested in results than quality of football for now.

Honestly MBIB - we were dreadful first half. Absolutely dreadful. But also pretty low on confidence so... it showed.

Started the second half really well and that was well done. Palmer and Sterling showed their quality.

[JaneB]

1 minute ago, Max Fowler said:

Apologies Jane, it was meant to be tongue in cheek and I should have added an emoji to make that clear. I love the other members! 

Ok Max.

I must admit that whenever I pull you up you always apologise and I like that 👍🏻

[Rob B]

Whilst Gallagher and Palmer will understandably get the plaudits,  Caicedo had his best game for us today.  Was quietly flawless.

I thought Badiashille was great too.  Albeit against an awful team. 

[boratsbrother]

34 minutes ago, ShedMiddle said:

We have some quality players. One of those is Enzo. The others that should definitely be here are Caciedo, Palmer and Thiago..  I would also put Badiashille in that bracket.. 

If you can't see the quality of Enzo then you are a numpty.

I notice that you didn't answer my simple question and also left out Gallagher as one of those who we should keep. A player who has been head and shoulders better than Enzo all season and second only to Palmer in the entire squad. 

 

 

[boratsbrother]

15 minutes ago, Rob B said:

Whilst Gallagher and Palmer will understandably get the plaudits,  Caicedo had his best game for us today.  Was quietly flawless.

I thought Badiashille was great too.  Albeit against an awful team. 

I don't think it was "flawless" by any means but certainly much better than he has been. I also like the fact that he's been honest enough to admit that his permances haven't been good enough but promises to improve. I warm to any player who doesn't BS or make poor excuses for poor performances. 

[Max Fowler]

36 minutes ago, JaneB said:

Ok Max.

I must admit that whenever I pull you up you always apologise and I like that 👍🏻

I have to say I love a good argument but I am trying to be respectful and not go over the line. So happy to be held to account and I will try to be better Jane 🥲

[boratsbrother]

1 hour ago, CarefreeMuratcan said:

I genuinely think there is something to Mudryk. This clip I posted, the beating of the 2 defenders is class, it's like a primitive primordial Hazard. The right coach (Hazard himself maybe?) could hone this diamond on the rough.

I feel like he has the speed and technique but lacks confidence and decision making. 

I a lot of  us forget how incredibly inexperienced he is for a player of his age. A few dozen appearances in what is a very moderate league before coming the fastest, most competitive league in the world. There are definate flashes of high quality and enough for me to hope we are patient with him. I'd like us to give him another season before making a judgement on him.

[Bones]

2 hours ago, CarefreeMuratcan said:

Everyone else stopped passing to him at some point. No coincidence that both goals came from crosses from the opposite side. 

He did an interesting move where he took a few defenders on and then blasted a shot into the Shed Upper from about 30-40 yards. 

He was poor, really lacks footballing skill.

There could also be a compilation made him trying to win a header with Benny Hill music in the background.

[Ham]

16 minutes ago, boratsbrother said:

I notice that you didn't answer my simple question and also left out Gallagher as one of those who we should keep. A player who has been head and shoulders better than Enzo all season and second only to Palmer in the entire squad. 

 

 

Absolutely untrue. All season? 

Admittedly Enzo hasn't been at his best in the last month but that might have something to do with the fact that he's been ever-present for us. 

He's been excellent for us. Played his role perfectly.  

Gallagher has also been very good in a very different role. In the tough games against Arsenal, City etc he was at his best but either side of that, good.  

 

 

[Bones]

1 hour ago, Miguelito07 said:

He did the same with the Ukraine NT and scored. At least he's shooting no? He reminds me alot of Salah when he was with us....and he turned out okay

Salah was playing very well pretty much every game

[Dwmh]

24 minutes ago, Bones said:

Salah was playing very well pretty much every game

Not as I recall - he was pretty much invisible.
On the one hand it is hard to stand out when your rivals are Hazard and Willian, on the other it makes it really easy to play in that team when you do get a chance.

[NoblyBobly]

3 hours ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

We won! Maybe I shouldn’t watch anymore games, just in case I’m the bad luck charm!

Read some reports, sounds like we were crap, but fortunately have Palmer and Gallagher.

Me too! I was in London with Mrs Nob  doing a bit of Xmas shopping. I saw a few of the Chelsea  lads going off to the game and I made sure I wished them all  luck. Let’s hope that doesn’t mean I have to troop up and down Oxford Street every time we play ( hellish place) . 

[chara]

Hmm,,,as ever different perspectives on players across the board.....funny thing is that everyone is close enough regardless of apparently different views.... Me?......I'm just an OG happy to see three points on the board.

But,,to me Caicedo stood out especially the first half...a lot of hard work all round the team without an end product ..Sheffield were awful as a team......just not enough of anything to look like they might stay in the EPL...keeper had a couple of moments but he did have accomplices in Blue!

Jackson,,,I had hopes for him pre season but has regressed,,Broja has yet to show any reason to look upon him long term,,even allowing for the bad injury....Conor had an effective game as did Palmer and Raheem did look..to me..as if he was trying.

Reflection..a game Chelsea may well have lost earlier in the season and last season...the silly gift goal and then panic scenario but Sheffield didn't really have that in them...nearly 80% Chelsea possession?

Silly yellow,,thanks ref...for Connor and what happened about that "back" for Mudryk?...fk but no card?..a really dangerous foul everyday....oh and Mudryk ?........no real football brain,,,can he get it together ?...

Chelsea better than pasted but today  will not work against a side that can play basic EPL football,,UNLESS the bloody ball goes in the net!!!!!!!!!

 

Edited December 16, 2023 by chara

[Proud-Blue]

I wasn't able to watch the game today so I can't really comment too much. Obviously I'm delighted we won.

 However, I can't get excited because I don't see this team having consistency. We'll probably just revert to playing like garbage in our next few games.

Would love to be wrong.

[xceleryx]

A good three points against a fairly plucky Sheffield United side. 

We obviously struggle more when it comes to breaking down low-block teams whether it's through our own lack of guile, creativity or execution and it was no different this time around, particularly in that first half. We don't move very well off the ball in that final third and on too many occasions players get grouped around trying to occupy the same spaces as each other. This gets compounded whenever Gallagher or Caicedo then push up from midfield. 

Once we scored though things opened up a little more and we looked more comfortable and confident. We got the ball wider quicker, we showed more decisiveness with our passes, and the movement had greater fluidity to it. 

Gallagher was a standout across the whole match, as was Caicedo. Mudryk had patches in the first half before disappearing, Sterling added a spark in that second half for 20 odd minutes and Palmer got more into the game himself. Jackson seemed to spring a little bit more to life as well playing that wide left sort of role off Broja, maybe that's something we can visit again at some point. And the defence was fairly untroubled doing what they largely needed to do. 

Onto the next one.

[johnnybozo]

Think takeaways from this are that Broja, Mudryk and Jackson will never be good enough. Flog them for whatever we can get and bring in proper forwards. Add Madueke to the list as well. 

[ROTG]

Good to see heads popping up above the parapet after a win.

IMO a very bland performance against probably the worst team in the PL, but happy the team got 3 points. 
 

Wolves match is the halfway point of the season. 

[kev61]

8 hours ago, Bones said:

Salah was playing very well pretty much every game

No he wasn't and KDB the same.They went on to great things but nobody could have predicted how well they would do.

What we are doing now is insane.7 year contracts! to unproven players!.

[asvaberg]

I lost my 10£ betting on a Sheffield win, but DELIGHTED we won.

The best £10 spend in a long time 😁😁😁

Edited December 17, 2023 by asvaberg

[Chelsea_Matt]

9 hours ago, NoblyBobly said:

Me too! I was in London with Mrs Nob  doing a bit of Xmas shopping. I saw a few of the Chelsea  lads going off to the game and I made sure I wished them all  luck. Let’s hope that doesn’t mean I have to troop up and down Oxford Street every time we play ( hellish place) . 

Oxford Street isn’t what it was!